Well here's the second part! It's pretty long, I think it's the longest chapter in this story! There's a much bigger author's note at the end so I'll let you read on If you see any mistakes, please tell me! I'd love to correct them. Read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Richelle's character's but I do own my plot

Chapter Seventeen

Christmas Shopping Part Two

Mia's POV

I pay the cashier the money and tell him to keep the change. He seems like a nice old men, ten dollars might do him some good. I pick up my bags and start to head out of the perfume store. I've been shopping for well over two hours and I'm starving. Rose texted me five minutes ago saying that the whole gang is over at the food court and that I should come to. I texted her back that I'm coming over just about two minutes ago. The thought of food itself is just mouthwatering.

"You've always loved shopping," a familiar voice says.

I stop walking and turn around to find the store empty. There's no one there but the old man and his shiny white hair. There's no red hair and blue eyes to be seen anywhere. I take a deep breath and face the door again when I see him standing by a kid's clothes store parallel to the one I'm coming out of. It's him. It's Mason Ashford in flesh and bone. My heart stops beating as I take a step forward and he takes a step back, his blue eyes full of pain and hesitancy.

"Meet me out by the empty parking lot," he says gruffly and turns around.

"Wait!" I cry but he's gone as fast as he disappeared the day he saved me from the Strigoi. I stop walking when I remember his blood red eyes during the attack and close my eyes. What am I doing? He's a Strigoi. He's made to kill, to kill people like me. But he's Mason, he's the same Mason you've been crushing on since you were in Kindergarten. He's the Mason who went out with Rose in high school, he's the dare devil boy who everyone knows, he's the boy who forgot about the girl in the back, he's my Mason. He can't hurt me, he won't! "I'm coming," I whisper before I run out the store, through the large crowd of people, and towards the mall doors.

I push through the glass doors and run through the parking lots.

Meet me out by the empty parking lot he had said. The empty parking lot is eastwards to where I am. I take a sharp right and speed walk through the F parking lot which leads out to another one on the further side of the mall area where the lights aren't working right. My snow boots crunch loudly against the icy cement as I look around. Where is he?

A hand shoots and grabs my arm, pulling me further into the dark. I gasp and look up into Mason's now red eyes. All the fear that I've been trying to push away comes back to me and I stumble back against a wall.

"Mason?" I whisper.

He steps into the small yellow light above us and gives me a small smile. "Hey Mia," he says. "How are you?"

"Fine?" I whisper. "How have you been?"

His smile drops. "Not so good as you can see," he says.

I let out a sob and throw my arms around him. He stiffens in my arms and pushes me away.

"D-don't do that," he says as he takes a step away from me. "Don't ever do that Mia, I can hurt you."

I reach and out grab his hand daringly as I swallow my fear back. "You won't hurt me Mase," I tell him as I pull him back. I put my free hand where his heart once used to beat and look up at him. "You won't hurt me."

His hand trembles as he reaches out to brush away my tears. "I've missed you," he whispers. "And Eddie, Rose, and everyone. I saw Rose once or twice, I played a ghost you know? I got her to believe I was a ghost! I even gave her advice, I told her what was happening and…"

"And what Mase?" I ask him as he pulls away from me. He walks over to the wall and slides down onto the floor. He leans against the cold brick wall and rubs his hands together as he looks up at me as if asking for me to come sit by him. I do so and take his large hand in mine. "What happened?"

"They didn't like it," he whispers as he rolls his up his black hoodie's sleeve to reveal a scar. Strigoi heal fast and this… this is a scar. How could they have done this to him? "I'm not supposed to be here."

I look up at him and realize what's actually happening. I a Moroi am comforting and being comforted by a Strigoi who lust for the blood of my people. "I had a feeling."

I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh. "I don't want you to go, I want you to stay Mase. Then… then Lissa can heal you!" I tell him as I grab his shoulders. "Then you can come back to us."

He shakes his head sadly. "It isn't that easy Mia."

My smile falters. "What do you mean?"

"They'll notice me missing."

"So what Mase?"

He sighs and rubs his face with his hands. "They're using me as a guide Mia. They want me to help them kill Jillian Mastrano. I've been leading them in circles all this time and if I disappear or if I falter just a little bit, they'll know I've been lying this whole time."

I look down at my hands and try to swallow back the tears. Even…even as a Strigoi, he's trying to protect us and help us. My Mason's still in there.

"Mia," he whispers after a long minute of silence. I turn away from him and bury my face in my hands. I can't have him looking at me like this, he'll think I'm weak. "Mia, look at me."

His large hands gently pull mine away from my face. His blue eyes pour into mine and I blush as he pushes me back against the wall. His long fingers brush away my tears and he gives me a small smile.

"You got contacts," I whisper, trying to break the tension.

"Yeah, I like blue eyes," he says.

"I like them to," I say and blush as I realize what I just said. "I mean I…uh…"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Oh Mia, don't worry about it," he says.

"Thanks, just forget I even said that."

He mumbles something and nods. "Yeah. Mia you can't tell anyone that you saw me and that I'm like…this ok? Not even Eddie."

I frown. "But why Mason? Poor Eddie deserves a right to know about all this."

"He does and if he knows, he'll be more focused on me than Jill."

"You can't abnegate yourself like that, you deserve to be worried over to Mase,"

"I'm not as important as the last Dragomir Mia."

I sigh and run my hands through my hair frustrated. I push myself up to my feet and walk around the parking lot. "So this is it? You're going to leave and I never saw you?"

He nods as he walks into the darkness, away from me. "Yep," he says.

"How are you going to get back? The sun's out."

"I won't burn much if I run fast," he says. "The forest is nearby."

"Mason?" I call as his tall figure grows smaller and smaller. "Mason wait!"

He stops walking and turns around as I run up to him. "What is it?"

"Is this the last time I'll see you?" I ask.

He looks into my eyes and then at his feet. "I don't know."

"Can't you try?" I whisper as I grab his hand. "Can't you try to come and see me? Mason I miss you, I thought you were dead and now I know you aren't, I know there's hope now, hope that you can come back to us, and you're running away."

He reaches out with his spare hand and tilts my shaking chin up so I can look him in the eye. "I'll try Mia. I will but I can't promise you anything."

I nod and start to pull back when he pulls me back. I look up at him confused and watch as he hesitantly pulls me into a hug. His arms encircle my small body and he pulls me closer and closer towards him so that I'm resting my hand against his chest. I breathe in his familiar sent and let out all the tears I've been holding back. His hand rubs circles into my back and he hushes me softly as I soak his hoodie.

"I'll make everything ok again Mia. I promise."

Jillian POV

Lissa walks out of the bathroom and rinses her hands as she watches me from the corner of her eyes hesitantly. I give her a small smile and look down at my feet. How much more awkward can this get? As if sensing my uneasiness, Lissa walks over to Rose and whispers something in her ear.

"You sure?" Rose asks.

Lissa nods. "Yep, we'll be alright."

Rose shrugs and gives me a smile as she walks out of the bathroom. I look at Lissa and watch as she sits down on the chair next to the sink's counter on which I'm sitting on.

"I didn't think we needed a guardian when we're in the bathroom," Lissa explains.

I nod. "Yeah, that's true," I say. What do I say to her? All this time, I told myself that Lissa would never even bother to make an attempt to actually talk to me and now she did! "How are you?"

Lissa smiles. "Fine, how are you?"

I shrug. "Fine," I tell her.

"Really?" she asks. "Fine?"

I frown. "What do you mean?"

"Jill, you look you've cried an ocean. And I also have a feeling that being exiled into Palm Springs isn't 'fine'."

She can really read a person. I sigh and rub my eyes. I thought I didn't look so bad after rinsing my face with ice cold water five times, apparently I don't.

"It's nothing."

"Jill," she says. "You can talk to me you know? I'm probably not the first person you might go to talk, it'll probably be Sydney but I'm still here."

I smile at how she says Sydney. She's jealous of Sydney Sage. "I know," I say. "You're so busy though, I don't want to bother you."

"Busy?" Lissa says shocked. "Jill, you're always first! Family before business!"

"Family before business because without me there will be no business," I mumble.

Lissa blushes and shakes her head slowly as she takes my hand. "Jillian, you're not just the last Dragomir, the last person in our line who keep me standing as a queen. You're my sister. Never, I mean never think that way Jill."

I nod and look down at her hands. "I didn't mean to say that,"

Lissa gives me a sad smile and shrugs. "It's ok, but is that what you think of me? That I'm so cold, heartless person who's just using you?"

"No," I tell her immediately. "You're really nice Lissa, like above nice. I just thought that you don't want me as a sister."

Lissa grows silent and wipes the tears away from her eyes. She sniffles and lets out a deep breath. "No Jill," she says as her voice cracks. "I don't hate you as my sister. I've always wanted a sister who I can play with when I was little. I always wanted a baby sister who I can braid her hair, do her nails, tell her about my crushes, giggle and laugh with, and share my life with. I just… I just was shocked that when I finally got a sister, I got one the way I did."

"I was shocked to," I whisper as a tear rolls down my cheek. "And I always wanted a sister to."

She lets out a sob and jumps off her seat while pulling me into a hug. "Oh Jill, I love you, I love you so much. I just wish you were home with me!"

I let the tears run down my cheek as I rest my head on her shoulder. "Me to."

We pull away laughing. We dry our eyes and blow our noses, smiling at each other.

"Now, tell me why you were crying in the first place."

I bite my lip and sit back on the counter next to her, silently wondering when the marble counter's going to break. Should I tell her? What if she yells at Eddie? What if he gets in trouble?

"Jill?" Lissa asks.

"You have to promise me that you won't yell at him or get him in trouble," I whisper. "And you have to promise me that you won't tell him I cried."

Lissa nods. "I won't but you need to tell me who this 'him' is."

"Eddie."

Lissa frowns. "Eddie? What did Eddie do to you Jill?"

"Remember that Strigoi attack a few days ago?" I ask her. She nods silently as she takes my hand in hers. "Well, I did something stupid. I went after Eddie because I was scared that he was going to get hurt. He got really angry Lissa and he yelled at me. I never saw him so angry and he never yelled at me like that, he never yelled at me at all! Ever since then, he stopped talking to me and he won't look me in the eye anymore."

I stop talking and take a deep breath as my eyes start to blur with tears. She hands me a tissue and I blow in it loudly. I dry my eyes with my sleeves and continue.

"When we came to the mall, I went to a jewelry store and asked him if Angeline would like a bracelet I saw and he said he didn't know. I was so stupid Lissa, I knew he was angry but I just wanted to talk to him you know? And so I asked him another question and he got really angry and yelled at me. He said that I'm capable of making decisions myself and that I don't need a guarding to do that for me to. It hurt Lissa, it's like he called me stupid and hopeless in one sentence!"

"Oh Jill," Lissa whispers and pulls me into her arms as I sob. "I'm so sorry. He'll get past it, he'll see what he's doing to you. I never thought once that Eddie can be like this."

I nod as I pull back. "He's really nice, he's just angry at me now."

We fall into a deep silence and listen to the soft music playing above us. Lissa finally breaks it by asking me a question that gets me regretting telling her about Eddie.

"What do you think about Eddie and Angeline?" she asks.

I stop breathing. "I think they're a nice couple."

"Really?" she asks. "Oh God Jill, you like him don't you?"

I jump off the counter and grab my bags. I have to get out of here. Lissa jumps off and grabs my arm before I can reach the bathroom door.

"You have a crush on Eddie!"

I shh her and push her against the wall. "Don't yell!"

"You're not denying it."

"It doesn't matter how I feel Lissa, he's with Angeline."

"When?" she asks, ignoring what I just said. "When did you start growing feelings for him?"

"Since I went to Palm Springs with him," I tell her. "I always liked having him around me, I never noticed that it was because I liked him. He was there for me and held me when I cried after Lee died and was there every time I needed him. When I was getting uncomfortable with Micah I ended up talking to Sydney. Sydney slipped and told me that Eddie liked me. I realized then that I liked Eddie to and I broke up with Micah. When I told this to Sydney after she came back from rescuing Sonya… she told me that Eddie had moved on. I still haven't told him I dumped Micah and I'm not planning to. I don't want to give Eddie another thing to worry about."

"Oh Jill, I'm so sorry!" Lissa says.

"It's ok, Angeline's my friend and she's really nice to Eddie."

"Well don't give up just yet Jill, you're a princess. You'll get your happy ending," Lissa says winking.

I cried while writing Mia's part of the chapter! Mason is one of my favorite characters in the entire series and I cried like a mad woman when he died I couldn't keep him dead in my story so he's Strigoi! Good or bad, you'll find out soon. Just saying, I love Mia and Mason together and Jill and Eddie. But Mia is ok with Eddie but not when Jill's there! Do you think Mase can keep the Strigoi running around in circles? Will the Strigoi find out what Mase is doing? And yay! Lissa and Jill finally bonded!

I'm working on Heart's Truth or Brain's Logic. I'm typing out the layout and that's going to be updated after A Happily Ever After? Does anyone have a better title for Heart's Truth or Brain's Logic? It should be something along that line. Spared will take more time to be updated because I'm having a horrible writer's block I'm trying guys!

I'm planning to post a new story that's Mulan themed! I just watched the movie again and I had an awesome idea that I have to share with you all It's a 99% chance I'll be posting the story unless something happens to my fingers Does anyone have a cool title I can use?

Now that I'm done rambling….REVIEW PLEASE! They make my day and I'd love to know what you guys think

~ Purrfictionist