edited

|Adara De Clare|

The sun comes up and we're still at the 'safe house'. I still don't know how this is called a safe house it looks more like a vacation house to me.

A few hours pass, and I'm bored out of my mind. I can't go on my phone for obvious reasons but also it's dead. Nikolai and I have exhausted playing any and all board games that are here. Not to mention we've eaten food and watched the TV.

My head hurts. I don't know what to do. Are my parents worried? Do they even know where I am? Do they know that I was at the movies in the first place? What if they're trying to get me but can't. What if they think I'm dead because of that? I've asked Nikolai but all he said to me was that everything's fine. What does everything contain exactly? What is 'everything'?

He's just brushing me off for God knows why! I've tried asking him if he's alright but all I get is a nod of the head or even a small hum then he goes back to typing on his phone.

I thought we weren't supposed to have our phones on nor use them. Can't people track us? Nikolai told me that he thinks the bombing was set for a specific person and I know that he means him. So doesn't that mean if we get on our phones or have them on, whoever set the bomb could find out where we are?

He doesn't seem that bothered by what happened. I am. I'm traumatized by what happened. I saw tremendous amounts of dead bodies. He's a vampire though, I doubt he cares about seeing dead bodies. He is thousands of years old after all, I'm sure that he's seen tons of dead bodies.

Must have gotten used to it by now.

I watch him as he paces back and forth texting rather fast on his phone. What on earth could he be texting about?

I wait for a few minutes on the couch, wondering if he'll notice that I'm here and spend time with me, but he doesn't.

I sigh, getting up off the couch and as I'm about to walk upstairs he stops me.

"Adara, could you go into my room for my jacket please?" He asks me, his head still buried in his phone.

I crease my eyebrows, his jacket? Is he cold?

He stops and he looks at me, "My royal suit's jacket, there's something in there that I need." He deadpans at me, and I nearly smacked myself in the head.

Of course, that's what he meant. Why would he be cold? Gosh, I continue to embarrass myself.

I nod with a little embarrassed smile then I head upstairs to his room. I open the door and light floods the darkened room. Woah, in here is dark. I feel around for the light switch and I flick it on.

I admire his room for a second before I spot his jacket on the back of a chair. I carefully take it up and something falls to the floor.

"Dang it," I say, bending down trying to find what fell. They're two squares of paper. I take them up, reading them.

It's an invitation to a royal event on Saturday. I turn them over one at a time. On the back, it's addressed to Nikolai and on the other, it's addressed. . .to me?

I'm invited to a royal event this weekend and he never told me? Was he ever going to tell me even?

My brows scrunch up in irritation and I grind my teeth together. Why would he keep this from me? I'm sure that if I kept something from him, he'd be pissed beyond measure.

I grab his stupid jacket, and I grip the invitations in my fist. I walk downstairs. He's still texting on his stupid phone. I roll my eyes. He senses me behind him and he turns around.

"Here," I say in an insolent tone, as I throw it at him and he catches it, being thrown off guard. He looks up from his phone to me looking confused.

His eyebrows furrowed and his lips set in a confused frown, he looks at me.

"Were you going to tell me about this?" I show him the invitations, and at first, he stares at them confused before realization fills his face, and he recognizes what I'm showing him.

"Adara—" He starts trying to explain reaching out for the invitations but I hold them out of his reach.

"Give them to me." He tells me but I shake my head, standing my ground.

"No! Not until you tell me why you kept it from me." I demand.

From the tone of my voice, his face changes from guilty to angry. "Don't speak to me like that." He says raising his voice a little.

My stance breaks a little but I force myself to stay, "Or what?" I ask him in such a defiant tone.

He sighs.

"Were you going to tell me?" I ask him.

"No." He answers with a straight face, looking me in the eyes.

My stance breaks completely and I swallow. "Why not?" My voice breaks just a tiny bit but enough for him to see that my wall has broken.

He steps toward me and I take a step back out of instinct.

"Because I don't want to take you there." He says, his voice is rather low.

The way his eyes are piercing mine right now makes me look away from him and to the floor, "B-But why?" My voice gets smaller and I stutter.

I clench my jaw, biting my lip. I hate confrontations and arguments. I can't do one without crying. I hate it. I force back the tears that threaten to show themselves. I can't cry, I'm not a crybaby.

"Because it's not for you." Is all he says.

How is it not for me? Why?

I want to ask him all these questions but none of them come out. He continues walking closer to me until there's a finger-tip of space between us.

My lip begins to tremble a little, and the tears I want to hold back are stronger than I am, like practically everything in my life. Like a dam, my tears threaten to break free but the little will I have left is stopping them just a little.

"B-But if it was me w-who kept something from you, I'm sure you'd be m-mad." I curse myself in my head as my stuttering becomes worse.

A few tears fall and I make sure to keep my head down so he doesn't know. He shouldn't know, if he does he'll gloat like everyone else when they realize they win the argument and I'm nothing but a cry baby.

I bite my lip even harder as the tears fall faster and a sob threatens to break out of my throat. It can't, I really don't want it to.

His angry demeanor falls, and he lifts my chin, making me look up at him. I try to look away but his hold stops me from doing so.

I don't want him to see me cry. It's embarrassing I hate it!

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry," he says, wrapping his arms around me, "I didn't want to take you because I know how you are. The event would make you very anxious and nervous."

With my head rested against his chest, the sob that's been buried in my throat decides to free itself. Gosh, why am I such a crybaby?

Nikolai rubs my back while muttering to me over and over again, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, angel."

Angel? Is that his nickname for me? Hmm, I like it.

My tears stop a little and I sniffle. A small smile makes its way onto my face. I like him, I really really really like him. A lot.

"Would you like to go to the event?" He asks me and I really think about it.

There are going to be a lot of people that I don't know, all of them are royals. Not to mention I wouldn't even fit in even if I tried, I don't belong there.

I shake my head, "No." I say, my voice is hoarse from my crying.

"Alright. I'll be there for you after the event. I have to go, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't." He tells me and I nod, understanding.

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