"You fucking moron, you had one fucking job!" fury.
"I was helping!" indignant defensiveness.
Elizabeth groaned, coughing a little, feeling the fiery, acidic burn of vomit still lining her throat. Dwayne and Paul's voices - a mixture of hard done by insistence and pure anger - seemed to boom around her, suddenly, explosively, and Elizabeth wondered if she'd fainted again.
"-you weren't supposed to talk, you couldn't comfort a fucking spoon-" rage.
"-so what?! I should have just locked her in here alone and let her hyperventilate herself to death?" steadfast surety.
God, they were so loud.
"But you weren't helping you absolute-" anger.
"-Jesus I did my best-!" insistence.
"-it just had to be you- disgust.
"meaning what-" annoyance.
With another groan, a little sob, Elizabeth raised her heavy head. She was sat, slouched forward on the bed and, judging by the pressure she felt on her forehead, she must have had her head resting on her knees. Some of her hair swayed dangerously towards her damp face and she could smell as well as taste her vomit.
"Shush" Dwayne commanded in a low hiss and then their voices came to a halt.
For the briefest of seconds she felt Paul's hands, large and covered in rings, against the damp skin of her cheeks. His fingers, surprisingly soft and lithe scraped back her equally wet hair and she felt a little tug as he held it up and out of the way.
"Got a band?" Dwayne asked, his voice filled with a hard concern, not frantic but worried..it sounded foreign, strange.
"Yeah..." Paul muttered and she felt a harder tugging, a snap.
"That's a bracelet-"
"-same difference"
"-it's gonna break her hair-"
It was strange, too the way they were fussing over her...it was...they cared so much.
They had been fighting over her, now they were focusing their attentions on her.
She felt shakey, weak.
"Just get the water, I got this" Paul said, ending their conversation and Elizabeth felt her hair pinch a little as the blonde secured it with his band or bracelet or whatever he had used.
"Liz?" she blinked, feeling weak and miserable, "hey, take a sip?"
It was Paul who had spoken. Dwayne was kneeling before her, face serious and intent. She took the offered bottle from his hand, it was cold with condensation dripping down the side. She studied it - anything to keep her eyes away from Dwayne - before taking a small, shuddering sip. It was ice-cold and she winced as she swallowed. Her throat was still burning from the vomit but the water did help a little.
"Another one" Dwayne murmured and she complied without thinking.
"You OK?" Paul asked her, his voice filled with nothing but concern.
"You're vampires..." she whispered, her voice hoarser than before.
With an odd feeling of detachment, she half expected Paul to cheer and celebrate the fact that she had finally said the word aloud but instead, he said, "…and you're in shock, sugar" as his hands fell to her shoulders. Their presence there was oddly comforting. She felt their weight, felt like they were keeping her grounded to reality, "take another sip, 'kay? You'll feel better.."
He gave her shoulders a little squeeze and her lip quivered at the comfort she felt.
"Don't think for a second, girl" the blonde advised, "just drink.."
She nodded and did as he said.
There was silence in the cave.
After the nausea in her stomach had somewhat settled and the fire in her throat had been largely extinguished, Dwayne gently pried the half empty bottle from her stiff fingers.
"You good?" Paul asked, slowly moving his hands from her shoulders. She could feel his eyes boring into her, watching for signs she was going to puke or drop or slump or faint again.
Why did they care so much?
She nodded numbly.
"Yeah?"
She nodded again.
"'Kay..."
She took another shuddering breath and stared at the water bottle in Dwayne's hands.
"...um" it seemed as if the wind had been taken clear from Paul's sails, " want some coke?"
She shook her head.
"Want some mouth wash?"
She nodded.
"'kay..." he said once more before moving from behind her on the bed. She heard him move, heard the rustle of his tight, ripped jeans against the smooth velvet blanket they were perched on and then the swooshing of the long jacket he had on over his tux as he stood up. Every sound was distinct within the stillness of the room. When he spoke again, he sounded further away and a little unsure, "I'm sorry about before..I didn't realize you were in shock shock, you know?…I was kinda stupid, I just..we love you, Liz…"
She nodded softly and she felt tears well in her eyes.
"...give us a chance?"
Paul sounded unsure, Dwayne sounded worried.
They were all vampires.
Everything was...
She began to cry loudly, deeply as ugly, fat tears fell heavily down her already streaky cheeks.
Dwayne engulfed her immediately, leaning his torso forward, his strong arms enveloping her in a tight, terribly comforting hug.
She loved him. She loved the man before her and he was...
She cried into his chest, clutching the material of his t-shirt tightly.
"Is it real?" she asked thickly through broken breaths.
"Elizabeth-"
"Don't" she wiped at her eyes, pulling away from his body but not able to go far due to the arms wrapped around her, "just please, please tell me the truth. Is it real? Is any of it real?"
"It's real but you're safe-"
She released his shirt and made a fist. She could feel her nails digging into her palms but it didn't help her. She could feel herself slipping away again.
Safe. Paul had said it over and over already, that wasn't what she needed to know, that wasn't what she wanted.
"-no!" she choked, shaking her head and Dwayne released her body, reaching for her, softly holding her fingers in his huge hands, stilling them. She knew she was safe, she didn't need to hear it again.
Her breath hitched, "us, Dwayne. My feelings, everything we ha-hav-had-"
Now that Paul had left, now that she was alone with Dwayne, feelings she hadn't even thought she could begin to consider had exploded in her mind.
Images of blood and death and pain were there but all she could think about was how much she loved and needed the man before her.
"Have, Elizabeth. Have.." he murmured, releasing her hands and moving in to hold her tightly once more. She pressed her damaged palms into his white shirt again and sobbed into his chest once more, overcome with relief, relief she didn't even know she'd been craving.
"Everything is real" he kissed the top of her head and spoke gently into her hair, "nothing about us, our feelings was a lie, everything was true. I love you-"
She closed her eyes as he continued, "-I'm so sorry, I thought..you're my mate and everything was going so well..I just thought.."
She nodded miserably into his chest, remembering Paul's words, his comment about the champagne. They had all thought it would be such a sure thing..what would be a sure thing? A sure thing that she would embrace a world of vampires, a world she had no positive knowledge of?
"..Elizabeth, everything was so perfect.." she could feel him shrug in despair, "I got complacent, I didn't think it could..could go wrong. I'm so sorry.."
She'd heard everything Paul said. It didn't make much sense, it was all confusing but she understood, hurt though she was, that he..they didn't expect her reaction. She knew, deep down, she knew they hadn't intended for her to be as upset as she was, though she couldn't fathom how they had thought she could have reacted any differently.
But his words...she felt a nervous, strange pit form in her stomach, "...mate?" she whispered into his shirt.
"It means exactly what you think it does"
"...Dwayne..."
"Nothing changes, Elizabeth. I love you and you..." he trailed off and she hated the hesitation, the question in his tone.
"I love you" she whispered. She did, with all her heart.
It was petrifying.
She was scared, she was worried...she didn't know what the future held, but she knew in her heart that she belonged with him.
She loved him.
"...Dwayne, I'm so scared" she said, her voice shaky, her head still buried in his chest, "..there are so many...everything has...I don't know"
"I love you" he said, his voice deep and steady, "and I understand your fear. I do..but nothing changes, not now. Not for a long time. Everything is at your pace..."
She didn't know what everything was...
"…please trust me"
She slowly pulled away from him and he loosened his hold, his hands falling down to her sides.
"I do trust you" she told him slowly, "I'm..."
"You have nothing to fear from telling me the truth" he assured her.
"I'm scared"
He kissed her damp forehead, "I'm sorry"
She nodded and took a small, shuddering breath.
He gave no excuses and she appreciated it.
"David-"
"Isn't here" Dwayne said quickly and Elizabeth nodded, "Paul will be gone, too. It's just us"
"...Marko?"
"Left before.." his voice trailed off a little and she understood why.
What should he say? What could he say? 'Marko left before I revealed myself to be a vampire?' or perhaps, 'Marko left before you were hunted by David and a laughing Paul' or why not be really blunt and say, 'Marko left before our happiness exploded into a horror movie'?
Dwayne touched her arm gently, bringing her back into the conversation.
"I'll take you home whenever you want to go. You won't see anybody"
She didn't know if could meet their eyes ever again.
Everything had seemed so magical, so dreamlike, so wonderful and perfect and the entire time, the entire time she had been in awe of her surroundings, of the company she was keeping...they had known what was going to come.
Had they laughed about it?
"..it's not a fairy tale….it's a nightmare" Elizabeth whispered with watery eyes. She felt tired, mentally drained and her awe from mere hours before seemed so disgustingly childish.
He smiled sadly at her, moving his hand to softly wipe at her wet cheeks. Without a tissue it was a lost cause. He cupped her cheek gently before shaking his head, "it isn't a nightmare, Elizabeth" he assured her, "I love you. I will always love you and support you-"
He caught the look on her face and sighed softly, "...they're idiots but Paul was telling the truth, they're..they.." he obviously knew how frightened and how stung she was, he was choosing his words so carefully, "they like you"
She still felt hurt, small. She had been a joke to them.
Her lips shook, "you're…you're kneeling in my vomit" she whispered tiredly, feeling numb and exhausted "…that doesn't happen in fairy tales.."
"Doesn't happen in nightmares, really" he said, leaning in and giving her a chaste, small kiss before wiping at her chin with a kind smile, "and heroines don't have carrot upchuck on their chin either-"
She laughed but it came out as a tired, sad bark. She shook her head.
"-but fairy tales are stupid. Nightmares are nothing. Let's make our own story...OK?"
She nodded, her lips quivering again.
"Come here" he whispered, opening his arms once more.
She closed her eyes and accepted his embrace, finally relenting and letting the exhaustion wash over her.