The Awakening

Chapter Seventeen

I wake to a tight grip on my hand,  and bandages covering my forehead. My whole body feels weird like it has just been defrosted, but that makes sense. Maybe it is also to do with the fact that I fell asleep in pain, and as an ice cube, and wake feeling fine.
"Ella?" I hear Andrew ask, his voice full of worry, and panic.
"Good morning," I whisper, removing the bandage from my face so I can see him. He smiles at me and places his head on the bedside next to me.
"I thought you were going to die," he says abruptly.
"And I thought you were with Emma, and Devil," I reply, lifting his head gently with my fingertips. He smiles at me, and it fills my insides with a sense of warmth. 
"Frost is gone," Andrew tells me. "He left yesterday with the box, saying you weren't strong enough to travel, but I think he really just wanted to let you finish your trip," he winks.
"But you get to stay with me?" I ask, not wanting him to let go hand in mine, and feeling like I am too hope he will say yes. 
"Yes, I will be staying with you," he answers, caressing my face in his hand, and kissing me on the forehead. My stomach gives a leap, and he pulls away while I am blushing. "Is that alright?" I nod, and his smile just grows larger.
"Wait," I panic. "My suit gave out, everyone saw me, and how did I heal so fa-" Andrew cuts me off.
"You healed yourself remember? Your stone gave off all those pulses, and you kinda thanked it before going back to sleep after the ice melted." Andrews smile grows smaller as I shake my head no.
"Well I guess what matters now is that you are okay," he grins, before letting my hand go, and standing up. "Also nobody saw you, as soon as the rain started everyone left except for the paramedics, but Frost created a dome of ice before anything really happened," he shrugs as I throw off the covers. I pick up a small flowery dress out of my suitcase and shrug. I see Andrew raised his eyebrows expectantly, and I assume he agrees with my choice of clothing. I go to the bathroom to change my clothes and notice some small scars on my arms. I wasn't expecting to get away without a scratch, but I figured my stone would have done a better job at hiding them at least. I braid a piece of my hair around my head, so it looks sort of mike a crown, and curl the rest of my hair that falls underneath it. I also give my face a quick wash before stepping back into our room. Andrew is waiting for me in a tight white collared shirt, and blue jeans with a gold watch to accent it. "Wow," Andrew praises, looking me up and down before pulling me into him.
"Wow, yourself," I almost laugh, looking up at him.
"You look beautiful," he tells me sincerely, and I blush. He uses his hands to flip my hair behind me, and with one hand he pulls me in to kiss me, and with the other, he uses it outline the curves of my body until I stop him at my hips. He pulls away smiling and takes my hand.
"Where are we going?" I ask him, my heart still beating faster than normal.
"I was thinking a quick breakfast, then a bike ride, followed by lunch, and some other surprises," he beams, leading me out the door, while grabbing a key card, and slipping it into his back pocket along with a small black wallet that has been put next to the door. I pull the door closed behind me, and it locks automatically. We take the elevator down to the ground floor, and I can't help but smile the whole way. He pulls me along, not bothering to look at a map, but he constantly points out things like how he is convinced one of the clouds is shaped like a dragon. When we finally stop walking I find us outside a small restaurant with a blinking open sign. It's really more of a diner, but I don't complain. I'm not one to pass up a good meal, no matter where it is. I order a waffle, just like I did when my family brought me to these places. Weirdly enough this doesn't make me miss them but just allows me to enjoy this trip even more. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Andrew whisper something to the waiter, and he nods. I give Andrew a look, but he just shrugs like it meant nothing. When our food comes I know what Andrew asked the waiter. My waffle is covered in strawberries, and on top of that is a smile made out of whipped cream. I look at Andrew to give him a glare, but instead I giggle, which surprises me. We both eat our breakfast, and I can't help but notice that I'm not the only one who looks good today. Andrews' eyes seem to be glistening as he looks up at me to catch me mid-stare.
"Sorry," I say, shaking my head. I catch the corners of Andrews' mouth go up.
"What? Something wrong pretty lady?" He asks, quoting what I would say is his favourite line to say when he is with me.
"Nothing, just you," I reply, taking another bite, but not losing eye contact with him.
"What about me?" He questions putting his hand on mine as I put my knife back on the table.  Hesitate to tell him, but his pleading eyes get it out of me.
"You look really good in that shirt," I finally admit, making him slightly blush. We finish our food quietly, and Andrew pays the waiter before pulling me out of my seat by the hand. We walk a couple more blocks before we come to a building that rents bikes, and helmets. I'm starting to regret wearing a dress as I buckle my helmet on. It's a good thing I wore shoes, not sandals at least. I tighten the strap on my helmet and mount the white bicycle that is leaning against the wall. I follow Andrew onto the bike lane on the road before we get to a small forest where we find a trail to ride on. The cool breeze tickles my skin as we ride through the trees. The path is wide, and we don't have to worry about any tree roots so I enjoy the beauty around me. We ride for about an hour before we get to a clearing where Andrew stops.
"Come with me," Andrew motions, dropping his bike, and helmet in some tall grass that conceals it. I do the same, and then follow Andrew through some more tall grass. Eventually, he stops and turns around to face me.
"Why are we here?" I ask, curiously, looking around.
"Thought we could find some more dragons," Andrew gins, laying down on a soft patch of grass. I lay down next to him, and he wraps his arms around me. I use one of them as a pillow while the other gets wrapped around my waist. We look up at the bright blue sky, but there isn't a cloud in sight.
"There's nothing here," I complain, looking over at him.
"Watch," he shushes me, waving his hand in the air, and clouds begin to fill the sky.
"Well then," I say, and it's tempting to lean over and kiss him, but I sit still, and watch as Andrew makes a different shape, and images with the clouds. I laugh as he fills the clouds with bizarre images, like a two-headed snake, and his actual attempt at a scary dragon.
"Don't laugh, I'd like to see you do better," He says, tickling my side a little.
"Alright," I challenge waving my hand in the air to create my own dragon that is breathing fire, and everything.
"Show off," he mumbles, moving his arm from under my head, and sitting on top of me.
"Hey!" I laugh, trying to get up, but he doesn't move, instead, he starts to tickle my sides again. I try to get out from his hold, but I'm not going anywhere. "Okay, okay!" I shout between laughs. "You win," I get out, and he stops. He leans down to my ear, and whispers,
"I always win." He pulls away from my ear, and gives me a long kiss before peeling off of me, and pulling me to my feet.
"Come on, let's get back," he says, walking towards our bikes, and I have a sense of happiness before it gets ruined by a pain in my chest that causes me to fall to my knees.
"Andrew," I mumble, clutching my chest. He turns around to look at me, not knowing what has happened.
"Ella!" He shouts worriedly, running back over to me, and rubbing my back, seeing mine on the ground. "What happened?"
"Stone," I get out as the pain is starting to pass. "I'm okay," I tell him, but he still helps me up.
"You sure? Do you want to sit for a second?" He insists, but I shake him off.
"No, let's just go back, I want to see what else you have planned," I force a smile, but Andrew sees right through it.
"Ella, I know you're not okay. Are you sure?" All I do is a nod, and he huffs before getting out bikes out of their hiding spot. "Tell me if you weren't a break," he tells me.
"Promise," I say, making an X over my heart. This seems to convince him I'm okay, and we ride back to the rental place, with Andrew checking on me every five minutes. Every time I tell him I'm fine, and I feel as we ide that I am feeling better, and better. When we finally get our bikes back, it is past 1pm, so we decided to grab a burger at a nearby burger place.
"Holy crud, I really need to make burgers when we get home," I tell Andrew, who nods in agreement.
"Yes, please do," he says, enjoying his last bite. I make a mental note to make some when we get back, and I'm sure even if I forget Andrew won't.
"Alright, so where to next?" I ask excitedly, and Andrew takes a moment to think.
"Trampolining," he finally says, and I almost scream.
"Umm, yes! Let's go now," I bubble, pulling his outside, and waving over a taxi. We get in, and the whole ride I am excited because I love trampolines, and really, when is the next time I am going to jump on one? The taxi man drops us off right outside the door, and Andrew ays him before pulling away. When we walk in I am amazed. It is just like the ones where I used to live before I got abducted. We sign a consent form, but I'm not worried about getting hurt. If I can fall off of a bell tower, I think I can deal with a trampoline injury. We have to wait ten minutes before we can jump, so Andrew, and I find a small couch next to a wall, and we sit together. I let him hold me as we wait for our turn, which comes too quickly. As much as I love trampolining, the feeling of being held in his arms is something I haven't felt in a long time. I stand up and run over to the free jump area, and Andrew is right on my heels. I impress him with a backflip, but then he does two front flips, and I laugh. 
"You do clouds, and I'll do flips," he shrugs, which makes me laugh again.
"Oh look, a foam pit!" I point out, and we head over to that area. We both take turns jumping, flipping, and diving into the soft foam that catches us gently every time. We stay there until there is a call over the speaker system.
"Adult dodgeball is not taking place on battle zone C," a lady's voice tells us Frost, and I just look at each other, and we are all over it. We speed walk over to the battle area. Three other people have joined us, which makes the team uneven, but Andrew solves this problem easily.
"We will be on one team, and you guys can make up the other, just don't be too embarrassed when we beat you," he smirks, and the other team laughs.
"Dude, its two vs three, and we are all bigger than you, are you sure you want to go that far?" the largest man asks. It's true they are all bigger than us but what they don't know is that Andrew, and I don't have a speck of fat on our bodies anymore. With all our training we have turned to pure muscle.
"Oh we're sure," I butt in, and the three men laugh.
"Alright little girl, let's go," one of them say, and we step onto the court.
"Don't go for the balls, and don't through high," Andrew whispers in my ear, and I nod.
"One, two three, GO!" Another one of the men shouts as they run towards the balls, well jump towards the balls. I just stand there with my arms crosses as the pick up the six balls. The smallest one of the throws a ball at me, but I dodge it too easily, catching it from behind as it rebounds off the trampolines behind us. Another ball gets thrown at me while I'm in the air, but I manage to twist my body around, avoiding the ball, and landing a clean shot to the stomach of the medium man who had just thrown a ball at Andrew but failed to hit him. He sets off on the sidelines, while the game goes on.
"Two on two then," the biggest man says as he, and the other man still playing throw a double hot at Andrew, who backflips past them, and onto the trampoline next to him. I clap while Andrew gives a small bow before launching a ball back across the court. His face sinks when the biggest man catches it.
"Up to you Ella," he winks, jumping off the court. Again, the two men use a double attack, but while I dodge the first one, I catch the second, sending the smallest man off the court. I land in time to do another flip backwards, just missing the next ball that gets thrown at me.
"Keep it low," Andrew says as I pick up the next ball. I doge one more time before throwing the ball at the man's feet. His hands reach down to catch it, but he misses by an inch as the ball hits him in the calf.
"That a girl!" Andrew shouts, bouncing back onto the trampoline next to me, and giving me a kiss.
"I've gotta admit, you played good," the biggest man says, shaking my hand. I smile, but then there's another call telling our group that our jumping time is up, so Andrew and I have to leave. We are still talking about our win when the taxi pulls up to take us back to town. Today has gone all too fast, and it is almost time for us to head back to the hotel, but first Andrew takes me to one last place; the beach. As we get out of the car, Andrew takes my hand and tells the driver we won't belong. As we walk along the beach, hand in hand, the sun begins to set. I pull Andrew to a stop, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to get the words out right.
"Andrew," I whisper in a tone so soft I surprise myself.
"What is it?" He asks using the same soft tone and placing his hands on my hips.
"I think," I start, moving my hands up to his chest, and stroking it slowly. "I think I've fallen for you," I finally admit, looking up at him to see his smile, as the colours from the sun dance across his face.
"Ella?" he whispers back, still mocking my tone. "I think you need some sleep" he finishes, and this time it is me who stands of my tippy toes kisses first. When I go to pull away he pulls me back in, closing the gap between our two bodies as he holds me tightly, as I could somehow get closer to him. "Want to bring this back to the hotel?" He asks while I bite my lip, and nod. The taxi ride back is taking far too long, and the elevator ride feels even longer, but eventually, Andrew swipes the keycard and opens the door. As soon as we are both inside he shuts is tightly, and spins me around towards him, pushing me up against the wall. He kisses me again, and again, until he can't get any closer to my body so he picks me up, and throws me onto the bed. He takes a small pause to close the curtains before he is back on top of me, kissing me again. His hands touch my thighs, pushing up my flowery dress as he continues to push his mouth into mine, and letting his tongue touch mine ever so slightly. When he is finished with my mouth he makes his way onto my stomach where he slowly lifts my dress with his teeth. The butterflies in my stomach have gotten more intense than they have ever been as he pulls my dress over my head, leaving me with nothing on but my underclothes. I've never done this before, and I can't help but feel slightly out of place. He comes back up to kiss me on the mouth as I begin to unbutton his shirt, which gets crumpled in a ball, and thrown onto the floor. His mouth moves down to kiss me fiercely on the neck, and  I am consumed by something I have never been consumed by before, causing me to dread when he finally stops...

As I wake I notice that I have been put under the covers. I snuggle into them, just becoming aware that I have been slipped into Andrew's oversized t-shirt,, but I don't really care as I reach my arm out next to me finding Andrew sleeping next to me. His arm is swung over my hip. I push some hair out of his face, causing him to wake.
"Sorry," I whisper. "Didn't mean to wake you." Andrew doesn't seem to care, instead, he pulls my body closer to him, while he kissed my forehead.
"Good morning beautiful," he answers, making me smile.
"Good morning," I say back and I get a smile in return.
"Sleep well? He asks as I turn around to fit more comfortably in his arms. He sits up a bit so he can play with my hair with one hand, while the other holds me close.
"Yeah I did, did you?" I answer, stroking his hand with my thumb.
"Yes, I was exhausted," he says, and I roll my eyes.
"From all the trampolining?"
"Yeah sure let's go with that," he says kissing the crook of my neck, making me shudder slightly. "I need to have a shower, be right back," he says, rubbing my shoulder before getting out of the bed, sending some cold air up the covers. I pat them back down and turn to lay flat on my back to stare up at the ceiling. I stretch my arms and legs, not wanting to get out of bed just yet so I lay there, listening to the running water. I am just about to fall back to sleep when I hear the bathroom door open. I guess Andrew forgot his shirt because he comes out in a pair of jeans, with nothing else to compliment it. I sit up, pulling the blankets up to cover my chest as he sits on the edge of the bed, and puts his face in his hands, and throwing his phone onto the floor.
"What's wrong?" I ask, placing my hand on his shoulder, and moving closer.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we are going to have to cut this trip short," he tells me, looking up to push some hair out of my face.
"That's alright, I've got all I need right here," I say, letting the blanket wrap tighter around me as I crawl onto his lap, kissing him softly. Grabbing the blanket's edges, Andrew wraps us together and smiles.
"Let's go home," he says, as I place my head on his chest.
"That's not our home," I reply, listening to the beat of his heart. For a while, we just sit like that, but eventually, Andrew reminds me that we have to go, and I am forced to get dressed before we head back to the airport. I might be leaving London, but I know I am never going to forget my time here, no matter how many memories I lose, or gain.