Annalise

It took no time for Gene to appear, as if summoned, in the doorway. It was probably something to do with his vampiric senses, Annalise rationalised, trying her best to smile at the man. Everything hurt like hell, even something as simple as smiling was difficult. Annalise tried to reach out to him, tried to say, well, anything at all. But all that came out was a harsh croak. She coughed against it, trying to clear her throat.

Cassius had gotten closer to her when she wasn't looking, folding his arms with a frown as he studied her. "You haven't spoken for almost a week, its going to take a day or two to get used to talking as much. I'll get you cold water," He explained frustrated, almost as if he was upset with himself for only realising this now. He angrily muttered something in Spanish before walking away, brushing past Eugene on his way out.

The tension between the two was almost palpable, for whatever reason Annalise didn't know. Eugene was glaring at the man, his muscles tense as if he was ready to pounce of the door frame he was leaning on to follow him. Annalise watched as he shook his head, and turned to look at her again, something like relief passing through his eyes. Slowly he pushed himself off the doorway and began to walk over to her. Sitting himself down on the bed beside her, the opposite side of Dawn.

Badump Badump

Annalise felt her heart thump loudly in her ears. Her heart? She hadn't felt her own heart beat for years, she'd almost forgotten that, it was what humans had. And now? Now it was busy fluttering in her chest like a hummingbird with each movement Eugene made, it picked up its pace. Softly, Gene smiled at her. He reached out, delicately moving her hair out of her eyes, and holding the brown locks in his hand.

He looked at them reverently, like he couldn't believe they were actually there. In this moment, the world seemed to pause. No one took a breath, no bird squeaked, no door creaked. Nothing. And in this moment, Annalise could truly appreciate just how bad Eugene looked.

It wasn't that he wasn't handsome! No, Anna had always appreciated Gene's inhuman good looks. But this was different, the man was paler than usual, gaunt and tired looking. The veins of his throat were protruding from his neck as though his skin was just paper. Two sharp fanged teeth push out from behind his lips every so often. It was almost like he had been the one who was resurrected and not her.

"Are, are you okay?" Annalise managed to croak out, after swallowing a mouth full of saliva. Dawn, who had been silently watching their interactions, seemed to perk back to life at this. Eugene looked at her, with a frown, shaking his head at the other vampire.

"Ha! Is he alright! This dumbass hasn't had a sip of blood since you fell asleep," Dawn tattled with a grin. Annalise frowned at this, if he hadn't had blood since then, then surely he was starving by now? An unbidden image popped up in her mind's eye. What if he drank her blood? She could imagine his teeth sinking into the jugular of her neck, and then immediately told herself to stop.

Besides, she wasn't just a human anymore. Who knows what demon blood would do to a vampire.

"Drink," Annalise commanded, though it really came out as more of a whimper. With a huff, Gene nodded, dropping the bunch of hair he was holding on her shoulders before straightening back out again.

"As soon as Cassius brings you up water, I'll go down and get some?" Eugene offered, looking towards the doorway for the man. Happy that he would at least start to take care of himself, Annalise nodded with a grin. There was a banging knock from downstairs, and Eugene rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I suppose I should let you know now, your friends know about your condition. They've been coming here everyday to check if you're awake," Eugene explained, though he looked exhausted there was a soft sheen to his eyes as he looked at her. Annalise's eyes began to blur, in the midst of all the panic, once again, she had forgotten about her friends. But it seemed they had never forgotten about her.

She was such a bad friend. She didn't deserve them.

There were even more thuds, like two sets of footsteps clambering up the stairs. Cassius called out from downstairs, "They're here again!". Eugene slowly got back up from the bed, to make way for the two incoming barrelling figures.

"Annalise!" she heard both Noah and Mia cry out before she saw them. She had barely blinked and the two were already on her. Jumping onto her, and wrapping her in their arms. Their hair tickled her nose, as she buried her head into them. It didn't take long for the tears to start.

Mia was the first, hiccuping through her sobs as she bawled into Annalise's chest. "I never believed them!!" She cried adamantly, "I never believed you killed yourself Annalise! Never!". And of course that immediately set Anna off. The tears that had been brewing bubbled over into ugly bawling.

"We could never forget about you," Noah said, though he wasn't crying his voice was tight and hoarse. God she didn't deserve them. They were her best friends. Annalise began to weep for everything, the grief of losing those five years that could have been spent with them, the happiness of having them back and the joy of how she could finally interact with the world.

Weakly she clutched them both to her, and then pulled back a bit to look up at Eugene. He looked content, if a bit weary, standing next to Cassius. Cassius himself looked awkward holding the cup of water to his chest, hopping on one foot to the next. Warmth flooded through her like a sudden flash flood. She was in this room with all the people she loved the most. Finally, finally. Able to interact with each and everyone of them.

Nothing could be better.

"You guys are the best," Annalise whispered throatily.