The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 3 (Settling into the Apartment)

"Lucky, you get a dorm room without a roommate?" Aveline was astonished by the college room that Ander was getting. The campus was located within the Royal District, Sviederbach University, and Ander's room was part of the campus apartments. So in truth, he didn't just have a room to himself, he shared an apartment with three other guys.

His room, however, was a small rectangular room with tan walls and a window at the corner, straight across from the door. There was an eight foot length between the door and window, and a fifteen foot length between the walls. Ander's computer desk was propped up against the window, so he was able to look out at the view from his upper story apartment while working. His bed, a simple twin mattress, was propped up against the long wall, with the headboard against the short wall. On the other side of the wall was a closet for his clothing. Everything he needed was in one room. "I share the apartment, Ave. This is just my room, we all share the living room and kitchen outside. It isn't a coed, so it's just us four guys."

"Should I not be here, then?"

"From what I understand, you're fine. The regulation is visitors, even female ones, are welcome in the apartments and dormitories, but they can't stay past eleven o'clock." That could be tough, considering she probably wouldn't be able to slip out of the castle until close to that time. "There's no real curfew on campus, so I can stay outside, but I probably want to get to know my roommates before I start staying out past midnight. Who knows when they start going to bed."

"You should all have a key to get in. Just be quiet when you're the last one." She moved over to the luggage on his bed and started to open it so she could help him unpack. There was a small dresser in between the bed and closet, as behind her there was a small TV stand between the wall and desk. Ander moved over and casually grabbed the particular bag she was about to work on, filled with linens. She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't want me handling your undergarments?"

"You got it." He smirked back at her and tossed the bag on top of his dresser. "I got something for you, though." She watched him reach into the bag, then stood on her toes to try and peek. He shook his finger in the air, still smirking. "Ah-uh, eyes closed, no peeking." She rolled her eyes and turned around, crossing her arms.

"Ugh, fine." She couldn't stand surprises, much like her mother. She wanted to know what was going on. What did he have for her? It was eating her away! She felt him pull her hair back, then something delicate touched her neck. She moved her hand up to her chest and started to open her eyes, only to be told once more to keep her eyes shut. "What is it? A necklace?"

"Not just a necklace, take a look now." Her eyes flew open and she quickly looked to her chest, spying a golden heart connected to a gold chain. The heart had a tiny blue gem on the surface, and a small latch on the side. "Open it up."

"You got me a locket?" The necklace itself was breathtaking, and very simple. She loved simple things. She was afraid he would have gotten her something extravagant, but he already was well aware that she wasn't an extravagant girl. As she turned to him, she saw him watching with a warm smile. "It's beautiful…" She carefully opened the locket, making sure to handle it with a delicate finesse, so as not to damage anything.

When she managed to get the side unlatched, she saw two photographs inside. The one on the right was a picture of her, glaring at the photographer. The picture on the left was of Ander, he was wearing his baseball uniform and cap. She remembered this day, the photos were part of one picture taken on the day they met. The photographer made a joke because she clumsily dropped her hotdog onto her shirt while trying to take the picture. Ander was in the process of trying to tell her that it was fine, so the photograph came out with her glaring at the photographer, and Ander talking.

Aveline laughed and closed the locket, then moved her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "I love it! Thank you." It was her favorite memory, and now she could remember it all the time. She would definitely keep the necklace safe, it didn't need to go in her box of memoirs quite yet. She had quite a big box stuffed away beneath her bed containing at least one item from every crucial moment in her life, among which, included a rattle from her infant years. Ander teased her about her collection, almost as much as her little brother did, but these items were very important to her. She also kept a journal stashed away in the box as well, so not only could she collect these memories, she could write about them in her daily logs. "I'm going to wear this all the time, Ander."

"Think your Mom and Dad will notice?"

"I can keep it covered up." Still her father had become observant over the years, just as her grandfather was. Then, there was her mother, who was almost always observant as hell. The only difference was, Cece had the ability to make her spill her guts while already fully knowledgeable. She says she got it from her own mother. "Speaking of people noticing things, do you think anyone's going to notice your name? I mean your father is pretty famous here."

"Really? Eh, maybe a few eyebrows will raise, I don't know." She hummed and turned around to the rest of the luggage while he moved to the bag on the dresser. "Seriously though, how 'famous' or 'infamous' is my dad? I don't think we've ever talked about that."

"Well, he's considered one of the country's heroes, in a way." Frankie Bransford is held as the famous president of Parliament who not only avenged the loss of his family, the high Bransford Nobility, but he unveiled a corrupt king, and brought Gunther back to restore the kingdom. "It's highly regarded that if not for your father, my dad would never have come back to the kingdom. So basically, I'd be living in Chicago right now, you and your mom would have still been in that dungeon…" Ander shuddered and gagged, leaving her to feel bad for bringing up the memory. He did on occasion still have dreams from those days, nightmares that never really went away. "I think Sviederbach would have been destroyed by now, if it hadn't been for your dad getting my dad over here in the first place."

"Oh, and here I thought I was going to be looked at like the son of a criminal, not the son of a hero." He started to mutter and push his underwear into the top drawer. Aveline turned and smirked at the boxers he was putting in. They were all solid colors, but at least one pair had the words 'Mama's Boy' written on the top. He caught her staring and quickly shoved the drawer shut, clearing his throat. "Uh yeah, you didn't see anything, right?"

"Oh please, it's not like I don't already know you're a mama's boy. You practically bawled the first night realizing you had to come over here."

"I did not." Still, he was trying to retain whatever dignity he had left?

"Do you really want to make that bet?" She laughed at him and pulled his laptop from the bag on the bed. It was a sleek silver laptop, still a Dell, which approved vastly over the years. She moved it over to his desk, taking the bag of cords along with her. "You have every right, look at the first two years of your life."

"Smart ass." He kissed the back of her neck, sending chills down her spine. She closed her eyes as her back and neck tingled. She hated the feeling, because it actually turned her on, and she did not want to have to deal with that weakspot. It was also used whenever he wanted a comeback. She glared at the triumphant smirk of his and watched him reach down into the bag, pulling out the power cord. "At least I'm turning more into my father than my mom, mom still has some issues with confidence. I think she's still really sore from that era, but she doesn't show it so much."

"I like your mom, she's strong and always optimistic about everything. It's very hard to tell she went through that traumatic era. I'll bet she still never lets your dad down for that fight, though." Ander whistled and shook his head. He quickly attached the cord to the laptop while she attached the other end to the outlet. "By the way, you know those competitions that royal families have? You think you'd ever participate in one of those 'win-her-hand' things?" Fortunately she never had to deal with one of those yet, she might die of embarrassment if that ever happened. Ander raised an eyebrow and lifted his shoulders up.

"I already have you, so why would I go in one of those things? I don't really believe in them, you know. For the record, neither does my dad."

"Why?"

Ander bent upwards and moved his hand to his forehead. "Well…considering the last 'win this' competition my dad was involved with consisted of him nearly getting his head lopped off by your dad…"

"Okay, your dad literally asked for that. If Mrs. Bransford hadn't gone out there at that time…"

"Exactly! Besides, why would I need to compete for your hand when I'm perfectly confident?" She raised an eyebrow and huffed, though still smiling.

"I won't dignify that with a response."

"You just did."

"Oh screw you."

He laughed and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. "God I love you." She leaned back in his arms and turned to kiss his lips. After a few seconds into the kiss, she turned around and put her hands to his shoulder, letting him pull her closer. It seemed they forgot the door was open, so when they heard whooping and hollering, they immediately split apart.

And the college roommates are here *sigh*. We'll be seeing them next chapter, at least one of em is cool XD. So what did you like about this chapter? Anything stand out?