ABSTRACT
This chapter maps how looking—and sometimes lurking—begins this process of disarming defences and how kissing brings the gaze even closer. It charts the development of love between Angel and Buffy; Edward and Bella; Stefan and Elena; and Damon and Elena from moments of "really looking" through their first kisses, which establish their love, openness, and vulnerability. The Vampire Diaries uses a very similar moment to conclude a pivotal episode for an opposite effect. It traces moments of "really looking", that is, when the human sees the monster in the man—and loves him regardless of his vampiric undertones—and when the monster watches the woman and loves her regardless of his probable pain. The chapter entwines love and looking as necessary to moral consideration, which prefaces and informs actions, and it outlines how really looking and mutual attention over time initiates and leads to love.
