Mason and I made our way through the lobby and back into the elevator. We had a very uneventful trip to my room. Mason gladly agreed to avoid the topic of my grandmother. I could tell he was trying to give me a chance to relax and regroup.

I changed my clothes into some great jeans and a soft sweater. Pulling on a pair of warm boots I was glad that the thick sole made me feel taller. I was starting to realize why my mother had insisted on such strategic packing. Mason waited patiently and thankfully didn't make any other comments about my friendship with Mathew.

Walking into the room I noticed Mason had pulled the curtains aside and was staring at the view out my window. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. Lying my head on his chest I felt cocooned in his strong arms. Mason was so warm it felt like being enveloped in a blanket. If I was honest with myself I knew I was getting attached to having Mason around. The reasonable part of my brain tried to warm me against getting in too deep with him, but I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my brain and curled tighter into his chest.

"What do you want to do today, Sweetheart?" Mason spoke into my hair.

Looking up at him, but not letting go I said, "I have no idea. I just don't want to have to move."

Mason gave me a genuine smile, "We can ski, swim, or stare out the window all day, whatever makes you happy."

"It's your vacation too Mason. What do you want to do?"

Mason brushed the stray hairs away from my face with his pointer finger. "I just want to have a normal day with you. A day where the two of us can just relax. What would you be doing if you were at home?"

Feeling silly I pulled my focus away from his amazing eyes back onto his shirt, "You'll think I'm boring if I tell you."

Mason let out a rare laugh, "Paris nothing about you has been boring. It might be a good time for a little boring."

I smiled into his chest, "If I were at home I would probably spend the day with a book or my kindle and I would get a warm blanket," I said squeezing my arms, "wrap up and read all day."

Mason pulled away slightly, "If you want to read me a story I'm happy to be your blanket." I gave him an indulgent smile. Mason pulled me close and kissed me gently. It was a soft sweet kiss. We stood at the window for a long time just watching the snow fall under the lights of the resort.

My phone started buzzing on my bed. I detangled myself sadly from Mason and checked my message.

"Mason we've got to get out of here," I said suddenly.

My alarmed tone snapped Mason into action. "What's wrong Paris?"

"My Dad just texted me. He's on his way up here with my grandmother. She wants to see my room. We have to leave now or I'm going to be stuck with her."

"Got everything you need?" Mason asked calmly. I grabbed my purse and we were out the door.

"We can't take the elevator," I panicked, "we'll run into them." Mason grabbed my hand and led me in the opposite direction. We followed the hall until it dead ended and turned around to try another hallway. After a few tries we found a musty set of stairs that were marked for emergencies only. My grandmother attempting to hijack the rest of my day with Mason was definitely an emergency in my book. Luckily, as we slowly pushed the heavy door open no alarms sounded. We followed the flights of stairs down counting as we went. When we arrived at what we thought was the third floor we pushed open the door and exited the stairwell.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" I ask Mason hopefully.

"Well," he started, "it appears to be some kind of corporate convention area." I nodded but had no idea where that was. "This is the same floor my room is on so if we look around a bit I'll find something that looks familiar.

I looked around and sighed. I really didn't have any idea where we were, but I was very glad not to be caught by my grandmother.

"Hey Paris," Mason said stopping in place. He ran his hands up my back and into my hair. With a slight tug he turned my eyes up to his, "You know right? You know I'll take care of you?" He looked so genuine there was no way I couldn't trust him. Mason didn't have to try or practice lines to be romantic, he just was.

I grinned a lazy smile. I started running my hands up his arms to his shoulders and pulled him toward me. "I know Mason," I told him convincingly.

Mason leaned forward so that our foreheads were touching and closed his eyes. No one said anything, we didn't have to. Just being together was peaceful.

Mason and I took our time and walked around. We got tuned around constantly and just when we thought we were getting somewhere the hallway would end, but it was incredibly fun. We took the time to talk about silly things like our favorite movies and since Mason never watched television I told him about the best shows. He told me all about his school and some of the classes he was taking. I loved how honest he was with me. It was an odd opportunity to get to know him, but I was enjoying every second.

Mason always had at least on hand on me. Either we were holding hands or he had one of his massive arms around me. Occasionally when we got frustrated he would grab my waist and pull me to him for a quick kiss. It was glorious. I know he was trying to make me feel safe, but when I was with Mason I was never scared.

By the time we made it back to Mason's room I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop. Mason attempted to put the pass code into his door with his free hand, but his body was shaking so hard with laughter that he messed it up the first time and had to start over. Halfway through his second try the door across the hall flew open. Rose stood in front of us with a furious look on her face that quickly changed to baffled.

"Mason," Rose said softly, "I didn't realize it was you. Hi Paris."

Startled I quietly returned, "I'm sorry are the rooms on this floor not sound proof."

Mason looked confused. Rose recovered quickly, "These rooms aren't sound proof like on your floor. You have to be careful around here, but it's not a big deal. Is your brother around?" Rose wondered.

"I'm not sure. We haven't seen him yet. We just came down here to escape her grandmonster," I bit back another laugh and stared at the ground as Mason continued the conversation.

"Okay, I was hoping we could have a family dinner tonight. Paris you should come too, Abe is planning something really fun. It's going to be early and very casual you won't need to change. We can meet here, 4:30?" Rose said hopefully.

We agreed and entered Mason's room in search of Alex.

"Talking about Alex has reminded me that I need to call Ben," I said sadly scrolling down on my phone. "O My Gosh it's almost midnight," I yelled as I saw the time flashing on the display. I was totally shocked and mad at myself for letting Ben down.

"You are getting used to our nocturnal schedule," Mason pointed out. He lead me into his room and I noticed that it looked a lot more like a normal hotel room. It was simple with two queen size beds and what appeared to be Alex's clothes covering the entire surface of one half of the room. "Sorry about the mess, Alex is a complete slob."

I smiled, "I understand I have a brother too."

"How old is Ben?" Mason wondered as he tossed Alex's stray clothing back onto his bed.

"Ben's nine and incredibly energetic. He drives his teachers, but mostly my mom crazy." I laughed thinking of all the ways Ben had gotten himself in trouble.

"Wow you guys are what seven years apart?"

I nodded, "Yup seven, almost eight years apart." I paused trying to decided if I would tell him more. "My mother was really sick when she was pregnant with me. Abe told me that everyone was afraid she was going to die." I looked down at my hands, "I think it took her six years to talk my dad into trying again. He won't talk about it, but I know that was one of the the scariest times in his life."

Mason looked confused, "That's unusual, dhampirs are typically extremely healthy. Was she sick with your brother?"

I felt like all the wind had been knocked out of me. I had no intention of opening this particular can of worms and I was a terrible lier. "No, she wasn't sick at all. There are some other extenuating factors I would rather not get into," I said watching his upbeat expression wilt.

"Right," Mason said quietly with is eyebrows pinched. "Are you two close?"

"We're super close. Ben's a good kid he just needed his energy focused in the right direction. Once he started taekwondo last year our house got a lot quieter. He seems to really enjoy it. I was always grateful my parents waited so long to give me a sibling." I continued, slowly sitting on Mason's bed, "I remember with when they brought him home from the hospital, he was so tiny. My father was so proud." I smiled wistfully.

"Alex and I aren't that far apart, but I still remember taking care of him. It's hard to think that soon I won't get to see him everyday. It's going to drive me crazy."

"I know, what will they do without us?" I joked. My phone buzzed to alert me of another text and I braced myself for another adventure, "My father applauds our escape. He's happy I have such resourceful friends," I read to him off of my screen. "I think that he likes you Mason."

"Does he usually give your boyfriends a hard time?" Mason remarked tightly.

I couldn't hold him my laugh. "You say that like I have a new one every week." He gazed at me still expecting an answer and plopped down on the bed across from me. "Honestly, I haven't ever brought anyone in-particular home. I don't really date much. The idea of getting close to someone is impossible. I would have to lie to him about practically everything. It's so different with you." I could feel myself blush and hoped that he might not notice. It felt uncomfortable to discuss this with him, but he seemed oddly interested. "What about you?"

Mason looked at me questioningly "What about me?"

I tilted my head and smirked at him. "Come on Mason do you have to beat the girls away?"

"Not really. I don't date, it's hard to imagine that kind of freedom. Mostly at school dhampirs just hook up. Sometimes they stay exclusive for a little while, but it's not a good idea to get too attached," he told me sadly. "My dad doesn't want me to be distracted, staying focused is important to him."

I hadn't considered this. Rose seemed fine with Alex's revelation earlier and she invited me to dinner. I hadn't considered Dimitri, he was a whole different ball game. I was suddenly very nervous about dinner.

Mason smiled, "I hope you don't play poker."

"Poker?" I repeated.

"I can always tell how you're feeling just by looking at your face Paris. You would suck at poker," Mason told me framing my face with his hands, "my dad thinks you're great don't worry."

I tried to maintain my scared face, but looking into his beautiful eyes I faltered and cracked a smile.

"Do you think that I could take you out on a date?" he asked shyly.

I looked at him like he was crazy. What did he think this was?

"Come on Paris. Let me take you on a real date. I want to pick you up and plan something special? Please."

How could I say no to that? "When were you thinking?" I tried to say casually.

"How about Thursday night," He paused to pull me into his lap, "I'll find some place romantic to have dinner."

"Okay sounds fun," I said brushing his long bangs away from his face so that I could look into his eyes.

I heard the familiar click of the door and looked over to see Alex enter the room. "Really Mason could you at least do that on your own bed." Alex said faking disgust and shaking his head.

Mason shifted me so that we could move to sit on his bed. "Mom's looking for you Alex."

"Yeah she told me about dinner." Alex remarked taking off his ski coat, "I get the impression they are planning something good."

I spent the next few hours introducing Mason and Alex to my Nick at night friends Seinfeld, Roseanne, and Frazer. Late night television left a lot to be desired, but at least we had a satellite with five hundred channels. Sadly, I couldn't find any Friend's episodes. I had fun explaining all the different shows to the guys and snuggling with Mason. Alex did surprisingly entertaining impressions.

My father texted me to ask if I minded him having dinner with some of his old friends and I told him about Rose's invite. So at 4:30 we walked over to Rose and Dimitri's room.

"Hey guys," Rose greeted us, "grab your coats." She frowned at me and reached into her closet and handed me one of her coats. I put it on, but quickly realized it was an inch too short in my arms.

"I'll go up to my room and get mine," I offered.

"Here take mine," Mason offered me he his ski coat. It was huge and the arms were way too long. I pulled up the sleeves and wrapped it around me a few times to make the gigantic size less noticeable. There was no way I was giving it back, it smelled amazing. "Thanks Mason," I told him wishing badly I could pull him to me and thank him with another bruising kiss. Mason put on what looked like a dressier coat and we all made our way down the hall.

"Where are we going Mom?" Alex was the first to ask.

Rose smiled deviously and teased, "It's a surprise and I think you are all going to love it."

We made our way down to the lobby and followed Rose and Dimitri to a large hotel van waiting out front for us. Alex and Mason looked stunned, but climbed into the fifteen passenger van to find Abe already waiting for us.

"Do you think that I should call my Dad," I asked Abe.

"Nope already told him," Abe smiled patting my leg, "Adrian said if you weren't safe with us you weren't safe anywhere." I nodded, that sounded like something my dad would say.

Dimitri drove with Rose sitting in the seat next to him. Abe brought one of his personal Guardians with us and he sat by the window opposite me. In the last row Mason and Alex sat silently for the entire ten minute drive. This seemed unusual, especially for Alex.

"What's wrong?" I turned around to ask the boys sitting in the row behind me.

"Nothings wrong." Alex answered, "It's just that they have never let us leave the resort before." He looked nervous and extremely jittery.

We pulled up to a small strip mall that looked a little run down, but had a huge parking lot. Including ours there was only a handful of cars in the lot. As I jumped out of the van I noticed a red awning with the words Uncle Ou's Flaming Wok spelled out in tacky fake gold lettering. There was even a large gold dragon with a red cape backlit on the sign. There was no way that the restaurant could possibly be open. It was almost 5 in the morning.

Abe climbed out behind me and I turned to him, "How did you get them to stay open?"

"The owner has an understanding with the resort. There are always ways to make things happen if you know the right people," he told me in not giving me anymore details.

Mason and Alex hopped out beside me, "You guys like Chinese food?" I wondered.

"I'm not sure I have ever eaten it," Mason returned surprising me.

"Really," I was a little shocked," You haven't even ordered delivery before? Mason shrugged and held the door open for me. There was no other customers eating but, there was a short man dressed in chef whites that led us to the table and a waitress waiting to greet us.

Abe put his arm around my shoulder and led me to a large round table that was already set up with menus and water glasses, "You're going to have to help the boys order tonight.

"This is so cool, everyone is going to be so jealous," Alex said taking the seat next to me.

Annoyed, Mason smacked Alex brotherly on the back of the head with a menu and gestured for him to move his butt over. Mason sat in the now vacant seat next to me and smiled into his menu pleased with his accomplishment.

Dimitri excused himself and left the table discreetly. He turned and walked back out the door. I watched him concerned, "Don't worry Paris Dimitri is just going to check out the exterior. We had it swept earlier, but Dimitri is always cautious," Rose explained as Abe's guardian took off in the direction of the kitchen.

By the time Dimitri returned the waitress had come and poured us each a glass of hot tea. Alex seemed to be studying the menu carefully. "If this is a Chinese restaurant how come the menu isn't in Chinese," he finally asked his mother.

Rose laughed, "Alex this isn't really an authentic Chinese restaurant it is more like American Chinese food."

I smiled at Alex sadly. It was obvious to me that Alex had missed out on a lot of general culture being locked away in Montana all these years. Mason hid his inexperience better, but I could still see that he was uneasy. Alex continued to fire questions at Rose and me about the restaurant and the food. It was like a bizarre game of trivial pursuit Chinese restaurant edition.

When the waitress returned everyone turned to me to order for the table," Come on Paris order something good," Alex said enthusiastically. I couldn't help myself I wanted them to try everything. I ordered all my favorite things and despite there only being seven us I once again ordered enough food for an army. Rose's only request was crab wontons one of my favorite appetizers.

When the food arrived Mason and Alex stared at it waiting for direction. Rose and Abe seemed much more adventurous and dived right in.

"What kind of soup is this," Mason asked picking it up and pouring it back into his bowl with his spoon, "it's kind of a strange color."

"Egg drop," I returned joyfully shoveling it into my mouth, "try putting some pepper in it."

After a few bites Mason seemed to get over his issues and polished off the bowl. Abe smiled at me indulgently, but pushed the bowl away from him, commenting on the strange texture.

To Rose's horror Alex destroyed the crab wontons when I introduced him to the joys of sweet and sour sauce. "Slow down Alex, I promise there's enough food coming for everyone," my laughter was suddenly halted when I felt Mason reach under the tablecloth and place his hand firmly on my leg. I tried desperately not to react keeping my focus on Alex, and fought to keep the smile of my face. I instinctively covered his hand with mine and squeezed tightly. Mason let out a loud laugh he disguised by directing it toward his brother.

It felt almost indecent sitting there trying to have a normal conversation with Mason's parents while I felt his thumb gently rubbing circles on my leg. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears and the flush was starting to form on my cheeks as Mason inched his fingers higher on my leg.

"You all right Paris," Abe smirked at me knowingly. Of course Abe noticed the change in my demeanor. I was fighting so hard to ignore it. He tilted his head toward me and smirked a knowing face.

I willed my pulse to relax and pulled my hands up to fold them innocently under my chin, placing my elbows obviously on the table. "I'm just excited for the next course," I obviously lied as I watched the waitress carry a ridiculously large tray over toward our table.

"Okay, so on the left side of the table," I pointed and explained, "we have got the house special lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, and pineapple fried rice. On the right we have sesame beef, kung po chicken, and shrimp with Chinese vegetables. Lastly," I gave a devious smile, "for the more adventurous, in the middle of the table we have the mu shu duck and General Tso's tofu." The entire table sat silent and stared at me.

I grabbed some chop sticks, pulled them apart and began to dig into the kung po chicken, "Better dig in this stuff is not good cold," I said encouragingly. Slowly the rest of the table passed around the platters and shot me more questions about what exactly the different dishes contained.

Alex watched me eat intently for a minute and finally asked, "How in the world do you get the food into your mouth?"

I flashed him a bright smile and tried encouragingly to explain to him the correct way to the hold the chop sticks. After many failed attempts Alex had almost given up, but I remember an old trick. When the waitress came over to refill our water glasses I asked her if she had any rubber bands. I took the paper wrapper off of a new set of chop sticks, folded it, and placed it between the sticks. After wrapping the end with the rubber band I tested it, "Okay now try it Alex," I said handing the newly fashioned chop sticks across Mason to him.

Alex took a minute to study my creation and tried them out. "Wow that's amazing Paris. You are like some crazy Chinese MacGyver."

"You have never seen Seinfeld, but you know who MacGyver is?" I wondered.

Alex shrugged, "I'm usually awake for Saturday Night Live."

"Got ya," I nodded, "well, I can't take credit for the chop stick idea. Most Chinese restaurants have a smaller version that they give kids trying to use them for the first time."

Alex looked insulted. Mason was beaming at me obviously enjoying our banter. His right hand was firmly attached to my leg and he was happily eating with his left hand. Rose was trying desperately to talk Dimitri into eating something besides the rice. He sat quietly and picked at the different food Rose piled onto his plate.

At the end of the meal I was impressed with how much food we had all eaten. I had definitely polished off more than my share and I was amazed how adventurous Mason had been. Abe would probably need to get a snack when we got back to the resort.

Abe leaned toward me and gestured toward the waitress and the chef laughing loudly and looking in our direction. "What do you think Paris, are they laughing at me?" Abe appeared to be totally unfazed by his observation.

I really couldn't blame them for thinking that Abe's grape purple suit and matching purple and grey plaid fedora looked odd.

I listened carefully, "Yes, they seemed to be particularly fixated on your hat." I gave a shy smile and shared a laugh with Abe.

"You can't possibly understand them," Mason said unbelievably, "they are talking so fast."

"I could certainly be wrong," I conceded.

Alex asked curiously, "What language are they speaking?"

"Mandarin," I said definitively, "which is good because my Cantonese is not great."

"Is there a big difference," Alex continued.

"Yes, they are completely different. The languages are practically unintelligible from each other. They have completely different phonetics and intonation."

Mason was still unconvinced, "Did you have to study this in school?" I could see the tell tale wrinkle forming in his forehead when he was skeptical.

"No," I sighed, "One-fifth of the worlds population lives in China, over a billion people. It seems naive not to have general knowledge of the language and people that have so much influence in our world. They have an amazing history and culture. "

"You know Paris for a second I though it was your mom sitting there," Dimitri spoke to me for the first time. I was caught totally off guard when he flashed me a breath taking smile. Dimitri seemed to be entertained by me.

"Thank you, that's a wonderful complement," I returned nervously.

Our waitress returned clearing our plates and instead of a check she left a large pile of fortune cookies. I wanted to pay my share, especially because I was the one that ordered the majority of the food, but Abe appeared to have it already prearranged.

I tossed a fortune cookie at Alex, "Okay, crack it open it up and tell us all your fortune."

Alex didn't need anymore encouragement. He ripped it open enthusiastically and read out loud, "The world is your oyster, but that doesn't mean you'll get it's pearl." He turned the paper over looking for more,"that's all I get."

"The great thing about fortune cookies is if you don't like what the first one says you can read another one," I said lobbing another on in his direction.

Mason tossed one at me and I cracked open the cookie like I had done a hundred times before and I read my fortune, "It's okay to have butterflies in your stomach, the trick is to get them to fly in formation."

"My turn," Rose said holding her hands out as Mason tossed her a cookie. She read, "The harder you try not to be your parents, the more likely you are to become them." Rose gave Abe a grave expression, but everyone else at the table exploded in laughter.

Alex tried to get Abe to read one, but he tossed the extra one at Mason and stood up to leave. Slowly we all followed him and made our way out to the van. Mason grabbed my hand and forced me into the back with him. He pulled the chair back into it's original position not giving Alex a chance to follow us.

"You didn't read your fortune," I said quietly.

Mason leaned over and whispered, "Later," into my ear giving causing goosebumps to breakout across my skin. I gave a little shiver, but I wasn't cold. "I like seeing you in my clothes."

I silently shook my head and pulled his coat tighter indicating my disinterested in parting with it. Alex spent the trip back chatting animatedly with everyone about our dinner. I looked out the window at the nearly full moon and enjoyed just being close to Mason.

Pulling up back at the resort we quickly exited the van and moved inside away from the frigid winter night. I gave Abe an enormous hug and thanked repeatedly for giving us such a special night. Abe left and the rest of us moved toward the elevators.

Facing the elevators I waited for them to open, but suddenly jumped forward when I felt a pair of hands landing forcefully on the tops of my shoulders. I turned to find Matty laughing wildly at my startled reaction.

"Hey, hands to yourself." Rose shouted at him in her no nonsense tone. "Didn't they teach you that in Kindergarden?" Sensing something was wrong Mason took a step in between us.

"Where have you been?" Mathew slurred completely ignoring Rose's comment. "Your Grandmother was looking for you. I wanted to cover for you, but I don't like any of these," he paused swaying back and forth and waving his hand, "you know people." He laughed at his own strange joke.

Dimitri put on hand on each of his arms and forced Mathew to take a step back away from all of us. "I believe that you are drunk Mr. Zelkos. You need to find somewhere to get yourself under control and sleep it off. If you cannot do it by yourself I am happy to find someone to assist you."

Mathew closed his eyes and lazily shook his head back and forth, "You know Paris you really could do way better."

"Really," I returned louder than I meant to, "I have been thinking the same about you." This was not how I wanted to have this conversation with Mathew. He was making a scene and people walking by were stopping to watch the show.

"Did you tell him," Mathew flicked his wrist in Mason's direction. "what a little genius you are?"

Mathew tried to move closer to Mason, but Dimitri stayed between them. "I bet she didn't tell you? Did she? Paris will be sent off to Harvard or Princeton or one of the schools for crazy overachieving book worms soon," he was mumbling and was forced to stumble not doing a great job standing under his own power. "Did Paris spill the beans yet? Has she told you where they want to send her first?" he shook his pointer finger at me and let out a strange chuckle, "Off to help all of us idiots."

"Enough Mathew," I stepped around Mason and went straight toward him. "You promised to keep your mouth shut! Don't you dare speak about things you don't understand." It was a low blow, but he deserved it. My wonderful night had just come crashing down around me and I was pissed.

"Get her away from him," Dimitri shouted at Mason. The elevator doors opened and he and Alex pulled me inside. Rose gave me a sympathetic smile. "I don't have anything left to say to him," I said to no one in particular as the door closed.

I pushed the button of my floor and let Mason wrap his arms around me. I leaned into him relaxing and laid my check on his chest. I was suddenly very tired. I took a deep breath and tried to memorize exactly what it felt like.

"Do you have any idea what he was talking about?" Mason asked cautiously.

"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" I begged, speaking directly into his chest.

The elevator opened on my floor and he released me. "Sure," he said sweetly and kissed the top of my head. "You want some company?"

"Thanks but," I forced a smile, "I really need to go to bed. Goodnight guys it was fun. Will you call me tomorrow?" I asked uncertainly.

Mason released me, "You know I will."

I gave the a small wave and turned the corner out of sight.

I apologize for taking so long to update. My whole house was ridiculously sick and I lost almost a week of writing time. I usually update once a week but, I'm planning my next update for Monday. It's going to be a good chapter. I appreciate everyone's patience. Thank you so much for reading and for all your comments. They keep me writing when I think no one is reading.