She and Eric dropped out of the tree, behind the men and they turned and cocked their guns at them. She heard Eric say something in Japanese before she and Eric leapt at them, killing them easily before they got into the blue car and Eric raced off, headed back to Fangstasia. She looked at him and smiled.
"What?" he asked and she laughed.
"Head banging?" she asked and he shrugged and she laughed.
"Marry me?" he asked and she smiled.
"Yeah alright" she said and giggled as he smirked and carried on driving. She arrived back at Fangtasia and looked at Eric.
"I should go and see Jess" she said and he nodded.
"Be careful" he said and she smiled.
"I will" she said and kissed them raced for Bill's house. She entered the foyer just in the middle of a conversation and gasped when she saw the man there.
"Hoyt?" she asked and he smiled at her.
"Keely, hi" he said and she smiled and hugged him then looked at Bill then Jessica.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked and they all smiled at her.
"No" Jessica said and held out her hand. Keely crossed the room and took her hand, ignoring Bill's frown and Hoyt's flinch from the blood on her face and splattered on her clothes.
"I don't want you to die Bill" Jessica cut into the pleasantries between Bill and Hoyt.
"That's what I came to say" Jessica added.
"I know you don't, sweetheart" Bill said.
"But also…I wanted to say that I will be fine" Jessica said and Keely smiled softly and saw Bill's face soften.
"On the way over, I thought about it and that's what I would want to hear from me if I was you" she explained softly.
"So that's what I came up with" she said shyly and Keely saw Bill look at her then at Jessica.
"I'm never gonna understand why you're doing this but one way or another, I'll figure out a way to accept it. And I will, Bill. I will be ok" Jessica said and Keely stepped away to let Bill hug Jessica.
"Thank you, Jess. That's exactly what I needed to hear" he said softly as they hugged.
"You're warm" Jessica said and Bill pulled away as Keely sighed, sadly.
"Yeah, I know. Thank you for bringing her home" Bill said to Hoyt, gratefully.
"Yes, Sir" Hoyt nodded.
"And if there's anything I can do for you" Hoyt offered.
"Your decision to stay, I assume that Jessica's part of the reason for that?" Bill said and Keely held in her giggle.
"She's the whole reason" he said and Keely smiled.
"I apologize in advance for being presumptuous but I guess as a dying man I get to take certain liberties" Bill said and Keely frowned at him as did Jessica and Hoyt.
"You think that you might one day get around to asking Jessica to marry you?" Bill asked and she gasped as did Jessica as Hoyt coughed.
"Whoa, Bill. Oh, my God. Hoyt, I am so, so sorry. No it's really early to be having those…" Jessica began.
"Yes, sir, I do" Hoyt cut in and she and Jessica gaped at him.
"What do you say, Jess? You wanna make an honest man out of me one day?" he asked and Keely blinked.
"Hoyt could we have a minute will Bill alone?" she asked and he nodded and Keely went to Jessica's room with Bill following them. They walked and Keely closed the door and Bill looked at them.
"Jess, I'm sorry but…" Bill began.
"Quiet" Jessica cut in.
"Just listen, okay?" she asked and Bill looked at them.
"I wish that we hadn't spent an embarrassingly huge amount of our childhoods, dreaming about our wedding days. I wish I was above all that, but I am not. I might be a vampire, Bill, but I am also a girl. Hell, even Eric managed to be romantic and he's a very un-romantic kinda guy" Jessica commented and Keely smiled softly, glancing at her diamond ring.
"And what just happened down there isn't anything like what I dreamed about" Jessica said.
"Jess, he loves you" Bill said.
"He doesn't know me. His memories of me start yesterday" Jessica said and Keely smiled.
"That's more than enough time to fall in love with someone" Bill replied.
"When it's real, it can happen in an instant" Keely added and then paused when Bill grunted and slumped down onto the chair and she and Jessica sat either side of him, worriedly.
"May I explain myself?" he asked.
"You can try" Jessica nodded.
"I'll give you two a minute, I should change before I freak anyone else out" she said and left the room to quickly shower and put on a pair of blue jeans, a simple light blue top and a pair of blue flip-flops. She was drying her wet hair when Jessica burst into the room.
"I'm getting married…today" she said and Keely leapt up and gaped.
"What? You were shouting at him 5 minutes ago" she said and Jessica smiled softly.
"I know but I mean we don't know how long he has left. He didn't get to give his human daughter away. He wants to know that I'll be ok, that I'll be taken care of when he leaves. Hoyt wants to marry me, why wait when nothing is going to change?" she asked and Keely looked at her best friend and smiled.
"What are you gonna wear?" she asked and Jessica smiled and hurried to hug each other before pulling out their phones to call people. Keely smiled as she helped Jessica do her hair and then Sookie arrived with a few nice white/ivory dresses. She smiled when Jessica put on the one she wanted and then helped her do her make-up and finish her hair before Keely slipped on the dress of hers that Jessica loved. It was pale blue chiffon with spaghetti straps and Jessica loved it. She curled her dark hair, pulling back the front pieces and pinning them out of the way.
"Keely" Jessica said and she looked at her.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked and Keely smiled.
"Remember Mrs. Clark? Our 4th grade teacher?" she asked and Jessica frowned.
"Yeah" she frowned.
"Remember that really old movie she made us watch with Barbara Streisand in it? And there was a guy singing that he'd fallen in love in an instant?" she asked and Jessica sighed and nodded.
"Jess, honey, Hoyt's memories could have started two hours ago and he would still feel the same. When you told me how you met and how you felt, Jess, I knew it the minute you explained it to me. You and Hoyt; you were made for each other. You're like two halves of the same person. It took me a year to figure out that I loved Eric, you and Hoyt knew in seconds" she said and saw Jessica's shy smile.
"I have no idea what your future will be like Jess but I promise you that no matter, we'll go through it together" she said and Jessica smiled.
"Hopefully you'll be married by then" she teased and Keely smiled.
"Hopefully" she agreed and they hugged tightly.
"I love you Keely and I think you might be wrong. Me and Hoyt aren't Soul Mates, me and you are" Jessica said and Keely smiled.
"Defiantly" she said and Jessica smiled and they hugged again.
"Tissues" they laughed as they drabbed away the trickling bleeds. They heard a knock and Sookie got up to answer the door.
"They sent me up here to see if ya'll were just about ready" Arlene's voice said.
"Just putting on the final details" Keely smiled as Sookie opened the door.
"Can I see her?" Arlene asked.
"I could use another set of eyes" Jessica said.
"Why, you don't trust me?" she asked and Jessica smiled at her.
"No, I trust you. It's just..." Jessica said, nervously.
"I'm kidding, Jess" she said and looked at Sookie and Arlene.
"Oh, girl, you don't need another minute. You're perfect" Arlene gushed and Keely smiled. She walked down the stairs and stopped at the bottom with Jessica.
"I'll go get Bill" Sookie said and Keely smiled.
"I am so jealous. You and Hoyt saw each other again two days ago and you're getting married. It's taken Eric and I like 4 years" she laughed and Jessica laughed.
"Eric would marry you right now too if he were here" Jessica said and she smiled.
"I know but I made him promise I could have the wedding of my dreams, just changing the timing" she laughed and Jessica smiled at her. They heard the music and Keely smiled.
"I'll see you inside" she said and walked into the living room, sharing a smile with Bill as he gently flicked her under the chin and she smiled and stood next to Jason. She stood with a bright, excited smile as she watched her sister and best friend get married. She giggled as Arlene turned off the music and she looked at Jessica with a bright smile.
"Please be seated" Andy Bellefleur said and she went to sit when Jessica took her hand, keeping her, standing up. She frowned but did as Jessica wanted. She listened to Andy's speech and smiled.
"Who gives Jessica away in marriage to this man?" Andy asked.
"I do" Bill said and she smiled as Jessica and Bill hugged.
"And so does my sister" Jessica said and Keely smiled and nodded.
"I do too" she said.
"Don't go" Jessica said when she and Bill went to step away.
"We're right here. We're right behind you" Bill said and Keely nodded and sat down beside Bill on the arm of the sofa. She dabbed away the blood as she watched, trying not to start blubbering like a baby. She felt a hand in hers and saw Bill looking at her and she smiled and looked back at Hoyt and Jessica. She handed Jessica another tissue and they shared a teary-eyed smile. She smiled and then cheered and clapped when they kissed.
"That was great and all but if we don't get some sleep…" Keely began and everyone laughed and began to leave as Hoyt went to Jessica's room and she headed to hers and looked at Bill when he stopped her.
"I'm proud of you too" he said and she smiled at him
"You are?" she asked and he nodded.
"You and Jessica are so close, so strong together and she's gonna need you" he said and she looked at him.
"It's not too late Bill" she said and he looked at her.
"I have made peace with my decision. I think about my human family, my wife, my daughter, my son. They're all buried in the ground but mine is fake. Mine is a lie. I wish to be with them" he said and she looked at him, letting a tear fall.
"You're quite the man Bill Compton" she said and he smiled her.
"And you are no longer the young, stubborn, petulant teenager I first met. You're a young woman and I am very proud and pleased to have met you" he said and she smiled.
"So am I, even if you were a little stuffy at first" she teased and he chuckled.
"Goodnight" he said and kissed her hand.
"Goodnight Bill" she said and went into her room. The next night she left for Fangtasia, letting Jessica and Hoyt be alone. Eric and Pam had agreed to stay and help her clean up the rest of the bar, put away the inventory but then they would be going to start New Blood. They'd decided to make her part of their business management and marketing team but she'd decided to just be a consultant, putting most of her time and effort into Fangtasia. She lifted up to put a bottle of Jack Daniel's onto the shelf when she felt agony rip through her.
"Jessica" she gasped and fainted backwards into a stunned Eric and dropping the bottle.
"What?" he asked and it was then it hit her and she began to cry.
"Bill" she whispered and raced to Bill's house without another word. She ran into the house and crossed the foyer just as Jessica ran down the stairs. They fell into each other, Keely forcing herself to stay stronger as Jessica sobbed and clung to her.
"Bill" Jessica whimpered and she nodded.
"I know, I felt your pain" she whispered back and hugged her best friend tightly, allowing Jessica to cry herself to sleep. She looked up at Hoyt as he watched with his own watering eyes before she placed her head onto Jessica's and cried with her sister.
