Chapter 12 – Dwelling

The car screeched to a halt in the hospital car park, Mitchell didn't even bother using a parking space, and he and Annie dived out into the dark, wet night. George had been okay for the majority of the journey but he'd started to scream at shorter intervals and Mitchell was starting to dread the silence in between.

Annie opened the door and Mitchell draped George's arm over his shoulders and carried him towards the hospital doors. Once inside they shuffled quickly to the stairs and Mitchell began dragging George's flinching body towards the basement, towards the dark room where George had torn Herrick's head from his shoulders. Annie pushed open the swinging doors and ran ahead to open the heavy metal door to the small dark room.

George screamed and his back arched painfully; he turned to Mitchell with yellow eyes and long, sharp teeth and looked into the vampire's eyes with confusion and agony. Mitchell scrunched his eyes closed and took a breath before shoving George into the tiny room. Annie slammed the door shut and pushed the bolt across with a loud clang. She looked through the small circular hole in the door and watched as George screamed and writhed on the floor.

Mitchell pulled her away and she buried her head in his chest. They held one another for a moment and then Mitchell held her face in his gloved hands. He smiled and said, "Come on. Let's go home".

*****

Annie clicked on the kettle as soon as they got back to the pink house and Mitchell unpacked the bags from the car. He smiled as he looked up at the old pub that was now their home and he thanked whatever God there was for allowing them to set foot back inside.

He dumped the bags at the foot of the stairs and flopped into the leather couch in the lounge. His shoulders ached from carrying George and his legs felt as though they were made of lead. Annie trotted into the living room with two cups of steaming tea and placed one in front of Mitchell on the coffee table. He took it and drank deeply, relishing the warm, comforting taste of the liquid.

Annie sat down next to Mitchell and held her cup in her hands. She leaned back and sighed dramatically, "Well. I'm glad all that's over".

Mitchell smiled and leaned back, "Yeah, me too", he frowned and looked at his mug; "I'm sorry Annie. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It was a stupid mistake".

She smiled and placed a tingling hand on his arm, "I know".

Mitchell looked into Annie's loving eyes and relaxed; he smiled sheepishly and took another sip of tea before placing his mug on the table. Annie did the same.

They sat in silence for a while and Mitchell began to drift into sleep. Annie watched as his eyes closed and his face relaxed completely; she thought he looked younger when he slept, more fragile, not like the big brave Mitchell she knew. He looked worn out, not just tired but dead, speak for yourself she thought. She traced a gentle finger down his jaw; his stubble tickled the end of her finger slightly. Suddenly Mitchell's eyes flickered open. Annie pulled her hand away from his face but Mitchell held it in his own and brought it to his lips. He kissed her ring and then each fingertip gently. Annie believed that, had her heart still beat, it would have been hammering in her chest. It felt strange, letting Mitchell, her friend, be so intimate, but he didn't seem to mind. He kissed her knuckles and then released her hand before falling back to sleep.

Annie held her hand to her mouth and sighed silently; had he been dreaming? Did he even know what he had been doing? She shook her head in bewilderment and then rested it on his chest. She lay there all night, listening to his unnecessary breathing and his silent heartbeat; she felt at home and at peace. Loved.

*****

Mitchell stirred underneath Annie's head as George crept through the front door. Annie stood up, carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping vampire, and walked towards George.

He looked exhausted; his eyes were deep holes and his clothes were hanging limply from his shrunken frame. Annie took his coat off and scurried into the kitchen to make some tea. George glanced towards the still-sleeping Mitchell and plodded slowly into the kitchen. He sat at the table and watched as Annie prepared some toast and tea. She brought George his breakfast and plonked down in the seat next to him, he smiled,

"Thank you".

Annie shrugged and caressed her ring with her thumb, "How was last night?"

"Okay", George took a large bite of his toast and continued, "Well, pure agony. But just the same as any other full moon", he smiled humourlessly.

Annie folded her arms and spoke in a hushed voice, "It was a close call, you started to change in the police station".

George raised the toast to his mouth and stopped with his mouth hanging open, "I- In the police station? Oh God".

"But its okay, we got you out safely. Everything's fine".

George sniffed, "Yeah, until the next time one of us does something stupid", he stared into the milky contents of his mug, "Are we ever going to be safe Annie? Are we ever going to be normal?"

Annie smiled and touched the back of his hand, "I hope not". George returned the smile and looked up as Mitchell shuffled into the kitchen. He scratched his chin and smiled at George,

"Morning", Mitchell walked over to the kettle and flicked it on before looking expectantly at Annie, "Am I actually being allowed to make my own tea?"

Annie began inspecting her nails and nodded, "Yeah, why not?"

"Well I usually get shooed away from the tea-making facilities", he grinned his goofy grin but it faded when Annie simply shrugged.

George stood up and took his dishes to the sink and began to wash up. Mitchell leaned towards him and whispered in his ear, "What's wrong with Annie?"

George frowned and scrubbed harder at the already clean plate, "How should I know?"

George placed his plate and mug on the draining board and plodded upstairs to get some sleep. Mitchell took his cup of tea to the table and sat next to Annie. He dipped his head and tried to catch her eye but she started to inspect the table carefully. Mitchell sighed,

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Annie looked up with wide eyes, "What? Nothing".

"So why the long face? Is it about the attack? It won't happen again Annie I pro-"

"-Its not that".

Mitchell blanked. He frowned and placed his hand on top of Annie's cold one. She pulled it away gently before taking a deep breath and forcing a smile, "You don't remember, its fine".

Mitchell frowned again, "Remember what?"

Annie shook her head and waved a dismissive hand, "You must have been asleep. It was nothing, really".

Mitchell lifted Annie's chin with his hand and stared into her teary eyes, "Sorry. Did I do something stupid? I sometimes talk in my sleep".

Annie smiled and blinked away her tears before clasping Mitchell's hand and kissing his knuckles gently, "It was nothing, really".

Mitchell relaxed and sipped his tea as Annie watched and wondered and hoped. She really wished he hadn't been asleep, that he really did want to kiss her, because right now, she really wanted to kiss him.

Well chaps, that's it :)

Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Please review!

I think I'm going to write some shorter Mitchell/Annie fics as I think they're fab together… also maybe some dark Mitchell ones :D