A few days later on the weekend, Samantha opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to clear and her surroundings to come into focus. Roy's basement?

"Sammy?" Will loomed over her. "You're awake?" his face lit up. "You have no idea how worried I've been," he couldn't help himself and pulled her into a tight hug. "You've been out cold for a week."

A week? No wonder I'm stiff. She struggled to move enough to hug him back.

"I was worried you wouldn't come back," his hug tightened and he buried his head in her shoulder.

An image of an arrow shooting through Will's chest popped into her head. "What about you? The deadly wound..."

He pulled back, holding onto her shoulders still. "I'm obviously okay now, thanks to you. On that note, how can you be so reckless?!"

"Ack," she flinched back. "I just woke up; give me a break."

"Right, sorry."

"Besides, I should be the one wringing you out for hypnotizing me into being Jason's lover. I can't believe you'd stoop so low just to make me drink his blood."

Will froze, his eyes wide. When had the hypnotism broken?

"Didn't think I'd ever find out or what?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but I did what I thought I had to do. We needed you at full strength and he was already in love with you, so I thought it'd be the safest way. You wouldn't even drink from blood bags... so I had to find a way to keep you strong."

"Did Jason know about everything?"

Will nodded. "Well, most of what I hypnotized you to do anyway. Don't blame him though; it was my idea and I was determined to make it happen with or without his consent."

"You know I can't continue this, right?"

"What are you going to do? Break up with him? That'll break his heart, you know? And after he went through so much to help us..."

Samantha gritted her teeth. "I have to..."

"Are you saying you don't feel anything for him?"

Her heart wrenched. "I... I didn't say that."

"Then you do?"

Samantha could feel all of Jason's gentle touches and remember his wide, cheerful grin. The way he worried about her and tried to protect her despite being weaker. "I don't know what my feelings for him are..." she mumbled. "But it's time to end the relationship."

"This better not still be about—"

"It's not about Nero."

Will's eyes widened. She had actually said his name. "If you say so... Guess I should let them know you're awake."

"Can we just go home?"

Will stopped mid-step. "They're your friends and worried. I want to tell them right away."

"But I'm tired."

"Don't be a brat..." Will trailed off, his ear twitching. He smiled. "Sounds like you don't have a choice," he pointed upstairs. "They're here."

"Crap, maybe I should bolt before they get here," Samantha groaned as she got off the bed. Her legs shook and she instantly reached out to Will to use him for stability.

"Sure you will... They're headed down here to check on you, again."

"How often do they come here?"

"Every day and they stay for hours as they wish for you to awaken. Jason barely leaves your side during that time too..."

I suppose he cares... but wouldn't it be better if he didn't? Samantha swallowed. "Would you..." she trailed off, her throat closing as she tried to spit it out. "Would you erase their memory of this? Of it all, I mean."

"You want me to make it so they don't know about vampires anymore?"

She nodded.

"Erase their troubles this last week... Erase how they helped us, fought for us..."

"I know what I'm asking, Will."

"I know I usually have no issue doing the dirty work, and quite frankly, I was the one who pulled them in deeper and deceived you, but no. If you want to erase their memories, you'll have to look into their eyes and do it yourself," Will turned away from her and went upstairs.

"Sam!" Jason came running down the stairs after a brief interaction with Will, who was now talking with Maggy. He instantly pulled her into a tight hug, his arms trembling. "I was so worried about you. I thought you might never wake up."

She hugged him back with limp arms, not sure what to do. "Well, I did, so you can stop worrying."

"Well, you're awake, but if you're like Will when he first woke up, you'll need a few more days to recover—"

"Jason..." she interrupted him.

"What is it?" He helped her sit back on the bed and took a step back, still holding onto her hand.

"Everything's settled now and the students are safe... Thank you for all your help; I owe you all my life..." She took a deep breath. "But I know what Will did... how he hypnotized me into being your girlfriend so I'd feed off you."

"Oh..." His expression dropped, already feeling as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

"I'm sorry you were forced—"

"He didn't force me to; I wanted to do it; I wanted you. I still want you..."

She couldn't hold back a small gasp, a warm feeling spreading in her body. She shook her head. "I'm your teacher, Jason, and I love teaching... I..."

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His hands shook. "Please don't say it."

"I'm sorry, Jason, but considering how we got together and the fact that I'm your teacher, I have to end this."

He bit his lip, trying to hold back. "I... I get it..." He swallowed, his throat painfully dry.

Her heart ached as she watched his emotions play across his face. She found herself reaching over to him to brush away the single tear that escaped. "I'm so sorry..." I wish I could take away all the pain, but I'm too weak to do anything right now. "You're better off without me."

"You don't get to decide that!" Jason snapped and she pulled her hand away. "What makes you think my life is better without you?" His fists clenched.

"I'm a vampire and your teacher..."

"So what? Who cares about that?"

"It's kinda illegal..."

"I don't care. I mean, I don't want you to get fired, so I wouldn't do anything at school, but it doesn't matter to me that you're that a vampire and... way older than me, all that matters is I love you and want to be with you. What about you? Do you care for me?"

"Of course, but—"

"I don't mean in a way a teacher cares for their students or as just a friend. I mean... do you feel anything for me?" He cupped her cheeks. "If you can look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for me, I'll walk away right now and the next time we meet in school, I'll treat you as my teacher, just my teacher." His eyes pleaded with her not to say it.

She could feel his hands shaking as he kept her head tilted up, staring at him. It doesn't matter if I might have real feelings for him, I have to let him go. "I'm sorry, Jason, but I... don't have feelings for you."

He looked stunned for a moment as her words settled in. He released her and stumbled back a few steps. "Okay... I'll see you at school, Miss G." Jason turned and ran out of the basement.

Tears formed in her eyes. "No..." she mumbled to herself. "I have no right to cry... Stop it..." she dug her nails into her legs as tears dripped onto her hands. Jason...

"Hey, bro, how was your reunion..." Roy trailed off as Jason ran straight past him. Maggy and Will started towards him, but Roy held them back. "I'll handle this," Roy took off after him. "Jason, wait up!"

Jason didn't hear him and kept running.

"Dude!" Roy yelled, slowly catching up to him. "Don't make me tackle you!"

Samantha's words replayed in Jason's mind as he ran aimlessly. His heart hurt so much he thought it would explode. "Ah!" he yelped as something hit him from behind like a ton of bricks and he landed in the grass. "What the hell?" he coughed.

"Dude," Roy huffed. "Didn't you hear me calling you?" Roy sat on his back, not letting him get up. "Geez, you've gotten faster. Either that or I've been slacking too much."

"What are you doing, Roy? Get off me."

"You kinda ran out of the house and ignored me, so I'm sitting on you as punishment."

"Just leave me alone..." Jason dug his fingers into the dirt.

"No can do, bro. Now talk."

"Um... While you're sitting on me?"

"Yes; it's late and no one is around, so don't worry about it. Tell me what happened."

"She broke up with me..." Jason went on explaining everything that happened.

"I see... And you ran away crying."

"Shut up, douche."

"I get you're hurt and feel like this is the worst thing in the world, but are you really going to give up so easily?"

"I promised I'd accept it."

Roy sighed. "Okay... so you broke up, but that doesn't mean you can't get back together."

"Why would she get back together with me? She has no feelings for me; I'm just her student," Jason clenched his fists.

"Are you sure about that?"

"She told me so herself... Thanks for reminding me of that..."

Roy laughed. "Just because she said it, doesn't mean she meant it."

"Oh, she meant it... I knew it wasn't meant to last but..."

"But you love her."

"Yeah..."

Roy sighed and gazed up at the stars. "You can give up for now, but are you going to give up on her forever?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Once you graduate, won't one of the obstacles be removed? We aren't even that far from graduating either, just a few months. So I'll ask again, are you going to give up on her forever? Are your feelings so weak that you'll get over her by then?"

"You know I've had feelings for her since I saw her back in grade nine."

"I know, but back then it was a crush... a long-lasting one, but a crush nonetheless. I can find a few dozen other guys who have a crush on her."

"Tch. You make it sound like it'd be easy to win her over. Do you have a plan or something?"

Roy smiled and finally got off of him. "That I do."

"If you're going to cry about it, why'd you break up with him?" Will complained, leaning on the wall by the stairway with his arms crossed.

"Just leave me alone," Samantha laid on the bed and turned her back to him as she curled up, tears still streaming down her face.

"How can you expect me to leave you in this miserable condition?" He sat down on the edge of her bed and rubbed her arm. He hadn't seen her this sad since Nero passed. "Fine, if you really want me to I'll erase their memories."

Samantha shook her head. "Don't bother..."

"Oh, so you've given up on making them forget?"

"If he forgets, he might pursue me again... and..."

"And you might fall for him again?" Will asked.

Samantha's lips tightened as she refused to respond.

"So that's the truth, hmm? You actually fell for the big lug. By the way, how long ago did you break out of the hypnosis? How long did you pretend to be with him while knowing the truth?"

"It's not like it happened at once; I got headaches and was confused until I remembered what happened. Now, can you lay off, Will? I want to sleep some more. I want to get back to work as soon as possible."

"Tch. Fine, do whatever you want, Sammy," Will left her alone.

She buried her face in the pillow as tears continued to silently stream out.

Samantha and Will went home the next day and when Monday rolled around, they got ready to head back to school.

"Are you sure you don't want to change schools?" Will asked as he parked the car. He had insisted on driving since he didn't trust her when she said she was better already.

"Are you sure you want to keep going to school?" Samantha asked him back.

"This school's better than the last one and has better company, so it's not so bad. Besides, I want to keep an eye on you. I don't want you collapsing or having a nervous breakdown..."

"I'm fine, Will. Let's go before we're late to class."

Will watched her leave the car and head towards school. He sighed and got out. A Jeep pulled into the parking lot across from his spot. Jason gave him a little wave and headed for class. Maggy ran up to him.

"How is she?" Maggy asked.

"Claiming to be okay, but I know she isn't. How's Jason holding up?"

"He's been weirdly calm and... determined."

"Determined? To do what?"

"I don't know; he won't tell me. I think Roy has something to do with it, but I have no idea what's going on."

"I see... And how are you?"

"Me?" her eyes widened. "I'm... um... I'm okay; it's not like I was one of the ones out there fighting... or kidnapped."

"I know, but all this has been quite stressful, so I was worried about you."

Her cheeks flushed. "You were?"

"Yeah, is something wrong with that?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" She smiled and played with her hair, combing her fingers through it. "It just made me happy to hear you worried about me."

"Did it now?" he smiled and reached over to caress her cheek with his thumb. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I'll talk to you later," he headed for class as she watched him go, her hand held over the spot he touched her.

"Hey, Mags, whatcha doing?" Roy came up from behind.

She jumped and turned to him. "What? I mean, nothing..."

"Uh, okay... Where's Jason?"

"He went inside already."

"And left you in the parking lot alone? Tch, and here I thought he was Mr. Overprotective. Let's go, Mags," Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and urged her towards the school.

Samantha made it through the morning with all of her students expressing their worry about her this past week and glad she was back. She sat on her normal bench at lunch with her lunchbox in hand. Why did I sit here again? She glanced over and saw Jason leave the school.

Their eyes locked. He gave her a head nod and continued on his way.

"I put effort into making your meals; you better not throw it away," Will said, resting his arm on the bench right behind her.

"I wouldn't dare waste your food."

"Sure..." He hopped over, landing on the bench beside her. "You know, if you want to avoid him, you might not want to come here to where you saw him on a near-daily basis."

"Force of habit."

"Make a new one. Here, I'll help," he tugged on her arm and dragged her away from the school to the park nearby. "A picnic table; much better than a bench, right?"

"I guess."

"You can be a bit more agreeable, you know?" Will sat down and pulled out a flask filled with blood. "And I can stay with you for the rest of the school year; keep you company during lunch and whatnot."

He's too nice sometimes. "Don't you want to hang out with friends or something?"

"Are you saying we're not friends?"

"That's not what I meant..."

Will laughed. "I know what you meant, but this is what I already decided. Now, sit and eat; I don't want even a crumb left."

"Okay... Thanks, Will."