The empty beer bottle slammed against the wall. Ezra's eyes were fire.
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"You can't be serious right now, Kai."
He sat there, looking tired. Like... really tired. Not the kind of tired you get from work or whatever. The kind of tired that comes from, y'know, being technically dead.
"Look," Kai said, running a hand through his hair, "I know this is weird."
"Weird?" Ezra laughed - sharp, bitter. "Weird doesn't cut it. You died. Then you came back. As a vampire. And now you're what - expecting me to just... what? Continue our marriage?"
The apartment was small. Cramped. Their whole life felt cramped right now.
Kai shifted in his seat. "I still love you. I'm still... me."
"Are you?" Her voice cracked. "Cause the Kai I married wasn't someone who could, I dunno, drink blood and survive getting hit by a truck."
He winced. The truck incident was still fresh. Literally and metaphorically.
"Yes I swore 'till death us do part', but I'm a vampire now. I died some time ago, what part of that don't you understand?"
Ezra grabbed another beer from the fridge. Didn't even bother with a glass. "The part where you think this is somehow normal."
Kai watched her. His skin was pale - always pale now. But his eyes... same brown. Same warmth. Same everything except, well, everything.
"I can still pay the mortgage," he offered. Stupidly.
She snorted. Looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Which, fair.
"You think this is about money? About practicalities?"
"Isn't it always?"
Silence hung between them. Heavy. Weird. The kind of silence that happens when your husband is technically a supernatural creature and you're just... not.
"I can't have kids," Kai said suddenly. "I know that changes things."
Ezra's laugh was brittle. "You think that's the dealbreaker? After everything?"
Her phone buzzed. Ignored it.
"I still love you," he repeated. Softer this time.
"Love," Ezra muttered, "is complicated as hell."
And yeah. No kidding.
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