Darling, don't be afraid, I have loved you [Panic]

[Deleted]

(This takes place immediately after the spell is lifted. Enjoy.)

A deranged young man in a movie that would cause a genre to explode into films once said, "We all go a little mad sometimes," and that was the first thought that entered Della's head when Wednesday Addams finally left her. She took a deep breath like she had just come back from the dead...dead...Alyss...yet even as she was thinking of the fact that her roommate had just died, there was another face floating through her mind. She turned on her heel, all but ripping that blasted black wig off of her head, and that was when she saw it. Alyss was still covered in so much blood, but she was rising from the ground. She remembered that she had been a ghost when it was Wednesday so...somehow she got back into her mangled body and...gods, Panic...it didn't take a genius for her to figure out what had happened while she wasn't paying the slightest attention.

She didn't even have to think. She was racing across the room and grabbed onto her roommate's free hand to help her out.

"Oh my God, Alyss..." For some morbid reason, Della rested her hands on what was once blood...except wait...if it was blood, it would have dried by now...she let out a weak scoff when she realized what that meant. Corn syrup. Like what they used for pig's blood in Carrie... "Are you okay?" she asked, ignoring all pop culture references.

Somehow the princess' expression was already a mask of surprise, but calm all the same. "Yes...yes, I am..." Yet Della could see how dead the poor girl's eyes were. This was so far from over...

But then she glanced up towards the other figure she was looking so desperately for...gods, that beautiful, beautiful boy. The minute she came back, she knew what she had to do. There was no possible way she was ever going to waste a moment in this crazy place ever again.

"You helped her..." she muttered and a grin spread across her face before she closed the distance between them, pulling him closer and unlike her birthday, unlike even with He-Who-Won't-Even-Be-Thought-About-Around-Panic, this was completely deliberate and there was no way in the Underworld, Olympus or Earth she was ever going to let him go again.

[Panic]

Panic was breathing. That's all he could really focus on at the moment, breathing. He had to keep his breathing steady, or else his heart rate would go up and he'd start shaking at then all hell would break lose and he'd likely end up in some hole somewhere, struggling to regain some kind of self control. He could hear the beating of his heart echoing loudly in his ears as his mind expertly jumped to the worst possible conclusions. What if this was a nightmare he was never meant to wake from? What if he had been turned mortal and was now actually in the fields of eternal punishment? What if he was never going to see Della again, only this strange mutation of her? He felt his breathing begin to hitch and he forced himself to focus on the ghost woman he was now holding hands with, but, just as he opened his mouth to say something, she began to return to her body.

Panic's eyes bugged, though he'd seen this happen before. It was extremely rare that a soul was returned to its body once it had left, especially when said body was in such a....state. he tried to remember that this wasn't really happening, but the realism of his surroundings made it difficult. He clung to her hand, kneeling next to her on the ground as he felt the warmth return to her skin. He simply stared at her, struggling to figure what to do next, when a very familiar voice pulled his attention instantly elsewhere.

His eyes locked on Della and, for another moment, he forgot his was in some kind of hazy nightmare and blushed when he realized he was still holding Alyss's hand. He let go immediately, but then cleared his throat and dropped his eyes. It's not real, he reminded himself, swallowing ion hopes of ridding himself of the lump in his throat. He quietly stood, his brain buzzing, and wavered awkwardly, unsure of what to do now. She spoke. her voice so kind and familiar. It's not- his thought process was uninterrupted with a flurry of movement. She was suddenly very near to him and he hardly had time to look up before she pulled him into a kiss.

No that's not it, not a kiss. That seems like too common of a word. A kiss is something two children share on the playground, a kiss is something loved ones place on your cheek in greeting or farewell, the word is overused and the action under appreciated. This was not just some passing moment that could be labeled with such a simple word. It was something grand, something earth shattering, something Panic couldn't have fathomed existing until this very moment in time. It set his senses on edge, it felt like his mind, his stomach, his skin, had all been set on fire, but, instead of burn him, he yearned to stoke the flames. He felt a hunger to let the blaze eat away at him until there was nothing left. It wasn't until he stepped on a corn syrup covered fork and nearly slipped did he fall back into reality.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF OLYMPUS-? His mind screamed. He managed to pull away, only to find that his hands where ensnared in her hair and he had to pant in refill his lungs with air. He untangled one of his hands to reach up and take off his mask in a hurry, revealed to find that it was no longer super glued to his face. He dropped his arm and allowed the mask to tumble out of his hand and clatter to the ground. His mouth hung open until he finally gathered himself enough to squeak

Am I...d-dreaming?

[Deleted]

Let it never be said that Della wasn't moved by what had happened between them on her birthday. That was what started this whole epiphany that took her way too long to have. This, however, surpassed their first kiss in every way. Here she knew exactly what she was doing, exactly what she was feeling and exactly what she wanted. Him. Just him. If she had her way she'd be surviving this crazy world with him until it was all over...no, she wouldn't think about that, because even in her elation of surviving, she knew there'd be a time where her time would run out, but not his...she wouldn't dare think of that.

When he nearly slipped, Della was quick to wrap her arms around his waist to keep him steady, and soon they had parted, but she kept her eyes fixed on his. How had she not realized how beautiful those blue eyes were anyway? She had to have been out of her damn mind for the past two years.

She should have expected him to ask a thing like that, and for some reason it made her hold onto him tighter, made her feel like she loved him even more. "No," she whispered, and for no apparent reason, she let out a laugh. It wasn't a laugh at him but at how beautiful this situation was seeming to her right now. Perhaps being high would have given her a fraction of what she felt like right now, but this was far better than anything a foreign substance could have given her. Still, she got a hold of herself pretty quickly, grinning at him. Once again, they had survived something absolutely life threatening and mad, and while of course she was going to tend to Alyss as soon as she could, this boy had to know, he absolutely had to know now, before anything else insane happened and they weren't so lucky next time. Besides, what was the point in wasting all of these feelings, right?

"You're not dreaming," she continued, her voice gentle, because she remembered how delicate Panic was. She had to take it easy, no matter how overjoyed and passionate she was feeling towards him right now. "Honestly, I should've done this a long time ago..." Even though she knew she couldn't waste time anymore, the thought of actually saying these words again after all this time had her heart rate shooting for the moon. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to ease herself in, and there it was:

"I love you." She opened her eyes again, prepared to calm him down if he started living up to his name, because she protected him, right? She always tried to protect him from the things that frightened him...oh, gods, but she also had to make sure Alyss was okay. For a moment, she glanced behind her, only to see a small smile on the "blood" covered girl's face. Alyss mouthed, 'It's all right, take your time,' which actually succeeded in Della feeling even more guilty for a split second...but Alyss was always the sort to do that kind of thing. They would deal with this once they were away from this craziness...so she turned her gaze back to Panic.

[Panic]

Despite her reassurance, the more more timed passed, the more certain he grew that this could not be the same reality he'd fallen into years ago. In that reality a girl like Della could not and would not love any creature with the likes of him. Though she was kind and....well perfect, Panic couldn't begin to comprehend the idea that she could actually fall in love with him. Just thinking the words made him feel dizzy and a strange sort of guilt tugged at his heart and weighed on his mind. It was his body's natural response to seek a way to blame himself, even if he couldn't think of a moment when he'd lead her to believe that he was a good enough person for her to have any sort of feelings for. He'd been trying for so long to make her see reason, despite his undeniable feelings for her. This could still be a trick of the gods, but even his somewhat muddled mind could piece together the events that made this moment a completely plausible truth.

His mind rebelled as he tried to force the events of Della's birthday from his thoughts, he'd locked them away as guilty fantasies and tried to convince himself of their false hood, no matter how nice it might feel to believe he kissed the girl of his dreams like that. He tried, but then he woke up and saw that hes appearance was still far more aesthetically pleasing than it had been for most his life. And there was this feeling, this little bit of light that he felt in the pit of his stomach, a small part of him that wanted so badly to be allowed to spread. A little flicker of a flame that urged him to let love grow and accept that Della could and did love him and that it was, in fact, a good thing. That they could be together and there was nothing wrong with that....but there was something wrong with that. He was a dirty little demon and she was as lovely as an angel. Still....how could he deny her if this is what she really wants?

And then she said it. Just three little words that had the power to flip his world upside down. It was one thing for her to have feelings for him, one thing to kiss him, and those were already violently stressful things, but to say that she loved him-!

I... was all he managed to whisper before his knees gave out and his vision went black for a moment or two.

His was brought back to his senses as his head thudded on the ground. He blinked away the pain just in time for his mind to catch up with him again. He turned his head so he could stare at that beautiful beautiful face, her eyes luminescent in the low light. Oh he said, quivering slightly with shock and confusion. I'm definitely dreaming

[Deleted]

She really should've seen that one coming. Perhaps on some level she did, because her reaction time to catching him as he fell was probably the fastest it had ever been. She winced a little, but she knew better than to take it at all personally. It was the sort of thing he did all the time. Instead of being overly concerned, she caressed his face and asked, "Panic?" just in time for him to start coming to. Even though she didn't have to wake him up any longer, she found her hands stroking his hair, her eyes almost exploring his face as if she had never properly seen him before...which, honestly? Was pretty accurate.

Again, she let out a weak laugh and she kissed his forehead before whispering, "No, Panic, I swear you're not," and then kissing his lips, this time much more lightly, almost playfully. Then she helped him back to his feet when she remembered just how many people "died" on that floor tonight. The last thing he needed was to be stained with even more blood. That'd just make things worse for him. She wished there was a way she could have done this without causing him to faint, but honestly? She knew that was impossible, and to not tell him for the sake of stopping his anxiety would have been even worse.

The fact was? She wanted to be the one who helped take those anxieties away. She wanted to be the one to hold onto him and assure him that everything was going to be all right...that somehow, she'd be the one who could chase all of his ghosts and demons (no pun intended, I swear to gods) away. So she held his hands, her eyes gentle and full of adoration...Westley was right. How could she ever hurt this boy when she felt such an overwhelming urge to protect him?

"I really...really do love you. I'll say it all night if that's what it'll take to convince you."

[Panic]

His head still severely fuzzy from the fall, he kept his eyes locked on her, clear and crystal blue despite his foggy vision. He let her help him up, following her nonverbal orders for lack of a better idea of what to do. It was a mental fallback to follow orders, Panic didn't have much of a mind of his own, or, at least, thats what he's had pounded into his mind all his life. He felt numb and confused, but was glad for her hands to hold him steady. He let his gaze drift down to inspect them for a moment. Soft and strong all in one and momentarily stained with blood. His face creased with disapproval and concern. That lovely satin skin smudged with crimson. The picture didn't make sense, Della should not have blood on her hands in any sense of the phrase. That was his job.

He felt a knot in his stomach twist uncomfortably as the urge to bare her burdens as his own overcame him. Something became clear to him in that moment. He may not be able to shield her from every horror of this earth, the fates were too clever for that, but no one could stop him from doing everything he could to take the weight of the world off her shoulders. She deserved someone so much better, but how could he trust anyone else to take care of her? He may not be smart, or strong, or her best option by far, but he did have one thing. He loved her with ever fiber of his being and sure as hell set on being there for her at any and every given moment. So maybe....just maybe....this was okay. This could be okay. She seemed to think he could make her happy, and he was determined to try, but even if there came a day when she thought differently, he'd stand by her side. He would always be there, waiting, watching, guarding, and loving her until the end of time. Some people need a guardian angel, but Della wasn't some people and she got something more than that. A single minded, devoted demon with an uncanny ability love with or without a soul.

He ran a thumb over the top of her hand to clear away some of the red before lifting his eyes to search her own. There was a moist warmth on his cheeks from the silent tears he'd unconsciously allowed to spill over his lids. He stared at her for a long moment, the silence saying far more than his ineloquent word ever could. Still he managed to take in a shuttering breath before uttering a truth he'd long forbad himself from acknowledging. His word, though soft, bursted with emotion and cracked with the hoarseness that came with tears.

I love you too.
and I always will