A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 23: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

"It's not bad actually," I said, setting down a few boxes by the door. It had been difficult to carry them even if they were some of the lighter loads, with my arm hurting and overall lack of energy, but for Katie I was putting on a brave face, trying to muster enthusiasm for her moving day into her new apartment.

Lying in bed, being in that house, was making me worse. I needed to get out and live, be distracted until Blade and I worked things out, till I could figure out where to go from here. And for now, that meant helping Katie move into her new apartment.

Right when you walked into the apartment was the living room and kitchen (though that was being generous), and beyond that were three doors; to the left was one bedroom, to the right another, and sandwiched between the right hand bedroom and kitchen was a tiny bathroom. That was the whole apartment. It wasn't much, particularly now as it was completely empty with the exception of bare minimum furnishings for the kitchen and bathroom, and a lumpy couch for the living room, and some boxes, but with a bit of strategic decoration and organization of furniture, it could be really nice.

"Yeah, I got lucky. Jill and I managed to snag a tour the day it became available and I got it right away. I'm so glad I finally found a place," she said, huffing a bit as she put her own boxes down. "I was beginning to think I'd be stuck at home forever, making the long trek to school every day."

"Hopefully you find a room mate soon, and a good one too," I said as we made our way back downstairs to Noah's car. He was busy unloading the bigger pieces of furniture with Katie's dad; a desk for her computer, her bed, dresser, ect. 

"Yeah, hopefully," she said, turning to me once we were in the elevator. "How are you and Blade doing? Are you back home yet?"

I bit my lip, not really wanting to go there. "No, not yet."

"I'm sorry," she said, giving me a brief hug despite how sweaty and gross we both were from the hot day and carrying boxes. "I'm sure it'll all go back to normal soon."

"Yeah, maybe, " I said. "I don't really want to talk about it though, if that's okay."

This was Katie's day and I was not going to bring her down with my drama. And I also couldn't quite get the words out, admit that it was already over and finished, because maybe she was right. Maybe once he had some time then he would come back, maybe Eliza being there didn't mean he had moved on after all and--

She looped her arm around my waist, giving me a squeeze. "I understand. If you like, you can crash with me for a few days? We can have a girls night, talk, eat, relax--"

"Help you clean and unpack?" 

She grinned. "I mean, if you're going to be around, you might as well be helpful. I'll make you French toast for your troubles."

Maybe getting out of the house for a few days, away from all things vampire and Blade, would be a good idea. "You got yourself a deal."

********

"Darling, I'm going to be ancient by the time we get back to the car," Ace groaned. He had picked me up after his errands so I could grab some things to stay at Katie's for a few days, but after all the unpacking and hauling boxes and things up and down I was completely burnt out and almost dragging myself down the hallway. It had been an exhausting day of going back and forth carrying stuff and cleaning everything, and I was, truth be told, ready to collapse into bed.  Hopefully Katie was tired out too so we wouldn't stay up too late and could instead have a more proper girls night tomorrow, after a good nights rest.

"Shhh," I mumbled, head against his arm as we walked, at my absolute snails pace, back the way we came to the front door.

"Okay, I might be able to live forever, but even I'm not that patient," he said, cutting in front of me and handing me my backpack before turning around. "Hop on."