*Juliet’s POV*

I looked at Andy, trepidation twisting in my gut, as he shut the door to the study quietly. It felt unnatural, coming in here to talk, but I didn’t have to ask why we weren’t talking in the bedroom. Our bed probably had succubus all over it. My heart wrenched a little at the thought.

Andy just stood there, looking at me. He had the same expression that he did when he came to take care of me when I was sick. Concerned, apprehensive, and desperate not to start an argument. I probably shouldn’t have cut our hello kiss so short, it had probably put him on edge, but I was overwhelmed with anxiety myself.

He took a seat in the wooden chair across from me. Briefly, I felt guilty for taking the seat with the better padding. Andy had such a tiny boy-butt…

He clasped his hands together and just looked at them for a bit, then started fussing with a bracelet. After a second he sat up straighter and made eye contact. “So, how are you feeling about things?”

Everything hit me again, and though I didn’t mean to at all, I started crying before I could say anything. Andy was on his knees and holding me in an instant, and I just let it all out. “None of this was supposed to happen! Everything was fine, everything was simple!”

I covered my face as I sobbed, not wanting Andy to see me all puffy and gross. “I feel like this is all my fault for not telling you, for making so many mistakes, but this is too fucking much!”

Andy held me tighter. “Shhh… It’ll be ok; it’s not your fault. Shh…”

I pulled away. “It is my fault! I thought I was keeping things simple for you, not getting you sucked into all the crazy, supernatural shit… I knew I was pissed as Hell when I was bitten! I couldn’t imagine being the one responsible for telling you that your grandfather probably wasn’t really dead, that your appearance was changing for a reason. And so, just because I was afraid of you rejecting me for what I was, for telling you what you were, I fucking chickened out and hid it all away from you! Now it’s all blown up; I nearly started a holy war because I was so selfish-”

Andy held my face; his blue eyes clear as the sky. “-I’m not angry about that. I mean, ok it’s a little distressing, but compared to everything else, that I’ve caused? I mean, I can see that what I’ve done, I can see the pain in your face. Shit, it’s awful! I don’t want you to worry about all that other stuff. We have the rest of our lives to talk that over, ok?”

Andy smoothed my hair back behind my ear. “Honestly, I’m only really irritated that I didn’t know our cats could talk. The rest is, like, nothing.Ok?” Andy smiled at me, and it was just as soothing as it always was.

I felt myself calming a bit, and my thoughts grew more concrete. Andy just looked at me, clearly hurting underneath his plucky smile, all because I was hurting. His bright eyes were all soft and watery, and I couldn’t stand it. I pushed him gently away. “It just hurts so much that I’m not enough.”

Andy stubbornly grabbed my hand. “You are enough, you always were!”

I turned away, feeling another surge of dejection, and Andy squeezed my hand. “Look at me, babe.”

Reluctantly, I turned back to look Andy in the eye. He had that obstinate spark of determination that I loved so much. “I love you, Jules. I swear that I love you; that I always will. All this…” Andy looked away, gesturing around us with his free hand, as he took a deep breath and exhaled it sharply. “I never meant it to happen. I never thought to myself that I needed or wanted another woman in my life. I need you to believe that.”

I said nothing, my emotions still thundering, wild and chaotic. Andy squeezed my hand again. “The fact that Oona is here, that we’re in this situation, it hasn’t changed my feelings for you. You’re everything to me.”

Andy’s face was sad. “I just don’t know what to do.” He fiddled with my fingers unconsciously. “But I can never choose to hurt you. I don’t…” He trailed off for a moment.

Andy’s face turned red with unspoken sentiment. “If I don’t do this, now, Oona will die.” He swallowed hard. “But… if you can’t live with it-“

I interrupted him, horrified. “-No! Don’t!” I shook my head and pulled on Andy’s hand. “You already told me that you love her, that it feels right. So, I mean, you have to. You just have to…”

Andy bit his lips and was silent for a long time. “Then marry me, Juliet. Marry me, be my wife, and be my mate. I can’t lose you.”

Hearing Andy say those words, my whole mind blanked. All I could see was Andy as my vision tunneled around him.

His eyes were sincere, loving. He was white as a ghost, and his grip on my hand was tight. He looked terrified that I’d say no.

In that moment, like a huge upwelling of a hot spring in winter, what was most important to me, what my heart wanted above all, hit me and blossomed. I smiled, covering my mouth as I started to cry again. “Yes… yes!”

Andy beamed and pulled me to him. Our lips collided in a frantic, happy kiss. I pulled away, grinning like an idiot, and saw Andy was tearing up too. “We’ll make it work. It’s really weird, it’s not what I thought would happen, like, at all. But I know it will be ok.”

Andy, being himself, jumped to his feet, looking elated and already making plans. “I’ll go make you a seed, right now! Tomorrow, we can go look for rings-“

I stood up, hating to burst his bubble, but not wanting things to get out of hand. “We can’t look for rings tomorrow, I’m supposed to be in Pennsylvania! And you don’t even look like a normal human right now; you can’t leave the house again. Have you seen yourself in the mirror recently?”

Andy’s excitement dimmed a little and he looked confused. “What do you mean?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “You’ve been consuming a lot of energy, babe.” His face turned a guilty scarlet and he looked ashamed. I pushed myself to not be petty. Absolutely not now. I was engaged! “Don’t worry about it, ok? Look, we can figure out things, you know, how things will work, later. But Oona only has six days-“

Andy grabbed my hands, starting to look excited again. “-Her seed is already done. At least, I think it is, I made it. But I haven’t tried to give it to her.”

Andy was still smiling widely. “If we can’t get married right now, fine. But soon, ok? And I want to show you, just… You came first for me. I should give you your seed first.”

Though hearing that gave me butterflies, the practical side of me realized the major problem. “Andy, do we have time? I would have to make you a seed too, we don’t even know if it can work-“

Andy just smirked confidently at me. “-We will make it work! I’ll get back to the workshop right away.” He paused. “Oona can teach you, right now, at the same time. Come with me-“

I held up a hand as I stood up. “-Andy, it’s 2 am in Pennsylvania, and I have to play a show tomorrow. I’ll come as soon as everyone thinks I’m asleep tonight, ok?”

Andy’s eyes shone with happiness, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy. “Ok!” He pecked me quickly on the lips, still grinning. Though after a second, his smile faltered a bit. “I wish you could stay…”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Honey, the seed Oona gave you isn’t normal. She can’t just be finished with you and leave like her kind usually does. Until I’ve given you mine, you wouldn’t be able to, you know, celebrate, anyway.”

Andy pouted. “But I miss you! You’ve been gone for over a week!”

I smiled as I pulled Andy close in a warm hug. “I miss you too, babe. I miss you too.”

Notes

Andliet incoming! don't like it? don't care!

everyone has the right to love whom they choose, and i support Andy's.

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Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. i advise all of you to sign the petition below, asking the electoral college to change their votes to reflect democracy and the will of the people:

Electoral College: Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19, 2016

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and, as my arch-rival has drawn to my attention:

The FBI determined some months ago that hacking, originating from Russia, was having an influence on our electoral process. These hackers interfered with our presidential election through attempted and successful penetration of email and voter registration databases, among other systems. This created fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the safety of our electoral processes.

Computers tabulated the vast majority of the 129 million votes cast in the presidential election, and polls were wildly off. Did hackers manipulate the results by compromising voting equipment? Did other problems, glitches, or errors affect the outcome?

There's a simple, relatively inexpensive way to find out: audit the electronic results against the paper ballots used by about 75% of U.S. voters.

American democracy depends on public trust of our electoral process, and public trust requires a trustworthy process.

Please sign to demand that election officials double-check the electronic results by conducting a "risk-limiting" audit of the presidential election in every state that uses paper ballots.

Demand An Audit Of The 2016 Presidential Election