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"How did it feel?" Grell asks as she rewraps Will's limp hand in fresh bandages. There's still a large cut across his palm, slightly stretched by Grell's tongue, but he can't feel it. When she looks up at him, his pupils are so dilated his eyes are black as burnt wood.
"How "id wha fee'?"
"Oh, you are really out of it. Alright, lay down," she switches their spots so she is looking over his laying form, "and I'll be back in just a moment with a cup of water. Don't... do anything."
"Wha'ver yew sa'. I trus' yew." He lies unmoving in the bed, a blissed-out look on his face as he smiles at her.
"I'm really not sure you should," she mumbled to herself. "Really, you have no right to call me of all people reckless after what you just did." She smiles at him as she heads to the adjacent room.
-
Will slowly sips water through the straw in the glass, head tilted to still be able to look at Grell. "Feeling better?"
He blinks at her owlishly, setting the cup down on the bedside table clumsily. "Yeah." He shuffled to sit up further on the bed, still staring at her with dark eyes, the blanket piling around his waist. "You're really pretty, you know."
"And you're still playing with the faeries."
"Faeries are real?" Will asks with wide eyes and a slack jaw.
"Not that I know of," she tells him, readjusting the pillows on the bed and bringing the blanket back up to his neck. "Try and rest for a bit, this shouldn't last too long."
"Alright, alright."
-
"Grell?" Will rasps, his voice dry and his body stiff from sleep. He squints his eyes to look around the room.
"Just a moment," she calls from the next room over in the hotel room they're currently renting. He closes his eyes again, content to wait until she's done with whatever she's doing. When she does come to him, there's a bowl in her hands that she offers him. "Soup," she says, as he takes the spoon in her other hand, the broth and beef will help with the blood loss."
"Thanks," is all he says.
"Of course. You need it." She lets him eat in silence for a while, refilling his water glass as an excuse to leave the room for a moment. Both of them know what will happen after he's done.
-
Setting the bowl down next to the glass on the bedside table, Will looks at Grell. "I don't regret it," he tells her.
"I'm not having this fight again."
"So you're agreeing to let me help you?"
"Absolutely not. This was a one-time thing, never again." She pushes the chair closer to the bed, straddling it backward with her chest leaning over the back.
"And there's nothing I could say to change that?" Will argues, tucking his legs in to sit normally on the bed, staring her straight in the eyes.
"Nothing," she agrees. "You've already said everything you could, and I haven't changed my mind. You prattled on about respect enough earlier."
"What if I said I liked it?" Will smirks, a bright blush creeping up his neck in anticipation. "What if I said that I've had a crush on you since we first met?" Grell doesn't respond. "What if I said I found the fangs incredibly hot on you?" She stays silent. "What if I said I liked the way the venom made me feel?" Still, she says nothing. "What if I said I think I love you?"
"Don't do this to me," she says, and Will notices the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Please..." she whispers. "We shouldn't even be working together, I can't let you say that to me. I'll hurt you, I already have."
Will sobers up immediately. "We both know I did that to myself."
"But I wanted it."
"That doesn't matter. If it took so much convincing to get you to do it, then it means you were stronger than your wants. It wasn't your fault." He grabs her hands with his own, bringing her palm to his neck to feel his pulse. "I survived because you were strong enough to stop yourself." She quickly yanks her hand back. "Give yourself some credit."
"I..." she takes a deep breath to steady herself. "I can't. You said you think you love me, but I know I love you, and I know I can't hurt you."
"Grell, please. Trust me, trust us. You have more self-control than anyone I've ever known, even if it manifests in starvation." He twists to put his legs on the floor, making him face-to-face with Grell.
"I have enough self-control to deny myself this, too, Will. It will only end badly." She pushes off the chair to stand up and Will does the same, keeping them face-to-face. "Stop it," she tells him. She can hear his heartbeat, the blood pumping through his veins. Her ears are delicately tuned to such sounds.
"Grell," he says, "let me do this," he loops his arms around her neck.
"Just this once," she whispers against his lips before leaning in further to kiss him. She nips lightly at his bottom lip with her teeth, just enough to draw blood, and Will presses impossibly closer. It takes everything in her not to start sucking on the wound. Instead, she laps at it roughly, feeling as Will begins to slump in her arms.
"Venom," he says as he realizes what's happening, pulling away from the kiss slowly to look her in the eyes. "Grell, no, don't."
"I'm sorry, William," she says as she lays him down in bed. All of his limbs are heavy, but it doesn't stop him from trying and failing to leave the bed, reaching out an arm at the red figure as his eyes glaze over. "I love you."
"I 've yew tuh," he mumbles hopelessly. "Don' guh." The door to their room closes and Will passes out.
-
When he wakes up again, Grell is nowhere to be found. In fact, there's no sign of her at all. He bag is gone from the floor, her weapons gone from the countertops, her horse gone from the nearby stable. The only thing left is a pile of black-stained bandages in the trash and a note on the bedside table.
William,
I'm sorry, but I had to. You were never meant to know, at least not like this. As much as I wish I could have stayed, you must understand that I cannot bare the risk of hurting you, intentionally or not, for I love you far too much. Please, remember me as a human, and not as a beast.
Yours,
Thank you for everything,
Grell Sutcliffe.
He cries as he reads it, permanently smearing the ink. As quick as he can, he packs up his own bag, readies his own horse, and collects his own weapons, until there is no sign of either of them ever being in the room in the first place.
As he straps his bag to his horse, Orion, he gently pats the creature's side. "Don't worry," he says, "we'll get her and Flare back." The horse whinnies sadly. "I know, you miss your sister. It's OK, boy. We'll fix this." He gently leads Orion towards the exit of the stable and towards the lone stable boy.
"Can I help ya mister?" The boy asks.
"Yes. I'm actually looking for my partner. They left this morning and forgot to leave a note like usual." The boy looks at him carefully, examining every part of him before responding.
"A lot of people checked out today. What does your partner look like?" William begins to describe Grell's general appearance before the boy interrupts him again. "Say, are you a Hunter?"
"Yes," William answers truthfully.
"Is your friend one too?"
"Yes."
"Then I think I did see 'em. Big chestnut horse with dapples?"
"That's the one, her name's Flare."
"Well, when you see your friend, tell her she's got a mighty fine beast with her. She went that way, I watched the two of them disappear past the church."
"Thank you, um..."
"It's Ronnie, mister Hunter. Now go! If you're trying to catch up to your friend, you've betta start riding."
"Here," William hands the kid a few bills from his wallet for the trouble before mounting Orion and starting towards the church quickly.
"Thank You! Good Luck!" He can bear the boy cheering as he gets farther and farther away. There's only one path leading past the church, so Will and Orion ride it for as far as it goes.
-
The trail eventually stops a few miles out of town in the dense forest, but a line of cut trees functions well enough to follow. Will can only hope that the boy, Ronnie, had been right, and that he hadn't missed anything. It was too late to turn back now.
Even further down the cleared path, the road splits into thirds. An old, rickety sign with peeling black paint labeled each of the three paths. To the left, Cambridge; straight ahead, Colchester; and to the right, London. There was no way of knowing which way Grell had gone. But, Will had known her for over ten years. He was confident in his decision to go right.
-
"Excuse me, sir," William ties Orion to the post outside the General Store before turning to talk to the only person around. "I'm looking for someone who came down this way earlier. Long red hair, chestnut horse, ring any bells?"
"What's it to you?"
"She's my partner. She left this morning."
"Well, I'd need a picture to know for sure," the cautious man tells him. "Got one?"
Will fumbles with his jacket pockets for a moment before pulling out two badges. The badges have their pictures on them. They're dated- Grell's hair is longer now and William has new glasses- but they'll work well enough. "We're both hunters," Will passes their badges over. "She left here at our old camp and I'm returning it."
"Alright, alright," the man grumbles. "Yeah, I saw her an' the horse. She bought some firewood and grain."
"And then continued down the road?"
"Yessir. Anything else?"
"Thanks. I need to get a few things and then I'll be on my way."
Will and Orion continue down the trodden path with an additional bag filled with fresh fruit and still-warm bread.
-
As they travel, Will watches the sky closely for any sign of a fire. He assumes that Grell must be planning on setting up camp before the sun sets, but it's hard to know. It's possible she could return to a nocturnal lifestyle without him to hold her back.
Will and Orion continue forward.
-
Will is exhausted. Orion is exhausted. He would take a break if it didn't possibly mean Grell gaining an even larger lead. They pushed on.
Eventually, a wisp of smoke gathers over a clearing Will can see just off of the rocky trail. He lets out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, foolishly letting his shoulders relax. He ties Orion up to a tree closer to the road and continues into the clearing alone.
"Grell!"
No response. He can smell blood in the air.
Something's not right, his mind tells him. She should have heard him. Even without her enhanced hearing, she should have been able to hear him. A human could hear him. But, no one responds. The fire crackles in the distance, and Will keeps walking toward it.
"Grell?"
Again, nothing. Will listens closely to the forest around him. He can hear birds overhead, and the leaves rustling on the trees. A twig snaps in the distance, and his head shoots up.
Suddenly, he's nose to nose with a horridly pale face, neon eyes staring into his own. In the next instant, Will had a stake clutched in his hand. He doesn't manage to block the first blow, however, as the creature stabs an iron blade into his side. Kicking the beast off of him, William collapses with a scream as the pain overwhelms him.
He's breathing heavily now, struggling to get up on shaking legs and escape with his life. 3 more vampires surround him, and the scent of blood is stronger, now. His grip on his stake is weak, but he makes a threatening enough figure for the vampires to hesitate for a moment.
Blood is steadily pouring from the open wound, the weapon laying on the floor next to where he had originally collapsed. His head is pounding, his vision is spinning, the stake slips out of his hand in slow motion. The vampires are steadily approaching now that he has nothing to defend himself with.
"Grell," he mumbles as his knees give, "I'm sorry." Every breath hurts, the blood has stained his shirt up to the breast pocket and down to the hem. There's blood on his hands, in his mouth, splattered across the ground, everywhere.
His vision blacks out completely a second before every other sense does. His body crumples onto the stained grass in a dirty lump. The vampires continue to descend upon their prey.
-
Will wakes up slowly, blinking his eyes open lazily before shooting up. The sudden movement makes him double over in pain again as his vision blurs for a moment. "Don't be stupid."
"Grell?"
"I was setting up camp further down the path. You're lucky I heard you."
"I've been looking for you."
"I told you not to."
"I found you."
"I know."
"Please come back," Will begs.
"No."
"Grell-"
"I can't."
"You can."
"I'll hurt you."
"You'll save me."
"William-"
"Please, Grell. You've saved me more times than I can count. You won't hurt me, not on purpose." He reaches out to grab her hand but she pulls away. "Please."
"I'm not worried about hurting you on purpose."
"You wouldn't do it by accident either."
"You can't say that."
"You're stronger than your instincts."
"You can't say that."
"I can."
-
Grell lets him grab her hand. She lets him pull her down onto the thin bedroll with him, careful not to disturb his wound in the process. "How can you say that?" She looks him in the eyes.
He brings her hand up to his pulse point once again. "Because you're the strongest person I know and you've saved me time and time again. You're not different now than you were when we met." He lets her take her hand away but does not stop staring at her intently. "Plus," he mumbles, "I meant what I said earlier."
"Which thing?"
He finally looks away, hiding his face in his hands shyly. "About the fangs," he reminds her, "and the love."
Grell can't help it. She lowers herself even further until they're eye to eye. She kisses him gently, not daring to open her mouth again. It's chaste, but she can't trust herself to do anything more. "I meant it too," she tells him. "I love you."