Empire of Eternals (Book 1 of The Eternal Series) ✔️

Chapter 17 | Romeo and Juliet But We've Known Each Other For Years

***Adriana Anderson POV***

Dinner had gone better than I expected, a lot better, actually. Aiden was finally warming up to Dexter, who he had ignored for the past couple of days. I had overheard Dexter apologising to Aiden for what he did to him; blaming him for Katherine's death.

Aiden, however, kept this to himself. He hadn't told me or anyone else that Dexter had apologised to him. Even when Dexter apologised, Aiden just kept quiet. I think he was also trying to forget about the past, but Dexter apologising brought up unwanted memories.

"We should go now." Hermione spoke, standing up from her chair across from me

"Wait, already?" I asked, motioning her to sit back down, to which she shook her head

"Paige has work tomorrow and I have to talk to Jenna about what's happening. She's already upset about our trip being cancelled. I can't tell her about Kristopher, so I'm going to have to come up with another reason."

I looked at Paige, my brows furrowed as I mentally pleaded with her to stay. She forced a small smile on her face, shrugging her shoulders as she also got up and began putting on her coat. And here I thought Hermione was going to stay with me at my house.

"How about I drop you guys?" Dexter offered, sliding his chair back as he grabbed his car keys

"My car's been in the garage for months. I should take her out."

"Thank you." Paige and Hermione cried in unison

I sighed, crossing my arms in front of my chest as I glared at the girls. I really thought we could have a girl's night. But, here they were, exiting from the front door as I mumbled a 'bye' to them. I could see they were upset that I was upset, but that didn't stop them from closing the door and driving away.

Now it was just me and Aiden, sitting quietly in the dining room as I felt his permanent gaze on me. The deafening silence was nerve-wracking. Aiden was smiling uncontrollably at what just happened, sneering at me.

"What?" I spat out, grabbing his glass of wine before downing the warm liquid

"Did you just try and manipulate them?" He asked, raising a brow as he leaned forward

"No!"

He smiled once again, reaching for the bottle of wine before refilling my glass. He picked up the glass object, holding it from the stem before sliding it in my direction, an amused smile plastered on his face

"Ok, fine. I did." I admitted, grabbing the glass of wine

"You failed miserably by the way." He commented, clearing away the table of the dirty dishes

"Whatever."

"Well, if they stayed over then I wouldn't be able to show you this." Aiden's deep voice echoed from the kitchen

I sharply turned around to see him drying his hand, the corners of his lips turning upwards as he took a peek out of the windows. Was there something special about today? I couldn't tell, I was bad with dates. One time I thought it was June when it was actually July because I couldn't be bothered checking the date.

"Show me what?" I asked, standing up from my chair as he walked over to me

"It's a surprise." He answered

His smile stretched from ear to ear as his fingers slid to the insides of my palms, his heat warming me up as he interlocked our hands, pulling me closer to him. I blinked, trying to make sense of what he was doing as he led us upstairs, down the empty hallway, and to the empty living room.