Al hesitated a moment, bracing himself. He gradually slid on his emotional suit of armor piece by piece until he felt amply covered for what he was about to do. 

He knocked on the door with a tight fist, his knuckles white. "Hello?" 

The door swung open before he could even lower his arm, the following gust of wind upsetting his hair. Al stood there, shocked. 

For one brief moment, everything was just Adelaide. She stood in front of him, her t-shirt ruffled and hanging off one pale shoulder. Her shorts clung to her legs, which were solidly planted beneath of her. She stood firm, one hand on the door she'd opened, the other resting on her hip. Her hair was pulled up, but rogue bits of it rebelled against her attempt to contain them. She simply stared at him, her dark eyes expressionless. And then they changed.

Before he could say a word, Addy lashed out. Lightning fast, her fist collided with his chest. Al doubled over, clinging to the door frame to remain upright and groaning. He felt like his lungs weren't properly functioning and struggled to breathe. "Ow." 

And then Addy was pulling him upright again, guiding his body to hers gently, slowly. "Sorry," she whispered once he was tight in her arms. "You didn't deserve to be hit that hard. I meant for it to be gentler."

"I think you missed gentle by a hair," he said, his lungs starting to find their rhythm again. Addy rubbed his back. Al smiled. "I'm sorry, Addy. It hit me hard." 

"My fist?" she asked against his shoulder. 

"No. Everything with Kaleb." She pulled back, holding his arms and looking at him, her eyes searching. 

"I don't know what he said to you, really. No one's telling me. All I remember is seeing you sprint away from me," she said, "so obviously it wasn't nice."

She let go of him, striding across the room. Al watched her, uncertain of where he was meant to stand or what he was meant to do. "I misunderstood him," Al said, closing the door gently behind him before leaning against it. 

Addy stood by the window, her back turned to him. "You overthought it? You worried too much? Hm. Didn't see that one coming."

"You're angry." 

"Yes." 

"I brought something for you," Al said quietly. She turned and looked at him. She never could resist a surprise, which was funny because Al usually hated them. "Come over here, and I'll give it to you." 

"You come over here, and I'll let you give it to me," she answered. 

Al smiled and obeyed. He walked slowly across the room, not taking his eyes off of her. She was so stunning. He could see so much potential in her. She would do great things as Alpha, and she would look like a goddess doing it. That was just Addy. 

Al stood close to her, so close that he could feel the mate bond shivering in the air between them. "Here," he said. He held the flower from the field between them, twisting it between his thumb and forefinger. 

Al caught her tiny smile before she could hide it. She took the flower, letting their fingers touch slightly. He felt a hint of beautiful hope invade his arm from where they touched. Addy was his sunlight. He would wither away without her. He knew that now more than ever. She tucked the flower behind her ear. 

"Looks good on you," he said. 

"I know." She went to sit on her bed, sighing. "It's funny. I do like flowers. They're beautiful. But while you were gone, I went looking for you. I went to our tree, to our field. The flowers looked so dull." She looked at him, her gaze intense. There was something about the way she was looking at him that made him shake slightly. It was the good sort of nervous. "I realized that I only really like flowers when you give them to me."

Al knelt in front of her, resting on his knees. He pressed his chest to her legs, resting his arms on her lap. She touched his chin, tilting his face towards her. "I love you, Addy. I couldn't stay away from you, even if I wanted to, needed to. I think I'd turn to dust."

Addy smiled, raining warmth down onto Al. "You came back, but you shouldn't have left in the first place. You should have found me and talked to me." 

Al nodded. "I know." He lay his chin on her legs, looking up at her from behind his lashes. "I'm sorry." 

She laughed. "I have never in my life seen you look at me like that." 

"Like what?" 

"You're giving me puppy dog eyes no matter how you look at it." 

Al smiled. "Is it working?" 

"Maybe." 

He shifted his head slightly, brushing his lips against her thigh. He closed his eyes, leaving a tiny kiss on her skin. He felt her hand in his hair and opened his eyes. She was gazing at him, a smile on her lips but something new in her eyes, something wilder. 

Al's soul shifted when he looked up at her. He knew that she had an unbreakable hold on him, and he was alright with that. "Let me be your Luna, Adelaide."

She laughed bright bells and birdsong, pressing her palms to his shoulders and sliding off of the bed. She landed on top of him, tackling him to the ground. "Only if you'll let me be your Alpha. I think I might need you around just as much as you need me." 

He reached up dragged her down, pinning her close. She relaxed into his arms. "I can't believe this is really happening," he whispered. 

Addy squeezed him. "Me neither. When you were gone, I was afraid I was going to wake up and discover it was all a wonderful lie."

"I wonder if it will go away." 

"If what will go away?" 

"The floating feeling I have like I'm drifting away from my body towards you." Addy didn't say anything. Al closed his eyes. He smiled, his voice interrupting the silence as a breeze flies through a field of flowers, nearly silent and yet waking up the whole world. "I can feel your heart beating." 

And with each beat, the mate bond pulsed against Al's chest, weighing him down and lifting him up. 

"Don't say something like that," Addy whispered back. 

"Why not?" 

"Because I'm trying awfully hard not to kiss you right now, and that doesn't help." 

Al chuckled. Somehow, a bit of Addy's rebelliousness had seeped into his heart. He let his hand slide along her back, down to her waist. The other slowly went to her hair, his fingertips barely touching the back her neck before gently letting her hair loose from its binding. 

"Jerk," she said. 

"What? I didn't say any-" Addy kissed his neck. He forgot what he was saying. 

"We both know..." She kissed his jaw. "I don't have a lot of..." She bit his ear lightly. "Self-control..." 

"Addy, I know I started it, but we-" 

"So you can't touch me like that, or I might do something irresponsible like this." 

Al registered the spot of lovely evil in her voice. "Addy, wai-" It was too late. Al gasped. "Ad-" But he couldn't stop it now. His mind shut down. He felt like he was sinking down and down into the depths of his longing for Addy only to be slingshotted back into the air. At first, it was heavy, almost painful. He struggled to breathe underwater, drowning in Addy. 

And then almost as suddenly as her teeth had first made contact, he was yanked from the depths. The pain faded, and Al realized that his whole body felt what she was doing to him. His lips, his fingertips, his stomach all the way down his legs. He clung to her desperately, awareness thrumming in him. His heart felt light, and dumb delight flooded his veins. He laughed. "Oh my god, Addy." Her jaw tightened playfully, sending him even farther into the sky. "Holy--ah." 

When she released him, he still couldn't think straight. His whole body pulsed. It was strange and yet incredibly amazing. Every inch of Al wanted to kiss Addy. When she looked down at him with that telling smile on her lips and said, "Now you can't escape. You'll always be mine," Al almost lost it. 

But even with his every atom buzzing with what Addy had just done to him, he didn't give in. Instead, he sat up so that their chests were pressed together again. Addy wrapped her arms around him. "Sorry. No self-control, remember?"

"Your turn, then," Al said. Her eyes widened slightly before his lips found her skin. He relished the sound she made, a blissful concoction of surprise, pleasure, and laughter. Her arms tightened so tightly around him that he could barely breathe, but he didn't care. He could feel it happening, his lips warm on her skin and his muscles going weak. A piece of him was forever going to be hers now, and he loved it. 

"Shit," Addy breathed with her hand in his hair. "I have to kick you out now." 

Al groaned. "Don't." 

"You're the one that told me to be responsible," she said, crawling off of him. She was holding her hand to where Al had marked her and was breathing hard still. "If you stay here, I will tackle you." 

"Fine," Al said, standing up slowly. For a second, he wasn't sure his legs were going to work properly. He could still feel her mouth on his skin. "I'll go," he said as he walked to the door, "but let's set a date for the Lunar Ceremony." 

Addy smiled at him, still sprawled on the ground. She nodded, her hair beautifully wild around her face. The flower was still behind her ear. "Let's."