(A/N): Error 404: Author's Note not found.

Jerremyah

I saw the apprehension on her face, and suddenly felt like backtracking- but even if I had thought I could pull that off, I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't risk that keeping this from her would lead to her underestimating me- which would inevitably end in someone's death... maybe even Leo's death.

Sure, he had handled me just fine earlier, but that didn't mean- that was far from the worst I'd ever been, even just when it came to drinking animal blood. And god only knows how much worse things would have gone, if Leo had been bleeding at the time. And once I got my teeth into him- well, he had said it himself, earlier. Lisbet may be my mate, but he wasn't- which meant that my venom was just as effective against him, as his was against me.

"What... what do you mean?" I grabbed her other hand again, and brought it up to my mouth, so I could press a kiss to her knuckles.

"I'm not..." I sighed heavily, brushing my mouth side to side against her skin, in an attempt to fortify myself. "You know how I was when we were together. What I was like before- I told you that you- that being with you- made me... well, that control was easier for me. Not just because you were around, but because we were-" I felt my cheeks flush, and pushed said flaming face into her hand- and she let me. "It's not- I'm not trying to-" She leaned in, and brushed her cheek against mine.

"It's okay." She told me. "Take your time." I drew in a shaky breath, and immediately felt quite a bit calmer, just for her understanding.

"What I'm trying to say is... I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to push you into something, just because you think it might help me be- slightly better." Maybe 'slightly' was underselling it, but- I knew Lisbet. She may have gotten fed up with me eventually, but she was an incredibly compassionate person- and if she still felt even the slightest inkling of love for me, she would be inclined to help me in just about any way she could. And it was clear, at this point, that she felt quite a bit more for me than that.

"Jerremyah." I came to attention right down to my very soul, at the sound of my name leaving her lips. "Heart Of Mine-" I sucked in a small breath, and she looked like she wanted to steal it from me- with her mouth. "-Darling," She wasn't making this any easier for me- and I had the distinct feeling that she was all too aware of that. "I know you wouldn't do that." Do what? ...oh, right!

"Still, I... I don't want you to be with me, just because you feel like you have to, or because you think it's a good idea- because it isn't." She looked like she disagreed, but I pushed forward before she had the chance to try to derail me again. "I love you more than anything- you know that- you know that that will never change." Her face softened.

"And you know that the same is true for me." She must have seen the slightly skeptical look on my face, because her eyes narrowed at me. "It is! You know that- please tell me you know that..." She pleaded, and when I lowered my head, she used her hand that was already on my face to lift it back up. "Look me in the eye when you break my heart, Mon Amour." I winced, and she looked almost sort of satisfied as her calculated jab hit its mark.

"...like you did to me?" She flinched, then slowly, she nodded.

"Right. I... deserved that." I shook my head.

"No, you didn't... and neither did I. You know that I'm not trying to hurt you when I can't believe that you... that you feel the same for me, as I feel for you. It's just... not in my nature." She sighed quietly, raising her eyes to the ceiling- likely trying to blink back tears.

"I know, My Heart. I just... I thought we were past that." I hesitated for half a second.

"We were." Her lips parted slightly, like she was halfway to gaping at me, before it closed again, and she nodded solemnly.

"Right. I... suppose that... makes sense." She certainly didn't seem please by it, though. "You said- well, you inferred- that control was harder for you now. What does that mean, exactly?" I took a second to clench my jaw, trying to determine how much I could get away with telling her- and how much I could get away with not telling her. I didn't want to lie to her, but also... I was ashamed. Of the way that things had turned out... and of myself.

"I'm just... well, you know how bad I was, before- that's just a fraction of how bad I am, now. I... Grey is more familiar with the way I... well, with my issues." A look crossed her face, like she was almost... embarrassed? Was that... for me?

"I should have been there." I shook my head- "I shouldn't have just given up-" I cut her off.

"Lisabetta, no-" She cut me off, in turn.

"You needed me, and I wasn't there. I abandoned you-" No. There was no way I was allowing that. I pulled her to my chest, and buried my face in her hair.

"You did what you had to do- I gave you no choice. You did everything you could to try to convince me that I was- that we were- that things needed to change, and I just wouldn't listen. That's not on you- that's on me. I should have listened to you. In the start of our relationship- hell, even just a few years before that- I would have listened. I don't- I'm not entirely sure what changed, but I- as much as I would like to think that I've learned my lesson, I can't... can't guarantee that." She pulled back, and stared at me- like she knew something that I didn't. "What?" She hesitated, biting her lip- and even now, I wanted to do that for her.

"You don't... has Grey not..." My eyebrows shot up.

"'Has Grey not'... what?" She shrugged, in a way that I could tell was only faux-lightly.

"Has Grey not talked to you about his... theory?" Uh... no? Grey had a theory? Since when? I mean, sure, sometimes it had felt like he was trying to nudge me toward some kind of conclusion during our many conversations over the past few years, but... I would have thought if he had an actual, fully fledged theory, he would have said something by now. Something more direct, anyway.

"If he had a theory, he certainly kept it close to his chest... the dirty traitor." She rolled her eyes at me, even as the corner of her lips quirked up reluctantly at my grumbled cursing of our best friend.

"He did say he had no solid proof, but... what he said made a lot of sense." I cocked an eyebrow at her, and she flashed me a dry look. "I'm not explaining it to you- I'm much too close to all of this for it to be... for it to come across properly, without it being tainted by my feelings- or what you think I might be feeling, at any given time." I swallowed, and nodded.

"Right. I guess... after we talk to Leo, and after he goes to bed, you and I, and Grey, can have our own little chat. About our relationship, and my control issues, and... everything." She stared me down for a second, clearly trying to evaluate my emotions- and mental state- before she echoed my nod.

"It's a date."

(A/N): Jerremyah: '(...) if she still felt even the slightest inkling of love for me (...)'

Lisbet: *swimming in an Olympic size swimming pool of love, specifically for Jerremyah*

Jerremyah: 'And it was clear, at this point, that she felt quite a bit more for me than that.'

Leo: *wearing the floaties Lisbet got him, dipping his feet into the pool as Lisbet backstrokes past, gracefully*

Lisbet: 'You too, huh?'

Leo: *shrug* 'Unfortunately.'

also

Lisbet: 'Look me in the eye when you break my heart, Mon Amour.'

Jerremyah: *takes 10 points of emotional damage*

Jerremyah: '...like you did to me?'

Lisbet: *takes 20 points of emotional damage*

also

Lisbet: 'Has Grey not talked to you about his... theory?'

Jerremyah: * 0.o *

Jerremyah: 'Theory? What theory?'

Greygorry: '~Bunnies, bunnies it must be BUNNIES~!'