Hi! As I hoped, I finished for Christmas. So this is my Christmas present to whoever reads this! And merry Christmas everyone! Okey, I'm gonna stop writing Christmas now. This is a shorter chapter than the two before, but I still think it's not too short. I hope you like it. As always, I'm sorry for the mistakes I probably made, this full of spoilers thing belongs to Richelle Mead, and please review!

The whole room suddenly went silent.
Christian seemed to be the first one to recover. Maybe because he always at least kind of knew what was on his love's mind.
"Wow, really? Awesome! When?" Lissa's smile went even wider, if possible. "In three days," she said. And quickly added: "If you all agree, of course."
"I think it's a great idea! I'd love to go. Just... Where are we going?" I asked, but my mind was already lost in fantasies.
A vacation! Just what I needed! A way to turn my mind off for a while. A picture of Eddie rubbing sunscream on my back shirtless played in my mind. This was the best idea ever.
"We're going to Pentisuala," Lissa replied proudly.
"To where now?" Rose asked.
"Pentisuala? The Royal Court's privat Hawaian island? Haven't you heard of it? It's gorgeous, and there are feeders everywhere, and they have Moroi staff all over the place and everything happens at night..."
"Nightlife, you say?" Adrian asked, suddenly more interested than before. And he was already far from not caring. Sydney, who was on the meeting this time, gave him a look that made him shut up immediately.
"Seriously, has none of you ever heard of the island?" Lissa asked outraged. Well, I haven't. And according from the look on everyone else's face, they haven't either.
"Well, we'll have a chance to learn about it now," Dimitri said diplomatically.
"I'm taking this as a honey moon," Adrian said. Sydney smiled. They were so much fun to watch. And sweet to half-feel.
The room was buzzing with all of our excited voices and Lissa was shining like the Sun in August. But even trough all the mess I noticed Neil making his way trough the room towards her. Since I was sitting near her, I listened to their conversation.
"Your majesty, with all the respect, I won't be joining your vacation," he said. Lissa's face fell a bit, but she hidd it pretty well.
"Neil, for god's sake, call me Lissa. And why wouldn't you want to join us? We all want you to come and have fun," she said.
This really was weird. Why wouldn't he want to come? I know he didn't care about Eddie shirtless, but still!
Neil looked nervous. He didn't want to hurt Lissa's feelings, or, even worse, insult her. "Just say it," I thought. I knew he couldn't hear me, but who cares.
Finally, he hesitatingly spoke: "No offence, but... I wouldn't want to be the third wheel. Or the eleventh, in our case. Since you're all coupled up, and I don't want to be the only one to go alone."
"Hey, I'm not all coupled up!" I exclaimed. It was already too late when I realised Eddie said the exact same thing.
Neil's lip corners twitched. "As I said, since you're all coupled up."
I sighed. "Neil, don't be an idiot. You'll regret if you don't go. We all just want you to have fun. And besides, it's your job, you know. You have to protect me."
As much as it hurt me, I had to play the your-job card. He frowned, obviously realising I was right.
"No!" Lissa's voice filled the room. "No, it's not your job. All the guardians are on vacation too! The island is protected."
"You know we'll keep an eye. You can't do anything about that and neither can we. It's enough as long as we're with you," Dimitri said. I heard his first charge was killed while he was on a break. Rose held his hand, cearly also thinking of that.
"Okay, I'm going," Neil said suddenly decided. A smile formed on my face. I was happy he decided that way. And it was a good to know at least one of my guardians wasn't that hard to convince.
I stood up from my chair and hugged him. I think it suprised us both, but he returned the hug. He's kind of grown to me. But I still slightly looked at Eddie with a daring smile over Neil's shoulder. I don't know if he didn't know what I was doing or if he ignored me, but he just smiled back.
Adrian quietly laughed in the back and I felt that he knew. At least someone understood what I was trying to achieve.
I unpacked only a few days ago. All the suff lying around the room was bothering me, but now I felt incredibly stupid. I had to pack again.
"Need some help?" I heard behind me. I turned around and saw Angeline standing by my open door.
"You're done? Are you even taking anything? A bathing suit isn't enough for a whole week, not even in Hawai, you know," I told her. It's only been twenty minutes, and I wasn't even done with my underwear yet.
She nodded. "I know. But I think something for every day should be enough. I actually think you already have enough things packed, but it's your choice. I'm just here to help you. If you want."
That made me smile. I really have changed her. The old Angeline never felt like keeping her opinion to herself. Well. I recently saw she had other things to do with her mouth. Things including Trey.
Damn it, they really were all coupled up. I wanted to be coupled up! Everyone around me was making out with someone. And I only had a wild heartbeat whenever Eddie was around.
With Angeline's help the packing was finished a lot faster. I took all the stuff I could think of. Like all the bathing suits I had, tons of dresses (except from the ones from the royal occasions, although I still kept them in my room), shorts, T-shirts, tank tops... Many of them were still in the room's closet from a year ago. Lissa told me no one was staying there since I left. My size hasn't changed since I left go Palm Springs, which I took as a good thing. Anyhow, Angeline's eyes kept widening whenever I opened a closet. The Keepers' village she lived in probably didn't have that many clothes all together.
So, in the next two days all the preparations for 'The Queen's Big Vacation' went on. Although it wasn't really that big of a deal and Lissa claimed we were really gonna get a break. She just had to arrange everything before she left the Court. And I didn't mind the waiting. It was totally worth it.
The flight lasted for ten hours. I sat by the window with Eddie next to me (I'm sure Adrian had something to do with that). There was an old lady by the transition. She was doing something with wool that looked really oldish and kind of creepy. I should proably know what it was, since I was in a sewing club for almost a year. Oh, well.
I tried to read a magazine, but with Eddie next to me... Our hands touched every once in a while and then I couldn't focus on the words for fifteen minutes. And by the time they passed, we already touched again. Then we started talking and he was way more relaxed than I was used to, so he made me laugh all the time. It was actually great and I didn't mind putting the magazine away.
Then Eddie went to the bathroom. I don't know why, but I fell asleep in the mean time.
The flight attendant woke me up a few hours later with the before-the-landing announcment. The light blinded me and I was all confused, like I always am when I wake up.
"Wh... What happened?" I stuttered. Eddie looked at me with those warm eyes and smiled. "You fell asleep. And now we're about to land."
I looked trough the window and everywhere I looked, there were those amazing sand beaches and crystal clear turqouise sea. Hawaii!
"Right," I laughed.
Then I noticed his carefree mood from before was gone. He was checking the surroundings all guardian-like again.
"Oh, one more thing," I said. "Name it, and it's yours," he said with a heart-stopping grinn. I almost forgot what I wanted to say.
"Jill?" he asked.
"Uh..."
Our gazes locked and I didn't realise we were staring at eachother until the plane was starting to land.
"I... I wanted to say that we're on vacation. That includes you. You don't have to protect me. Just relax. Go with the flow."
His smile went a bit wider.
"I'm working on it."
The airport we landed on was owned by the hotel we were staying in. It was very practical, because we could just walk off to our rooms. Trough the reception, of course.
And wow, everything around us was amazing. Just the air itself was warm and kind of salty from the sea. It wasn't as dry as the air in Palm Springs, it was nore humid, and it felt good.
There were palm trees everywhere and the exotic plants I've never seen before. The sun was shining when we arrived, but it wasn't bothering me.
I could still see the beach from before. And since it was Moroi night and no one was around, it even increased the effect of a peacefull paradise.
"Seriously?" Rose exclaimed when we came closer to the hotel. I followed her look. There was a huge sign in front of the hotel, and it said 'The Coconut Hotel' all over it. Next to it was a palm tree drawing that was also drawn on the door and, now that I looked closer, also the plane we just left. It seemed to be some kind of the hotel's logotype.
"Are you kidding me? The Coconut Hotel?" I laughed. Eddie shrugged next to me with an amused expression and Lissa rolled her eyes. "Sorry, it's the only hotel with wards," she said. "Oh, no, it's not a problem," I said, still holding laughter back. "We just think it's funny," Adrian completed.
As we entered I realised those coconuts and palm trees were kind of the hotel's theme. And it was a bit ridiculous.
Know about those baskets of fruit they have in some places? Here they had one with only coconuts. The air was filled with coconut scent and the bamboo carpets were probably supposed to add on the tropical effect. And bamboo curtains.
The chairs had seats made of palm leafes. I doubted it was very comfortable. The table cloths looked like coconut flavour, but that couldn't be, since it would fall apart.
There was even a palm tree in a corner. And tons of coconut snacks. The girls that had them on trays were wearing only bras made of coconut shells. Okay, maybe they were fake, but it still crossed the limit of good taste.
I also decided I had to visit the gift shop later. Although I'd probably find nothing else but more coconut stuff.
Lissa, who booked our rooms, also got the keys at the reception. When she gave me mine, she said: "Sorry, but you're alone in your room. I mean, I don't know if you like it or not, but there was no other way because, well, as Neil said, everyone else's coupled up and it wouldn't be that appropriate if you had to be with Eddie or Neil. So, they're sharing a room and you're alone. Except, Neil probably wouldn't mind being alone if that's what you want?"
I smiled. And then blushed. It took me a while to realise she was actually teasing me about Eddie. Also, she was talking a bit like me. "That's okay, thanks. I'll be fine alone," I laughed, still feeling my cheeks burn.
So, the coconuts didn't stop in the lobby. The first thing I noticed about the room was the bed cover. Three palm trees planted on a sea of coconuts. Where did they even get those?
The chairs, table and curtains were the same as downstairs. And of course there was a basked full of soaps and shampoos and stuff like that. They were all with coconut. That shouldn't even suprise me.
Although I was staying in it alone, my room still had two beds. It also had a bathroom and even a small kitchen. Well, more like a stove and a mini fridge, but you could still make food and keep your drink cool. Of course, with all the luxury, not even a huge flat screen TV wasn't missing. It probably had more channels than I could count.
What I liked most was the balcony. And it wasn't a small one. Of course there was a palm tree on it. But I barely noticed because of the astonishing view I had.
And to think I was already in heaven from what I saw from the plane.
I could see a lot of stuff under the balcony were still the hotel's property. There were small round houses placed over the ground. Probably suites, bigger and even more luxurious than mine.
You could do something anywhere you looked. There was a huge pool with amazingly clean water, surrounded by small shops and coctail bars and incredibly comfortable looking chairs. Lots of people were there, even thiugh it was officially night. In their bathing suits. I was dying to make Eddie one of them.
I could also see a restaurant with a enormous pattio and even a club. They were both very tropical looking, which was so suprisingly appealing in that moment I barely stayed inside.
And the best of the best, the sea. The one I already admired from the plane. I could smell it, I could already almost feel it on my skin. I wanted to dive into it more than ever. And the beach, oh, that beach.
"Lissa, thank you for being you," I muttered.
Angeline walked into the room.
"You seriously need to learn about knocking," I told her. She laughed.
"Awesome here, huh?" she asked. "Stunning," I agreed. "Can't wait to go outside and enjoy it."
"Oh, yeah, did you see the hot guys down there? By the pool and on the beach... This place is heaven," she sighed.
"Whoa, what happened to Trey? Where is he anyway?" I asked. "He's in our room. We're going out later. I'm saving him for the night. You know, I have a boyfriend, but I'm not dead."
Oh, Angeline.
A knock on the door broke our conversation.
"Well, at least someone has a few ideas about privacy," I said looking at Angeline meaningly while opening up. It was Christian.
"Hey, girls. We're going out. You comming with us?" he asked. "Count me in!" I smiled.
We hurried behind him and met the rest of our group in the lobby. I caught Eddie staring at me and met his eyes. He looked down.
First we went to the gift shop. Of course, coconuts everywhere, but not the products were the ones who caught my attention. My look was stuck on the counter. "No way," I laughed. I wasn't even sure it was her, because I've only seen her trough the bond before, but from the look on Neil's face it was pretty clear I was right.
"Who would've thought," Adrian smirked.
"O... Olive?" Neil finally stuttered.
There was no doubt about it anymore. Olive Sinclair, the ex Strigoi and Neil's - not so ex - crush.
"Let's give them a moment. Or a few hours," Eddie said. We left outside. Neil gave me a questioning look. I smiled.
"Looks like we're officially all coupled up now," Trey smirked. All the guys Angeline was checking were already forgotten, because now her hands were around Trey.
"We're not coupled up!" I exclaimed. "Exactly," Eddie agreed. Adrian snorted."Why do you guys even try?"
We headed to the coctail bar. I ordered something alcohol free and kicked Adrian when he was about to order a martini. Then I sat beside him on one of those high chairs you see in bars and watched the sea. Thank goodness the bar had roof that made it impossible for the sun to get to me too much, but I was getting used to it anyway.
I leaned back and relaxed. Then something weird came into my sight. It was a slightly transparet face of someone familliar. Someone I've seen many times on portreits and other paintings, someone I've heard a lot about, from people and trough the bond, someone loved and worshiped for so long. But... That someone was dead for almost a year.
I screamed louder than ever before and jumped off my chair, running god knows were. The whole beach turned their heads towards me to see what's going on. Eddie of course jumped from somewhere to protect me. He held my hands to calm me down and I stopped, still terrified. Then he looked around confused.
"Jill? What happened? What's wrong?" he asked. It was probably pretty obvious I wasn't able to answer. It all reminded of the first time I was in Adrian's head. Eddie seemed to realise that too (he was there at the time), because he dragged him towards us.
"What did you do?" he asked him in a threading voice. Adrian shrugged. "I didn't do anything, I swear. I'm innocent this time." Eddie shook his head, clearly not believing him. "Then what scared so much?"
Adrian's eyes went wide. "You're afraid of pinneapples?" he exclaimed looking at me. I've come back to myself enough to shook my head.
"Why on Earth would you think she's afraid of pinneapples?" Eddie asked confused. "He... He was thinking of pinneapples when it happened," I stuttered. He still didn't seem clear with what's going on. "Why would you..." Adrian sighed. "I've never seen a pinneapple plant before. You notice stuff like that, Castile!"
Eddie's face looked like he was about to explode. "WHAT HAPPENED?" he exclaimed.
"I... I think I saw a... Umm... Ghost."
Rose jumped towards me. "Shit! Did you say ghost? I need to talk to you," she sighed and dragged me on the side.
"Wait. What?" Adrian asked. "You too," Rose said and pulled him with. Eddie looked like he was about to knock down any second. "You won't hurt if we explain you things, will you?" she asked him. Eddie followed her.
"So. Who's ghost did you see?" I exhaled. "The former Queen's." Adrian gasped. "My aunt's?" I nodded. "Okay. It's because you're shadow kissed. The ghost was real."
Rose's eyes were looking at me in concern, like she expected me to freak out. Why would I freak out over the fact that I saw a ghost? I laughed nervously. "Yeah, that can't happen. Maybe we're just all losing our minds or whatever."
"Look, Jill, I know how crazy and twisted it sounds. But I've never said there's anything normal about our lives. You have to believe me. It's happened to me before," Rose said. "You mean the time you freaked out on the plane?" Adrian asked. "Exactly the time."
I sighed. "Okay, let's suppose I do see ghosts. What do I do?" Rose frowned. "You relax. You try to ignore them. You control yourself. They dissappear eventually."
Lissa, who heard the conversation, neared us. "But that means the wards aren't working. Remember? Like when you saw Mason's ghost?"
"Damn," Eddie said and hurried over to the hotel's reception. We all stared behind him with our mouths open until he returned. "They're refreshing them today, they sent out extra guardians, there's nothing to worry about," he told us.
"Look, just try to forget the ghosts. You'll be under wards for most of the time. Whenever they get to you, remember what I told you. They'll go away. Just relax."
I decided to go back inside for the night. It was late anyway. Everyone went with me, even though I told them they didn't have to. I hoped at least some of them were going back outside later.
Then we found Neil and Olive talking in the lobby. "Jill!" Neil exclaimed and jumped towards me. "Would you mind if I go out with Olive tonight?" I smiled and almost hugged him. I was so happy to hear this. He deserved to have a proper date with her. I'm sure she did too, no matter what she's been trough lately.
"Of course I wouldn't mind! I'm so happy for you! And besides, you don't have to ask permission. It's your life, and you're on vacation. Go, have fun!"
But when I turned around, my happiness dissappeared. Eddie was staring at one of the coconut bra girls with a, well, innapropriatte look.
The girl was a dhampir and very likely a native. She had gorgeous long black hair and very tanned complexion. Her face features were beautiful and exotic. And, hm, let's just say her bra had to be made out of a big coconut.
She was gorgeous, no doubt, and she had an easy job at making me feel invisible. I could imagine lots of guys staring at her. Just... Not Eddie. I thought he was different.
Jelousy rose in me. I elbowed Eddie and he stopped staring immediately. Actually his eyes became all dreamy when he looked at me. I was still the object of his admiration.
But then I caught the girl staring at him. I became angry.
I suddenly realised how selfish and cocky I was. Eddie was a person, not my property. He had every right to look at that girl. But... That didn't mean I liked her.
I should probably hold myself, but an idea popped into my head. It was too late. I walked towards her.
"Hey, you. You're new here, aren't you?" I asked. She nodded carefully.
"Okay, you should know this. I'd quit as soon as possible. I've been here for a while... It's probably the uniforms. All the guys stare at girls like you. And well, it's okay as long as they just stare. Some come up and give comments... Innapropriatte ones. Some do even worse. You can imagine."
"Why should I believe you?" she asked with her fists clenched. I raised my hands. "Just trying to help. I've seen a lot of this and I just think it's wrong."
I was about to leave, hoping to make an effect, but then Rose joined me. She obviously noticed I was jelous and wanted to help me.
"Hey, girl, she's right. I worked here for a while and quitted after a month. The paycheck ain't worth it," she said. It wasn't hard to believe her, with her exotic dhampir features that also atractted a lot of looks. But she didn't make me jelous, not even when she was with Adrian. Maybe because he was never mine. I never even got a chance to get possesive.
The girl became terrified. Rose started to count guys who would bother her and what she did to them. She really was good at this. When she came to number ten who supposingly told her to "watch her coconuts", he girl ran away, screaming: "Margaret, I don't care what you say! I quit!"
"Hey, Rose? Thanks. It was wrong, I know... But I had to do it."
Eddie was looking at me shocked. Shocked, but kind of impressed.
We finally left to our rooms. I've only been on the couch for a few minutes when I felt Adrian comming. I opened the door for him.
"Jailbait, you get more like me every day. Good one down there. The girl was totally freaked out," he said with a light voice, but I sensed a "What the heck are you doing? This is nothing like you!" under the careless act.
"I just... Got jelous. I caught him staring at her the way I never thought he would. I thought he was different."
Adrian wrapped his hand around my shoulder. "It probably just suprised him. We tempt to get big eyes at something like that, but it's still obvious you're his one and only."
"You know that means that girl's losing her job because of me? I still don't like her, but she's an innocent. I guess," I sighed.
"Don't worry, Jailbait. She wouldn't believe you anyway if you tried to do something. But I'm pretty sure that Margaret person's gonna tell her there've been no complains and that Rose's never worked there. And even if she does quit, it's for the best. It's a lousy job anyway."
"Guess you're right," I sighed and leaned on his shoulder. I felt that he was trying to think of a way to cheer me up.
"You know, I still don't like the way I acted. At all. It's not like me."
He smiled. "All fair in love and war. Although sometimes there's no difference between the two." I nodded.
Well, Adrian left after a while and I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling with painted palm trees. I wasn't blaming myself for what I'd done before, but I just wished I could stop. With the faking. Acting like I don't like him just because everything went wrong whenever I didn't. And the both times I revealed my feelings, it felt great at first. Then it went down in flames.
I thought of the kiss. My heartbeat speaded up and my head was spinning, even though I was laying on my bed. It was just like I imagined in all my dreams. Except that in my dreams, I was laying on my back like right now, and his face was above mine, and his warm brown eyes were looking at me, and then...
And suddenly his warm brown eyes were above me.
"Are you okay?" Eddie asked a bit suprised about seeing me all delirious.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. How did you get in here?"
He opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he said: "It was open. I knocked for like ten times, but you didn't open or answer, so I just walked in. I was worried. And... Um... Are you sure you're okay? I knocked quite loud."
Now I noticed the frown on his face and his worried look. Of course he was concerned about my sanity, when I was so lost daydreaming about him I didn't even hear him knocking! I was concerned about my sanity, and I was bound to a potentially crazy vampire artist!
Well, at least I knew what to tell him.
"Sorry, I was in Adrian's head. Not really paying attention to the world."
He still looked understandably confused.
"So, what's up?" I asked.
"Right. Neil came from his date."
I sat up in bed, hoping for the details. Eddie realised he was still leaning over me, so he wisely straightened up when I raised my head before we could crash.
"So?" I asked excited. "Um, it went great. She really missed him and they had major trouble trying to stop talking to eachother. They kissed. He paid for everything. She's comming back to the Court. He's moving to her room."
All the things he said were mixed up and confused, so I stopped him before he could continue.
"Wait, he's moving to her room? Wow, that was fast!" Eddie nodded. "Yeah, that's more or less the reason I came here. If you agree, I'm not staying alone. It's a waste to hire two rooms for two people and they both stay half empty. So, uh, if you, hm, agree... I'd - I'd be moving to your room. If you agree of course."
Moving to my room? MOVING TO MY ROOM?!
"Um... Yeah, sure. Lots of moving today, huh?" I laughed nervously. "But seriously, it's fine. It'd be waste."
"Yeah, we all talked it trough and agreed it's good idea. But of course you have to be in for it."
Oh, they. I knew it wasn't his idea. I knew neither of us was gonna sleep. But, well, I'd be lying if I said I was all against it.
I was still unable to move from my bed when Eddie left to get his stuff. Stepping into his room at Amberwood almost killed me. Now his room was gonna be MY room.
He entered the room again with a full lap of bags. I managed to get up and help him carry the boxes. "This should be an interesting vacation," I muttered.

Haha, I'm tourturing them, huh? Oh, I just wanted to let you know I started posting this story on Wattpad. Just think you should know Oh and did you read the first 5 chapters of The Ruby Circle? I died!

Okay so however, I'm gonna try to write the next chapter as soon as possible and you please review!