Rooney had left to go get Joan something to eat. It was late and the moon was starting to rise, Joan had promised her that she wouldn’t let Rebecca out until she came back. Of course, that was a lie, for as soon as Joan was sure Rooney was gone. She went down into the basement and opened up the secret room.

Rebecca was waiting for her, a bloodthirsty look on her face.

Bex grabbed Joan and slammed her against the wall, those red glowing eyes transfixed on her.

“Easy Bex, it’s just me,” Joan said.

“Hungry,” Bex said.

“I know, I know, you can drink from me.”

Bex quickly moved in to bite Joan.

“Wait,” Joan pushed her back, causing Bex to growl in frustration.

“Let me get you changed first, brush your hair.”

“Now,” Bex slammed Joan back into the wall.

“Hey, just be patient, you are going to have to learn to control your urges,” Joan said.

Bex narrowed her eyes.

“Come on, you’ll get your blood, but first let’s get you changed.” Joan grabbed Bex’s hand and pulled her away from the secret room and out of the basement.

They walked upstairs towards Bex’s old room where Joan helped her find something to wear. Bex quickly got changed into some jeans and a simple t-shirt. Joan brushed her hair and pulled it back for her.

Bex looked just like her old self, minus the pointed ear and red eyes.

“Now!” Bex demanded.

“Okay, okay, come here,” Joan pat the bed.

Bex quickly pushed Joan down on the bed and sank her teeth into her neck. Joan gasped and then let her eyes flutter close as she was consumed by euphoria. Bex took in large greedy gulps of blood, being sure not to waste a single drop.

Rooney had come back early because she had forgotten her wallet. She walked back into the house and glanced around for Joan. A faint moan caught her attention.

She followed the sound upstairs and saw Bex pinning Joan to the bed and draining her dry.

“Joan! Get away from her, the power of Christ repels you!” Rooney shouted.

Bex got blasted back into the wall, leaving a dent in the wall where she had hit.

“Rooney no, she wasn’t—” Joan tried to explain but Bex tackled Rooney to the ground and bared her fangs at the girl.

“The power of Christ repels you!” Rooney shouted again.

This time Bex got blasted through the patio doors and off the balcony.

“Rooney!” Joan ran out to the balcony to look.

But Bex was gone.

“Rooney what the hell!?” Joan turned to her.

“What the hell to me? What the hell to you!? What was that, what were you doing!?”

“I was feeding her!”

“Feeding her!? Joan!”

“Shut up okay, she needed to eat.”

“She was killing you.”

“No, she wasn’t,” But as Joan said that she felt light-headed and had to sit back down.

“What is this really about?” Rooney crossed her arms.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not stupid Joan. What are you really trying to do here? You are trying to bind yourself to her, aren’t you? You have this sick fantasy in your head that if you bind yourself to her she will magically remember everything.”

“That’s not what this is about!”

“Then what is it about?”

“Why does it matter to you!”

“Because you matter to me!”

There was a long moment of silence.

“We aren’t together Rooney,” Joan looked away from her.

“Is that what this about? Do you just want to get back with her? Joan, she doesn’t know who you are.”

“Maybe I don’t want her to remember!” Joan shouted.

There was another long moment of silence.

“You still love her…” Rooney said more to herself than to Joan.

Joan avoided her gaze.

“Damn you.” Rooney spat.

Joan looked at her then.

“Damn you! Damn you, damn you, damn you! She’s nothing but a mindless monster and you still pick her over me?”

“Rooney,” Joan said softly.

“Damn you! You have no idea what I’ve gone through for you. The last person I loved got killed by a vampire and here you are making me love you. Chasing after some mindless monster! Trying to get yourself killed! Damn you!”

“I can’t help the way I feel!” Joan shouted.

“She will never love you, Joan, you and I both know this. She’s already remembered a lot of things and what happens when Lyssa comes? Then what? We will all be back at square one. No, I can’t… I can’t do this anymore.” Rooney backed away.

“I don’t know what to do,” Joan sobbed.

“What do you mean?”

“I just feel all these things inside of me, all these awful things. I want to be with her, I want to love her, I want her to look at me the way she used to. It hurts, why does it hurt so much? She’s back yet I still feel like she’s gone forever. I just want her back, I just want her to remember me and only me. it’s selfish, but I can’t help the way I feel.”

“What you want is impossible.”

“I know.”

“Then why!?”

“I don’t know!? No one has ever known me or understood me like her. I just… I need that again. I need her.”

“I understand you! I love you god damn it!”

Joan looked at Rooney in confusion, “Why?” she asked.

“Because! You are so stubborn and bull-headed. You have to go things alone, you have to do this or you have to do that. You try and act all tough when in reality you aren’t. I know exactly how you feel and who you are because that’s how I feel! That’s how I feel all the god damn time, it’s hard for me to let people in. I took a chance on you, I let myself feel for you. I thought I could just walk away and be done with all of this, but I can’t. Don’t you see I can’t! Because the same way you feel about Rebecca is how I feel about you. So fuck you for doing this to me again. Fuck you, Joan Miller.”

“Rooney—”

“Don’t you Rooney me. It’s not fair. She dies and comes back a monster and she still wins. There I said it okay, I’m jealous of Rebecca! I would have been happier if she stayed dead!”

There was another long moment of silence.

“Damn you…” Rooney turned to walk away, wiping her tears.

“Wait,” Joan stood up.

“Don’t… just don’t. Don’t screw with me if you are just going to run back to her. I can’t take much more.”

“You’re right okay! It isn’t fair. Because I know even if I do get her to fall for me, none of that will matter once Lyssa comes back. I know she will never pick me. I know how you feel because that’s how I feel right now. I know okay. I’m just scared. If I let go of her… If I give you a chance… I don’t know where that will lead me. Maybe I’m not ready to move on yet.”

“Then when Joan, when? Because I can’t wait around forever. You know what you’re doing is hopeless.”

“I’m just scared…”

“Scared of what? Of me?”

“Scared that just like Rebecca you will fall for someone else too. Scared that I’ll waste my time, or get hurt again. I’ve never really loved anyone like I loved her, and I’m scared to try. That I’ll mess it up again. I’m just so scared Roo.”

“How the hell do you think I feel!? The last person I loved got killed because of me. How do you think I feel Joan? We are the same, we are afraid of the same things. Why can’t you see that?”

Joan got up and grabbed Rooney’s hands in her own.

“Damn you,” Rooney whimpered.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for this…” Joan admitted.

“You will never be ready. Do you think I wanted to fall for you? Even after we broke up all I could think about was you. If you were okay. If you were safe. I didn’t want to fall for you, I wanted to be done with all of this, but I couldn’t stop thinking of you. I will never stop.”

“Rebecca destroyed me, Rooney. I’m not sure how much of me is left for you to love.”

“I don’t care about that. We can work through this, I can help you move on. You need to move on Joan. This isn’t healthy. You almost got yourself killed. Let her go, Joan. You have to let her go.”

“Will you help me?” Joan's voice shook.

“Of course I will. Just promise me you won’t do something stupid like that again. Please.”

“Okay, I promise. I’m sorry okay. I just… I miss her so much.”

“I know you do, we are going to get through this. I’ll help you fix her, for you.”

Joan looked Rooney in the eyes before leaning in and kissing her softly on the lips. Rooney sighed in relief and closed her eyes and deepened the kiss.

Rooney wrapped her arms around Joan’s neck and began the heated make-out session. Joan pushed Rooney against the wall, her hands on Rooney’s waist. Both of them quickly got lost in each other, forgetting that a very hangry vampire was now on the loose.