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Dennis Whitaker has been alive for a long time. Or, well, "Dennis Whitaker" has only been alive for about ten years but this body, mind and specifically face, a century and a half at least. You see he's a vampire, turned in his twenty-sixth year however he's always looked young, truly an eternal curse on top of another.
He's gone by many different names over his years, Claude, Nicholas, Vladimir, Markus and of course Dennis. And to a specific man from his life in the nineties, he was Matthew. He was soft, short, sweet Matthew Deleuze. That man's name is Michael Robinavitch his then boyfriend, a twenty-five-year-old human.
The two of them were genuinely a sweet couple, especially for the nineties. Michael or Robby as everyone called him was a med student and the younger of the two. Robby loved him wholeheartedly, in the softest most trusting way and "Matthew" genuinely loved him too. They had five years together, and Robby was in unaware bliss. Which is why it hurt that much more when "Matthew" called off their relationship and disappeared.
He spent years watching people age around him. He had lost a lot of lovers that way. They would leave him when their relationship became inappropriate looking. And he decided not to tell anyone his secret or spend more than a few years with them out of fear of watching them grow old or leave him for someone less "jailbait-y". It's not his fault that he looks young.
Now, in twenty twenty-five, "Dennis Whitaker" shows up as a med student at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Centre. He stands with the rest of the crew and looks up to see an older man who introduces himself as the attending physician, Dr Michael Robinavitch aka Robby.
Their eyes lock and Dennis sees him stiffen as if he were having a heart attack or seeing a ghost. And yeah, maybe he was because he's seeing his ex-boyfriend unaged before him.
Dennis is smiling softly because that's most definitely the adorable med student he dated in the mid-nineties, the reason he's even here doing the same. Michael, the one he kicks himself over for leaving, the one who's never left his brain. He finds this man has aged deliciously in the nearly thirty years they've been apart. He sighs softly as their dynamic is going to be completely different now that he's the "younger" one.
The day goes on, well, not exactly according to plan... Dennis has honestly had one of the worst days of his immortal life. And yet he can't help but smile throughout the day because his sunshine is here, though the man's shine has lessened but still it is peaking through those storm clouds, his hands warm as they gravitate to the vampire's shoulders. They both try to ignore their pull, but by the end of the day, they both know that something is drawing them in.
The next day, Robby pulls Dennis aside to talk to him. "Whitaker, over here." He points to an empty room with his head, arms crossed. He closes the door and pulls the curtain closed.
"Dr Robby? Did you need me for something?" Dennis frowns in confusion.
Robby sighs and does his little head tilt shrug thingy, with a tongue click. "This might sound a little... Weird, overstepping boundaries even..."
"Yeah? Go on."
Robby chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "It's just that you have an uncanny resemblance to someone I knew in the nineties. He was a... A boyfriend of mine."
Dennis gasps softly, surprised he would even remember him and chuckles. "I look like an ex of yours?"
"Yeah, his name was Matthew." Robby smiles fondly.
"You miss him? After all this time?"
Robby grins and shrugs again. "Yeah, I guess I do. He was amazing, I really loved him. I really don't know why he left me."
Dennis feels guilty. "Oh, uh, yeah... That was Matthew Deleuze, right?"
Robby's head snaps to Dennis in surprise. "You know him? Are you related?"
Dennis laughs awkwardly. "Well... No... I am him?"
Robby frowns. "What?"
"Matthew. I am Matthew. I'm kinda... Immortal?"
"Immortal?" Robby raises an eyebrow. "Funny Dennis."
"I'm a vampire. I got turned in 1867."
"A vampire?"
Dennis nods and releases his fangs, licking them softly before retracting. "Yeah, and I remember being with you. Staying up all night with you, getting you coffee and dragging you to bed. I guess I might have accidentally remembered some of the medical stuff because here I am."
Robby gives him a once-over before sniffing the air. His face perks up. "You are Matthew." He pulls Dennis in for a tight hug.
"Just like that?" Dennis questions Robby's acceptance before pushing him back. "Wait, did you just sniff me?"
Robby blushes slightly. "Uh, yeah... Turns out I'm supernatural too, werewolf."
Dennis blinks a few times. "You're a werewolf?"
"Yep. Oh, but I wasn't you know back then. I was human when we were together. But I am now so I'm a lot less fragile now, at least physically, if that's what you were worried about." Robby grins.
Dennis takes a deep breath and sighs. "That's not... I didn't think you were fragile."
Robby raises an eyebrow. "Then why? Why did you leave me?"
Dennis takes a step back. "Because I don't age. Because I perpetually look like a child. And you age. Even as a werewolf you're going to grow old or leave. You were already "older" than me by the time I broke it off."
"You could have told me you are a vampire. I would have understood." Robby crosses his arms.
Dennis shakes his head. "It doesn't matter if I told you. People would have started to look at us weirdly and you would have called it off yourself. It's happened to me a lot by those who knew and those who didn't."
"I'm not like that, Matthew- Dennis- whatever your name is." Robby runs his hand through his hair. "I hadn't noticed you not aging but I wouldn't have looked at you differently if I had known."
"You seriously think you could have stayed with me when I look like this and you're like that? You think you'd be able to handle thirty years of people looking at you like you're a cradle robber?" Dennis asks in disbelief.
Robby steps closer. "I don't care. I don't know if you've changed over the years but I genuinely believe I'd still want to be with you. I'd take you back right now if you wanted to."
"Robby, Michael, you're visually twice my age. You're what, fifty-three? I'm stuck at twenty-six. The moment you hit forty I would have been too young for you. It would be inappropriate."
Robby laughs catching Dennis off guard. "Fifty-three and still infatuated by you all these years later. If I have to be viewed as your sugar daddy or a chicken hawk or whatever names they come up with, then I will. You look just like you did when you left, minus your curly little mullet and my feelings are just as strong as they were that same day. I know you can't say the same about me. I'm old, I'm going grey-"
"You're sadder and tired."
"Yeah." Robby gives him a soft smile. "I guess it comes with the aging body."
Dennis shakes his head. "I can't do that to you. I can't have you be shamed and all that because of me."
Robby pulls him back into a hug. "I missed you a lot. You're a vampire and I'm a werewolf. Another problem huh?"
Dennis sighs and rests his forehead on Robby's chest. "Not really. That's not a problem." He says softly. "As long as you don't smell like a dog all the time."
Robby chuckles and rubs Dennis's back. "You'll just have to take me back to find out."
Dennis laughs softly. "Technically I don't have to since we work together now." His smile drops slightly and Robby can feel it.
"Don't worry about that. I'll do anything to keep you in my life forever."
Dennis looks up at him. "You'll die before me."
"I'll die happy if you're by my side." Robby cups Dennis's cheek. "I haven't properly moved on from you, ever and finding out you're a vampire hasn't changed my opinion on you."
"You really want me, like this?"
"Like you had never left? Yeah, absolutely. Right now, forever." He takes a moment to scan Dennis's features with a soft smile. "I can- you'll let me have you, right?"
Dennis smiles, giving up the fight to worry about the age gap. "Yeah." He says breathily in amazement.
"Good." Robby practically dives in to kiss him, it's deep, passionate, wanting and long anticipated. Decades of longing pour into his kiss, his hand sliding into Dennis's hair. He pulls back to take a breath, pecking his lips over and over. "Just like I remember."
"I miss you too." Dennis raises his hand to feel Robby's salt and pepper beard. "You've aged so gorgeously, such a handsome man. How could I have left you?" He sighs sadly. "I couldn't forget you no matter how hard I tried."
Robby presses another short kiss to his lips. "So no more running away from your relationships just because you're not aging?" Robby asks knowingly. "Because I'm not letting you go ever again."
Dennis grins. "Darling, you are the only exception, and I think I'm on my way to believing that maybe I should let myself be happy."