I awoke in the middle of the night to excruciating pain between my shoulder blades. I bit my lip, stifling pained cries into quiet mewls. Adrian woke in an instant. By the time he woke up I was sweating and crying, my lip bleeding from holding back cries of pain. Adrian gave me a pillow to scream into, kissed my forehead, and took off my shirt to give my growing wings more room (which were currently straining against the fabric). I hugged the pillow tight, my blood and tears staining the pure white surface. Adrian rubbed my lower back, quietly trying to soothe me. My wings were slowly beginning to push out of my back. I hugged the pillow tighter, my cries of pain becoming louder despite being muffled by the pillow. Adrian sighed. He continued to try and soothe me, whispering kind words in my ear and kissing me.
Almost two hours later, I screamed into the pillow, my wings finally unfurling from my back. Adrian gently pushed me to lay on my stomach, and gently massaged my back. I moved my wings a tad to test them. I let out a sigh of relief, and moved my wings a bit more, stretching. The tension in my torso subsided. Adrian smiled. He laid down beside me. I put my head on my master's chest, allowing my wings to remain out and relaxed. Both of us closed our eyes. Adrian opened his slightly, and waited until he thought I was asleep again. He gently ran his fingers over the Prussian blue feathers at the top of the younger boy's wings, then down to the pitch black feathers in the center. Even in the dim moonlight Adrian could see the angelic white feathers at the tips of my wings. I smiled internally, attempting to appear as if I were sleeping. Soon Adrian fell asleep beside me, and I followed.
Adrian tried to keep a calm exterior. His heart nearly stopped when he had received the news.
"Son, you need time to pick yourself up after losing both your mother and your fiancee. I am sorry that I have not realized this sooner. You are to go to our family's vacation home, away from the city to relax. Take your butler with you. You will be staying for a week and leaving as soon as possible," Adrian's father had told him.
"Yes Father," he had answered. He quickly excused himself to bring the news to me, but I already knew. Adrian knew this was going to be the best week of his life, and I know he hoped I would say the same. My master found me cleaning his room.
"Ezekiel, my father wants us to leave to go to my family's vacation home as soon as possible so I may relax after all the activity of recent months. You are coming to assist me, and we will be there for a week," Adrian informed me in his most authoritative voice. The maids cleaning in the hallways outside Adrian's room heard nothing unusual, so they continued with their task. I smirked for a moment.
"Alright my lord, I will start packing then," I smiled slightly, trying not to seem too excited in order to avoid unwanted attention. Adrian nodded, smiling as well.
I finished packing in less than an hour. It was eleven o'clock in the morning and Adrian's bag was ready, waiting by the front door. I carried a small sack over my shoulder for myself after bringing my master's to the carriage.
"Ezekiel, it is going to be a week, you need to pack more," Adrian said quietly, gesturing to the sack I was carrying.
"My lord… I do not own anything except the clothes on my back and my night clothes…" I reminded him. Adrian sighed. He blushed slightly, showing that he was embarrassed.
"Bring the cat and feed her the leftovers," Adrian told me. I responded with a quick "yes my lord" and was off to get Rain.
The carriage was packed in less than five minutes. Rain sat on my lap the entire two hour trip, and the three of us fell asleep almost as soon as it started. I awoke as soon as the arrived at the Taylor's vacation home, which was a rather large stone building that was surrounded by trees, and close by to a decent sized lake. Rain jumped off my lap as soon as I had opened the carriage door. I woke my master and brought the bags to the front door. After thoroughly examining the carriage, Rain scampered up the cobblestone pathway and waited beside the bags. Adrian soon stepped out of the carriage, which hastily left and went back to the manor.
Once the trio was settled in to the Taylor's vacation home, Adrian looked over at me, biting his lip.
"Yes Adrian?" I turned to my master.
"You know how you told me you did not have much?" Adrian murmured shyly.
"Yes," I gave my lover a puzzled look.
"Well… I want to give this to you," Adrian blushed. He gingerly extended his hand towards me, opening his palm. In his palm, there was an ornate silver pendant with a blood red stone in the center, attached to a chain. "It was my mother's before she died, and since you mean a lot to me, I thought you should have it," Adrian explained.
"A-Adrian I-I can't… It was your mother's a-and…I-I don't deserve such a thing," I stuttered. My heart was pounding erratically, and I stared at Adrian, bewildered.
"Yes, you do deserve it. Hell, you deserve more! Despite your half demon blood, you are beautiful inside and out. You haven't let either side of your family take over you, and you are your own...person. Ezekiel, take it," Adrian spoke with much more confidence this time.
"T-thank you…" I was almost frozen in place. Adrian was the only person other than his parents to ever be kind to me. This was almost too much for me to handle. I knew Adrian loved me, he had told me, but I had clearly underestimated the situation. It was not a feeling that started recently, and it was not a small feeling either. Quite frankly, it explained a lot. I thought I was about to cry any second now. This whole time we could have both felt this way and had no idea until it got extremely obvious.
"Shhhh," Adrian could read the shock all over my kissed my lips gently, fastening the pendant's chain around my neck. I kissed back, letting my wings out, and wrapping them and my arms around Adrian tightly. I have never been this happy in my entire life. Not even close.
Adrian and I spent hours joking around like regular teenagers for once. The atmosphere was so much different from home, so much more relaxed, and it brought out a different side to both of us.
"Soon everyday will be like this," Adrian sighed happily, falling back onto the bed with a dull thud.
"Yes, and we will be allowed to get married without being persecuted," I said sarcastically. My eyes were stinging with tears.
"Lighten up, will you?" Adrian jokingly pushed me, and I allowed myself to land on the bed beside Adrian.
"You're all sweaty," I complained.
"You are too," Adrian retorted.
"We should do something about that," I suggested. I got up and started towards the nearest bathroom. Adrian followed and faked a pout.
"You are no fun," he fake whined, mocking Grell. I laughed, and peered into the bathroom.
"I would not say that," I started. I looked back at Adrian. "That bathtub looks like it had plenty of room for two," I informed my master confidently. Adrian stared at me. He clearly could not believe what I just said to him. I chuckled at his reaction. I grabbed my master by the arm, dragging him into the bathroom, and prepared a bath.
We ended up splashing each other and covering each other with bubbles and water instead of actually taking a bath.