I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to you guys that read this story. I really do appreciate it. I wanted to let you know I have only one chapter left and it's kind of an epilogue instead of a drawing it out longer but if you guys want to mid chapters or something extra, feel free to let me know. I'll gladly oblige! Thank you again so much!

Chapter 25

Warren and Aryana had made their way to the local breakfast joint, seeing a few people from the night before at school and waving to them, making polite conversation when it was called for, and walking inside. They were seated by an overly happy blond woman, girl rather, who wouldn't stop giggling at everything Warren said or did, which wasn't much, and glaring at Aryana before leaving. The young woman was used to that from teenaged girls. For some reason, she had yet to date a man that didn't merit some kind of glower from someone else.

The two sat in a booth towards the back corner in front of a window that over looked the scenic parking lot. The smell of pancakes, waffles, syrup and bacon made her stomach growl louder than she would have liked. Warren chuckled, hearing the action and noticing her cross her arm over her stomach to try and silence it.

"Hungry?" he teased.

She narrowed her eyes on the man slightly but yeah, she was. Starving as a matter of fact. They each reached for the menus left on the table and looked through their selections.

"Hi there!"

The chipper voice made both of them stiffen slightly, neither paying enough attention to realize their waitress had come walking up. Aryana laughed to herself when it ended up being the eighteen or so year old that had led them to their seats, and she wouldn't take her eyes off Warren.

"My name's Becky and I'll be your server this morning. So, can I get you guy anything?"

Despite speaking to both of them, her eyes never left the young man, her smile wide. Warren glanced up and her briefly, seeing the nearly painfully wide smile she wore and looked to Aryana.

"You know what you want?" he asked her.

Aryana took a breath, her eyes still glazing over the breakfast menu.

"You're paying right?" she asked with a smile, looking over the laminated paper to him.

Warren seemed to weigh the options but nodded, he had already told her he would.

"Okay." she chimed with a smile. Reluctantly, Becky turned her attention to Aryana and waited. "I'll have a stack of three buttermilk pancakes, bacon, eggs and a hash brown."

Warren raised a brow to the young woman with the monstrous appetite.

"How do you want your eggs?" Becky asked with a lack luster tone.

"Scrambled." Aryana replied, setting her menu down and smiling as kindly and sarcastically as she could manage. "With a glass of tea and water too. Thank you so much."

A brief and annoyed smile touched Becky's face as she scribbled down the order before turning to Warren again, her attitude changing substantially.

"And you?" she cooed.

"The same." Warren replied, shaking his head at Aryana before setting his own menu down.

"I'll get that right out for you." she smiled, seeming slightly crestfallen that the man hadn't bothered giving her a second look before scurrying off.

"I don't think Becky likes me very much." Aryana joked slightly. "But she loooves you."

Warren cringed a bit and shook his head.

"She's probably still in high school." he replied with a sigh, leaning back into the mildly stuffed back of the booth, propping his arms up along the back. "Besides, I'm pretty over blondes."

"I bet she'd dye it for you."

Warren raised a brow to the woman openly mocking him.

"You're loving this aren't you?"

She shrugged as another waitress walked by with some ridiculously delicious smelling food that made her stomach turn al the more with hunger.

"Makes me feel better about my shit life the past couple of days." she replied, her eyes turning back to him. "So yeah, I kind of am."

She let a smile touch her lips but it wasn't the most convincing he had seen. He could tell she wasn't excited about what she was going to have to go through the next few days, weeks or maybe longer. He as curious about what she was going to do, silently hoping se might think what the hell and stay, but he knew it wasn't that easy.

"When you heading home?"

She shrugged again.

"My flight leaves around seven tonight. I don't know though. I kind of want to give Jason time to get his stuff out of my loft." she sighed, running her fingers through her hair and ruffling it slightly. "Then again, I don't really want him unsupervised either."

"I think your stuffs safe." he replied with a dry smile. "I think he might be too scared to steal any of it."

She let a weak laugh leave her lips as Becky came back with a tray of drinks and began setting them down in front of Warren. When she had moved to Aryana, setting down her tea, Becky let the tray tilt just enough for the glass of water to topple free and land directly onto the young woman. Ice cold water saturated Aryana, forcing her muscles to seize from the temperature before it adjusted itself. Her shirt was drenched, her jeans, the table and seat all around her dripped with the water that had spilled.

"Oh my god." Becky gasped, sounding barely genuine. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." she growled, swatting the water from her shirt before standing. Eyes of the patrons that had seen everything were on the young woman that seemed to be steaming. She looked to Warren, her eyes flashing black for a moment. "I'll be right back."

He nodded, his hand over his mouth as he silently prayed she wouldn't light the high school girl on fire as she walked off. Becky quickly set the tray down and smiled flirtatiously with the man as she used the towel she already had to begun to clean up the water.

"I'm so sorry." she sighed, sounding anything but, as she wiped up. "I didn't mean to get water on your sister."

Warren raised a brow to her, remaining silent for the most part.

"Sister?" he repeated.

"Well yeah." she replied, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear and throwing the charm on pretty thick again. "I mean, she's wearing a ring but you aren't so I figured she was probably your sister or something."

Warren sighed, realizing something Aryana probably already knew. The water was intentional and Becky had done it to get a chance to talk to Warren alone. He shook his head lightly before leaning forward to talk to her.

"Look," he said quietly, trying to keep the people around from hearing him. "You're pretty,"

"Thanks." she chimed happily, smiling wide and blushing. "I think you're really hot too."

Warren smiled briefly.

"But," he continued. Her smile faded almost instantly. "If you drop another drink or food on my fiancée again, I'm going to have to talk to your manager."

Becky looked almost horrified with what he had said, her face slightly whiter than before. Warren had been kind, lying his ass off but nice, about telling her off and kept the annoyance from his voice but he wanted his point to come across. She seemed to get it instantly.

Slowly Becky nodded and went about wiping up the rest of the water just as Aryana came walking back, bone dry. Warren was sure she had lit herself up in the bathroom to dry the liquid, saving herself time and embarrassment but she had likely waited until she was alone instead of scaring the straights. When she walked back to the booth, Becky was leaving with the tray and her head down, not looking at either Warren nor Aryana. The young woman looked confused at the man sipping his water.

"Did you yell at her?" she asked, slipping into her seat.

"No." Warren replied with a shake of his head.

"Well why does she looks so depressed?" she asked, Warren shrugging. "What'd you say to her?"

"Nothing." he lied.

She narrowed her eyes, not believing anything he said as she drank some of her tea before adding sugar.

The two forced pleasantries for a moment before their food came. Again, just like before, Becky didn't meet either of their eyes only adding to Aryana's confusion.

"Seriously," she asked, waiting until the young woman was gone. "What did you do to her? Threaten to eat her soul or something?"

Warren laughed whether he meant to or not at her random accusation, still sprinkling salt on his eggs and shaking his head.

"No." he chuckled. "Anyway, you really a councilor?"

She nodded, taking the salt and mimicking his action.

"Yup. For about four years now I guess." she replied.

"But you around people? Isn't that out of your comfort zone?"

"Hey," she snapped lightly at his open mocking. "No."

Warren smiled at her lack of response.

"Well what about you? A lawyer right?"

He nodded, eying her slightly.

"Something wrong with that?"

She cocked a brow to the man.

"Helping people? You? Don't you hate just about every living thing in the world?"

"Not everything." he answered simply, taking a bite of his pancakes. "Besides, I'm a prosecutor."

She laughed and shook her head in slight disbelief.

"Of course you are." she mused.

The two ate their food and had a rather decent and civil conversation, catching up like normal people would. It was nice.

The two paid, Warren leaving a decent tip because Aryana made him after suspecting he yelled at Becky, and went for a walk down the street to try and burn off some of their food. They walked for a little while before Aryana realized how late it was. She still had to pack and say goodbye to the Strongholds before heading home. Warren agreed to take her back to the hotel.

"I had fun." Aryana said, making her way off the man's bike.

"Yeah, me too." he replied, genuinely smiling this time.

There was a bit of awkwardness that was moving into the air and neither of them were sure what to do to make it stop.

"I guess I should get going then." she finally offered.

Warren nodded slowly and stood, moving towards the young woman for a hug. Aryana was more than willing to do so, hugging him tightly as he did to her. The two stood there for longer than they would have with most, Aryana inhaling the musty scent of the old leather jacket mixed with the cologne he always wore. Warren rested his chin on the young woman's head and could smell the flowery scent that always accompanied her. This moment, for them both, was the culmination of a relatively perfect day, at least as perfect as either of them were capable of having. Hesitantly, they parted though didn't step far back from each other, both still technically within the others' arms.

"So," Aryana said, in a quiet voice. "What do we do now?"

Warren shrugged.

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "Eight years is a long time."

She nodded slowly, looking away for a moment before meeting his warm chocolate eyes.

"Yeah, long time." she sighed, taking a step back out of his arms. "See you next reunion then?"

Warren chuckled at her joke and nodded slowly.

"It's a date." he replied with a smile, taking a step forward and leaning in.

Aryana felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes close as he lightly grazed her cheek, kissing it softly. She felt he fire that lingered when she slowly stood upright again.

"Hopefully sooner."

"Yeah," she blushed. "Well, you've got my number."

He nodded and watched as she took a few steps back from the man.

"Later Sparky." she smiled, lightly biting her bottom lip before turning around and moving towards the hotel.

He waved lightly though she didn't see it, the smile still on his face.

"See ya Firefly." he chuckled, straddling his bike again and setting off.