The silence was agony. Perhaps, Eloise would have preferred if he verbally responded with a raised voice or displayed his anger in any other way than he currently was. Instead, Tiberius nearly waved away the redhead’s words, exhaustion etching every muscle in his body and coating the air in the room between them. Eloise thought nothing could break their friendship, could send the pair hurdling over the cliff with as much gusto as fate allowed, but she was the one giving the final push. The council held its own sliver of responsibility, their actions pining for the destruction button to Killgrove Hills, truer than true, though her actions prompted the last straw to create this fissure between Tiberius and herself. A hunger pang for interjecting during the winding course of his spiel gripped at Ellie’s internal subconscious, yet, she remained silent even as he all but proclaimed a hiatus in their intimate relationship. Not a single tragedy on this earth had gutted the vampire the most. “The years have not been kind to me, Tibs. I did lose sight of who I am and I do not know how to bring her back for you. She’s still there somewhere, I can feel her struggling, but I’ve grappled with this identity for decades and you are one of few who could find her again.” Eloise couldn’t locate the right phrases to proclaim, shocking for a vampire who was quick on her feet with every quip in the dictionary. Instead, she crossed the room towards the bed, her hands reaching out to cease the man’s hands from packing, “The thought of watching everything we have built together, our home, our coven, the people we’ve befriended, blown to cinder and ash terrified me, Tiberius. I’m scared. And you hold the power to whisk the fear away as only a leader can. There’s a reason why I never began this coven on my own, it’s because I couldn’t do it without you. Without my best friend, who I see is still there somewhere behind the rage and a desire to forgo the fighting. No one here doubts your ability as a leader, Tibs.” Her hands lifted to cup his face in her palms, their eyes locking, “What we are is complicated and maybe hinging on toxic. If I am dragging you down, dragging our family down, then you do what is best for yourself and for them. You said yourself, I’m endangering everyone.” Eloise’s fingers traced the vampire’s jaw before she dropped them entirely, “That is how much I love you.”
Tiberius looked at the woman, his eyes softening. They’d known each other for centuries, he loved her. The way that her eyes held a mischievous glint but would show something deeper when looking at him, the way her hair glowed like fire in the sunlight-- he still loved her, but the line between duty and the line of their relationship was a crater that he couldn’t cross. “I’m afraid I can’t take your fear away, Eloise, because I am also scared-- I don’t know what I’m doing here and I doubt my ability,” Tiberius sighed, his confession leaving him exhausted. Everyone always looks to their leaders, but he hadn’t the foggiest idea of how to do anything. He looked at her, brows furrowed at what she was insinuating, “Elle... no. Your home is here with this coven, with me. All I wanted... all I needed was for you to think of your actions and consequences which you are able to do, but won’t-- I don’t want them coming after you.” He held her hands in his again as he looked at her sadly, “I will never stop loving you. That’s what makes this all more difficult when I have to protect this town, these people, our coven... and keep you safe from yourself. I can’t do all of this on my own-- I just needed you to be careful and you weren’t.”
