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You could always feel so many things at the same time, William. And I could always read you. Read your soul, even when you didn't have one.
I could never kill you and I can't close my heart to the feelings in your eyes. I've done it too many times before.
Every time things go wrong I run. Call me weak. Call me a looser. Call me egotistical, selfish, arrogant, but everything is easier when you're the one leaving. When you're the one turning your back on the people you love, because, deep down, you know that you can always come back whenever you want and you'll be welcomed.
But then, you always knew that. I left you. You looked at me, begging me with your silent stare not to go, but still you didn't say a word. Tried not to make things harder for me.
Always caring, always worrying, always loving. That's you.
You were my safe heaven, my most favoured childe, you were my lover, my equal. Strange that the Scourge of Europe would feel for someone so small, so tiny, and so tender as you. I remember how easily you broke, how easily you bled at my hands, how bruised your skin became. How you looked into my eyes and made me shiver. How you clung to me after our wild passions and fell asleep with the softest and happiest look in your face.
But then I left. I couldn't stand the thought of you pushing me away like Darla did. I couldn't stand the thought of you rejecting me. Sending me away because I was no longer one of you. I was ashamed of what I had become. I was afraid. I couldn't be repelled again. Like a plague or disease.
Turning my back was so easy back then. Closing my mind, my heart. Forgetting who I was and what I had done.
A hundred years later you found me and I could see the hurt in your eyes. And I know it wasn't because I was helping the slayer nor because I had a soul. You were hurt because I had left you. Because I had promised not to, but did it nonetheless.
But that wasn't the worst. What happened next broke your heart all over again - and mine, when I remembered.
And you, Will, you were the one who suffered more. And I don't mean because of Drusilla, because that was the smallest thing. I mean the things he did to you. You were so happy when you heard he had returned. Sceptical, at first, but soon you forgot all the hurt and pain and revelled in the thought that your sire was back. And what did I do?
And now you're here. After everything I did, you still run to me when you're scared and in pain.
I don't know how long it has been since I opened this door. Time never mattered to us. You're still looking at me. Strange that after everything that happened I'm the one you seek when you need help. Strange that after so long you're looking at me like I'm the only one capable of stopping the pain.
But I could never kill you, William. 'You did worse' you'd probably say, and you'd be right. That was a lesson I taught a long time ago.
That's what he told you.
You step inside, all the while glancing at the place I call home and I know you're wondering why a vampire like me would choose to live in a huge hotel like the Hyperion.
Your eyes get lost for a moment and I know that you're thinking about them. About everything you did. We did. And I remember how it felt. How it feels when you have no soul and then suddenly you do. Everything comes at the same time. All the faces. All the murders. All the pain. How much you enjoyed doing it.
And believe me, I know. The first time was hard but nothing can prepare you for the second.
And I pray to God that you won't find out how it is. Because you can't imagine what it feels like to know you're loosing it, to know that you'll kill again, and most likely the ones you love. And then, if you got the 'good fortune' of being cursed again you feel like killing yourself because of the pain.
Remembering what you did to the ones you love. And I welcomed hell because of that. Hell made me bury what I had done in the depths of mind because I had other things to worry about. But then I was back and I remembered it all over again. I remembered Buffy. And I remembered you. My sweet William. And how what I did to you was so much worse than what I did to her.
And I want to tell you how sorry I am, how I dread hurting you, how I want to die before I hurt you again. But I don't. You wouldn't believe it. But I don't blame you. How could I?
You're still lost and I'm dying just from looking at your face. A mask of hatred, pain and sadness. I want to soothe you. To take care of you. Treat your wounds and make sure you're never hurt again. I take you in my arms, hesitantly at first, afraid that you'll send me away, but strongly when you don't pull back.
And hours have passed since I've embraced you and now, you're finally quiet. Your head rests in my shoulder and it fits there just right. How I want to have you here forever, in my arms, how I want my old William back, how I want you to understand what I did, how I want you to forgive me.
I'm pulled from my memories back into the present when your mouth finds mine. When our lips meet in a soft kiss. When our tongues are drawn together, deepening the kiss and making us shiver. Because this is everything I used to dream and more. And I know you feel the same.
And I can't help but notice that this time my mind doesn't remind me about everything I have done. This time, I don't feel like I don't deserve this - even knowing that I don't. This time, I'm melting under your touch. You're the only one capable of making me feel this way. And I have to think about everything I did to you, to stop the perfect happiness from coming. Because I know that you are capable of making me happy. Being with you equals pure bliss.
(I guess I should feel lucky. Perfect happiness is rare but, still, I can recall a few people capable of making me loose my soul. And that's the last thing I want happening right now. I still have to make things up to you for the last time he was around.)
Your hands find the collar of my shirt and when you start opening it your eyes find mine, asking permission. I smile and kiss you, while taking your shirt off. I need to feel your skin, your body against mine. I need to see you naked, and melting under my touch just like I do under yours. I need to see the perfection of your body, to kiss your wounds, the ones made by the same hands soothing you right now.
I need to show you how much I love you, how much you mean to me.
Would you believe it, if I told you, my sweet? Would you believe this same words coming from my mouth?
I really don't think you would. Why would you? Words are taken by the wind. Actions are so much more trustable. And that ends almost any possibility of you believing me.
Our bodies are joined together once again, after so long, so damn long, and I'll be damned if I let you go away. I'll be damned if I loose you one more time. Because I need you just as much as you need me. I need you to forgive me. I need to hear you say you love me. Because I'm so lonely. And I know you are too.
And maybe, just maybe, you'll look into my eyes and tell me you love me back. Tell me that you forgive me. Tell me that you've already forgotten what I did or said.
You're lying still on my bed, in the aftermaths of our love, wrapped around my body, nuzzled in my chest. For me this is heaven. Feeling you close, sliding my hand through your hair, murmuring sweet endearments to make you fall asleep and hearing you purr. And this is heaven for you too.