Chapter 24 - Mending Bond

One week later...

Life resumed within the Hotel, everyone trying to live on after everything that had happened.

Dracula was still trying to cope with the fact that he was now human, just like Mavis. He did miss some of the perks that came with being a vampire, like being able to morph into a bat and fly, being able to move at superhuman speed, having enhanced senses. Still, he didn't care all that much either, he thought that he got what he deserved, and that losing his powers, his eternal life, were the least of his worries. All he could think about was Mavis, about how hurt she was, because of him.

Mavis had not forgiven her father yet. Every time she went for a walk within the Hotel, always having Johnny by her side, since he was worried about her, so he wanted to be with her as much as possible. Whenever she crossed paths with her father, they would either silently walk past each other, both avoiding each other gazes, or just take a different path, avoiding each other completely. Dracula was avoiding Mavis, because he still felt so much guilt, so much shame. Mavis was avoiding Dracula, because she still felt anger towards him, for the pain he had inflicted on her. Needless to say, Johnny was greatly saddened, seeing the broken bond between a child and her parent, and he wished that their bond could be repaired, over time.

Sometimes, father and daughter exchanged some words, but it was nothing more than trivialities like "Hello..." or "Hey...", both of their hearts too weary to exchange any meaningful words. Johnny did try to act as a mediator, trying his best to try to lighten the mood between them, or to encourage them to speak to each other, but to no avail, which broke his own heart as well. He felt so powerless...

And...there was something else about Mavis that troubled Johnny. At first he didn't act upon it, not wanting to be too pushy towards her, but, as the days went on, his concern continued to increase, and he was feeling more and more unsettled.

One night, when both Mavis and he were sitting on her bed, preparing to go to sleep, Johnny couldn't keep his thoughts bottled any longer, he had to be sure that everything was alright...

"Mavis?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I was... I was wondering if you've been feeling okay." Johnny finally blurted out, his tone shaky and nervous.

Mavis' head slowly turned to face Johnny, her weary eyes looking at him, before answering in a rather rough-sounding voice, "I feel fine, Johnny. I know that things aren't exactly...alright with my Dad yet. I'm sorry, I know how it looks, but I'm just not ready yet..."

"I'm not talking about that..." Johnny responded with a tired sigh, leaving Mavis a bit confused. Before she could retort anything else, he continued, with a weary voice as well, "While I'm sad that you and Drac still aren't seeing eye to eye, that's not what I'm concerned about right now..."

"What? W-well, what is it, then?" she answered back, getting more and more confused.

Johnny sighed again, not wanting to alarm his lover, but also wanting to drive his point across, "Well, let me show you instead..." he told her, while taking her hand.

Mavis got up, Johnny gently but firmly tugging her hand to guide her to the other side of her room, towards her mirror. "Here, Mavis, have a good look at yourself." he said, when both of them were finally in front of the mirror.

She said nothing, as she was painfully aware of what Johnny was worried about. She was much paler than before, not quite as much as pale as she was as a vampire, but still pretty pale for a human. Her hair looked slightly dull, having split ends here and there. However, the most striking difference was in her face, she had bags under her eyes, which were also duller than before, looking grayish, instead of her usual beautiful blue eyes. The worst change was in her cheeks, they were starting to hollow, which was alarming, since it meant that she had lost weight, and not in a good way...

"I don't think I need to say more, Mavis... Y-you don't look well..." Johnny stammered, his throat choking with emotions, before continuing, "You're barely eating lately, aren't you?"

Mavis let out a deep sigh, before answering, a bit of sadness in her voice, "I... Yeah, not as much, I admit it. I'm...sorry, Johnny, I'm just not hungry, heh, it's just, I've kind of lost my appetite, with all that happened." She then forced a smile, before sounding a bit more cheerful and grateful, "You're very sweet to be so worried about me, Johnny. Don't worry, I'll eat more soon, I just want to rest for now, okay?"

Being reassured for the time being, Johnny helped Mavis to get back on her bed, tucking her away gently, before joining her under her blanket. He sweetly strokes at her hair behind her ear, in a playful way, before giving her face, her cheek, her neck a soft caress with his hand, making her shudder a bit.

"Hey, Mavis?" Johnny whispered softly in her ears.

"Yeah?" Mavis replied with an equally sweet whisper.

"I love you..." he said with a lovestruck tone.

"I love you too, Johnny..." she replied, her cheeks blushing.

Johnny took her hand with his own, and held it, which made Mavis feel better, to be loved so much by someone. The lovers soon fell asleep, both embraced by each other...

Two weeks later...

The situation wasn't getting any better. Dracula and Mavis were still avoiding each other, and Johnny's attempts to get them closer still failed. The worst was about Mavis though, she still wasn't eating enough, and she looked a bit worse than last week, evidently having lost even more weight, which gnawed at Johnny's heart. He hated to see the woman he loved gradually losing her health.

Mavis and Johnny had a few fights about that matter during the course of the week, but Mavis wasn't very receptive, soon outright denying the problem, refusing his help, no matter how Johnny tried, which made him desperate. He tried to bring the healthiest food he could find, but she would always turn it down, leading to fight after fight. Then, he had an idea, to make Mavis at least eat something...

Later this evening, after yet another said fight, Johnny approached Mavis's door, carrying a medium-sized box.

"Ooh, lover boy is back! What do you want?" the shrunken head said, clearly not being too fond of Johnny.

Johnny grumbled internally, wondering what he did to earn such scorn, "I want to see Mavis. Is she there?"

"Yeah, she is," it replied, "But she's lookin' atrocious now, she's almost a scarecrow! What will you do to help her, huh? What are you gonna do?! What are you gonna say?!" the shrunken head hissed protectively.

Johnny sighed, not too keen on being lectured by a magically animated shrunken head, but at least it was sharing his concern towards Mavis, which is why Johnny respected it, despite their differences. "Relax, I've got it covered." he replied, trying to sound confident and forcing a smile.

"You better." it answered flatly, before clamming up. Johnny knocked on Mavis' door, before receiving her acknowledgment, and he entered carefully.

Mavis was browsing a book on her bed, an album of some sort. Johnny knew that book well by now, it was an album filled with painted pictures of her and Dracula, which made his heart twinge a bit. Mavis quickly closed the album, before shoving it under her pillow, her eyes a bit misty.

Mavis wasn't wearing much, just her underwear and bra, which clearly indicated that she stayed in her room the whole day. Worse, Johnny recalled what the shrunken head called Mavis, and it pained himself to admit that it wasn't far off. The fact that Mavis wore almost nothing really made it clear to Johnny how dangerously underweight she became. Her cheekbones were more defined, looking like they were poking a little from her face, making her eyes look wearier and her face look drawn. Her collarbones were slightly protruding, almost like a coathanger under her skin, her arms and legs looked lanky, Johnny was wondering if they would snap, or move like a puppet's. She really was keeping one in mind of a scarecrow, much to Johnny's chagrin. Only her bulging belly was looking to be healthy, for now, but, at this rate, even that won't last...

"Mavis... We need to talk..." Johnny said while slowly approaching her, trying to be as calm and gentle as possible.

"About what, Johnny?" she glanced at the box in his hands as he put it on the nightstand, and her eyes narrowed, and she looked away, "Look, I'm sorry, I'm just not hungry. We talked about this already, I will eat later, so could you please just stop pestering me already..." she told him with an irritated voice.

Maybe it was stress, maybe it was seeing her like this, maybe it was just hearing that tone in her voice...

Johnny's eyes seemed to dim, even as his mouth curled into a wry chuckle of disbelief, making Mavis look up in surprsie.

"Pestering you?" he repeated, staring, "So... So that's it? I'm a pest now?" Johnny suddenly exploded, losing his calm demeanor in a flash, "So I'm a pest now, for caring?! F-for crying out loud, look at you, Mavis! You're almost skin and bones!"

"Oh, great to hear that." Mavis gave a hollow, bitter laugh in return, and told Johnny, using a somewhat mean and cruel tone, gesturing to her body, "So what? Aren't men supposed to crave thin women? Don't you find me more beautiful than before? You did say that you would find me beautiful, no matter what, Johnny. Were you lying?" Mavis's teeth gritted, and she almost curled around her stomach, showing the gentle bumps of her spine, "Skin and bones and pregnant and ugly, is that what you're thinking?"

Johnny couldn't take it anymore. He started storming away, before abruptly turning and stomping back, looking at her wildly, alarming her, before his face contorted with tears, and he was on his knees, crying on her blanket. He just wept, loudly, for a few minutes, with Mavis watching him. She was uncomfortable. At first, she thought that he deserved it, for being so pushy, but...concern soon replaced her anger and irritation. She now felt very guilty, for being so hurtful to the one man that always stayed by her side...

"Johnny..." Mavis softly said, regretful, stroking his fluffy and still messy as ever red hair, while finding him some tissues, "Hey... Hey, hey, hey, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have acted like that... I'm...I'm just very stressed lately, and... And...and I don't know, maybe being like this," she palmed her stomach gently, looking down with weary bewilderment, "Is just getting to me... Still, that's no excuse, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Johnny stood up, blowing his nose on the tissue Mavis gave him, before speaking again, albeit in a broken tone, tears still flowing, "I-It's okay, Mavis, it's okay. And, for the record...while I'm c-certainly not finding you more beautiful now, wh-while I really dislike what I see, you will a-always be beautiful to me, that part was no lie... But, you really need to eat... If not for yourself, if not for myself, do it...f-for your baby, for our baby..."

She stared, and the repercussions slowly hit her, and it was now Mavis's turn to burst into tears, and it was Johnny's turn to watch and caress her to comfort her. While he did, he took his other hand to unravel what was inside the box he came went. A powerful yet very sweet smell wafted through the room, coming from where the box was, and made Mavis look up at it.

"Here, check it out, I brought you something. It's not as healthy as the stuff I usually came with, but I want to see you eat, no matter what it is..." he told her in a reassuring tone.

It was a simple, yet pretty big, chocolate cake, easily enough for twelve persons. The sweet aroma made Mavis' mouth water, and her stomach growl, which made Johnny smile from ear to ear.

Still, Mavis had some sort of pride left, and didn't want to concede just yet, even though she knows she should, and she started to form an obvious lie, "Johnny, I know that you mean well, but I'm not hun - ghf!"

Johnny didn't even give Mavis a chance to object. With his supernatural speed, he quickly took a spoon he came with, and shoved a spoonful of cake in her mouth, when she was still speaking. "I know that you are hungry, and I want you to get better, okay? I won't leave this room until you eat all this cake, and I'll feed it to you myself, if I have to..."

Mavis's ego was slightly bruised, and she glared at him from over the mouthful of spoon and cake, nearly making him laugh, but she chewed and swallowed that spoonful, and something exploded in her brain as it hit her stomach. It tasted...so good, so delicious... She now realized how starved she was.

"Holy rabies that's good..."

Johnny, when he noticed that, decided to continue to feed her, spoon by spoon. It wasn't forceful anymore, it was just an act of love towards her. Mavis, while feeling a bit embarrassed to be fed like a baby, she didn't dislike it either, so she just abandoned herself to it, accepting Johnny's help.

Thirty minutes later, there wasn't a trace left of that cake. Mavis rubbed her belly, feeling full and satisfied for the first time in a long time. She was so full that she burped rather loudly, much to her embarrassment. While she was busy being beet red, Johnny was laughing very heartily, being content and very happy, and soon, Mavis was laughing as well.

After a few more moments of laughter, both of them calmed down quite a bit, both feeling relief. Mavis finally spoke, whispering softly, "Thank you, Johnny..."

"Anything for you..." Johnny answered back, a grin on his face.

One month later...

Things started to look better now. Dracula and Mavis, while they still didn't talk much to each other, at least stopped avoiding themselves, so it was some progress, even if slight. Mavis started to look better as well. While still looking weak at times, at least she gained her weight back. In fact, she gained more weight than she had before, thanks to her new "diet", which consisted mostly of sweet things, like cake and pastries.

Johnny, while a bit concerned about her new diet, at least, he was relieved that she was eating, so he thought that it would be fine for now, that it couldn't hurt her to eat like that for a few weeks. Or so he thought...

Still, something was wrong with Mavis, she often would feel tired, or dizzy, at random times. Johnny was a bit worried, but he thought that it was simply because of her pregnancy, so he didn't give too many thoughts on that matter.

He should have...

One day, during one of their daily strolls, Mavis felt more dizzy than usual, steps wavering, and she stumbled against a wall, startling Johnny.

"Mavis? Are you okay...?" he asked, quickly coming to her side, uneasy.

Mavis was suddenly looking very tired, and despite her gained weight, she didn't look at all well. She was sweating bullets, her hands were shaking, and her breathing was ragged.

"M'fine..." she mumbled, blinked wearily when he supported her, as she sees everything seem to go sideways, "What happened to the room...?"

"Mavis...?"

"No, hey, don' worry, I'm...I'm fin..." Mavis tried to reassure Johnny, even when it felt like something inside was shutting down, like a heavy weight in her core was pulling her down, her arms were too heavy, even breathing felt heavy. It was no good, too heavy, too...tired... And she passed out in Johnny's arms.

Johnny gave a strangled sound, shocked at the suddenness of this, holding her up.

"M-Mavis...?!"

Aside from her heavy breathing and a few weak blinks, she was unresponsive.

He swore.

Fear coursed in his veins, he ran, and he ran, towards the infirmary, dreading what happened to Mavis.

A few hours later...

Johnny and Dracula both waited in the infirmary, awaiting news from the nurse, while Mavis was being tended. Finally, the same nurse that treated Mavis back then came out, clearly furious.

"Whose bright idea it was to feed her with nothing but a freaking bakery?!" she shouted at both of them.

Timidly, Johnny raised his hand, visibly scared, "It was me, ma'am... Mavis went through hard times, and wasn't eating at all anymore, until I gave her a cake. Then, she refused to eat nothing but pastries... I'm aware that it's not healthy, but...but it's better than not eating at all, right?"

The nurse's gaze softened a bit, though she was still annoyed, before continuing, "If we can call reactive hypoglycemia any better... Yes, it's better than not eating, but...she's sick now, because of her imbalanced diet. Not to mention that she's starting to build an unhealthy amount of visceral fat now, which isn't good for her or the baby."

Johnny felt really guilty now, and Dracula more and more concerned. Johnny spoke again, clearly worried, "Sick? She's sick? Is it bad? Is she in danger? Are they okay?"

The nurse sighed, before speaking more softly, "No, she's not in danger, for now, and the baby should be fine, since it is a vampire, after all, but we will check. She's suffering from anemia, because she's not taking enough iron in her diet, and because the child in her womb is using her blood directly as nourishment. It's not too bad for now, but she can't suffer from anemia for too long either, otherwise, then it will be..."

"I'm sorry..." Johnny spoke apologetically, "This is all my fault..."

The nurse, now completely calm, beamed a tired smile at Johnny, "Don't be, you tried your best, you did what you thought was right. Just be sure that she eats more healthy things in the future, especially green vegetables and food rich in iron, you hear me? Also, please, keep in contact with the medical staff and tell us if you are concerned for her health, that is our job."

"Yes, ma'am, I will make sure of that. Um... Can we see her?" Johnny replied, both energetic yet worried.

"Yes, you can, we just gave her a blood transfusion, so she should be fine. She's sleeping right now, though, and she's having a fever, so don't disturb her too much..." she warned both of them.

"Yes, thank you. Come on, Drac, let's go see her." Johnny told Dracula, immediately trying to drag him towards Mavis' room in the infirmary.

"I will, I will, but...see her for yourself first, okay? By yourself. I'll wait here..." he answered Johnny with some unease.

Johnny sighed, then shrugged before seeing Mavis. He sat on a chair beside her, and he gazed at her lovingly, humming sweet nothings at her, checking her hair, her skin, her forehead was hot, but at least her body seemed strong enough to fight any sickness. He then planted a kiss on her forehead before leaving, which made her eyes open very, very slightly. She was obviously starting to wake up, though it didn't show too much for now, which gave him an idea...

"Hey, Drac, your turn." he said while going back to Dracula.

"I'm not so sure, Johnny, is this a good idea?" he said, clearly afraid, yet it was obvious he was dying to see her, to be by her side as well.

"What do you think? You're still her Dad, and she needs you." he said firmly. "Besides, she's still sleeping, so you have nothing to worry about..." he added back, telling him a little white lie. When the man still looked hesitant Johnny stomped around to shove at him a little, "I mean it, man, go. Go, go, go."

Dracula took a deep breath, gathered his courage, before entering Mavis' room, with Johnny observing quietly from the door.

Dracula looks over his daughter. Her eyes are ringed with dark circles, and her skin is slightly pale again, but now he knows with her humanity that such paleness wasn't a good sign, comparing its color to his own strange, warm human skin. Still, she was looking rested, she was under good care, and nowhere nearly as bad as she had been during her depression. He sat back and considered Mavis, looking at the swell of her stomach with a weariness and an anxiety he hadn't known since his own wife's pregnancy. He looks at his daughter, at this young woman, and feels regret and hope, at once. If only Martha were here...

But now he sees her eyes weren't closed, the blue of her irises showing through the half-lidded slits of her eyelids. She's awake. Panic. He starts, meaning to leave his chair, when her voice speaks up, a weary, sleepy mumble.

"Don't go."

He freezes, feeling this strange human body constrict him between the need to flee and the desire to obey. He looks uneasily at her eyes, that unchanging, tired expression, then acquiesces, hesitantly sitting once more, anxious.

Mavis doesn't say anything else, simply staring at her father, tired, and conflicted. She doesn't know what to say, but she doesn't want him to go. She remembers seeing him like this, she in her bed and he in a chair, when she was sick as a child, but he'd have a smile on his face and all kinds of silly things to say and do to try and cheer her up. Now he just looks lost. Then she remembers those eyes looking so scary, feeling him tear into her throat, like a nightmare, and when she woke up in a bed again, feeling sick, she knew she wouldn't ever look at his smile the same way again, when it was her own father who had been the nightmare. Then suddenly, the memory that he was going to leave her, and feeling like a scared little kid again. Beyond the nightmare there was still the fact that he was her father, she didn't want him to go, and he had been ready to go anyway, he was going to leave her, even when she'd cried, even when she'd begged, Dad, please... That hurt more than any bite, that she was scared, and he wasn't going to be there, that he was refusing to be there. And now here he is, tired, lost, and as human as she is.

"I-I'm sorry." he said simply, a humble croak, a voice hoarse from stress, after the silence had stretched.

Mavis stares a little longer, eyes darting gently over his face. Sorry for which part...? a bitter voice inside asks, but she brushes that thought aside, and nods, shifting under the thin blanket, "I know." she murmurs, some of that bitterness leaking out, "Me, too."

Dracula's head lowers under quiet shame, enduring his daughter's stare.

"You hurt me." she continued quietly, and before he can open his mouth, she interrupts, "You know what I'm talking about."

He looks, and he does, seeing that pain in her eyes, and sees his little girl again in the tired young woman.

"Yes..." he relents sadly.

"B-but I don't want you to go," her voice cracks, a note of anxiety, "Okay? I never... I don't want you to go..."

"I won't." he assures her quickly, "I promise. Never again. I swear I never meant to—"

She holds up a hand, and he shuts up, cringing under the weight of guilt and anxiety. She lets her hand drop again, taking a deep breath. ". . . Forget about promises, or swearing," she said instead, tired, "Alright? Just know that the first thing, it...it hurt, but the second thing? That was the worst. Do you get that? Don't say anything, just nod or shake your head..."

He does nod, not meeting her eyes, and she shifts her head on the pillow to face him.

"I hurt you, too," she goes on more quietly, swallowing against the dryness in her throat, "W-with Johnny and everything and I-I get that, now. And I'm sorry for all of that, too, okay? Do you get that, too? Just nod or shake your head."

He hesitates, before nodding, and she swallows again, "We're all messed up and...and I did some bad stuff, I've been horrible and-and I'm sorry, too, okay? Don't say anything," she interrupts when he looks as if he's going to protest, and she is glaring, but then the glare drops, and she looks lost, "I-I don't know what I want, b-but I don't want you to go, Dad..."

He looks at her steadily, and nods, feeling constriction in his throat, "I'm here." he tells her softly.

Mavis nods back, and for a while they just sit there, looking at each other. This wasn't enough, they could talk forever and it would still never be enough, but to say anything else would just feel like playing a broken record.

"I want a hug." Mavis decides abruptly, voice catching on tears.

There was only a brief moment of hesitation before the father was hugging his daughter, her fingers clutching into the back of his cloak as she broke down into cries, while he silently rocked her like she was his little girl again, feeling his own eyes sting. As humans, they were both warm, but their warmth matched, so it felt like no different from their hugs before.

This wasn't enough. They could hug forever and it would never be enough. But it would be a start.

Johnny watched the two from the door, silent, with a tired smile on his face while he gave them some space.

There was never any true forgiveness. There would be guilt in his eyes, and hurt in hers, on occasion. Sometimes they would still avoid each other in the hotel, but she would now and then ask him to stay, and he would listen, and obey, and they would just quietly chatter about nothing throughout the evening, or just sit in each other's company. It would never be enough, but perhaps it was close.

Author's Note: I want to thank my readers, for still following me so far, and for the 20,000 views, hehe, thank you!

I want to give yet another special thank you to hatchlingpendragon, for not only having corrected this chapter, but for having co-wrote it! Thank you so much, you did a great job stimulating my imagination, without you, my story would have been a lot less interesting! Oh... and thank you for drawing that fan art of my story for my birthday! For those who want to check it out, it's on my DeviantArt account, and I think it was a lovely picture!