The Vampire Diaries

"I'm here…" She soothed, moving to lay on her side. Running her fingertips through his fur soothingly. "I can't make any of what you're feeling go away, but I'm here. You aren't going through it alone, you haven't lost anything. You've got a beautiful little girl who loves her daddy so much, who's missing him too. You've got me, and I love you aswell. You make me happy, you hold me tight enough that I forget about anything that's wrong. I'm here to do the same for you… I'm here. Scott'll come around, you'll get him back, you're his baby brother…. He adores you, you'd never lose him for good.  I'm here for you, I'm here."

Astrid shook her head, moving to sit in front of him. Resting her hands just below his ears, kissing the top of his muzzle gently. "I'm here…. It's all going to be okay, Dex. It'll all fall into place again."

Astrid lowered her gaze submissively, lowering her head and pressing it beneath his. "It's me, I'm here... I'm not leaving you all alone. I'm always going to be here for you."

Astrid sighed, reaching her hand out towards him to try and calm him down. "It's just me," She soothed softly, "I'm here for you, it's going to be okay... I'll hold you until you forget about everything, like you do with me. You can cry too, if that's what you need, you won't be weak. We can talk, we can stay silent. It'll be up to you...It'll be okay though. Scott will come around eventually, the big empty space inside you... you'll get used to it, you won't notice it soon. You'll never lose me, you'll never lose Maisie, you'll always have family."

"You know me," Astrid whispered, shrugging off her coat and pushing it towards him and ignoring Ivar; "See... smell... You know me, and this.." she grabbed the t-shirt she had brought for when he shifted and put it ontop of her coat; "You.." she added before slowly moving to lay the blanket down next to him. "You, me and Maisie.... Us... Your family, who won't leave you. Even when you're trying to eat me, hm?"

"He will, he knows my scent. He may not understand but he knows my scent, his scent, Maisie's..." Astrid whispered. Whispering to Dexter, "I'll leave those there, okay? In case they make you feel better..." she sighed before slowly backing away and wandering over to Ivar. "Hopeful a familiar scent is all it'll really take to calm him down enough for him to shift."

"Recently he's been down," Astrid whispered, "Missing his parents, sad they'd never meet Maisie and congratulate him, that they wouldn't be at our wedding... He's been scared I'll leave him for Kol, too. The last time I saw him Kira and Scott stormed in and hurt him, Scott's never hurt him. He adores him so that must of cut pretty deep. He snapped at me so I told him to go for a walk to cool down, then he was just... gone." she shrugged, moving her gaze over to watch Dexter. "I've been searching for him since, scared I'd find him dead."

"Mm, I know," Astrid sighed. "I just hope he shifts back soon, he's so exposed like that.."

"He needs to shift back..." Astrid whispered with a shake of her head. "I don't care what he's managed to do so far... he needs to shift back so he's safe and can come home."

"No, I will. My mum is looking after Maisie... I'll stay with Dex until he shifts."

"That's fine, just.. I'll text you my mothers number and if it turns into days phone her and look after Maisie for a few days for me? Or drop her off with dad? My mum'll be wanting a break soon." Astrid whispered. "I need to stay with Dex."

"So does Dexter..."

"Don't yell at me, Ivar... I haven't slept in days; please don't yell at me." Astrid mumbled, shoving the clothes she'd brought for Dexter into his hands before turning and wandering off.