Christian’s eyes shifted to look at Penny, watching how she reacted to the man who tried to make her feel lesser. He caught her movement to her wrist, seeing the scars there from the vampires that had nearly sucked her dry. Christian remembered how she scratched at her arms until she bled. He shifted slightly, wanting to stand up for her, but he knew he had to remain silent.

In the end, he was glad he had done it. Penny stood up for herself, explaining a brilliant story about what had happened and why she wanted the creatures gone. It was personal in more ways than one. It was time for her to get her revenge on the creatures who had taken so much from her. Christian felt the emotion in her words and the strength behind them.

”Good…good, you have them,” he assured her, unable to remain quiet any longer. Christian was glad Penny mentioned the parties; it seemed to be what tipped Dylan in her favour.

Charles frowned at Dylan before he looked at Penny. “We’ll help you. It is better if we attack them during the day. Do you have a machete or weapons? If not, we have some extra you can borrow,” he offered.

Penny gave herself a small mental pat on the back for successfully creating a story that would make them less suspicous. She felt happy with Christian's reassurances. She was finally going to get her revenge. The first step was done! "I don't, sorry. Like I said, I'm new. I've been doing as much research on vampires as I could. All different kinds of lore from different cultures and everything. Do vampires really die by wooden spikes? Or garlic? I don't know what's fiction and what's real anymore." Penny knew that these things were something she could've asked Christian, but it must've slipped her mind.

Annie shook her head. "There are a lot of different rumors and gossip about vampires. Most of it is false and useless information. Wooden stakes don't do anything. Sunlight doesn't kill them, and I have no idea where the garlic thing came from. There are a few ways to kill off vampires though." She gestured to Charles and Dylan. "These two know more about them than I do."

Charles grinned, and Dylan rolled his eyes. However, he leaned back in the booth, seeming to be more relaxed. “Annie’s right, but that’s okay. We all started somewhere. I’m just glad you were able to get a hold of us. Usually, beheading is how you gank a vampire, but you can also inject them with Dead Man’s Blood, or use whatever tools you have at your disposal. Then you can set them on fire. Honestly, vampires are probably the easiest to kill.

“What about werewolves?” Dylan asked. "They are just a silver bullet to the chest."

“Ya, I guess, but they are more straightforward than killing Demons or sirens.”

“Ghosts.”

Charles frowned at Dylan, which coaxed a smile from Dylan.

“Okay, okay, we are deviating from the point.” Charles turned and looked back at Penny. He smiled. “Point is, we have the tools to kill your vampires. Eight of them, between the four of us should know the problem. Should we head over now?”

Dylan nodded and stood, ready to leave the small town diner and get his hands bloody. Charles chuckled and looked at Penny. “Ready?”

Penny didn't think it was possible to store a ton of weapons in a car trunk. She knew you could store a lot, but these hunters cars seemed to betray the laws of storage space. Penny held a machete in her hands and she was slightly ashamed to say they shook. She saw Charles, Annie, and Dylan hop out of their cars a block ahead of her and she sighed. She was two blocks away from the vampires house. This was it. It was time for her to get her revenge. Christian sat in her passenger seat, still invisible to the hunters. They started approaching her car and she reached for Christian's arm. She wanted to tell him everything she could before this happened.

"Christian, I-" Penny made eye contact with him and gave him a watery smile. "I care about you. A lot. You've been with me through all the hard times this past month and I couldn't be more grateful." This was true. Penny owed him her life, regardless of him saying that she did almost everything herself. She pulled her own weight, but not without Christian aiding her in some way. Her heart beat hard in her chest and she blamed it on her nerves. She was about to behead some vampires- only a crazy person wouldn't be nervous... or a hunter.

"I promised I wouldn't die again and I swear I will try my hardest to keep that promise, but I have no combat experience. I don't think I even have the strength to behead a person." Penny chuckled and saw Charles quickly approaching her car. She didn't have much longer to say what she wanted before they thought she was crazy. "I just wanted to say thank you and say that if... no, when I come out of this alive, I want us to stay friends." Penny squeezed his arm with her trembling hand.

"I know you said that you'd stay with me while I fought these things and I really do want you to be by my side as I finally put everything behind me, but I'm afraid that if something does happen, I won't be able to stop myself from asking for your help. I don't know what kind of trouble you had to go through for my sake when we first met, but I don't want you to have to go through with it again." Penny realized how self-absorbed that statement sounded. Maybe Christian didn't care about Penny the same way she did. If she was in trouble, maybe he'd turn his back and just let her get hurt or die for real this time. He helped with the Redcaps though. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't care.

Regardless, Penny couldn't rely on him to save her everytime something bad happened. She could feel a thread of dependency beginning to form and attach itself to Christian and it scared her. Not for her sake, but for his. Penny gave Christian a smile and exited the vehicle. She waved at the three hunters. Charles gestured with his hand for Penny to lead the way, and she did. Not before glancing back at her car to see if Christian was following, still in the passenger seat, or gone.

"Whatcha lookin' at, kid? Did you forget something?" Annie spoke up beside her, her own machete resting on her shoulder. Penny wanted to tell her that she was most definitely not a kid. She was almost 28, but she kept her mouth shut. Maybe kid was the equivalent of newbie in the hunter world.

"Oh, nothing. Thought I forgot my keys, but they're right here." Penny held them up after digging them out of her pants pocket. They approached the front door of the house and Penny felt sweat run down her spine. Here goes nothing. Penny looked at Charles as if to say, 'what now?' and he grinned. He raised his fist and knocked three times on the door before Dylan kicked it in. Penny rushed in last, her machete in her right hand, ready to behead the villains that turned her life into a nightmare.

Christian debated whether to teleport to the vampire location or scout ahead, but he ultimately decided to go with Penny in her car. He gazed out the window, watching the world go by with fascination. It was his first time in a moving vehicle.

His face was lit up like a child’s, unable to focus on any one thing for more than a second before he was scanning and looking at other things outside the car window. He was also equally fascinated by the workings of the car on the inside. He pushed buttons and opened compartments with seamless abandon. He quickly decided his favourite aspect of the car was the seat and the controls determining whether cold or hot air blew.

Christian returned to looking outside again when they pulled up outside the vampires' lair. He was so busy watching the sun shift through the trees that he hadn’t fully realized they had arrived until Penny grabbed his arm. Christian turned his head immediately, eyes surprised, but quickly turned to concern from her words before they finally softened, a small smile forming to match.

Her words tumbled out in a rush, and it took Christian a lot of concentration to follow the run-away words. His smile turned to one of amusement unintentionally. ”You will come out of this alive,” he agreed. ”And you can do this. You have people here to help you,” he added, nodding to the approaching hunters. ”I will remain near, but perhaps if I am not in the house, you will feel the urgency you need to fight and win to survive rather than call me.” He wished Penny a quick good luck before she opened the door, and when she looked back, Christian would no longer be in the car. He stood near the house now, concealed in the shadows of Penny’s old home.

He watched the four hunters approach and noticed how calm seemed to wash over the three experienced hunters. They were primal and ready. Christian watched them kick the door down and charge in. His gaze flitted over to Penny, watching her blond hair disappear. She’ll be fine…she’ll survive this.

The silence crept in, poking and wrapping itself around Christian while he waited outside. He started to pace, hoping the feeling would leave him, but it only intensified when he heard yelling and screaming.

Inside, the hunters started their kill. They got to two of them easily, but by then, the vampires knew their home had been infiltrated. Whether Penny miscounted in her bloodless haze or the vampires had been busy, the headcount now came to ten rather than eight. Fighting quickly moved on to one-on-one or survival.

Charles and Annie did their best to stay close to Penny, coaching her through how to duck, swing, and jab while they survived their fights. Dylan was in his battle, blocking the others as he went through one vampire to the next, never seeming to be engaged for long before a head thunked against the floor and rolled away.

Charles made a slice across a vampire’s neck, blood spurting before he kicked off their head. “Guess we should have double-checked if you’re okay with blood,” he said, glancing at Penny to ensure she was doing okay.

Penny was ashamed to admit that she had gotten the numbers wrong. She ducked underneath a fist and stumbled forward from the momentum. She quickly straightened up and turned just in time to swing her machete right into the throat of the vampire that was almost on top of her. She machete lodged itself halfway into the neck before stopping. Blood spurted all over her face and dripped off her hands, making the machete handle slick. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blood staining her blonde hair. She had to ignore the nausea that rolled up into her throat. "I'm fine!" She responded to Charles' comment. She wasn't sensitive to blood, per say, but this much blood was a little excessive.

Unfortunately, the vampire that had her machete halfway through it's neck was still alive. It gurgled something that Penny assumed was some sort of vulgar comment before trying to kick her. Penny let go of her machete and took a few steps back to avoid the kick to her abdomen. She looked up into his face and frowned. She recognized him. He was the one that talked to her after she woke up from being kidnapped. Him and one other vampire were in the room with her, but as she glanced around, she saw Dylan beheading the other one. Her scars itched again and her blood boiled. Rage filled her and an all consuming need for his death overtook her thoughts. He stumbled a bit and Penny used that to get in close and put her hands on the machete again. She yanked it out before swinging it again where the gash on his neck still was. With more strength than she thought she had, she sliced right through the neck and beheaded the cursed vampire. The anger in her gut died down, but she felt the adrenaline rush through her body. A wave of relief washed over her now that more than half of the vampires were dead. Charles, Annie, and Dylan were holding their own really well.

Annie beheaded the last vampire in the room before taking a breather. "Penny, are you okay?"

Penny nodded, her eyebrows furrowed. "I haven't seen their leader. Her name is Beckah." Penny looked at Charles and Dylan. "When we find her, please let me have the final blow. She's the one that killed my friend."

Charles nodded and nudged Dylan. Dylan rolled his eyes but shrugged. "Most of the vampires came to greet us at the door. Beckah might either be trying to escape or hiding somewhere."

Penny shook her head. "I got to know Beckah at the library over the course of a few weeks. She doesn't seem like the type to escape and cower. Especially when she revealed herself to me. She's cocky. She'll think she can beat us- even if it's four against one." Penny looked towards the stairs. "I'll bet she's upstairs, waiting."

Annie nodded and started up the stairs. Penny followed behind the three. Adrenaline coursed through her veins still and she wanted to start fighting already, just so she can get his over with. Penny realized that maybe she needed to start working out so she'd be prepared for the next fight. Penny paused on the landing. Next fight? There was no one else to fight after this. Penny watched the hunters search the rooms and she realized she admired them. Here were these completely ordinary people, helping her get her revenge. They hunted things like this for a living. Helping others and saving people. Penny wanted to do that. She wanted to help others that have been in her position. She grew almost giddy at the thought of being a hunter herself. She'd spent her entire life living in a haze and not knowing what to do with her life. At least this would give her life meaning.

"Here!"

Penny rushed into the room at the end of the hall and she heard laughter. "Penny- it's good to see you again. Imagine my surprise when one of my brothers told me you had escaped!" Beckah giggled. "I thought for sure I had killed you. I was sad at first, but you tasted delicious, so I tried to get you back. I was then surprised for a second time when I heard that you got rid of my Redcaps." Beckah walked closer to the four of them and she smirked. "I figured you'd come back to me one way or another, so I waited." She eyeballed Charles and Dylan and batted her eyelashes at them. "Looks like you brought some handsome company. I wonder if they taste as good as they look!"

Beckah lunged for Charles. Dylan blocked her attack and Annie dove into the fray. Penny clutched her machete so hard, her hands hurt. Beckah just liked playing with people. The scar mark at the base of her throat where Beckah had fed, burned as if it were on fire. Penny screamed through her teeth and jumped into the fight. It was long and there were arms and legs everywhere. Beckah managed to get a few scratches in on Penny. One on her left cheek, a few gashes in her stomach, but none of them burned as much as her bite marks did. Penny was proud to say that she landed a few cuts on Beckah as well. Luckily, Charles and Dylan were able to keep Beckah off Penny to avoid any serious damage.

Penny swung her machete as Beckah's left knee and smiled when the hit landed. There was a snarl and Penny watched as Charles was able to pin Beckah to the ground. Dylan and Annie joined in holding her down. She bucked and kicked under their weight, but despite having super strength, she wasn't able to get them off. "What are you doing? Just kill me already!"

"There's someone here who wants the honor of killing you." Annie looked at Penny with a sad smile. "Come on, kid. End it."

Penny felt tears well up in her eyes and she stood by Beckah's head. All her scars burned and itched. "You've plagued me for a little over a month, Beckah. I hope that I plague you in the after life... if there even is one for something like you." Penny raised her machete high in the air and brought it down with all her strength. It sliced through and with one last screech, Beckah's head rolled. Penny felt bile rise up her esophagus and she fell to her knees before turning and retching. She felt a hand on her back, but it wasn't as warm as Christian's hand when he had comforted her back in the hotel. She let tears fall to the ground in front of her and she sniffed.

It was finally over. Her limbs felt tired and her body ached. The cuts and gashes on her cheek and torso ached, but Penny didn't really care. She straightened up and gave a bright, wide smile to her new hunter friends. "Thank you." She said, sincerely. "I'd like to pay you back somehow, maybe buy you dinner, but first... there's someone I need to talk to."

Penny wondered how awkward it would be if she just rushed out of the house and called for Christian like a mad woman. No. She'd wait till she was in her car where no one could hear her and then she'd call him. Penny looked down at her clothes and ran her bloody fingers through her hair. "Actually... I may need a shower before I talk to anyone."

A shift outside occured as the vampires started to die. One by one Christian watched the beasts cross over into purgatory. All of the monster's final resting place was in that hellscape. Where an endless battle occurs, the only release being when a soul is killed before being resurrected in purgatory just to be killed again. Christian smiled. Perhaps he would tell Penny that. He was sure knowing her almost murderers would suffer for the rest of time would bring her further peace.

Christian remained in the shadows until he watched the final soul leave. He looked to the front door, waiting for Penny to emerge. He walked across the street to stand there and wait, but she had yet to leave the house.

Charles grinned when Penny offered them a meal. He chuckled at her mention of a shower and he nodded in agreement.

“We could all use the clean up and we never turn down a free meal,” Charles agreed. He nodded at Dylan and Annie to go on ahead. He looked back at Penny and smiled.

“You did good. I got sick after my first kill, too” he assured her. “But you didn't hesitate. You came here with a goal and didn't change your mind. That's brave,” he complimented her. He cleared his throat then, feeling slightly nervous suddenly and knelt to clean off his blade.

“So uh, we're probably going to be in town for a couple more days and I was wondering, well, maybe you'd… maybe you'd like to catch a movie or go to dinner? I mean not like tonight but another night with, uh, me?” Charles asked, looking at Penny once he stood back up.

Penny raised her eyebrows in surprise. What a guy, asking a girl out who is covered in vampire blood and surrounded by rolling heads. It was almost comical. "Oh. Um," Penny didn't have a reason to say no and Charles wasn't a bad-looking guy. He was actually pretty handsome, but Penny didn't think she had the best judgement in character. She supposed his sudden shyness and awkwardness was endearing? She sighed and gave a small smile. Why not? He clearly was interested in her and Penny wouldn't mind a little distraction. Perhaps he'd help her get started in the hunter world too and give her more details. "Sure, I don't see why not." Penny glanced at Christian and she felt heat rise to her face that he had witnessed that. Her heart quickened a little bit, but she brushed it off as being nervous for going on a date with Charles. "I, uh, I'm gonna head out. You have my number." She gave him another smile before walking out of the house and towards her car.

The sun was still between midday and sunset, so not much time had passed while inside. She rushed to her car as fast as she could in an attempt to avoid looks from pedestrians. A woman covered in blood leaving a house and rushing to a car? Not suspicious at all. She got into her car and started the engine. Her face heated up again when she remembered what she told Christian before she ran in to fight the vampires and she groaned, resting her head against the steering wheel. What was she doing? Telling Christian she cared for him and then going on a date with Charles? Penny stared at her dash through the big hole of the steering wheel and frowned. She only told Christian she cared about him as a friend. A pang of guilt and uncertainty throbbed in her chest and she furrowed her eyebrows. If that was true, then why did she feel like this? "Christian?" She called out. She saw him at the house, but it didn't seem like he followed her to her car. Maybe he was giving her space? Even so, she wanted to see him and celebrate her victory.

Charles smiled brightly when Penny agreed to go on a date with him. “Cool, it's a date. I'll give you a call later today. Good work today, Penny,” Charles smiled and waved her off before he got into his car and drove off.

Christian watched the whole exchange with interest. He thought the tall, blonde man was bold, but he was surprised when Penny agreed. Why should he be? Christian suddenly frowned, feeling slightly annoyed from the whole thing. Penny met his eye and almost looked guilty before she dashed across the street. Peculiar. Then she was calling him.

Christian teleported inside Penny's car and noted her appearance. The blood was unsurprising, neither were the marks on her face or her torn shirt, but he was no less concerned.

”How did it go?” Christian asked. He shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to Penny. At least this way she could cover up some before walking into her hotel.

Penny grinned at Christian. "Despite all the blood, it was..." Penny had a lot of words to describe how she was feeling, but she wanted to pick the right one. "Cathartic." Penny accepted Christian's jacket and put it on. The lingering warmth from his body soaked into her shoulders. There was still blood in her hair and some on her face, but at least the most of it would be covered. "But, before we talk- I think my first order of business is a shower."

When they arrived at the hotel, the first thing Penny did was get in the shower. By then, the blood had already dried and crusted in her hair. Luckily, the hot water was able to get most of it out. If you looked closely, you'd see a little bit of a red hue to her blonde hair, but Penny decided it was faint enough, no one would point it out. She put on some clothes and lifted her shirt up slightly to see the long gash that stretched diagnally across her stomach. She frowned as it lightly seeped blood. It stung and throbbed, but it wasn't unbearable. She sighed. She'd need to bandage it somehow. She grabbed her towel and pressed it up against the wound to keep it from lightly dripping on the floor and clean clothes.

"I'm done, but I think my stomach needs to be bandaged. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Penny called out to Christian as she entered the living room area. Penny felt her stomach grumble. Yeah, she was hungry too. And tired.

The car ride back to Penny’s hotel was quiet but comfortable. The music played gently from the radio, and although Christian watched the world go by again, he wasn’t as enthralled by it as he had been the first time. He appreciated the scenery and the company he shared it with. Maybe that was what life was about. Not necessarily what you are doing but who you are doing it with.

Christian walked silently with Penny up to her hotel room. He left her alone to shower and clean up, but something told him she would be hungry when she finished. He had overheard Penny offering to take the hunters for a meal later, but he wanted her to have something, so he ordered a few dishes from the room service menu.

He had just finished setting the trays on the table in Penny’s room when she came out of the bedroom, a towel pressed against her stomach and wet hair dripping down her back. The smell of fresh blood mixed strangely with the scent of Penny’s shampoo, and yet it was still so wholly Penny.

He approached Penny when she asked if he knew how to bandage wounds. ”May I see?” If she moved her towel, Christian would bend down to examine the wound before nodding. If she didn’t, he would answer her the same. ”I do. I just need to gather some supplies. Sit, eat,” he said, gesturing to the table. ”I’ll be back quickly.”

Christian teleported from Penny’s room to a local pharmacy. He wandered the aisles, gathering the supplies he needed. Christian blended in seamlessly with the crowd in the drugstore. No one seemed to pay him any mind as he went about his task, and when he disappeared, no one questioned it.

Christian returned to Penny’s hotel room with supplies in hand. He set everything down and crouched. ”Do you want me to walk you through it or help you?” he asked, gazing up at her.

Penny removed her towel to show Christian her seeping wound and he nodded before disappearing. She smiled, amused, and sat down to eat, the towels pressed against the wound again. The food was possibly some of the best food she'd eaten in a while, which was weird to her. She'd had almost the same thing a few days ago and it tasted bland. Penny chewed thoughtfully before deciding that it must be because she was no longer plauged by what haunted her. The world seemed brighter and her outlook had turned more positive. She didn't feel like she was living in fear and paranoia anymore. The vampires were dead, she was eating delicious food, she had a handsome reaper to converse with, and she had a date with a cute guy planned. Penny paused mid-chew and shook her head. She was delirious with pain and was post-adrenaline rush. Handsome reaper and cute guy? Penny must be losing her mind.

Penny was halfway through the food when Christian returned. She gave a bright smile. "Welcome back!" She watched as Christian set everything down and crouched beside her. Penny met his eyes and she realized that they were a deep, dark brown. They were kind. Far kinder than any man's eyes she'd ever seen. Penny cleared her throat and moved her eyes away, focusing on the towel that was against her. Her face heated up and she nodded. "I know some first aid, but nothing too advanced." She threw the towel to the floor and lifted her shirt up so he could see the gash. "Do your worst. I'll just mess it up."

Christian’s eyes remained on Penny even after she broke eye contact with him. Was she embarrassed? Curious. Christian refocused on her wound when she revealed it to him again. He raised an eyebrow when she instructed him to do her worse. ”I’m fairly certain that would hurt more,” he said seriously. He rolled his shirt sleeves up and stood to wash his hands.

He glanced at the food trays, smiling at the fact she had eaten something; that was always a good sign after a hunt. He washed his hands before returning to open the antiseptic. The pungent smell of alcohol filled the room as Christian added some of the liquid to a compress.

”This will sting,” he warned her before putting the cool compress against Penny’s wounds. He lifted and pressed the compress over her skin in several areas before he got clean water. He bundled a towel onto her lap to soak up most of the water that he would be pouring over her wound to clean the area further.

”Vampires aren’t exactly the cleanest,” he explained while he worked. ”Infection is more what you have to worry about than bleeding out.” He dabbed Penny’s stomach with a damp cloth before sitting back on his heels, letting the area dry. He opened the cream that would be a barrier between her skin and the bandages and glanced at Penny before speaking.

”Did I overhear that tall, blonde-haired man ask you on a date?” It truly wasn’t any of Christian’s business, but Penny had made a point—twice—that she wanted Christian’s friendship. Friendship meant sharing personal things, right?

Christian washed his hands with the antiseptic before he added some of the cream to his fingers and lightly spread the cream onto her wounds. His fingers were featherlight as they moved across her skin.

Penny found it endearing how Christian took her 'do your worst' joke seriously. Despite how knowledgeable he was, he seemed almost like a kid when it came to certain things. The car, for example. Penny giggled almost the entire way to kill the vampires, just because Christian would not stop touching the buttons and looking out the window. Penny realized that there was a lot of things that he probably didn't get to experience. Especially in his line of work.

Penny winced as Christian cleaned out her wound and she took a deep breath to help with some of the pain. It wasn't too bad after it was cleaned. That was until Christian started applying the antiseptic cream. He left a trail of goosebumps with his feather light touches and it caused Penny's breath to hitch. She cleared her throat and tried to ignore the feeling of something, she couldn't put a finger on that lingered in her chest. "Oh, that." She chuckled awkwardly. "He did. I guess I didn't really have a reason to say no, so I took him up on the offer." Penny paused, in contemplation. "He seems really nice and sincere. I don't think I'm the best judge of character though. My last boyfriend wasn't exactly a saint." Despite the somewhat awkward topic of conversation, Penny was kind of glad Christian asked. She wanted his opinion on Charles and she took his curiosity as him accepting her proposal of friendship. "Besides, it's just a date. Nothing more, nothing less."

Christian remained silent, focused on his task. He followed the trail of the tiny bumps his touch seemed to leave behind and frowned. He looked up at Penny when her breath hitched, worried he was hurting her, but she seemed to relax and didn’t tell him to stop. Christian hesitated a moment before he kept going, moving his eyes to watch his task once more.

”Nothing more nothing less,” Christian repeated. ”I’ve overheard humans in passing make dates seem like they are everything. They dictate whether a relationship will continue and lead to love, sex, or marriage, but you don’t seem to care for those things. At least not with this date.” Christian finished his task and wiped his fingers off before he grabbed the bandages. ”Charles seemed rather happy with the acceptance, though.”

Christian placed the bandage against Penny’s skin. He pressed his hands onto her sides, securing the bandage in place. Her skin was cool to the touch but soft despite the raised flesh. His fingers lingered before he realized what he was doing, and he pulled back.

”I think you are a good judge of character. You simply wish to see the best in people, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is people like you who give others a second chance when they pass on. People often remember the worst parts of their life when they die. If those people can accept what they have done, they will have an easier transition. If they don’t and become angry, the transition is more challenging. I find if they’ve had someone like you in their lives, they see death as a second chance to live their afterlife differently. However, it’s not the same for monsters.”

"I want to get married, eventually. Having kids kind of scares me, but it's not off the table either. I'm not in it for the sex, unlike some people in today's world. I didn't grow up with very stable relationships. My parents didn't get along. I suspect they loved each other at some point, but my dad grew distant and my mom took it out on me." Penny smiled sadly at Christian. His hands were warm against her skin and she almost complained when he took them away. Cold air met her skin and she dropped her shirt to cover her now bandaged gash.

"You mean it?" Penny said in almost a whisper, her eyes meeting his. She was slightly in awe at the way Christian unabashedly called her kind. She'd been called kind before, but not in a way that made her feel appreciated and seen. Christian was somehow able to make her see the world in a different light. He was kind too and Penny didn't see that in a lot of men or women nowadays. "I'm sorry I caused you such trouble when you were supposed to take me to the afterlife. I don't know what came over me. I was just... I don't know. It was very out of character for me. I know we've kind of talked about this before, but I really wanted to apologize. Sincerely. And say thank you. You say I see the best in people, but I think you may be a better version of that. You could've ignored me and let my body die, but you didn't. I don't know what you had to do in consequence of letting me live, but I'm sure it wasn't great."

Penny didn't know why she felt the need to apologize. She'd already kind of apologized and talked to him about it before, but she wanted him to see how much she cared about what he does and how he feels... That's what friends did, right? Penny couldn't help but feel like that was the wrong terminology.

Christian smiled crookedly at the way Penny questioned his words. His eyes flicked back and forth between hers. ”Yes, you silly girl. I never say anything I don’t mean,” he said and started to clean up. He paused when she apologized to him again.

An image of the life he had to take in placement of Penny’s flashed before him, and he shook his head before he stood. ”You don’t need to keep apologizing. I made that decision because I wanted to, not because you forced me to. As for what happened after, it’s all water under the bridge,” he said, smiling at her gently before discarding the garbage and moving the towels into the bathroom.

Christian couldn't tell Penny what happened even if he wanted to, but he didn't want to. He wanted to save her from the uglier parts of his work being a reaper. He wanted to protect her, even now when she knew how to look after herself. If things went well on the date with Charles, Christian wondered if Penny wouldn't need him around us much. The idea of that worried him, which, in turn, confused him.