“As long as we aren’t going somewhere to watch a movie.” Adie said.
Aidan and Brianna sent each other clandestine looks before chuckling softly to one another as if they shared an inside joke. Feigning disappointment, Adrienne crossed her arms over her chest and heaved a sigh.
“You know you can always just sit across the theatre from us?” Aiden replied.
“Yeah, that’s loads of fun. I might as well go by myself.”
“Now you see why it is so important to have Xavier around.” At the mention of Xavier's name, Adrienne turned her head sharply and abruptly locked eyes with Aidan. “He provides a great distraction for Adie.”
“Gerk,” Adie directed to Aiden.
“Cheer up, hun,” Brianna said, resting an arm on Adrienne's shoulders. “Don't act so sad.” Bree felt her best friend stiffen.
“I'm not said,” Adrienne said.
Bree and Aidan looked at one another again and laughed.
Their friend sighed. “Seriously, don't look at each other like I'm not here.”
“It's just fun to see you all riled up like this, Adrienne,” Brianna added, tugging on her friend's arm.
“Hey, we miss Xavier too you know. I never really expect that guy to lose his macho, but he does, and he hates us for making fun of him,” Bree commented.
Grinning shyly and slowly, Adrienne shook her head. “Now why should he get mad at anyone who makes fun of him?” Adrienne's tone of voice was highly sarcastic. “I mean, how could you get mad at someone who is calling you a pussy?”
Aidan looked confused. “Does that even make sense?” he asked warily.
“My point exactly,” Adie answered, smiling proudly. “You can't blame the guy for getting irritated especially if his ego's getting hurt.”
“Now, look at that,” That was Brianna, and she was laughing at how Adrienne's face was beginning to turn red. “They're not even together yet, and she's defending him like a wife.”
“You're forgetting, hun,” Aidan said, sidling up to his girlfriend and snaking an arm around her. “They'll be man and wife soon.”
With that, Adrienne's face finally blossomed into full beet-red. She was feeling so hot that she needed to fan her face with her hand. She sat down comfortably on Bree's bed and calmed herself down before letting out a short string of curses.
Xavier wasn't even here, yet he still a huge impact on her life. They were thousands of miles apart, but he still could make her feel hot, needy, as if she were pressed up against him.
She had fallen in way too deep, she realized, and the sad part was that she didn't know what to do now that she understood what her feelings were. She couldn't possibly fly to Europe to confront him. She'd never been the kind of girl who was aggressive and chased guys to the point that it would fall under the psycho–stalker category. She'd just have to wait for him to return.
“So are you two ready?” Brianna asked, pulling away from Aidan's grasp.
“Ready for what exactly?” Adie asked.
“We're going to the mall and do some shopping!” She bounced slightly off her bed then grabbed Aidan and Adrienne's hand.
The three of them left the room with Brianna talking mindlessly and endlessly about the things she wanted to buy. Adrienne realized that Bree was happier than usual, but she put the thought at the back of her mind. Going all therapists-like was the last thing she wanted to do on a Saturday afternoon.
* * * * *
The mall was pretty crowded when the three got there. It was packed with shoppers trying to prep for the Christmas season. There were only a few weeks left as it was the latter part of November. A number of stores were stuffed with shoppers, and the food courts were bustling with people of all ages who were reenergizing themselves before they had another go at a round of shopping.
Stomachs grumbling, Adrienne, Brianna, and Aidan decided to join the long lines of people waiting to order some food. Adie went over to the Burger King stand. Bree wanted some Sbarro while Aidan went to the other side of the court and ordered some Japanese. When they all got their meals, they quickly pounced on a recently vacated booth.
“We go to the mall to shop, and the first thing we do is eat,” Adrienne grumbled, taking a bite from her sandwich. “I swear, Bree, you're really going to make me fat!”
Laughing, Bree answered,” It's not like you really care anyway.”
“She’ll care when she looks like a whale.”
With that, Adrienne sharply turned her head and glared at Aidan. She then picked up a French fry from her tray and threw it. It hit the bridge of his nose before falling into his Tempura. He frowned for a second or two, unsure of whether he should eat the fry or not. After a moment of silence, he popped it into his mouth, winced a bit, and swallowed hard.
“Not so bad,”
“Oh really, Aidan?” Adrienne's voice was teasing. “Then why'd I see you make a face? It looked like you were in pain, aren't I right Bree?”
The female vampire turned to look at her friend who sat across her, but apparently, Brianna was too preoccupied staring off into space. She was just looking over Adrienne's shoulder, and then her lips started to part into a small smile before becoming a full–fledged grin.
“Uh, Bree.” Adie snapped her fingers in front of her friends face. “Concentrate girlfriend. You guy is sitting right beside you.”
“I know you missed me Brianna, but please.”
Adrienne's eyes widened. She would recognize that voice anywhere, that cocky yet teasing tone. She was going to punch her friend for making her miss him while he was away.
“Close your mouth or you’ll be catching flies.” Turning her upper torso, she was ready to run over to Tristan and hug him first, then sock him. But when she turned, she saw Yvonne standing next to him and sighed. Before she could groan, her gaze darted to Yvonne’s left side. And there was Xavier, he was as gorgeous as the first time she’d seen him. His skin seemed just as a bit lighter and paler than the last she’d seen him.
“I know you wanted to hit me, Adie,” Tristan said, his voice dripping mischief and suspicion. “But I brought you back a little gift or a big gift actually.”
Adrienne's eyes turned sharply to her best guy friend before she looked sideways and calmed down. His—Xavier's—tranquil midnight blue eyes were shining and happy to see her, and she couldn't help but smile when he grinned at her.
“I told you I'd be back.” His smile was really infectious.
She chuckled softly, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. She couldn't help but inspect him with her eyes, searching up and down, taking in all of him. She had really missed him. That was that. “And much sooner than I expected,” Adrienne teased back.
She didn't want to become all sentimental and mushy because that wasn’t who she was. As much as she wanted him to know that she liked him, she wasn't going to run over and kiss him in front of everyone, in the middle of the food court. This was real life, not a movie.
“So,” Tristan resounded. “What do we do now?”
“Nice human,” said Yvonne, obviously referring to Brianna. “Now that he's here, what do we do next?”
“Why are you asking me?” Bree wondered.
“Well, Hun,” Aidan shrugged his shoulders. “You're the one who planned the whole thing.”
“Wait! What?” Adrienne and Xavier asked in unison, their voices attracting the attention of food court goers.
“Is that why we came to the mall today?” Adie asked Bree.
It was Xavier's turn to start his rant. “You two flew all the way to Austria and took me away from my own party because Bree wanted you to?”
“You didn’t go to Europe to get Xavier. You told me you were going to miss a week of school to go sightseeing in Europe. Right Tristan?” Adie turned to Tristan
“It was for your benefit, Adie!” Tristan said softly.
They looked around the food court, there was no where to sit that would hold them all. The group decided that they should find somewh
ere to get comfortable. They headed over to the bistro at the far end of the mall for their little chat.
When they got seated, Adie leaned in and asked her friend, “Tell me, Tryst, what that benefit may be?”
Rolling his eyes, he answered, “The benefit is sitting right in front of you.”
Adrienne knew whom Tristan was talking about, but she decided to look at him anyway. Xavier was seated in the chair right in front of hers. He was sipping his coffee, and above the rim of the Styrofoam cup, his eyes were staring intently at her. She could see his lips slowly curving upwards into a great smile.
“So how does his arrival benefit you guys?” Adrienne asked, her eyes scanning each of her friends and Yvonne. “I don’t understand what you get out of this. Some type of reward? Or are Xavier and I supposed to provide the entertainment? Tell me.”
Xavier decided that now was not the time for him to hold back. Being courageous for the first time since the Halloween dance, he leaned his upper torso forward, leaned on the table and looked deeply into her eyes and said,” Is it a crime for them to just want to see the two of us happy?”
“And you think you can make me happy?” Adie broke the intense eye contact and looked down. Of course, Adrienne's inner thoughts answered, but she wasn't aggressive. She wasn't going to let him know that. Especially not with the audience that she had today. “Narcissistic much, huh? Are all you Europeans like that?” She teased.
“Seriously Adie, don't play hard–to–get anymore.” That was none other than Brianna trying to kick some sense into her best friend. “We all know you like him, love him even, you were a mess while he was gone.”
Xavier choked on his coffee. “Is that true?”
Looking away, Adrienne mumbled something incoherent before she turned back and looked at her friends. They were all smiling sheepishly at her, even Yvonne looked like she was anticipating the next thing that was going to happen.
Slowly, she opened her mouth and spoke up. “Assholes.” She was chuckling when she said that, and everyone took that profanity as a yes.
Xavier, who was slowly taking everything in, couldn't help the smile blossoming on his face. Flushed, he ran a hand through his hair before he looked at Adrienne again. She was gorgeous, her skin just a little too tanned for a vampire, but absolutely perfect for him. She was too talkative for her own good and too carefree for a princess, but those were her strong points. They made her distinct, different from the rest, so naturally, who wouldn't like her?
“I love you too, Adrienne,” Xavier then said, catching everyone, even Tristan, off guard. “But you already knew that. I’d like to know how you feel about me.”
She decided to cut the crap and get straight to the point. There was no use trying to find a way out in this scenario with Brianna and Tristan present. They were going to make her confess her feelings. In this matter she hated being in the spot light. She wanted to get this done and over with. “They said it, didn't they? I love you, too.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes when everyone punched and tugged her. They were trying to get her to say his name, to directly admit that she liked him. She swallowed the lump in her throat and caged all her pride. God, she was pitiful. “We need to talk,” she told him, and before anyone could interrupt her, she grabbed Xavier by the hand and pulled him away from their group of friends and out of the café.
When they reached a clothing store, she let go of her grasp on him and entered the shop. She started browsing through the racks of clothing, fully aware that her fiancé stood right beside her.
“I missed you,” she began, avoiding eye contact as much possible. “They were right, you know. When you were gone, all I kept thinking about was you, and I realized then I wanted you. All it took for me to come to my senses was for you to leave.”
Adrienne held up a polka–dotted spaghetti–strapped top in front of her so that Xavier couldn't see her blushing face. He had no idea she was this insecure about herself when it came to relationships.
What he couldn’t know was that he was the only guy she was this timid around. She may have been outgoing with a number of guys, but they weren't the ones she was going to be with forever. She hadn’t been tied to Ethan or her other exes, but to Xavier. The old boyfriends were all about having a good time. Xavier was for time and all eternity. She was shy when it came to admitting her feelings for him because an, I love you, would eventually lead to an, I do.
“So that's that.” She was fidgeting in place. “I love you.”
In that exact moment, both their eyes turned into a lustful shade of crimson. When she said those three words, a burning desire filled both their bodies. The temperature of the room seemed to increase exponentially. All they could do was look at each other and stare. She was looking at his lips, and he was focused on hers. Slowly he moved forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He was breathing hard and she could feel him, the tip of his nose grazing the curve of her neck. Then lovingly, he kissed her shoulder, and she felt his lips turn into a smile.
“Do you really mean that?” he said, having no intention of letting her go.
She stared at him, wide–eyed and in awe, before slapping his arm away and walking over to the cashier. The incredulity glimmering in her eyes never left her. “Thanks for ruining the moment.” She turned her back against him and paid for the top. “Of course I was being serious when I said those three words.”
“What three words?” he then teased, wanting her to profess her feelings for him one more time.
“Don't make me say them again.”
“You know, you have too much pride, Adrienne.”
“I have about as much pride, as I do the desire to kiss you right now.”
He grinned, an innocent, vulnerable, child–like grin, and she couldn't help but fall deeper into him, his arms supporting and steadying her. Eyes locked onto his, she reached out for her change and the shopping bag. Everything was now up to him, where they were going to go, what they were going to do. She was letting him take the lead. As if wanting to surprise her, he tightened his hold on her and smiled mischievously.
“Then you should have told me that sooner.”
As if she were a fragile piece of artwork, he smoothed a hand over her cheek and traced her jaw line delicately. He propped his hands on either side of her waist, and she did the same to his neck. Heads coming closer, they met in a soft, quick kiss before pulling away.
“This is the least romantic place to kiss, really,” Adrienne said playfully. “A retail store?”
He raised an eyebrow up at her. “Well, where would you like me to take you?”
She chuckled, a lighthearted kind of laughter escaping her throat. It was obvious he was nervous, uncertain even. She knew all too well that vampires weren't the most social creatures, especially when it came to the dating scene, but what she didn't anticipate was how clueless Xavier seemed to be now that they were holding hands and hanging on each other.
She was reminded of the first time she ever saw him. He had seemed pretentious, so confident about himself. He even had the nerve to kiss her. And that was the same guy standing right before her. He had the same eyes, the same hair, and the same body. The only thing different was that she now saw him in a different light. He might still be a smartass, but when it came to the inner workings of relationships, he was an amateur.
“How about we go back to the bistro?” she offered, intertwining their fingers together. “I'm pretty sure they're dying to know why we left them.”
“We're going to look like we're on a triple date, don't you think? Brianna and Aidan. Yvonne and Tristan. You and me,”
Adrienne let out a soft groan, and this caught Xavier's attention.
“Why the snarl?”
“Now that you're here, I owe Yvonne a lot, but I still can't believe she’s with my best friend.”
“They seem to be happy, so just let them be.”
Xavier calmed his fiancé by running his hand up and down h
er back. This seemed to placate her since her shoulders drooped and she smiled a satisfying smile. After that, they kept ample distance from each other since she had never been the clingy type. They were simply contented to have their brush against one another from time to time.
“Yeah, you're right. It's not like I can do anything.” Adrienne opened the door of the bistro and spotted her group of friends still sitting at the table. “It's not like I can do anything anyway. They're both stubborn as hell.”
“And we're indebted to them,” Xavier then answered, grinning. “I wouldn't have come back as soon if it weren't for them.”
She bumped him softly with her shoulder.
“I guess I really do owe her.”
Before Xavier could reply that, Brianna swiveled on her seat, jumped out of it, and brought the two into a long, tight embrace. When she let go of them, she stared at them warily, looking for telltale signs that the two had come to an agreement as a couple. She frowned when she saw none.
“So what did you guys do that you had to leave us here?” That was Tristan, and his smile was infectiously mischievous.
Adrienne couldn't help but tilt her own lips upward. As a reply, she raised an arm up and showed them her A&F shopping bag.
“No joke, Adie?” asked Brianna, looking slightly disappointed. “We were hoping you guys might have kissed, but seriously, you went shopping?”
Xavier let out a low chuckle before he discreetly placed a hand on the small of her back. The vampires saw the action, and Aidan and Yvonne were slowly starting to smirk to themselves.
“Who says we can't do both?”
“Adie!” Brianna shouted, causing a few heads to turn, before she continuously slapped her friend's arm. “That wasn't funny, seriously! You were going to make me cry!”
“She's sad because she thought you made her look like a fool,” Aidan then said, trying to appease his girlfriend. “Just relax, Bree. You got what you wanted anyway. The two are finally together.”
“Then seal it with a kiss you two,” she demanded.
“We already did,” the female replied, leaning closer to her mate.
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