Having read the reviews I got I'm pretty happy right now!!! :) Yay!

Otakugal

hunkelberry

littledhampir. skyvanallen

brezzybrez

AdaOra00

Darcsaber

Stregoni-Benefici

Thanks for reviewing!!! Luv you peeps!!

Again, don't own so let's move on!


Chapter 9

Right now, I felt like a nervous wreck. I was on my way to talk to Erik, but I really felt sick to my stomach. What if it didn't go well? What if he wants to break up? Ugggghhhh!!! Why? Hesistantly, I softly knock on the door to his loft. While I waited, I nervously played with my low and short ponytail. I looked like a nerd with my glasses and plus my outfit made me even more nerdy. I was wearing a casual yellow strapless minidress with my white leggings and black fuzzy slippers.

"Oh, hello, Zoey." Erik said, softly after opening the door.

"I ummmm......wanted to talk to you." I mumbled, sniffing a little.

"Come in." Erik replied, moving aside to let me in. When I walked in, I saw his cat, Jayla curled up in one of his living room chairs sleeping. I could see in his kitchen, there were a lot of wine bottles sitting on the counters randomly. When I sat down on the couch, I saw the hole in the wall that my friends were talking about at dinner the other day. I was really scared for him. I didn't feel comfortable with the fact that he could possibly be abusive.

"Well, I really wanted to know what happened a couple months ago." I said, putting my hands in my lap.

"Are you sure you aren't going to run out again?" He asked, putting on his acting face.

"I'm not here to play games, Erik. I really want to know what actually happened. I want to know the truth." I told him, sternly. I wasn't here to stay up all night. I wanted the truth and I wanted it now.

"Fine, here it is. That night, I was coming back from my classroom since I was getting the papers I needed to grade. When I got to my room, I was getting ready to grade papers and Whitney had been in my loft waiting for me to come back, which I had no idea about. She was trying to sweet talk me and that's when she started to pin me down to the couch and tried to make love to me. That's when you walked in and..........you know what happens after that." Erik explained, sincerely, "That's the entire truth. Zoey, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you and feel so terrible that I just want to die. I never meant for our child to die. I never had any feelings for any other woman besides you. I love you, Zoey, and I wish more than anything that you'll forgive me."

After him explaining what happened, I didn't know what to say. I had no idea that Whitney had been in his room before he got there. Should I forgive him? Should I look deep into my heart and open it up to him again? What if he hurt me again? Before I knew it, I started crying.

"Z, why are you crying?" Erik asked, sounding confused.

"I feel so horrible. I had no idea she was already in your loft. I thought she came in there when...... I feel like such an idiot. I should have trusted you. I should have known better." I cried, as more tears streamed down my face, "I'm so sorry, Erik. I'm such a horrible person!"

"No, you're not, Zoey. It wasn't your fault that Whitney came onto me. Neither one of us saw this coming. I shouldn't have led her on. Do you forgive me?" He asked again, as he touched my arm.

"Of course I do. It's just, I can't trust you so quickly. Like you said the other day, trust builds over time, not overnight." I replied, wiping my tears.

"I accept your apology......," Erik said, holding me. I could feel a sense of drift in his voice. There was definitely something up.

"But?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll accept your apology on one condition." He added, as I pulled out of his embrace.

"What condition?" I asked, feeling a little nervous at what it might be.

"I want us to Imprint." Erik replied. For a moment, everything in my world froze. I was in complete and utter shock.

"I'm....I'm sorry, I must be hallucinating....WHAT?" I yelled, grabbing his collar.

"I want us to Imprint, Zoey. So that we won't ever be apart." Erik said, softly pushing my hands away from his collar.

"Erik! I'm not sure if I can do that....I mean, we just.......I'm not ready to take that step right now." I rambled, biting my lip.

"Zoey. Before all of this, we were about to get married and have a child. That's a big step too and we were about to take it. What's the difference?" Erik asked, plainly.

"Have you even given this any thought? If you have then, explain why at least. Us being engaged and almost having a child is irrelevant. This is way more serious." I told him, still going on with my doubts. I loved Erik, I really do. It's just I can't easily jump into something that could possibly hurt either one of us.

"Listen, Zoey. I wouldn't have brought this up if I hadn't given it any thought. First, I wanted to do it because I love you, and I want us to stay together forever. Second, Imprinting is about on the same status of marriage. If we get married formally, we'll be together as if we were Imprinted." Erik explained, patiently. I guess once I thought about it, he really was making sense.

"Fine, I'll Imprint with you, but not right at this moment. Once we get back on course with our relationship, then we will. Sounds fair?" I asked, hugging him.

"I can live with that. I love you so much, Z." Erik said, kissing my wet cheek.

"Well, it's getting late. So I'll see you in the morning." I muttered, before he softly grabbed my arm.

"You can stay here for tonight. No, I'm not using it as an excuse to do you." He said, making me smile.

"Okay. Fine." I smirked, as we both walked to his room. All I can say is that I thank Nyx for bringing us back together.


Waking up in Erik's room was a little awkward since I'd never slept in his loft that often. I remember the previous night, I talked to Erik and everything went great. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Kind of like an angel sent to earth (man I didn't want to think about angels coming to earth after what happened with the war.)

Aside from that, I went back to my thoughts. Did I really deserve him? Do I deserve to walk down the isle? Did I have honest faith in our relationship? Thinking about all these questions made me cry a little. In my eyes, no, I don't think I deserved him. No, I don't think I deserved to walk down the isle. I wasn't really sure if I had faith in our relationship.

"What's wrong?" He asked, opening his eyes to see me cry, "Why are you crying?"

"I don't think you'd understand if I told you." I whimpered, wiping my tears away.

"Z, you know that's not true. You know I'd never judge you. Tell me." Erik told me, caressing my cheek.

"Well, I've been thinking a bit and sometimes I don't think I deserve you anymore. It's like, everytime something happens between us, you always get hurt and it's always my fault." I told him, sadly. It was the truth.

At first he didn't say anything, but then said, "Zoey, it's been more than a few years now, and from going through the Change, it's taught me to learn how to forgive others for what they've done more than I used to. Sure, you do hurt a little in the beginning but it does get better. Plus, back then and even now, you're still young and there's things that you still have to learn. I know more because, well, I'm older than you are and I've learned a little more than you have."

"Yeah, but even for you, there's only so much hurt you can take before it just get's old and tiresome. I feel that after a while of hurting you, we won't last and I'm scared because I don't want to lose you." I replied, making myself cry even more as I hugged him.

I think after years of living with my step loser and holding back my tears, they all decided to let themselves out. Erik was the first person besides Grandma who actually cared about me and loved me just for being myself, and I didn't want Erik to be like my mom, who didn't want anything to do with me after something bad happened.

"You've been hiding this from me for a while, haven't you?" Erik asked, rubbing my back as I continued to cry.

"Yeah." I mumbled, sniffing.

"Remember that day I was at your Grandma's lavender farm?" Erik asked, as he looked down at me.

"Mmhmmm." I muffled, nodding my head.

"Well, it was before you came back. She was telling me about how bad your step-loser treated you and how your mom just went with it and never stood by your side. So I figured that's why you're always afraid to let people care about you because you think they'll abandon you like your parents did after you were Marked." He explained, smiling a little bit.

"She's right." I whispered, looking away from Erik's face.

"Hey. If I didn't care about you Zoey, we'd never be at this point. I'd never abandon you. I'd never hurt you period. So don't think that I'll be like your parents when we face obstacles, because I won't." Erik said, cupping my chin, "I love you. Can't you see that?"

"Oh, Erik!" I wailed, this time crying out of happiness. I was so happy to know that whatever obstacles we'd face together, he'd never leave me. After a few minutes, I noticed a huge grey figure at the door of Erik's room. Something around it's neck flashed right in my eyes.

"Oh there you are girl." Erik said, as the huge dark grey tabby jumped on the bed and in between where Erik and I were sitting.

"Hi, Jayla. You're such a pretty girl." I cooed, rubbing her head.

"It's so weird. She's really shy around others besides me." Erik said, stroking her back.

"When did she find you?" I asked, as she lied down.

"Before all the drama happened months ago. She was sitting right in front of the door to my loft when she found me." Erik responded, as she nudge her face on Erik's cheek and purred.

"She's adorable." I said, as she started licking Erik's cheek, "Awww, she's giving you a kiss."

"Yeah, she is a little spoiled." Erik smiled, scratching Jayla's ears, "What time is it?"

"A little before we have to get up." I yawned, slowly lying back down. I was so tired that I could have sworn there were times I felt my eyes shutting, "Well, I better get going."

"See you soon." Erik smiled, kissing my cheek before I left. I felt really happy at the moment. Things were back to what they were before everything bad happened. I was really thankful that I had such good people in my life.


Later on that day, after I was already in my room, I hurriedly got ready for another day of hell. High Priestess duty was not a walk in the park. Fledglings were either dying or always getting hurt. I don't know, but anyway, after refilling Nala's food dish, I rushed down the stairs, grabbed a granola bar and left.

While I was walking, I saw a fledgling running right towards me. The poor thing looked frantic and scared all at the same time.

"Oh! I'm so glad I found you, Zoey. Professor Cole and Professor Shay are fighting again in the courtyard." I recognized this fledgling. Her name was Carly. For someone normal, she was exactly five feet, brunette, and she was incredibly shy.

"Come on." I told her, running to the scene. Again, Shaunee and Whitney were indeed fighting. And again, Erik, Cole, and myself rushed to the scene to break it up.

"Shaunee, what has gotten into you?" Cole asked, pulling her aside.

"Really what happened this time?" I added, sighing.

"Okay, really this time it was not my fault. She came up to me out of nowhere talking about how she came back to get her revenge for me pulling a plug of her hair out. I tried to walk away and be the bigger person and the she just pounced on me." Shaunee explained, covering her left eye.

"Come on, let's get your eye fixed up, kay?" I told her, as Erik and the other teachers were getting the students to classes.

"You know, you really have got to control your blackness, Twin." Erin muttered, catching up with us.

"I'm sorry, but she hit me first when I tried to walk away." Shaunee complained, as we approached the infirmary.

"At least you tried." Cole whispered, as I went to get Darren.

"Hey, Darren, sorry it's so early, but could you get something for Shaunee's eye? To get the blackness of it off or something?" I asked, smiling.

"Sure, Zoey." Darren replied, sweetly before looking through his medicine cabinet, "Here. Tell her take these caplets twice a day until the swelling goes down, and use this ointment to help the black tinge of her eye go away."

"Thank you so much, Darren." I said, walking out the office with Shaunee, Erin, and Cole, "Here. Take the pills twice a day for the swelling and the ointment to help the tinge go away."

"Thanks, Z." Shaunee mumbled, feeling crappy, as far as I could tell.

"Well, all the kids are back in classes." Erik sighed, meeting us by my office.

"Thank you. We all need to have a meeting. We to discuss this Whitney issue." I pointed out, as everyone nodded, "Tell Damien and the others too. After classes, at dinner."

"Okay." Erik said, quickly pecking my cheek before he left. His kisses always made me blush.


Now that dinner was approaching, I was counting down to when dinner was coming. Man, I'm such a dork. I couldn't wait to kick that nasty bitch out of here. She crossed the line and she needs to fucking go.

"Five....four.....three.....two.....one......bingo!" I whispered, leaving my office to head to the teacher's lounge.

"Ready to kick her out?" Stevie Rae asked, appearing from one of the other hallways.

"I know I am." Shaunee said, appearing behind Stevie Rae.

"Especially when she tried to bounce up on Zoey's man." Erin added, plainly.

"Let's go." I laughed, while the four of us walked to dinner. This was one thing I had no need to worry about. If everyone was on the same page, then that scrawny bitch can pack her bags and get the hell out.

"What took you all so long?" Damien questioned, sounding like our mother.

"We were just you know, having a girl talk....no need to fret, Queen Damien." Shaunee replied, as her and Erin giggled.

"Let's just go." Damien mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"So what's for dinner? I hope it's burgers." I chirped, getting a look from Stevie Rae, "What?"

"You said you weren't goin' to start eatin' them burgers again, Z." Stevie Rae told me, giving me a stern look.

"Oh, hush up, Stevie Rae. Maybe Erik will like Z with a booty." Shaunee interrupted, shrugging.

"Exactly, Twin. There's nothing wrong with a little junk in your trunk." Erin agreed, picking up a bottle of Coke.

"See, there's nothing wrong with.......what they said." I told Stevie Rae, smirking.

"Okay. If you say so." Stevie Rae muttered, as well all sat down.

"So luver boy, we have a question for you." Shaunee said, sitting on the other side of Erik.

"Sure, knock yourselves out." Erik said, sipping some of his vitamin water.

"Would you like Z with a booty or without a booty?" Erin asked, making Erik do a spit take.

"What kind of question is that?" Erik questioned, looking at the Twin's as if they lost their minds.

"So.....are you going to answer the question?" Shaunee asked, grinning at him.

"You don't have to answer that." I told Erik, rolling my eyes, "They were all just picking on me because I haven't had a good diet in a while."

"She's been chowing down on burgers and fries." Stevie Rae told him, looking at me.

"Like I said, it was when I was depressed. Plus, it doesn't hurt to get a bit off track from a good diet." I added, glaring back at Stevie Rae, "Anyway, we're here to talk about kicking a certain bitch to the curb."

"Those who want her gone, say I!" Shaunee chirped, as everyone threw their hands up.

"Well that went quicker than expected." Damien said, nonchalantly sipping his drink. He was right. That did go too quickly, but the decision was already made.


While I was busy brushing Persephone, I totally forgot that the end of the school year was approaching. It had been a while since I'd been at the House of Night and never knew if kids stayed here or went home with their families. It was probably a mixture of both, considering that not all parents were freaked out about their kids being fledglings. I'd probably be stuck here at the school for the whole summer, since some kids stayed here.

I also forgot about something really big............the wedding! Crap! I was so focused on being mad at Erik and being happy that we were back together, I wasn't sure if he called off the wedding plans or not. I pulled out my phone and frantically texted him.

You didn't cancel the wedding plans, did you?

After feeding Persephone a carrot, my hip was vibrating as I took my phone out of my hoodie pocket.

No. We're meeting with the wedding planner today and next week.

Man, now there was something else I had to worry about. I forgot what our wedding theme was and all that other crap. Did I even get fitted for my dress? No, because I didn't even know who my maid of honor or bridesmaids were going to be. I definitely wasn't going to have my step-loser walk me down the isle. I'd probably leave that to Grandma.

"You wanted to see me." a familiar voice said, sounding slightly sour and irritated. I turned around and it was of course, Whitney.

"I called you to tell you that the staff and I have come to a mutual agreement that your services are no longer needed here." I told her, putting Persephone's brush back.

"Don't you mean you've come to a mutual agreement with yourself?" Whitney snapped, putting a hand on her hip.

"Look, you're not in the position to be getting smart with people. And yes, it's an agreement between myself and the staff. I want you out of the school by sunrise or I'll have a friend of mine, who happens to be a Son of Erebus warrior escort you of the premises." I replied, sternly.

"Fine. I've already transferred to another House of Night anyway." Whitney said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and left.

"I swear, she is totally cramping my style." Aphrodite said, after Whitney was long gone.

"You were listening weren't you?" I asked her, rolling my eyes.

"I'm six months pregnant. I'm bored sometimes." She told me, walking her pregnant self into Persephone's stall.

"So what have you been up to?" I asked, leaning against a nearby wall.

"Oh nothing, being pregnant and emotional. I kind of feel bad that Darius has to keep putting up with me." Aphrodite admitted, looking down at her huge belly.

"I think he puts up with it because he knows it'll pay off once you have the baby." I told her, sadly, remembering when I was four months pregnant with my child.

"Yeah, I guess. I have my ultra sound in a couple of weeks, but Darius doesn't want to know the sex of the baby. I want to know so bad because I really want a baby shower." Aphrodite explained, as we started walking around the courtyard outside the Field House.

"I don't think it should matter what the sex is. As long as you give the baby all the love you can." I muttered, looking out at the crescent moon in the sky.

"Now you sound like Darius. Well, I might as well go lay down or something since I can't be on my feet a long time. Catch ya later." She smiled, heading towards the building.

After she was gone, I decided to sit on the bench next to the tree in the center of the track that surrounded the area where the Field House was located. I thought about Erik and I making up. I realized that I kind of told him what made me vulnerable. Ever since my mom married that step-loser, he made my life a living hell. He was nothing but a bully and I hated him so bad. He changed my mom into someone I didn't know anymore. After Erik had first proposed to me a few months ago, I considered inviting my mom but now that I thought about it, I'm glad that I didn't plan on it.

Erik is so lucky. At least his family isn't totally freaked out because he was Marked, I thought, letting the breeze whip my hair around. Well, I didn't really know for a fact his parents weren't freaked out but oh well. Anyway, aside from that, I was thinking about the wedding. In my mind, I obviously wanted Grandma to walk me down the isle, Stevie Rae was of course my maid of honor, the Twins (and probably Damien and Jack) were going to be my bridesmaids. The problem was, like I thought of before was who's going to fill the gap where my family is supposed to be? It really sucked how none of my family (but Grandma) is going to be there.

"Good, I found you." Erik's voice said, peeking his head around from the horse stalls.

"Oh, hey." I greeted, as he pecked my cheek, "What are you doing out here?"

"We need to talk about the wedding. I wanted to know if you were considering pushing it back. As of now, it's only a couple months away." Erik explained, rubbing my cheek.

"Yeah, about that.....I haven't really given it that much thought until now. I mean I'm still kind of trying to get over this drama and having a wedding right after that is a little more pressure. Plus, we only had the wedding so soon was because the.........," I explained, leaving the last part of my sentence drifting away. I didn't want to bring up the fact that the only reason we planned the wedding so soon was in reality, because the baby was due the month after. That was before the baby died.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked, realizing what I was going to say, "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I'm just trying to cope with the fact it's gone." I whispered, lacing my fingers with his.

"Don't worry. I promise we'll start a family." Erik told me, pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you. Anyway, I think we should push it back another month. You know, since you promised me that you'd take me to meet your parents." I said, smiling.

"Yeah, I remember that. We could go when school's over." He replied, as we started walking back to the main building.

"Who's going to take my place if we leave?" I asked, probably sounding stupid, but I'm being dead serious.

"One of the other teachers could be your substitute for a little bit." Erik said, patting my head like I was a puppy.

"I'm not a puppy, don't do that." I teased, jabbing him in the stomach.

"Ow! This evil lady hurt me!" Erik exclaimed, doing his normal acting thing.

"Get a grip." I laughed, as we left the stables.


Sorry I cut it so short. I've ran out of ideas for this chapter. Next time: Zoey and Erik are on their way to meet Erik's family. The problem is that Erik's older sister, Kayla, doesn't take an immediate liking to Zoey like the rest of the family. Will Erik's sister accept Zoey or will she always hate her? R&R plz!

Cherriez