LOVER TO LOVER ━ AHS Hotel

TWO

Hadley crossed her arms over her chest. "What about Donovan? Where is he?"

Elizabeth hummed under her breath, sharing a short glance with Tristan, who was grinning from ear to ear. Hadley's expression twisted. She tapped her foot, waiting for an answer.

"I had to end things with Donovan," she finally replied. "It was better for him."

"You what?" Hadley blinked incredulously. "How – why?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "You wouldn't understand, child."

"Oh, bullshit," Hadley spat. "You know damn well that I may look only twenty, but I am far from that, mama."

Her creator's eyes closed for a mere moment. "I know you were close with him," she whispered, approaching Hadley with a sympathetic smile. Her hand went right back to Hadley's shoulder, and this time, she didn't shake it off. "He was almost like a father to you. I didn't do it to hurt either of you. It needed to be done, for his sake."

"So – what?" Hadley tightened her hold on her own arms. "Did you just throw him out into the streets?"

Donovan had a drug problem way back in the nineties, just a few years before Hadley graced the premises of the Cortez. After Hadley's transformation, she found it especially difficult to adjust to her new life, to the overwhelming thirst. Elizabeth didn't have much time to help her; she was off trying to find more children. Truthfully, Hadley thought she was scared of her. When she had woken up with the new virus pumping through her veins, she lashed out, swinging her fists towards the Countess as she screamed for the thirst to end.

She struggled the first week, and Donovan, above all, knew how she felt. He saw that she was at her lowest point, confused as he had been, grappling with this new identity without Elizabeth's help. Donovan made an effort to talk with Hadley every day. He told her his secrets, why Elizabeth turned him. He suffered from a heroin overdose in Room 64, after sharing a needle with the infamous, half-beaten drug addict, Sally, who still roamed the halls of the hotel. Elizabeth was instantly attracted to him, and he had been living in the hotel ever since. From that moment, Hadley felt like she could trust him with her life. He was the parental figure she needed in this hellmouth; he was her best friend.

Not anymore. Now that he was gone.

Elizabeth stared at her for a short while, grip loosening on her shoulder. After a moment longer, she released her claws from the thin material of Hadley's shirt. "You wouldn't understand," she whispered. "It wasn't for me. It was for him. He needed the push to be out on his own, just like me."

"So when are you going to tell me to pack my bags too?" Her brow shot up, and her creator sent a defiant glare. "When is my push gonna come? I am a child, after all. I need a little heads up."

The Countess shook her head, taking another hefty sip from the refined glass in her hand. "Don't be so ridiculous, Hadley. You won't understand until you've been in my shoes, until you know how I live my life successfully."

Tristan raised a hand then. "Can I say something?"

"Shut up!" Elizabeth growled, shoving a few clawed fingers in his direction.

Hadley opened her mouth to fire back a response she knew she'd regret, but before she could spew a word, Tristan turned around in his seat. He raised a glass full of blood in Hadley's direction, smirking as he said, "Looks like I'll be your new daddy." His eyes drifted down, raking over her small form with curves in all the right places, before sending her a wink. "Seems like you need one."

Elizabeth jerked her head back to Tristan, snarling in a low tone, "Don't you dare lay a finger on her."

With flared nostrils, Hadley released a disgusted noise before trudging out of the penthouse suite. No blood supply was worth this bullshit. Elizabeth allowed her to walk away, knowing that, in due time, she'd learn to accept the choices she made. She knew what she was doing. Everything the Countess did was calculated.