Author's note: I love when I have time to update so much. I really need to get some reading done, though...

Happy reading!

Chapter Nine

I awoke the next morning cold. I looked over to see Adrian had moved away and taken the blanket. I tugged it back and he relinquished it, mumbling something as he plopped onto his stomach and pressed his face into the pillow.

I stretched and then draped myself over him. I kissed the back of his neck. "You should wake up. You went to bed not long after I did."

"Mm." He turned his head. "What time is it?"

"I don't know. I didn't even look." I kissed his cheek and then got up to find my phone I had left in the pocket of my pants. "Nine twenty-seven."

"Wake me at noon." He turned his head away. I heard him snoring softly a few seconds later.

I picked up my clothes off the floor and changed into them. I leaned over Adrian once more. "I'm going back to my place for a while."

He opened one eye and looked at me. I could see he was annoyed that I kept disturbing his sleep. "Want me to come over later?"

"No, I'll come back here." I kissed his forehead. "Sorry I bothered you. Go back to sleep." I kissed his cheek once more. "I love you."

He smiled. "Love you."

As soon as I got home, I started the coffee pot and then stepped into the shower while it brewed. After changing and drinking one cup of coffee, I poured a second and then went into my room. I looked at my dresser for a moment before I walked to it and opened the top drawer.

I took all the clothes out of the top drawer and set some of them aside. I took out some clothes from the other drawer and placed the other clothes from the top drawer into another.

I finished my second cup of coffee and poured a third. I retrieved the book I was reading from my bedroom and curled up in my favorite chair to read for a while.

My phone rang, jarring me. I only glanced at the screen a moment before answering. "Hello, Adrian. I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, you left and I slept for a little while. But then I woke up because I can't stay asleep in Utah if I know you're not doing anything."

"You just made that up."

"Okay, I did. But it was nice going to sleep with you. And will be even nicer when we go to sleep after sex."

I felt myself blush. "You should just be content that I let you have as much liberty as you do." I took a deep breath and said, "Would you like a drawer here?"

"A drawer? Like in your dresser? For my clothes?"

"Yes, all of those things."

"I guess if you're okay with it. And I can set up one for you here if you want."

"Okay."

"Should have thought of this before. You wouldn't have had to leave this morning."

"Yeah, that's what made me think of it."

"Okay, you can bring some stuff over. When are you coming back?"

"I'll be there in a little while."

"No rush, I was just wondering."

I was nervous walking into Adrian's house with my small bag of clothes and extra toiletries I brought with me.

Adrian met me right inside the door and took the bag from me. He led me to his bedroom where he emptied its contents almost reverently into an empty drawer. Then he filled it once more with his own things he'd set aside.

He stole a quick kiss. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Would you like some coffee?"

"I've already had three cups this morning. Better not just yet. But thank you."

"I'm in the middle of cooking. Would you like some of that?"

"Sure." I pulled him back for one more kiss.

"You told me you loved me this morning." He said as we walked out of the room together.

"I tell you that all the time."

"Only after I say it first." He stepped into the kitchen.

I sighed and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. "I love you, Adrian. Very, very much."

He leaned against me a moment. "And I love you so much more every day." He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my palm.

"If this is how you two are going to be all the time, maybe I'll get a hotel or something." Jill said from the doorway.

"Sorry, Jill." I said, backing away. I left a hand on Adrian's back. "Did you sleep well?"

"I haven't been to sleep yet." She sat down at the table. "I stayed up with Leah. And we both did a lot of sleeping in the car."

I kissed Adrian's cheek and then I sat across from his shadow-kissed friend. "Well, I'm so happy you all made it. My mom and older sister want to meet you. My younger sister is still trying to wrap her head around my engagement, so that may not happen."

Jill smiled. "I like meeting new people. And between all the things you and Adrian have said about them, I feel like I know them already."

I smiled and accepted the cup of coffee from Adrian.

"You don't have to drink it, but I started making it after I called you. Tell me if I'm getting any better?"

I took a sip. "Not bad. Could be a tad bit stronger."

He nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." He smoothed a hand over my hair.

"We should have a housewarming party." Jill said, getting up to make her own cup of coffee. "Invite Sydney's family and friends over to meet her fiancé and see the house."

"Nothing too extravagant. This isn't a permanent situation. Sydney and I are going to buy a house once we're married."

"And when is that?" She sat down once again, stirring the contents of her cup.

"Next October?" Adrian said. "Isn't that what we decided?" He sat a plate of sausage and bacon in the middle of the table then and went to work on eggs.

"Yes. And if you're making eggs for me, please don't cook them in that."

He sighed and took out another pan. "No yolks, right?"

"Thank you, sweetheart." I simpered.

"Anything for you, dear." He said back in mock sweetness.

"So we need to get everything started." Jill said. "Do you have an idea about style? Colors? Location?"

"Maybe at Court. But that hasn't been put down in stone yet." I said.

"Well, if you don't want it to actually be at Court, there are some really cool churches in the surrounding area. Did you want a church wedding?"

I chuckled. "You're really into this already. I kind of do want a church wedding. Adrian, what were you thinking?"

"Whatever you want, Sydney."

"This is your wedding, too. I want your say."

He put a pan of eggs on the table. "I'd like a traditional church wedding. As long as it's what you want."

"It is."

He kissed me. "Good."

Jill smiled, "Okay. First thing we need to do is set the date and then the church. And then everything can flow from there." She started filling her plate. "If I'm starting to be too pushy, let me know and I'll shut up."

"It's no problem. I've been trying to organize things in my mind for a while." I said, accepting my plate of eggs from Adrian. "We should sit down and write out a To Do list after we eat."

"Eddie, Leah, I've got breakfast on the table if you're hungry." Adrian called, taking a seat beside me.

The two guardians came into the house, wiping their faces with towels.

"I'll get some in a minute." Eddie said, walking past us into the spare bedroom and then to the bathroom.

Leah made a plate and then sat apart. "I don't want to offend your noses." She said softly.

"So how's it going?" Jill asked.

"Eddie sure knows his stuff." She commented.

"He does." Jill said, looking down at her plate. "Do you feel like you know it already?"

"The basics. But he keeps telling me about his real-life experiences and it makes it more relevant."

"He's had quite a few of them." The Moroi girl said, still not looking up from her plate.

Eddie returned to the room and filled a plate. He sat down beside Jill.

There was a tense silence for a minute before Jill stood up and announced that she wasn't hungry.

Adrian and I exchanged a look. Adrian sent a glare to Eddie.

The guardian sighed and went after her.

"I don't want to talk." Jill snapped from the living room.

"What do you expect from me, Jill?" Eddie shot back "You never said anything. And you're mad at me? For what? Finding someone I care about? Having a life? We can't keep doing this."

"No, we can't. And it would be great if you would just stick to your job and leave me the hell alone." The front door slammed.

Leah stood when Eddie came into the room. "She can't be wandering around alone." She left.

Eddie took his plate and went into the other room.

"Welcome to Utah." Adrian sighed.

Jill came back into the house a short time later. Leah was on her heels. She put both their plates in the microwave to warm them back up.

"Where is he?" Jill asked softly.

"He went to be alone in his room." I said. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged. "It should be easier." She looked around at all of us. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Adrian said, reaching across the table.

I saw something pass between them.

"You can heal a lot of things, Adrian. But not a broken heart."

"Believe me, I know." He said softly, squeezing her hand.

As Jill and Leah went about washing the dishes, Eddie appeared with his plate. He sat it down on the counter without a word and then turned to me. "May I have a word?"

"Sure." We walked outside to sit on the front steps. "We need to get some furniture out here."

He nodded.

"So how is Angeline?"

He looked at his hands. "Fine." He sighed. "I couldn't be with Jill, even if I wanted. She can't have Dhampir children. She's a royal Moroi. She needs to advance her race and her line. She can't do that with me."

"Those are the facts. But there are other ways to do that, I'm sure."

"Of course. She can marry another Moroi. She can have Moroi babies. They can take on the Dragomir name."

"Do you have no feelings for her at all?"

"She was my friend. For a while she was my sister. Now? She's the one I'm charged to guard to my last breath. I can't do anything else or be anyone else. And I'm with Angeline. I can't beak one girl's heart to heal someone else's. Someone will end up hurting one way or another."

"Have you tried telling Jill this?"

"Until this assignment, she wouldn't give me the time of day. If we saw each other out walking, she'd turn the complete opposite direction or pretend I wasn't there. I can't fight with her over this for an entire month."

I looked out past the cars to the row of trees that blocked the yard from the road. "You have to make up. You're right, this can't keep going on. It's not just this month. Lissa trusts you with the welfare of her sister. You're assigned to her unless something happens to either change that trust or you just can't do it anymore."

He nodded.

"Look, Eddie, I know it's hard—"

"You don't know anything. Maybe if she wasn't the only sister to the queen it would be different. But all Lissa has right now is Jill and two babies. Those babies don't count yet. It's all about Jill."

"Dhampir and Moroi romantic relationships are becoming more the norm."

"But not when the Moroi is a princess. We can't be together."

"Then what made you want to talk to me?"

"To try to explain to you. Jill listens to you. So does Adrian. Neither of them like me much right now."

"I'll try to help them make sense of it. But I think this is a conversation you and Jill need to have eventually."

"If she'll ever be in the same room with me."

I nodded. "I don't want your animosity when we're out shopping for the wedding. Or when you all meet my family. It would be awkward and uncomfortable. Also, outside of my family, you and Jill and Leah are all Adrian's family. You need to act like it."

"Okay."

We went back inside and Jill once again left the room as soon as she saw Eddie. I followed.

"You have to learn to tolerate being in the same room as him. There is no other choice right now."

"How am I supposed to be in the same room with someone who can't stand me any more than I can him?" She sobbed.
I sat down beside her. "Do you want to know what he told me?"

"Not really?"

"He hates that he's upsetting you. But he doesn't want to hurt Angeline either."

She sighed. "It hurts so much."

I pulled her to me as she cried heavy, painful tears. I had never known this kind of pain over another person. Not in this way. I had cried myself to sleep several nights over my father's abuse, but I got over it by controlling everything around me. I never had a shoulder to cry on.

Adrian knocked on the door and pushed his way in. "Is everything okay in here?"

"No." Jill sobbed looking at him. "Not with him here."

"Hey." He kneeled down in front of her. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

She looked down at him and wiped at her eyes. "Are you sure?"

He placed his hands on the side of her face. "I am. Everything will be fine."

"Everything will be fine." She repeated.

"You need a nap. Rest. You'll feel better on the other side of it."

She nodded and curled up on the bed. Adrian pulled the blanket over her and kissed her cheek.

"Sleep well."

"You used Compulsion." I hissed as he pulled me from the room.

"It was the best way I could think to calm her down."

"Come here, I need to tell you something." I pulled him into his bedroom and relayed what Eddie had told me.

"That's complete and utter bullshit." He said when I finished.

"That's what he thinks. And he's right about Angeline. He can't break her heart just because Jill is in pain. He'll end up hurting two other people in the process."

He sighed. "I guess you're right."

"I know you want Jill to be happy. I do too. But we have to believe that maybe there's someone else she's meant to be with. And if it's Eddie, it will work itself out."

He nodded and kissed my temple and then rested his head against mine. "You're pretty smart."

"I do what I can."