Topic: Learning A Little

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:34 EST
((Contain reference to adult situations.))

Being a vampire had its ups and downs. Though Nick hated the word, there was no other way to describe what he'd become. The real question now was whether it was a gift or a curse. He supposed it depended on the individual and how you were turned. As far as Nick was concerned, he was turned against his will by a vampire who was seeking revenge, but instead of Nick draining his wife in an uncontrollable frenzy for blood, he'd been locked away until he had fed and was no longer out of control.

One of the first things Nick had learned about being a vampire was that he didn't need to sleep nearly as much as he had when he'd been human. As much as he'd thought it a damned inconvenience when he'd been human, as a vampire, he found himself missing it. In fact, he found himself missing a lot of things - beer, pizza - food and drink, in general. There would be no more getting drunk, that was for sure. Thankfully, certain bodily functions still worked. He could still make love to his wife, for example. But the one thing he missed most of all was daylight.

Daylight was one of those things humans always seemed to take for granted. The sun rose every morning and set every night. Unless the world came to an end, you could count on it. If only they knew how precious it really was. Nick would have given almost anything for just one more sunrise, but he'd been warned. The sun was deadly to those of his kind, those who drank blood to stay alive. Despite the warning, Nick wasn't sure he believed it. He'd only been a vampire a few short days and already he wondered how he'd survive it without going mad. The nights were the worst. They seemed so long and so dark, and though Willow had tried to keep him company, she was human and needed the sleep that he did not. He found himself growing restless as night dragged on with nothing to do but watch her sleep. He wondered how Tobias, who had lived as a vampire for nearly two hundred years, endured it.

It didn't help that Tobias had gone out again tonight, searching for Josef to make sure he didn't pose an immediate threat. Nick had taken to pacing the floor, back and forth, restless and anxious, worried about Willow's safety with Josef still at large. Though he wanted nothing more than to finish the older vampire once and for all, for now, until he knew how to use his new-found abilities, it was better that he stayed behind. Besides, someone had to watch over Willow, and he wasn't trusting anyone with that task but himself.

As daylight grew closer, Nick felt even more restless, even more anxious, not understanding that this was something every vampire suffered and every vampire needed to conquer.

Silent as a vampire was, it was virtually impossible to sleep through someone pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Half an hour before dawn, having spent an hour trying to get back to sleep, Willow gave up, rolling onto her back with a sigh. "Baby, you really don't have to stand guard over me while I'm sleeping," she told her husband - or at least, she assumed it was Nick. Tobias wasn't generally allowed in their bedroom. "You should get out of the house. Go do something while I'm dead to world."

"Dead to the world. That's cute, Will. Very funny," he remarked sarcastically and slightly grumpily, whether the pun had been made on purpose or not. He stopped his pacing and turned to face her, seeing her as clear as day, though to her, he was a dim outline in the darkness. "Where should I go' An all-night diner" I don't eat. A grocery store" Again, no point. Maybe I should go hang out with the rest of the ghouls in the cemetery until daylight."

"Oh, for God's sakes." She let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing a hand over her eyes as she tried to come up with something diplomatic in reply. Unfortunately, at least for her, it was just too damned early in the morning for diplomacy. "Baby, I'm trying really hard to be supportive here, but short of going nocturnal myself and losing our only source of income, this is all I can do. I get it; you're going through something I will never understand, and it's the most difficult thing you've ever had to do, but do you have to be so whiny about it?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I being whiny' I didn't realize. Let me just take my whiny self downstairs so you can sleep in peace." He knew he'd regret his words eventually, but at the moment, he didn't really care. Considering the circumstances, he thought he had every right to be whiny. Of course, she'd been through hell, too, and he knew that. He wasn't really angry at her; he was just angry at the whole situation, and there wasn't a goddamned thing he could do about it. He felt helpless and useless and frustrated. He'd lost his job, his home, his humanity. The only thing he hadn't lost was his wife. Yet. He secretly wondered how long it would be before he lost her, too. More angry at himself than her, he turned on a heel and left the room. It was nothing short of a miracle that he didn't slam the door on his way out.

"Oh, for ..." She thumped her head back against the pillow hard, huffing her hair out of her face as she glared into the darkness. Their arguing felt like it was getting out of hand. It didn't help that she was still reeling from what happened herself, less than sympathetic to his feeling restless and unhappy. Yes, he'd lost a lot, but why did he have to dwell on it' Why couldn't he focus on what he had" He wasn't the only one feeling helpless, but in his case, he actually wasn't helpless. He wasn't the one who was, essentially, a walking larder for any vampire out there who got a little peckish, nor was he completely unable to defend himself against the things that go bump in the night. But on the other hand ....Willow sighed. She was being unfair to him, she knew. Throwing the covers back, she slid from the bed, moving to follow him out of the room. They needed each other, now more than ever. Arguing was not helping.

Nick thumped down the stairs, but his feet hardly made a sound, which, in itself, was frustrating for some reason. He'd found that even without trying, he could move nearly silently, like a thief in the night. Or a ghost. Though he knew what he was and knew there was no cure, he had not yet quite accepted it, deeming it more curse than gift. Why couldn't she understand" He was a vampire now. A vampire. A blood-sucking monster. He didn't trust himself, not when it came to her, and he sometimes thought it might have been better if he'd died rather than live like this. Hadn't she realized yet that he was going to live forever" That he was cursed to have to watch her - and everyone else he cared for - eventually grow old and sick and die? While he stayed young, like Tobias. Two hundred years. It might as well be forever.

The more he thought about it, the angrier it made him. He knew he could turn her, make her like him, but it was unthinkable. He saw what had happened to Lorelei. He knew turning Willow might drive her to madness. Hell, he wasn't sure if he was already going mad himself. No, he didn't want that for her. He wanted her to have a normal life, but he didn't want to lose her either. Was he being selfish' He wasn't sure. He wanted to do what was right for her; he just wasn't sure what that was.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:36 EST
Morning was coming. Nick could feel it, the sun slowly creeping across the world. Every morning, he had to fight the desire to greet the new day. Every morning, he had to fight the madness that seemed to descend on him as darkness gave way to light. "Don't look out the window," Tobias had warned him. Don't do this, don't do that. Just one more sunrise, he told himself. Just one. Every morning he thought his heart would break as he realized he'd never see another sunrise ever again. He'd watched Willow in those moments; she'd been the only thing that had gotten him through it. Did she have any idea how hard it was not to embrace the sunrise and let his ashes blow away in the wind"

Unlike Nick, Willow was nowhere near silent as she came down the stairs, arms wrapped around herself to ward off the morning chill. She paused as her eyes found him, and suddenly all the irritation was gone. He looked so sad, so beaten. She'd never seen him look like that before. It broke her heart to know he was so lost, that she couldn't help. Water dripped down her cheek unhindered, ignored, as she gazed at her husband, wishing there was something she could do to make him see that nothing was truly as hopeless as it seemed.

Nick moved through the house to the great room. The fire in the hearth had burned out hours ago, but he didn't care. He no longer felt the cold. The cold was nothing to him. He watched as the black of night slowly turned to gray, knowing that just beyond those thick curtains and that pane of glass the sun was rising in all its red-gold glory. Just one more sunrise. Just one. He started toward the windows, fingers twitching as he reached for the velvet curtain. He had no intention of killing himself. Even as desolate as he felt, he still clung to life or unlife, whatever it was that kept his heart beating in his chest and the blood flowing through his veins.

Wiping her face dry, Willow followed him, at a loss as to what she could say or do to make up for the way she had spoken to him. What was a little sleep deprivation compared with what he was going through' She felt her blood freeze as he reached for the curtain, knowing that beyond it the sun was beginning to rise. Had one argument pushed him to end it all" "Baby, don't," she heard herself say, her voice trembling with horror at the thought of losing him. "Please."

I just need to see it, one more time. Please, God. Just once. Nick wasn't the praying type, but in that moment, he found himself whispering a prayer in his head to a God he wasn't sure he believed in. What kind of God allowed his most beloved creatures to become this" He heard her behind him, but in his moment of temporary madness, her voice didn't really register. He wasn't trying to destroy himself. He just wanted to live. He drew the curtain back, only a little, just enough to get a quick peek at the morning sky in all its loveliness, but instead of a sunrise, all he found was pain. Blinding pain, like fire burning his flesh, leaving it agonizingly charred. He stumbled back, throwing up an arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light that burned like fire, screaming in agony at the pain.

"Nick!" From zero to sixty in about half a second, Willow bolted across the room as he reeled back from the weak sunlight, grabbing the curtain to pull it closed once again, shutting out the light that had hurt him so badly. "Baby, baby, are you all right' How bad is it?" She turned to him, her tears forgotten in the rush to make sure he was all right, all Tobias' warnings flown completely out of her mind. Don't get too close if either of us is hurt. Don't tempt Fate. The warnings didn't matter; what mattered was that Nick was hurt.

His legs went out from under him and he stumbled to the floor, the right side of his face and the back of his arm badly burned, the skin black in spots like it had been charred. He slumped against the wall, looking dazed or even in shock, eyes wild with pain.

Willow cried out as he fell, lurching to catch him only to end up pulled down herself. He was, after all, bigger and heavier than she was. Ignoring the pain in her knees from her own impact with the floor, she focused everything she had on her husband. "Nick" Baby, c'mon, talk to me," she pleaded with him, wincing at the sight of his injury. Sunlight did that" "Baby, I don't know what to do, I ....Tobias." He would know what she should do. "Cell phone, cell phone ..." Turning about, she crawled over to where she had left her bag, rummaging desperately within the bottomless depths in search of her cell.

"Blood," he murmured thickly, his voice sounding weak and far away even to him. Somehow, something inside him told him he needed blood, that blood was the only thing that would ease the pain. He was craving it in every molecule of his being, the bloodlust strong and hard to resist, but not yet uncontrollable. He curled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw to try and withstand the pain and to stop himself from shaking. He'd never known such agony as this, and it was taking every once of his strength to endure it. "Just let me die, Willow," he breathed quietly. "Open the windows and let me die."

"What?" She stilled, shocked even to hear him say it, much less understand that he truly meant it, even if it was only because he was in so much pain. Twisting about, she stared at him, refusing to even entertain the possibility of doing what he said. "Not a chance," she told him firmly, her mind latching on to the other thing he had said. "You need blood" I've got that. I'm not gonna let you kill yourself." She crawled back to him, flicking her hair over her shoulder, baring her throat. Dark eyes on his, she held his gaze just long enough for him to understand that she meant what she was doing. "Do it."

"I can't," he whispered, close to tears, turning the ruined side of his face away from her so she couldn't see him, ashamed of what he'd done, what he'd said, even as she tried to meet his gaze, even as the need for blood burned like fever in his veins. "Don't you understand?" he whispered further, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. He turned back to her, letting her see him for what he was, the yellow of his eyes, the charred blackness of his flesh, the inhuman sharpness of teeth that were just barely visible past his lips. "I can't do this, Willow. You deserve so much more than this."

"You have to," she argued firmly, unafraid of what it was she was asking him to do. Any other vampire, and it would have terrified her. But she had been bitten once already, and that had been done by someone who wanted to hurt her. Nick would never hurt her, not intentionally. "I trust you." Her hand curled to the uninjured side of his face, drawing his mouth to her neck. "Drink, baby. You need this."

Whatever was left of his humanity tried to resist. There were so many reasons he didn't want to do this, didn't want to be this. He had tried to explain, but she didn't seem to think it mattered. As far as she was concerned, he was still her Nick. Even as he tried to resist, he could hear her heart pumping blood through her veins, could smell the humanity of her, all the while in agony from the burns that charred his flesh, marring his arm and half his face. The beating of her heart seemed to get louder, deafening, drowning out all other sounds and filling him with almost uncontrollable desire. He needed it, wanted it, some part of him knowing it was the only thing that would heal him. And still he resisted, even as her scent filled him with overwhelming longing. "Please, Willow..." he pleaded, not trusting himself not to hurt her. Tears slid down his face, hotly stinging the burned flesh. In another moment, he'd have no choice. Instinct would take over.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:36 EST
Her lips brushed his temple softly, fingertips gentle as they slid into his hair. "I love you," she whispered to him softly, trying to make it at least a little easier for him to do what he needed to do. "All of me belongs to you. Even this. Don't make me cut myself open, because you know I'll do it." And to be fair, he did know she would. This was a woman who had once skied on a fractured ankle rather than spoil the first holiday they'd had together in years.

He met her gaze, knowing her better than anyone, knowing she would make good on her threat. What choice did he have" He had nowhere to go. He was trapped. Where the hell was Tobias when he needed him' But no....This wasn't Tobias' fault. He had done this of his own accord. He had no one to blame but himself for his foolishness. He touched her cheek, unable to hold back the tears. He loved her more than life itself and had for a very long time, and he knew if the tables were turned, he would have done the same for her. "Forgive me," he told her, as he slid a hand around the back of her neck and drew her close, the craving for her blood almost as painful as the burns on his face.

"There's nothing to forgive," she promised him, feeling an entirely inappropriate shiver of desire as he slid his hand into place, drawn close enough to feel the odd heat radiating from the burns on his face and arm. "No chewing."

It figured that even at a time like this, she'd crack a joke. It was one of the things he loved most about her - she had always been able to make him laugh, and in his line of work, he so needed to remember how to laugh. They had been together so long, they could practically read each other's minds. What he wouldn't give to have her with him for eternity, but that was a choice he wouldn't make for her. Not yet. His breath was warm against her neck, and for a moment, it felt as though he was going to kiss her. He grazed her neck, feeling the warm throb of pulse beneath his lips, hesitating a moment, afraid he might lose control, but the pain finally decided for him. The sun had only just risen; night was a long way away. There was a momentary sharp pain as his teeth broke the skin and then his mouth closed on the wound, drinking up the precious blood that kept her alive.

She made barely any sound as his teeth opened her flesh, tensing just a little as she inhaled sharply. But the pain was fleeting, just as she'd expected it would be. This was Nick, not some insane vampire bitch out to hurt her. Sliding closer, Willow settled her knees either side of his hips, tilting her head all the while to make sure he had all the access he needed as his lips and tongue drew in the copper-rich tang of her blood. Her eyes closed as she relaxed, all her trust placed in him not to go too far.

He could fill it filling him, relaxing him, almost like a drug. It seemed almost more of an addiction than a necessity, though he knew in his present state, he could not live without it. The longer he drank, the less pain he felt, but the harder it was to stop. If he'd stopped to look, he'd have noticed that the flesh on his arm and his face was starting to change. Little by little, her blood was slowly healing his burned flesh. He wasn't quite sure how far to go, gauging himself by the beating of her heart. Her life was literally in his hands, and he felt a strange connection to her that he'd never felt before as her blood filled and healed him, flowing through him like it had through her.

Her fingers flexed in his hair as he suckled at her throat, her body swaying against his. She could feel herself getting just a little lightheaded - understandable, since the blood supply to her brain was being hijacked right now. Still, she tried to hold still for him, taken completely by surprise when she heard herself moan - not in fear or pain, but in pleasure. Wait a second ....I'm enjoying this"

It was a different kind of sharing, not unlike lovemaking, though he did not understand that just yet. This was not just about sustenance, not with her. He wondered what would happen if he went too far, if he drained her blood, and then shared his. Would she become like him' Would they be forever connected by that shared bloodline" But it was too soon, and he didn't know enough yet to risk her life on a whim. He felt his body healing, slowly but surely, the bloodlust easing. He was not yet hungry, and the blood she offered was enough to satisfy him for now. He slowly drew away from her, his face flushed from feeding, kissing the wounds he'd made, his heart sinking a little as he realized what he'd just done. "Oh, God..." But who was he to be praying, he who was damned" "Willow, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

His wife let out a very soft whimper as he drew back from her, feeling the sting as the air cooled the puncture wounds on her neck. There had been no pain at all while he was feeding. Raising her head, she opened her eyes in time to see his face as he fell over himself to apologize, and once again surprised herself, catching his lips with her own, tasting the metallic tang of her own blood there. "Don't be sorry," she told him, firm and sincere. "Don't ever be sorry." Her lips found his once more, arms wrapping about his neck as her hand smoothed over his newly healed cheek, ignoring the trickle of blood down her throat as she kissed him.

He found himself strangely overcome with emotion again as she denied his apology and kissed his lips, amazed that she could still love him, knowing what he was; that she wasn't horrified by what he'd become, and that she trusted him enough to offer him her own blood, putting her life in his hands. As their lips met, he felt another kind of hunger, one that was far more familiar than that of bloodlust, and feeling his strength returning, he swept her off the floor into his arms as he moved to his feet to carry her back up the stairs to their room and thank her properly.

It was a testament to how strongly they felt for one another that what could have been such a horrifying experience had eased so simply into something far more familiar, far more pleasurable. It was certainly the best way Willow knew to wake up, despite the bloodstain she left on the sheets as she writhed in his arms, loving and tender and wild with desire. If anything, she felt closer to him now than she had done before, as though the simple fact that he had fed from her had somehow bound them even more tightly together than they had been to begin with.

He made it a point to lick the blood that had dribbled down her neck, but even that was done with loving attention. He took his time with her, as he always did, returning the favor by giving her a different kind of pleasure, one she was far more accustomed to from him. He was gentle, yet firm and deliberate in his ministrations, knowing from years of experience how to make her moan and sigh, how to send her to the heights of pleasure.

For her part, she showered him with the tender, unquestioning affection he had always known from her, making a point of her own as her lips traced over his healed skin, blessing every inch that had been restored with her blood with kisses and caresses that left nothing to chance. And when, finally, they were done, she lay close in his arms, refusing to relinquish him, despite the fact that she really should start getting ready for work.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:37 EST
"Stay with me today," he whispered as he held her close, his fingers combing through her hair. "Call in sick, just this once." He had rarely asked it of her before, knowing how important her job was to her, but he couldn't bear the thought of being alone again today with nothing to do but wait for her return.

Unknown to him, she had already made that decision when he had been hurt. Partly because she didn't want to leave him when he was obviously so fragile; partly because if the sun had already risen, then Tobias would not return until dusk. She smiled gently, nuzzling close, ignoring the ache in her neck. It would pass. "You read my mind," she murmured to him. "I'm not gonna leave you all alone, baby."

Despite the tumble in the sheets that seemed to have surpassed all previous concerns for both his and her well-being, Nick hadn't forgotten the wounds he'd left in Willow's neck. He couldn't help but notice, since the scent of her blood was a constant reminder. Thankfully, he had fed recently enough that the bloodlust was not yet upon him. He frowned, knowing it was his fault this had happened. "Tobias' blood healed the wounds in your neck. Maybe mine will do the same," he suggested, not wanting to force this or anything else upon her. He didn't really want Tobias to find out what had happened, but he had a feeling the elder vampire would find out anyway.

Willow's smile softened, knowing how much it cost him to acknowledge that he was something different these days. Her hand rose involuntarily to touch the clean punctures in her throat, wincing a little at the sting. "Maybe it will," she agreed with a half-shrug. "Only one way to find out, right?"

"It's not natural for a human to drink blood, Willow," he pointed out the obvious, a little weirded out by the thought of her drinking his blood, though he had just imbibed of hers.

"Uh ....not really," she argued gently, propping her head up on her hand to look down at him. "Okay, not huge amounts of blood, but who hasn't cut themselves and sucked it clean' That's a completely natural thing to do, and it is, essentially, drinking blood."

"That's different," he insisted. Sucking small amounts of blood from a paper cut wasn't the same thing as drinking blood from someone who was no longer human, like him. She was right about one thing though - there was only one way to find out. The question was whether or not they were willing to try.

She sighed softly, stroking her fingers against his cheek. "It's not like I have to drink much, baby," she assured him. "Before, I had less than a mouthful and it healed me up all over, bruises, cuts, and all."

He seemed to consider that a moment before reaching a decision. It was his fault he'd had to drink from her to begin with; the least he could do was give her a little of their mingled blood to heal her. What effect it might have other than healing the wounds on her neck, he didn't know. "All right, but just a little. Just enough to heal those cuts," he told her, reluctantly agreeing.

"Yes, mother," she drawled back to him with gentle amusement. Though it might seem as though Willow took these changes in stride, without seeming to feel any of the discomforts that accompanied them, the truth was different. She was lost, but the last thing she wanted was to make Nick feel any worse than he did already. So she just got on with it.

Nick knew his wife well enough to know that despite the good front she was putting up, she was just as upset by the change in him as he was. Considering everything that had happened, however, things could have been a lot worse. Either one of them or both of them could have been dead, and though Nick didn't really know what to expect from life as a vampire, at least they weren't dead. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do exactly, but he'd seen it done dozens of times in the movies. "Ready?" he asked, stalling just a little.

Her brow rose as she met his gaze, a world of sardonic replies in her eyes but not one of them passing her lips. Settling onto her back beside him, she relaxed herself, not entirely sure what exactly was going to happen next. She'd been just a little out of it when Tobias had given her his blood to heal her, after all. "When you are, baby."

"We need to get rid of these sheets," he mused with a frown as he noticed the blotches of blood on the bed, incriminating evidence of what had happened. He didn't really have to see the bloodstains to know they were there, due to his heightened vampires senses, highly attuned to the smell of it. He hesitated briefly before lifting his arm and turning the inside of his wrist toward his mouth. He wasn't quite sure how he did it, but when he bit into his own wrist, his canines seemed to lower and extend, sinking into his own flesh and creating two neat puncture wounds on his wrist that were slowly filling with blood.

"Or, you know, bleach them," Willow pointed out mildly, though she wasn't entirely sure whether or not vampires could smell blood even when it wasn't visible to the human eye. She watched as he bit down into his own wrist, patiently waiting until he allowed her to draw the welling wounds to her lips.

As a human, he might have found all of this disgusting, but as a vampire, it seemed almost seductive and sensual to drink the blood of his beloved and to offer her his own in return. He wondered if vampires preferred it to making love, though it was a different kind of bonding than that of the flesh. "Just a little," he warned her again before offering her his wrist, fingers curled into a fist to force the blood to the surface.

Strange, how natural it seemed to Willow, this give and take when it came to their blood. To be honest, she'd been thinking about Nick drinking her blood since that first morning after his change, and this was just a logical progression on from that action. Her mouth closed over the twin punctures in his wrist, tongue gently lapping the blood that welled to the surface and swallowing.

He wouldn't deny that it hurt a little, but there was something strangely sensual about Willow drinking blood from his wrist. After all, there was often a thin line between pain and pleasure. Nick swept Willow's hair back from her neck as she drank from him, watching to see whether his blood - vampire blood - was healing her wounds the way she'd healed his.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:38 EST
It took barely a mouthful, just as she'd said, for whatever it was in his blood to take effect. Under his gaze, the twin wounds in her throat shrank to nothingness, knitting themselves neatly back together again as the red soreness faded away. But more than that, one small mouthful of his blood brought the pink flush back to her cheeks, clearly doing more than just healing the wounds he could see. Where she might have been anaemic for the rest of the day without it, that small injection of his blood seemed to reinvigorate her own blood. She let him go with a soft smile, licking her lips clean as she lay back against the pillow once again. "Well, that's ....yeah, that's a pretty intense feeling."

"Don't get too used to it," he told her, watching as the puncture wounds shrunk to nearly nothing, satisfied that his blood had done the trick in healing her, though he wasn't quite sure how it all worked. He was just a fledgling vampire, barely a few days old, and still had much to learn. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed what they'd just shared, but that he just didn't like the idea of her drinking blood of any kind. He licked his own wrist clean, the puncture wounds there quickly closing up, as well, as if they'd never been there at all.

She relaxed back with a warm smile, stretching catlike beside him. "So ....what are we gonna do today?" she asked him, a little playful now the disaster of the morning had been set right. Even as she spoke, however, the phone rang downstairs, barely audible to her but no doubt as clear as a bell to Nick.

He knew what he wanted to do today, though it might not excite her much, but then the phone rang interrupting their morning before it had even gotten started. "Should I answer it?" he asked, unsure who might be calling or for whom. This was Tobias' house, and he assumed that any calls that came here were for him, not them.

"Uh ..." She had to listen for a moment to know what he was talking about. "Oh. Well, it might be Tobias," she offered with a shrug. "You know, checking in, making sure we know he's okay. He didn't make it back before sunrise, I guess he's gone to ground somewhere for the day."

He grumbled a little, like he always did when he was annoyed about something, though it wasn't her he was annoyed with. He'd been grumbling a lot lately. It was going to take some time before he got used to this new life of theirs, and that was in part what he'd been wanting to talk to her about before the phone rang interrupting them. "I'll get it. You....take a shower and get dressed," he instructed with a vague wave of his hand at her as he slid off the bed. "I'll get some coffee going." Though he no longer needed coffee or had any desire for it, she still had to eat breakfast, like any normal human and coffee was a part of that.

"Mmm, you're a star," she told him affectionately, rolling over to kiss him once more before moving to do just that. It was just as well Tobias wasn't in the house - given an option, Willow had been known to spend entire days off completely nude.

He returned her kiss, without grumbling. At least, there was that. He wasn't sure why, but it seemed she still loved him, despite what he'd become. "I'm something anyway," he replied before rolling to his feet and starting toward the door. The phone was still ringing downstairs, and he had a pretty good idea who it was.

"Something awesome," she called back to him, disappearing into the bathroom to do as he had told her. A moment later, the sound of water hitting ceramic made it abundantly clear that she was being an obedient little girl, leaving him free to deal with the caller.

Down the stairs he went to answer the phone that wouldn't seem to stop ringing, wondering whether or not Tobias had an answering machine. The man was a study in contrasts, sometimes seeming very modern and other times seems very old fashioned. Nick knew his story, knew he claimed to be nearly two hundred years old, but knew very little about the man other than what he'd been told.

There was no answering machine, but whoever was on the other end of the line was patient enough to wait out however long it was going to take for the inhabitants of the house to extricate themselves from each other and get to the phone. There was pretty much only one person that could be.

Nick assumed the caller was more than likely Tobias, but his gut warned him against Josef, knowing the other vampire - his sire - was still out there somewhere and would want revenge. Nick knew he was going to have to deal with him sooner or later, but he hoped it was later. He needed time to learn more about his abilities and hone his skills as a creature of the night so that the next time they met, they'd be on even ground. He hesitated a moment before picking up the phone, hoping it was Tobias and not Josef. "Yeah," he said simply, waiting to hear a voice on the other end.

"Very polite, Nicholas, and how are we this morning?" Yes, it was Tobias. No one else could inject quite that amount of amusement, irritation, and sheer charm into a single greeting.

"We are fine," Nick replied, lying just a little or twisting the truth. Despite his own foolishness, neither he nor Willow were any worse for wear. The burns he'd suffered as punishment for daring to gaze at the sunrise had healed, as well as the puncture marks in Willow's neck after she'd offered him her blood and the marks in his own wrist when he'd returned the favor. "Where are you?" he asked, turning the tables on the other vampire who was quickly becoming both a friend and a mentor.

"I'm outside town," Tobias told him, choosing not to mention the suspiciousness of emphasizing the "we" in Nick's opening statement. He knew the younger vampire would never intentionally harm his wife. "An old farmstead with a helpfully sturdy cellar. Josef's been playing cat and mouse with me all damned night. I was right on his tail until we reached the crossroads to the north, and then nothing. I only just got myself out of danger before the sun rose."

The mere mention of Josef made Nick cringe with anger and hatred. "He'll have gone into hiding, too, then," Nick remarked. As far as he knew, no vampires could withstand sunlight for long, including Josef, or so he hoped. Nick glanced at the stairs, perking an ear for Willow, his preternatural hearing picking up the sound of the shower. They had at least a few minutes to talk without risk of her overhearing them. "You realize he's going to come for her. He's going to try and take her away from me."

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:39 EST
"Of course he's going to try," Tobias agreed, not pulling any punches where Nick was concerned any longer. "He's going to fail, but he will try. Don't worry too much, Nick. He cannot enter the house unless he is invited by the human owner, who just so happens to be out of the country for the next, oh, fifty years or so."

"I'm not sure I'm following you," Nick admitted. Though he understood what Tobias was telling him, he wasn't quite sure what human owner the vampire was referring to.

Tobias sighed softly. "I should have explained it to you before, I know," he apologized quietly, shifting his cell phone to the other ear. "The house is owned by a many times removed cousin of mine, a human, and has been passed down through his line since I, for lack of a better word, died. Providing each new incumbent visits the house within the first year of its passing to new hands, it remains inviolate. No vampire can go where he is not invited, Nicholas. And before you say it, that rule applies to a building, not an apartment within a building. One person in one apartment invites a vampire in, that vampire can go anywhere within the building."

"Right, and Willow invited Lorelei in not knowing what she really was. That seems like cheating to me, but we know what Josef looks like, and we're not going to let anyone in. The thing that worries me, though, is her job. I can't follow her around everywhere, and who's to say Josef doesn't have human allies?" Nick glanced in the general direction of the stairs again, but so far, so good. He'd had a lot of time to think about things while Willow slept, and the more the thought, the more he worried.

"Going by the sight of your home, I would say it was probably your upstairs neighbors who invited Lorelei and Josef inside," Tobias commented mildly before moving on. "There is nothing to say that he doesn't have human allies, but it's not really his style. I would be more concerned about him finding the time to create more fledglings and setting them loose. As to Willow's job, that isn't something I can fix, for either of you. You need to discuss it with her."

Nick chewed thoughtfully at his lip, more out of habit than anything else. Work was a problem. Tobias had mentioned something about Nick becoming part of a special unit, but they hadn't really had much time to discuss the details. Somehow, Nick knew that so long as they were under Tobias' protection, they didn't need to worry about money, but he wasn't sure Willow would be convinced. "She's worried about money." More than anything else, money was shelter, food, and clothing, and at the moment, so long as they stayed with Tobias, they lacked none of those things.

"Which is a perfectly natural concern for her at this time," his mentor pointed out gently. "If it concerns you both so much, you need to discuss it calmly. But perhaps if you had a suggestion to bring to the table, it would be a more productive conversation."

"I'm gonna need to feed soon," Nick reminded him. He had yet to hunt on his own. Up to now, Tobias had provided Nick with sustenance, but Nick knew that he was going to have to learn to provide for himself and soon, among other things. "What suggestion?" he asked, curiously.

"I will take you with me tonight when I feed," Tobias promised him. "You need to learn about the donors, anyway." He paused, considering his words before he went on. "I would suggest that you start thinking about setting yourself up in business. You have a unique skillset, Nick, not to mention the additional abilities you have earned very recently. There is an entire underworld in this city of people who need help, one way or another; help that the conventional services cannot provide. And if you went into business in such a profession, you would be able to bring Willow with you."

"I can't leave Willow alone," he insisted. Even if Josef had to be invited inside, he wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't letting her out of his sight. He listened to what else Tobias had to say, arching a brow when he realized what the other vampire was getting at. "Are you suggesting I become a private investigator?"

"I'm suggesting you think about it," the older vampire confirmed in his quiet way. "And of course we can bring Willow with us this evening. I did not immediately suggest it because I am still uncertain of your opinions when it comes to the matter of letting her see how easy it is to donate blood to you."

"I don't want her being my....donor," Nick replied, leaving out the fact that she had already, out of necessity, offered herself to him once already, just a short while ago. "That can't be healthy."

"In which case, Nicholas, why insist upon taking her out of the safest place for her just so that you can keep an eye on her?" Tobias asked pointedly. "You need to feed, and you need to learn how it works in the city. To do that, I need to show you, and that means either Willow comes along with us, or she stays safe at the house."

"You're sure she'll be safe there?" he asked, needing the other vampire's assurance. If anything happened to Willow while they were away, he'd hold Tobias accountable. Yes, he needed to learn how to take care of himself, but he was more concerned about Willow's safety than his own. And he had been considering something else. "What happens if....If I go a few days without feeding?"

"You can go for up to nine days without feeding, Nick, but the longer you leave it, the more you need," Tobias told him firmly. "The more likely it is that the bloodlust will take you over, and the more likely it is that you will drain your wife without meaning to. Regular feeding is as much for her protection as it is for your health." He sighed once more, sounding tired. It had been a long night, after all. "The house is the safest place for her, Nick. And so long as you tell her not to invite anyone inside after dark, even if she knows them, and explain why ....she'll stay safe."

"All right. I'll talk to her. You sound tired. Get some rest." He was feeling a little weary himself after their little adventure this morning, but he only needed a little sleep and he still had all day. "We'll see you tonight."

"Be well, Nicholas." It was a simple sign off, but Tobias never seemed to over-complicate things unless he had to. The line went dead, proof that he had ended the call, leaving Nick alone with his thoughts and a wet wife upstairs.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:39 EST
Nick set the phone back in the cradle when the line went dead, wishing he'd told Tobias to be careful. He knew the man was doing everything he possibly do to help them and keep them safe, but while Nick appreciated his help, he didn't want the other man to get hurt. After a moment, he pulled himself out of his ruminations to make his way to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, like he'd promised. Though he was capable of cooking, he no longer found food appealing.

A few minutes later, Willow appeared, looking considerably less disheveled than she had when she'd left the bed. She was also bearing the bloodstained sheets under one arm, goosing Nick on her way past to the utility room and the washer. "I guess that was Toby, huh?"

"That was Tobias," Nick corrected as Willow moved past him, smirking a little at the goosing she gave him. He was cracking a few eggs into a frying pan, a few slices of bacon frying on a skillet. "I'm not sure how he'd feel about being called Toby."

"Tobias is a mouthful, he's stuck with Toby until he tells me otherwise," she declared with mischievous stubbornness, wrestling with the sheets as she shoved them into the washer and drowned them with bleach. "He's somewhere safe, right?" There was a clunk as she closed the washer and came back into view, shaking her hair down her back.

"Yeah, he's somewhere safe," Nick replied. "Just outside of town, he said." He furrowed his brows as he poked at the bacon, wondering how he could have ever found it appealing. He'd only been a vampire a few days and already he found bacon disgusting. "I actually used to love this stuff," he remarked, more to himself than to her.

Sliding her arms around him from behind, Willow let her lips brush his throat as she peeked over his shoulder at the contents of the skillet. "You don't have to cook for me, you know," she murmured softly. "I get that it's kinda disgusting for you now."

"I miss it, Will," he admitted quietly as she wrapped her arms around him, his gaze fixed on the bacon sizzling in the pan. He hadn't lost the skills he'd learned before he'd become a vampire; only his desire for food and drink. "I miss the life we built together. I miss breakfast in bed and watching sunsets." He quieted, not wanting to upset her by saying anymore. They were still together, and there were still plenty of things they could do together; it was just a matter of making some adjustments and relearning how to live again.

She closed her eyes, pressing warm against his back as he offered up this quiet admission, feeling a lump rise in her throat at all the things they would never do together again. So much lost. Swallowing hard, she kissed his shoulder, not trusting herself to speak without betraying that closeness to tears, and gently unwrapped her arms from him, turning away to hunt out a plate and cup for herself.

He knew his wife well enough to know why she had turned quiet. He hadn't wanted to upset her, but these were the facts, these were things they needed to discuss. "We need to talk, Willowbean," he told her as he flipped the eggs he had once loved for breakfast. "We need to figure some things out."

"I know," she admitted softly, nodding as she set out a solitary plate and cup. Now it had been mentioned, it was impossible not to look at that place setting and feel sad, knowing she'd never share a meal with her husband again. "Lots to talk about." Her voice broke on the last word, and she turned away again, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ....oh God, I'm an idiot."

He turned off the stove and turned to the table to slide the eggs onto her plate, along with the bacon and a couple slices of toast, arching a brow at her as he heard her voice break. He frowned, sighing softly, "Willow, don't. You're not an idiot." He set the pan back on the stove and went to her, turning her gently toward him. "Why are you an idiot?" he asked, lifting her chin to face him.

Her dark eyes were glistening with tears as he lifted her chin, the expression on her face as close to self-loathing as he had ever seen it, hating herself for being so ridiculously emotional when he was the one suffering. "Because I've been ignoring all the changes, and it's just suddenly hit me, and my first reaction is to cry," she huffed, frustrated with herself. "It's so stupid. Crying doesn't solve anything."

"It's okay," he told her with a warm, reassuring smile. "I won't hold it against you. I'll still love you if you cry." He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close, ready to let her cry if she wanted to. After all, she'd witnessed his tears, so rarely shed. "I'm sorry, Beanie. I'm sorry for everything, but I'm still the same on the inside. My feelings for you haven't changed. I still love you as much as ever." He buried his face in her hair, senses on overload, picking up the scent of her shampoo, but beneath that was another scent that was uniquely Willow, that could only belong to her.

She clung to him, weeping softly for the life that was gone without any hope of being regained. These weren't heart-wrenching, dramatic tears, nor were they angry or impassioned. Just quiet, intense mourning for something she'd always taken for granted and now would not have again. It was the first time she'd cried since that first morning after the attack, all her fears and upsets mixed up in that grief for what Nick had lost. For what she had lost, because he had been changed.

It seemed she was finally understanding what was at stake and what had been lost, what it meant not only for him, but for her, as well, for them. Oddly, now that she'd realized it, he almost wished she hadn't. All he wanted to do was take away all her pain and hurt and worries. "We'll make it work, Will. I promise. I'm not going anywhere. I love you too much to lose you. I'll be here as long as you want me to be," he told her quietly, his voice soft and soothing.

"I want you to turn me," she sniffed softly, raising her head to look up into his eyes. "Not right now, not when you've got so much to worry about. But soon. I don't want to be without you, Nick, and I don't want you to have to let me go. I love you. You're everything to me."

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:40 EST
Nick's frown deepened at her suggestion. It was something he'd already been considering, though he felt torn. As much as he didn't want to lose her, he didn't want to make her a monster like him either. "We'll figure it out together, Willowbean. Promise," he practically repeated what he'd just said. He cupped her face in his hands and bent his head to press a kiss against her forehead. "You should eat your breakfast before it gets cold."

He made no promises regarding her request, neither agreeing to it or denying it. It was too soon. There were still too many things he didn't know. But at least, Willow was no longer living in denial of the situation. At the very least, they had a lot to talk about.

Still a little snuffly, she nodded, leaning into him as he kissed her forehead. As well as he knew her, she knew him just as well. He hadn't answered her hopeful suggestion, which could be a good sign or a bad sign. She'd have to wait and see. Wiping her eyes dry, she took a seat and began to eat, trying to consume the food as quickly as possible so it wouldn't make him feel awkward for too long.

As soon as she sat down, he turned to pour her a cup of coffee, which didn't disgust him quite as much as the bacon and eggs, though he didn't find it anymore appealing. He briefly wondered, not for the first time, what would happen if he attempted to eat or drink something, though he made no attempt to do so. He set the cup on the table near Willow and took a seat at the table, frowning a little as she seemed to be rushing through her breakfast for some reason. "Will, slow down or you'll get sick. You don't have to inhale it."

"Sorry." Feeling a little fragile after forcing herself to face the truth of their situation, Willow slowed almost to a stop, feeling an inevitable sense of failure settle over her head. She wanted to keep him from having to face the things he couldn't find pleasure in, but when she tried to lessen the time he would have to watch her eat, he told her off for it. Taking a sip of her coffee, she shrugged, glancing up at him briefly. "I just don't ....I hate eating alone."

"You're not alone, baby," he reminded her, resisting the urge to reach for her hand, so that she could sip her coffee and eat her breakfast without him hindering her. He sighed. "Look, I'm no happier about this than you are, but unless Tobias is wrong about a cure, there's nothing we can do about it. We're just gonna have to figure some things out. I don't mind watching you eat. Honest." He smiled a little at a certain memory than came to mind. "Remember the night I got drunk at your friend's wedding?" He snapped his fingers, as his memory escaped him a little. "What was her name again? I couldn't stomach the sight of food for two days. That didn't stop you from eating."

"Louisa," she supplied the name without thinking, though there was no smile to match his. "That was different, Nick. That was a couple of days. This is ....this is much different." She sighed softly, pushing the plate away. "I don't have much appetite, anyway." Swallowing, she closed her eyes for a long moment, feeling old and tired and hemmed in on all sides. "You said we need to talk. I guess we should."

Now he did reach for her hand, needing to reassure her and make her understand that even though their lives had changed overnight - or at least, his had - his feelings for her were the same as they'd always been. "Willow," he started, in that tone of voice he always took when he was dead serious about something, "We're gonna get through this, just like we've gotten through things before. You still love me, right?" He already knew the answer to that question, but had to ask because he had a point to make.

Her fingers gripped his tightly, answer enough in that touch before she met his gaze, a tiny hint of anger threatening in her eyes. "How many times are you gonna ask me that before you believe my answer?" she asked him, her voice hard. She hadn't questioned his feelings at all, not once, yet it seemed as though every time he turned around, he questioned hers. "I love you, Nick. Since when don't you trust me?"

He smiled back at her, despite her angry reaction to his question. "I do believe you, baby. That's the point. What I've become, what?s happened....It doesn't change how we feel about each other. We vowed to love each other through sickness and health, til Death do us part. If you think I'm gonna let that son of a bitch Josef screw us up, you're wrong. I love you. I'm always gonna love you, no matter what."

"Then why do you keep asking me?" she pressed him for an answer. "I love you. You're all I have, all I've ever wanted. I know you love me. I just don't understand why you keep asking me if I feel the same as I always have. It'd take a disaster on a Biblical scale to make me question how I feel about you."

Nick sighed, unsure if he could explain well enough that he could make her understand. "Because, Willow..." he started, his voice quieting, a serious frown on his face. "I needed you to understand what I am, what I've become. I hate what I've become, and I thought you'd hate me, too, but I was wrong. I haven't changed on the inside. My feelings for you haven't changed. You're everything to me, and I don't want to live without you. Ever."

"I do understand," she assured him. "I might not know everything that goes into it, but I do understand that you've changed. But that change is only physical, baby. I didn't fall in love with the candy coating, I fell in love with the chocolate center. Remember? Just because everything is different now, it doesn't mean I feel any differently. You're my world, Nick."

He chuckled, perhaps for the first time in days. "The chocolate center, huh' That's the first time you've compared me to a piece of candy." His fingers gently stroked the back of her hand, as his smile softened,. understanding what it was she was trying to get at. "Look, I know this is a crazy situation, but somehow we're gonna make it work. We have to make it work, Willow, because without you, there's just no point in living."

"So we make it work." She shrugged, knowing it was nowhere near as simple as she made it sound, but knowing they had to try. "It just means that I guess I'm gonna have to make a few changes. Get a job that only needs me to work during the hours of daylight, for a start."

"Actually..." he started, clearing his throat a little nervously. They'd always discussed everything with each other and had made all of their plans together, but now it seemed there was a third party who had taken an interest in their lives, who was trying to help them adjust, who was protecting and taking care of them, at least until they were ready to be on their own. "That's one of the things we need to discuss. Tobias had a suggestion. He thinks I should join the private sector."

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:41 EST
Her first instinct was to make a smart-*ss comment, but she managed to override that before her mouth could open. She didn't think her husband would take being teased very well right now. "Well, it makes sense," she conceded thoughtfully. "There's gotta be people who have supernatural problems who can't get help from the police with them. I don't get what that has to do with me, though."

"I wouldn't be able to do it alone, Willow," he tried to explain. It was probably a good thing she remained serious as he was uncertain about this new venture and any ridicule from her, innocent or not, might have made him feel foolish. It wasn't his idea to begin with, but Tobias', but it made sense. He wasn't going to be able to keep normal hours anymore, and even if he requested the night shift, there was no guarantee he wouldn't be needed during the day. How would he manage to explain it' No, he needed to do something else, something where he could make his own hours, something where no one would question his new-found preference for darkness. "I'd need your help."

She eyed him for a long moment, seeing where this was going. "Because you can't hire a secretary," she said quietly. "Even if you could find a vampire or whatever who was interested, you don't know who you can trust yet. And you get to keep a really close eye on me if we're sharing an office."

"I know it's a lot to ask. I know you love your job. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, but I can't be a cop anymore. I need to do something else. Being a P.I. makes sense. I just..." He sighed, leaning back in his chair and looking a little defeated, unsure where to go from here. He shrugged his broad shoulders, his fingers sliding away from hers as he leaned back. "I just don't know what else to do."

"Baby ..." Willow bit her lip before continuing. She knew he wasn't going to like what she was about to say, but hopefully he'd see the wisdom in it. "What I want doesn't really matter anymore. My life needs to be about what?s necessary, and what?s necessary is you. You need something to do with your time, because you're gonna drive yourself crazy doing nothing. You've got the skills to really make a go of it as a private dick, and you need the peace of mind that'd come with knowing exactly where I am and what I'm doing at any given moment. I can hand in my two weeks' notice tomorrow, but that doesn't solve the problem of our finances. Your severance isn't going to last forever, and without my paycheck, there's no way we can even think about moving out of this house right now."

"No, I don't think we can move yet. Not until I know how to take care of myself and you." He knew that wasn't quite what she was getting at, but he had a feeling money might not be as much a problem as she anticipated so long as Tobias was around. "I was going to sell the roadster. That should help, but....I don't think we really need to worry about money right now, Willow."

"And what happens when you need the roadster later on down the line?" she asked him reluctantly. She'd been trying to get rid of that thing for years, but here and now, she could actually see there being a use for it. "Baby, I don't think you should sell the roadster. Sell the clunker, yes. But if you're gonna do this, you're gonna need a good set of wheels, and as much as it pains me to admit it, that roadster is a damned fine set of wheels."

"We've been over this before, Will. It's not practical. It's a bachelor's car. It's not a car for a..." He broke off before saying the word family. They'd been talking about buying a house and starting a family, before Josef had made Nick a vampire, before their world had been turned upside down. "I won't get sh*t for the junker," he pointed out, hoping to distract her from his near mention of a family. "We have to be smart about this, Will. We have to think it through."

She knew what he'd almost said, deliberately not even considering thinking about it. The last thing he needed was for her to get emotional about her now defunct womb. "You can sell it for scrap," she pointed out, but didn't push the topic any further. "What it comes down to, Kringle, is what you want to do. Do you want to go into the private sector?"

Nick was frowning again, looking uncertain. He turned his gaze to the table, fingers tapping idly against the polished wood. "I don't know what I want anymore, Willowbean. I thought I did, but now I don't. All I know is that I can't live without you. Nothing else really matters but that."

"Okay, so back to the practicalities," Willow nodded. "We can't live if we don't have anything to live on. And I like Toby, I really do, but I'm not a teenager anymore. I don't want to be dependent on someone in the position of parent to me. I thought I was done with that when I ran away from home."

"No, I agree. We've been on our own too long to be dependent on someone else now, but I need to learn some things first. I need to learn how to....how to be what I am, what I can and can't do." There was a whole list of things Nick needed to know that he didn't, and it wasn't just about feeding. He needed to learn everything he possibly could about vampires - how to hunt them, kill them, and avoid being killed. "And I don't think Tobias is going to want us too far out of his sight until Josef is destroyed."

"So we stay here until ....that whole thing ....is sorted out, and over and done with," Willow sighed, conceding the point even if she didn't like it. "Doesn't mean we can't set up a business while we're here and start saving up. I mean, it's not like I cost a lot to feed, and if I'm not going to and from work every day, that's a whole lotta savings on fuel and stuff. We could make our nest egg a chicken in no time."

"I don't think it'll cost that much to start a business. All I need is an office, really. We could work out of here for now and eventually buy a place of our own. And we could always trade the roadster in for something more practical." He wasn't really sure what they were going to do now, but at least they had accepted the situation and were talking about solutions. It was a start, anyway.

"Well, whatever we decide, you'll need an office away from where we're living," she pointed out. "The last thing we want is our home becoming a public place where anyone who comes to see us can be invited in, whether we know them or not."

"True, but for now, we could arrange to meet clients somewhere, or we could rent a cheap office. That's not really what?s important, Will. What we need to figure out is where we want to go from here. You can keep working as a vet if you want, but if you're working days, and I'm working nights, how are we ever gonna see each other?" And though he didn't say and didn't want to be selfish about it, she was right - he needed something productive to do with his time or he was going to go stark raving mad.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:42 EST
"That's the thing - if it means not seeing you, not being with you, then I don't want to be a veterinary nurse," Willow pointed out. "I mean it, Nick, you're everything to me. My job just doesn't compare. So if you do this, you'd better get used to seeing me a whole lot more than you're used to, because I'm gonna be right there with you."

"How's your shorthand?" he asked with a teasing smirk. It wasn't that he wasn't taking it all seriously, but he knew once Willow decided on something, there was no changing her mind, and he couldn't help teasing her about it. "Should I interview you before I hire you?"

"Not if you plan on ever having sex again," she informed him tartly, but there was a smirk playing around her lips as she said it, a glitter in her dark eyes that betrayed her amusement. "So I guess I have a resignation letter to write today, huh?"

"Only if you're absolutely sure, but..." His smile faded again, despite her teasing. They'd worked conflicting shifts before in the past and had agreed a long time ago that their relationship was more important than their careers.

She reached across the table to take his hand, gently squeezing her fingers about his. "I'm sure," she promised him. "You are way more important to me than my job. And this way, you don't need to worry about me so much. I won't ever be too far away."

He hesitated a moment, unsure if he wanted to admit how he was feeling. He'd already told her so much. He didn't want this to be all about him. In the end, her happiness was more important to him than anything else. "I miss you, Willow. I'm going crazy cooped up in this house all alone. Even when you're here, you need to sleep, and I feel like I'm crawling the walls waiting for you to wake up. Then you're gone to work, and I'm alone again. God, I must sound like such a whiner. I just miss you. That's all." He knew he didn't have to convince her further, but he wanted her to know how he felt.

She held his gaze for a long moment, heartbroken that he felt so alone when she was not around. "You know what? Wait here a second." Abruptly, she pushed up from the table and headed into the main living room, rummaging through her bag for her cell phone.

It wasn't like he could hang out at Vampires Anonymous or something. He still had a lot to learn and guess Tobias was going to keep him pretty busy learning it in the days and weeks to come, but for now, he was going a little stir crazy waiting for something to happen. He arched a brow as she pushed away from the table, wondering what she was up to. "What are you doing?" he asked, pushing to his feet to follow her.

From the living room came the sound of her voice, obviously calling her workplace, asking to speak directly to the manager. Willow held a finger up to keep him from interrupting. And a moment later ...."Hey, Elise. You know that family issue that kept me out of work last week" It's a lot bigger than it seemed at first." There was a pause as her boss expressed sympathy and concern. "I need to hand in my two weeks' notice, and I was kind of hoping that you could put me down as on vacation for the duration of that two weeks. Or fire me, whatever works best for you."

"Willow, what..." He broke off as she held up a finger to hush him, clearly shocked that she was ready to quit her job on the spot because of him, for him. Ten minutes ago, she was worried about an income and now she was quitting her job, just like that. He wasn't sure if he should be appalled, pleased, flattered, or all of the above.

"Elise, I know it's short notice, and I know it's crappy, but what it comes down to is that my family needs me a whole lot more than you do," Willow attempted to placate her suddenly irate boss. "Look, you can use what you would have paid me this month to pay for agency staff until you can hire someone new, I know that much. It's not as big a deal as you're making out." She met Nick's gaze, rolling her eyes in amusement at the offers of more money, less hours, from the other end of the line. "Sure, I can come in tomorrow and talk about it, but I'm telling you right now, you can't change my mind. All right. All right, yes. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." The phone beeped as she killed the line and dropped her cell back into her bag. "Loneliness sorted."

Nick was clearly flabbergasted. Giving her two weeks' notice was one thing but flatly quitting on the spot was quite another, though they achieved the same result. "You're sure?" he asked, more for her sake than his. He didn't want her to regret what she'd just done, even if it was for all the right reasons. Their lives were changing so quickly, he could hardly keep up with the changes.

"You need me. So yeah, I'm sure." She'd never really made any impulsive decisions before, but since she was going to quit anyway, where was the harm in moving it up a little" "All I gotta do is go down there tomorrow and let Elise try and persuade me otherwise, and I'm done. I meant it, Nick, you're more important than my job, than anything. Toby's just gonna have to put up with having me around a bit longer, that's all."

"We don't have to figure everything out in one day," Nick remarked, more to himself than to her. It seemed their entire lives had turned topsy-turvy overnight, and he knew it was going to take more than a few days to sort it all out and make new lives for themselves. "I'm not sure we should stay here too long."

She frowned thoughtfully as she watched him. "Didn't you just get through telling me that we need to stay here a while longer?" she pointed out, laying her hands comfortably on her hips as she faced him.

"Yeah, a while longer, but not forever. Too many people know us here, Willow, and we're too easy for Josef to find here. The thing is anywhere we go, it won't be hard to find us, especially if we're running a business." He sighed, wondering if he was thinking about this too hard. He'd had too much time to think the last few days, and the more time he'd had to think, the more it drove him nuts.

"Look, we're covered for the time being," Willow reminded him gently. "As far as the police are concerned, you're recuperating from injury, and you're only out and about after dark in the wee smalls, so the chance of running across anyone is minimal. And I've just quit to "look after you?, so even if any of our friends spot me around, they know I've got more pressing matters to attend to. That gives us a couple of months, at least. After that is when we start thinking about moving anywhere, okay' Get used to what you can and can't do before piling more stress on top, baby."

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:43 EST
"Yeah, I guess," he admitted a little sourly. It was true that he was getting too far ahead of himself and putting the cart before the horse, but he wanted to make sure he was doing everything he possibly could to keep Willow safe. That was his main objective. "I should probably get a little rest," he continued. Though he didn't need nearly as much sleep as he had before he'd been turned, he still required a few hours rest everyday, generally when the sun was at its highest.

Willow's brow rose, but she didn't say anything about this sudden desire to sleep. She just smiled. "All right, baby, you go sleep. I need to grab a coupla things from the store - and before you say it, the sun is bright, the store is right there, and if you really want me to, I'll run there and back."

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it quickly as soon as she derailed his protest before he could make one. He could have insisted that she wait until evening so he could accompany her, but he was supposed to be recuperating and didn't want to risk running into anyone he knew. Besides, it seemed Tobias had other plans for him later - which reminded him...."Willow, Tobias needs to take me out later, to teach me a few things. I can't depend on him forever. I need to learn how to take care of myself." He didn't get specific, but it wasn't hard to guess that his first lessons would mostly involve feeding.

"Well, it's about time," was her wonderfully prosaic response to that. "Frankly, I was expecting the lessons to start up sooner." She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "I'll lock all the doors and hide under the bed if you really want me to, but I'd rather you just trusted me not to let anyone in."

He frowned down at her, as she practically read his mind. He didn't want to treat her like a child, but he needed her to know just how serious this was. Then again, if the attack on her life hadn't taught her that already, nothing would. "It's really important, Willow. Vampires have to be invited inside, but they could have humans doing their bidding, so it's not just vampires you have to be careful of." And it went without saying, that humans didn't have to follow the same rules as vampires, especially when it came to staying indoors during the daylight hours. He took her by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes, so that she understood just how important this was. "You have to be careful and wary of strangers, not just at night."

Willow held his gaze, a part of her bristling at being spoken to like a child, thankfully overruled by the part of her that understood he needed to tell her this as much as she needed to hear it. "The whole world's out to get me, huh?" she said regretfully. "That makes a run to the store a little more dicey than I was expecting it to be."

"Not the whole world, baby," he answered, knowing he was being a little paranoid, but better safe than sorry. "I just want to make sure you're safe, and I can't follow you around everywhere. Josef is our main threat right now, and Tobias has been following him, so I don't think we have to worry yet, but better safe than sorry." He sighed, letting go of her shoulders to shove his fingers through his hair the way he always did when he was feeling perplexed. "God, I hate this. This is my fault. I should have never become a cop. If I hadn't been investigating this case, none of this would have happened."

"No, it would have happened to somebody else, somebody who wouldn't have gone to see Tobias, somebody who would have killed his wife and then gone insane because he did it," she told him harshly. "Baby, just because it's hard to handle right now doesn't mean it's always gonna be hard to handle. You never get anything thrown at you that you can't cope with, that's my opinion. We can handle this. So no playing the blame game."

He knew she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "Okay, listen. You want to go to the store, go. I don't think we have to worry about Josef during the day. I've checked the perimeter and I don't think anyone's watching the house. At least, they weren't as of last night, but I can't be sure what?s going on during the day. I want you to call me when you get there and call me when you leave." So, apparently, he wouldn't be resting just yet, after all. He wouldn't be able to sleep soundly without knowing she was safe anyway. They'd made a similar arrangement when she'd gone to work, so that he knew where she was at all times, though he knew if someone took her against her will, there wouldn't be much he could do about it during the day.

"And one more thing..." he started, taking hold of her arm and leading her back toward the stairs.

She sighed, but didn't argue about the phone calls. If it would keep him from going scherzo on her when she got home again, then it was worth a mild inconvenience. It was a little much, though, when all she needed to pick up were a few personal hygiene items. "Of course I'll call," she promised him, about to turn to find her sneakers when he took her arm. "Hey, what ....where are we going?"

"Upstairs," he replied, stating the obvious. She was likely to think he was nuts, but he marched her up the stairs to the guest room they were sharing, letting go of her arm only when they reached the room. Crossing the room to the bed, he pulled open the top drawer to the nightstand and pulled out a Beretta, small enough to fit inside a large pocket or a purse. He checked to make sure it was loaded and that the safety was on and turned to hand it to her. It wasn't like she'd never handled a weapon before. He'd made sure to teach her the basics, just in case. "Take this," he told her, handing her the weapon.

She rolled her eyes at the non-answer, letting him tug her up the stairs and into the room they were sharing for the time being. It was only when he pulled out the Beretta that she caught on, groaning with reluctance. "Oh, come on, Nick, do I have to?" she asked plaintively. She knew what to do with it, yes, but that didn't mean she was anywhere near being comfortable with a gun.

"Just as a precaution, Will. It would make me feel better knowing you had it." He was obviously going to insist, though he didn't feel the need to give her a long lecture telling her not to use it unless she really felt her life was in danger. Guns were not toys, and once a weapon was fired, there was no taking it back. He didn't really want her carrying one, but if it meant protecting her against any of Josef's henchmen, it was well worth the risk.

Willow Gregory

Date: 2014-01-26 09:44 EST
Cringing, she took the handgun from him, going through the motions of checking the clip and putting the safety on more for his benefit than her own. At least he could be sure she knew what she was doing, even if she did hold the thing like it was made of something particularly disgusting. "I'm only gonna be, like, twenty minutes."

"Just....don't let anyone see it." He didn't need her getting arrested for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, but if she was attacked by one of Josef's henchmen, she'd need it. "One minute more, and I'm gonna be calling 9-1-1, got me?" he warned, though they both knew he was exaggerating. She'd gone to work without incident, but after his phone call from Tobias, he was feeling anxious again.

"All right, all right. Lighten up a little, would you?" She reached up to kiss him. "No pacing while I'm gone, you're wearing a hole in the carpet and we can't afford to replace it." With a gentle tweak to his nose, she turned and headed back downstairs, the gun hanging from her fingers uncomfortably.

He scowled rather than grumbled as she humored him and tweaked his nose, following her down the stairs a little grumpily, grabbing his cell phone on the way out. Just a few days ago they were making plans to take a trip, buy a house, start a family, and now here he was having to learn how to protect her against vampires, of all things. "You want me to start doing stand-up" This is serious stuff, Willow!"

"I swear to God, Nick, if you tell me that one more time, I am going to hit you so hard I'll break my own hand," she informed him, whirling around to face him. "I am not a child. Neither am I brain dead, or stupid. I'm hurting, and you know what? I don't need this from you right now." She snatched up her bag, dropping the hated gun into its depths as she headed for the door.

He blinked, a little surprised by her outburst. Though he knew he was being a little overly cautious, all things considered, he'd rather err on the side of caution than be reckless. She might be angry with him now, but she'd calm down soon enough, and at least she was no longer in denial about the whole thing. Even if she was angry, she was taking him seriously enough to listen and do as he said. "Call me when you get there," he reminded her, staying far enough away from the door that he wouldn't risk getting burned by the sun's rays again. No apologies, no excuses, no coddling. She'd get over it, and if anything happened, thank him later for his over-protectiveness.

Stepping out into the sunshine, Willow turned back to her husband with an expression that suggested an apology might have been the more sensible route to follow. "You know what, baby' Bite me." Spinning on her heel, she stamped down the steps and onto the street, annoyed and hurt that he didn't trust her enough to let something go now and then.

"I already have," he muttered to himself as he came close enough to push the door closed without getting burned. Now, all he had to do was wait, but waiting was the hardest part. He felt like he spent the majority of his time doing nothing but waiting lately, though he wasn't quite sure what it was he was waiting for. Waiting for Willow to wake up, to get home, to eat. Waiting for Tobias to teach him not only how to take care of himself but how to live, now that he was no longer human. Somehow Tobias had survived nearly two hundred years as a vampire. What was his secret' Was it only vengeance that had kept him going all these years" Nick slumped down on the couch to wait for Willow's call. He knew he owed her an apology, but he wasn't quite sure what he should be apologizing for. For caring too much, worrying too much, loving her too much?

They'd never argued before the way they were arguing the last few days. He knew it was the stress of the situation, but somehow they needed to figure out how to be a team again, how to handle this together, or it was going to destroy them.

((The course of true love never did run smooth, did it' They'll work it out, one way or another. Many humungizoid thanks to Nick's player!))