Bleeding Love (28 page)

“Yes.”

She heard Aidan
let out a long, resounding 'ooh' before he howled in pretend pain. Adie, on the
other hand, decided to trek a different road and said, “Die bitch die.” Of
course, she was only teasing. She'd never wish the death of any of her friends.
Life, or even high school, without Brianna would probably seem like spring-break
without Cabo, and that was saying something.

“How about 
you
 come 
here
 before
I kill my boyfriend,” Bree said, her voice commanding. “We've probably watched
Twilight about a million times now.”

“It's not my
fault I can't help what I feel.” Adrienne heard Aidan interject. “Seriously,
each vampire has his own special power? That's bullshit. The movie's mostly a
lie.”

Brianna chuckled,
and the female vampire followed suit.

“It's what you
call, jealousy,” was Bree's fast quip.

“I can suck the
blood out of that Robert Pattinson right here, right now, you know. Don't pull
my strings, Brianna.”

“You forget he's
British, 
Aidan
. He's probably back in England now.”

“And 
you
 completely
overlooked the part where I can run
really
 fast. That
impersonator probably used some computer–aided design.”

Adrienne just had
to say something at this point.

“Aidan, I'd say
you're envious, and Bree,” she started, pausing to regain her breathing. “I'll
be there in a few. I can't handle listening to you two bicker over the phone
and over something so trivial.”

“Be quick, Adie.”
Brianna's voice was playful. “Save me now.”

With that, she
murmured a small 'yeah' before she grabbed her car keys and ran down the
stairs. Of course in her faster-than-lightning speed she didn't cross paths
with any of the caretakers for the house, or even her father. Twirling her keys
around her index finger, she opened the door of her car, got in, and drove off
at an alarming speed. She arrived at Brianna's humble abode in no less than
five minutes, and hurriedly ran up the steps.

She let herself
in, knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Kim wouldn't mind at all since she was so close
with their daughter. They spent more time together than sisters. She crossed
the hallway, reached the end, and opened the door to her left. She then saw
Aidan busying himself with the computer while Brianna was nowhere in sight.
Before she could ask where her best friend was, Aidan gave her the answer.

“She's dressing
up right now since apparently,” Aidan began, his eyes twinkling in mischief. “We're
going to the mall.”

Adrienne groaned
at this before saying,” And I'll be the third wheel again? Nuh-uh, no thanks.”
For the past week or two, she'd been hanging out with the human–vampire couple,
but even if they were great company, she still couldn't help but feel like she
was dead weight.

Brianna and Aidan
acted different when she was there. They had to at least pretend to care what
she was saying or doing. She really didn't want to be treated like a pity case.
But they were the only ones she could hang out with without involving herself
in some scandal or trouble. Ethan and his every night partying ways weren't
really her thing. Max and Sabrina had other more important things to do, and
Tristan had decided that it would be great to fly out of the country with
Yvonne. Ugh.

He was missing a
week of school with the devil's mistress. She shrugged. Who could blame him?
With the amount of money his family had, Tristan could just absent himself for
the rest of the year and pay the school to give him a diploma. What Adrienne
couldn't comprehend was how her best guy friend could stand being with the
blonde ostentatious vampire. She shivered at the thought of Yvonne before she
thinned her lips.

“At least you
have company,” Aidan shrugged his shoulder. “Some company's better than none.”

“Kudos,” said
Brianna, exiting her bathroom whilst in the process of tying her hair up into a
ponytail.

“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 somewhere 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.”