Once again Lily was in a deep slumber and another dream was coming to her. It had hardly begun, but one thing was for sure - it was dark. The ominousness in the air was thick. Lily was expecting her mother to come to approach her and even though in her awakened state she felt ready to approach her, she suddenly felt the tight throat feeling she had every time her mother appeared. Desperately, she tried to gain the courage before she showed up, but nothing was coming to her.

Eventually, she saw the shape of a person. Certain it was her mother again, Lily gathered everything in her and she felt ready to finally put out some words. Suddenly, the energy changed completely and the shape of the person dissipated in front of her very eyes.

"No!" She yelled into the never-ending distance, the muggy and somewhat suffocating darkness caving in around her, "Come back!" She demanded. Her courage was surprising her - the fact she was able to finally have a voice towards her dead mother that had kept showing up to her. The courage quickly turned to confusion as the tone of the environment and the feeling inside her changed drastically. The nervous pit in her stomach vanished, and suddenly insides were hot and she felt her heart fluttering. Yet the dark ominous feeling still stuck around her.

Lily was startled when she felt something behind her. Turning quickly, she was shocked to see a figure. Before she could realize what was going on, there were hands around her and immediately she felt her body get burning hot. The figure embracing her so heatidly didn't say anything, but in an instant, Lily was wrapped and entwined with it and suddenly it felt all too familiar. By instinct, she pressed her mouth against the mysterious figure harder than ever. It was in an instant she realized it was Cassidy - or maybe her mind just made it that way. Either way, she wasn't complaining.

That darkness still lingering around her...

Finding its' way closer and closer...

She ignored it - easily.

Things were moving so fast, Lily felt like she may be a few seconds behind him - she noticed his mouth was not on hers any more, as he began kissing her cheek, his mouth trailing downward from her neck to her collarbone. She was unable to refrain from moaning with excitement. It had been a while since Lily had been laid and even though this was a dream, it was one of the most exciting and self-satisfying experiences she'd had in a long time. It was so clear and felt so real, it was hard to believe it wasn't reality.

That eerie darkness.. growing closer...

It was easy for her to ignore it with the pleasurable distraction happening, but it was also enticing. Her mind wavered on embracing it for only a moment before it was decided. Grabbing onto the back of Cassidy's head she pulled him back to get a look into his eyes. They were unfamiliar - not the Cassidy she recognized. His usual fogged over hazy eyes were instead a piercing red. His teeth were barred and suddenly the darkness that had just surrounded her had found itself a place inside of Cassidy, it seemed.

She should've been scared, in a hurry to get away, but instead the fire in her burned hotter and her mouth watered. Losing all control of herself, she felt as if she was watching the ordeal in third person. A small breath of anticipation escaped her mouth, her eyes filled with desire as they burned into Cassidy's before dropping to his jagged teeth displayed out in what should have been an intimidating sight to her. They each held still, and before she knew it within a split second, his teeth were sunken into her and he had her pinned to the ground.

Lily should have screamed for fear of her life, but instead she moaned in intense pleasure, feeling practically the intensity of an orgasm. Under her chin, he began ripping her neck apart, and she could feel the blood gushing out of her as if it was actually happening. The fire burning inside of her slowly depleting as the life was literally drained from her, each second his grip around her getting tighter and tighter.

Her vision, though blurry, was able to bring out the sight of him pulling back from her, looking down to bask in satisfaction at the last of her life slip away. Instead, she laughed feebly, looking up at him with the blood pouring down from his mouth and strings of skin stuck between his teeth.

In that moment, it seemed the darkness that consumed this dream-Cassidy diminished slightly.

It looked like she threw him for a loop - he hadn't been expecting that reaction. The look on his face was confused and she clawed up feebly at him, "Keep going." She choked out, feeling close to a climax even though he was nowhere near her pleasure spots and was instead ripping her to pieces, "Oh," She moaned, "It feels so good, keep going."

Releasing his harsh grasp from around her, he stood up and began backing away slowly and suddenly it became obvious that whatever the darkness was that consumed Lily's dream - it wasn't working against her as intended.

...

In an alarming jolt, Lily sprung up from the bed, her breathing almost rapid. Cassidy had already been awake, waiting for her to wake up as he placed an arm around her and comforting her, "Shh, it's okay, it's okay, yer awake now." He assured, "Yer awake."

Still trying to catch her breath and compile her thoughts, Lily stared at him, entirely shocked with herself. What the hell was that? Why'd her mind twist that encounter in such a dementedly awful way?

Cassidy's voice pulled her out of her shameful train of thought briefly, "Don't tell me ye saw er?" He asked both in a curious and intrigued manner, "Yer ma?"

Lily shook her head slowly, her mouth dry as she struggled to get the images of what she had just dreamed out of her head, "No." The idea of Cassidy knowing what she had just dreamt was mortifying. Taking her hands she closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair and dropped her head, struggling to suppress the need to scream in embarrassment.

With a sigh, Cassidy shifted his weight to better face her, "I could 'ear yer heart racin', but I didn't want t'interrupt anythin', like." He justified. Taking a quick breath in, Lily raised her head, unable to look at Cassidy in the eye, but sensing his uneasiness, "It's fine." She reassured him, "It's fine. It was nothing."

Cassidy didn't seem satisfied with that answer, his mouth went crooked and he let out a groan, "Hm."

Raising her brow and finally looking at him, she raised her brow, "What?" She asked a bit defensively.

Shaking his head and straightening up a bit, he struggled to find his words for a brief moment, "I woke up cause I felt somethin' wrong wit ye - yer heart was pounding and yer breathing started t'get..." He thought about a way to explain it, "-well.." He dragged.

Lily shook her head impatiently, "It wasn't anything, Cassidy." Her tone was a bit too defensive, making it fairly obvious she was hiding something. With another grunt, Cassidy sighed, "It didn't sound like nothin', that's'all I'm sayin'." He groaned with obvious doubt.

Shaking her head again, Lily scoffed softly, "I don't remember what was happening." She lied.

Too curious, and maybe a bit too eager to call her on her bullshit to find out what she was hiding, Cassidy prodded, "Well ye were moanin' like crazy." Lily had to force herself to hold the immediate defence she had for herself - her mouth hung open and the words almost had come out on their own. Then, she took a moment and realized why Cassidy was pretty much cornering her to tell him what she'd dreamt about.

The realization hit her - he'd heard her moaning he said. So that was it. Maybe telling him she had a sex dream would shut him up. She didn't dare tell him the truth - but maybe she could get him off of her back and she could finally just forget about everything that had just happened without him nagging about it.

Reaching for her phone at her side, she checked the time - it was the middle of the night, nearly three in the morning. With a soft groan, she felt his eyes still burning into the back of her head as she placed her phone back down and finally found it in her to bring her eyes to his - it was dark, but she could make them out, and she was thankful that they weren't the eyes she saw in her dream, "I-" She started quietly, "..was probably moaning because..." She took a breath in as he instinctively leaned in closer to her, his brows raised as he waited for the words he had been waiting for, "I do vaguelyremember-" She lied again, nothing vague about the clear as day images burning in her mind, "-I guess.." As her painfully slow words came out, her brow furrowed a bit, trying her best to try to seem like she was trying to gather her memory when really she was trying to be careful at how much she let come out of her mouth. Cassidy watched, practically holding his breath as he waited for her to spit it out, as she finally let one shoulder shrug, "I guess it was sort of like a sex dream." She finally admitted.

Cassidy nodded, his mouth twitching a bit in satisfaction as she finally told him the truth - well, not anything near the entire truth, but Cassidy didn't know that.

"Hm." He hummed, a flutter in his stomach. He found it so endearing how bashful she'd been about telling him. It had been such a tense several minutes for Cassidy, the way Lily had been squirming in her skin as she was asleep made him worry for her. At first he thought it was fear, the way her heart had been racing, but soon she'd began moaning - softly, at first. Cassidy had been confused at first, but still worrisome for what she had been going through. But soon, the soft moans turned into the distinct ones he recognized were not fearsome. It was blatant to him that she had been enjoying herself - maybe a little too much.

Considering the last couple weeks had revolved around Tulip dying, terrifying revelations of the Custer's family history (and present), and the fact they were all practically held hostage in Angelville against their will - it hadn't exactly been the ideal environment for a person's libido to thrive.

But suddenly in this moment, it was very obvious how tense they both were, it had been a long time since either of them had experienced any form of pleasure.

Cassidy took a quick breath in, his mouth suddenly watering, "About me, I'd hope." He teased. Lily immediately let out a soft chuckle from her nose, practically feeling her heart in her throat, "Yea." She admitted simply, trying not to show on her face all the details she was trying to hide.

Lily suddenly noticed just how heated she still was, the initial reaction from waking up had been embarrassment and shame, but now she was much more relaxed and realizing how warm and fuzzy she was feeling inside as she stared at Cassidy nearly naked at her side.

With his mouth forming a crooked frown, Cassidy titled his head slightly, "Well, y'don't seem like ye were too impressed, like." He groaned a bit miserably, hoping to hear some reassurance that would lead to the end of the tension between them and begin some pleasure for the first time in what felt like forever.

Still finding it incredibly difficult to hold eye contact with him, she did her best to not waver or crumple up into a ball of shame - afraid for him to ever know how truly twisted her sex dream had been. Soon she tried to focus on the present moment. This wasn't the corrupt Cassidy she'd dreamt of - his eyes proved that. Once again, her mind was settled again, the small bit of space between them burning like fire.

He glared a bit deeper into her when he didn't get a response, jabbing a bit deeper to entice some dirty reciprocation, "Which is odd, really, since it sure sounded like y'were a few minutes ago." His tone of voice was challenging. Pressing her lips in a straight line, she raised her brows, before taking a quick breath in, "Well, it was you... but it wasn't you." It was like the words were coming out on their own, feeling as she'd been a bit too truthful. The ping of shame and embarrassment hit her again as she remembered how demented her mind had been towards Cassidy's character. Cassidy was waiting for a more assertive statement from Lily, but he could hardly handle it any longer, he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into a hard kiss - causing the mortifying feeling that consumed Lily once again to melt away in an instant.

They'd kissed many times the last several days, but this one was with very different intentions. Lily could feel her insides heat up and her skin tingle in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time in anticipation of where things between them were leading. Her body felt numb and she hardly realized she was just sitting there until she finally found it in her to lift her heavy arms and wrap them around him.

Part of her wondered if the darkness she saw in the dream lingered in reality - but she realized almost immediately that wasn't the case. There was too much warmth. With his lips and arms tight around her, Cassidy felt the buzzing of excitement inside of him as well, but he was still hoping for some more from her before things really started. He pulled away, their lips still nearly touching. His voice soft, but his tone was testing, "Well was I good or was I bad?" He asked, referring to the dream again. Lily knew his intentions with that question. By now she new there was always some kind of build up before they had sex - Cassidy enjoyed getting a raise out of her before she got what she wanted - that had alwaysbeen the case. Usually Lily didn't have the patience to play tough for long, giving into his ploy not long after it started. But right now, she was too scared to speak. What if somehow something she said gave him an idea of what Lily had dreamt of?

Cassidy's mind wandered as he noticed the difference in her. This whole thing between the two of them had stemmed from the beginning - a classic back and forth banter that led to what they both wanted - though at the beginning Lily never admitted it, which is what made it so sweet.

At first, it had driven Cassidy crazy how in denial Lily was, claiming that there was nothing between them when they both knew damn well there was. He remembered one instance, pinning her against the fridge back in the church in Annville, Jesse leading a mass on the other side of the wall as Cassidy held Lily in a rightful place in a heated moment, barely kissing her, just to drive her crazy enough to claw at him and demand he hurry along. The sense of satisfaction he got when she finally admitted in all of the self-righteous denial she stood upon that she needed it as much as he did.

That had just become the norm, and they both enjoyed it. Cassidy wondered to himself.. Why did it feel different in this moment? Was it because it had been so long since they'd been affectionate? Was it because now she was no longer in denial of her desire for him that she couldn't entertain the banter? There was something off beat, and it was Lily.

Cassidy was relieved when he noticed Lily take a breath in, pulling his mind from the spiral it was tangled up in. Lily hardly thought of her response, her voice rasping it out gently, "Bad." She stated, "You were very bad." At the same time, she felt her mouth begin to water in anticipation. Closing the small space between them, Lily kissed him again - harder this time, but Cassidy pulled away again. There was a playful spark in his eyes, and he wondered if the tables had turned and she was trying to get more of a raise out of him - Cassidy knew it had just been a dream, but if she was serious and he was bad? For whatever reason it hurt his ego. Was she being honest? He wondered. She sounded honest. It was hard to read the tone she'd just said that sentence in.

Pulling back a little further to better see her face, he studied her for a moment. A chill of fear went through her, her heart dropping as she almost expected him to suddenly know what she saw. Cassidy read her face and realized judging by the way her heart was pounding and her eyes were burning with anticipation, maybe it was a different kind of bad... She relaxed slightly when she saw his smirk. Cassidy letting out a quiet laugh as he kissed down her cheek to her ear, trailing down her neck - a trick he knew always made her give in and tell him what he wanted to hear, "I can't tell if y'mean that in a good way or not." His words were muffled against her skin and she felt like bursting into hysterics at how good it felt to be in this moment with him - but she kept her mouth shut, afraid what might come out.

Her mind raced back to the dream, his mouth tearing her throat apart, Keep going! She had demanded, It feels so good!

A shiver went through her - Cassidy felt it, passing it off as a wave of pleasure - which was half true, but the other part of the truth was as the nasty images of her getting off to him tearing her apart flashed in her mind again, the wave of embarrassment consumed her yet again.

Cassidy finally felt like he was close to cracking her - he waited for her words to challenge him to hurry up, to finally hear her groan, to beg him, plead at him - anything. He just wanted to tear her clothes off and finally give it to her. Usually Cassidy had to deal with a good amount of self control himself, but Lily was always the one to crack, though right now, Cassidy wasn't sure if he could stay pieced together much longer.

When she stayed still, nearly holding her breath, not giving him any sort of idea, he felt himself nearly burst out of his skin in impatience. He pulled back in a quick motion to look at her again, and she felt his annoyance, a slight growl escaping from him and she could swear he was glaring - a glimpse of the Cassidy she'd seen in her dream in his eyes, or was she imagining that? She felt a pit begin to form in her stomach.

Lily felt lightheaded suddenly, staring at him as he sat there motionless.

The groan he'd let out startled her, "Just tell me-" He hissed between clenched teeth, "Do I need t'redeem myself-" He asked, referring to the supposed 'very bad' performance he'd delivered to her in the dream, "Or do I need to live up to some sort of expectation, like?" He asked the loaded question with patience running thin. Whatever her answer was, it would be good enough to jump to it.

With her mouth dry, Lily didn't answer. She was afraid what more of the truth she was unwillingly spill, her heart pittering faster than usual.

Cassidy felt himself crack, his voice was harsh and it reminded Lily of the version of Cassidy in her dream, although this was reality and instead of being attracted in the sick way she had in the dream, Lily became scared for her life. "Lily." He growled impatiently, squeezing his grip on her harder, "Tell me." He demanded through barred teeth.

In his tight grasp, Lily's eyes were glued to his teeth and she felt as if her heart might stop. The flashes of the dream felt like reality again, and it was hard to tell the difference suddenly between the dream-Cassidy and reality-Cassidy. She lost her breath, her heart dropping as she struggled to balance herself again.

Cassidy had noticed the drastic shift in her energy right away, immediately releasing his grasp around her and shedding away whatever demeanor he'd put on for their usual sexual banter. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she struggled to erase the horror that was replaying over and over in her mind.

"Wot? Wot's amatter?" He asked softly, his tone of voice and energy entirely familiar again to her, but she was too scared to look. He backed away a little further, giving her some space as he worried if he took things too far. His hands were still on her, barely touching her skin. With his heart dropping a bit more at the sight of how disturbed she looked, he began to panic, "L-Lily." He stuttered in worry, "Wot's goin' on?" Leaning his head a little further down, he could see her eyes still squeezed shut and he could feel and hear her heart racing even faster.

"Lily, please, talk to me." Cassidy begged, feeling helpless as he wasn't sure what was even happening. The sting of guilt inside of him hurt Cassidy. He'd had a lot of experience in his time, and something he knew from that experience was when he scared someone - and Lily looked petrified. His mind was racing about every word and move he'd just made leading up to this moment, trying to figure out where he went wrong exactly, his brain scrambling to try and find a way to fix what damage was done.

Having lost control for a brief moment, Lily finally had her head back on straight. The terrible flashes of the dream had stopped and she could tell by the energy around her and Cassidy reassuring her that she was safe again. Letting out a heavy sigh, her chest was tight but she was able to open her eyes and sit upright. When she looked at Cassidy in front of her she felt so awful, he was even paler than he usually was.

She could see his chest skip up a few times as he took a choppy breath in, "Lily, I'm so sorry." His voice was strained, and Lily felt awful about how terrible he felt, "I thought we were jus' playin' around like we always do. I'm sorry." He said again, regret and shame surging through him.

Feeling sick to her stomach at how backwards it was that Cassidy felt guilty, Lily shook her head, taking a breath in and knowing she had to take accountability for everything that just happened, "Cassidy it wasn't anything you did." Lily assured him. With his heart feeling like it was stuck in his throat, Cassidy swallowed. A wave of relief should have consumed him, but not yet, he waited to find out what had just gone wrong. Lily's face said it all - there was more to know.

"Cass." She sighed. He looked so eager to hear from her, intently staring at her and his heart in his throat. Blinking a few times before she spoke again, the words flew out of her mouth easier than anticipated, "You killed me in my dream."

Unwillingly, Cassidy twitched. Feeling the sudden urge to throw up. Instead, he was able to find the courage to speak - his words were careful and slow, each one sounding like it's own sentence, "Lily." His stare was as serious as ever, "I would never-" "I know." She interrupted quickly, "That's not it." His brow twitched a bit and his mouth was twisted in a sickened way. If that wasn't the reason she was acting so off beat, what was it? He wondered, what could possibly be worse than that? The idea was burned into his mind. With his throat tight, and his stomach twisted, he kept his mouth shut and listened to her.

"There was this... thing in the dream... From the very beginning." She stopped for a moment, realizing how much easier it was just to be honest and talk about what had happened out loud, but harder in the sense that she had to piece it all together into words, "It was like a presence, not like a person but an obvious feeling." There was a break as she tried to find the terms and proper description to express what she had felt, "An energy. It was dark." Cassidy's eyes burned into hers, listening to each word intently as he struggled to understand. Lily continued, "Then, there was someone else there, first. I couldn't see who." The more she remembered it and talked it out, the more she was understanding herself, "Then the thing... the energy... the... the..." Her mouth shut into a straight light, as her face scrunched, trying to find a way to decribe it, "The.. darkness got thicker. It surrounded me suddenly, like it wasn't behind my back anymore it was everywhere. The feeling changed. Then another person appeared. I didn't know who it was, I didn't know it was you. I think I just made it out to be you after so long." She admitted to herself, mostly, but Cassidy listened all the more intrigued, "Then, at first I thought the darkness went from around me into you." She stopped for several seconds, recollecting everything that happened. Suddenly, she wasn't ashamed or embarrassed anymore, for some reason she was simply coming to terms what had happened, "But I think it went in me."

Shaking his head slightly, Cassidy didn't understand, "I killed you-" His stomach twisted in a tighter knot, "n'yer sayin' you think that... darkness, as you call it, right?...Yer sayin' it went into you?" He stated doubtfully more than asked as a question. By the sounds of it, to Cassidy at least, it sounded like he was the dark part of that nightmare.

Had Lily's dream just warned her how full of darkness he was? His heart dropped, but why had she been moaning the way she had been - the sounds she had been making didn't make it out to be in fear or struggle. Lily shook her head back at him, answering his question as if she could read his mind, "Because I told you to do it." She explained, "I-I begged you to do it." She explained quickly, "You were ripping apart at me, it felt so real, I mean I could feel the life being drained from me-" The urge to vomit became more apparent when his mouth began watering, he couldn't possibly know what Lily had seen herself exactly, but Cassidy had had his fair share of fucked up fantasies of tearing her apart, but he'd never imagined her begging for him to sink his teeth into her the same way she begged him for sex. As his mouth watered more at the thought, he cleared his throat, her heartbeat pulsing extra loud for him now. It had been a long time since he'd felt this battle inside of him, but Lily seemed to find a way to bring it out quickly.

He didn't want to tell her to stop talking about it, because he was thankful she was being as open as she was and she needed someone to talk to, and that someone to talk to should be him - ideally - but also he was afraid he'd lead her on to exactly how much he was struggling with the circumstances now in his mind.

Lily's voice pulled him out of his internal struggle slightly, "I think there's something really wrong with me, Cass." He glanced up at her, his teeth suddenly feeling much more promenant inside his mouth the more it watered. He was careful to keep his mouth shut in a flat line as he simply stared at her, afraid if he said anything that salvia may spill out of his mouth. He was sick with himself as much as he was tempted - his heart brawling with natural instinct ingrained in him.

He suppressed as much as he could, until she reached out and wrapped her hand around his arm, a motion that should've been endearing, but her pulse was now connected to him. Her words were muffled by the sound of her heartbeat banging into his mind, "I-.." Lily started again, choking on the words for a moment before she finally found the courage to spit them out, "The more you came at me, the better it felt." She confessed, "That's why I think the darkness was in me, not you. It felt like we were having sex, but you were just tearing me apart. I enjoyed it." Her words burned into Cassidy, bringing up all sorts of bothersome emotions inside of him. He remembered her moaning, but he would not have imagined in a million years it was because of that. Cassidy felt his limits hit near a dangerous end zone. He was quick to get up from the bed, "Be right back." He grumbled quickly, barely opening his mouth as he spoke. Lily watched him walk towards the washroom.

After several minutes, Cassidy had gained control again. Lots of deep breathing and change of mind helped. Though the only thing between him and the scent of Lily and the sound of her heartbeat was a thin wall, it sure made it hard but finally he was able to gather himself.

When he walked back to the bed she sat unmoved, her eyes looked up at him as he found his way back into his spot, and he worried if she'd bring it up again that he might just snap harshly.

"Are you scared?" She asked softly. She knew she was. So much had happened in the last week or so and there was more unknown than ever before.

Cassidy stared at her in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes and let out a gentle laugh in bewilderment, "I've told ye before how hard it is fer me-" His words stopped suddenly, he held his breath and he let out a disheartening groan from behind his hands that dragged down his face. He didn't have to finish that sentence, it went without being said. Of course she knew, he'd told her how much he'd struggled with her blood, with her life, with the temptation of killing her.

Finally, he moved his hands off his face and let them fall in a defeated thump to his side as he looked back up to her, "Yer askin' me if I'm scared." He stated flatly.

Lily seemed to ignore Cassidy's remark, "I don't know what that was." She sighed, and it felt like a weight was lifted off of her in a sense, but she was terrified of herself all the same. Dreams had held a different meaning to Lily and it was hard to tell what would become of something and what was just an average nightmare.

He swallowed, "Scared it meant somethin', like?" Cassidy wondered, worried she may have figured it to be one of her premonitions. She shook her head, "No. This was not like that." She assured him, and Cassidy had to admit he felt some relief that Lily didn't believe that was the case.

Looking at her shaking her head, Cassidy's heart dropped again at the broken look on her face, "Scared of myself." Lily's eyes were thoughtful, "I don't recognize myself anymore." She admitted. He saw her eyes get red and he could tell she was holding back tears. He recognized her energy too well - she'd been almost the same right after they had arrived in Angelville, when Tulip was still dead. Cassidy and Jesse had gone out to run errands to get the things needed to help revive Tulip, but when they'd gotten back, Cassidy found Lily passed out in the room Tulip's body had been laying in. Soon they'd gone outside for some fresh air and he practically had to chase Lily down the seemingly never-ending gravel driveway into Angelville. When he'd caught up to her there was terror in her eyes, and she pleaded him to leave Angelville. His heart broke remembering how much relief he had felt when the two of them were speeding as fast as they could away from the Hell that was Angelville, but soon, Lily had begun to choke...

This, the way Lily was talking and staring at him in this moment, reminded him of the spiral she had just days ago. The days here had been heavy, Cassidy knew that Lily was going through a lot to process, and he didn't doubt there were things going on with herself that of course she didn't understand. Angelville was sucking the life out of her... maybe her dream had been a metaphor for that, Cassidy wondered.

Instinctively, Cassidy was quick to try and stop the tears before they came, leaning towards her and wrapping his arms around her into a tight hug. By habit, her head was tucked into him, and she listened to the sound of his voice hum from his chest, "I know it's been a rough while." He reassured softly, "N'yev gone through all sorts of shite that I can't begin t'undertand.." With a heavy breath in Cassidy kept her tight in his arms, "But it's not yer fault y'get bloody-" He stopped briefly, realizing bloody may not be the best term, "fuckin'" he corrrected, "stressed out from a night terror to confuse t'one of yer visions or wotever the hell it is ye sometimes go through."

He didn't have a great way with words, but his heart was fully committed to it, and that's what mattered most.

Sniffling slightly, Lily shifted her weight as he pulled back to better look at her, "Thanks, Cass." She whispered, "I had to get it out." She shook her head, knowing he'd stepped away moments ago because it had been too much for him, and he'd been very clear to her how important it was not to bring that out in him and she'd done just that with zero regard. He could see the tinge of guilt on her face, "Hey." Cassidy said, squeezing her arms as he dipped his head low to be eye to eye with her, "I've been through n'seen more fucked up shite than you ever will, alright?" He stated, "Y'can talk t'me about anythin'." He said truthfully. It had been awful to hear the words come out of her mouth - and the emotions that it brewed from them were even worse, but in the end, no matter how terrible it had been for him - he was glad she'd been honest.

There was a slight shift between them, in a good way. Relief. Lily's eyes welled up a bit more as she looked at him and her mouth twitched as she fought the tears, feeling so uncertain about so many things but one thing was for sure - his eyes were familiar and she knew this wasn't anything like the nightmare she just had.

"Cass." She'd said his name in a tone that made him melt, her voice a bit shaky but a distinct element to it. His eyes flickered, but he was too scared to move - unsure if he'd picked it up right.

He realized he'd picked it up perfectly when she kissed him, quick to throw herself overtop of him. As her shirt and loose pajama shorts came off, their lips stayed attached, their breathing getting heavier by the second as the both of them could hardly handle the wait any longer.

Soon, she was underneath him and everything that mattered moments ago had vanished completely. Still, in the back of her mind, Lily wondered how insane she was to be tangling herself into such a vulnerable position with Cassidy - who'd just moments ago needed to step away to suffocate the urge to kill her.

"Very bad." Her words rang in the back of her mind.

Cassidy had said he couldn't tell whether she had meant that in a good way or bad way.

If Lily was being honest with herself, neither could she.