AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Date 3-29-17

Hey my lovely readers!

Once again, the title is the name of a song by Taylor Swift.

Anyone know the song "How You Get The Girl" by Taylor Swift?

No, she's not my favorite artist. Right now that spot goes to Halsey.

I even have this chapter's picture dedicated to her :)

Now on to the story!

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Chapter 66: How You Get the Girl

Adrian tells Mason the short version of the truth. Then he tells Lucas to fill Mason in later on the rest.

"Are you done here? I've got things to do." Adrian, says even though it's a lie and he knows Lucas can hear the lie if he was listening. Based on the narrowing of Lucas' eyes, he was listening.

"Adrian, I actually had another question for you." Lucas says with an edge to his voice like a warning to not try to leave. Adrian actually had been thinking of ditching them, even if Lucas needed to talk.

But Adrian sighs and figures he might as well get it over with. "Fine. What is it?"

"I was thinking-" Lucas begins but Adrian interrupts him.

Adrian mumbles, "Well that's a shocker."

"Adrian." Lucas growls at him, on the verge of losing his patience with Adrian.

"Sorry." Adrian replies with an eye roll. "Go on."

Lucas ignores the sarcastic layer that seems to always coat Adrian's tone.

"How does your heart beat? Aren't vampires dead?" Lucas gets right to the point to try avoiding Adrian's bad mood.

"Yes, vampires are dead." Adrian replies slowly with his eyebrows pinched as if he was getting slightly defensive.

"But since I'm an extraordinarily powerful vampire, I learned to control my heartbeat." Adrian answers the question.

"How?" Lucas says in disbelief before he thinks about what he was saying.

"Through a lot of pain." Adrian says, looking Lucas straight in the eye.

Adrian wasn't kidding. He had to trigger his heartbeat with a lot of pain, then learn to control it so it would beat whenever he willed it too.

Adrian can even appear human if he suppresses his strength and speed and makes his heart beat around other people. Adrian convinced someone that he was human for awhile. But that's a story for another time.

~*~

"Everything okay with your parents?" Lucas texts Lena after Adrian and Monique leave.

"Eh. We had to sit down and have a talk. They noticed we've been absent lately." Lena texts back. Lucas thinks about that and realizes Lena is right. Ivie and Lena have been gone a lot dealing with this supernatural stuff. It's no wonder that their parents noticed.

"I'm sorry. That's kinda my fault." Lucas answers sincerely. Lucas feels bad for messing up Lena's life. But then again, if Lena hadn't been a part of all of this, they might not have gotten together when they did.

"It's ok. I made the decision to be involved. I couldn't just stay out of it." Lena responds just as honestly as Lucas is. It makes Lucas glad to know that their relationship is starting off so openly with no secrets.

"Speaking of... How are you adjusting to your newest status?" Lucas asks in code. A smile pulls at his lips at the thought of them acting like spies.

They're talking in code in case someone saw the text messages.

"Yeah. I mean, I don't have any guidance and have to figure it out by myself but other than that." Lena replies. Lucas notes to the words on the screen of his smartphone seem bitter.

"Isn't Jerica helping out a bit? I figured she would be researching and finding out how to help you two." Lucas texts what he's thinking at that moment.

"Not really. I should be doing that tho. Thanks for the unintentional advice!" Lena texts back in a quirky way.

Lucas likes texting Lena because they both say whatever they want. It's almost as good as seeing her in person. Almost.

Lucas sighs, the smile dropping from his face as he feels a need to see Lena. To just be near her would put Lucas at ease. He's sick of all of this stressful supernatural mystery.

Not that it's Mason's fault. He didn't ask to become a werewolf then turn back into a human.

~*~

Lena stares at her phone, looking over her messages with Lucas again. Lena doesn't know what to do with the fact that she's an elemental angel.

What are you supposed to do when you find out something like that? Talk to your parents?

Thinking about her parents reminds Lena of the talk they had.

Lena couldn't believe that her parents dared to ask her where she's been lately when they are always gone.

Lena understands that they must think they have some intitlement to asking that because they're parents. But they were teens once. Shouldn't they understand? Guess not.

Lena's parents say they're working and that's why they're gone so much. But what kind of parents are always working? They hardly ever have one day off a week.

But Lena didn't let her bitterness get to her while speaking with her parents. She's determined to keep their relationship a good one, even if they don't reciprocate her feelings.

Lena isn't even sure if her parents notice that their absence could be upsetting to their kids.

Then Lena switches her thoughts to the fact that she's a supernatural that doesn't know anything about that side of herself.

At least Lena's used to the strain of worrying about her parents. Lena is completely unfamiliar with this. All of the supernatural is overwhelming.

Which reminds Lena... Has Ivie been doing okay? Has she been changing into vine girl at night or is that still stopped? Is that temporary or not? And what's the cause of the sudden vanishing of vine girl?

~*~

Ivie is hanging out with Adrian again today. It's their second time being intentionally alone together.

But Ivie isn't sure if it's considered a date, since Adrian just showed up at her door asking to "hang out" and now... here they are.

Adrian brought Ivie back to the spot of their first date. Of course the first thing Ivie said was teasing and possibly rude. "Is this you're only private place to take me away from everyone?"

Adrian replied whittily, just as Ivie expected he would. "Don't worry, I have more up my sleeve." Adrian had said with a cocky smile.

"I'll take you somewhere else when you're ready." Adrian had said with a wink. What is that even supposed to mean?

So Ivie and Adrian argued about the meaning of what he said. They talked for awhile about Mason because Ivie's been worried.

Now they're sitting in silence side by side, staring off at the river. Ivie used to not like the river, but since becoming vine girl, she's been far more adventurous and outgoing.

Ivie probably wouldn't be here with Adrian right now if she never got struck by lightning and became a crazy assaulter at night.

Ivie likes this version of herself better. Especially since Ivie hasn't changed into vine girl in weeks.

Ivie always finds herself second guessing the reason she thinks she's not vine girl at night anymore.

Because the reason that Ivie came up with is Adrian. Ivie thinks of Adrian before going to bed every night. She finds herself replaying their first kiss, their first date, their second kiss, and all the sarcastic things Adrian has to say.

Sarcasm seems like a reflex for Adrian, in an endearing way. It's one of the many things Ivie likes about Adrian. Another thing Ivie likes is how Adrian can shift from silly to serious in a heartbeat. If he finds something important, Ivie can tell.

Ivie feels a hand move over to hers so she glances over in surprise, just barely managing to hold in a gasp.

Adrian curls his fingers around hers. His hand is surprisingly smooth. The first thing that Ivie thinks of about Adrian, right after thinking "sarcastic" is that he's strong.

So Ivie assumes Adrian's hand will be rough because he's strong. Obviously, Ivie was wrong.

Adrian squeezes Ivie's hand gently in his to get her attention. Ivie really knows how to space out.

Ivie gazes up into Adrian's usually cold blue eyes. But this time, Adrian's eyes remind her of the river they were staring at a moment ago.

If Ivie dove into that river she'd be surrounded by warm water that made her want to stay forever. Just like Adrian's eyes. They have a depth to them that wouldn't be noticed at first glance.

Ivie's eyes lowered to Adrian's lips to avoid drowning in Adrian's blue eyes. But now she's thinking about their first and second kiss again.

Ivie feels a blush creep across her cheeks from remembering those memories. From wanting to relive those memories.

And it doesn't help matters when Ivie can't tear her gaze from Adrian's lips, so she sees a smirk slowly spread like the embarrassment spreading to get cheeks.

Adrian's smirk drops out of nowhere and he turns his head away, letting go of Ivie's hand. "Look Ivie, I need to tell you something." Adrian confesses while directing his words towards the river, like maybe Ivie wouldn't hear him that way.

"Okay. What is it?" Ivie asks with a suspicious tone of voice.

Because Adrian sounded nervous. Adrian sounded nervous. That sentence doesn't even sound right. It shouldn't be reality. It's like saying, "A deer stepped out of the woods and said hello!"

Adrian struggles to force his words out. "What if Ivie doesn't forgive me for lying to her for so long?" Adrian wonders to himself.

But Adrian pushes through his nerves and uneasily announces, "I'm not actually a werewolf?" Then Adrian winces at his tone. Adrian sounds unsure of what he just said, like it was a question instead of a fact.

"What? You're not a werewolf?" Ivie asks so Adrian will confirm or deny what she thought she just heard.

"How could he not...? No. I must've heard wrong. Yeah, that's it." Ivie thinks frantically to herself.

"No, I'm not a werewolf." Adrian repeats so that Ivie will understand, since she seems shocked.

"I'm a vampire. And I had to tell Lucas the other day, but I've been waiting to tell you personally." Adrian explains to Ivie, hoping she sees this as a nice gesture.

"Oh. Well thanks for that." Ivie spits out sarcastically before she thinks about it.

There was a calmness in the air, but it's evolved uncomfortably into tension.

Ivie sighs, leaning back on her hands and tipping her chin to the sky.

Adrian watches Ivie tense up in a sort of stretch while leaning back, then releasing the angst that has built up.

Adrian turns away from her to hide the show of concern on his face. Adrian can play a part with anyone but Ivie. So instead of masking his feelings, he only hides them from Ivie.

Ivie glances over at Adrian, noticing his shoulders and neck look tensed. Ivie has to push away the empathy she feels. Ivie should be angry or upset, not sympathetic!

Ivie lays back in the grass, glaring up at the sky, taking her anger out on the clouds there like she can wither them with her gaze.

Adrian falls beside Ivie, letting out a frustrated sigh. But not at her, at himself.

"Ask me anything." Adrian blurts out, mirroring Ivie's gaze at the sky.

So Ivie asks the whats, hows, and the whys. Adrian answers the best he can, being completely honest the whole time.

"So you're wise beyond your years." Ivie teases Adrian.

Adrian rolls his eyes and puts his arms underneath his head like a pillow. And not a very soft pillow at that.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Ivie." Adrian replies with an amused tilt to his tone.

"That's good to know." Ivie responds, pretending to take what Adrian said literally.

~*~

Not much goes on in the weeks to follow. Mason stops trying to find signs that he's still a werewolf. No one talks about that anymore around him either, so as not to set him off.

Adrian and Ivie hang out a few more times, but there's an unease while Ivie tries figuring out how she feels about Adrian lying.

Lena and Ivie have to spend more time at home because their parents worry that they're into something bad.

Lucas starts hanging out with John to build back up their friendship.

John takes a scolding from his parents when they find out about the spell he did, but he doesn't get in any serious trouble because it was to help a friend who was supernatural. John leaves out the fact that Mason isn't a supernatural anymore.

And Jerica works on her power when she's not with Lena. Jerica figured out how to electrocute people on purpose with just a thought.

Lena doesn't really explore her powers much, besides practicing levitation once a day. She can only rise a few inches above the floor so far. It's getting there.

The one good thing that's come from these three weeks is that Mason has been hanging out with Monique, just like he's wanted to do since he met her.

Adrian hasn't been in any conversing moods, so Monique started hanging out with Mason when she's not working.

They do normal things like watch movies, eat food, binge watch TV shows, eat more food, talk, then eat even more food. Eating is Mason's favorite thing besides playing video games. His top favorite thing to do is play video games while eating.

Mason finds that Monique's laugh is as beautiful as her smile. A dimple appears when she smiles widely that Mason finds adorable. And Monique's hair is smooth.

Mason figured that out when Monique was sitting right next to him one day on the couch in the living room. Mason had left the windows open to circulate the air in the house, so a particularly strong breeze blew through the room, making Monique's hair fly in her face.

Mason remembers it like it was only yesterday. Which it was. But wasn't that the perfect line to think just then?

Mason reached over and removed the hair from Monique's forehead where it had stuck. Her hair was silky smooth and Mason wanted to keep the hair in his hand for a minute more. Instead, Mason dropped it and muttered sorry.

Monique had replied kindly. "Thank you. But you don't have to apologize."

It was the perfect moment for Mason to lean in and kiss Monique. They'd been hanging out for weeks, not every day but often. Monique laughed at Mason's lame jokes and helped him cook. Monique is a moderately good cook.

And the perfectness of the moment is exactly why Mason didn't do it. Mason couldn't kiss Monique in that perfect moment because Mason isn't the perfect guy.

Mason asks himself, "That's how it's supposed to go, right? Perfect girl, perfect guy, perfect moment." But Mason isn't so sure.

And with the full moon in a few days, Mason believes he shouldn't be worrying about missing his chance to kiss Monique when he already has so much to worry about. Stress is a constant now.

But the thing that nags at Mason the most is his possible chance with Monique. It's all Mason can think about.

Mason knows he should be concerned about the full moon and what it'll feel like for Lucas to shift without him, but that doesn't matter as much anymore.

Now that Mason feels he has a chance with Monique, Mason doesn't care that he's human again.

Because Mason can be content as a human, as long as he's a human that gets to be with Monique.