Her fangs became visible.
"You have two options."
I felt a huge chill run down my spine.
"What are they?"
Her smile grew even wider.
"Die…"
She paused.
"Or..."
///
Being in love is the best.
There's nothing better than having someone love you back, that feeling of peace that person gives you when she is standing in front of you, that anxiety eating away at you while you're on your way to her house, only for it to disappear the moment you see her. You can come home tired, in a bad mood, worried about anything and everything, but just being with that person makes everything feel a little easier.
Yeah, it's real.
Maybe you think something like that only exists in fiction, in those stories where love is so beautiful, so pure, and so strong that it seems capable of overcoming anything. A faithful kind of love, the kind that lasts forever.
Does that really exist?
Heh.
Well, this is my story.
My name is Jean.
Yeah, Jean. Like a fancy pair of jeans.
I've been with my girlfriend, Jess, for about a year. We're J&J. Isn't that great?
She's a wonderful woman.
The kind of person you can spend an entire day with without doing absolutely anything and still feel like it was worth it. With Jess, I never needed to have some elaborate plan. We could go out to eat, drive around, sit in the car listening to music, or simply spend time together at her place.
And we always ended up laughing about some stupid thing.
I remember one of our first dates at a small restaurant near her place. We had ordered way too much food for two people, and after a while, Jess took some of hers with her fork and brought it to my mouth.
"Open up."
"I can feed myself, you know?"
"Doesn't look like it."
"Jess…"
"Open your mouth."
I don't know why I listened to her.
Well, actually, I do.
Because I liked seeing her smile whenever she managed to do something silly with me.
There were also those times when we would go out in the car without really having anywhere to go. We'd put on some music, talk about whatever came to mind, and she would reach for my hand while I drove.
Sometimes she wouldn't even say anything.
She would simply intertwine her fingers with mine and keep looking out the window.
She was even more affectionate at her house. I could be chilling, watchin TV so peacefully and, all of a sudden, I'd feel her arms wrapping around me.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"You're hugging me so tight, babe... Help."
"Yeah, ask for help you silly."
"Why so romantic, suddenly?"
"Because I want to."
And that was it.
She didn't need a reason.
I also loved our night-time walks. After dinner, sometimes we would just wander around without anywhere in particular to go, talking about whatever stupid thing came to mind while the streets slowly became emptier and emptier.
One night, we ended up watching some fireworks from pretty far away. I don't remember what they were celebrating, but I remember perfectly how Jess looked while she watched them.
The lights appeared in the sky and her eyes then disappeared seconds later, but she was still there beside me.
At some point, she turned to look at me.
"Jean."
"What?"
She smiled.
"Forever."
I laughed a little.
"What?"
"For better and for worse. No matter what."
"Woah. You sounded way too serious."
"I mean it."
"Then... forever. I promise."
She turned back toward the fireworks and settled beside me.
At that moment, I thought I was incredibly lucky.
And I still thought so.
Of course, lately we'd had a few problems.
Nothing too serious.
During the last two weeks, we'd been arguing more than usual over some pretty stupid things. Once, it was over something neither of us could remember the next day, and another time, an argument started over something small and ended up lasting way longer than it needed to.
I guess these things happen.
Not every week of a relationship can be perfect.
Besides, Jess had been a little tired lately, so she probably just needed some rest.
During meals, she had started paying more attention to her own things, and we talked less. In the car, she didn't reach for my hand anymore like she used to, and every now and then, when I tried to take it, she would pull it away with a small, annoyed grimace.
She had also stopped wanting to go for nighttime walks.
"Want to go for a walk?"
"Not today, Jean. I'm tired."
"Okay. Another day, then."
And I wasn't going to force her.
Maybe she just needed some time to herself.
Even the flowers I had given her a few days earlier had ended up dying.
When I asked her how they were doing, she told me she hadn't really known how to take care of them.
Well…
That was a little sad.
But I wasn't going to complain about some flowers.
Besides, I could always buy her some more.
Sometimes I worried a little about how much we'd been arguing, but it wasn't anything we couldn't fix.
We were still us, we were just going through a rough patch.
That was why, that afternoon, while I was taking a shower, I started thinking about what I could do to make things feel like they used to again.
I didn't need to do anything spectacular.
Maybe we just needed to talk.
Spend some time together.
Laugh.
Remind her that I loved her.
When I got out of the shower, I already had an idea.
I put on some clean clothes, sprayed on a little perfume, and grabbed my wallet.
Before leaving, I checked my phone.
Nothing.
There were no new messages.
I smiled.
Jess was probably busy.
It didn't matter.
We'd talk when I got there.
I bought some flowers and now I was carrying them with me, hidden behind my back as I walked toward her apartment with a big silly smile.
I wasn't nervous.
Well…
Maybe a little.
But it was more excitement than anything else.
I wanted to see her.
I wanted to talk to her.
I wanted us to put those stupid arguments behind us.
As I walked, I remembered that night with the fireworks again.
"For better and for worse."
I smiled to myself.
Yeah.
Even if things were a little difficult at the moment, I had no doubts about us.
After all, a year together didn't just disappear because of a couple of bad weeks.
If we loved each other, we could work anything out.
When I reached the building, I went up to her apartment and knocked on the door.
I waited.
A few seconds later, I heard movement on the other side.
The door opened.
Jess stood in front of me.
"Oh, hey, Jean."
"Hey."
I tried to smile as naturally as possible.
She didn't seem particularly happy to see me, although I didn't think much of it.
Maybe she was tired.
I lifted the flowers I had been hiding behind my back.
"They're for you."
Jess looked at the bouquet.
"For me?"
"Yeah."
I handed them to her.
"And I hope these last longer than the last ones."
She lowered her gaze toward the flowers.
"The last ones?"
"Yeah. You told me they died."
"Oh…"
Jess took them.
For a few seconds, she remained silent.
I expected her to say something about the flowers, or maybe make fun of me for buying her more after the last ones hadn't even lasted two weeks.
But she didn't say anything.
She just held them...
"Jean…"
I looked up.
"Yeah?"
She took a deep breath.
"I've been thinking a lot these past few days."
"About what, babe?"
Jess took a few seconds to answer.
Finally, she looked up at me.
"About us."
I nodded.
"Me too."
I even smiled a little.
I thought we were finally going to talk about everything.
I thought that maybe, after that conversation, things would finally be okay again.
Then Jess said:
"I don't think this is going to work."
My smile disappeared.
"What?"
She lowered her gaze toward the flowers.
"I don't think we're going to work out."