Choices to make.

“For real? I can come home?” asked an excited Sophie. Kiara nodded and smiled. Sophie looked extra adorable in a sundress but with a streak of purple paint on her cheek. She’d clearly been having too much fun painting.

“Yes baby. You spend the weekend with your uncles then you come home” she said with a bright smile. Regardless of Bill’s decision, she was bringing Sophie home. She needed Sophie’s bright smile and unbroken spirit around. It would liven things up and remind her of what was important in life.

Sophie cheered around and actually bounce around away from the webcam. Kiara chuckled as Glen came on screen. “We’ll text you the flight details when we’re getting ready to leave. Do you want us during the day?” he asked, giving her that ‘are you still dating that vampire?’ look. Kiara smiled “During the day is great. I’ll clean up around the house and prep Sophie’s room. Remember to pack all her wolves” she said. Glen chuckled as Sophie came back up and invaded his lap so she could keep talking through the webcam.

“Mommy mommy! Do I get to bring all my paints and crayons and toys?”

Kiara smiled “Of course… you work with uncle Glenn and uncle Logan and make sure you bring everything you want ok? I’ll have your bedroom ready”

“Can I paint it? I want to pain my bedroom!” she said eagerly.

Kiara thought about it. The room she’d planned for Sophie was currently her office which connected to her bedroom. She figured she could paint it something girly like dark pink or a lilac color but she also knew Sophie was quite artistic.

“How about you help Mommy paint it then. You get to pick the colors” she said. Sophie clapped eagerly and Glenn chuckled.

They spoke for a couple of more minutes before Kiara convinced Sophie to wash up and get ready for bed. She spoke to Glenn afterwards and they had a good plan for bringing Sophie safely back to Louisiana.

She looked at the time and out her window. The sun was going down which meant she had only an hour before Bill showed up again…IF he showed.  

She hopped into the shower, for the first time in weeks relishing being able to shower properly and not cry out in pain. She used her favorite peach and honey scrub and her shampoo scented like green apples. She still wasn’t too sure what Bill had planned. Part of her was willing to accept his breakup and even overnight she’d come up with a plan should that happen, but a tiny part of her, now fueled by his blood hoped that he wouldn’t. She hoped he’d see merit in her company.



She stepped out of the shower, towel on her head, another on her chest. She felt strange. Maybe it was his blood that still fueled her. Maybe it was knowing that this could be the last time she’d ever see Bill. But she didn’t want him to think she was trying blackmail him into staying or something. So as she looked at her clothes on the bed she ignored them and went for a much more comfortable look. A simple nice blue top, capris pants, no makeup and her hair in messy braids.

Bill Compton had yet to speak with his sister Judith as she had been hard to track down, Dexter explaining that she taken leave but he had no idea where she had gone. Bill had tried calling Judith's phone but was always directed straight to voice-mail. He had given up with trying to speak to her, he would try and catch her later on that evening. But right now all he could think about was his meeting with Kiara the previous night, he could not get it out of his mind and now with his blood in her system he could feel her a lot more than he could before.

"Your Majesty?.....Shall I reschedule?" Dexter prodded as he sat opposite Bill holding several files on his lap.

Bill's mind was clearly else where as he turned his attention back to his personal advisor.

"Please continue Dexter" he ordered, moving to sit in a more comfortable position. It was the news that he had been waiting to hear.

"As you wish....The Fire-Marshall has been on the phone and has sent over the information that you required your Majesty" Dexter spoke as he stood from his seat and placed the files on the King's desk.

Bill did not hesitate as he swiped the the files and began searching through them; the reports from the fire of the old abandoned building that had become Isabel's inferno tomb. The coffin that was he final resting place could barely be seen as it lay in ashes among a dried pool of blood and clothes. Isabel.

"Is this everything Dexter?" he quizzed.

"Yes you Majesty. The CCTV was destroyed in the blaze but they are working on trying to dig it out of the ash. They shall send word within the week sire" Dexter assured.

Bill needed everything, he needed to see it for himself that she was gone the blurred images were not enough. Deep down he knew that Isabel was gone. She was no longer a problem for him or those that he cared about. 

"Dexter. I want you to hand deliver this to the guard at the gates of John Quinn. Then leave, do not hesitate to protect yourself as you see fit" Bill ordered Dexter as he placed an envelope on his desk which Dexter snapped up immediately.


"Yes your Majesty" he bowed as he swiftly left the office.

Leaving Bill alone to contemplate what may happen with his second meeting with Kiara. He could not get it out of his mind, deciding to take a vehicle as after last night's meeting and wandering the night he barely made it back in time. Leaving his office swiftly Bill exited the mansion and hopped straight into his waiting vehicle as he put his foot to the gas and sped out of his estate - his destination - Kiara's home.

To kill time Kiara had begun moving things out of her home office. She left things like bookshelves and storage up knowing that Sophie would bring with her a truckload of art supplies. She'd have to get a proper bed and other child sized furniture for Sophie but she had a few days to plan all of that.

After moving a few things into another room she went downstairs to check on her dinner. Bill may be on his way but she couldn't live on his blood alone. So she was reheating the leftovers from Esther's food and making herself some hard iced tea.

She found herself checking the clock in her den, as if able to sense Bill's journey to her home. But part of her still wondered if he would show, or if he would show only to tell her he'd chosen to break them up.

Bill knew this road very well as it had been imprinted into his mind as he floored his foot on the gas pedal as the engine roared to life as it jolted forward on the dirt road that was cloaked beneath over-hanging tree's. Bill was still not clear on how this meeting with Kiara would go but he knew that he needed to see her. He had not yet spoken with Judith as she was getting harder to find these days and he needed to speak with her about everything that had happened between them.

As he broke through the clearing as he soon spotted Kiara's house as he screeched his vehicle to a grinding halt and he waited. He sat silently in the car as all but the engine purred as he switched off the ignition.

He knew that seeing her was already lifting his spirits already but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that this was wrong. That he had to end things for he safety, but could he really truly leave her? He was about to find out. Climbing out of the vehicle as he locked it as he now stood outside of Kiara's door and knocked on loudly and waited for her to answer.

Kiara put down the spoon she'd been using to sneak tastes of the gumbo that was still warming up. Patience for food she had none so she wiped her mouth, set the spoon on a small dish and heading to the door, still barefoot since she'd taken a shower.

She opened the door with the chain first before quickly undoing the chain and opening the door wider for Bill. "Hi....Come in" she said breathlessly, stepping back to let him through and closing the door once he was inside.

She walked back to the kitchen, about to offer him some bottled blood she'd found in her stores but then she stopped, recalling that Bill was skeptical of any synthetic blood right now.

"Good evening Kiara" he smirked as he stepped inside her home.

He was instantly met with the smell of human food as he instantly blocked out the scent. Once upon a time it would have bothered him and he would have had to leave but now he had become accustomed to it.

He followed Kiara though into the kitchen as he sat himself in one of the stools by the table as he crossed his feet at his ankles.

"If now is not a convenient time I could come back another time?" he quizzed.

She shook her head as she turned off the stove and covered the pot. "Right now is fine... " she said as she smiled and sat across from him on another stool.

"Just been working a bit and got hungry, thats all" she said with a shrug. This was weird, it felt weird. Maybe something had happened but she just couldn't sense that Bill had come with good news. It felt more like she was now talking to a neighbor than the man she loved.

"If you are sure?" he asked quizzically. 

Turning around as his legs slid under the table as his elbows rested on the edge as he palmed his hands as though he was putting on lotion.

"I see that you are looking well...I-mean not that you didn't before...I mean that my blood has healed you" he stuttered.

Why was he acting like this? Like a hormonal teenager.

She smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear."Um... yeah, guess not having a bruise on my face helps" she said, feeling odd.

This was beyond weird. It was like they were so awkward around each other conversation couldn't happen. She couldn't recall the first, or last time she had ever been awkward around a man.

"It looks good...I mean you look good" he stuttered again.

Then silence fell upon them both and it lasted for a few moments before Bill stood up swiftly as he turned from Kiara as he found himself leaning against the counter now facing her.

"I haven't been this nervous since I was human...I was ten years old and there was this girl named Katherine" he admitted chuckling to himself.

She chuckled. "A childhood crush? I'm sure the respectable William Compton was invited to all the homes for dinner" she said playfully.

She scratched her head a bit, still feeling awkward around him. "Can we...just... get this over with? I feel like I'm standing on a ticking bomb"

"Oh you would think that....But it was the other way around...Well until Caroline" he admitted sighing.

His mind drifted briefly to the memories that he had of Caroline that were locked away in a box that sometimes when he was alone he would unlock just to see her smile. Kiara brought him straight out of his haze with her words as he simply nodded.

"We have been here so many times Kiara...I do something wrong and nearly end up killing you and yet you still love me....A vampire is not made to love, nor care about anything other than the survival of themselves. But yet you test things in me that a vampire is not meant to feel....I often tried thinking about how and why but I would be asking an impossible question...How can you still love me even after the things that I have done?" he asked sullenly.

Kiara crossed her arms, giving actual thought to his question.

"When I was growing up... my grandmother once told me that long ago, centuries ago, wolves and vampires cooperated. There wasn't that hatred we have now among our species. My Grandmother always hoped that one day she'd get to see the change. To see wolves and vampires put differences aside and share the world. I never understood her point of view. And after I was tortured by Russell I was more keen on hating vampires"

She sighed, for a moment recalling all those horrible memories.

"Then... my grandma told me the story of a vampire, who came to see his ill human daughter. She told me of his pain, of his conflict. Of his refusal to turn his daughter despite her pain. That vampire left money with my grandmother who worked at that hospice. He left instructions to care for his daughter and to use the money for other children. I couldn't imagine a vampire feeling such empathy, especially towards a human. But then...." looked at him "....I met the vampire of her story. I saw his suffering. His joy and sorrow, his anger and calm. He didn't have to be decent, he didn't have to care about the humans around him but he did... and I think my obsession to find out why he cared turned to a love I can't extinguish any longer"

Bill froze when he heard Kiara tell him of the story that her grandmother had told her as it opened a door that flooded his mind with memories.


"Kiara. That man that your grandmother knew is dead. He died a long time ago and you know that. I know that. Whatever and whoever the man was before I drank Lilith's blood...He died a long time ago. The man that I am now...I barely even recognise....Jessica is frightened of me. I promised myself that I would never become Lorena but it seems that I am already becoming her. Do you know how much that scares me? To know what I will be capable off?" he quizzed her.

She nodded "I know it scares you... but I also know that you need someone to help you retain your humanity"

She smiled. "I remember long before I had feelings for you how you spoke of Miss Stackhouse. And how of all the things you missed when you broke up the thing above all was that she kept you pure. She reminded you of a humanity you struggled to retain"

She then chuckled. "Now I'm not a pretty blonde waitress... and no where near as pure as perhaps she is... but at least I'd like to help you retain whatever humanity you still have"

"Your as pure as anyone that I know" he whispered sincerely.

It was in that moment Bill knew what he had to do, he moved swiftly from the counter to crouch in front of her as he placed his hands on her knee.

"Come away with me. Now. Tonight Kiara" he pleaded with her.

She blinked, taken aback and confused.

"I...tonight? Where?" she asked, unsure of what this all meant. But the moment she saw his expression whatever resistance or hesitation she had vanished. He looked determined yet... worried? desperate? like she was about to vanish before his very eyes.

"Wherever you want to go Bill...I'll go with you"

"Go pack your bags" he told her.

Bill stood to his feet as he pulled out his cell and already began emailing Dexter the details of everything that he would need. Right now he was just grateful that Jessica had spent the time with him showing him how to use the keys to his phone.

"We are going to Vermont....Tomorrow night. I Bill Compton will take you Kiara Griffen to be my wife" he smirked at her.

Bill knew that he had a decision to make and he had made it. He would Marry Kiara no matter the cost. Tomorrow night he would make her Mrs Compton.

She blinked and nearly fell over when he spoke.

"Tomorrow night. I Bill Compton will take you Kiara Griffen to be my wife"

She opened her mouth like a fish, fairly certain she hadn't heard what she'd just heard.

"I....wait...wife?" she said, her mind finally catching up. Was he serious? He was serious wasn't he?

"But....but me? I mean... you-I- we... " she stuttered like an idiot until her mind zeroed in on the dumbest idea out of all of this "but I don't have a dress"

Bill could not help but chuckle at her one remark out of all that he had said.

"A dress? I will buy you one in Vermont Kiara. That is the least of your worries. Now go and get packed. I have to return to the estate to collect some things. I will be back to pick you up in an hour" he promised.

He turned swiftly to leave and hesitated and turned right back as he grabbed Kiara by her waist and pulled her towards him as his lips crashed down on hers.

She opened her mouth to say something but suddenly Bill was there, holding her and kissing her like he'd never kissed her before.

Coherent thought flew out the window as she kissed him back, growling and clutching his shoulders, trying to remind herself she wasn't dreaming tonight.

But it was reality and Bill did eventually pull away, reminding her to pack. The moment he left she made a mad dash upstairs to pack. A million things went through her mind as she packed two bags. But as she tossed a night gown into the semi full suitcase she realized that by the time Sophie would come home, she would have a mother and a father.