Doe's POV:

I was jerked awake from my slumber by the sound of the ringing phone.

The sound of which made it feel like I was waking up from a nightmare, knowing what it meant when a call came this late.

And this time it was late.

It had to have been around 1 in the morning, and even then, it wasn't completely unusual for Layla to interrupt at this time.

It usually didn't matter what time she wanted to come over, as long as she was coming over, Xander allowed it.

Of course, she was the first place my mind went once it was forced to awaken.

It was the only logical explanation, and that fact had my heart racing before I could even push myself up.

I'd been on edge all day for her to show herself and she does it now?

The small red light signifying an incoming call blinked bright against the wall, tearing that fear specific to her out of me and into plain sight.

It was just a phone call... why was this happening to me over a phone call?!

No, it wasn't just the phone call, but the knowledge of what always followed it.

The panic felt different this time. Deeper in the way it surrounded me and dulled my awareness of everything except what it deemed as the threat.

Focusing on that phone as if she was going to somehow appear from it.

Enough so to where I didn't process the man shuffling beside me.

Not until I felt his fingers on my upper arm, snapping me back with a gasp.

I narrowly stopped myself from flinching from the contact through my hectic mind, but the gentle touch was a good enough reminder.

I think he could still tell though, the glow from his eyes illuminating his face just enough to see his subtle regret.

He didn't pull back. Something that I grew grateful for as I kept looking at him.

And even more so for the fact that through a long while of debating, I decided to sleep here tonight.

Just... for my own satisfaction.

Even though the phone was still ringing, his eyes never left me to pay it any attention.

I tried to use both of those facts to ease myself into relaxing but it wasn't working in the slightest.

I didn't want to see her again.

I don't think I could manage it right now.

I was still repairing the damages done to me the last time. There was no way that I could hold my own against her.

Yet I still found myself trying regardless, repeatedly being met with instant failure.

I swallowed, trying to moisten my throat before speaking.

"Is it..." Was all I could say.

We rarely talked about her as it was, so it felt somewhat strange to try. Especially right amid my fear.

It felt like just saying her name held the possibility of summoning her.

We both turned our heads towards the phone as it fell quiet, the silence somehow adding even more to the unease.

My nails dug deep into the comforter.

Like the calm before the storm.

Xander blew out a sigh, hopefully having the same thought I did.

"Probably. It's the only thing that makes sense."

There was an edge to his voice that I wasn't expecting.

Nor one that I've ever heard from him.

"With how late it is, I can't say for certain whether or not she'll try to stop by." he finished.

'try'

"And if she does?"

I wanted the words to come out as stern to hide what I was feeling.

They didn't. At all.

He turned back to me, assurance clear through the pupils that had now become slits.

"She won't make it past the door, and even if she somehow manages that, I'll take care of it however I need to."

The way he spoke was... strange.

Calm and put together, yet still somehow rigid everywhere else.

There were spikes to those words, and the presence of those eyes only added to the mix.

The eyes I've only ever seen on him when he was panicking or fighting himself, so seeing them here... it felt different.

The intent was different.

It added more to my fight to not fall completely into trusting him again.

But at the same time... I wanted an answer.

I wanted a solid, undeniable confirmation of where he stood in all of this so I didn't have to fight my hopes anymore.

I caught myself leaning into his touch, solidifying - as much as I told myself I didn't want it to - which answer I wanted to get.

Bunching the blanket in my hands, I brought it up to my chest not being able to give him anything other than a nod before the silence consumed the next few minutes.

I was so sick of never knowing.

I remember back when I was able to live while being left in the dark. To convince myself to just accept everything that happened to me and move on, grateful that I managed to get away with my life.

It's what was ingrained into me since I was a kid.

Because back then I didn't think that it would ever change.

And now that they did... Or I wanted to think that they did, I couldn't revert to my old thought processes no matter what I tried.

I couldn't pretend like those moments didn't mean anything to me.

My head lifted again as Xander's grip tightened, a sharp yet quiet gasp hissing past his lips.

I didn't take that as a good sign, not when he was now looking straight at the door.

I did the same, my heart dropping.

The last thing I heard was the sound of the handle turning before all hell broke loose.

Or at least that's what I thought, the sound of her arrival switching my entirety into survival mode, and causing me to fear what came after despite everything else.

All I felt was the jerk of hand grabbing me by my shirt and pulling me from the spot that I was in, a vampiric snarl sounding in my ears.

The sudden action caused a sharp yelp from me before I was pulled into something hard, the hand that grabbed me now hooking itself around my back to keep me there.

I nearly began to flail from the instinct, my body wanting to fight against what I fearfully assumed grabbed me.

That is, until that smoky yet sweet smell registered in me what had truly happened.

Of whose body I was pressed up against.

Whose body was almost completely covering mine, placing his body between me and the door.

And whose growl was rumbling against me from   and throat.

I should have realized it sooner that the growl wasn't hers.

This one was low, guttural, and quiet enough to tell me that it wasn't yet coming from a place of malice.

It was more of a warning.

The moment all of those realizations settled in, and I could break out of my terror-ridden stupor, I tilted my head up to him.

He had me pressed tight against his shoulder with one hand, the other holding him up against the bed.

His knees to aiding in keeping him up and covering my pathetically curled form.

I could just barely pull back and spot his face through his hair and the way he was turned.

The glare he held was like nothing I've ever seen on him before, eyes still completely trained on the door.

The clink of the lock being tested broke through the sound of his growl.

And again, and again, her desperation or anger, or whatever it was showing by the way she then began banging on the door.

The sound caused me to wince, and I could feel the slight sharpness of his claws against my shirt as he tightened his grip as a response.

I couldn't imagine what I had done if I had decided to sleep in the cage tonight...

It was something I found as a safe haven but made me realize that if she were to have gotten in, there wouldn't be much to stop her from pulling me out of there.

But this... but him right now...

I nearly compared him to the cage with the position we were both in but that didn't feel accurate enough.

The cage offered me safety, and this didn't feel anything close to that.

This felt like protection, and it took way too long for me to finally make that connection through all of this.

Thay right now, he wasn't a cage, he was a shield.

And the look in his eyes and the ferocity in my defense that he was radiating told me that he would become even more than that if it came down to it.

I tried to let that sink in, eyes shutting sight at the sound of the door being shaken and the rattling of the handle.

All of that on top of the still frequent knocking and testing of the fingerprint lock.

What was her deal?!

Finally, I allowed myself to submit to worries and hide beneath him, fingers tightening around the cloth on his stomach, and pressing myself further into the rumbling in his chest.

His growling ceased for barely a second as I buried my head between his neck and shoulder, the bottom of his jaw grazing my hair.

I just braced myself against him, trying to block out the sounds from the door in favor of hearing his growl and heartbeat.

Or maybe it was my own. I couldn't exactly tell.

There was just something about being wrapped in the arms of the world's most feared predator, and knowing that it was to protect you.

This was the answer I had wanted right?

Or... something like it.

What he would choose to do if she came back...

If he truly meant everything he said in his apologies. The promises he made to both me and himself.

And well, it was an answer.

Or a temporary one until he handled this face to face with her.

I didn't want that to be tonight, though.

No, this was good enough.

For now this was good enough.

I almost didn't want to risk this going any further in fear that it would all crumble again.

I knew that I was going to have to face that eventually but... not yet, please not yet.

The way she was assaulting the door had turned beyond frantic.

It nearly sounded like she was bout to break the entire thing down.

It had been going on for minutes now and I could tell that Xander was beginning to get fed up with the whole thing.

"Fucking hell" he cursed under his breath with an annoyance that further proved it.

I didn't think too much of it until I felt him start to shift, laying me back against the bed while his growl grew in volume

That odd sense of panic grew in me as he did, the feeling of his body parting from me.

"Stay here," his instructions were quiet, and yet didn't help as his intention with this became clear to me.

He was going to go answer it.

My stomach flipped over itself at the realization, the rest of me shooting into action.

I didn't have time to think before I had shot up, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him back down to me.

He narrowly caught himself from completely falling onto me with a hand by my side.

The intensity of his cat-like pupils clashed with the surprise in his wide eyes at my actions while he pulled himself up.

My hold around his neck fell as he did, leaving my trembling hands to shift to his face, thumbs on his cheeks and fingers tangling through his hair behind his ears.

I wanted to just keep him there.

"Don't" Was my quiet plea.

Don't open the door, don't let her see me, don't leave.

Don't fall victim to her all over again.

I swear I heard his breath hitch, the hardness in his eyes fading as he kept them on me.

I believe that's when we both noticed the tears building in my eyelids.

Whether it was from the fear or the relief, I didn't know and honestly didn't care.

"She's not going to-"

"She'll leave," I cut in, voice straining, "She has to. There's no way she's going to be here all night. She'll give up eventually so just... please."

My voice was practically silent as it spoke that last word.

He didn't say anything, just kept my gaze until I could build up the courage to say my next words, his growl ceasing now that I had his full attention.

I debated just leaving it there but-

No, we were done with that.

Especially in an instance like this.

She was an attack on both of us for different reasons, and we needed to handle this together.

He needed to know my thoughts.

"I want you here," My admittance was as quiet as my words prior, pulling him closer by just an inch. Enough to where the ends of his hair caressed my cheeks.

I did. Even despite Layla, I wanted his presence. I wanted the friendship we had, I wanted the future promises he had granted me earlier today.

It wasn't forgiveness yet, but I couldn't finally admit to myself that it was trust

His breathing stopped all together for a small moment, my words striking something deep within him.

It came back to him as a small sigh, the action sounding almost like a relent as he leaned further into how I held him.

His eyes flickered over to the door one last time, the sounds coming from it having died down to her just repeatedly trying the lock that he had finally denied her access to.

I hoped it meant what she was giving up.

For now.

I knew she couldn't possibly be that easy to get rid of, and this time it was me prolonging what was inevitable.

Except the inevitable situation had shifted away from my life being on the line, and was now instead focused on Xander facing her again.

"Okay," His answer was calm and quiet, no doubt in an effort to ease my mind that was still so high strung.

He shifted his weight, taking the hand beside me and holding it to my waist as he lowered himself beside me.

Turning my body towards him as he did, my hands fell back down against the front of his shirt, taking one to wipe my eyes real quick.

He didn't lay down completely but laid on his side with his elbow holding him up so he could still get a good view of the door.

And still be able to spring into action if needed.

But he stayed, and that's what was important to me.

He aided me in closing the space between us with the hand on my back, setting my head down on the pillow right next to where he was.

He even fixed the blanket over me, adding as much as he could to my comfort.

It took a few more minutes, but her onslaught on the door faded into silence.

And even then, it took even more before Xander allowed himself to relax into the bed beside me.

I lifted my head while he did, allowing his other arm a place to go now that it wasn't keeping him upright.

It was... comfier to lay on than I imagined, feeling it wrap around to gently rub my back as he did the night prior, the other locking around my waist.

Never could I have imagined that I'd find such a position this comfortable.

This safe.

"Can I... stay here- like this, for a bit?" I questioned more timidly than I would have preferred.

After what he was willing to do, and how there was absolutely no hesitance from him tonight when it came to putting himself between Layla and me. I just wanted to make sure he was comfortable.

"You can stay for as long as you want, Doe, I'll always be open to you." He reassured, "I know it's difficult, but try to get back to sleep. I'll stay awake until you do just in case."

My eyes widened at the offer.

I thought about disputing it, and insisting that he didn't have to do that, but knew that he was completely serious in how he said it and had no intention of doing anything else.

So, I accepted it with a quiet thank you, forcing my eyes to close to try and do as he asked.

I somewhat expected another phone call or for the knocking to start back up again.

Nothing like that came for the rest of the night.