Author's note: I hope this chapter finds you all well. I had originally thought to wait a couple days to update this, but inspiration struck and here it is.

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Happy reading!

Chapter Seven

I felt fangs pierce my neck and I jerked awake. I put my hand to the wound and discovered there wasn't one. I looked around the room, trying to remember where I was. And then it all came back as I spotted Adrian.

My Moroi fiancé still slept on the other side of his massive bed. I drew my knees up and looked around the room nervously. It had taken a lot of convincing for me to stay here my last night in town. I didn't even want to sleep in the first place. The only way I was able to finally doze off was because Adrian had promised to stay awake, which he would have done anyway.

I looked toward the window and saw the sun peeking through the side. I stretched as I looked over at the clock. It read 11:38. I sighed and leaned over Adrian, kissing him.

"Mm." He shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake.

I got up and muddled around his apartment for a while. I dressed and made myself something to eat and sat down with the coffee from the brand new coffee pot my fiancée had bought me the night before to convince me to stay.

I channel surfed for a while, finally stopping on some Spanish soap opera I couldn't understand. I sat sipping my second cup of coffee when Adrian leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of my head.

I looked up and smiled. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon." He mumbled and took my cup from my hand. He made a face after taking a sip. "Ugh."

"Sorry. You did buy cream and sugar for yourself." I took my cup back.

"What are you watching?"

"Spanish soap opera. There was nothing else interesting."

"Hm." He walked away, scratching his head and yawning. "How long have you been awake?"

"Since a little before noon."

"It's almost three." He came to sit beside me a short time later with his own cup. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I didn't know what time you fell asleep." I put my hand on his knee and moved a little closer. "I had a nightmare."

"About what?" He moved some hair off my cheek and kissed it.

"One of your buddies having me for lunch."

He pulled my head onto his shoulder and kissed my hair. "Well, they're all asleep right now."

"You're awake." I teased. "Are you going to bite me?"

"If I remember correctly, you aren't too delicious. Well, not your blood. Your skin is quite tasty from my personal experience. And there's another bit of you that I wouldn't mind testing one of these days."

I felt myself blushing. "You need to stop."

"Stop what?" He rubbed his hand slowly on my thigh.

"Adrian!" I moved away.

"I'm sorry." But the grin on his face told me he was far from it.

I reached up and started playing with his hair. "Are you going to drive me to the airport tonight or am I taking a cab?"

"You're driving yourself, honey." He kissed my cheek.

"Fantastic." I watched him for a while, still moving my fingers through his hair. "You're so beautiful."

He smiled. "You're not so bad yourself."

I kissed him. "Thank you."

"Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed me hard on the mouth, pushing me back against the cushions.

"Mm, stop." I said against his lips. "Let's just be together for these last few hours."

He sighed and moved away, pushing his hair back from his face. He threaded his fingers through mine along the back of the couch.

"This apartment is a little too stylish." I joked, looking around. "I was too busy kissing you last night to process it."

"I'm sure I can rustle up some yellow paint and a plaid couch for my house in Utah."

"I'll keep my eye out for that couch." I promised.

"So what would you like to do? There are plenty of restaurants open twenty-four hours for the Dhampirs who work during the day. Let me show you around before everyone wakes up."

"Adrian…"

"Okay, then we'll go outside the wall."

"No, I'll face my fear. Take me to the place you go when you can't sleep."

"Okay. Let me shower." He finished off his coffee and stood. "Care to join me?"

"No thank you."

"You sure?" He pulled off his shirt and stood with his hands on his hips. "I know you can't resist my naturally cut body."

I laughed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Here." He threw the shirt at me. "Take that one home, too."

"You just like seeing me wear your shirts."

"I do. There's nothing hotter than seeing a gorgeous woman wearing my shirt with very little underneath it."

I blushed.

"And you look good otherwise, just for the record." He turned without another word.

Jill walked into the diner right after we ordered. She slid into the booth beside me.

"Hope you don't mind me joining." She said, accepting the menu from the waitress. She ordered coffee and lots of cream as she went over the menu.

"It's fine. I'm glad I got to see you." I said. "I'm leaving tonight to go back to Utah."

"I'm still trying to convince Mom to let me come there this summer. At least for a couple weeks."

"I hope you can. I think my mom would like meeting you."

"I'd like to meet her too. She sounds pretty awesome."

"And we'd like you to help us with wedding plans."

"I'd love to." She gushed.

She ordered and our food arrived a little while later. We made small talk for a while. And then Jill kicked Adrian under the table. "I'm trying to eat over here."

He smiled into his plate of bacon. "Sorry, kid. But you know how to block it pretty well now."

"Just because I know how, doesn't mean I have the energy to do it all the time."

He chuckled. "At least I wasn't thinking dirty thoughts."

"Not that time. It's still vomit-inducing when all you think about is 'how beautiful Sydney is' and 'how much you're going to miss her' and 'oh, she's going to make such a great mother one day.'"

"Mother?" I asked. "You're still on that?"

"I will convince you one day." He said adamantly.

"Not any time soon."

"No, I'm sure of it." He turned back to Jill. "Sorry again, kid." He looked at his watch. "Shouldn't you be headed to class?"

"Right." She sighed, sliding out of the booth. She reached into her pocket and Adrian stopped her.

"It's on me, Jill. Get going. I know how much you're looking forward to these last few weeks of class."

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "Can my friends and I come study at your place tonight? Your internet is better."

He heaved a dramatic sigh. "I guess. But here," he took out his wallet and passed over some cash, "Get some soda and stuff if you want. I'm out."

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek again and hurried out of the building.

"Are you sure she's not going to try to steal you?" I teased, going back to my coffee.

"I don't know. Sex could be interesting with someone who knows what you're thinking."

I gave him an odd look.

"You thought I was serious?" He threw his head back and laughed. "She's like my little sister."

"That's a relief." I laughed with him and sat back with my coffee. "Can we just drive around for a while? Is that a possibility?"

"Sure." He tangled his feet with mine under the table and we lingered for a while as I drake the rest of my coffee.

I gathered my things at Adrian's apartment and we made our way slowly down to his car. There were more Moroi about and I could feel the uneasiness rising. I waved off the keys. I just wanted to sit in the passenger's seat and watch him as he drove us around the small town.

He drove us around in silence for a while until he stopped at a park. He got out and sat on the hood, leaning against the windshield with his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky.
I followed, resting my hands on my stomach. We didn't touch. We didn't talk. We just stared at the stars, being in each other's presence.

Adrian was the one to break the silence. "I come here sometimes when I need to be alone. I smoke a cigarette and I let it all just float away."

"Do you need to be alone a lot?"

"When I think about the fact that I'm engaged to a human…a former alchemist…a human who is halfway across the country…sometimes I miss you so much, Sydney. It hurts more than any heartache I've ever experienced. And partly because being with me has made your dad push you away even more than he has in the past."

"And what about yours?"

"He never liked me much anyway." His hand found mine. "I need to get you to the airport."

I sighed and looked over at him. "Hurry back to me."

"I will." He leaned over me and kissed me softly. "Stay safe until I get there."

"I will."

We shared another kiss before we reluctantly got into the car. I drove this time, following Adrian's directions back to the main road.