Poppy and James retreated to their bedroom.
"James..." she began. He just smiled and rubbed her cheek.
"I love you, Poppy," he said. He sat down on their bed and motioned for her to follow. She snuggled in his lap, resting her small body on his knee and her curly head on his warm chest.
Nothing else needed to be said. They both knew that. They were soulmates, after all. They could see into each other's minds. They knew each other's faults and accepted them fully.
James didn't want to turn Poppy into a vampire. He liked her as a human - small, elfin, and in need of protection. Although, now that he thought about it, she never really was in need of protection. He had always just wanted to protect her. She was strong and now, as a vampire, she was stronger. He knew that, in her former state, they couldn't have shared their whole lives as much as two vampires could. But...he kept coming back to the what ifs.
What if I could have found a spell?
What if she lived through it on her own?
What if...
He couldn't keep pondering these thoughts, he knew. And yet, looking at Poppy who was lying across his lap, playing with his shirt and kissing his arms, he wished that she was still human.
That she was still pure of the Night World.
"You're a real piece of work, you know?" Mary-Lynette said as the others cleared the room.
Ash smiled playfully and began to play with her hair. "How so?" he drawled. He cautiously looked up, puppy dog eyes begging for forgiveness.
Mary-Lynette just huffed. "You're just an ass," she said, refusing to look at him. He might have annoyed her often - very often - but he was still her soulmate. She couldn't resist his puppy dog eyes even if she tried.
"M'lin," he began, "you know that I'm just playing around. I love you so much. Being with you is the greatest- It's just...I'm not quite sure how to say it. I'm just glad that you're here and that you've forgiven me."
Mary-Lynette shrugged and smiled bashfully. She couldn't stay mad at him. And he had been trying. He had taken down all those enclaves. Hell, he had proposed. "I guess I just don't like your sense of humor."
Ash put his arms around her and squeezed. "But I love everything about you," he said. "And, admit it, I'm dazzlingly hilarious."
Mary-Lynette couldn't hold back her smile from him. She grinned and giggled, snuggling up against him.
"But, there is something that you have to know," Ash said somberly. His mood shifted quickly, confusing Mary-Lynette.
"Is it about the story?" she asked. He nodded. "You did something bad?" He nodded again.
"It was before I met you, and-"
"Ash, I-"
"I was stupid and I thought that I was the best-"
"Seriously, Ash-"
"Looking back, I'm ashamed it even crossed my mind-"
"Ash." She spoke at a low whisper, but with a lot of intensity. "My knight in shining armor, my wonderful vampire...it's okay. You said that there were things in your life that you had to make up for. This is one of those things. You are wonderful and I know that you're doing everything that you can to make up for your wrongdoings. I love you."
Ash couldn't speak. He knew that Mary-Lynette had said before that, as long as he made up for the bad, evil things that he had done, she would forgive him too. He just...didn't expect her to understand so quickly.
"I love you, too, my lady M'lin."
Thea and Eric lay down on their tiny bed. Thea cuddled up facing Eric and sighed.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Thea sat quietly before she said, "Just thinking."
Eric smiled just a little. His thoughtful witch girl. "About what?"
"About us," she said. "About what we had to go through to get to where we are today."
"We're stronger for it."
"We'd better be, with the apocalypse coming." This seemed to strike a chord in Thea's heart and she hiccuped.
Eric pulled her closer. "No, no," he said, shushing her. "We will be fine, Thea. You are so strong and brave. And I can certainly handle myself." He let out a small, self-deprecating laugh and Thea smiled wearily.
"Another thing," she said. "Promise me that you'll never become a Night Person." She said it with such seriousness that Eric was surprised.
"I would never become a vampire," he said. "I hate drinking blood." Another smile.
"No, I meant any kind of Night Person," she explained. "A werewolf, a shifter. I don't want that. I want you. Human Eric."
Eric smiled. "Why would I ever want to be a werewolf or shifter? Honestly, those just sound like the short end of the stick."
"Nevermind," she said. "You're right, they are." But her mind was still reeling. If he was a shifter, he could communicate with animals, something that he had always envied in her. While she thought that he knew that, apparently it wasn't clicking in his mind. She knew that the Night World would tear him apart. And she liked her human boy just the way he was - intelligent, sweet. If he were a Night Person, there would be so many more adjectives that she couldn't imagine him having. Bloodthirsty, animalistic, ruthless. She shuddered just to think about it.
"I love you, Thea Harman."
She hesitated. "Love you, too."
Gillian and David always felt a tad left out in Circle Daybreak. Both of them were raised completely human. It wasn't until about a year ago when Gillian found out that she was a lost witch.
Still, even with that connection, she still wasn't... connected.
"Sometimes I feel like I still don't know what they're talking about," David confessed as he lay his head in her lap. They were sitting on their shared bed and Gillian was brushing the hair away from his face.
She sighed in response. She had dragged David into all of this. Away from his nice home in Pennsylvania, away from his spot in college... and for what? To stop the apocalypse? Gillian was just grasping her powers and David didn't have any. How could they stop the end of the world when they were only human?
"I'm sorry-"
David sat up quickly and put his finger to Gillian's lips. "No, not that again," he said. "You have no right to be sorry. You didn't make me come here; I wanted to come here. I wanted to stay with you."
"But if you're put into danger-"
"Then I'll handle it," he said. "At least I can protect you from here. At least I can hold you and not have to worry about you." He put his large arms around her and Gillian smiled. Just like that, her apologies slipped away. He needed her, he wanted her.
She wanted him.
Gillian rubbed her hands along David's back, kissing his neck. "You know, this break might last a while," she said. Her voice trailed off into a devilish smile. David returned it and scooted her up on the bed.
"Okay, but just this once," he said, kissing her mouth feverishly. The two of them laughed.
"Tell me another story," Rashel said. "About...the 1800s."
"Okay," Quinn says. The two sat comfortably next to each other on their four-poster bed. When they originally entered the house, no one had claimed it (although Thierry seemed to think it belonged to him). Quinn and Rashel fought several other couples for it and came out victorious in the end.
"Let's see..." Quinn began "When I was drafted into the Civil War-"
"You were in the Civil War?" Rashel gasped. Quinn just gave her a lopsided smile.
"Of course," he replied. "There was a draft. Almost everybody had to go.
"Anyway, when I was in the Civil War, I met Ulysses S Grant. He was a pretty cool guy, drunk half the time. Always commanded us around, too. Got on my nerves after a while."
Rashel cut in. "Why didn't you desert?"
Quinn shrugged. "I liked it, I guess. Reminded me of Hunter." The two barked a laugh together. Rashel twisted her wedding band around her finger.
"Who else did you meet?"
"I don't know. Boring military people, mostly. There were a lot of Indians- sorry. Native Americans back then. Not as many as there are now."
"Did you ever meet Lincoln?"
"Loads of times. Saw him give the Gettysburg Address. I carried his bags around during his stay at Gettysburg."
Rashel scoffed. "You always say that you did these cool things; how do I know you're not faking it?"
"I don't know. Aren't you supposed to have, like, unwavering trust for me or something?" he asked sarcastically.
"You said that you were the person who shot the "shot heard around the world" at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. You said that you shot Archduke Ferdinand at the beginning of World War I. And now you were Lincoln's bagboy? I just don't buy it."
Quinn smiled and shrugged again. "Vampire abilities let you do cool things," was all he said.
Rashel rolled her eyes and then rolled on top of him. "You're not supposed to lie to me, John," she said. "I'm your wife."
"I had thirteen concubines when I was an Indian prince," he said with a teasing smile. "One wife doesn't even compare." Rashel play bit his throat and the two broke into fits of giggles.
"Are you angry?"
"Hmm?" Thierry asked, looking up from his spot on the edge of the bed he shared with Hannah. Hannah repeated herself. "No, why do you ask?"
Hannah kneeled behind Thierry and began to give him a shoulder rub. "Because everyone here broke Night World laws," she explained. "Laws that you put into place. It's like...all that work down the drain."
"The laws were put into place to keep both the Night World and the Day World in balance," Thierry said. He sounded tired, old. His thousand or so years were catching up with him. "But now...everything is out of balance anyway." He laughed a little. Hannah stopped rubbing his shoulders and kissed his neck, then his jaw. She slid off of the bed to stand in front of Thierry.
"You're going to stop it, though, right?"
Thierry laughed. "Stop what? Armageddon?"
"Of course," Hannah said. "That's why we're all here, isn't it. Why we're all cooped-up in this place?"
"Well, that's the idea," Thierry said, resting his forehead against hers.
"And we have the Wild Powers and everything," Hannah said. "That means that there is a very good chance that we'll win."
Thierry shrugged. "No one can be sure until the time is upon us."
"Oh, don't give me that bull," Hannah said with a smile. "Say that you believe in our side."
He rolled his eyes. "No."
"Say it." Her smile grew
"Make me."
And so she did.
Jez curled up onto Morgead's chest as they lay in bed together. He lay on his back, one arm around Jez's waist, the other supporting his head. She rested her head on his collarbone and had her leg hitched up along his waist. They were both so silent that they could be sleeping.
Morgead kissed the top of Jez's mane. "What's on your mind?" he asked. While they may be obnoxious in front of the others, most of their days were spent cuddling and fooling around with each other. Jez normally complained about Morgead letting her go soft.
"The world," she said. "You know, the one that I'll have to save eventually."
"Oh yes," he replied. "That world." She nodded in response but said no more. After a few more moments of silence, Morgead wanted more. "What are you specifically thinking about the world?"
"My family - Bracken and Uncle Jim and Aunt Nanami and Ricky and, Goddess, Claire! Not to mention the gang..."
Morgead smiled. "What about me?" he asked playfully, trying to liven her up.
She sighed sadly. "I can't even- I just can't even think about you in this situation, Morgead," she said. "You're all so precious to me. I'd die before I'd let anything bad happen to you."
"Four less one..." Morgead reminded her.
She rolled away from him. "Don't remind me."
But Morgead followed her, curling up against her back, kissing her neck. He brushed a strand of hair away from her shoulder so he could kiss it. "You know," he said, "You should talk about this more. It might make you feel better."
"Training more would help me feel better."
"We could do that too," he replied. "But - and I know this isn't very 'Morgead' - you and I could talk about what's going on in that pretty little red head of yours."
Jez huffed. "You just want to get in my pants." Morgead laughed and even Jez chuckled.
"I'm open to those kinds of suggestions," he said, pulling her close. She batted him away, which only caused more giggling fits and wrestling tactics.
"Don't be stupid," Maggie said. "I bet you couldn't do it again."
Delos stood proudly in front of her, as was his usual position. It seemed to be hard to break this vampire prince out of his old habits. "I bet I could," he retorted. "It was easy enough the first time."
"So then do it now," she replied.
"Well, you're awake now," he said. "I can only come to you in a dream when you're asleep, dummy."
Maggie was trying to convince him that it was impossible for him to come to her in a dream again, like he had the first time they met. "Go back now and catch me in my dream last night," she suggested.
Delos sputtered. "That's preposterous. Obviously I didn't do it because you can't remember it now."
"So you're saying that you couldn't do it?"
"No, that's not the point that I'm trying to make-"
"So do it."
"No."
"I bet you can't."
Delos stopped. "Why do you care?" he asked suddenly. "It's been six months since that first time and now you want it?"
Maggie shifted in her seat. "I don't know..."
Delos just smiled. He knew now why it was so important to her. Since they arrived at "Camp Daybreak" (as Maggie referred to it), Delos hadn't been as loving to her as he had been before. She wanted him to come to her in a dream so that he could prove his love to her.
"Maggie..." he began. "I love you. I don't think that I should have to prove that statement, but if it means that much to you, I'll try to do it." He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and screwed up his face hard. He hummed in concentration as Maggie looked on curiously.
"Wait!" she cried after a few moments. "I believe you. You don't have to do this to prove anything to me. I love you."
She enveloped Delos in a hug, pulling him close to her. Delos just smiled. He knew that he couldn't travel through her dreams again. It had been tough enough the first time. He just wanted to prove a point. And the kiss that she gave him told him that he had proven it well enough.
"Don't scratch me there," Keller said, pulling away from Galen. In her half-and-half form, Galen always liked to scratch behind her ears. Somehow, though, he always managed to scratch too hard.
"Sorry," he apologized, pulling away. "It's just, in this form, you're like a little kitten and sometimes I can't help just squeezing you." He went in for a bearhug that Keller briefly allowed.
"God you're a softie," she said. "Maybe we should adopt a puppy for you or something." Although she sounded off-putting, she was quite content with her soulmate.
Galen squeezed harder. "Nope, you'll do just fine." Keller rolled her eyes and pried him off her. She was happy with Galen. Although he was practically the complete opposite of her, he made her stupendously happy.
"You still need to train," she reminded him. "Have you been keeping up with your schedule?"
Galen ran a hand through his hair. "I-uh...yes..?"
Keller sighed heavily and fell back onto her bed. "Galen, you said that you wanted to learn how to fight. If you don't keep up with the schedule and becoming quicker and stronger, than I can never get you into a real fight."
"I feel like I should just learn in a 'trial by fire' manner, you know?" he suggested.
"No, Galen you can't," she said. "That would get you killed."
Galen pumped his chest up in a laughable manner. "Aren't I supposed to get knocked down a few times before I succeed?"
Keller sighed again. "Galen, I can't put you in the ring until I know that you can handle yourself," she said. It had been months now with this conversation. For all of the arguments Galen had, it seemed to Keller like he didn't actually want to fight.
"I can handle myself," he replied. "I fought that dragon."
"Galen, I will not let you get hurt. I cannot see you get hurt." Keller was breathing heavily as if those uttered, intense phrases took some life out of her.
Galen shifted closer to her. "I promise," he said. "You won't see me get hurt. I can handle it."
"You have to be able to fight in both forms-"
"I know."
"And maybe you should learn how to change into half-and-half like me-"
"Keller, I'll be fine."
"I'm just so worried-"
Galen put an arm around her shoulder. "Honey, you have nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "Set up the fight. I want to prove to you that I can do this." Keller closed her eyes and nodded before resting her head on his shoulder.
Just a little filler chapter of cute fluffy stuff between the couples. Thank you all for reading!