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"Vincent!" Catherine repeated, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Vincent please, open your eyes." She told him. He was scaring her, not because of his beast side but because she was terrified of losing him. As much as she was mad at him for trying to kill her father, she needed him in her life and she couldn't imagine him dying on her.

Finally, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, a bit confused.

"I-I… I'm sorry Catherine." He mumbled.

"What's happening to you?" She asked with an evident concern in her voice.

"Nothing." He replied, trying to get up. "How long was I out?"

"Just a minute." She answered with her hand on his arm, ready to catch him in case he collapsed again. That's when she saw the blood on his shirt, where she shot him. She felt her heart and throat constrict.

"Vincent, you're bleeding." She told him, pointing at his shirt.

"It's alright Catherine. I'm going to go now." He said a little embarrassed.

"Don't…" She told him. "Let me clean your wound, it's the least I can do since I am the one who inflicted it."

"You don't have to. I'll be just fine." He told her.

"I know but I have the feeling that once you'll be out that door I will never see you again and I don't want us to part on a fight or with you collapsing in the hallway." She explained with pleading eyes. Truth was that she didn't want to part at all.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied with conviction.

She led him to the couch and instructed: "Lay down."

Vincent obliged, trying his best to avoid her gaze.

"I'll be right back." She said before disappearing to her room.

Vincent closed his eyes and focused on her heartbeat, it was like music to his ears. She was back in no time next to him with some medical supplies and a shirt.

"You left it here." She said noticing that he was looking at his shirt as she blushed a little.

"I remember." He whispered, he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

She smiled and said: "That was not so long ago."

"No, I mean, I remember when we were in the pool, at the hotel." He explained.

"JT told you about it." She said before sighing and adding: "What game are you playing Vincent? I don't understand. If you need something just spill it and let's get this over with."

She tried to get up but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist. Was he still trying to get something from her by lying about his memories?

He explained: "I remember jumping into the water and then splashing you. I remember watching you laugh and thinking that I was the luckiest guy in the world that such a beautiful woman could love a beast like me."

Knowing that he had her attention, he let go of her wrist and continued: "That's why I collapsed, I had a flashback… of us."

She smiled finally relaxing and told him: "That was a very good moment… unfortunately it was also in another lifetime."

"I remember we talked about…" He started but she cut him off.

"Let me clean your wound." She said, not wanting to take a trip down memory lane. She knew what they talked about. It was about their future, about the possibility of having a family together. A single tear escaped her eye and Vincent gently placed his hand on her knee for some comfort. She slowly lifted his now bloody shirt and tended to his injury. He stayed quiet until she was done and he then changed into his clean shirt. It smelled like her and he loved it.

"We imagined our future together because we thought I had a chance to be human again." He said, he had to make her understand that she needed to move on.

"Vincent please don't." She asked him, shake her head.

"I'm a beast Catherine." He told her, trying to make her understand that there was no future for them anymore.

"When I look at you I don't see a beast." She told him in a whisper, making eye contact with him.

"I killed people, ripped Winsor's heart out and tried to kill your father." He said.

She looked away as tears were now running freely down her cheeks.

"Enough is enough Catherine. You were right." He added his own tears falling down his face. She couldn't keep making excuses for him, he was the reason she had lost her baby, which was unforgivable.

"I need you Vincent." She choked breaking into uncontrollable sobs.

He sat up, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered.

She buried her face in the crock of his neck, wrapped her arms around him tightly and she let go. She cried and cried again, wetting his shirt in the process but she didn't care and he didn't either. She felt safe, warm and protected in his arms, she always did. She cried for the loss of Vincent and their baby. He stayed quite, just holding her and comforting her, running a hand up and down her back while the other was buried in her hair, stroking her head. He didn't understand why she was doing that. She was supposed to be scared of him, to hate him.

After a while, her crying subsided and her heartbeat slowed, she had cried herself to sleep, in his arms. He sighed and kissed her head. He considered carrying her to her bed but his wound wouldn't allow that. He shifted slowly, laying her on the couch. When he tried to pull back, she protested, whispering a small 'no' and not letting go of him, even in her sleep.

Vincent looked at her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, she was so beautiful and he loved her so much, it was almost too painful to look at her.

Not letting go of her, he laid on the couch, his eyes heavy with sleep. Neither of them had slept since that night. He grabbed the grey tartan rug to cover the both of them. He focused on her heartbeat, imagining that not so long ago, maybe he would have heard another. Maybe if he had listened closely he would have heard another heartbeat when he was grasping Reynolds' throat, maybe he wouldn't have gone through with his plan to make Catherine believe he had lost his humanity.

Catherine shifted, adjusting her position on the couch and laying her head on his bicep, pressing her face against his chest. How was he supposed to leave her now when that was the last thing he wanted to do? He had been brave enough to pretend to choose to be a beast and kill her father and now he had to leave her again. He wanted her to be safe, to have a future and that was only possible for her if he wasn't in her life.

He kissed her forehead, resolved to tell her the truth, to tell her that he loved her with every fiber of his being but that he couldn't keep on hurting her like he did for the past few months. Her pain had to stop and she had to move on. Slowly he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.

*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*

It was early in the morning when Vincent woke up and looked down to see Catherine staring at him.

"You looked so peaceful." She whispered.

He didn't answer and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being close to her.

"Three cross-species DNA children." She said.

He opened his eyes and said: "And a small dog."

"You remember that too?" She asked him.

He nodded and she said: "I hoped that it was a boy, a little Vincent who looked just like you."

"Catherine…" He whispered, brushing a tear from her face. He hated that she was hurting so much and that he couldn't help her and he hated even more the fact that he was the one who was hurting her.

"Thanks to Tori, we now know that cross-species babies are a possibility." She said.

"A girl." Vincent told her. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I hoped it would be a girl. A baby girl just as beautiful and brave as you. With your smile. A little girl with your smile. I don't think I would have been able to say no to her." He told her.

"Why did you do it?" She asked before adding: "Chose to lose your humanity, to end us?"

"I am a beast, I've tried to suppress this part of me for too long, it's time I embrace it." He explained. Could she tell when he lied?

"I wish I was enough." She told him.

"You are enough Catherine. It just that I can't look at you without seeing the pain I've cause you. I'm the reason you've lost your baby…" He said but she corrected immediately him by saying: "Our baby."

He sighed and continued: "Our baby… I won't be able to redeem myself out of this. Hell I don't even want to. I deserved to be hated and to suffer for what I've done until the end of my life."

"So this is really the end of us then…" She said as tears welled in her eyes once again.

"I'm afraid so." He told her, their tears matching.

She whispered: "Don't leave just yet."

"Alright." He agreed, holding her tighter.

She buried her face in the crock of his neck and inhaled his scent like she loved to do. Damn she loved him so much it hurt. Why couldn't it be simple? Like just right now in his arms, she was feeling so safe and calm. She wanted to spend the rest of her life in his arms. He could make her pain go away, he was the only one able to do that. She kissed his neck once and she felt butterflies in her stomach, she kissed him again, tasting him with her tongue, teasing him.

"Catherine, don't." She heard him whispered. She pressed her body against his and felt his hand on her hip, stopping her.

"Catherine please." He said as she continued to kiss his neck, making her way up to his face, she knew what would make her feel better and think about something else than all the troubles in her life.

"I said stop!" He almost yelled, his eyes glowing yellow.

Catherine looked up at him, terrified. What was going on? Didn't he want her anymore? Why was he so angry?

Before any of them could say something, there was a knock on the door. Catherine got up and opened it, using the welcome distraction to move away from him.

"Where is he?" Tori asked, stepping inside without being invited.

"Of course." Catherine shook her head and said with a sigh: "Your girlfriend's here."

She walked to her room and shut it closed behind her, leaving Tori and Vincent together. She sat on her bed and put her face in her hands. Of course he didn't want her to kiss him, he had heard Tori coming. Was he in love with Tori? It was clear that their connection was stronger, Catherine couldn't compete with that. Their shared a bond, this beast part of their selves that Catherine wouldn't be able to understand. Maybe they were meant for each other and she was just standing in the way.

"Let's get you home." Tori said to Vincent, helping him to get up.

Home. He was already home but he just kept setting it on fire. With one last glance at Catherine door room, he left her apartment with Tori.