Bleeding Love (24 page)

He brought her in
as she fell into the warmth of his body. He pressed against her. She leaned her
head on his chest for a few short seconds before she tilted her head up to be
able to give him a small smile. Unsure but feeling brave, he bent his head down
and placed a small, chaste kiss on her forehead before she moved her head to
the side to plant a small peck on the skin right beside his lips.

“I'll see you in
a month,” she said softly to him, her smile still in place.

She really had no
idea when he was going to come back, if he even was going to come back to the
states. It wasn't that she was being random, or crazy, or even funny. No, all
she wanted to do was ensure that he understood she wanted him back. It didn’t
matter if he did that in a day, a week, a month, or whatever. Just come home.

“Damn.”

Adrienne heard and
felt her stomach rumble in hunger. She was starving. So hungry she felt a
little sick. She quickly left her bedroom and ran down the stairs. When she got
to the kitchen she was anticipating a breakfast table laden with various
delicacies. She frowned when she saw only saw an empty plate, a spoon, and a
fork.

“What's for
breakfast?” she asked, turning to face a housekeeper who was busy wiping down
the counters.

“There are some
leftovers in the fridge, Ms. Adrienne.”

She nodded and
tried to put on a small smile. Deep inside reality dawned and she couldn’t help
but feel sad. This was the first sign that Xavier was gone. Since he’d moved in
their house, he had taken over most of the cooking, making table loads of
delicacies to tempt her palette. He almost always woke before she did. And
she’d gotten used to having a loaded, buffet–like breakfast. Now that he was
gone, she would be forced to cooking again.

She sighed. “I
guess I'll just have French toast today,” she said softly to her herself, opening
the refrigerator door. She mixed the egg and milk, cooked the bread and spread
butter an syrup on the pieces. Not bad, but she still missed Xavier.

While she ate,
the only sound in the room was her chewing. This was the second sign that
Xavier was gone. There were no sarcastic comments or smartass remarks, and she
couldn't help but sigh. She was going to have to get used to this agonizing
silence.

“Good morning,
Adrienne,” her father greeted, entering the kitchen in his office clothes. “What
are you eating? French toast?”

She greeted her
dad with a smile. “Yeah. I had to cook, so that is one of the easiest options.”

He chuckled. “Well
that is one area where I will definitely miss Xavier, how about you? Guess it’s
just you and me again, kiddo.”

She turned her
head around and eyed her father warily. Her father was a lousy cook, she wasn’t
much better. Her dad sounded really awfully cheery about the possibility that
she might miss Xavier.

“Dad, that's not
funny.” She took the last bit of her toast. When she swallowed she said, “His
presence isn't a life or death situation. I'm just going to go hungry a bit. I
miss his cooking. That's all.”

“And I think, no,
wait, I'm sure,” he said, as if trying to make up his mind.

Now Adrienne was
sure that he was making fun of her, her own father!

He grinned at
her. “That if a person continues to starve himself, he could die.”

She rolled her
eyes. “You forget that I'm vampire.” She smirked.

“And you forget
that I can read your thoughts.” Adrienne blanched at her father's words. “I know
you miss him.”

She tried to
preserve the last shred of dignity she had left. She wasn't going to back down
on this argument. She didn’t want to admit that she actually wanted Xavier's
presence. “I 
just
 miss his comments and his cooking.”

Carter Stahl grinned
before saying, “Speaking of cooking, how about if I take you away from all this
from all this and take you out to the new Chinese restaurant for dinner.”

“Count me in, Dad,”
Adrienne answered, her smile wide. “I'm hanging out with Tristan and Brianna today,
so just go ahead and text me the address? I'll meet you there. I won't be late.
I promise.”

Chuckling, he
walked over to his daughter and ruffled her hair before he grabbed his car keys
and the breakfast sandwich that he’d made. With a simple goodbye directed at
Adrienne, he left the house. She sighed heavily, trying to come up with
something to do to pass the time. Usually, at this time in the morning, she'd
be hanging out with Xavier, in his room, the forest, or wherever. This time
was 
their
 time, but now that he was gone, she needed to do
something else.

“Fuck.”

She couldn't help
but curse. All she could think about was Xavier, Xavier, and Xavier. How the
house was so silent without him. How the food wasn't as good as it used to be.
How bored she was without him being here. She couldn't believe she was thinking
this, but she was actually really missing him. She hadn't realized the impact
he’d had on her life until he was gone. Absence truly was key. To forget about
him, she needed to do something, go to the mall or something. She could shop
while she waited for Brianna and Tristan.

Grabbing the keys
to her car, she left the house, drove away, and hit the mall. She started at McDonald's,
and after eating she went on to do some shopping and ended up buying some
lingerie, a few bottoms and tops from Abercrombie and American Eagle, earrings
from Claire's, and make–up from Nordstrom. By the time she arrived at
Starbuck's, Tristan and Brianna were already there, eagerly awaiting for her
arrival.

“It's nice to
know you put your free time to good use,” Tristan teased, greeting her with a
small peck on the cheek, which she returned.

“I can't believe
you started the spree without me, Adie.” That was Brianna, who was clutching
her stomach lightly. “And you're supposedly my best friend.”

Tristan faked a
cough, and Brianna was quick to correct her mistake.

“Best 
girl
 friend
I mean,” she then answered, eyeing the male darkly.

“And as my best
friend, you should understand that I had to do something while I was waiting
for you guys,” was her excuse. “And besides, we can go to more stores now, even
though I’ve already spent all my money.” She laughed.

“Do you want to
put your bags in the car first?” asked Tristan, being a gentleman, which was a
rare occasion.

Adrienne frowned.
“I parked quite a way out.” She put on her puppy–dog face, and for
exaggeration, her eyes began to water a little. “Can you please just carry them
for me?”

Smirking, Tristan
nodded and got Adrienne's bags before saying, “I don’t know how you’d live without
me?”

“I'll live,” she
returned. “There's always Max and the other guys.”

“That was a burn,
Adrienne.”

“Yeah, burn,
baby, burn.”

“PMS-ing much?”
Tristan asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

“No, I'm not—!”

“Yeah, she’s just
missing Xavier!” Brianna shouted before running away from the two to evade
Adrienne's reaction.

Laughing and
stumbling along the way, Adrienne continued to chase Brianna around the mall.
They dodged impatient parents, rowdy youngsters, and apathetic adolescents, as
the vampire tried to catch her best friend. Of course she couldn't run at the
speed she was really capable of since that would cause all kinds of question
and suspicions, so she always ran behind her friend, never catching up to her.

“Bree, come back
here!” Adrienne shouted. “I give up!”

Brianna slowed
down, she was starting to pant and her legs began to ache. Before she could
stop, she bumped into someone and went careening onto the floor with a loud
thud
.

“Brianna?” said her
accident victim.

Before she opened
her eyes to respond, she heard Adrienne and Tristan coming up behind her. She
was glad that Adrienne hadn’t been able to outrun her. Of course that was
because she didn't use her full speed. Brianna would be a goner if Adrienne ran
as fast as her vampire abilities would let her.

“Aidan?” That was
unmistakably Adrienne's voice, and hearing the name of her boyfriend, Bree
immediately opened her eyes and straightened herself up. “What are you guys
doing here during the afternoon?”

“Oh wow,
Adrienne.” Tristan's voice dripped with sarcasm. “I didn't know it was a crime
for teenagers to go to the mall at this hour. I'm sorry but we aren't all party
animals like you, who stay up until the wee hours of the morning.”

Shoving him,
Adrienne answered,” Look who's talking, my partner–in–crime.”

“And between the
two of us, I'm always the sober one,” Tristan answered proudly, and he swore he
heard both Brianna and Adrienne scoff.

“Yeah, if you
call vomiting on your own wallet, sober,” Adrienne quipped before moving her
attention to the vampires who just walked up. “Don't tell me you guys actually
decided to hang out here in the mall?”

Aidan shrugged
his shoulders. “What?” He then feigned a defensive stance. “I like the mall,”

“So that means
you won't mind shopping with me?” Brianna asked, fluttering her eyes. “Say
yes
.”

“Have I ever said
no to any of your whims?”

Bree shook her
head sheepishly before she felt herself being pulled closer to Aidan, her head going
to the crook of his neck. Sighing in contentment, she wound her arms around his
neck and brought his head down to give him a kiss.

“Ugh, get a room
you guys.” Adrienne sneered which made Tristan laugh. “You're going to have a
date later. Don't waste all your hormones right now.”

“Oh relax, Adie,”
Tristan answered, placing a hand on her thick mop of hair. “They have enough hormones
for a lifetime.”

Rolling her eyes,
she continued her sarcasm.

“Wow, Tryst, that 
really 
makes
me feel better.”

“She's just
acting like an old hag because you-know-who's not here,” Brianna whispered to
Aidan which all the vampires and Tristan heard.

“You really want
me to kill you, huh, Bree?” Adrienne threatened. “Acting so tough just because
you have a boyfriend?”

“At least she has
one,” Tristan interjected, poking fun at his best friend. “Why did Xavier leave
anyway?”

Yvonne Straub spoke
up, “It's none of your business.” She rolled her eyes.

Adrienne hadn't
even realized Yvonne was there until she opened her mouth.

Tristan held his hands
up in the guilty position, surrendering. He didn't really know who this girl
was. All he knew about her was that her name was Yvonne, and she was a bitch.
With those tiny bits of information, his interest in finding out more about her
was aroused. “Why don’t I make 
you
 part of my business?”

“Ugh,” Adrienne
whispered, eyeing her friend in disgust. “Flirting much?”

Tristan just
smirked at her, his arrogance protruding from all angles. “Talkative much?”

“We're going,
Tryst.” He gave her a look of incredulity, but she didn't acknowledge his
silent request. “Now.”

“Why don't you
guys join us?” That was Brianna, clasping her boyfriend's hand in between both
of her own. “We were just walking around.”

Looking back at
his friends, Aidan asked if they wanted to go with him. It was obvious he
wanted to spend time with Brianna. He couldn't get enough of her even if they
hung out almost every night, every week.

“Why not?” said
Valerie, eyeing a few boutiques here and there. “What do you say, Ivy?”

“She says yes,” Tristan
butted in, resting his arm on her shoulders while the other one found its way
around Adrienne's neck.

“You do know that
we hate each other, right?” Yvonne said.

“For once, I'd
have to agree with her,” added Adrienne, tugging on Tristan's hand and pulling
him away. She pressed herself closer to him then whispered on his ear, “Of all
the girls you could flirt with, why
her
?”

“Am I sensing
jealousy?” he teased, nudging her shoulder. “Adrienne Stahl,”

She couldn't help
but punch his arm and laugh. “Jealousy?” She feigned a look of shock. “In your
dreams, Shackler.”

“You wound me,
Adie,” he then said. “Maybe it's really time to move on.”

“You could've
picked someone else, you know,” she said silently to him. “That girl hates me,
Tryst.”

“We're talking
about me here, not you,” he answered, being the joker. “Now if you'd let me,
I'd like to land a certain blonde before this night ends.”

“I really don't
know why I call you my best friend.”

“I don't even
know how and why he's willing to be your friend,” Yvonne said, making sure that
everyone knew she could hear them.

Already slightly
irritated, Adrienne bit her bottom lip to stop herself from doing anything rash
to Yvonne. She tugged at the hemline of her top as she looked at anywhere but
the female vampire. Yvonne had always been mad at Adrienne because she was
betrothed to Xavier. No matter how much she tried, she'd never be able to
change Xavier's feelings. Adie had one of the most important things the other
vampire wanted, something that was unattainable for her considering Xavier
already loved his fiancé.