Chapter 0.6: More Than Anything

Mesmerized by Ethan's transformation, Beatrix didn't notice Brian standing quietly in the corner, watching them in distress. As Ethan releases her from his kiss, she hears the angry crash of a door slamming closed, and turning just in time she catches a glimpse of Brian walking briskly out of the house.

"Brian?" she yells, running after him. "Brian!" she calls again, louder this time.

He keeps walking, his pace quickening, but Beatrix catches up to him before he reaches his car. 

"Brian, I-" she begins as he turns around to face her.

"What do you want Beatrix?!" he shouts, his voice shaking with anger. Bea's eyes widen, his furious words shocking her into silence. When she doesn't say anything, Brains shakes his head in frustration.

"I am such a fool. A complete and utter fool. I risked everything for you, spent years of my life trying to prove myself to you, only to find out that you don't love me. That you never loved me." He pauses, waiting for her to say something, anything.

When she doesn't, he continues. "There's something I need to know Bea," he says, his eyes locked on hers. "Did I ever have a chance? Did we ever have a chance? Or was I always just your puppet? Just an instrument in your plan to save Ethan?"

"No! Brian, please! It's not like that-"

"Really?" he interrupts. "Why do I not believe you? I guess you've taken advantage of me one too many times. Once a liar, always a liar."

As his anger begins to subside, he feels a cold emptiness in the pit of his stomach. "I wish you and Ethan all the best," he tells her bitterly. "And don't worry about me, not that you ever did. I'll be just fine." With those final words, he walks away, Beatrix watching as his silhouette grows smaller and smaller against the pale gray pavement.

And that's when it hits her, the realization smacking her so hard that it stings. She can live without Ethan; she has for so many years. But the thought of losing Brian, of never seeing him again, scares her shitless.

"Brian!" she screams, running after him. "Brian, I do love you!" she shouts, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Hearing her voice, he stops and turns around. "Brian," she pants as she approaches him. "I love you," she says, choking back sobs. "More than anything."

She watches anxiously as he stands silently in front of her, his expression unreadable. "Please, Brian. Please," she begs, her eyes filled with pain.

And just when she thinks she's lost him, that he's going to tell her to get lost, he reaches out and brushes a tear from her cheek. 

"Bea, you don't know how long I've dreamed of hearing you say that," he whispers softly.

"I love you Brian," she repeats, a faint small on her lips. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And only you."

In response, Brian sweeps her into his arms and kisses her fiercely. She doesn't need any more of an answer than that.

Ethan watches them from a distance, his heart heavy with disappointment. He knows that he shouldn't be surprised, that their reunion was inevitable, but seeing Beatrix with him, wrapped in another man's arms, feels like a kick in the stomach. 

He leaves quietly, graciously accepting defeat. He will always love her, but he wants her to be happy. She deserves to be happy, and deep down he knows that Brian can give her things he'll never be able to.

As expected, the police show up at Beatrix's house early the next morning. She and Brian stayed up late last night preparing for their questions, so she knows exactly what to say.

They ask her about Ethan's disappearance. She explains to them that she hasn't seen Ethan since he was a teenager. They show her a picture of him, and she tries to look shocked.

"Why, he looks just like my cousin Etan!" Beatrix exclaims. "Only, Etan's a human, not a vampire."

"Etan?" the officer asks suspiciously.

"Yes," Beatrix responds calmly. "He just moved to town. You probably haven't met him yet as he's a bit of a recluse."

When the policemen express interest in interviewing "Etan", Brian offers to take them to him. After a quick DNA test, "Etan" the human is cleared of any involvement in the case. Meanwhile, the hunt for Ethan the vampire continues unabated. 

"I still don't understand," Beatrix says a few nights later when Brian comes over for a visit. "How is it that they don't know "Etan" is really Ethan?"

Brian laughs. "It's simple really. Vampires have fundamentally different DNA than humans, so by default "Etan" can't be Ethan. Besides," he adds with a smirk, "I was able to draw up some very convincing documentation to prove "Etan's" story."

Beatrix frowns. "But don't they realize that the vampirism potion is missing? Can't they put two and two together?"

Brian pretends to be insulted. "Don't you trust your fiancée?" he asks, his eyes twinkling. "When I stole that potion, I made sure to replace it with a decoy. And since they've frozen any further research until the politicians can quit bickering about it, I guarantee you it will be years before they realize the actual concoction is gone."

With all her fears assuaged, Beatrix finally relaxes, ready to enjoy the rest of her life with the man she loves.

Challenge Notes:

So that wraps up the story portion of generation 1. I'm still working on Beatrix's generation goal (Awesome), but other than that generation 1 is pretty much done. 

And I'm so excited to get into generation 2! I haven't thought about it in much detail yet, but the roll is for a couple with 2 kids. The primary income is movie star, the secondary income is rock star, and the miscellaneous fun is half-siblings. So it should definitely be pretty fun. I'm pumped.

In case you are wondering, Brian has not actually moved in with Beatrix, cause that would be against the rules. They will live apart until they get married, but I may cheat by a couple of days and let Brian move in while Ryder's still a teenager. Just for story cohesion purposes.