The one where Adam is a Cullen
and Kris moves to Washingtonby Mary
Portland is nice. Maybe too nice. Kris can verge on the unsettlingly nice at times himself, he knows and accepts that, but even he feels like there's something about him that isn't nearly naturally functional and friendly enough to be a part of Portland.
They don't stay in Portland long, though, just until the lease on the house they're getting in the little town in Washington is done. His parents' desire to move from place to place and do whatever they can to make those places better is something he loves about then, and something he inherited from them himself, but that doesn't mean starting his Senior year at high school in a small town in the coldest, rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest doesn't throw him off-balance just a little bit.
Daniel's been complaining for the whole time they've been planning and carrying out the move, because he's sure the high school here won't have a cheerleading squad. Kris is sure he's worried about nothing -- it's still an American high school, just one in a different place, of course there'll be a cheerleading squad -- but there's no point in saying that, so he's trying other tactics.
"You could be, like, reverse Bring It On," Kris offers as they drive through Forks to the house that's their home now. Their mom and dad are pointing out all the great things out the windows, but it just looks like a regular town to Kris, just a more overcast and colder one than he's used to. "You know, you wanna be a cheerleader but you gotta be a gymnast. That'd be something."
Daniel doesn't look mollified. "Just because you're a freak who's already entered his volunteer application to help out at the hospital through their online form doesn't mean you've gotta devote your energy to everyone else's problems, man. We should've left you in Portland, I swear."
Kris kicks Daniel in the shins, and watches the grey of the town go past the windows outside.
--
The first time Kris meets Adam Lambert, this is how it goes: Kris is reloading the lunch cart down in the kitchen, dressed in scrubs that he's had to roll up at the cuff because they're too big and too long. He feels like he's wearing a pair of pajamas or something. Not his most stylish look, but he's already settling into the familiar and comforting rhythms of hospital volunteering, which is similar enough to back home that Kris is starting to feel like himself again.
And because he's feeling happy and at home and like himself again, he's singing to himself quietly as he works, 'Man in the Mirror' by Michael Jackson. And then, suddenly, there's a second voice singing along with his. Kris turns around, grinning at the newcomer. "Hey. I'm Kris." Then his smile falters, momentarily, because he's never seen anybody anything like the person he's looking at.
The guy is about the same age as Kris, though it's hard to tell exactly because this guy is so much taller and more exotic than other teenagers Kris has known. He's pale, china-doll pale, the dark shadows around his eyes making the rest of his face even paler, but it's a luminous kind of pale, almost shimmering under the unforgiving fluorescent lights. His hair is crow-black, asymmetrical and spiked, and his clothes are dark too, but more in a dramatic way than a goth way, somehow. Kris blinks, swallowing, feeling his heart thud-thump oddly in his chest.
Weirdly, the guy is looking thrown as well, as if Kris could possibly inspire that same sort of first impression in a creature like this. "Hi," the guy says after a beat, smile returning. "I'm Adam."
--
Adam is the adopted grandson of one of the doctors in the emergency room. His full name is Adam Lambert. His foster parents -- and Kris is pretty sure foster parenting and adopting aren't the same thing, but Adam seems to use the terms interchangably about his situation -- are only just in college. Kris remarks that it's a little unexpected for a pair of newlyweds not even in their twenties yet to end up with a son about to finish high school, and when Adam replies it's the only time Kris sees Adam's good-natured demeanor falter and turn to a darker, more savage expression.
"Rosalie and I have a lot in common. That's how we met," he says, but doesn't offer any more than that, and since it's obviously something he doesn't want to talk about, Kris doesn't push.
Adam and Kris end up hanging out a lot. Adam's popular with everyone at school, but not really a part of any particular group, like he doesn't want to commit too much and get too invested anywhere. Kris isn't part of a group yet either, so despite being so different they end up having so much in common that they kind of click.
Adam talks about his family a lot. His almost inhumanly attractive face softens in those moments, which should reduce the strange allure that's cast a spell over Kris, but doesn't. Adam talks about his aunts, tiny pixie-like Alice who can talk about clothes and fashion for as long as Adam can, and quiet, intense Bella, who loves to read and has a little daughter. Edward, Bella's husband, is "kind of intense too, I guess. He's a difficult guy to read," Adam explains. Adam's other uncle, Jasper, is from Texas.
"My ex-boyfriend was from Texas, too," Adam says with a faux-casualness, fixing his bright, sharp gaze on Kris' face to chart the reaction. Kris just laughs easily, shrugging.
"Nobody's safe from Southern charm, it's just a fact of life. Even Southerners -- makes the high-school dating pools down there a fairly mindblowing experience for everyone, actually."
Adam's own laugh sounds so relieved that Kris, who's usually a pretty easygoing person even in the face of jerks, find the people who were assholes to Adam and smack them around for a while.
"Carlisle and Esme aren't cool with it," Adam says, clearly glad that he can talk about this to Kris. Kris doesn't know why that should seem so surprising -- even though they haven't known each other all that long, surely it's already obvious that they can talk about anything together. It's almost creepy, in a good way. "They're kind of..." he smirks to himself, like there's a private joke behind the words. "Old-fashioned. But they say nobody has the right to judge."
"It never made any sense to me to judge anyone for who they are," Kris admits. "Why would anyone do that?"
"No wonder Carlisle loves you. He's always talking about how cool and helpful you are."
Kris snorts. He suspects that what actually happens is that Adam talks about him, and Carlisle makes small noises when he can get a sound in edgewise. Carlisle Cullen is a fantastic doctor, compassionate and efficient and kind and friendly to everyone, but Kris can't imagine that a high-school volunteer who needs to roll his cuffs up and sings Michael Jackson songs when he's happy would register much of an impression for someone as busy as Adam's foster grandfather.
--
Adam's eyes are usually a strange vivid gold, but there are times when they're dark and black and seem to almost burn when he looks at Kris. The intensity of those looks makes Kris feel like he should go to his mom and dad and say that he's questioning his sexuality, but that seems like a slightly dick move considering that his parents haven't yet had to deal with the fact that Kris has a sexuality at all.
As well as the dark, hungry looks throwing Kris off-balance, there's the fact that Adam's skin is ice-cold to the touch. The combination of these things make Kris really worried, because Kris has seen a lot of drug addicts in the different volunteer work he's done, and he knows how badly everything in someone's life can fall apart because of addiction.
"If you had... if there was something you hadn't told me, you know you could, right?" Kris ventures one afternoon, when the two of them have hiked out to this little meadow that gets more sun than most of the places in Forks. Adam's got some kind of glittery stuff all over his skin, and looks even more like a dazzling alien than he usually does. They're sitting on a rock, enjoying the warmth of the light, when Kris asks.
Adam's eyes narrow, momentarily, but his voice sounds normal and friendly when he responds. "Like what?"
"Like anything," Kris shrugs. "I don't know."
"No, what made you say that in the first place?" Adam presses, voice going a little more insistent.
Kris decides to be up-front; if he expects Adam to be honest with him, Adam deserves the same in return.
"Are you on drugs? Sometimes it seems like... you never eat, your eyes get dark, you're never normal temperature... I knew a girl who was a doctor's kid, and she was sometimes taking stuff, and it made her really sick in the long-term. If you've got something going on --"
Adam laughs, the head-tipped-back burst of delight he sometimes does when he's surprised by something happy. Despite being worried, Kris smiles in response; he can't do otherwise.
"No! Oh, I'm so sorry I made you think... no, no. I'm. Okay, here's the hundred-percent truth, swear to god, even though I know it sounds like I'm shitting you. I'm not on drugs. I'm a vampire."
Kris rolls his eyes. "Come on, don't be a jerk, I'm being serious here."
"No, for real." Adam looks around, then gestures at the rock they're sitting on. "Watch."
He presses his fingertip against the stone and, as Kris watches, the rock gives under the pressure, bending like clay might if Kris pressed it. Adam writes 'Adam and Kris', his script a scrawl with loops and angles.
Kris stares at the words for a long, long beat, blinking in disbelief.
"Do you... do you like me?" Kris manages finally.
Adam bursts out in another explosive laugh. "That's the thing about what I just did which shocks you? Seriously?"
Kris gives him a nervous half-smile. "Yeah? Maybe. I gotta tell you, man, it's way easier to believe you're some kind of superhuman than that someone like you would --"
Adam cuts his words off with a kiss. It's cold and smooth and gentle, tasting of lip gloss and strawberry-mint gum. Kris sort of hopes his parents are going to be okay with getting the questioning-sexuality talk.
"Wait, wait," Kris says as they pull apart. "You're not gonna drink my blood, right?"
"No. I don't bite people," Adam answers, with the held-back tone that Kris recognises as Adam doing his best not to say something incredibly inappropriate. "Promise."
"Good to know," Kris replies, and leans in for another kiss, his lashes half-closing until all he can see is the shimmer of light and sparkle on Adam's skin.
