I had my things here, courtesy of my father. I folded the clothes I'd worn the night before, which I had washed and dried myself. I knocked on his bedroom door. " You don't have to knock. I know it's you." He called. I entered his room and brought the clothes to him. " Here are the clothes I borrowed. I cleaned them and thanks again, Tristan." He sat up in bed and looked over at me. 

He pushed his hair out of his eyes " It's all good. You can keep them, actually. They look better on you." I gave a short chuckle of disbelief. I nodded and turned to walk out of his room

"  Katelyn, wait." I instantly stopped. I turned to face him. " Come here." I wordlessly walked back to where I stood. He touched my chin. I made no move against him even though I highly objected. He squeezed my cheeks and pat my forehead. When he grabbed my nose also happened to be when I lost my shit. " I know you're a royal but I didn't know you liked to touch peoples faces! Stop!" I yelled.

He quickly let go and punched my shoulder. I took his hit but glared at him menacingly. " Back in the days, royals got whatever they wanted and no one could tell them otherwise. They could be enslaved or beheaded if they opposed a royal. I'm not like them. If you tell me no, than no it is." I thought about it for a second.

 I sat next to him on his bed and leaned back into his back. " You're annoying." I whispered. I could tell he didn't like that because he knew I meant it. " But you're passionate and loyal and I respect that in a person. You're lovable and kind even when you don't have to be. And you're such a gentleman." I stated, smiling in thought.

He paused for a second " You're stubborn and cocky, but that could be a reason I like you. You're really soft under all of that armor and I like both sides of you. You also are quite annoying as well. It's not unbearable but..." I clawed at his hand and he chuckled. He waited a moment. " But... you're always on edge around me now and I wish I hadn't told you what I was if it would push you this far from me." 

I sighed and closed my eyes " Because I would like to think we'd last but to hear that just reminded me how replaceable I am to you." He was silent. He leaned back slightly and sighed.

" I... I don't think you're replaceable. Of course, I could have another woman. That would be easy. But I wouldn't be happy about it. It's not about what or who you have but rather the quality of life you experience with that thing..." I knew he was smiling " Or with that person, of course."

I internally rolled my eyes. But we got it. I touched his hand. He almost instantly held my hand in his own. He was so sweet. I got off his bed and scooped up the clothes. I gave him a shy smile but left quickly. I hope I wasn't playing with his heart at all but I wasn't 100 on my feelings for him. I gently tucked his clothes into my dresser and fell on my bed.

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I wanted to go out for ice cream. I wanted to go out but to the world I was quite dead and if anyone saw me after last night, they themselves could have heart attacks. The only people I was still alive to were Tristan and my dad. My bedroom door was locked and I was bored out of my mind. I ran down to the kitchen and looked into the freezer. I was delighted by a pint of cherry rocky road. I internally cheered. It was long past noon and I deserved some ice cream. 

I set the pint down and  grabbed a spoon. I closed the freezer and was startled by Tristan's presence. He held the ice cream I was going to eat over his head. " Is this... What you were looking for?" I almost groaned. I looked in longing at the ice cream.  I growled at Tristan that I wasn't playing and swiped at the ice cream. He easily maneuvered around me and laughed. I looked at him menacingly.

 " Can we at least share? It's my ice cream." I frowned but nodded. He quickly cut the entire pint in half and LITERALLY sliced the pint vertically with no problems. He handed me a half and grabbed a spoon.

I rolled my eyes " Fucking psychopath. Only you would do this." He smiled, showing his fangs. Why were they so attractive? His fangs were pure white and were pointed perfectly. He bit his lip and I blushed intensely. I remembered the ice cream before I got sucked into watching his lips. I thanked him and left. I walked up the stairs to my room. I opened the balcony door and slid down the side wall. I ate my ice cream in peace Sitting in the corner of the balcony. The wall was painted black and the columns around the balcony were white. There were interestingly shaped gaps between the columns. I ate the ice cream and just tried to calm down about my current worries.
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I  was close to my temper flipping on him " You're out of luck. I can't do anything about them. If they-" 

" Do I care? Get your filthy disgrace of a daughter to stop leeching off of my son." He hung up as I heard something crash in the background.

I placed down the phone and walked to my room. I tussled my hair up and opened the door. Where I lived so long ago was no where near comparable. But I needed to stay under the radar for long enough. I grabbed my keys and drove. I hated driving, but this was the new normal for a while. They would see me. If I was driving, they wouldn't notice as vampires have far easier ways of getting around.

My patience was close to a thread and I had to leave for a bit. I parked the car and walked into the hotel. It was what kept her safe, but I hated it. I asked the new counterman where room 347 was. He pointed me to the left and to take the elevator on the left. I nodded my thanks and took it. It was by any standards dirty and sad. And It reeked.

  I took 3 rights and a left down the left corridor. Her room was at the very end of the hall. I gently knocked on the khaki door and waited. The door opened. Ruby stood behind the door, letting me in. She was short and petite with flaming red hair and brown eyes. She wore pretty plain clothes like blue overalls and plain shirts to blend in more. She frowned at me " You didn't visit and Melody isn't doing great" . I came in and locked the door. All of the blinds and curtains were closed. Ruby let me in and I sighed in worry. She stepped into the other room and gave me a dark look.

Melody was curled up in bed, looking kind of worn away. She was resting, her back to me. Her dark hair looked a mess and her body was curled in a fetal position. I took off my shirt and slipped into bed with her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. It felt like forever since I'd seen her. Since I felt her. She turned to look at me. I still held her but now her eyes met mine. They were the same stormy gray eyes I'd fallen in love with some time ago. I pushed her hair away from her face, wanting to fully see her. She looked insanely worried.

She wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. I winced at her stronghold but I knew it was because she missed me. I hadn't come to see her in a month and often came once a week. She moved around to different hotels as she couldn't stay in the same hotel for very long. " Why didn't you come and see me?" She asked sadly.

I couldn't help but feel worse than I already did. It wasn't that hard for me to stop by, but I had Tristan and our daughter on my hands. " My hands have been full. I would have come to see you otherwise, my love." She still buried her face in my neck. " I was worried." She whispered.

I nodded " Baby I know. I'm sorry. " It was harder for turned vampires as they didn't have emotional sterility like vampires did. She never aged past the day I had to give her a lot of my blood to keep her alive. She sat up and so did I. " So... What happened?" I looked at my lap, trying to word things correctly
" Katie's necklace was cut." Her eyes widened, shocked. Her hand dropped.

She looked at me, serious " Than I can't hide from her anymore. She has to know-"

" Not yet. She still doesn't understand. Not yet. If Tristan keeps quiet, she can go along with the plan and things will go back to the way they were." Her serious gaze softened. She nodded, but let out a frustrated sigh. She was even far more irritated by this whole situation than me. I sighed, standing up. I was halted by her pull. Her eyes were wide. I knew what she was going to ask before the words even left her lips.

" Don't leave so soon... Can't you stay for a little bit?" I sat back down on the bed. I wished. I could stay but not for long. It would cloud my judgement and I didn't want or need that. I lie my head in her lap, looking up at her sweet face. Soft. Kind. Comforting. But all I could see was sadness, worry and her biggest hopes not coming to fruition. Wanting to be with her daughter for the first time. Wanting a family and most importantly wanting love. 

I closed my eyes " I'm sorry that you have to wait for what you need. I'm trying as hard as I can. I'm just a little scared all of what I accomplish will have been for nothing."  She pulled my waist and I sat up in her arms. " I know. I wish I could help you instead , babe I could fight-" I closed my eyes again and shook my head. I kissed her face as I knew I might not see her for another week. For us, that was a lot since we were so close to each other. I wished I didn't have to leave her alone, especially with Ruby.

 I was starting to regret my decision to leave Ruby with her. I knew Ruby would never hurt her but Ruby was the only one I could trust with her. Ruby detested me at best in all honesty. I focused back on Melody. I showered her in kisses and affection because she needed it more. Her smile was bright and beautiful and it warmed my heart to see her happy. I kissed her lips, feeling the same passion she was feeling and loving her the way she loved me back. Her doe-like brown eyes dimmed with lust and want.

 I gently let go of our kiss and hugged her tightly. She knew. I kissed her forehead and stood up. There was pain behind her smile but she knew I was doing this for her. I was doing this for us. Ruby glared at me from the hall but said nothing. I gave her a hard stare. If she so much as tried to abuse the power I gave her, I wouldn't hesitate to end her existence. Ruby stepped into the wide room " What do you really do that's so important that you have to be away from Melody  for?" 

My jaw tightened as she wasn't one to question me. Melody instead spoke " Ruby, it's none of your business and not your place to question-" I placed my hand on her back. " It's okay."

"  I'm making sure everything goes accordingly. The real question is, can you make sure everything goes accordingly on your end?'" She paled and looked humiliated. I kissed Melody quickly and excused myself, a bitter feeling in my heart.