Finn entered the bedroom River was residing in, closing the door behind himself. Now in the darkness River had surrounded herself with, he lay down beside River on the bed.
As River was facing away from him, Finn turned towards her before raising his arm to rest over her body.
"Don't." River snapped before Finn could even put down his arm.
"River." Finn tried, softly wrapping his arm around her.
"Don't." River repeated, her tone remaining the same despite her voice cracking slightly. When Finn's hold didn't falter, River tried to push off his arm but her attempts rendered useless as Finn merely tightened his arm around her.
River, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to overpower Finn, reluctantly accepted his affection after a moment.
"Talk to me." Finn encouraged, slipping his other arm under the dip in her waist to hold her even closer. River shook her head in response, trying to shrug off Finn's touch as she felt physically sick to her stomach with herself. "River." Finn warned as she struggled against him, trying to escape his hold. "River-" Finn started again but stopped as he turned on the lamp beside the bed, allowing him to finally see her.
"Stop." River threatened, quickly pulling a blanket over her body to try and hide herself.
"River," Finn uttered quietly, gently tracing over her body, "Baby." Of course Finn had seen how well-seasoned Kol had been with blood upon their return but he hadn't quite appreciated how much Kol had influenced River.
"I don't-" River started as Finn tried to get her to let go of the blanket.
"Let me." Finn instructed, cutting her off before River finally stopped fighting him.
-----
Without saying anything, Finn cleaned off the blood from River's face and chest. River searched his eyes for disgust, rage, repulse, aversion, anything to validate what she was feeling... but there was nothing.
"You really should shower after this." Finn recommended as he did his best to clean the blood from her hair.
"Ouch." River mocked.
"You know that's not what I meant." Finn corrected.
"Yeah, yeah." River muttered, refocussing her gaze onto a random tile on the floor.
"Okay." Finn accepted after a few more moments passed. "I'm done."
"Thank you." River mumbled awkwardly, putting on the spare shirt which Finn had just handed to her.
"I can go and get you some food now." Finn offered.
"Don't go." River denied as she pulled Finn back towards her.
"Alright, My Love." Finn accepted, pulling her into his chest. River wrapped her arms around his back instinctually, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders.
River quickly relaxed under Finn's hold, her heightened senses allowing her to appreciate the full comfort of the soulmate bond.
"You can't blame yourself for what happened." Finn stated after a moment.
"But it was my fault." River argued.
"Don't do that." Finn countered. "I know you think it's your fault but I need you to trust me that it wasn't. If you're looking for someone to blame, Kol has made himself a bright red target with flashing lights."
River pressed soft kiss to Finn's collarbone, a silent thank you as he continued to comfort her.
"Being a vampire isn't all bad." Finn continued, trailing his fingers up her spine as lightly as he could.
"I'm struggling to find the good parts." River muttered.
"Well then maybe you're just not looking in the right places." Finn flirted as he brushed over the clasp of her bra. "And considering you seem in desperate need of a distraction I think you have time to figure out some of these benefits."
"Subtle."
-----
"One day you're going to lead me into the den of a serial killer." River muttered as she loosely clung to Rebekah who was giving her a piggyback as River's legs got tired on the wilderness hike Rebekah had encouraged her to take. "And that day might be today." River trailed off as heard the racing pulse of a human.
"You are so dramatic." Rebekah taunted as she placed down River on a nearby rock. Rebekah then continued to disappear from River's view momentarily before returning with woman.
"Oh I get it. You are the serial killer." River pieced together. "You lead unsuspecting victims into the middle of the woods and then blame it on animal attacks. It is amazing that a wildfire hasn't swept through the area."
"I don't even know what you're talking about anymore." Rebekah uttered. "Stand up." She encouraged.
"I appreciate the effort but I solemnly swore to the big guy," River started, gesturing up to where she assumed a higher power would be, "That I will no longer endanger innocent lives for the sake of my own cravings."
"First of all, you're an atheist." Rebekah countered.
"You didn't have to say it like that." River argued.
"Secondly, you're not endangering an innocent life for you own craving," She explained, ignoring River's comment, "You're fulfilling a need by temporarily harming- injuring- weakening- Okay I get that there isn't a nice way to put it, but we're vampires, Angel, we don't get a whole lot of a say in the matter. Now keeping in mind that I'm here to make sure you don't actually hurt her, you're completely safe to try feeding from the vein again. I'll even tell you when to stop if it makes you feel any better."
"As reassuring as that speech probably could be I'm going to have to pass." River denied.
"Fine." Rebekah stated after a moment, "Your loss." Rebekah then brushed the hair away from one side of the girl's neck before biting into the side of her throat. River's mouth ran dry as she was met with the familiar scent of fresh blood.
Blood bags really don't compare and I hate it.
As much as the smell threatened River with strange flashes of memory from her night with Kol, she was tempted by the much more overwhelming urge to feed. River's mind went blank as she focussed on the sound of a squirrel making its way along a branch in the distance.
Probably running away from Stefan...
Rebekah pulled away quickly, blood trailing down either side of her lips whilst the bite on the girl's neck pooled with blood.
"Are you really about to tell me you don't even want a taste?" Rebekah offered, "Because I'm telling you now it'll make both of us a lot happier if you finally give in." As much as River desired to stay strong in that moment she knew she was up against possibly the only person more stubborn than her, Rebekah.
"Fine." River muttered under her breath as she walked over to where Rebekah was standing.
"Atta girl." Rebekah complimented as River stopped in front of her. Rebekah then guided River toward the compelled girl who was merely staring off into the distance absently.
Rebekah wrapped her arm around River's front before River ran her tongue over Rebekah's bite. After a moment of hesitation, River sank her fangs in just above where Rebekah had bitten the girl.
River allowed the girl's rich blood to pass her lips. This sweet taste merely encouraged River as she drank. Rebekah gently kissed down the side of River's neck, trying to remind her to anchor herself so that she didn't lose control.
Once Rebekah began to notice the girl's adrenaline-filled heart beginning beat slower, she pulled her lips away from River.
"You can stop now, Angel." Rebekah stated causing River to pull away as quickly as she could. "Don't pretend like you didn't enjoy it." Rebekah taunted, mocking how quickly River had pulled away after she was granted permission.
"It went better than I thought it would." River worded carefully as she turned to face Rebekah. Rebekah hummed knowingly as she wiped the excess blood off of River's chin and lips with her thumb. Rebekah then licked the blood from her finger.
"You do have a rather impressive level of control." Rebekah praised before pressing her lips to River's softly.