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It didn’t take Drift long to gather her things. Mostly because there wasn’t much to gather, just a worn duffel, a stack of journals as well as a few shirts and sweaters.
By the time she walked the forest path back to the castle, the sun was lowering behind the mountains, turning the stones gold and long shadowed. The air smelled of pine and cold stone, the quiet felt strange after the tense murmuring of the town.
Shelby was already waiting outside when she arrived.
Their hair caught the morning light in a glow, her hands shoved into her coat pockets like she was trying to look casual and utterly failing. They perked up as soon as she spotted Drift.
"There you are!" she called, jogging the few steps down the broken stairway.
"You sound surprised." Drift shifted her bag on her shoulder.
Shelby rubbed the back of their neck. "No, I- I just didn’t want to assume. You’re allowed to change your mind." Their voice dipped. "I didn’t want you to feel trapped."
A small, real smile tugged at Drift’s lips. Shelby.... if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t have walked all this way."
Shelby’s shoulders relaxed, and she reached instinctively for Drift’s bag. "Here, let me help."
Drift shook her head lightly but didn’t stop her when Shelby took the strap anyway. "It’s not heavy."
"Still," Shelby said, voice softening, "let me."
They walked inside together, and the moment the doors shut behind them, the castle’s interior quiet wrapped around them, cold stone, faint echoes, and the distant dripping of water.
"Ready for the grand tour underground?" Shelby asked, almost sheepish. "It’s not as creepy as it sounds."
"That is exactly what someone who lives in a crypt would say."
Shelby laughed softly. "The coffins are gone, if that helps."
"That helps a little."
Comforting, Drift thought, but her smile lingered.
------------------
They walked down the familiar corridor, familiar now, at least. Drift remembered her first time here, when the walls seemed to narrow around her and the air felt too still, too cold. The crypt stairs had been even worse. But now she followed Shelby without hesitation, almost close enough to touch.
Shelby held a lantern even though she didn’t need the light.
"Thought it might help," they said when they caught Drift looking.
"It does," Drift said quietly. "Thanks."
Shelby walked a little ahead, then slowed down, as if remembering Drift’s human pace. She glanced over her shoulder every few steps with this faint worry in her eyes, like she was afraid Drift would vanish.
At the bottom, the hall opened into the crypt level, vaulted ceilings, stone alcoves turned into rooms, fabric draped to soften the gloom. She could hear Pyro and Scott arguing somewhere deeper in, Owen muttering at them to shut up. It made the place feel lived in, oddly homey.
Shelby paused in front of one of the alcove doors, the same one Drift had stayed in briefly before. "I cleaned it up a little," she said.
Drift peeked inside.
The room wasn’t fancy, still stone, still dim, but someone had laid down a proper rug, patched up the cracks in the wall, and tucked a quilt on the bed that was obviously newer than anything else in the castle.
"You didn’t have to do all this," Drift murmured, setting her bag down slowly, like she was afraid the room might vanish if she moved too quickly.
"I wanted to." Shelby leaned against the doorway, thumbs hooked together.
Drift sat on the edge of the bed, fingers brushing the quilt. "It’s strange. A few weeks ago I’d have run screaming if someone told me I’d be living in a vampire castle."
Shelby winced in sympathy. "Yeah. Sorry about.... all of that."
"It’s not your fault you got turned," Drift said gently.
"No," Shelby said, "but I still wish you didn’t have to be scared of me. Even for a second."
Drift looked up at them. "I’m not scared of you."
Shelby swallowed, eyes flicking away, uncertain. "You were the night we talked."
"I was scared of everything," Drift said. "The town’s rumors. The castle. Myself. But you.... you were the only one who actually talked to me for me. The only one who actually looked at me like I wasn’t some problem to solve."
Shelby stepped into the room then, slow and careful, like approaching a skittish animal she didn’t want to frighten. They sat beside Drift, but left just enough space that Drift wouldn’t feel cornered.
"You aren’t a problem," Shelby said. "Not to me."
Drift’s throat tightened a little. "You’ve been really patient."
Shelby gave a breathy laugh. "It’s easy with you."
Drift looked at her hands. "Do I… seem like I belong here?"
Shelby’s answer came instantly. "Yes."
"No hesitation?"
"None."
Drift took a slow breath. The crypt was quiet now, Scott’s voice had faded down the hall, Pyro probably dragged with him. The lantern flickered softly, throwing warm gold highlights across Shelby’s hair.
"I want to try," Drift said finally. "Living here. Really letting myself be part of.... whatever this is."
Shelby smiled, small and earnest. "We’ll make it work. If anything scares you, if anyone annoys you, if you need anything, just tell me. Or yell. Or throw something at Pyro, that works too."
Drift snorted. "He probably deserves it."
"Always."
Shelby swung her legs up to sit more comfortably, turning toward Drift. "Do you want help unpacking? I know it’s not much but- "
Drift shook her head. "Can we just.... sit for a bit?"
Shelby relaxed, shoulders easing. "Yeah. Of course."
They sat in the dim warm light, quiet but not awkward. Drift let her shoulder lean just slightly toward Shelby’s, barely a touch, but intentional. Shelby went still for a second, then leaned back just enough to meet her.
"Shelby?" Drift said, voice quieter.
"Yeah?"
"I’m really glad you’re the one who found me. That night in the woods."
Shelby’s expression softened into something warm and unmistakably tender. “Me too.”
The room felt small in a good way. Safe. Claustrophobic only in the sense that Drift’s heart felt too big for her chest.
Shelby reached out, hesitated, then said, "Can I....?" leaving her hand in the open space between them.
Drift nodded.
Their fingers met, warm human skin and cool vampiric touch, and Drift didn’t flinch. Shelby’s breath hitched, unneeded but involuntary.
Drift noticed then, a faint tremor in Shelby’s fingers. "Shelby.... are you okay?"
Shelby inhaled sharply, then laughed once, nervous. "Yeah, I just.... I’ve been worried. About you. You didn’t see the other vampires the way I did at first. I thought you might run and never look back."
"And leave you?" Drift asked, surprised by how natural the words came out. "I couldn’t."
Shelby’s eyes widened slightly, like she hadn’t expected that answer.
"Besides," Drift continued, "you walked me through the woods in the dark after I yelled at you. I think that counts as commitment."
Shelby snorted, actually snorted, and covered her face. "It wasn’t- okay, maybe it was a little dramatic."
"Very dramatic."
Shelby peeked through her fingers. "You still kissed me."
Drift blushed hard. "You kissed me first."
"Mutual kiss, then," Shelby corrected softly.
Drift’s heart gave a slow, traitorous thud. "Yeah. That."
Shelby’s knee brushed Drift’s, gentle, testing. Drift didn’t move away.
"You can stay as long as you want," Shelby murmured. "Days. Weeks. Forever, if you want. We’ll protect you. I’ll protect you."
"I know," Drift whispered.
Shelby looked at Drift like they were memorizing her, eyes soft, uncertain, hopeful in a way Drift almost wasn’t ready for but also desperately needed.
And Drift, feeling braver in the quiet warmth of the crypt, leaned a little closer. Leaned into that space Shelby left open for her.
"Shelby?" she said softly.
"Yeah?" Shelby breathed.
"I’m glad I’m here."
The words made Shelby’s expression melt, something warm and fragile and relieved.
She didn’t kiss Drift. Not this time. She just took Drift’s hand, lacing their fingers slowly, giving her every chance to pull away.
Drift didn’t.
They sat together on the edge of the bed, fingers intertwined, while the lantern flickered softly and the castle settled around them like a long exhale.
For the first time in days, maybe weeks, Drift felt like she could rest.
And Shelby, undead or not, looked like she was resting too.
-----------------------
Scott was the first to notice.
Not Drift settling in, that was obvious. But Shelby’s floaty mood afterward.
He caught her drifting (no pun intended, though he’d never admit it wasn’t intended) down the corridor with a half-smile she was trying very hard to hide, lantern swinging lightly at her side.
Scott squinted. "She’s moved in for ten minutes and you’re already radiating sunshine."
Shelby startled. "I- I’m not- I’m just showing her around!"
"Mhm." Scott raised a brow. "And holding hands is part of the tour?"
Shelby’s ears turned pink. "....maybe."
She disappeared before he could tease her more, leaving him standing in the hall feeling far too pleased for his own good