New Beginning

"The new beginning" chapter 6 last night

One more month went by, and Elain and Azriel got closer within every day. They got so used to each other that they would always sit together at family dinners and automatically search for each whenever they have spare time.

Six days ago Azriel had to fly to a mission in summer court. The relationship between the two courts was still complicated, and Rhysand was really trying to fix things. The mission was supposed to take a week, which means that Azriel is coming back tomorrow. Elain couldn't wait for him to return, she missed the shadowsinger more than she should have. That neediness made her frightful.

She grew so accustomed to his presence that gives her the silent comfort she so much needed. She could feel the darkness in her taking control without him near. Instead of letting her sadness take over, Elain decided to concentrate on tomorrow. One more day and he will be next to her again.

This evening at the dinner Mor insisted that Elain would go with her at Rita's. With Cassian gone, Azriel on a mission and Feyre with Rhys busy, Mor was annoyed and by herself. So Elain said yes. A month ago that thought of going to the club would have terrified her, but now she needed a distraction.

In the end, Mor convinced Feyre to join. Girls night she said,- they all needed a girls night. So three of them went. Elain ordered a bitter drink that would keep her awake, in a meanwhile Feyre and Mor were sipping colorful drinks. Elain has tried alcohol before, that is precisely why she refuses to do that ever again. She wasn't sick; she was pretty much sure that she could be a good drinker. However, when she is drunk, she says everything she's thinking and that mortifies her.

Right now, when a handsome fey male asks her to dance, she politely declines. Feyre and Mor eye her with disappointment. And Mor finally says "Did you see how handsome he was? Elain I know your not all into "males," but it has been two years since Grayson." Than Feyre started to speak "Don't you want to have fun?"

Elain didn't want to have fun. She wished for tomorrow to come faster and for this day to be over.

When a fourth male asks her to dance its Feyre who answers for her "Of course she will, she would love to." There is no point in arguing with Feyre who is very drunk at this point. And with Elain's polite nature she dances with a male. His name is Peyton, and she has to admit that he is very good with his moves. They were dancing for three songs and Elain also had to admit that she did have a good time. The male was fun and easy to talk to. He was handsome too. His hair looked a lot like Cassians, but he had a paler complexion and dark green eyes.

When they finished dancing, she saw that Mor and Feyre were nowhere to be seen. They will pay for that later she decided. Her companion seemed to realize that too "Will you let me walk you home?" He asked. Elain noded.

The walk was not long, and they talked mostly about their childhood. He was 93 years old, which was not that old by an immortal standard. He hugged her goodbye and told her that he would love to meet her again. And that was that.

Next morning Elain woke up at down. She wanted to cook something delicious for Azriel who is supposed to come back after a few hours. She made a lemon cake and hoped that he would like it.

Two hours later she was sitting in a library reading a book when a shadowsinger winnowed into the room. There was a massive smile on his face, and Elain was grinning herself. She put the book down and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back; they were standing like that for a good while until Elain finally whispered: "I missed you."

Azriel Squeezed her harder and said, "Me too, flower." She smiled at him, and he withdrew slightly to look at her face. He put a strand of her hair behind her ear. Oh, how she'd missed him. Finally, finally, he was back. Elain could burst out of her skin from happiness.

"Your smell-" He began but shook his head slightly. "We should go eat, everyone seems to be waiting for us," Azriel said still holding her. "Sure" Elain answered, "You must be tired and hungry after a long flight."

Azriels eyes seemed to glitter "I'm not that tired," he said. Elain did not know why, but she felt her cheeks heating. Not wanting for him to see that she put her back to him and said: "Let's go eat."

When they came to the lunch table, everyone greeted Azriel, except for Rhys, she supposed they have already talked mind to mind. After Az's brief talk about how it went in the summer court, everyone began eating.

When they were done Mor gave her a wicked smile and opened her mouth to speak "So, how did it go yesterday Elain?", Elain stiffened, she did not want to discuss this with everyone around, although she knew that Mor was only teasing her. Or she actually hoped that she would like the male. And she has, it's just not in the way that she expected her to.

"It was fine I suppose," Elain answered quietly. "Why, weren't you there?" To that, it was Feyre who answered: "Oh, we were getting tired." She gave her a grin that told Elain enough of her sister intentions. Busybody. "So you left me there? You could have told me that you were going back." Elain was angry now.
"Don't be angry, we thought that you were having fun and didn't want to disturb you." Mor cut in.

Elain was wearing an expression on her face now that would make Nesta proud. Rhys was watching them with amusement, busybodies all of them.

That was when Azriel asked, "where were you yesterday?" to all three of us. Mor answered that too "We took Elain to Rita's. We wanted for her to have some fun and when the fourth male asked her to dance, and she almost declined again, well we decided to take the matter into our own hands." Azriel went very still next to her. After a moment he growled, "And you abandoned her with a male? Who is a stranger?."

Elain could see the tense muscles in his jaw. The rage flicker in his eyes. He was mad on Mor and Feyre, Elain realized. Yes, it was irresponsible what they did, but Elain was an adult. She could take care of herself.

"While that was stupid of them" she gave a look to Mor and Feyre and continued, "I can take care of myself, I am not a child Azriel." It came out harsher than she intended.
"I know that you're not a child" he gritted his teeth. She hasn't seen him lose his composure like that, next to others, especially.

They finished their meal in silence. Elain felt awful about how she had snapped at him. She missed him so much, and one hour after him being back they weren't talking.

She followed Azriel into the hall after the meal. He was walking fast; he seemed to be lost in thoughts. Elain griped his arm, and he stopped. "Can we talk? Maybe we could fly to our spot." She asked with a smile. An attempt to an apology after her snapping that was meant more for Feyre and Mor than for Azriel.

"I'm tired Elain, let's talk tomorrow." He said without even looking at her and disappeared into shadows.

Why did he act like that? Was it because of what Mor had said? It couldn't be jealousy; they were friends. But then what is it? Azriel had his own life. Not everything was about her she had to remind herself. And maybe that made her selfish, but she hoped that it was the jealousy.

She couldn't help but feel disappointment. She wanted to talk to him so bad. She thought that she could not feel worse than with him being away, but she was wrong.