The roads of Forks stretched endlessly beneath the darkening evening sky.
Gray clouds drifted lazily overhead while towering pine trees lined both sides of the road.
Inside Amara's black Audi—
The atmosphere was tense.Very tense.
Well...
For one person.
Amara sat behind the wheel with both hands firmly gripping it.
Her eyes remained fixed on the road ahead.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that usually came before someone got yelled at. Or murdered.
Lucien, meanwhile, seemed completely unaware of the danger to his immortal existence.
Or perhaps he knew.
And was choosing to ignore it.
The blond vampire sat comfortably in the passenger seat, looking entirely too handsome for someone who had spent the last week causing emotional damage.
His hair looked annoyingly perfect.
His smile looked annoyingly perfect.
His entire existence was currently annoyingly perfect.
And Amara hated all of it. For approximately ten seconds.
Then Lucien spoke again.
"Darling..."
Nothing.
"Darling, I'm really, really, really sorry."
Amara continued driving.
Nothing.
Lucien shifted slightly."I only wanted to surprise you."
Still nothing.
A pause.
Then—
A side-eye. A dangerous side-eye.
Lucien immediately straightened. Progress.
Unfortunately for him—
The side-eye was followed by an eye roll. A massive one.
Lucien sighed dramatically."I didn't mean to hurt you."
Silence.
"I swear."
Silence.
"I missed you."
Silence.
Lucien looked offended."You're making this very difficult."
That finally did it.Amara's patience snapped.
Not loudly.Not dramatically.
Just enough.
"A whole week."
Lucien blinked.
"A whole week," Amara repeated.
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel."You ignored me for an entire week."
Lucien opened his mouth.
"No."Amara pointed at him immediately.
"Don't."
Lucien wisely closed his mouth. Good choice.
"You didn't call."
Pause.
"You didn't text."
Pause.
"You didn't reply."
Pause.
"I can somehow understand you being weird."
Lucien looked personally attacked.
"Thank you."
Amara ignored him. "But why were Alice and Rosalie acting weird too?"
Now Lucien suddenly found the scenery outside fascinating. Interesting. Very interesting.He bit his lip.
Guilt. One hundred percent guilt.
Amara narrowed her eyes. "There."
Lucien froze. "There what?"
"That look."
"What look?"
"The guilty one."
"I don't have a guilty look."
"You absolutely do."
Lucien looked away. Even guiltier.
Amara pointed accusingly. "You are hiding something."
"No."
"You do."
"No."
"You absolutely do."
Lucien smiled innocently. A terrible mistake.
Because Amara knew that smile.That was his guilty smile.
"Lucien."
"Love?"
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing."
"Liar."
Lucien looked wounded. "Darling."
"Liar."
Lucien sighed. Then quietly mumbled something. Very fast. Very quietly.
Amara blinked. "What?"
"Nothing."
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing important."
Wrong answer. Very wrong answer. A few seconds later—
The Audi pulled sharply onto the side of the road. The engine stopped. Silence filled the car. Slowly...
Very slowly....
Amara turned toward him. The smile on her face was terrifying.
Lucien immediately sat straighter.
"Darling?"
Her smile widened. "Lucien."
"Yes?"
"I am not a vampire."
Lucien nodded.
"I do not have super hearing."
Another nod.
"Would you kindly repeat whatever you just mumbled?"
Her smile somehow became sweeter. And more threatening. "Slowly."
Lucien knew defeat when he saw it. Unfortunately...
He also knew he deserved it. So he sighed. Then admitted the truth. "I told them not to talk to you."
Silence.
Amara stared.
Lucien stared back.
Neither moved.
A car passed in the distance.A bird flew overhead.Somewhere in Forks, Bella was probably thinking why did I have to eat beforehand.
Still—
Amara stared. "You told them..."
Lucien nodded carefully.
"...not to talk to me?"
Another nod.
Amara pointed at herself. "Me?"
"Yes."
"Specifically me?"
"Well..."
"Lucien."
"It sounds worse when you say it like that."
"It sounds exactly like what happened!"
Lucien had the decency to look guilty. A little. Not enough. But a little. He cleared his throat. "I told them not to talk to you for one week."
"Why?"
"Because they would've ruined the surprise."
Silence.
"I swear it made sense."
Silence.
"It sounded smarter in my head."
Still silence.
Lucien was beginning to panic.Lucien was beginning to sweat. A remarkable achievement considering he was a vampire.
Finally he continued. "Alice talks too much."
Pause.
"Rosalie can't keep secrets when she's annoyed."
Pause.
"Emmett would've accidentally shouted it."
Pause.
"Jasper would've helped them."
Pause.
Amara rubbed her forehead. Honestly... He wasn't entirely wrong.
She could actually picture every single one of those scenarios happening. Especially Emmett.
That man couldn't keep a secret for five minutes.
That didn't mean she wasn't annoyed. But it explained some things. Slightly. Very slightly.
A microscopic amount.
Then Lucien added quietly.."You have that charm."
Amara blinked."What?"
Lucien shrugged."People want to tell you things."
She frowned."What does that even mean?"
"It means i want to tell you thing . I tell you like everything and anything ."
A pause.
Lucien looked embarrassed."Too many things."
Another pause.
"Probably everything."
Amara opened her mouth. Closed it. Then remembered. The idiot really did tell her everything.
Random stories.
Random facts.
Random complaints.
Random opinions.
Things she never asked about. Things nobody asked about. Everything.
The realization made her laugh. A small laugh. But still a laugh.
Lucien's eyes immediately brightened.
Hope.Dangerous hope.
Amara immediately stopped laughing.Lucien looked devastated. She sighed.Honestly?
She was still annoyed. But watching him panic for the last thirty minutes had helped.
A lot.
Finally she opened the car door.
Lucien immediately panicked. "Wait!"
"I forgive you."
Lucien froze. "...Really?"
"No."
Lucien looked heartbroken. Amara walked around the front of the car. Crossing her arms.
Lucien hurried after her.
"Darling."
"Sorry."
"Please."
"Sorry."
"I won't do it again."
"Sorry."
"I promise."
"Sorry."
"Please forgive me."
"Sorry."
The apologies came so quickly they practically blended together.
At this point the word sorry had lost all meaning.
"I'm very sorry."
"Sorry."
"I'm extremely sorry."
"Sorry."
"I'm the most sorry."
Amara raised an eyebrow. "The most sorry?"
Lucien looked serious.
"I am running out of apology levels."
"You skipped several."
"There are levels?"
That was it.
That was what broke her.
Amara burst out laughing. Completely. Genuinely.
Lucien stopped talking. His expression screamed confusion. "...What?" The innocent look nearly made her laugh harder.
Amara shook her head. "You look ridiculous."
"I am suffering."
"You deserve it."
"I know."
At least he was honest.
Finally she smiled. A real smile. Not a fake one. Not an angry one. A real one.
Lucien immediately noticed. Hope returned. "Do you forgive me?"
Amara tilted her head.
"Maybe."
Lucien narrowed his eyes. "Maybe?"
"We'll see."
"We'll see?"
Amara nodded.
"After I see this surprise you've apparently been planning for weeks."
Lucien immediately brightened. "Oh." That confident smile returned. The dangerous one. The one that suggested he thought he was going to win. "Oh, you'll love it."
"We'll see."
"You will."
"We'll see."
"You absolutely will."
Amara rolled her eyes. Then pointed toward the driver's seat.
"You drive."
Lucien blinked."What?"
"You drive."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
A pause.
Then she pointed at her beloved Audi. "And drive carefully."
Lucien looked offended. "I always drive carefully."
Amara laughed. The liar. The absolute liar.
Still...
She walked around and climbed into the passenger seat. Lucien quickly moved to the driver's side.
A moment later the engine started again. The Audi rolled smoothly back onto the road. Dark forests passed by on both sides.The evening sky slowly deepened toward night.
Lucien immediately started talking again.
Trying to impress her.
Trying to explain himself.
Trying very hard to earn back every bit of forgiveness he'd lost during the last week.
Amara sat comfortably in the passenger seat listening to his endless rambling.
Occasionally rolling her eyes.
Occasionally laughing.
Occasionally threatening to throw him out of her car.
The uncomfortable knot in her chest had finally begun to loosen. Lucien was still annoying. Still dramatic. Still completely ridiculous. But at least he was here. And somehow—
That mattered more than she wanted to admit.
As the road stretched endlessly ahead and their mysterious destination drew closer, Amara found herself wondering what kind of surprise could possibly be worth an entire week of suffering.
Knowing Lucien—
It would either be the sweetest thing she'd ever seen. Or the stupidest. Possibly both. And somehow...
That thought made her smile.
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