Eris had decided it would be too much work to explain to her cousin and the gang what happened, especially since Buffy would silently panic and then get angry that she couldn't verbalise her panic.

She thought it was better to instead focus on Giles and his explanation of what was happening, especially since several people have had their chests sliced open and their hearts taken out with surgical precision that could rival a neurosurgeon.

They had gathered in the psych class at the university so they could use Professor Walsh's projector. Giles, going into watcher mode, had put on classical music to help give theme music to his explanation. Apparently, Sunnydale was beseeched by fairytale creatures called the Gentlemen. They come to a town and steal all the voices so no one could scream, then steal 7 hearts from their victims who could not call out for help.

There was no way to kill them by mortal means, no sword or gun, but the tale said the scream of the princess killed them.

It was decided that Buffy would once again patrol tonight whilst everyone stayed went home to keep themselves safe.

In the end, the fairytale was on the mortals. Riley and Buffy discovered each other when they went to take on the gentlemen, Willow found herself another witch, Xander showed how much he cared for Anya and the town was saved once more.

Just another typical day in Sunnydale

Eris was glad that everyone was safe, but at the same time she was dreading what was to come next.

Graham.

He had seen her pull out a stake and stab a vampire in the heart without a second thought, it was very obvious that she knew vampires were real and had killed one before. And on top of that, Graham had come to her rescue and caved in the vampire's head like it was nothing, which in her mind meant he knew her attacker wasn't human either.

She knew she couldn't leave it be, they needed to talk. So, with that in mind, she headed for his dorm to talk to him.

She knocked on the door and waited impatiently for it to open, hoping that maybe he wasn't on the other side. But when his face appeared she knew she had to face the music, "…Eris," was all he said, and whilst it was awkward, she couldn't deny that she loved hearing his voice again.

"Hey, Graham, um, can we talk? About, you know…" She trailed off and looked at the ground, not really knowing what else to say.

"Sure," he moved to the side and let her walk in before closing the door behind him.

Once inside they both stood still, facing each other but hesitant to speak. This wasn't a conversation that either have had before. After some time, it was Graham that spoke first, "you know about vampires?"

Eris looked up, used to his bluntness but still not ready for the question, "yes, since I was a kid. How do you know?"

"I can't really talk about that."

She let her expression turn serious as her mind made connections, "you're military, aren't you?"

He looked at her in surprise, eyes wide, "how did you know?"

"I've had run in with your squad mates," she laid a hand on her hip, "I know a lot. You capture supernatural creatures, probably give it a stupid name-"

"-Hostile Subterraneans."

"Then you give them to your lab coats where they experiment on them, and make them harmless, did I get that right?"

"…..that's…scarily accurate, how do you know this?"

"Because I've had run ins with beings that have heard things about your little, operation," she let herself look softer, more understanding, "I'm not saying that's a bad thing, some things need to be…neutered," she immediately thought of Spike.

Graham seemed more relaxed now, but there was still a cautiousness to him, "well at least you understand it, but what about you?"

"I take out any vampires and demons that cross my path or try to hurt me," she said just as bluntly as he did, "well as best as I can, I'm only human so sometimes they beat me to a pulp before I can kill them."

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk like that," he said in concern as he came closer and cupped her cheek like he did the night he saved her, "I don't think I could handle it if you got hurt or worse. I panicked when I saw you get attacked by that vampire, I don't want to see that again."

She smiled and held the hand cupping her cheek, "I'll be ok, I promise, but at least I have a big strong military guy who can protect m-" she was cut off when the ground beneath them started to shake violently.

Realising it was an earthquake, Graham sprung into actions and pulled Eris into the doorframe of his closet, knowing it was the safest place to be. He had pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest as things started falling off shelves and crashing to the ground.

It didn't last too long, and once it settled the two were able to step away from the frame, "that's the first earthquake I've ever experienced," Graham said with an excited edge to his tone.

Eris, however, had no excitement, "Sunnydale doesn't usually get earthquakes," she said ominously, knowing it was probably something supernatural. The last time there was an earthquake, her cousin had died. "I should probably check on my cousin and friends, make sure they're safe."

"Good idea, I should do the same," he opened the door for her to leave, but then stopped her, "I forgot, are you able to keep my military status a secret?"

She made the motion of zipping her lips, "my lips are sealed, I promise."

"Good," was his reply as he leant down to kiss her, showing her he was ok with her vampire reveal, "will I see you at the party tonight?"

"I never miss a party, you should know that," she kissed him once more and left the dorm.

The party turned out to be a disaster, what was meant to be a fun and exciting night of drinking and dancing turned into one of dread and death. Willow had gone to lie down in a dorm room and instead found a dead body right next to her, chest mutilated and bloody.

It had sent the entire party into a spiral, with everyone racing to either leave or call the police. Graham was with Eris when Willow had run down and rushed to the raven-haired woman's side, seeking safety. He hadn't left either of the ladies' sides since, not knowing if the killer was still in the party.

Buffy had arrived shortly after the authorities had taken the body away and started investigating the area, her eyes scanned around the room frantically. She knew Willow and her cousin were there and needed to know they were safe.

Once she was close to the group, Willow shouted, "Buffy!" to gain her attention. The Slayer calmed down when seeing them both safe.

"I wasn't sure where the party was, and then I saw the flashing lights and the ambulance, and I was like, right, of course, death, carnage, it's a Buffy party," she moved to sit on the stairs and noticed Graham looking at her oddly, "you know, cause I have the worst luck with parties, something always goes wrong."

"Nice save Buff," Eris said with a snort, "though Graham saw me dust a vamp so no need for secrecy."

"I didn't know Willow and Buffy we're also aware," Graham commented, though he didn't seem too out of sorts by the new info.

Buffy looked confusedly at the couple, wondering how much he knew, "how does he know about vampires?"

"Same as me, childhood trauma," Eris decided to keep the military thing a secret for the moment, not knowing how Buffy would take Graham being one of them.

"Well you'll fit right in with us," Willow said helpfully, sensing the awkwardness, "we all have vamp trauma."

"We should speak about this later though, I'm more focused on Willow, she found the body," Graham said softly, wanting to move on from this conversation, especially since there were lots of people around.

"You found the body? Are you ok?" Buffy agreed to move on from the conversation to focus on her friend who had looked scared this entire time.

"The guy was on the bed with me, dead. Not me dead, he dead," the witch started to fidget more than usual as the reminder of the body made her feel worse.

"Was it, you know what?" Buffy asked in a whispered tone.

Willow shook her head, "there was so much blood, and there was a symbol and Percy said I was a nerd!"

"Percy called you a nerd?"

"How dare he, I'll kill him," Eris said as she cracked her knuckles, "whose Percy?"

"Knight in shining armour Eris," Buffy shot back sarcastically, "we should get you home, maybe look into whatever that symbol was?"

"Do you guys want me to walk you home?" Graham asked, "I know everybody is a little rattled."

"Nah, we should be ok," Eris leant up and gave him a kiss on his jaw, "thank you though."

"Anytime, I'll see if I can find anything about the symbol Willow told us about and let you know," he gave her a quick kiss back and walked off.

"So boyfriend knows about vamps, how sweet," Buffy teased, but there was a little edge to her tone, "he seemed accepting."

"He was, though he's incredibly worried about me hunting vamps," she helped Willow stand up from the stairs and motioned them to walk, "does Riley know about vamps? He's close to Graham."

Buffy groaned loudly at the question, "don't even get me started on Riley."