Leila stared as Vlad got ready for work, her eyes barely staying open to watch as he blurred out of their room in a rush. It wasn't anything new to see him hustle out in the mornings, she was known for almost making him late by pulling him into their more intimate wake up calls, but lately his rush had been for a completely different reason.
Disaster after disaster seemed to be striking Romania, if it wasn't a storm wiping out portions of the town, it was the area over requesting Vlad's help with something, or some paperwork that he had to see to.
The bottom line was that her husband had been up and moving almost non stop for three months. As a marked difference from the last time this kind of situation hit, Vlad was making sure to stay well rested instead of simply working himself into the ground.
A part of her was relieved about that, but the much larger portion was battling an irritating demon. Loneliness.
She understood that work took priority, heck the first month she'd been out in the town helping to build everything, much to the villager's shocks. Vlad hadn't even argued, needing the help and knowing that the sooner it was finished the quicker things could go back to normal.
However, after finishing with the relief efforts and everything having been put to rights, Leila had hoped that she'd finally have time with Vlad. She'd had no idea how wrong she was.
The first month after the storm rolled through was a mess of paperwork, Vlad having to work through who'd died, who still needed aid and a mountain of other things. She'd done her best to help where she could, but unfortunately most of that paperwork wasn't anything she could help with.
He'd appreciated the thought, but for the most part shooed her away to do something less mind numbing. That'd continued for the second month, Vlad coming to bed after she'd already dropped off and leaving before she woke up.
It stung, seeing the empty bed and only catching maybe a few minutes of Vlad per day before he had to throw himself back into work again. She knew that whatever he was dealing with had to be important, he obviously didn't enjoy it, but if she were honest with herself after two months of barely ever seeing her husband she was ready to lock both of them into their rooms after frying his phone.
She'd come closer than Vlad would ever know when a week ago they'd finally scraped together half an hour for 'them' time. Just as things had started to turn in a hotter direction his phone had blared its damning call. Vlad had visibly hesitated, glaring fiery death at it before reluctantly answering.
She hadn't bothered staying undressed, knowing the second he picked it up that he would be going back to work.
She'd been right, he'd been out the door after a brief grimace of displeasure at leaving her wound as she'd been.
The logical part of her knew that it wasn't his fault, wasn't really anyone's fault. It was just a busy time of the year apparently and the adult in her said she just had to suck it up.
However that part was drowned out by the hurt when Vlad missed the small dinner they'd planned for her birthday. She hated big gatherings, as he well knew, so the smaller get together had been perfect.
She'd gotten dressed up in a new skin tight gown she knew he'd love if for no other reason than the fact it showed off her well toned muscles, had been ready to seduce her more than willing husband for the night both of them had desperately needed for the past few months, only for Vlad to not show up.
Sitting at that table alone, staring at the empty seat had been a hazing ritual she hadn't been prepared for. She'd waited for two hours before finally calling it a night. Vlad had apologized after he'd finished his work, stating that he couldn't pull himself away long enough for what he knew she would have planned.
While it stung that she'd basically been stood up on her birthday, she'd smiled and born with it. Even offering to just reschedule the dinner. He'd agreed and she'd assumed that would be the end of that.
It wasn't.
They'd had to reschedule it three more times so far and as she stared at the wardrobe where the same dress rested she'd worn all four times only for Vlad to not show, she knew that today wouldn't be any different.
She knew that Vlad was important to his people, knew that the adult thing to do would be to push all of this down and just wait until he was free again. He would have time for them eventually, no need to get so upset, but she couldn't help the hurt.
He'd had busy patches before but they'd never had this little time together. Usually she got to at least enjoy the first hour or two of waking up with him, half an hour at least if he had appointments to meet.
But for the last three months she'd been lucky to see him for a grand total of fifteen minutes, and that was if she repeatedly dropped in to check on him. Which could be dangerous, depending on the level of tense her husband was at the moment.
She'd already been hissed at more than once for hovering in the doorway, or coming by too many times in a day. Again, it hurt, but what could she do about it?
She couldn't banish the reason he was busy and it would be childish of her to demand that he focus on her with everything else going on in his work. Heaving a sigh, she hauled herself out of bed and prepared to get ready for the day.
Maybe tonight's dinner would be different. Maybe he'd actually show up. If he didn't she wasn't sure what all she'd do or say, what with her emotions boiling over as they were…
It was hours later that she sat in the familiar chair, dressed to the nines yet again as her husband pulled another no show on her.
Staring down at her glass full of blood, she swished it around absentmindedly as exhaustion pushed down on her.
Okay she was understanding for the first two and a half months, could she be childish yet?
The urge to simply plant herself in his lap and refuse to move was growing by the day and she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to hold it off.
When the two hour mark passed yet again, she finally gave up. Standing, she gave the staff a weary smile before headed for her husband's office. She doubted she could convince him to come out, but it was worth a shot.
Just as she figured, the first thing she saw was Vlad hunched over paperwork, his hands a blur as he wrote something down. Leaning against the doorway, she debated whether to even bother trying to drag him away from it.
He'd snarled all the other times she had, but maybe remorse over missing the dinner would make him soften a bit? This was the fourth time now…
Shaking her doubts to the side, she moved to stand in front of him. At first he didn't look up, his voice a growl as he snarled. "Not now, Leila. Since you insist that I get sleep during these times I have less available time to spend doing anything else. I'll be headed to bed shortly."
Bullshit, the tiny voice at the back of her head whispered. He'd said the same thing most every day and he hadn't once come to bed while she was still conscious and she'd tried to stay up to actually have some time with him.
Forcing herself not to comment on that, instead she rebutted the statement. "While I'm glad you're getting sleep, I was hoping to steal you for an hour. Since you've been working almost non stop for the past three months, I don't think an hour will be what makes Romania fall."
Bracing for the inevitable, she watched his jaw tense as he huffed, still not looking up. "I just told you that there is too much to do, an hour may not be disastrous but the amount of work that will pile in it isn't worth the distraction. I know this is aggravating, for both of us, but if you'll just wait until this has passed, then you can have your hour."
Biting back the urge to snap that she was tired of waiting to be close to her own husband, she instead heaved in a calming breath and questioned. "And when do you think this will be passed?"
His answer nearly made her choke on air.
"Three more months, by the look of it. There has been a series of earthquakes, storms, and miscellaneous other annoyances. Since our area is one of the lesser hit ones, I'm receiving requests for aid faster than I can respond to them."
Three more months? She was ready to cry at the thought of the three they'd already gone through!
Imagining the next three months of going to sleep alone, waking up the same way, and maybe having fifteen minutes with Vlad each day soured her stomach.
Her silence must have carried her emotions well, because Vlad finally looked up, already huffing. "I understand how this would be disheartening, but-."
Stopping when his eyes landed on her dress, she saw the second it clicked that their dinner had been today. Biting off a curse, he glared at the mountain of paperwork around him fiercely. "I despise doing this, but we'll have to put off the dinner until all of this mess has been cleared. Obviously I won't be able to pull myself away as it stands and having to continuously cancel rankles me. My apologies, but this can't happen now."
Trying one last time, though she knew it was hopeless, she asked. "I can't even have you for an hour?" Just one hour, that's all she wanted. Hell at this point she'd settled for fifteen minutes if he left his phone in here.
His face screwed up into a scowl, the telltale sign of his temper rising, as he snarled. "I don't want this Leila, but I can't stop what I'm doing to frolik with you. This is of the utmost importance and I have to get it finished post haste. We'll have our time after but not before."
His tone was sharp before he looked away, his focus visibly zeroing back onto the paperwork as the dismissal sat like a stone in her gut. Forcing back the tears building in her eyes, she hesitated briefly, only finding the will to move her limbs out the door when Vlad growled. "Leila…"
Knowing that he was about to emotionally fillet her, she finally left. She managed to hold a fake smile for all the staff, most of which watched her with empathy and worry, but the second she closed the door to their bedroom it crumbled.
Walking over to their bed, she sat on it and stared into the mirror. The dress seemed to taunt her, marking today has failure number four in most likely a long line of future fails as well.
Three more months…
The tears finally dropped at the thought, she was alone for now it didn't matter if she was childish and cried. She was the only one who would know.
Kicking off her heels viciously, she curled her knees up against her chest as she let the worst of the hurt slam through her.
Better to get it all out now before she picked a fight with Vlad, she was in no mood for the emotional filleting that would bring her. Her crying lasted the better part of the next thirty minutes before she forced herself to stop.
Alright, she'd gotten that out of her system, now it was time to put on her big girl panties and deal with it, as the saying went.
Standing, she caught another glance of herself in the dress in the mirror before anger flash mobbed her previous pain. Not caring about the pretty fabric or how much it cost, for once, she grabbed two fistfuls and shredded it.
It was childish, but after she threw the shreds into the nearest garbage can she almost felt better. After the past three months and the next three she still had to endure she'd say she earned the right to be at least a little childish today.
Snagging the shirt Vlad had dumped into the hamper yesterday, she tugged it on deftly. His shirt was a poor substitute, but when it was that or nothing…
Curling into bed, she tried to ignore how big and empty it was without him. Burying her nose into the fabric, she grimaced as a new wave of tears came at the echoing loneliness curling inside her chest.
Not even bothering to hold them back, knowing Vlad would be at least a few more hours, she snagged his pillow and buried her face in it.
Half a year would be finished with her barely seeing her husband for an hour a week and she knew without a doubt that she was going to do something stupid if it kept up much longer.
Drifting off, she wasn't aware of the warm body coming in not long after, pausing slightly at the tears still faintly in sight.
Vlad grimaced, hating that there was nothing he could do to stop his wife's pain. As it stood he was pushing everything as fast as he could, but even with his best estimates, it would be three months.
He more than understood her anger at the situation, this had been the least they'd seen of one another since they'd been married after all. But his hands were tied.
Stripping down, he put his clothes in the hamper that the staff knew not to empty, their mistress's habit of stealing the shirts that smelled of him well known amongst the staff. It was only when he was passing the garbage that he hesitated, backtracking he stared down at the pieces of the dress she'd been wearing earlier with remorse.
Her voice echoed back to him, I can't even have you for an hour?
No, as it stood everyone but her was holding his attention and he knew that that stung. He despised this, all of this. Being away from her side, knowing that she was hurting and unable to do a thing to stop it, as well as snapping whenever his stress got the best of him.
Nothing in this situation was good, but as it stood it wasn't going to change either.
Walking away from the can, he sat on his side of the bed before laying down to face his wife. Her face was still buried in the pillow, the streaks on her cheeks almost gone now though he wouldn't forget their presence after they'd faded.
Scooting as close as he could without waking her, he carefully took her pillow from behind her and laid his head on it. Yes, things were going to be tense over the next few months but she just had to hold on that long.
He'd be all hers again after that.
Leila stared at the wall, processing what the staff member was saying as if they'd spoken in a different language.
"It's going to be longer?"
Her tone perfectly encompassed her disbelief and frustration. The past two months had been hell, the grand total coming to five months now that Vlad had been hellaciously busy and now he was telling her through a messenger that it would be longer than the previously thought six months?
The messenger nodded, confirming the damning thought as Leila fought the urge to just curl up and cry. She'd been doing well, giving Vlad his space, not begging him to just leave his fucking desk for half an hour for the sake of her emotional stability, but this was too much.
Apparently some of that showed through because the staff member quickly added on. "The voivode sends his deepest apologies, he was enraged at the news himself. It isn't out of negligence that he makes this decision."
Leila knew that but oh did it hurt.
Forcing herself to not completely break down, she dismissed the staff with a nod. The second the woman was gone, she let her legs drop her to the carpet in front of the fireplace.
Memories of Vlad taking her here on their wedding night burned her heart like acid as she tried to fight past the overwhelming disappointment this news brought. When tears bubbled up again, she reached blindly for her phone.
Kira and herself had become even closer since she'd come to steal her away for their girls night and if there was any woman she wanted to talk to right now it was her.
Unfortunately, the phone rang through when she called. Hanging up, she tried again, and again. When it rang through the third time she stopped trying. It wasn't as if it were an emergency after all, she shouldn't be pestering Kira when she was probably tangled in bed with her husband, the thing Leila wanted to be doing.
When her finger hovered over the other number in her phone, she hesitated before pushing it. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
The voice on the other end of the call was sleep heavy, immediately making Leila wince at the forgotten time difference as her sister growled.
"Damn it sis you had better be calling for life or death because I did not get enough sleep for this."
Swallowing past the urge to just hang up, she choked out. "Not life or death, should I hand up?"
After a minute, Gretchen sighed. "No, if you're calling it's bad. Fine, let's just keep it short alright? Some of us still have to work in the morning. Now what's going on? Your asshole husband take a strip from you again?"
Grimacing at her sister's slander against Vlad, Leila sighed. "Sort of, in the small amounts of time I've seen him over the past five months. He's been insanely busy lately and by the sound of it it's going to continue for at least another two months. If not more."
The way they were going they might as well write the whole year off as being separated and call it a day…
Her sister's voice was irritated this time, "Seriously? Leila he runs a country, of course he's busy."
Before she could explain how busy he was, Gretchen pushed on before hanging up. "I can't believe you called for this. If it bothers you that much then unplug his alarm clock or shut the one on his phone off."
With that she hung up, the proposition sitting in front of Leila as shiny as the apple the snake had offered Eve.
She shouldn't do that, Vlad would be furious with her…
The tiny voice whispered at the back of her mind, but you'd get your hour with him. And really, being late an hour wasn't the end of the world. As long as she didn't make a habit of it then it wasn't that big of a thing.
Trying to fight past the urge to do something she knew would enrage her husband, she tried to distract herself only for her mind to immediately drift to how much she missed having him curled around her.
He'd admitted to missing it too so maybe he wouldn't be mad?
Then again, he hadn't been seeing her for more than fifteen minutes at a time lately so who cares if she did make him mad?
She was going on five months now, potentially seven total, of having little to no contact with her husband and she was near her breaking point. One hour, she just wanted one hour.
She'd set his alarm back an hour and she'd finally get to be conscious for some much needed cuddles. Yes he'd probably be angry but come on! She'd been patient up til now, she thought that was stellar…
When her eyes swept over the bed, the one she hadn't shared with her husband in months, she made her decision. Just this once, she'd be childish.
She couldn't let herself do this again, so she'd just have to make the most of the one time she did it.
Standing up, she moved to the alarm clock at the edge of the bed and nervously fiddled with it until the alarm came up. Setting it forward an hour, she put it down and moved away as guilt and nerves peaked in her.
She shouldn't have to do such underhanded tricks just to be able to be with her husband, but desperate times…
Now looking forward to later considerably more, she went about her day while hoping Vlad's wrath wouldn't be too bad.
The next morning the first thing Leila became aware of was warmth. The warmth she hadn't felt in seemingly forever and as she cuddled closer into her husband's chest she nearly cried in relief. Finally, she was getting her hour.
She'd pay for it later, but fuck it. She was going to enjoy this to the fullest now and deal with everything else later.
Vlad's voice breezed past her ear, the amusement in it clear. "This is the earliest I've seen you up yet. With a bit more practice you'll be able to get up at the same time as myself, an impressive achievement of a vampire so young."
Pushing off the guilt that it actually wasn't that early, Vlad most likely assumed it was since his alarm hadn't gone off yet, she hummed. "Motivation, no better method."
His arms tightened around her in agreement, but before she could say anything else, his phone blared on his nightstand.
The alarm snapped her eyes open as a sinking dread curled through her. Vlad had two alarms?! Of course she wouldn't have known that since she was never awake for it, but still!
Mourning the loss of the time she'd thought she was going to get, she clung to Vlad stubbornly as she glared poison at his phone.
"Nooo."
A harder edge added to his amusement as he forcibly pried her off of him. "I understand your reluctance but you already know how this is going to end. If you keep waking up earlier though we'll have at least some time in the morning. Must look at the bright side."
He trailed off, eyeing the alarm she'd tampered with in confusion. "And why hasn't that gone off…"
It was only when he reached for it that she flinched, the motion not going unnoticed by him as his lips curled into a scowl. "Leila, why hasn't the alarm gone off?"
His tone was steel and dread curled up her spine as copper eyes bore into her with repressed anger.
Fuck, she hadn't even gotten her hour but she was definitely still going to get reamed.
Clearing her throat, she mumbled. "Because I set it back an hour…"
His eyes sparked emerald and she knew she was in trouble. "You set it back an hour. You do realize that if your stunt had succeeded then I would be massively behind on my work?"
She shrugged, knowing that she wasn't helping herself but honestly she was tired of tiptoeing around her husband.
"It's just an hour, and considering the most I've seen you any given day over the last five months was fifteen minutes, I don't think the hour is going to kill anyone."
Smoke was all but pouring off Vlad and she internally braced for the oncoming emotional filleting.
She was in no means ready for it, despite her attempts to be.
"So you decided to take matters into your own hands and plot to put me behind schedule? You must have known I would be enraged with such a stunt!"
Sighing, she fought the urge to just roll over as depression tried to sink its nails into her. "I was counting on the hour making that worth it, just my luck that you have a second alarm."
He snarled, lurching out of bed to rip the day's clothes on as he spat venom her way. "Thankfully. I never thought you'd pull such an underhanded stunt, this was childish at best! I thought better of you. As my wife you have to understand that sometimes work is going to demand to be top priority-!"
Not able to handle the venom anymore, she forced herself to stand in front of him and snarl back with all the hurt of the past five months. "I was patient and understanding for the first four fucking months! Now not only will it be six, but seven and possibly more? I'd like to see my husband at some point this year please! I'm sorry if that's a crime okay?"
Tears streamed down her cheeks, the suppressed emotions forcing their way to the surface as Vlad shook his head. "I don't have time for this, but just know that I won't forget this stunt. I'll be back to talk with you more about it as soon as I'm able."
Not stopping herself from sniping, she hissed. "So you can make time from your work to rip into me but you can't to just talk? Good to know." She'd settle for a hug at this point, though she knew she definitely wasn't going to get it now...
His back stiffened as he stopped at the doorway, the anger all but frothing off him as he visibly reigned himself in before he said anything else he'd regret. When he left, the door slamming echoed painfully in her ears, the fight ripping out of her as she let herself sink back onto their bed.
She'd just wanted one fucking hour, it wasn't such a big thing! She'd stayed patient for this long and the thought that he could find time to come back and tear into her but not to just hold her for a few minutes burned in a way she had no defence against.
Looking over to her phone, she yanked it up and called Kira again. Let her pick up, for the sake of Leila's emotions she needed someone who wouldn't just tell her that she was being irrational for wanting to spend time with her husband.
She needed something that didn't hurt.
Thankfully after a few rings, her friend's voice came through, the concern in it helping to ease some of the hurt.
"Leila, what's wrong?"
A painful bark of laughter came from her before she choked out, "Where do I even start?"
A dead silence came from the other line before Kira spoke hesitantly. "At the beginning is usually a good place."
Sliding to sit against the headboard, Leila snagged Vlad's pillow and curled around it. "It started five months ago…"
It didn't take her long to sob everything out to Kira, the woman making noises of sympathy as she went. Once she got to the part about tampering with the alarm clock though, Kira hissed in shared pain.
"That was a bad idea. I get where you're coming from, but all that was going to do was force all the stress to skyrocket. Not to mention I'd be furious if Mencheres did such a thing. I know why you did it, but it was still wrong."
Fighting the urge to snarl at her, Leila just cried. "What was I supposed to do? I don't know how to make it stop hurting Kira, I don't know if it will until this cluster fuck is over and the thought of it going on for months more just makes me want to drop myself into a coma until its over."
Immediately alarm coulded Kira's tone as she warned. "Leila, don't you dare start talking like that. We've all had too many brushes with suicide and this is not worth ending it all. A few more months and things will go back to normal."
Snorting, Leila bit out. "I didn't mean it like that. I could never do that to Vlad or you for that matter. I just...wish I didn't have to feel this anymore. Five months Kira."
Her friend relaxed on the other side, soothing to the best of her ability. "I know, well I don't but I can only imagine how painful it is. I can barely manage to be away from Mencheres for a few days without wanting to tear someone's eyes out. A few months? I doubt I'd be doing any better than you. Listen, call me whenever you need to, but don't try anything like the alarm clock again. It's only going to make it worse. When Vlad gets back, apologize."
Leila went to object, but Kira cut her off. "No, Leila. You admitted yourself that it was wrong, besides that'll save you some emotional beatings and right now you don't need that, neither does Vlad for that matter. Apologize, hold tight until this shit is over, then cling to your husband once you're both in the clear. Call when you need it, I doubt Mencheres would mind talking to you if I'm not available."
Before she could tell her that she wasn't going to be doing that, the middle eastern accent made her freeze. "My adored is correct, should you ever wish to talk to me I'm here as well."
After a brief pause, Leila choked out. "Mencheres has been here for all of that hasn't he?"
Kira hesitated before answering, "Was he not supposed to be?"
Fighting the urge to just bang her head against the wall until unconsciousness fixed all of her problems, Leila sighed. "Just don't tell Vlad."
Mencheres agreement came just as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, announcing Vlad's approach.
"He's coming, I'll call you two later."
She just managed to put the phone back on its resting place when her husband came in, his jaw just as tense as before though his shoulders weren't quite as rigid. Before he could start in on her again, she took Kira's advice.
"I'm sorry for messing with your alarm, it was stupid and I should have just waited until you had time instead of trying to make it myself. I won't do it again." Every word sat like acid on her tongue, the emotional part of her depising that she was apologizing for this even as the logical portion said it was necessary. Thankfully, it had the wanted effect.
He visibly paused, not expecting her remorse, before nodding while visibly losing his tension. "Good, I didn't relish in lecturing you anymore on this but I would have if you hadn't seen that."
Again he paused, moving to sit next to her as he brushed a far too brief kiss against her head. "It's just another month or two. Then everything will be back to normal. This is by no means normal and I doubt it will ever happen again. Just hold on for a bit longer and it will be alright."
Before she could say anything else he was up and out the door again, not giving her a chance to say or do anything before he was back to his office. His loss burned like silver even as she knew it was a good thing he'd gone quickly. She would've tried to make him stay otherwise.
Flopping back onto the bed, she let everything out. Just one more month huh? Why is it that both he and Kira talked about that as if it were hours while it felt like years to her?
Knowing the self pity would get her nowhere, Leila forced herself to stand and move through her daily routine.
She was in for a few more months of hell, but she'd just have to push through it. No matter how shitty it was.
The last thing Leila expected upon waking was the warm body next to hers. After her trick with the alarm clock she hadn't once woken up with Vlad in the bed and she hadn't expected to either.
While she wasn't bright eyed and bushy tailed, she was conscious and that was a new development. Forcing her head to tilt enough to see the clock, she noted that she'd woken up about fifteen minutes before it was due to go off.
Focusing on her husband, she let herself sink into his chest and enjoy the rare morning. She'd never thought things would ever be so crazy that Vlad being there when she woke up was a monumental thing, but then again she hadn't seen any of this mess coming.
Her eyes were fighting to stay open, the familiar drag of the dawn's claim on her making it difficult as she tightened her grip on his chest. His arms curled around her automatically, the warm hand resting on her back as it stroked in his sleep.
Sinking into the feeling, she let some of the hurt and loneliness over the past few months drain like puss from a wound. It didn't escape her notice that her comfort seemed to only come when Vlad wasn't conscious but for the sake of her emotional well being she wasn't going to analyze that further.
If Vlad had woken up earlier she had not a single doubt that he would have gotten up and gone to work early, the thought of staying to just cuddle wouldn't have crossed his mind and that burned.
Here she was all but emotionally bleeding out and he didn't seem overly affected. While she was glad that they weren't both gutted emotionally, it still twisted a knife in her chest that he didn't seem all that bothered by this.
Instinctively curling closer looking for comfort, she bit back tears when he cradled her closer like she wished he'd do while conscious. But he wouldn't and she knew that. If he was awake then she wouldn't even get this much touch from him.
Back when they'd first gotten married she'd said she refused to take second place to anything and yet here she was, going on five months now and his work had thoroughly booted her to slot two, if not three or four.
A flash of pain fueled anger speared through her chest. Wasn't being with her while conscious worth losing an hour of work? Yes it'd put him a little behind but wasn't he feeling this?!
The hard truth of the matter was that at some point work had outranked her and that thought burned like silver. Forcing the useless tears back, she heaved in a breath through her lungs to remove the lump.
Railing at him or anything else wouldn't do any good, it'd just result in yet another fight. While a part of her was all for that, at least then she'd see Vlad some even if it was while getting emotionally filleted, she knew that wasn't healthy.
The selfish part of her wanted to fight this, to refuse to let him leave the bed until everything stopped hurting, and when his phone blared on the nightstand alongside the regular alarm she knew that she wouldn't be able to resist it.
Not opening her eyes, she listened as he grumbled awake, silencing both alarms and moving to start his day.
Only to pull up short when Leila didn't relax her grip.
Silence passed for a few beats and during that time she thought maybe she'd won, waiting for him to lay back down she nearly cried when she heard his exhausted tone already edged with irritation.
"Really, Leila? You manage to wake up early and you're going to make this even harder for me? I thought you said you were done with childish games after the alarm clock incident."
Acid burned through her emotions but she didn't loosen her grip. So what if he spat venom her way, it hurt no matter what so fuck it. At least this way she might get something out of it.
In response she tightened her grip and mumbled from her place shoved against his chest. "You're mine, not theirs." Though with every passing day it felt less and less true, as if to prove that his hand came down to grip the arms wrapped around him.
The usually careful grip was bruising as he got ready to pry her off. "I'm fully able to force you to let me go, but I would prefer to not since I know that would hurt you. Now you have two options, release me yourself and avoid the pain from that and my irritation with your antics. Or I make you let me go and I'll be very aggravated with you on top of everything else. Your choice but know that I am going to work, whether you wish it or not."
A hollow echo hit inside her chest as she contemplated it. He was right of course, she couldn't physically hold him here though she hadn't expected him to actually force her to move. She'd thought that he'd give in, though he'd probably be exasperated or irritated with her, but no. Work was truly the top priority and he would be going even if it meant hurting her to do it.
Briefly she considered not loosening her grip, because surely he wouldn't actually hurt her just to go to work, but when his grip tightened she reminded herself that Vlad didn't bluff. Just as it borderlined truly painful she let him go.
Keeping her eyes closed, she retracted her arms and listened as he got up with a huff of triumph. "There, was that so hard?"
Yes.
Not saying a word, she rolled over to face away, not letting a single muscle twitch as tears escaped her eyes. She heard his snort at her supposed cold shoulder before he went about getting dressed for the day.
Usually she'd be hurt that he didn't even give her a kiss before heading out, but what with the tears she couldn't stop making trails down her cheeks? She could only be grateful that he didn't come closer to see them. She'd stopped her shoulders from shaking but nothing she could have done would've hidden that.
When she was alone she finally let all of it out, her hands coming up to rest where the bruises from his grip were already healing as silent sobs shook her from the inside out.
Now she had proof for herself, work was top priority and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. He was willing to hurt her to go, that told her all she needed to know.
The venomous little voice sneered at her emotional breakdown. You're bawling like a baby because he has to work. Sure its been longer than we expected but work is important.
Her emotions that were still tearing themselves apart cried out. But aren't I important too?
The voice sounded oddly like her father when it spoke next. Oh quit being such a brat, crying because he's a busy man. Once he isn't busy then you'll go back to being important. Now stop crying like a kid whose favorite toy was taken away and move on.
While she hated that inner voice with a passion, she knew that there was one thing it was right about. Obviously nothing she said or did would change Vlad's mind so she'd just have to accept the new normal until things went back to normal.
She wouldn't fight this anymore, it hurt too much to try to go up against his work just to be with him only to be reminded painfully where she ranked. It wasn't worth the emotional bludgeoning to try to take back Vlad's interest and honestly?
After the past five months of trying, she was tired. So with a heavy heart and leaking eyes, she gave up.
By the time those two months finally passed Leila was hollow in a way she hadn't been in decades. She'd held herself off from doing anything like the alarm clock incident again, but there'd been some close calls.
Namely when she'd woken up from a nightmare and hadn't been able to just roll over and curl against Vlad to alleviate it. Sitting in the empty room, doing her level best to not cause any other issues for her already busy husband had burned something inside of her.
She'd learned not so long ago that one downside to being in a coma like sleep, but now strong enough in vampire terms to be awake earlier, meant that she was just conscious enough to get nightmares but not strong enough to wake herself from them.
Thus leaving her trapped in her personal hell of images of Marty, Vlad or even sometimes her mother dying various horrific deaths. Though in Vlad's case she wasn't seeing his death, oh no. He was just...gone.
And considering all that'd been going on lately it didn't surprise her that her subconscious had put that into her nightmares as well. Being forced to live whatever hell her mind conjured until she managed to drag herself into consciousness was exhausting and by the time she managed to get back to herself all she wanted was to roll over and pull comfort from her husband.
Who was never there by the time she woke up, leaving her alone to deal with the aftermath of nightmares she couldn't escape.
Vlad had noticed that something was off, but as was usual for the recent months he hadn't had time to corner her over it. The bitchy part of her mind that'd been becoming louder and louder lately wasted no time in reminding her, repeatedly, that he had plenty of time for work and even had made time to chew on her those months ago. But apparently having a few minutes to just be held wasn't worthy of his time.
Yes, everything hurt right now and now that the estimated time was close to coming up, Leila could only hope that it was finally going to settle down.
She made no promises for the continued health and living of whoever caused any other delays…
Now she sat at the familiar table, not dressed up this time thanks to experience telling her not to get her hopes up since the odds of Vlad coming to join her were definitely not in her favor, watching the clock and waiting for her customary two hours to pass so she could go back to their empty bed yet again.
He hadn't given her an actual date for when things would settle, but he had seemed to be slightly less stressed lately.
Though that could have been the fact that she had given up trying to spend time with him in any way shape or form. Even waking up in the mornings with him, she only ever was awake while he was asleep. She hadn't forgotten the very real threat to hurt her, though only mildly, if she stopped him from going to work so the second his alarm hit she let him go. He was only hers as long as work was not in the picture, the second it entered it she lost him.
It was pathetic, but all of the small amounts of affection she was getting from her husband were when he was unconscious and that hurt like a motherfucker. He only woke up when his alarm hit and at that point she disengaged and rolled over to let him get ready for work. He hadn't commented on her methods so she assumed he preferred it that way… And why wouldn't he?
He was free to get ready without her clinging to him, that was sure to make his mornings easier. Shaking the poisonous thoughts to the side, she sighed. Just a little bit longer, she reminded herself. Then he'd go back to being hers.
Will he though?
Weakly slapping back the venomous voice, she swished the blood in her glass with disinterest. She'd noticed her appetite all but disappear two months ago, while she forced herself to eat for the sake of her health it turned her stomach now. Thankfully it wasn't common for a vampire to throw up, so she hadn't had too much of a problem with that...
Just as she was settling herself to it being another dinner alone, the air crackled with a familiar power and her husband strode in with triumph radiating off him.
Before she had the time to turn to him, surprise briefly strafing her at the fact he was actually there, he'd strode over in three easy steps and plucked her out of her seat.
Staring down at her husband's ass from where he'd thrown her over his shoulder, she muttered. "I take it that everything is fixed now?"
She couldn't see him doing this otherwise since he'd been resolutely burying himself in work until now.
His response was clear despite her place behind him, "Yes which means I am finally able to focus on other important things."
At first she thought he meant sex, which okay sounded good, but to be honest after the last seven months of near separation she just wanted to cuddle for the next week solid.
When he settled her on their bed, instead of stripping either of them as she expected, he kicked off his boots before wrapping himself around her. Her confusion must have been obvious because he rumbled from above her. "We'll have time for that later, I'm not blind Leila. I knew that you didn't handle this well, neither did I for that matter. As I stated, this won't be normal and I refuse to let it become so. Everything has settled again, as it should be, and now we're free to relax."
His mouth brushed her head reassuringly. "I didn't enjoy leaving you while knowing that you were struggling, but it had to be done. We both need this, I'll become reacquainted with you more intimately later. We have time now."
Burying her nose into his throat, she smelled her favorite scent straight from the source for the first time in what felt like years. Dimly the voice chimed in, There see? Now we're important again.
Ignoring the emphasis on again, she curled around him as tightly as she could. Half of her still expected him to shove her off, rushing off to finish one thing or another but instead he stroked her back. When that continued for a few minutes and he didn't stop, she mumbled. "Think I'm going to need more than the hour I originally planned on."
He chuckled, "You have a week. I put off all work until next Monday and informed anyone who may need me to not. If it isn't life or death, I won't be contacted. If they choose to contact me anyway...it will be their death. Now then."
She watched as he pulled his phone out, turning it off before shutting it into the bottom drawer of his night stand. Reaching back, he yanked the chord for the other alarm out of the wall pointedly before returning to her.
"There, no more interruptions. Sleep for now, we have time for the rest later."
His emotions finally uncurled from behind their wall for the first time in months, the soothing reassurance sliding over the still burning spots like a balm to her heart.
Waves of his love followed soon after, wrapping around her in a way she hadn't known she'd needed until he'd done it. All but melting against his chest, she shuddered at the long awaited feelings.
His hand stroked through her hair as she soaked all of it in, the last thing she heard before sleep claimed her was his voice next to her ear.
"Rest for now, my Darling. You'll need the energy for later."
Briefly she contemplated telling him that she doubted she'd have the emotional capacity for sex for a good while yet, before binning the thought. She doubted she could explain it if she tried and she'd butcher the words in her attempt.
Her husband was back now, supposedly for good, and she'd just enjoy that for however long it lasted until someone else needed him. She could worry about her lack of libido later, for now she was finally pressed to the chest she'd wanted to be for months.
Everything else could come later.