A.N: Hey guys! I know you completely lost hope to see this story to be updated but here it goes and I have no excuse. Anyways I hope you enjoy.
One more chapter left and we're done.
Chapter 23:
When I woke up, I had an headache and it reminded me a lot of the time I had been extremely stupid and drank trying to forget my feelings for Adrian.
Adrian! I thought as all the events of yesterday were flowing back to my mind. Him, so weak and vulnerable attached to the chair, getting my memory back, giving him my blood…the extreme tiredness that ensued.
I didn't even remember how we exactly made it back to court, all I remembered was being helped into a room and into a bed.
I probably had nightmares because the bed sheets were all tangled and the spot beside me was desperately empty.
What did I expect? Waking up in Adrian's arms was what I expected. My heart sank as I reached up to my bruised neck, did giving him m6 blood changed the way he once felt about me? I heard stories about Moroi opinion going down the toilet after a human or dhampir let him feed. Did Adrian feel the same?
I heard the door open softly and Adrian peeked inside. He was freshly showered and if it was not for the tired and strained look on his face it would be like nothing had happened.
When he realized I was awake, he walked tentatively in the bedroom, I had to do my best not to grimace….He seemed reluctant to be here, was he coming to break up with me?
"Hi?" I didn't mean for it to sound like a question.
"Hi?" He sat at the foot of the bed.
"I ummm…." I tried to put some order in my hair. "I'm not looking my best" I chuckled, trying to hide my discomfort while willing my heart to quiet down.
"You are always stunning Sage, you are and always will be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
I flushed as the dread in my heart started to ease.
I don't know what Adrian saw in my face but he patted the empty side. "I slept here you know."
"I…you did?" I asked, not able to stop the relieved smile to creep on my face.
He nodded. "Just….I….I wasn't sure you would like to see me in the morning."
"Why on earth wouldn't I want to see you?"
"Because of what you did to you" he whispered, looking down.
"Uh….Oh!" I nodded. "I won't deny that I'm a bit mad about it, it feels like you violated my right to make my own choices, my own mistakes but I understand why you did it. I would probably do anything to make sure you are safe."
"I'm not talking about taking away your memory Sage, I don't regret doing that as I never planned to keep it permanent. Being away from you, knowing you might be doing all kind of dirty with that David guy nearly killed me inside."
"I didn't do any dirty with David, part of me stopped me."
"Really?" He asked, his eyes shining with love.
I sat and reached for his hand, intertwining our fingers together. "But if it's not for tempering with my memory, why are you apologizing for?"
"For doing that to you" he replied fixing the spot on my neck where he had bitten me. "I never should have—I never should have taken your offer after everything your family has been through, after what your sister has been through I should have refused no matter what."
"We would have died if you had refused because I was not strong enough to carry you and I would have never left you alone there. Would you have rather we died?...Would you have rather I died?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"So don't be obtuse! I'm supposed to be the bigot, remember? We did what we had to do in these circumstances just leave it to that."
He chuckled and lay on his side, facing me.
I layed back down and turned toward him.
He rested his hand on my cheek, and gently stroked my cheekbone with his thumb. "How did I get so lucky?"
I turned my face to kiss his palm. "It helps that you're hot." We stayed like that for a little while, staring in each other eyes, stroking each other's face as to memorize it again.
"We need to get moving" he finally said, clearly reluctant to let go.
"So…in how much trouble are we?" I asked after my shower while trying to tame my crazy hair
I could see Adrian looking at me in the mirror, but he remained silent.
I turned around. "Adrian? How…how bad is it?"
"Rose said you looked in the box…that you saw everything."
"I don't see how it is relevant right now I-"
"I promise it is very relevant."
"Yes I did."
"Did you see the—"
"The ring?" I nodded "Of course I did."
"Did you like the ring?"
"What's not to like?! It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."
"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen" he said, coming to stand in front of me. He took a deep breath and I could see all the sign of nervousness in his face. "Listen I know we're young, you are 19 and I'm 22 but-"
"Adrian—"
He shushed me with a quick peck. "Let me finish please. I might be 22 but I know, I know you are the one for me. I never suffered more than when I lost you….it was a pain so sharp and deep. I can't lose you again Sage….I just can't."
"You won't lose me" I let go of one of his hand, and cupped his cheek.
"Will you stay with me?" He asked, sounding like a child.
"For as long as I keep breathing and even after that if I have my say in it."
He got on one knee. "I won't pretend I'm perfect because we both know I'm far from it, but I'm working hard to become perfect for you. I love you…not only for you but for the man you see in me, the man that I want to become just for you…The man that your unwavering love make me become. You heard it all but you knew… you knew that I'm what you see and not what they say I am." He kissed the hand he was still holding. "I can tell you that I will fall short, I will get on your nerves, and I will make mistakes but I can also promise you that you will never find anyone who will work as hard as I will to try to become the man you deserve in your life, I will love you and cherish you with every fiber of my being." He reached in his pocket getting out the ring box from the shoe box. "Sydney…Will you marry me?"
It was true, we were young….so young it was unreasonable, our relationship was forbidden, making it official was an abomination…We couldn't be more different on everything, living completely different lives. These were all major reasons to refuse, the old logical Sydney wouldn't even consider the proposition thinking it was preposterous but instead I found myself saying "yes, of course I will marry you"
He put the ring on my finger and kissed me so hard and passionately that I felt like my head was spinning. "I love you, god you are everything I ever wanted" he whispered against my lips.
"And now I get to keep you." I sighed. "No but seriously, are we in much trouble?"
I chuckled, intertwining our fingers.
"So what now?" I insisted
"We need to go see Lissa and see what needs to be done."
Adrian led me to a small room and I was grateful to find coffee. I had barely drunk two sips when Lissa, Christian and an older man entered the room. Lissa looked both stressed and exhausted which was not to reassure me.
"Please take a seat" she said before sitting across from us. "Okay I don't think there is a nice way to say that…The alchemists think you are the one who kidnapped Sydney…well not kidnapped but…." She grimaced. "They gave us an ultimatum; we have to give you both to them."
"Do they know we're here?" Asked Adrian.
She shook her head. "No they don't, but they know you'll show up eventually." She took a deep breath. "We'll stand by you of course."
The older man behind Christian grumbled something but looked down when I met his eyes.
"What did they threaten to do?" Adrian asked, eerily calm
"Take away their….duties."
"You will lose your throne!" Adrian shouted
"If it's what it takes."
Adrian shook his head. "No Lissa that's….no! I know what you have to do, I always known."
"And what would that be?"
He shrugged dismissively. "Disavow me."
"Are you fucking shitting us?!" Asked Christian, almost falling from his seat.
"What….What does that mean?" I asked, looking at him.
"It means that he will lose his title, his money, all our support. Sort of like an Amish."
"Adrian come on! You can't do that!" I turned toward him
"Do you love me for any of those reasons?"
"No of course not."
"Would you have refused to marry me knowing all that?"
"I don't love you for all that Adrian, I love you in spite of all that."
"Would you like to see a war and Lissa lose her throne?"
I looked at Lissa. "No of course not, I truly believe she is good for your people and I knew when I decided to be with you that I would lose my family."
"Are you afraid you will regret it?" He asked worry clear in his voice.
I smiled. "No not for a minute but you might."
He scoffed. "Never, my name and position is worthless without you." He reached for my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine before turning toward Lissa. "It's settled then, disavow us but we need one last favor."
"Okay…."
"I found the priest to marry us, it is the only weak point in the alchemists' rules. What god units no human can break but this priest is in Scotland and we'll have to take an actual commercial plane, you need to keep them off our tracks for at least 12 hours, is that possible?"
"Yes but….let's say it'll work the way you want, what will happen then? How are you going to deal…financially?"
"The apartment is in my name, the car too and I have some savings. My fiancée is a freaking genius, she'll get a full ride for college as for me….i'll work part time."
"Me too"
Adrian kissed my hand. "We'll be fine-"
"As long as we are together."
"You are finishing each other sentences? Urgh I feel like puking right now." Christian groaned.
"James, please ask the Alchemists to come here to expose me the grievance and see if I decide to support them or not." Said Lissa to the older man behind us, he nodded and left.
"It should give you about 24 hours, Dimitri will drive you to the airport now." She pulled Adrian into a bear hug and extended her hand toward me. "You are going to be alone now, both of you…No family, no friends…nothing. Take care of each other."
Lissa reached for the phone on the table while Adrian turned toward me resting his hands on my cheeks. "It's okay with you Sage right? You don't mind becoming my wife now?"
"No I don't mind, I'm just scared for you, you will still be Moroi and you will not have any protection."
"We'll lay low and the apartment is very safe and…" he laughed "to be honest I really don't care." He kissed me softly. "As long as I'm with you I'll be okay."
"Your belonging are already in the car, Dimitri is already in the car park. You should leave fast."
I finally relaxed in our flight to Edinburgh and this is when it hit me. "I'll be your wife in a few hours."
He smiled. "I know I can't believe what a lucky bastard I am."
Once we made it to Edinburgh, Adrian rented a car and we drove for three hour until we reached a small village
The priest met us in front of the church. "I am ready when you are….Would you like to change?"
I looked down at my clothes, and even if I hated to admit it I imagined my wedding as being a bit more….Glamorous.
"Is there a place when we could shower and change quickly? I want to be presentable to marry the love of my life" I knew he was doing that more for me than himself.
"The Smithson's will be pleased to help you out" he said, pointing to a house. "They are like you, Moroi and human couple."
The Smithsons were very nice people. The man was Moroi and lent Adrian a suit. The wife, Moira, took me in the guest bedroom. I took a quick shower, and almost cried with happiness when I walked into the bedroom and saw a beautiful white dress on the bed.
"Do you want me to do your hair?" Asked Moira, after knocking softly.
"Is this yours?"
She nodded, "it might not be the most beautiful dress but it brought me luck. I married my John 25 year ago, and we love each other as much as day one."
"Thank you so much. I….Thank you."
Moira made me sit, and curled my hair. "Your man looks very dashing too, if you want my opinion."
"My man is the most beautiful inside and out."
Moira chuckled. "I'm sure he is perfect for you."
"Would you—would you be my witness?" I asked, meeting her eyes in the mirror.
She smiled broadly. "Of course little bird."
John knocked at the door. "We're going to the church, the young one is very impatient to marry his soul mate, you need you to hurry."
She laughed. "We'll meet you there in 5 minutes."
"Your dress is beautiful Moira" I said, looking at myself in the mirror once I was ready. "Thank you for lending it to me."
She opened the door and reached for my hand. "You are welcome; you are giving it a second life."
When I walked into the church, Adrian took my breath away. He was stunning in his black suit, and if I could trust the look in his face he thought just the same.
"God Sage, you are a vision of heaven" he said, reaching for my hand as I came to stand in front of the priest.
Thirty minutes later we were married and standing in Moira and John's guest room.
"I'm sorry Mrs Ivashkov it's not really the marriage that I wanted to offer you and our honeymoon will be on a plane back to California."
"I didn't want anything more Adrian" I said looking at him. "The wedding is not important, the person you are marrying is."
Adrian came behind me, and started to untie my dress, kissing my neck softly. "So what now "he whispered in my neck as my dress fell on the floor.
I turned around, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Now? Well now you make love to your wife and then we go back home and start building our life together."
He grinned, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I like that plan" he said before kissing me with all the love and passion we both felt.
We might be alone now but I knew that we would be okay that our love would conquer it all.