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The Fox family.
Alongside the Salvatore family, the Gilbert family, the Lockwood family, and the Forbes family, they formed the five founding families of Mystic Falls.
As one of the earliest families to settle in the town, the Fox estate sat on the eastern edge of Mystic Falls, nestled near the valley where the mountains met the river.
The scenery was breathtaking.
As Hawk pulled up to the weathered Southern-style manor that had clearly seen better days, he glanced at Gwen with mock regret. "You should have brought my cowboy outfit."
Gwen had already spotted her grandfather waiting by the entrance. She ignored Hawk completely, pushed open the car door, and ran toward the man standing there—hair gray but posture still strong—calling out happily.
"Grandpa!"
"Haha!"
William Fox, now sixty-five years old, laughed warmly as he embraced his granddaughter. Then his eyes shifted to the young man stepping out of the car.
Hawk climbed out, buttoned the suit jacket he'd unfastened while driving, adjusted his cuffs, and walked forward.
He wasn't a fan of wearing suits.
Given the choice, he'd take casual or athletic wear any day.
But this was different. He was here to meet Gwen's grandfather. The occasion called for something formal.
"Grandpa, this is Hawk."
"Hawk, this is my grandfather, William Fox."
"Mr. Fox."
Hawk smiled politely as he extended his right hand toward the gray-haired man whose sharp eyes spoke of a mind still every bit as alert as it had ever been.
He couldn't exactly follow Gwen's lead and call him "Grandpa." At least not until after he and Gwen were officially married.
Helen was different. When Hawk called her "Mom," it was only when the three of them were alone. He'd never done it in front of anyone else.
William Fox didn't try to intimidate him with some power play. The moment Hawk extended his hand, William clasped it firmly, completing the handshake. "Welcome, Hawk."
Hawk felt the surprising strength in the older man's grip—sixty-five years old and still solid—and smiled. "Thank you."
Soon—
Hawk followed Gwen, who had her arm linked through her grandfather's, into the main building of the estate.
The interior opened up into a spacious hall. A long, rectangular dining table sat beneath antique chandeliers. A fireplace crackled warmly against one wall. Oil paintings hung throughout the space, each one whispering stories of the Fox family's storied past.
Unfortunately, those days were long gone.
Everyone knew how the Civil War had ended.
The North had won. The South had lost.
And so, the Fox family—once owners of sprawling plantations—had been reduced to what could generously be called small-town aristocracy.
The current sheriff of Mystic Falls was Gwen's aunt, Liz Fox.
And if things went according to plan, the next sheriff would either be Liz's daughter, Caroline Fox, or whoever Caroline eventually married.
Still—
None of that had anything to do with Hawk or Gwen.
They weren't planning to settle down in Mystic Falls. They were just here to visit Grandpa and take a little vacation. They wouldn't be staying long.
Gwen sat down on the sofa near the fireplace, still holding her grandfather's arm. "Where are Aunt Liz and Caroline? Didn't they come back?"
Her grandfather chuckled. "They live in town now. They only come back on weekends. But I called them this morning. They'll be here this afternoon."
Gwen's face lit up. "I haven't seen Aunt Liz and Caroline in forever. Oh—Caroline should be graduating soon, right? Has she gotten her college acceptance letters yet?"
Caroline Fox. Aunt Liz's daughter. Gwen's cousin. Eighteen years old. A senior at Mystic Falls High. Captain of the cheerleading squad. Beautiful, poised, confident.
Don't let the movies and TV shows fool you with their stereotypes about vapid, airheaded cheerleaders.
In America, being a cheerleading captain was serious business. Serious enough to put on a résumé.
The selection process was rigorous.
You had to be pretty. You had to have good grades. And you had to come from the right kind of family.
All three. No exceptions.
Even Gwen—confident, brilliant Gwen—had felt a flicker of insecurity when Jennifer Check, Midtown High's cheerleading captain, had tried to flirt with Hawk right after they'd started dating.
...
That afternoon.
After Hawk and Gwen finished lunch with William Fox, the older man excused himself for his afternoon nap. Gwen took the opportunity to give Hawk a tour of the Fox estate.
Of course, The estate itself wasn't the main attraction.
The real draw was the collection of old photographs documenting the family's history.
Hawk finally got to see them.
Yellowed photos showing the Fox estate in its prime. Endless fields of cotton and watermelon stretching to the horizon. And laboring in those fields—Black workers bent beneath the Southern sun.
Hawk flipped through the photos, one after another, each one a monument to a bygone era. He shook his head and sighed.
"Born too late."
"What do you mean, too late?"
"Wrong place, wrong time."
Hawk shrugged.
Gwen glanced at Hawk as he continued flipping through photos and muttering under his breath. She blinked. "Keep your voice down. You're being way too obvious about your... preferences."
Hawk laughed dryly and looked at Gwen.
"Am I not obvious enough already?"
"Uh..."
Gwen thought back to Wakanda—the nation Hawk had wiped off the map after they tried to kidnap her.
Yeah.
Hawk's preferences had been pretty clear from that moment on.
Gwen thought about some of the conversations she'd had recently with Sharon while they were out shopping.
"So that's why SHIELD's demographics have been shifting lately?"
"Hm?"
"Sharon told me."
Gwen shrugged. "She said there used to be Black agents in the New York branch. But after Maria Hill's reorganization, the percentage of Black agents has dropped to almost nothing."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
He honestly hadn't known that.
Gwen shot him a look. "Our current president is..."
"He's a mutt."
"Uh..."
"When you crossbreed two different dog breeds, the offspring is called a mutt. Or a mongrel."
"..."
Gwen's mouth twitched. She immediately decided to drop the subject and pivoted to something safer. "Let me show you around town. There should be a party happening tonight."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"Should be?"
"Yeah."
Gwen nodded and looked at Hawk. "Mystic Falls has a nickname. 'Party Town.' Want to know why?"
Hawk shook his head.
"It started when the town decided to make tourism its main industry. Every mayor since then has kept the tradition going."
"The town gets tourists every single day."
"So to keep them here and spending money, they started throwing parties constantly. Every few days, there's a new event."
Gwen explained the economic strategy behind Mystic Falls' endless party schedule.
Bottom line?
Keep the tourists entertained. Keep them spending.
"Mystic Falls is actually pretty tame about it."
"There was a town in a neighboring state that went way harder."
"To keep tourists coming back, the entire population dressed up as cowboys and outlaws. The second a train full of tourists pulled into the station, they'd stage a fake raid—bandits attacking the town, kidnapping the beautiful saloon owner, laughing maniacally as they rode off into the sunset."
"..."
Hawk's eyes lit up. He turned to Gwen. "Which state was—"
Gwen smiled faintly.
"It went bankrupt in 1970. The whole town's a ghost town now. Maybe three people still live there."
"Oh."
Hawk, who had been genuinely interested in visiting a live-action Wild West roleplay town, deflated instantly.
Just then, Hawk's eyebrow twitched. He turned sharply toward the door of the study.
He'd caught a scent.
The same scent he'd picked up on the road into town. The one that smelled distinctly like vampire.
At the same moment—
A voice called out from downstairs.
"Grandpa!"
"Gwen?"
"..."
Gwen, who had been wondering why Hawk had suddenly turned around, heard the voice and her face lit up. "That's Caroline!"
She turned and hurried out of the study, stepping into the hallway just in time to see the girl standing in the first-floor foyer.
Caroline Fox stood in the grand entrance hall, looking up.
And then she saw Gwen.
The next second, Both girls let out the kind of high-pitched, glass-shattering shriek that only reunited female friends can produce—pure joy and excitement compressed into a single eardrum-destroying sound.
Gwen started down the stairs.
Caroline rushed toward the staircase.
And then—
They met halfway, colliding in a tight hug and bouncing up and down in place, laughing and squealing.
It was pretty clear both of them were genuinely happy to see each other.
"Gwen, I thought you'd come back last year! Grandpa said you couldn't make it."
"I'm sorry."
Gwen smiled sheepishly, then instinctively brushed back the blonde hair that had fallen across her face during the excitement.
Caroline was about to say something when a flash of purple light caught her eye.
She followed the shimmer and found herself staring at the ring on Gwen's finger—a stunning six-carat purple diamond engagement ring.
"Is that...?"
"..."
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