My eyes are fixed against his retreating back and the only coherent thought I can think is: Don't go away! Then I start sobbing and I hide my face in my hands. I feel like an idiot, such an idiot because I know I'm too old to be acting like this and crying over my mom even though I know she's gone and there's nothing I can do and I just feel so stupid. He comes to me and I'm sobbing, practically punching his gut, yet he's still trying to wipe my tears and hold me against him. I push him away, because I don't need his sympathy and I don't need him. That's when I really hate him – because I'm suddenly realizing that he's kind of a good guy. I push him away. And then I'm scared shitless because apparently I pushed too hard and now I'm falling out the window. "Rosanne!" he yells, and reaches out for my hand. I go with the flow as he grabs it and forces my body against his. My eyes are transfixed to the sky and my last stupid thought is 'That's so beautiful' instead of 'Ohmygawd we could die'. But we're alive. Of course we are, I think, because it's Lidium who saved me, not anyone else. No one else would have been able to land on his feet so delicately after falling from a tower window, while also holding a girl in his arms. When we land he loses his footing and we both slip onto the wet grass. I'm winded for just a second and I take several deep breaths to calm down. Beside me, Lidium also takes a deep breath but leaves it at that. His arm is under my shoulders and we lay side by side underneath the dark sky. It's the most calming and relaxing moment I've had in a long time. Then, like an idiot, I begin to giggle. It starts small, and as it begins to grow, I cover my mouth. Then my entire body starts shaking and I just give up and bust out in laughter. I could feel his curious stare as I continued to laugh. I turned into him to hide my face in his shoulder to try to catch my breath. Then I felt him shaking, and I realized he was also trying to keep in his laughter. We both started laughing, loudly, and I could feel the tears on my cheeks as I tried to get myself together. Every time I looked at him though, I just wanted to laugh more! "We- we could have died!" I laughed. "Holy shit, Lidium!" I laughed some more. "No way in hell," he laughed. "A-as long as you decide to fall out of a window when I'm there, you won't die, I promise," he laughed some more. As our laughter fades, our smiles don't, which I'm grateful for. I sit up and hover my face above his, smiling. "Thank you," I whisper. His smile didn't falters when I lean forward and kiss his forehead lightly, letting my lips linger longer than necessary. I get up and stretch my arms above my head. I close my eyes and just revel in this happy moment, for just one more second, before turning around and getting down to business. Lidium is still against the grass and I lightly kick his side. "Lidium." His gaze meets mine. "We need to get back up to the room. Do you any ideas?" I raise my brow and cross my arms. "Ugh." is his reply and he drags his palms down his face before swiftly standing and walking to the tower wall. "I can jump. But…" "But?" "But, are you sure you're up for it?" His eyes challenge mine and I lift my chin. "Of course I am. I can do anything." Bump What do you all think so far?
He smiled watching me. "Good. You need that attitude to be my wife." I blush and take a step back. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Absolutely nothing!" he replies immediately. "Unless of course, you want it to mean something. Then it can mean anything you want it to." He waggled his brows at me then walked up to me. "Take off your dress." "Excuse me?" He rolls his eyes and talks to me as if I'm a child. "I need speed to jump up this tower Rosanne. We need to lose anything that could weigh us down. And that dress-" He points to my layered skirt and corset. "-definitely weighs more than it needs to." I hug my middle and glare at him. "And how in the world are we going to explain why my dress was thrown out the window?" "That's easy. You ripped your clothes off in a fit of rage from being in a room with me and threw them out the window, of course." I look at him like he's an idiot. "You really think they'll believe that?" "Yes. –Ouch! No, okay, no they won't. Don't hit me! I'll just jump back out the window when you're safe and pick it up, okay?" He lightly pushes me away and turns around. "Now take it off." "You're going to see me anyway; I don't know why you turned around." "Oh!" he said as he turned, "So you want me to watch you?" "No! No. Turn back." I saw his smirk as he turned back and I seethed quietly. Most of the time I just want to hit him. After fumbling for a few seconds, I grew angry and began to tear off the layers. I kept on the corset because I knew it wouldn't weigh us down. It better not, anyway. There is no way I am taking it off. I threw them against the wall and faced Lidium. "Okay." He purposefully kept his eyes on my face and nodded, opening his arms out to me. I blush and walked into his open arms. The stars are finally all shining, and the moonlight was our only light. The stories I heard when I was young, I remember them saying that the night was the natural time for the Vampires to live. They thrive in it. And watching Lidium now, I can see that those stories, at least this specific notion, are completely true. He seemed to shine in the moonlight, his smooth skin looking more so, even with the shadows contrasting with the fair complexion. His eyes definitely gleamed; I guess being able to use his strength while with us made him happy. Being able to show that he can do this… Bump Lidium is so.. I'll let you all finish that sentence.