AN: This is going to be one heck of a long prologue. At last count it was 5000+ words so hopefully you all won’t mind a lengthy chapter. I just didn’t want to break it into two parts and maybe lose the rhythm. I promise though, from here on out, if the chapter gets too lengthy, I will break it into two parts (unless you’d all rather have chapters like this ^^). It does use some of the dialog from BtVS, Season 6, Episode: Bargaining PT1 so please no beating me up too badly for it.

Anyhoo, my deepest gratitude and unyielding devotion to my beta, Fetching Mad Scientist, for choosing to take on what looks to be a lengthy and probably a hair-tugging voyage.

Thankfully for me, there was one around when I needed one.

This one is for you Wendy.





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“Why in the hell do I come home to this?!? You think I want to listen to you do nothing but bitch and whine about everything after I been busting my ass all day long?”


Dawn jumped slightly as a door slammed, the sound reverberating throughout the house.


“Poor baby! You laid tile for five hours and had an hour-long lunch. I was on my feet for 8 and without a damn break and what? I’m supposed to come home and wait on you hand and foot?! All I did was ask you to take the stupid trash out while I made dinner, you inconsiderate prick!”

*(SLAM)*

“And newsflash! You don’t have to come home to anything. Go back to the motel and let maid service clean up after your ass!”

“I just wanted to sit down and watch a little bit of T.V. and now I can’t even do that!”

“You’re the genius that busted the remote by throwing it across the room!”


“Jesus! I don’t know why they decided to get back together. It’s not like anything has changed except this time Dad has a job.”


“I bought the damn thing! I’ll throw it if I feel like it! God, Sylvia! Just shut your fucking mouth for once in your life!”


Cornflower blue eyes filled with nervousness and sympathy caught and held watery brown ones filled with sadness and frustration and unshed tears.

“I-I thought they were in the middle of divorcing?”

“They still are, I think,” Janice sighed exasperatedly, dropping her eyes as if she suddenly found her denim clad knees interesting. “He showed up here a couple of days ago yelling about how her and her lawyer were trying to shaft him or something and he’s been here ever since.”


“Screw you then! Make your own damn dinner or hey! Have a couple more beers or a six-pack or two! Drink yourself into a coma! I don’t give a rat’s ass anymore!”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re probably saving me a couple hours worth of heartburn anyway.”


*(another door slams much closer this time)*


The pair of teens jerked simultaneously, their heads whipping sideways to stare at the closed door of Janice’s bedroom as if they expected it to burst open at any given moment.

“I don’t know anymore. All week it’s been kind of ok. They weren’t fighting or anything and were actually so into each other it’s like I could have died and they wouldn’t have noticed or anything. Most of the time I’m not allowed to go anywhere or do anything but all this week I’ve been out past curfew and blowing off homework and they don’t even ask about it.”

Dawn fidgeted with the zipper on her jacket nervously, unsure of what to say to comfort her best friend.

“You’re lucky. Your sister lets you out to do stuff and doesn’t give you the third degree about everything.” A single tear slipped down a smooth cheek as she closed her eyes, completely missing the frown that stole over Dawn’s features at the mention of her sister. “At least she acts like she gives a crap about you.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty lucky,” Dawn replied in a small voice.


“Where in the hell is the other Goddamn remote?”

“What other remote? We only had the universal one because you broke the one that came with the stupid T.V.

“I’m talking about the one for the DVD player you crazy bitch!”


Wiping her eyes roughly with shaking hands, Janice stood up suddenly, grabbing a handful of tissues off her nightstand and blew her nose before looking down at her best friend.


“Try getting off of your ass and looking for it you jackass!”


“Want to get out of here?”

Dawn nodded quickly. “Where do you want to go,” she asked, rising to her feet to stand beside the slightly taller girl.

“I don’t care. Let’s just get the funk out of here. I can’t listen to this crap anymore,” Janice responded vehemently, striding to her closet before reaching in and yanking a jacket off its hanger hard enough to bend the metal wire it was hanging on.


As quietly as she could, Janice opened her bedroom door, lifting up hard on the knob to keep it from rubbing against the catch-plate so it wouldn’t catch and scrape as it usually did. Cracking the door open enough to fit her head through, she peered up and down the hallway for any signs of either of her parents. Finding the hallway empty, she swung the door opened wider, whispering quietly over her shoulder

“Come on.”

Walking toe, heel, toe, heel instead of heel toe, Dawn cautiously followed behind the other teen, trying her best not to make a sound as they crept towards the stairs. Peering over the railing, an empty hallway met their contrasting gazes and they continued on their way quietly down the stairs. Reaching the bottom step, Janice leaned out to glance into the living room to the left and found her father in front of the couch with the cushions all askew as he searched for the lost remote. Waving her hand rapidly, she stepped onto the main floor motioning for Dawn to follow her, the girls ducking behind the wall of the dining room. Quickly they made their way to the kitchen, the metallic smell of hot metal causing both faces to curl up in distaste. Veering towards the stove, Janice reached out and turned the knob off, the orangey glow of the burner beneath the pan immediately starting to dim while Dawn continued towards the door. Glancing back to the blue-eyed brunette, the dark-eyed one noticed the various bottles of booze lining the counter. Nodding to Dawn as she unhooked the chain lock, she grabbed one of the more full bottles in a fist and followed her out into the night.


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“Aaaaaaargh! Come oooon!” Spike stopped abruptly by a tall headstone, looking at a dead end and no sign of the vampire he was chasing, frustratedly glancing over his shoulder and Tara and Giles ran up behind him.

“I’m never gona get anything killed with you lot holding me back!”

Bending over for a moment to catch her breath, Tara raised upright, a look of weary confusion etched on her delicate features.

“I thought the big ones were supposed to tire more easily,” she panted heavily.

Glancing over his shoulder at Giles, watching him gasping for breath as he leaned heavily against the headstone, Spike’s upper lip curled in his trademark smirk. “No. That’s over-the-hill shopkeepers.”

Tara fanned herself with her coat, watching Giles as he slid sideways a bit. “I’m fine. I just need to… to die for a minute,” he replied breathlessly.

Glancing back to Tara, the disheveled vampire glared at her accusingly. “It was that powder you blew at him that made him rabbit off.”

“Its sorbis root. Its supposed to confuse him but it kinda just made him… peppy,”

Rolling his eyes at her, he cocked his head as the still panting watcher slid around to kneel and rest against the front of the headstone he was leaning on, bracing his arms on bended knees.

“It's not supposed to mix with anything. You think he might be taking prescription medication?”

Spike tucked chin to chest, leveling a deadpanned look at the usually timid Wiccan. “Yeah. That must be it,” sarcasm dripping heavily from every word.

Choking on a winded laugh, Giles piped up. “Good God, I hope he doesn’t try to operate heavy machinery,” and dissolved into breathless chuckles, the vampire standing above staring at him in surprise for a split second before giving into his own snigger of ridiculousness.

“Yeah, we could all be in real…”

Out of nowhere, Willow’s voice interrupts the lighter moment.

“Guys, heads up!”

At once, all three heads snap to attention.

“The vampire is circling back towards you, six-o-clock.”

The unusual trio consisting of a witch, a vampire and an aging ex-Watcher, look around confusedly, searching for anything else moving about.

“Try to drive him back towards the Van Alton crypt.”

“Van Elton,” Giles corrected automatically, keen eyes still searching for the vamp in question.

“Is that the one with the cute little gargoyles?” Tara spoke aloud, looking around her when the heavy-set vampire suddenly burst into view from behind a tree. Stopping along the fence, he growls, turning back the way he came after he spots the trio that he thought he lost a couple of minutes ago. Willow’s anxious voice calls out again.

“Left! Make him go left!”

Suddenly Giles swings back, pitching the axe he was carrying at the tree the vampire was running towards. “Ughaaah!”

Spike turns, looking at him in surprise as the axe thwacks into the tree mere inches from the startled vampire’s face and he turns again, running back the way he was originally headed and the chase is on once more.

Running along the fenceline, the dark-skinned vampire growls in frustration when he reaches a dead end, turning to run around the crypt blocking his escape when a small fist shoots seemingly from out of nowhere, connecting solidly with his cheek and knocking him flat on his back. A lean, black leather-clad pair of legs steps into his view and he lifts his head to see better, finding them connected to the tiny blonde slayer now standing over him.

“Big, fast and dumb. Just the way I like’em,” she quips, her delicate mouth turning up in a smirk.

Sitting up quickly, the growly vamp receives a swift kick to the chin for his troubles, knocking him flat on his back once more.


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Sitting astride the bench she sat on, Janice lifts the bottle to her lips, taking a healthy swallow before she grimaces in distaste.

“Here Summers. Gonna have a sip?” Holding the bottle out to Dawn with one hand, she uses the other to wipe her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket.

“I-I don’t know…” the blue-eyed teen says uncertainly.

“Oh come on. It’s not like anyone is going to know. You’re supposed to be staying at my house tonight and my parents don’t even know we’re around, let alone that we snuck out. Not like they are gonna come looking for us,” Janice coaxed, her mask of indifference barely concealing the sadness in her eyes.

Taking the bottle from her, Dawn nervously wipes off the mouth before quickly tipping it up and taking a sip, a long cough exploding from her chest.

“Woo! It feels just like it did last week when I drank that too-hot cocoa Willow made. ‘Cept more with a fiery kick to the throat than a chocolaty smack in the mouth.”

Giggling, Janice reached out and took the bottle, taking another healthy swallow. “You get used to it.”

Leveling a disbelieving look at her friend, Dawn took the offered bottle once more, looking at it as if it were going to come alive and bite her before she brings it to her mouth, taking another sip.

“Whhhaaaa…” her breath rushed out on a forced sigh, the clear liquid warming a patch all the way from her lips to the pit of her stomach and she swallows once…twice… her mouth feeling a little dry in spite of the alcohol she just drank. Lifting the bottle, she studies it with a critical eye, swirling the contents around.

“It looks like water which is so deceiving because water doesn’t burn like this,” her words causing Janice to erupt in a fit of giggles, then the younger Summers girl noticed that in spite of the chilly night, she really wasn’t feeling too cold anymore.


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“Ooof!”

“Uunf!”

Tara and Giles both grunted simultaneously, landing hard on their stomachs after the chubby vampire shoved them both to the ground just before Buffy runs forward, swinging a punch which he easily deflects, bending down and grabbing the petite Slayer and lifting her over his head with ease. Seeing Spike coming up on his right, he swings the Slayer over his shoulder hard to the right, the soles of her thick-heeled boots slamming into chiseled cheekbones and sending Spike spinning, causing him to stagger before he falls to his hands and knees.

Laying for a moment more to catch her breath, Tara winces in pain, pushing herself upright just as Willow’s voice rings out once more.

“Tara, down!” and the pretty blonde ducks just in time as Buffy’s body flies over her head, crashing into the slanted headstone at her side and she turns to see the red-jacketed Slayer tumbling to the ground beside her.

Rolling to his side, Giles grabs the axe laying next to him as he climbs painfully to his feet, charging at the vampire and swinging his axe back and over his head only to have said vampire grab the handle before the blow could land. Growling, he uses Giles momentum to swing him around, shoving him backwards into the fence and forcing the long wooden handle against his throat, choking him.

“Spike!” the wheezing shopkeeper called out.

Launching himself at the over-weight vampire, Spike leapt up onto his back only to be shrugged off like it was nothing. Throwing himself forward once more, he was shrugged off again before Spike decided to grab at the meaty arms, trying to loosen their hold on the axe handle when the vamp snarls and rears back, slamming a brawny elbow into his face and knocking him backwards once more.

Standing there in annoyance, the lean vampire takes an un-needed breath, reaching into the pocket of his duster to retrieve his smokes.

“S-Spiiike!” Giles ground out once more, the blonde vamp lifting a cigarette to his lips and the sound of his lighter clicking open when Willow’s voice rings out again.

“What are you doing? Help him!”

Swinging his arm up, he replies, “I did,” thrusting the tip of his cigarette into the flame, sucking on the tip while the beefy vampire in front of him struggles as the fire at the hem of his shirt roars upwards, causing him to let go of the axe, Giles dropping heavily to the as the vamp standing above him becomes engulfed in the blaze.

Coughing, the wheezing Watcher covers his face with an upraised arm as the dark-skinned vampire explodes, dust raining down on top of him in a thick cloud.

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette once more before he strides over to the aging Englishman, Spike offers his hand, helping him to rise to his feet.

“You might have let me in on your plan while he throttled me,” Giles offered in the way of thanks, his accent tinged with annoyance.

”Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?” Spike snarked back.

“Guys, help Xander and Anya over by the Anderson tomb.”


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Giggling uncontrollably, the two teenaged girls hugged their middles and rocked back and forth as they sat on top of the picnic table.

“Oh God! You should have seen Kirstie’s face when she realized that she sat in mashed potatoes in her precious Calvin Klein dress!” Janice chortled causing Dawn to laugh even harder and she doubled over, the booze she consumed making her woozy and causing her to lose her balance and she pitches forward, falling from the table and cutting the top of her hand on the way down.

“Ow! Ow ow…dammit!” The tipsy teen pushed back from her hands and knees to sit heavily on her denim-clad posterior, pulling her injured hand up to cradle at her chest. Looking down, she examined the cut with blurry eyes, holding her hand gingerly with the other as Janice fell backwards, laughing even harder as she rolled from the tabletop to fall in a heap on the opposite side.

Letting go of her hand, she searched her pockets for any tissues or anything else she could use to clean away the blood because with it dripping the way it was, she was having a hard time figuring out how big the cut was. Coming up empty-handed, literally, Dawn tugged on the hem of her shirt to wipe at the top of her bleeding hand, sucking in her breath on a hiss as she clumsily wiped at the wound.

Janice lay back on the cool grass, finally quiet for the most part, except for when she would giggle for a moment or two before falling quiet again.

“You ok Dawnster?” her voice rang out a little too high and a little too loudly in the silence of the park.

“No. I cut my hand when I fell off the table,” and with that Janice erupted into giggles once more.

“What in the bleedin’ hell are you two doing out here at this time of night by yourselves?!?”

Synchronized high-pitched screams rent the air and both girls whipped around to see where the voice came from. Frightened blue eyes locked with angry blue as Dawn stared into the thin face of one angry bleached-blonde vampire.

“Uuuh Spike! I-I thought you were patrolling w-with the gang,” Dawn squeaked out, staring at him over her shoulder as he strode towards where she was sitting.

“Yeah, I was but that doesn’t tell me…” and he stopped mid-sentence and mid-stride, his head jerking up as he caught a scent on the air.

Looking back at her sharply, he moved quickly to kneel at her side, panic creeping into his voice.

“Nibblet? What happened? Are you hurt? What happened?”

Seeing the blood smeared across her chest and stomach, Spikes gut twisted into knots and images of the night that Buffy jumped came unbidden into his mind.

“Dawn, dammit! What the bloody hell happened?”

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand to pull it away from her chest, wanting to see where the blood was coming from when she cried out, snatching her hand out of his and he frowned, noticing the cut beneath her knuckles.

“I-I fell,” she replied meekly, suddenly close to tears.

Watching tears fill her anxious blue eyes, he softened; worry still knotting his muscles into taught ridges around his neck as he took her hand once more, gently this time, examining it with sharp blue eyes. Reaching with his other hand, he removed a thick splinter sticking out of the end of the cut and it started to bleed anew. Placing her hand lightly on his thigh, he shrugged his duster from his shoulders before yanking off the black over-shirt he wore. Tearing it in two, he picked up the slim hand and began to wipe away the blood carefully, taking care to hurt her as little as possible.

“You’ve still not answered me Bit. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night and what’s with the indulgence into the booze?” His voice was soft but firm, a slight tremor belying the worry he felt.

“I talked her into coming out here with me,” Janice spoke from behind him. He had completely forgotten about the other teenager in his panic at Dawn being hurt.

“What in the bleeding hell for,” he ground out tightly, the quiet of his voice making it all the more apparent that he was struggling to remain calm.

“Her-her father came home and they were fighting…” Dawn explained her voice wobbling. Whether it was from too much vodka or because she felt like she was going to burst into tears at any moment was anyone’s guess.

Cleaning her hand as best as he could with the hem of one half of his ripped shirt, Spike took the other half and tore a few strips off before yanking the sleeve free and folding it into a small square. Pressing the make-shift pad against the top of her hand, he used the strips to hold the bandage in place, wrapping it beneath her palm to knot the ends snugly on top of her hand.

“And how does the alcohol fit into this little scenario?”

“The-that was me too,” Janice spoke in a small, trembling voice, looking down at her feet, suddenly finding her feet very interesting.

Sighing deeply, Spike rose to his feet, easing Dawn to hers by way of her elbow.

“Well come on then. I’m sure your parental unit is probably worried sick about you both so let’s get you home.”

“No! No, please! I-I can’t take it anymore there. Please! C-can we go to Dawn’s house instead,” the young girl cried out, her eyes pleading as much as her words.

With her uninjured hand, Dawn placed it tentatively on Spike’s chest and he turned to look at her as she spoke quietly.

“Spike, it was really bad there tonight. Her parents have this… love-hate… thing and most of the time they are either fighting and throwing stuff or too drunk to bother with her and basically just make her stay in her room.”

Dropping his head, he sighed loudly before looking up, glancing from one girl to the other.

"Do you have a friend or another relative you could go to for the night because Dawn’s house is pretty much out of the question. The witches, the whelp and the ex-dee-lightful shop girl are there for one of their movie… things.”

Glancing at Spike’s almost slip, Dawn’s eyes widened comically and she bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing at his lame save.

“My sister has an apartment. She lives with her boyfriend in that apartment building up the street from that abandoned bed and breakfast place. I could go there but I’m not sure they would let me bring Dawn. They only have a studio apartment, the kind that is just one big room divided into a kitchen, living room, bedroom kind of thing.” She shrugged a shoulder, saying, “They sleep on one of those couches with the pull-out bed.”

“Alright fine. I’ll walk you there. Don’t worry about Dawn. I’ll take care of her,” he explained, taking an elbow in each hand and propelling them forward.

The walk to Janice’s sister’s apartment was made in silence, both girls pensive as the vampire wore a perpetual scowl. A few minutes of begging and the teen’s sister opened the door wider, allowing her sister to come inside before she turned to Dawn and Spike standing at the end of the walkway, thanking them for walking her and then closing the door behind her. Spike turned to Dawn, his scowl deepening as she looked up at him timidly.

“I thought we talked about stuff like this Bit. You weren’t going to do this rubbish anymore.”

“I didn’t mean to Spike. I wasn’t giving you an excuse when I told you what was going on at Janice’s house. Her parents were being awful. They were screaming and throwing stuff and slamming doors. We couldn’t even go out the window onto the roof like we used to because we got caught last time and they thought we were trying to sneak out and nailed her window closed after that.”

“Sounds like a charming couple.”

“They are actually in the middle of a divorce and her father was moved out and living in a motel and everything and Janice said he came over the other day and they were fighting then too but he never left and he’s been there ever since.”

“Does he hit them, Janice or her Mum?”

“No. No. Not that I know of. I’ve never seen either of them with any bruises or anything like that. Mostly they just drink a lot and fight and ignore Janice and won’t clean or cook for a few days like the weekend when they don’t have to work. When her Dad isn’t around, it’s not so bad. Her Mom doesn’t drink half as much and she actually cooks pretty well. She taught us how to make empanadas once and another time we learned how to make chocolate chip cheesecake. Ours didn’t turn out so well… was kind of flat and runny in the middle and was really kind of tart, but her Mom’s came out really well and we gorged ourselves silly on it.”

“Sounds like the bird needs to toss the rooster out of the henhouse onto his feathered aaas-butt.”

Smiling softly, Dawn titled her head sideways, looking up at him with huge eyes. “It’s ok, Spike. You can say ass. You’re not going to corrupt me.”

They both walked a few steps in silence before he stopped suddenly, his duster swishing around dramatically and brushing up against her legs.

“Some would say I already have with the sneaking out and drinking in the park. What would you have done if you had got caught or-or a vampire other than yours truly came along? What then Niblet?”

Throwing an exasperated hand up into the air over his head, he leaned towards her slightly, staring at her hard, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

“The police could have come by and then you’d be well and truly buggered because then you’d have gotten taken away for sure. Is that what you want Bit? You want those social services blokes to put you in a home for wayward teenagers or even worse, some evil bugger could have come along and made you a meal! What then Dawn?”

With each word his voice rose half an octave higher until he was practically shouting at her.

“I already have to live with one failure! I don’t want another.” Turning, he began to pace back and forth on the sidewalk as she watched sadly, her throat working but her words failing to find voice.

Stopping in front of her, he titled her chin up higher so he could look into her eyes, speaking so softly she could barely hear what he said.

“I don’t want to lose you too Dawn. I’ve already failed you and everyone that loved your sister because she had to jump. Don’t make me fail again in the promise I made to her. You might as well just stake me because I couldn’t take being in this world any longer if I lost you too.”

With that the tears came from two pairs of blue eyes and Spike gathered Dawn to his chest, holding her as tightly as she was holding him, burying his face in her sweet-smelling hair. Together they just stood there, this unusual couple crying and clinging to each other as if the world were ending, uncaring if other eyes were watching. In each other they found the strength they needed to continue on each day, their love for each other keeping them from getting too lost; their love for a girl long gone, uniting them in their grief.
When her snuffling quieted down, Spike stepped back, still holding her within the circle of his arms.

“You ok Luv?”

Nodding jerkily, she murmured, quietly, “Thank you Spike,” before she suddenly seemed to lose her balance, his arms keeping her from falling over.

“Ooooh. My stomach is feeling all swoony. Oh God!” and with that she pitched herself out of his arms, falling to her knees on the moss-covered ground as her stomach heaved and lurched, spilling its contents wetly over the grass. Stepping next to her, Spike reached down and lifted her hair up and away as he kneeled down next to her, rubbing her back with his free hand.

“Guess you’ll learn about the evils of drinking the hard way then, yeah?” he asked in a quiet voice laced with mirth and concern.

When her stomach seemed to have emptied itself of everything she had eaten in the past week, she sat back on her heels, wiping her mouth with her uninjured hand.

“You all done now Nibblet?”

Nodding, she braced herself to stand and just about toppled over again. Catching her in his arms, the vampire swung under and up, lifting her up against his chest as her arms would their way around his neck loosely.

“Ok then. Let’s get you home and tucked into bed,” and with that he made his way back to Restfield, careful not to jostle the now sleeping girl in his arms. Arriving at his crypt, he managed to maneuver the door open with one hand, kicking it shut behind him after he stepped inside, immediately making his way to the ladder down to the lower level. Wondering how he was going to get her downstairs, he decided to just drop down and he tightened his arms around her before dropping down, bending his knees as he landed heavily on his feet. Walking over to the bed, he placed the sleeping girl on top of the blankets before he turned to go back upstairs. Yanking one of the only two bottles of water he had out of the fridge, he went back down to wake her, ignoring her whining and protesting as he made her drink the entire contents.

Appeased that she wouldn’t be dehydrated, he reached down and removed the shoes on her slender feet, setting them beside the bed on the floor before pulling the blanket up and over her. Looking around, he found a few candles and lit them, placing them in an alcove in the hard-packed earthen wall at the foot of the bed, remembering that she didn’t like the dark anymore. Since Buffy died, she had nightmares and waking in complete darkness only furthered the terror that plagued her in her dreams. Satisfied that she had enough light to keep the darkness at bay but not so much that it disturbed her rest, Spike turns and made his way back to the ladder, ascending to the upper level. Standing there with his hands on his lean hips, he surveyed the room bleakly, his cerulean gaze taking in the neglect and destruction.

Sighing deeply, he made his way to the kitchen and finding an empty paper bag, he moved about the room picking up empty liquor bottles that were scattered about and setting them gingerly inside the bag. When the bag was filled as full as he could get it, he set about righting what little furniture he accumulated. The low table was set in front of the now upturned chair; the telly a lost cause as he punched the glass out, sending it flying to smash into the wall behind it weeks ago. He’d have to nick another one soon. He’d also have to get a broom so he could at least sweep the concrete floors, the dust having accumulated thickly in some areas in the months since he cleaned last.

Grabbing weapons that were left wherever he discarded them, he placed them carefully inside the stone sarcophagus, using it as a storage trunk. Gathering dirty laundry, he heaped it altogether into a pile on the chair, using one of the dirty shirts to dust the dust and cobwebs from the table and wrought iron candle holders placed in various alcoves and attached to sturdy spots in the concrete walls. When he was finished, he tossed the shirt back into the pile he made and picked up the bag of empty bottles and other rubbish and placed it in the kitchen to be disposed of later. Lastly he turned the refrigerator so that it faced straight ahead once more. Surveying the room once more, what little he did was a vast improvement and he grabbed the small stool that the telly used to sit on and he dropped back down to the lower level once more.

Rummaging around in one of his boxes, he found a book of prose that he was fond of and he turned towards the bed and the sleeping teenager. Stepping close to make sure she was breathing ok, her brushed a stray tendril of hair off of her cheek, tucking it behind her ear as he watched her lovingly.

“I’ll always be here for you Bit,” he murmured in a voice soft enough that only another vampire could have heard him.

Turning, he placed the stool at the foot of the bed and he settled himself onto it, kicking off his boots and leaning back against the earthen wall, swinging his legs up so that he could prop them up on the corner of the bed. Looking at her once more, he continued in the same whisper-soft voice.

“I promise... I’ll never let you be hurt ever again.”

Flipping the book open in his lap, he found the spot where he left off last, the blonde vampire with the too big-heart and unruly curls resuming the nightly vigil he started months ago as he silently began to read.