GUYS! I'M SOOOOOO VERRY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. My grandpa's maid sat on my laptop and cracked my screen, my aunty had it for a week, she was "supposed" to fix it…But I just got it back today and I wrote after school to try and finish this chapter. Again, I'm sorry for the late update.

Twelve –

To say I was surprised to see her was an understatement. I threw myself at her and gave her a huge bear hug. She laughed.

"I'm so glad to see that you're okay!" I gushed. She hugged me back tightly.

"Me too. I'm glad to see that you two are finally together." She gave me a knowing smile. I grinned back at her. I pulled away from her so that Alek could hug her. Jasmine threw her arms around him and I watched as he squeezed her tightly. He buried his face in her shoulder.

"You're back," he whispered as if he couldn't believe it himself. Jasmine sighed contently.

"Thank you," she told him when they pulled apart. "Without you I would've died. That's the second time you've saved me from dying."

Alek smiled.

"Who else would save you from dying?" he asked, "Chloe surely couldn't."

"Shut it," I snapped. Both of them laughed.

"So what do you want to do today?" Alek asked Jasmine. He reached for my hand and held it gently. She smiled.

"Anything, as long as we get out of here," she replied. Alek thought about that.

"Lunch?" he offered. I shrugged. Jasmine nodded.

"Chinese?" she asked sweetly. Alek laughed.

"Sure, let's go."

Jasmine walked out first and we followed her. Amy and Paul were sitting on the couch – surrounded by all the Mai. Amy looked uneasy; Paul looked like he was in heaven.

"Guys, we're going out for lunch!" I announced. "Let's go!"

Amy shot up to her feet like a rocket. Paul didn't move an inch. Amy rolled her eyes and grabbed his wrist, with a tug she managed to pull him off the couch, but he landed on the floor.

"Come on Paul!" Amy said annoyed. Paul shook his head and got to his feet. He wrapped his arm around Amy's shoulder and they joined us at the door. Alek pulled me out of the door first and into the elevator.

"Someone's in a hurry," I teased. He smirked.

"Maybe it's so we can be alone tonight for…" his tone was suggestive, and he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "…activities."

I laughed and pushed him away lightly.

"I love you but I'm not ready for that yet."

He shrugged.

"It was worth a try, and I love you enough to wait."

I kissed his cheek. He pecked my lips once before everyone else filed into the elevator. Jasmine pushed 1 and Alek wrapped his arms around me as we started descending. When the elevator door opened, we went to the garage.

"Chloe," Amy said. "We're taking my car. Wanna come?"

"No," Alek answered for me. "Chloe and I are taking my car."

Amy rolled her eyes, and her Jasmine and Paul made their way to her car. Jasmine looked back at Alek.

"Diamond?" she asked. Alek nodded and started tugging me further down the lot.

"Where did you park your car?" I asked.

"At the end," he said. He smirked. "You'll see."

When we reached the end, there was a sheet over a car.

"That's yours?" I asked. He nodded proudly. He let go of my hand and pulled the sheet of the car. It was an Aston martin. A nice one.

"Wow," I breathed.

He chuckled and opened the door for me. I slid in, Alek got in the drivers side, and the car purred to life. He stomped on the gas and the car sped away.

"Jeez!" I shouted. "And I thought Amy drove crazy!"

He grinned at me.

"Scared?" he taunted.

"Nervous," I corrected. "What if we crash?"

"We won't," he promised. In minutes, we parked next to Amy's car. We were in front of a small building, like a tiny house.

"Where are we?"

"Diamond Restaurant," he answered. He got out of the car and went around to open my door. Such a gentleman, I thought. He shrugged off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. Alek kissed the top of my head.

"I love you," I told him. He smirked.

"I know."

We made our way up to entrance. I could see Amy, Paul, and Jasmine already seated at the table. They were all laughing and drinking tea was my guess. A bush rattled on my left; I glanced at it and made Alek stop.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I pointed to the bush.

"It's nothing, Sweetheart."

I listened anyways, and that's when I could hear it, a heartbeat.

"Someone's here with us," I muttered. Alek turned his ear to that direction and then his eyes widened as he heard it, too.

"It's probably one of the Mai watching us," he offered. But I could hear the doubt in his voice.

"Do you know if anyone's on duty watching us?" I retaliated. He shook his head.

"It's probably just an animal, Chloe."

"What if it's Zane?"

Panic creped its way into my tone. Alek's eyes narrowed.

"If it is, then good, I've been waiting to finally kill him."

"Alek, no," I begged. He smiled assuring at me, but I didn't feel assured.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I'll be fine."

"Do you want me to take another knife for you?" It was a cheap shot but, hey, I had to use whatever I had to make him not act absurdly.

His cat eyes flashed for a few seconds.

"You wouldn't," he hissed.

"Try me," I hissed back. "I'm not letting you risk your life again."

"And I'm not letting you risk yours either."

"Then you better not go."

He sighed. He knew I got him. There was no way around this argument. If he went after Zane, I would do anything to make sure he didn't get hurt. Even if it meant, really, losing another life.

He nodded curtly, and opened the entrance door for me. I gave him a small smile and walked in first, he walked in after me. Placing his hand on my lower back, he led me to the table our friends were seated at.

"There you guys are," Jasmine said. "We already ordered. I ordered for you guys. I hope you don't mind sharing."

"Not at all," Alek said. He pulled out my chair. I sat down and he sat in the chair beside me, he angled his legs so that our knees were touching. He held my hand under the table.

Paul was telling us his latest findings in his readings – all from comics by the way – when our food arrived. Alek and I were sharing fried shrimp. It tasted divine. Alek and I took turns feeding each other – don't ask me why. Amy made gagging sounds, but Jasmine smiled cheekily.

Maybe, thirty minutes later, we were all done. Alek paid the check, even though we all started objecting, especially me.

"You've got to stop paying for everything!" I told him, as he handed the waitress the money. I noticed her checking him out. I narrowed my eyes slightly. Alek wrapped his arm around my shoulder and quickly said "thank you" to the lady, and led me out of the restaurant. Jasmine, Amy, and Paul were a few steps behind us. I was looking at my feet as we walked. Suddenly, something told me to look up, when I did I saw someone I really didn't want to see leaning against Alek's car.

"What the fuck do you want?" I hissed angrily.

Mimi smirked at me.

Review. I was supposed to update sooner but my friends grandma just passed away and I was with her at the hospital for like 3 hours. Plus, I just transferred schools and I need to catch up on the curriculum. So PLEASE just keep reading my story and I'll try and update as quickly as I can.