a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

Leslie: "There's a reason you're not answering my calls and only responding sometimes with these vague, but cryptic texts."

Gia grabbed her to-go coffee from the bar and plopped down into a barstool not far from the cool window and read her sister's message. The bubbles kept appearing, meaning Leslie was still typing, then disappearing. Repeat. Repeat.

Leslie: "Listen, I love you. And I want you to know that I'm here for you, even though I'm hundreds of miles away. Please don't ever feel alone, k? Not like last time. I can come home for a little while."

The thin dark hunter dropped her phone onto the bartop and pusher the palms of her hands into her eyes and forehead. She breathed a heavy sigh, allowing the weight of her head to fall into her hands, and the red-skinned elbows that pressed into the tabletop. There was no fooling her sister, Buffy knew. The blunt and honest message set off a strange emotional response in the otherwise hard-as-nails dark hunter, and she did her best to quietly stifle the tears that threatened to spill and the tightness in her throat that told her to wail. She breathed a heavy sigh for a second time and finally looked down at her phone again.

Luckily the flock of mothers from yoga class were too distracted with their own gossip, the topic of Buffy herself having waned several minutes ago, to notice how emotionally wrecked she looked.

Gia: "I love you too, kid. I'm okay, really. Just dealing with these feelings, you know, when they bubble up. It's been a rough patch these last couple of weeks but I'm coming out of it. Thanks for always checking in on me."

She fired back, rubbing her wet eyes now with one balled up fist. Buffy reached for the warmth of her paper coffee cup now, breathing deeply like they taught her in yoga, to calm her mind and worried thoughts. Her dark brown eyes drifted to the scene outside the cold glass cafe window. Despite the early hour, it was still dark as night outside. The damp streets were quiet, except for the silhouette of a man making his way toward the well-lit cafe. Her phone buzzed again. Buffy's eyes diverted to the illuminated screen, missing the man as he thrust open the door to the cafe.

Leslie: "You are the strongest person I know. But you still are a stubborn shithead."

The weakest of smirks cracked her lips.

Per usual, she recognized his voice before his face. Buffy's attention was still very much on her text thread when she heard him speak over her shoulder. Goosebumps pimpled her arms and her stomach dropped low into her gut. She turned slowly to see him standing there, looking nonchalantly casual but friendly per usual. She tried to force her apprehensive, unsure look into something more welcoming, but it came out awkward and somewhat goofy. "Hey." She managed to squeak out hoarsely. When he notes her appearance, she bobs her head before her glare shoots down to her feet. "Well I'm no longer half-dead, if that's what you mean." She says with a snicker. It was rare that she socialized with anyone, ever, let alone when she was in her yoga pants. Her draping Misfits T-shirt tucked out from the edges of her thin maroon hoodie. But she still looked like a yuppie in her Nikes and with the yoga mat strapped over one shoulder. "You make it a habit of visiting the suburbs now?"

Buffy had vague memories of the end of that dreadful night, when she clutched to Sebastian's jacket and cried her way home. She found comfort in his arms, and later in his company as she drifted off to sleep on her own mattress, in the safety of her own home, because of him. She remembers trying to thank him, but is embarrassed to know it probably wasn't enough. After all that he did for her. But that act, it was changing everything she thought she knew. Buffy felt guilty for misreading and misjudging the vampire. But the stubborn part of her still worried it was a trick. Jason had so thoroughly fucked up her mind, and her hunter-like instincts still screamed 'danger' when she was near Sebastian. But she was beginning to get past that. She wasn't fearful and she wasn't angry. "It's good to see you again."

Buffy had been dreading this day, of seeing Sebastian for the first time after what had happened. The anxiety about it literally kept her up at night. But now that it was happening, she didn't feel so anxious or foolish as she thought she would. She offered him a simple smile before slugging him gently in the arm. "Jesus, if I see your picture in one more magazine... How is the blissful engagement, anyway?"

GIA BUFFY JONES