Samantha Cassidy

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

Samantha so rarely reacted to anyone with anything but absolute kindness. She was the type to smile at everyone, to be polite, to hold doors open longer than necessary for complete strangers. She took strangers who needed help into her home - Dorian being one of them - and did whatever she could to make people happy. To make people feel welcome. She smiled and laughed and cared for everyone. And sometimes, that meant that she got taken advantage of. That night in the forest - the one that had started this entire mess - had been one of those nights. She had been so naive. She'd felt the terrified emotions of the Hunter and had rose to be some kind of valiant hero for the girl. But in the end, she had been helpless and had watched as the child vampire drained the life from the Hunter. She had thought so foolishly that she could save them both. In the end, she couldn't even save herself. The vampire had taken whatever he had wanted from her and she had been powerless to say no.

Dorian was one of the only souls that Samantha loved. She loved Aiden, of course, but Dorian was different. Dorian was family. Dorian was the type of person she wanted to see be so excruciatingly happy. And lately, with his lover, Samantha had seen that. She had seen him smiling and humming and truly seeming as though he was happy to simply exist. It had been that fact that had the girl insisting that Dorian invite his boyfriend over for dinner. If someone was that important to Dorian, then that person would be important to Samantha simply by proxy. She just wanted Dorian to be happy, and she wanted to be able to meet the person who had made her best friend smile like that. An hour ago, Samantha had been so excited to become friends with that person, to make them feel happy and welcome within her home.

It wasn't fair that the person who had assaulted her happened to be the person who Dorian was in love with.

She had wanted so desperately to be able to sit there and smile and place nice with the vampire. She had wanted to like him, and for him to like her in turn. She had wanted to laugh and joke and make Dorian happy for tonight. But then he'd stepped through their doorway and it was as though Samantha was reliving that night all over again. It had been months, and yet the sting of the bite that had taken so long to heal still ached on her shoulder. She was stuck remembering the nightmare that had occurred in the forest. The fear, the pain, the terror. Remembering it over and over like a movie set on repeat. She wanted to make Dorian happy, and yet she had been entirely unable to keep herself from lashing out at her assailant.

It was Dorian's own words that had Samantha's voice halting, her sapphire gaze falling over to the Fae King in surprise at the tone in which he used with her. It was sharp and tense and left no room for her to protest. Her mouth parted slightly at his tone, and yet before she could even try to continue to defend herself, Dorian spoke once more. His words felt like knives cutting at her skin, and against her will tears seemed to rush to her eyes. She swallowed, unwilling to let them spill as Dorian continued to blame her for the way that the evening was crumbling around them. And it was her fault. She should have kept her mouth shut and smiled and simply pretended that her horrors didn't exist. After all, it was what she did with Aiden, wasn't it? She pretended she wasn't terrified of every shadow.

"I haven't forgotten Dorâ€"" The words of protest that the young woman started were simply spoke over by the King, and Samantha didn't try to speak again. Despite his assurances that he wasn't dismissing her words, the girl felt anything but reassured. Samantha may have meant something to Dorian, but it was clear that it didn't matter when it was contrasted to Sebastian. She had been a victim. She had said no. She had begged and pleaded for him not to hurt her. And it hadn't mattered. It still didn't. This was all her fault. Her assault was her own fault.

At his final words, inquiring if she was done, the Faerie Queen merely nodded, her eyes downcast as she looked at her lap. She felt small from the words of the King, and she had no words to counter him. She had no fight left. She was exhausted. Weak. Broken. It was only when Dorian switched so effortlessly into the French that Samantha certainly could not understand did she allow those tears to fall down her cheeks, the girl doing her best to keep silent and not let the room know she was sobbing. The girl didn't look up as Sebastian offered her words - English words - nor did she try to say anything as he spoke. His words of trying to protect her were not lost to the faerie queen, and yet she offered him no words. She would be silent. She would speak only when politeness dictated it. Finally, at his apology, Samantha gave him a small nod, though she didn't look up. What was there possibly to say when she had ruined their entire evening, and possibly her relationship with her best friend as a result?