The Perfect... Cave? {Dom}

[leblanc]

Anton woke up in the same spot that he fell asleep, he hadn't moved an inch. To his relief, his mind couldn't recollect any bad dreams he might have had, so the talk must have had with Dom worked. The more he searched through his mind, the worse it was. His memory took him back two days, and in the very clearing that he was laying in, he had fought. With someone he was supposed to stay away from. Lily Potter. He was still stiff from the run in, but the good thing about being a vampire was you never got sore. Your body just felt like it hadn't moved in 20 years.

Anton had spent the last night in the Forbidden Forest. He had attempted to sleep in the Slytherin Common room, but the smell was too unbearable, in a good way. As soon as he walked in, it hit him like the Hogwarts Express and the only thing he could hear was the heart beats of the fellow Slytherins that were hanging out in the common room. The dorms weren't any better, the same result. He was driven outside by thirst and he decided that it might be best to just stay out after feeding. It was here he fell asleep.

When he finally decided to get up, Anton stood and sprinted out of the forest. He needed a change of clothes, and figured he could manage. If he really had to, he could just give a burst of speed and pick up the pace. Before he realized it, he was standing outside of the enormous wooden doors, separating the students from the outside. He pushed them open and headed straight for the Dungeons. Anton was soon there, showering, pulling on his clothes for the day and walking out. He managed perfectly, and most of the students were sleeping anyways, as it was the weekend. The sun hadn't come up just yet, and still sat behind one of the mountains to the east. In becoming a vampire, all of the rumors were cleared up, but one thing remained. Vampires could not go in the sunlight. It put a damper on the day, since it was Anton's favorite time. He just needed to readjust. Today's agenda; find a place in Hogsmeade that would suffice for him to stay at for a hours while the sun was out.

The cool morning air was nice to feel. The clouds were starting to cover the sky, which meant that Anton could stay out for even longer. His feet found a path that led to Hogsmeade, so he followed it. The first building he found was a pretty ugly one. It was run down, ragged looking. Holes could be seen in the siding. But hey, wasn't it worth a try? The inside looked dark, and his new eyes would appreciate it. He pushed through the door and walked in. The inside was amazing, almost like a cave. It was all dark colors, mostly dark blues and blacks. It was absolutely perfect. He found stairs and went up them, to find a very comfortable looking room. Anton found a spot and sat down. The only other thing he needed was Dom.



Word Count: 543
Tagged: Dom
Notes: None
Music: None

[meme]

When Dominique fell asleep nothing could wake her up. Literally is someone was blowing up her house she wouldn’t hear it and the same with thunder. When she as younger her mother or sister would have to shake her to get her up. Plus she wrapped up herself up like a cocoon with her blankets. Dom liked being warm so she did end up sleeping with three or four blankets. But once she got up she was up. And unless she did some sort of exercise she wasn’t going back to sleep. Well she did tend to go to sleep if she got really bored and there was nothing else to do. However being seventeen years old and having a great boyfriend there was always something to be done.

Getting up out of bed she grabbed some clothes and headed off toward the showers. After the shower and being more wide awake than ever and smelling like cherries she went down to her common room. There were some students down there but not too many. It was still quiet early and from what she could tell was going to be a nice day. Winter might end up leaving soon enough. That was fine with her. Dominique did love the snow but winter was proving to be not her favorite season. Yet it was when she met Anton so everything was good. Speaking of which, Dom ended up wondering where he was going to be today. She knew he really wasn’t going to classes and still didn’t hang around the castle much. So today’s adventure would be to go and find her boyfriend.

Leaving the common room quickly and forgetting a jacket all together she walked up the steps to get to the ground floor. Looking around she couldn’t help but smile as she saw a figure moving a little too quickly out of the castle and taking a different route to Hogsmeade. Dominique was a Weasley so she knew every possible away to get to the Wizarding town. And after a moment about thinking about it she decided to follow him. See how far she could get without him noticing. Walking down to the village she couldn’t even see Anton. She didn’t have to see him. Dom knew which way it was to the village so she took her time and managed not to fall walking down the somewhat steep hill. See sometimes she could be graceful.

Seeing the village in the sight she could see Anton was already there and entering the club. A laugh escaped her lips. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew where he was going. The club was disguised but the inside was beautiful. Yes she has been there a few times before but it didn’t hold that great of memories. Yet now knowing Anton was in there she decided since she followed him this far. Why not? Entering the club Dom knew it was going to be dark. So she knew immediately why Anton loved it. Seeing that he wasn’t down stairs she went up the steps managing only to stumble once. Once up there she saw him and the smile just got wider on her lips. “’’Ello love.” She said leaning down and giving him a kiss on the lips. “You know I followed you the whole way here from the castle.” Dom said laughing and sitting down next to him. Yeah some predator he was. But she didn’t mind that. All that mattered now was that she was here with him.

[leblanc]

Anton couldn't help but smile when Dom walked up the stairs right as he looked at them. She looked amazing, as she always did. Her long blond hair was the same as it was the first day he talked to her, her perfect figure immortalized inside of his mind. He was glad that she was there, after all, he had just thought to himself that he wanted her here with him. It was as if some higher power was making up for what he had become. Good things had started happening, slowly but surely and his life was becoming better.

“’’Ello love.” She said leaning down and giving him a kiss on the lips. “You know I followed you the whole way here from the castle.”

"Hey, i'm so glad you're here." His voice was warm and welcoming. He was the Anton everyone knew and loved again. And he loved it. He kissed her back, and almost didn't want to stop. For some reason, he had gained more self control recently and he didn't want blood as often, nor as much as before. He heard the whole "i followed you from the castle" part. "Oh, lucky me. I have my own personal stalker," he said with a laugh. "I think i like that." Anton then kissed her again. It was just... right. "How are you? It's kind of early, i didn't expect you to be up so early." If he had known she was up, he would have included her in the search for a daytime hideaway. He hoped this place was alright for her, after all, it was extremely dark, only lit by a few candles here and there. The light hit off of his eyes perfectly, showing their metallic color.

Despite being so happy, there was one thought on his mind that made him glad Dom wasn't telepathic. Her cousin Lily. Dom gave him instructions to stay away from her, and he promised. What would happen if she found out? Maybe he should tell her first. He began to get nervous, but didn't show it on the outside. "So, have you heard anything interesting lately? Talked to anyone interesting?" He raised an eyebrow, laughing slightly. He had for sure done both of those things. One. His father. He had talked to him about being a vampire, Dom, and his alcohol problem, and he also needed to talk to Dom about her conversation with his father. Two. He had fought her cousin, the end of which wasn't what he wanted. And now he needed to tell Dom everything.



Word Count: 443
Tagged: Dom
Notes: None
Music: None

[meme]

With all the words that Dominique knew she couldn’t think of one word to perfectly describe Anton. She could think of a thousand but not one word could combine all of those other words together. Him sitting there it was almost as if he was waiting for her. That somehow he had picked the place for the two of them to be together. At night this place was jammed packed but now she wasn’t even sure if it was open. Anton might have undone the lock or something to come inside this place. She didn’t know nor did she care. Right now she was sitting in an empty club with her boyfriend. Who in all aspects was pretty damn gorgeous.

His voice just sounded so much better. It was like the first Anton she met when a snowball almost hit her. The second Anton really wasn’t much different except he didn’t trust himself as much. Yet when he kissed her she could tell he was in a much better mood. This made Dominique happy knowing that they were moving forward with their relationship. “Well good since I like stalking you.” Dom said with a laugh but was cut off by another kiss. Really she wasn’t minding how Anton was acting at all. She has been waiting for him to get back to his old self for a while now. “I didn’t even look at the clock this morning. Once I’m up and I take my shower I’m staying up.” She said smiling up at him and just how this whole place just made Anton look all the more handsome. Really the dark lighting and the candles really did show off his features. And then there was her who stuck out in any place dark.

Yawning slightly even though she was tired Dominique heard Anton ask the questions. And a few things popped up into her head. One her meeting and yelling at Beryx the boy who turned Anton into a vampire and meeting the Headmaster who she found out right away didn’t approve of Anton dating her. She knew Anton would be pissed that she talked with Beryx. She knew she promised him but with everything that has been going on the young Gryffindor was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he got the brunt end of her frustration. “Well I had to go get Prefect times since the Head Girl was off doing something else,” Dominique started out with making it sound innocent enough. “And found out we did have two late shifts together.” Okay it was suppose to be good news but then she remembered how the Headmaster had changed it on her. “And then your dad told me on how much he doesn’t approve of us being together.” She said very quickly. Almost came out as one long word and not a sentence. “how about you?”

[leblanc]

“Well I had to go get Prefect times since the Head Girl was off doing something else. And found out we have two late shifts together. And then your dad told me on how much he doesn’t approve of us being together. how about you?”

If anton would have had water in his mouth, it could have been the classic moment where someone gets news they weren't expecting and spits it out all over the place. But he didn't, so the people around him should have been thankful. Anton knew his father well, despite not talking to him much anymore. He had a terrible temper and would do anything he felt like doing. Which included torturing someone who stood in his way of what he thought was perfection. She really should have went with anton, or at least told him that she went. And then again, he already knew that she had went after his conversation with his father. "I know that you talked to him. He told me. He's not very happy. But you should have talked to me about it before you went. He's not exactly the picture of happiness and he could have hurt you."

Anton wasn't sure what happened, but his voice was much more intense than he intended it. "But i'm just glad you got out with no injuries." He didn't want her to think he was too upset, so he smiled slightly, even though his eyes betrayed him. It was weird how much eyes could convey, and right now, Anton's showed everything, better than he could even explain. The first, disappointment. He needed to be the one to tell his father. The second, anger. She hadn't told him that she had gone, and probably didn't plan on telling him in the first place. And the third, resentment towards his father. He wished that he could just deal with the fact that he was in love with a weasley and get over it. But it wasn't happening.

"So what exactly did you two talk about? I mean, what happened?" The question was burning inside of him, he needed to know if he needed to have another conversation with his dad. At this point, he was ignoring any question that was asked of him until he got a straight answer from Dom. He must know the truth, after all, he had been truthful to Dom. And he would keep that up by telling her about his run in with her cousin, Lily Potter. The sinking feeling went back into his chest and his fake breathing caught. Everything was going back to the hard way it was. The hurricane wasn't over. The worst was most likely yet to come. If he would have been human, he would have passed out from oxygen deprivation. Things, people needed to change or be changed before the situation would be better.


Word Count: 497
Tagged: Dom
Notes: None
Music: None

[meme]

If there was any way to ruin whatever might have happened between them it was brining up how Anton’s father felt about her. And she really didn’t want to tell Anton what his father thought of her. It wasn’t a nice conversation and well she would have to stay away from the Headmaster for a while. Unless Anton was in trouble there was no way she was going near him. Would probably end badly for her. Finding out he knew that Dominique talked to him; her face couldn’t help but drop. “Well I didn’t know he would take it so badly. I only thought he had hate for James.” She said sitting up on the couch and dropping her eyes quickly. She planned on leaving the Headmaster’s office quickly but he of course had a few things to say to her.

When Anton said he was glad she wasn’t hurt she just nodded her head. And when Dom looked up at him she almost felt like crying seeing what his eyes were telling her. He wasn’t happy and she completely ruined how he was feeling just moments ago. Anton was just so happy like a few minutes ago and now he was looking at her like that. She felt like hiding someone in the dark. Somewhere deeper in the club sounded good. “I would have given you a warning but she just stopped me in the hallway and told me to go get the times. It was something that was just spur of the moment.” Dominique said her voice getting softer. She was strong the whole time with Headmaster LeBlanc but seeing Anton like this made her feel horrible.

His question made her eye drop to the floor. She ran a hand through her hair not knowing what to tell and what not to. Yeah she knew it was bad that she wanted to hide things from him but she didn’t want Anton to be on worse terms with his father. Dom would never know what to do without her family and was close with her father. She didn’t know how Anton was dealing being angry with his father. “He really doesn’t like me.” She said looking up at him. “Really, really doesn’t like me.” Dom said emphasizing the really. “At first he just wanted me to break it off with you. Saying it would go nowhere and stop it before I got in over my head.” She said bringing her knees up to her chest. “Then it got worse,” she said not wanting to look up at Anton but played with the pant legs of her jeans. “Called me a whore, which didn’t both me too much. But then threatened me with how powerful your family is.” A slight shiver ran down her back remembering what happened next. His dad was definitely scary. “He then brought out his wand. Told me that when he likes to take life away he likes to draw it out and make it as painful as possible. He proceeds to say how much he can take away from me.” That was the truth. That was everything. “I’m sorry Anton. I had no idea. I really had no idea.” She said putting her head on her knees and letting a few tears come down.

[leblanc]

Anton knew that she was right, about his father and what he had done. It didn't surprise him in the least. His father was a jackass, and everyone knew it, even himself. He just couldn't help but feel the way he did. There was no point in Dom hiding it from him that she talked to his dad. And when she said that she had to get the Prefects times, that made no just cause for her to tell his father that they were dating. Although, Anton was somewhat relieved that his dad knew. The conversation that he had with him on a later date, however, could have been even more catastrophic, had his father been even more pissed off about their relationship. If Anton would have known, he could have avoided talking to him and give him time to cool down. It clearly didn't happen that way.

“Well I didn’t know he would take it so badly. I only thought he had hate for James.”

"Dom, you don't understand my father. He believes in Toujours Pur, pure blood until the line of the family dies out. And that means no blood traitors either. Even though i don't agree with that, he views your family as just that, a whole lot of blood traitors. And me dating you, and Kelsey married to James means that the whole line is tainted now. It was everything that he was working against his entire life as soon as we were born. And you stepped into the line of fire by telling him." The sinking feeling kept getting worse. His father was going to be terrible until they broke up and he didn't intend on letting that happen.

“He really doesn’t like me.” She said looking up at him. “Really, really doesn’t like me.” Dom said emphasizing the really. “At first he just wanted me to break it off with you. Saying it would go nowhere and stop it before I got in over my head.”

"I could have told you that. And it's not because of who you are, it's because of your last name. And i hope you don't take anything he said to heart. Because you aren't a whore, or anything less than spectacular." He tried to give a smile, but failed. He was feeling the same three emotions he was before, but even more anger towards his father. And he still had his run in with lily to confess. Oh the hole kept getting deeper for the pair.

“Called me a whore, which didn’t both me too much. But then threatened me with how powerful your family is. He then brought out his wand. Told me that when he likes to take life away he likes to draw it out and make it as painful as possible. He proceeds to say how much he can take away from me.”

"He what?" His voice was a low growl, barely audible to even himself. His hand that was resting on the arm of the chair was now digging into the fabric. He was outraged. How dare his father threaten her! They were in love, something that couldn't be stopped, avoided. His hand had soon crushed the wood on the inside, deforming the shape of the armrest. He tried to calm himself down, but it wasn't working. He needed to get away from dom before it all got out. He stood quickly, but noticed that she was crying. His heart sank. He had made her cry. Anton was even more pissed, and he punched the wall, knocking a huge hole in it. He continued to stare at the gap in drywall, back to Dom, trying to hide his own emotions that were flying at him at a hundred miles an hour.

"Dom, i need to tell you something..."




Word Count: 659
Tagged: Dom
Notes: Finally! Over 500 words
Music: None

[meme]

Dominique didn’t know why she was letting herself get this emotional. Over the last couple months she has hidden most of her emotions. She didn’t know if this was what she got for hiding them for the last few months of if Anton just did this to her. Either way she felt like hitting herself for showing him this side of her. But maybe it was for the better. Maybe this would make their relationship even stronger. “I know we should have told him together. Would have been a much smarter move. But I think he might have hated me more knowing that I just walked in and out of his office not voicing a word. And he would have been even more pissed if he heard it from someone else! He knew about my past relationships I was kind of shocked he didn’t know about ours.” Dom said done raising her voice and with the tears. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and looked over at him. She could do this.

Listening to what he said about how his father lived she was thinking that maybe his father was a death eater. Sounded like what one would be. And she definitely knew that any death eater would hate their son or daughter dating her. It just came with the last name and sometimes she wanted to go by her mother’s last name. No one would judge her then unless they could guess she was French and part veela. Dom would love to get on the Headmaster’s good side but that would involve her probably becoming a death eater or breaking up with Anton. And she wasn’t going to do neither. She didn’t want the Headmaster to win this and end up breaking the two of them up because of this.

Dominique didn’t know what to feel seeing how Anton reacted to what she said. How his father treated her. She really didn’t want to make his family anymore unstable than it already was. She was feeling torn apart because she didn’t know how the Headmaster would react if Anton went and talked to him again. Seeing him break the chair and then the dry wall she just sat there watching. Not flinching or anything at all. He was learning to control himself a bit since she hadn’t been attacked. When he looked back at her she got up and went over to him wrapping him in a hug. And not letting go. There was no way this was going to end in a bigger fight. They were going to handle this now and get over it. This would probably be beneficial to the relationship, somehow.

It felt like her heart literally hit her stomach. She never like hearing those words and it was even worse that he didn’t keep on talking. What did he have to say? Was he going to agree with his father? Dom blinked quickly trying to hide whatever her eyes would give away but with her arms still wrapped around him she looked up at him. “What do you have to say?” she asked hoping it wasn’t as bad as what she just did to him.

[leblanc]

Anton had been dreading this for the days between the event happened and now. Lily had attacked him when they ran into each other in the middle of the forbidden forest, of all places. And now was his chance to tell her. "I, uh, I ran into Lily. In the middle of the forbidden forest." He lowered his head, still hugging her. He hoped she wasn't as upset as he was and she took the news better than he took hers. That was the last thing that they needed; both parties pissed off at each other. "I know i promised to stay away, and i have been. And i was hunting in the forest," everything just kept spilling out. His facial expressions were pained, knowing that she wouldn't be very happy.

"And i heard heart beats, two of them and ran towards them and found her standing there. The only thing was, it was just her. I know you won't care, but she's pregnant. And she taunted me, and i scratched her neck on accident. And the blood..." This was the only pause he took until he finished. "I lunged... I couldn't help it. I'm sorry. But she cursed me, with crucio, sent me into a tree. When she finally released, i pinned her to the ground. Stole her wand, and then got mine. She started talking after i let her up to retrieve mine, and she distracted me. Used you to get my attention. And then stole her wand back. Before i knew it, i was pinned under a tree and she was gone..." He turned his head away, ashamed that he was so easily manipulated and defeated.

"I'm sorry that i couldn't just finish her, or at least win the battle." He held her in a hug, waiting for her reaction. It was either going to be in favor of killing lily, or being pissed at Anton for breaking his promise. He hoped that it was neither, because he had now seen what Lily was capable of and he didn't want Dom in the line of fire. He was no longer angry with her for going without him to talk with his father, there was no way that he could expect her to not mention anything of their relationship to his dad. And in Robert's eyes, there was nothing worse that lying, which included not mentioning something that he might not like the moment that you know it's going on. So much for finding a relaxing place for the day.



Word Count: 435
Tagged: Dom
Notes: None
Music: None

[meme]

Looking up at him she wondered what was on his mind. For once she would love to know what he was thinking so she could make it all better. Know exactly what words to say and how to put them. Dom was in love with him and hated seeing him in pain. Anything to stop it she would do it. So she decided her best bet was to listen and hear what he had to say. When his first words spoke Lily’s name, she knew her face drained of color. And that hatred just showed up. Her cousin was someone Dominique really never liked talking about anymore. All that girl brought was trouble. Instead of saying something, which she would probably regret she kept her mouth shut. Right now she wasn’t angry with Anton at all. That was where he hunted and Lily should not have been there.

“I know she’s pregnant. She came to me for advice when she found out. Before when we were on relatively good terms.” Dom said not believing that she let herself take her guard down with Lily just for one second. She continued listening to the story and hugged Anton tighter hearing about the cruciatus curse. That bitch was going to pay. Most likely with her life and probably the baby’s. She didn’t care about the kids. It was horrible for her to think that but how else was she to survive the world now? Lily wanted her dead. So why should she not want Lily dead? “I’m so sorry I put you in that sort of situation. Lily just knowing you are dating me put you in that spot and for that I’m sorry.” Dom told him holding onto him tight. Probably not the reaction he thought she would give but she wasn’t going to be angry at him or show him how angry she was at her cousin. No, all that hatred was coming out when she tracked down her Slytherin cousin.

“The first time I went against her the same thing happened to me. We learn from our mistakes.” She told him looking up at him and kissing his lips. Dominique wanted to tell him that she would take care of this and there was nothing to worry about. Yet she knew how protective Anton was over her and knew that he probably wouldn’t let her go anywhere near her cousin or Jack. “And about breaking promises,” Dom said figuring she might as well tell him who she found too. “I was walking in the courtyard when I came across Beryx. I couldn’t stop myself. I ended up yelling at him probably for five whole minutes and all he did was sit there. Took it then walked away. Barely said anything at all to me.” Now she really did hope Anton wasn’t going to be too pissed about her finding the Gryffindor who turned him. Nothing happened and she was safe.

[leblanc]

“I’m so sorry I put you in that sort of situation. Lily just knowing you are dating me put you in that spot and for that I’m sorry."

"Dom, stop apologizing for that. There is nothing you can do about it. We are together and i know what i'm getting myself into." It was true. He knew a little about Jack, and that him and Dom had a past. But that was then and Anton was sure that he could handle anything that was thrown his way. Despite knowing about Lily, it was partially his fault for going after her. He needed to learn how to control is temper and until that time, there was nothing that he was going to be able to promise anyone, not even his girlfriend.

“I was walking in the courtyard when I came across Beryx. I couldn’t stop myself. I ended up yelling at him probably for five whole minutes and all he did was sit there. Took it then walked away. Barely said anything at all to me.”

Anton's face went completely blank. Did she really just say that? She actually went to Beryx and yelled at him? Anton knew that was such a bad idea on so many levels. Why couldn't she just stay away from him? Yeah, she saw him in the grounds, but that didn't mean she had to approach him and confront him about Anton's problem. He hated being mad at her, but he couldn't help it. He needed to be the one to deal with Beryx and his father. And now both of the people were dealt with.

"Dom, you're just damn lucky he didn't come after you." His voice was low, and it was apparent that he was angry. "I wanted you to stay away for that reason. You could be dead right now and i would have no explanation." He was still hugging her, but soon enough let go and sat down on the couch he had just damaged. Then he put his head in his hands. "Why can't anything go right?" he asked, mostly to himself, but input was welcome. He needed Dom right now, he needed her support and encouragement to keep going. She was the only one that could do so.

[meme]

Did he really know what he was getting himself into? Dominique barely knew what was going to happen next. Everything that has happened to her has been a complete surprise and she didn’t expect it one bit. Yes that did include Anton becoming her boyfriend. Never did she expect to get a boyfriend at a time like this. She thought she would have to lie her way through a relationship to get a guy to go out with her. Since Jack wanted to kill everyone she was close to and get her alone in the world. Also Anton’s words through her into a flashback of her encounter with the Headmaster. He had asked her if she knew what she was getting herself into. Dom did know what was happening dating Anton. The Headmaster would hate her for life. And she could deal with that.

Was there any way to make her feel worse? As soon as Dominique saw his face drop she knew she shouldn’t have brought it up at all. She already ruined the day with telling him about his father and hers conversation and now she had to bring that up. Yet she was doing everything in her power to not just go in a corner and cry. Or storm out the place just so she didn’t see how disappointed he was with her. Dom just wasn’t one to sit back and let things happen. When something ticked her off the world found out. She didn’t know if Anton wasn’t used to a girl acting this way or just didn’t know how she acted yet. Dominique knew they still had plenty to learn about each other and this was just the beginning.

“First amount of luck I’ve had.” She grumbled folding her arms over her chest since he let go of her. Right now she had to do her best to not make this situation worse. Go back to the old Dominique who listened and was good at arguing. The one who didn’t raise her voice, storm out of the room or say some smart ass comment. That was what was needed right now since Anton obviously couldn’t keep his temper down anymore. Then when he asked why couldn’t anything go right? Dom was sure her whole face went livid. That even though she was going to try and keep calm her eyes definitely gave it away. “You’re honestly giving up?” Dom asked and she did have plenty more to say yet shut her mouth just in time. Would have to think over her words. “Here I thought everything was going just fine. I guess we have different views about this relationship.” She said her voice soft looking at him even though his head was in his hands. She didn’t know exactly how to play this but was going to try and win this for the both of them.

“I just admitted everything to you. Even though I knew you would be pissed. I could have kept my mouth shut about meeting Beryx and you would have probably never found out. Because there was no way he was going to admit anything after what I put him through.” That was definitely not how she wanted to start up so she took a deep breath and closed her mind for a second. Already three statements were out and she wanted to take them back. But wasn’t going to. It had to be out there. “I think we definitely had a problem here. I broke a promise and so did you. But it all comes down to how we react to it.” Better words. Much better words. She then went over and took one of his hands that were holding up his head. “If you didn’t know by now, I love you. Nothing is changing that. Not what your father says to me or what Beryx can do to me. I am very stubborn and sometimes act before I think. I don’t always do what is safest for me and I tend not to have the best luck in the world. Yet what keeps me sane is knowing that I have you. Please don’t think that this little, little thing has done any permanent harm to our relationship.”