Author's note: I'm really excited to share this bit of fluff with you all. If you haven't yet, please go read One Step Farther as it will help this all make some sense. The title comes form the Paramore song Be Alone, which I adore. If you ever have any comments, concerns, or just want to say hey, you can review (anonymously or otherwise) or find me on Tumblr (I'm booksrockmyface).

Happy reading!

Chapter One

"I was accepted!" Jill squealed into the phone.

Adrian laughed. "Accepted? Where?"

"Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Which means I'm just a short ride from Court and from my bestest friend and favorite spirit user."

"Lissa?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Lissa?" A small voice asked in the background.

"Wrong aunt." Adrian said with a laugh. "Say hi to Aunt Jill."

"Aunt Jill, hi!" Rory said happily into the phone. "I with Syd and Daddy."

"You are? Are you having fun?" Jill asked.

There was silence on the line.

"She can't hear your head rattling." Adrian laughed.

"Yes, I have fun." Rory said. "Syd goes to school. Just get home."

"Syd's a smart lady isn't she?" Jill asked with an affectionate smile.

"Yeah, Syd a smart lady. Here Daddy."

"Hey. So are you going to get to live on campus or in a house or what?" Adrian asked when he got the phone back.

"Not sure yet. I just got the acceptance letter. Eddie and I celebrated."

"Gross!"

Jill laughed. "I have to see your escapades, you can hear about mine. Anyway, I thought you should be the second to know at the very least."

"Well, we have room here for you and Eddie and maybe another guardian if you want to live the closest possible to your awesome spirit-bound friend."

"I don't want to intrude on you guys. You barely have room when Rory is there. And don't you think you should run it by your girlfriend first?"

"She'd agree to it. She loves me after all."

"I'd agree to what?" Sydney's voice said from the background.

"Jill and Eddie living here."

There was silence on the line, but even from all the miles away, she heard Sydney's whisper in Adrian's ear, "No more random afternoon sex in the living room."

Jill laughed. "I'd hate for you to give that up."

Adrian chuckled. "It's one of my favorite places. We'll help you get settled wherever you end up, kid."

"Yeah, thanks. I'll talk to you later, Adrian." She hung up and then smiled across the room to her boyfriend as he lounged on her couch, watching TV.

"What does he think?" Eddie asked as he motioned her over.

She curled into his side. "He's happy for me. Of course."

"Of course."

"I got to talk to Rory. But I see her pretty much every day anyway. I'm going to miss that kid when I go to college."

Eddie kissed her temple. "We can still see her."

"I'll at least get to see Adrian more." She sighed. "And we'll be living together."

"Going to school together. Taking all the same classes. You'll get tired of me."

"Maybe. But I don't care. I need to keep you safe. I don't trust anyone else to that task." He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to his. "I have to keep you safe, Jill. Not just because you're a royal, but because you're my royal and I just love you so much."

She pressed her lips to his. She smiled seductively as she pulled away. "We still have a while before the official start to the day."

Eddie grinned and pulled her on top of him on the couch. "Where to begin, my princess?"

Jill kissed his lips softly. "Let me just see." She pressed another kiss to his lips and then moved her mouth across his jaw. The muscles worked under her lips and a sigh escaped his lips. She smiled against his skin as her mouth made contact with his neck. She licked slowly back up to his ear and whispered, "Want to play a game?"

"You and your games." The guardian teased. "How about I just have my way with you?"

"You have your way with me?" She scoffed. "I'm the one on top right now. It'll be the other way around." She slipped her hand down between them and cupped his growing erection.

He moaned appreciatively and pressed himself into her touch. "Right. So what do you have in mind?"

She smiled and stood. She laughed at his groan of protest. "You want me, you have to come and get me."

Eddie laughed and rolled off the couch. He reached for her, but she held out her hand.

"Wait." She picked up a scarf she'd thrown across the back of a chair when she'd gotten back in from school the day before. She giggled as she walked around behind him. She tied it over his eyes and turned him in several circles. Then, with another giggle, she moved away several feet. "Come and get me, my guardian."

"Oh, my princess." He sighed. He listened a moment and took a step forward.

"You're cold."

He turned to the sound of her voice. She stood a moment and let him walk toward her a few steps.

"You're getting warmer." She said before she sidestepped several more feet in the direction of her bedroom.

He walked toward where her voice had come and then turned sharply in her direction.

"Can you see through that thing?"

"No, but I can hear your feet moving." He walked toward her some more.

She stepped just out of his grasp. "You are so close." She crooned. She stepped into the bedroom. "Come on and get me, baby."

He smiled wickedly and took the last two strides separating them. He grabbed Jill around the waist and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth as he ripped off the blindfold. "No more games." He growled.

"No." She said breathlessly. "Take me."

Eddie's hands wrapped around her tiny waist and carried her toward the bed. He sat her on her feet and kissed her as they both groped for the blanket. They fell onto the mattress with a little bounce and a giggle.

Then it was all seriousness once more as they started to undress each other with great urgency. The kisses Eddie placed over Jill's skin were hot and eager. His mouth moved lower and lower. Jill cried out as his fingers probed into her warm, wet folds.

"Not that way. Not this time." She begged.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

She nodded and groped for the drawer on her bedside table. "We're going to be living together. Now is as good a time as any. And I took a page out of Sydney's book." She finally produced what her hands were looking for.

Eddie looked curiously at the box she produced. "Condoms?"

"Of course. I can't have a baby my first year of college. I know we couldn't handle it."

He took the box from her and began to unwrap it. "What was that page you took from Sydney's book?"

"Birth control." She said happily. "No babies allowed." She rubbed her stomach with a laugh.

Eddie chuckled and leaned over her once more. "Not that I'm complaining, but why do we need the condoms?"

"I just started taking them a week ago. Best to be safe." She pulled him more firmly on top of her. "Take me." She repeated.

"Gladly." He purred as he kissed her deeply. He slid inside her slowly and she took in a deep breath.

She let it out slowly and smiled.

"You okay." He asked in a strained voice.

"Great." She panted. "Fantastic. You?"

He nodded. "Not for very long."

Jill slid her hands down his back and grabbed his hips. "Out." She pushed him away. "And then back in." She pulled him back slowly. She repeated it a few times. She wrapped her legs around his as he took up the rhythm. Her hands remained on his waist. Her head fell back against her pillow with a sigh. It ended in a sort of whine. The next time she let out a breath, it came out in a moan.

"I love you." Eddie whispered. He kissed her. He tangled his fingers in her hair and whispered words of love and adoration. Holding off was growing more and more difficult. He wanted to just let go, but he wanted her pleasure to peak first.

"Don't wait for me." Jill sighed. "I'm nowhere close. But it feels so good."

"It feels great for me too." He brushed a kiss over her lips.

She lifted her hands to his face. "Come for me, Eddie."

"Jill—"

"Come for me. I want to know how it feels."

He grabbed her hip with one hand and gripped tightly as he increased the intensity of his thrusts. He pressed his face into the pillow beside her head and cried out as he came. He turned his head and whispered her name like a prayer as he final stilled. "My beautiful princess."

"My amazing warrior." She said in return. She caught his mouth in a lazy kiss that went on and on.

He finally lifted himself off her. He smiled seductively and pressed a kiss to her neck. He moved his mouth lower and lower.

"Oh, I get that already?" She tangled her fingers in his hair as his mouth finally made contact with her clit.

He worked over her slowly, taking his time. He didn't like to rush her climax, though he knew she was close. He licked and kissed and sucked until she gripped his hair tight and cried out over and over.

He kissed his way slowly back up her body. When their lips made contact once more, Jill wrapped her limbs around him and kept him firmly against her for several delicious minutes. Their mouths finally came apart as they gasped for breath.

Eddie rolled away and stared up at the ceiling. "You want to do it again?"

"I wish. I'm still a high school student. I have classes to attend. No excused absences for sex with my boyfriend."

"Damn." He breathed. "And I have to go do other guardian things after I drop you off."

Jill sighed and rolled out of bed. "Come shower with me, at least."

"Don't mind if I do." Eddie followed, slinging her over his shoulder as he went.