I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but eventually I became aware of Adrian gently shaking me awake.

"Come on, Kitten, everyone'll be here in an hour and you have no food in your kitchen. By the way, why do you have a battery in your freezer?"

I blinked, rubbing t sleep from my eyes, "uh?"

"You have a battery. In your freezer. Why?" Adrian's face came into view and I noticed he was holding a frost-covered battery.

"I 'unno... I think I was out of coffee one morning, and had no dethawed bread, and my batteries in my remote were dead, so I pulled the bread out of the freezer, put the batteries in, and grabbed a fresh pair."

"...right. Okay." He chuckled, helping me up. I went to the bathroom and groaned, washing my face. My eyes were all red and puffy from my break down earlier. I looked awful.

"No you don't." Adrian chuckled again. I looked at him in shock, had I said it out loud?

"It was obvious by the look on your face. Do you want me to brush your hair for you?"

"Something told me he just wanted to brush my hair, so I shrugged. He picked up my brush and set to work on my hair as I washed my face and put on my concealer. That took less time than I thought it would, so I stood therre, content, as he brushed my hair. He was taking his time, but he was good at it, really good.

"You've done this before." I commented, shivering as his fingers gently brushed against the delicate hairs on the nape of my neck.

"Yeah." He smiled, a faraway look in his eyes, "I have a younger sister. Her name is Melantha and she's a sweetheart. Long dark brown hair and emerald eyes that could pierce the soul. She's an earth user. She's five years younger than me and just graduated school this year. I used to do this for her when she was younger, because she couldn't see."

"Couldn't see? She was blind?" I said, surprise colouring my tone.

"Since birth. Doctors have been unable to figure out why. It's why I've been so determined to learn how to heal. I wanted to give her the gift of sight. She deserves it."

We fell back into a comfortable silence as he continued to brush my hair. The dreamy wistfulness in his eyes faded to sadness and anger tinted pain. I instantly knew why.

"Stop that," I said softly, "you'll give yourself wrinkles."

He blinked, pausing, "huh?"

"You're thinking about Rose and it's upsetting you."

He gave me a strange look, "no it's not. I'm over her. It's been three years."

I laughed bitterly, "no you aren't. You're happy for her, sure, but you still love her. You also hate her, not just because she chose Belikov over you, but also simply because she still holds your heart, and you resent her for it. You want nothing more than to move on, but you can't because she's the first woman that truly mattered to you, the first woman you truly loved."

He seemed shocked. I didn't blame him. "How do you know that. Nobody knows that. Even Lissa and Sonya, both whom can read auras, don't know that."

I shrugged. It'd been obvious to me. "Because I know you. It's obvious to me. I can read you like an open book. And also, well, because I feel something similar towards my ex."

He gave me another curious glance and finished brushing my hair. He set the brush down on my counter with a thoughtful expression, which made me curious.

"What?" I asked.

"I like your hair better than hers. Rose's. Much prettier. Softer, too, like silk." He shrugged, "come on, I've got stuff at my place. Soda, chips, dip, popcorn..."

I didn't know how to react to his compliment - if that's what it was. Instead, I decided to ignore it and followed him down his place. We grabbed the snack stuff and put it in some plastic bags. That's when something occured to me.

"Oh pooh!" I exclaimed, smacking my hand to my forehead. Adrian looked over at me, clearly amused.

"Leave the stove on?" He teased. I scowled at him.

"I have two loveseats. How are we going to ensure that Mia and Eddie sit there?"

Adrian smirked, "compulsion. Not a lot, since they'll want to anyways, and they might sense it, just a small suggestion."

I nodded thoughtfully, "not a bad idea. You're gonna be the one to do it?"

"I'll talk to Mia, and we'll get Lissa to talk to Eddie, since he's her Guardian and all."

I nodded again, "makes sense." I agreed, grabbing the last of the snacks and headed out the door, "a romantic comedy. That's what we'll need. I know Mia has a couple. She's a huge sap. She'll have one. Then, after, we could watch an action or something."

He nodded and I gave him the bags as well as the key to my apartment. "Take these and start setting up. I'll help you when I get there, but I gotta run over to Mia's place. I've got a key." I explained.

Without waiting for a reply, I walked off, relieved to get away. The familiarity between us was unsettling. I could see into his soul, and I knew he could see into mine.

It scared me. Scared me more than anything else in the entire world. Not the kind of fear that would send me into a panic attack, but scary all the same.

I shook my head and unlocked the door to Mia's place, glad she wasn't home. Not that it would've changed anything, there were many times when I would walk into her house randomly and borrow something, but it made it a lot easier. I ran through her rom-com list - god, did she have a lot! - and had just about decided on Science of Sleep when another one caught my eye.

'The Ugly Truth', so it said. It sounded interesting. In Sacramento, the producer of a morning show Abby Richter is a controller that has a checklist with items about the ideal man for her; however she can not find any man that fulfills her prerequisites. Her show has problems with the low ratings and the TV direction hires the cynical chauvinist Mike Chadway that hosts the popular and gross mannish show "The Ugly Truth" about what men and women really want in a relationship. Abby has frictions with Mike and he proposes to help her to get her attractive neighbor Colin that fulfills her checklist; in return she would support him in the show. Abby dates Colin but when Mike is invited to participate in the Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show in San Francisco, they get closer and fall in love for each other. But out of the blue, Colin arrives in Abby's room and she has to make a decision. That wasn't what the back title actually said, I'd quickly used my iPhone to look up reviews and the synopsis, and it looked pretty cool.

Yep, this would work.

When I got back to my place, DVD in hand, Adrian had everything set up and was sitting on one of the love seats, Sir Koko in hand. Oh dear lord...

"I see you did a little altering on... what was it? Kooky?" I blushed.

"Shuddup, I like cats, okay? And his name is Sir Koko Fuzzletons III of Whiskermoor Manor." I muttered. As I had expected, his smirk grew and he laughed.

"That's adorable, Kitten, it really is." He smiled, "So, what do you think?"

I looked around. Aside from my black loveseats, he'd pulled out my two leather been bag chairs and their matching footstools, one black and one green. He'd placed them besidde one of the footstools, side by side, while their footstools were on the other side, between the two love seats. There was a big, plush pillow from my bed laying in front of the right loveseat, the glass coffee table had the snacks, Coca-Cola, Cherry Dr. Pepper and plastic cups, and was in front of the other loveseat.

"It looks good. Did you call Lissa?"

He grinned, "yep, she's in on the plan."

I grinned back and grabbed a chip, plopping down beside him, on the right loveseat on the side closest to the coffee table. I popped the chip in my mouth and groaned as their was a knock on the door. I'd just sat down!

"It's Mia." Adrian said. Hm. Auras can be useful after all. With a nod, I got up and let her in. As I suspected, she practically dove for the cherry Dr. Pepper.

"Hey Mia, hope you don't mind, but I borrowed one of your movies. Something about truth or something."

Mia squealed, "ooh! The Ugly Truth? That's one of my favourites."

I grinned, then glanced at her outfit. A simple pair of blue jeans and a dark green sweater. Cute. That reminded me, I hadn't changed out of my work out clothes from this morning. Gross.

"Hey, I'm going to pop in the shower. I won't be long." I said, giving a pointed look towards Adrian. This would be a good time for him to work his magic, pun not intended. Was that even a pun?

I'm assuming he got the message, because he gave me a small nod and turned to talk to Mia. I could ses the small amount of Spirit Adrian was using take over Mia and, as the thrall of compulsion seized her, I had to turn away, shove my disgust down, and go have my shower.

I tried to make sure it was a quick shower and, while towel drying my hair, I went through my clothing options. I decided on my dark blue skinny jeans and one of my favourite shirts. It was a black lace tank-top that, although it covered all my skin, it was clearly see-through and showed my deep red bra, and it definitely looked good on me.

Fiddling with the straps while brushing my hair, I couldn't help but blush, remembering how gentle Adrian had been as he'd brushed my hair. As if my thoughts had conjured him, I felt the brush pulled my hands and smelled his aftershave.

"Eddie, Lissa and Jailbait are here. Lissa's already got him compelled and now he's sitting next to Mia. Lissa took one of the footstools, and Jillian took the pillow." He commented, brushing my hair.

I would never tell him how nice that felt, "Where are the others?"

"Christian had to stay behind to finish up some Court work and will be here shortly, Dimitri stayed with him because he's Christian's Guardian and Rose stayed with him because that's what she does. I guess the bond gave her a little too much confidence, and now that it's gone... she kinda forgets."

I smiled a little and reached for my concealer, wanting to cover up the rest of my puffy eyes. One of his hands away from my hair and he gently stroked my black bags. "Why don't you sleep more?"

I looked away, "nightmares."

Adrian paused in his brushing and turned to face me, "Liv, I know you hate compulsion, but may I use a small amount on you? I promise you it won't be bad."

I swallowed, forcing my fear away.

"Do you trust me?"

Did I trust him? Could I trust him? Too late. "Yes." I whispered.

I looked into his eyes and felt my mind go numb. His voice, soothing as a lullaby, came to me. "You will never have nightmares again, Liv. When you have one, you will think of me, and it will turn into a happy memory. Do you understand? Nod if you understand."

I felt myself nod.

"Good." And like that, the compulsion was gone, and he was back to brushing my hair.

I pulled away and gave him a hug. "Thank you Adrian." I murmured against his cheek. He seemed stunned, and I swear I saw a blush on his cheeks. I pulled away and he went back to brushing my hair. I applied the concealer and lined my eyes with black eyeliner, applying my mascara after. I put in a pair of fake diamond studs and a silver bracelet, searching for a necklace to wear with it.

"What about this?" Adrian asked, holding up my orchid necklace.

It was beautiful. It had a white gold setting with petals hand carved from seashells and opal, with a central diamond. It hung on a simple gold chain, one of the only gold things I owned. I wasn't too fond of gold.

I hadn't worn it since Vera died. She'd given it to me for my birthday, knowing that Orchids were my favourite flower. She was an expert jewellry maker and had made Innusha a lily pendant, since lilies were Innya's favourite flowers. It had been blue lace agate with silver detailing and I think it had been a calla lily. It had been her favourite necklace and, like me, had never taken it off.

She was wearing it when she'd been taken.

"I can't wear that." I whispered, eyes wide with panic. Adrian noticed the change immediately and rushed over to me, putting a hand on my arm.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Don't panic. Why can't you wear it?" He said soothingly. I swallowed hard.

"Vera made that for me and gave it to me for my twenty-third birthday. I-Innusha had a lily one that she was wearing when she died." I said softly, staring at the orchid necklace in his hand, "Innusha loved lilies." I whispered.

"Don't you think Vera would want you to be happy?" He murmured.

She would. "But it was my fault. I became distracted, and that distraction had costed her her life."

Adrian put his hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him, "Kitten, it wasn't your fault. You were facing a lot of Strigoi. It's impossible to be perfect, you aren't Superwoman," He paused, "or Cat Woman."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, but he continued on, "You can't keep blaming yourself. If you do, you will never be able to move on, and it could distract you again in the future."

He was right. I was nowhere near done healing, it had only been two months, but I was a Guardian. A Guardian put his or her own needs after their Moroi's. I couldn't allow Vera to distract me anymore. "Okay." I sighed, hearing the conviction in my voice.

He got behind me and slid the necklace around my neck, doing up the clasp and pulling my hair out from underneath. My hand went up to the necklace, cool against my throat, as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"See? Not so bad." Adrian smiled. I nodded.

"Did Melantha have a favourite flower?" I asked.

"Iris. She couldn't see them, obviously, and describing them was useless to her, but she loved the feeling of them and how they smelled. She also liked lilacs." He smiled fondly.

He said they were five years apart, which meant she would be nineteen now. It added up, since he also said she was graduated.

"Where is your sister now? I mean, you said she graduated, which would mean she's nineteen, so she doesn't have to stay with Adler."

Adrian shrugged, "She'd be somewhere more rural, probably. Surrounded in nature. She always liked travelling, too. Maybe some place in Canada or Scotland? Haven't seen her in forever." He sighed.

I nodded slightly and smiled, "We should visit her someday, but for now, we should return to the others. Christian, Rose and Belikov are bound to be here soon, and this looks a might bit suspicious."

He nodded and turned out my light, shutting the door behind us. As I had expected, Lissa was just letting Christian, Dimitri and Rose in. Chrisitnn took the stool next to Lissa and RRose rushed over to plop in the black beanbag chair, Dimitri taking the green one.

Let me tell you something. Seeing a super tall, attractive, badass Russian Guardian sink uneasily into a dark green beanbag chair is the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time.

"What?" Adrian asked, cracking a smile. Mia, having already seen what I saw, was snickering quietly to herself. I jerked my head towards the Russian, who was clearly uncomfortable in his too squishy seat. Adrian grinned and took the seat next to me on the loveseat and, as Dimitri once again tried to adjust himself on the beanbag chair, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"He's like Leonard in the ballpit. Except taller, and more ridiculous looking." I laughed. Mia, hearing my description, laughed loudly, while Adrian gave me a blank stare.

"Big Bang Theory reference." I explained.

"okay, okay, enough laughing at my expense." Dimitri said gruffly, scowling. We had just about stopped giggling when he squirmed again and gell off the beanbag. Well, of course, that just started us up again.

"Oh, Comrade." Rose giggled at his hurt puppy dog expression on the floor, "you really do look silly."

I grinned, "The big, bad, scary Russian taken down by a beanbag chair."

He cracked a smile at that and climbed back on the beanbag chair. I poured myself some Cherry Dr. Pepper and popped in the movie, turning off the lights and sitting back into my seat.

I was only halfway paying attention, focusing more on my surrounding than on the movie. The estabilished couples were acting very couply; Christian had his arms around Lissa, her head on his chest. Rose and Dimitri were in a similar position, but while pure love was on Lissa's face, both love and slight confusion was on Rose's. Eddie and Mia were sitting awfully close, but so far nothing had happened, Jill was texting someone while watching, a goofy grin on her face, and Adrian...

Adrian was sitting really close to me. Like me, he was watching everyone, and when he looked at Rose, pure confusion and shock overcame him, his eyes quickly flitting to Lissa.

"What?" I whispered, speaking low so only he would hear.

"Their auras are linked again. Very, very weak, very faint, like the ghost of a connection, but there nonetheless." He whispered back.

I didn't understand, "is this important?"

He gave me a look, "Lissa and Rose used to have a bond, once upon a time ago. Three years ago, the bond was broken, so we thought anyways. Now it looks like it's coming back."

I nodded, "guess we better keep an eye on them." I whispered. I turned my attention to Jill when she giggled, leaning down with a smirk.

"You texting your boyfriend?" I teased, chuckling at her blush.

"No... he's just a friend." She bit her lip.

"For now." I grinned, sitting back up and paying attention to the movie.

With a start, I realized that Mike, played by Gerard Butler, reminded me of Adrian. Actually, the entire movie sort of reminded me of my relationship with Adrian - a thought that made me squirm when Mike and Abby shared a passionate, yet sloppy, kiss in the elevator. I had never felt more aware of Adrian in that moment.

No sooner had I thought that, electricity shot through me as I felt his hand on my lower back. "Look." He murmured in my ear. I shivered, feeling his lips on my ear, but focused my attention on Eddie and Mia. Somehow, they'd ended up moving closer to each other, and Mia had a hand on his lap, Eddie's arm around her waist. I felt triumph shoot though me. I had done it! Well, okay, we'd done it.

Adrian, as if guessing my thoughts (which he probably had), smirked at me and squeezes my waist. I yelped and smacked his hand away, snarling at him. "Don't do that!" I exclaimed, attracting the attention of some of the others.

Rose laughed at me and I groaned, scowling slightly as I settled back into my seat. It was going to be a looooong night.