It took me a second to find her among the rabble of drunken people. Why had Kestrel even brought them here? The place was full of Night Worlders.

But when my eyes finally did land on her, they were quickly able to focus in on the shifter who stood next to her. Who barged her roughly in the shoulder before leaning in close to her, too close, whispering something in her ear.

I could almost feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, as my protective nature kicked in.

I was all set to beat the guy, to pull him apart limb from limb if he'd been bothering Mary-Lynnette, but upon my approach Mare started laughing.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" She asked through her fit of giggles.

"I've been calling you," I said. My eyes raked over the guy next to my soul mate. He was still standing a little close for my liking. "When you didn't answer I worried."

"Well there's no need to worry. See, I'm just dandy!" She said, flinging her arms out as she did so. The action caused her to lose balance and stumble forwards right into me.

"Yeah, you look it," I said, catching her easily. I could smell the alcohol on her. "By the Goddess, Mare. How much did you drink?"

"Just a little," she slurred, managing to right her position but continuing to lean on me heavily. Not that I had a problem with that.

"Okay, let's get you home."

"Wait," she said, abruptly standing dead up right. I wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. "You haven't met my friend yet. Ash this is my new friend Aiden. Aiden, this my…" she hesitated for a moment, the cogs in her brain moving much slower in her drunken state no doubt. "my, person, Ash."

Both Aiden and I cocked an eyebrow. "Your person?" Aiden stated, clearly trying hard not to snicker. I had to admit that I couldn't keep the amused smile off my own face.

"Why do people keep interrogating me about this today?" She asked.

"What people?"

"Just people."

I let it go, knowing that I wouldn't get any proper answers out of her in this state anyway.

"You know, Aiden said you came in here to cause trouble," she said in what I think was supposed to be a whisper, but actually came out rather loud.

"Did he now?" I asked, eyeing the shape shifter before me. I couldn't blame him for what he thought considering what I'd been like in the past, but I could still make him squirm a little.

Aiden's eyes went wide in panic at Mare's traitorous statement. "Uh, I think that's my cue to leave," he said, stumbling over his words slightly. "It was nice meeting you both," he said, and just like that he was gone. I caught a glimpse of what must have been his friends cracking up a little ways away.

"He was nice," Mare said, watching Aiden go. It made me bristle a bit. Perhaps if I hadn't been bothered by the comment I would've been able to catch Mare in time before she downed the rest of the drink that was sitting on the bar.

"And I think that's our cue to leave." Taking the glass out of her hand, I steered her towards the exit, careful to avoid the other drunken patrons that threatened to bash into us.

"What about Kestrel?" She asked, coming to a sudden halt.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a big girl, she can find her own way," I said, giving her gentle nudge in the back to keep her moving. We finally made it out the door, but almost immediately Mare grabbed my hand trying to swing us back inside.

"We can't just leave her here. We need to go and get her."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll give her a call, but we're not going back in there."

Mary-Lynnette nodded, apparently satisfied with the compromise. The fresh air seemed to have sobered her up a little.

After a quick phone call with my sister, wherein Kestrel decided that she wasn't ready to leave just yet, I managed to navigate Mare back to the car and buckle her in.

"You're not going to puke, are you?" I asked once we were on the road. I had the window cracked for her, and the air con on full blast.

She took a second to think about it. "No… I don't think so."

"That doesn't sound too promising."

"Hmm."

I looked over at her and saw that she wasn't really paying attention any more. Her head was resting against the window, tilted to look up at the sky. My mind flashed back to when I'd first met her back in Briar creek. She was just as beautiful now, despite the intoxicated haze that glazed over her eyes.

"Where are we going?" She asked after a while, still not shifting her gaze from the vast expanse of sky above.

"Back to the mansion."

"Oh," she said, and it sounded so small that it broke my heart a little. Damn, how did this girl make me like this?

"Why?"

She shrugged, finally glancing over in my direction. "I just, I don't know," she sighed. "I guess I'm not ready to go back yet."

"Okay," I said nodding. A small smile crept over my mouth. "I know where we can go."

It took around twenty minutes to escape the confines of the city, to get to the place I had in mind.

Mare didn't question where we were going, she just continued to gaze out the window, seemingly happy to go wherever I took her.

"Okay," I said, pulling off onto a beaten track. "We're here."

"And, where is here exactly?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

Stopping the car, I hopped out before making my way to her side and opening her door for her.

"Ever the gentleman," she murmured, sliding out of the car. Though she wasn't completely drunk anymore, the wobble in her step told me that she wasn't exactly sober either. The five minute walk we still had ahead of us looked as if it might take awhile.

"You sure you can walk alright?" I asked, sceptical, holding tightly onto her to stop her from falling. She clearly didn't begrudge the contact, moving closer into my side.

"I'm fine. Now let's go slow coach."

I chuckled, shaking my head slightly. It had been a while since things between us had been this light hearted. In fact, I wasn't sure it had ever been this light hearted between us. Even when we were together, before everything had happened, there'd always been some sort of looming threat. And yesterday, though I'd had a blast hanging out with Mare, pretending like we were just two teenagers getting into mischief, it had still been in the shadow of the sadness that came with her dream.

Everything else though seemed to drop away just for tonight. I didn't know whether it was because her intoxicated state relieved some of the burden she was carrying, or whether the outdoors really was working wonders, but right now, it was just us.

It was slow progress getting to our final destination, with Mare stopping multiple times to catch her breath, or gain back her balance. Although I was enjoying every second I spent with her and didn't really mind our slow pace, at this rate the sun would have risen before we got there and the magic would be gone.

"Okay, we need to pick up the pace."

"What do you mean?" She asked frowning. "Oh my god, Ash, what're you doing?"

She latched her arms tightly around my neck as I scooped her up, carrying her in my arms.

"Much better," I said, laughing at her shocked expression.

"A little warning might have been nice," she mumbled, burying her head into my shoulder.

"You okay?" I questioned, trying to ignore the way my heart stuttered in my chest at her action. Wow, I really was becoming soft.

"Yeah, the world just started to spin a little."

"Uh, Mare? The world is always spinning."

"Shush," she said, moving slightly to press a finger to my lips.

With me carrying her, we made up the rest of the distance in no time. We walked through a small cluster of trees, my vampiric vision helping me to navigate through them safely. I held my breath as we came out the other side.

"Wow," Mary-Lynnette breathed, her eyes widening.

"I know," I said, looking around the area before us. The trees opened out into a clearing, bordering on a small cliff. The lights of the city flickered in the distance, a small cluster of fireflies, far enough away that the sky above remained clear.

Mare shifted, and I set her down on her feet so that she could take in the scene more fully. As she began to wander I clasped her hand in mine. The last thing I wanted was for her to fall over the edge of the cliff. It wasn't a huge drop, but large enough that it would cause damage to a human.

"What is this place?" She murmured, towing me along so that we were standing almost at the edge of the cliff. My grip on her hand tightened.

"Just somewhere that I used to come when I needed to take a break from, you know, everything."

She turned to look at me, her eyes a deep blue in this lighting. They were bottomless; pulling me in with every second they looked into my own.

A moment of understanding seemed to pass between us in that moment, not just through the soul mates link, but through the very air of where we were standing.

She knew that this was where I came when I missed her most, when the separation was almost too much to bear, and the pull was too much. That this is the place I came because it was just far enough out of the city that I could see the stars in all their glory, the stars that I knew were the same ones that she'd be looking at too.

I could almost see the swell of energy running between us, a swirling ocean that was overwhelming but utterly calming at the same time.

Without even noticing it, we'd moved closer together, hands still clasped.

She was the one who made the move, though if she hadn't I wasn't certain that I wouldn't have anyway.

Her lips connected with mine, still tasting slightly of whatever she'd been drinking that night, but that was overshadowed by the fact that she tasted more than anything like Mare. Just how I'd remembered, and imagined. Her arms looped around my neck bringing us even closer.

I returned the kiss with the energy of man who was tasting water for the first time after spending months in the desert, who was drinking in his survival. Because Mare was my survival. So even whilst I felt that I could drown in her kiss, it was what I needed to live.

That was why it was so painful when the kiss ended entirely too soon. And what was perhaps more painful was the fact that I was the one to end it, and that it took every ounce of strength I had to do so.

"What's the matter?" She asked, and the confusion and hurt in her voice killed me a little bit. "Don't you want this?"

"Of course I do," I gushed, because the words coming out of her mouth were sending tiny little stakes into my heart.

"Then why did you stop?"

"Because you, Mare," I said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Are very drunk. And I don't feel right taking advantage of you like this."

"You're not taking advantage of me," she said, moving to capture my lips with hers once more. It took me a second to pull away again.

"Even so. I'd rather do this when both of us are fully sober, and can experience it properly.

She was quiet a couple of moments, and I could almost see the cogs in her brain trying to put things into order. Slowly a frown drew her brows together.

"Is this because of Winnie?" She asked, and I was so taken aback that I couldn't even reply. Where the hell had that come from?

Apparently keeping silent wasn't the correct answer. Mary-Lynnette pulled away slightly. Still wary of the cliff edge, I held onto her tightly.

"Winnie?" I exclaimed at last, managing to form my thoughts into coherent speech. "What does Winnie have to do with anything?"

She looked down at her feet, not seeming angry in the least, just suddenly really sad. I could've kicked myself for making her feel this way. "Ash, come on, you spend so much time with her these days. It's fine you know, if you want to be with her. She's very pretty, and clever, and you know she's a witch, which is pretty cool."

"Mare," I said, interrupting her babbling and hooking a finger under her chin to make her look at me.

"There's nothing going on between Winnie and I."

"But you were with her today, and the other day I walked in on a moment between you two, and you were in her room."

I took a deep breath. "Mary-Lynnette Carter, you should know by now that you are, and will only ever be the one girl for me."

"But I'm so much work and hassle."

I pressed my forehead into hers, effectively stopping her mid-sentence. "Don't ever think for a single second that you're not worth every bit of my time. There is absolutely nothing you could do that would ever make me think you're a hassle. Nothing."

I could feel her breath on my face as she sighed deeply. "But Winnie is so beautiful."

"Yes, Winnie is a very beautiful girl. But there's no one I'd rather look at than you."

I gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. I couldn't help myself. "You have no idea how beautiful you are."

Mare kept her eyes closed as she leaned further into me. "Can we stay here for a while?" She asked.

"Of course."

We sat ourselves down right where we stood; right on the edge of the cliff that for all intents and purposes could have been the edge of the world.

"Kestrel was acting weird today," Mary-Lynnette said after a while, and it felt nice to just talk normally like this.

"Kestrel always acts weird."

"No," she said, nudging me slightly in annoyance. "I'm being serious. She was really annoyed when we got to Blaise's today. I think Tobias is really getting to her."

"Hmm, interesting," I said turning this piece of information over in my mind. As easily as I knew my sister got irritated with people, I'd never really seen a person actually get to her. In that respect she was a lot like me. I supposed it was in our genetics. The first person that'd ever been able to properly get under my skin was Mare, and that was only because she was my soul mate.

I paused for a second.

"What was Tobias like?" I asked slowly, my brain whirring.

"I don't really know the guy," Mare said with a shrug. "The only time I've seen him was yesterday, and then this morning. Kestrel went to go see him, I guess they had a fight, she stormed out, and he chased after her. He seemed pretty eager to get her attention, didn't even put his shoes on before going after her. But then can you really blame him? Kestrel is gorgeous."

"Oh goddess," I breathed, everything clicking into place. But surely not.

"What?" Mare asked, turning her head to look up at me. When I didn't answer her she grew impatient. But I was totally speechless. "Come on, Ash. What is it?"

"You don't think-do you- that?"

"That what? My god, Ash, if you don't spit it out I swear I will push you over the edge of this cliff."

"That they're soul mates?"

"Noooo," Mare said, though even as she said it I could tell that something clicked for her. She bit her bottom lip, her eyes widening in realisation. "Oh my god," she said after a second. "They're soul mates."

I didn't know whether to laugh, or be annoyed or worried or relieved at the situation. Sure I was happy that Kestrel had found her soul mate, of course I was. But it was Tobias. The two didn't exactly go together.

"Poor guy," I sighed.

Mare punched me in the shoulder. "Don't say that. I think they'll be cute together."

"That's if they actually get together. Kestrel isn't exactly the most accepting person of the soul mate principle."

Even as I said it I knew the truth in it, we both did. Watching Mark and Jade together, and now all the rest of the couples at the mansion made Kestrel extremely uncomfortable.

"But they have to be together," Mare said, her voice quiet. "They're soul mates."

Neither of us commented on the irony of that comment, though I knew we both felt it. Knew from the way the air seemed to still, and that no more was said on the subject.

Silence fell over us for a while as we both just stared out over the land before us.

"How was today?" I eventually asked, knowing she'd know what I meant. "I know you said all that stuff about not burdening any of us with your situation, but how did it go?"

Secretly I hoped that in her intoxicated state she'd be more open to talking. It had certainly made her more open to certain things earlier. Not taking advantage my ass!

"I stand by what I said last night," she said, plucking a strand of grass and fiddling with it. "But I suppose you should know that Blaise confirmed that I'm cursed."

"Is there anything that can be done?" I asked, my heart suddenly beginning to pound.

"Yeah, sort of, I don't know," Mare said, and I could hear that she was starting to get worked up over it. And as much as I wanted to talk to her about it, and help her confront it, I didn't want to ruin this one peaceful night we had together.

"Hey, it's all right," I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her further into me. There was no resistance.

"I just don't understand why this is happening to me. What have I done to deserve this?"

"I don't know either, Mare, I really don't." Still a part of me felt sick at the thought that this was all my fault. It had to be. What were the chances that this suddenly happened to Mare once she learned of the Night World? And Mare had told me that the witch knew who I was. I doubted that I wasn't involved somehow.

"I just wish that we didn't have to worry about any of this, not the curse, not the apocalypse, not any of it. All I want is to live a normal life, to maybe get married and have kids, and just be happy."

"You can still have that." I almost said 'we', but the truth was, even after our kiss, I didn't know where I factored into this equation.

"Today I felt normal," she stated. "I mean after my visit to Blaise of cause. Just hanging out with Kestrel, getting drunk, talking to cute guys."

I stiffened as she said the last part, even if I knew it didn't really mean anything.

"Even this, coming out here with you. Kissing a cute guy," she said, once more turning to face me. I thought she might try to kiss me again, but she didn't. She just looked, the intoxicated haze lessening with every second.

"It was nice," she finished, a small smile tugging at the corners of her perfect lips. "It was really nice."