CHAPTER NINE:
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The implications of Adrian's words had Clara physically paling and staggering back in shock. That had not been the terms of their marriage, they were supposed to keep things casual and divorce after two months, not become attached. As was the norm when he was nervous, Adrian rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for Clara to reply.

"Kirkman, I..." Clara didn't give herself time to finish, instead deciding to turn on her heels and remove herself from the situation, leaving a deflated Adrian to standing alone.

Their hearts were pounding but for very different reasons; Clara's heart was pounding because she was scared. She was terrified of allowing herself to feel her feelings, so she did something that made herself feel worse instead, she pushed her feelings down instead; Adrian's heart was pounding because he was disappointed and hurt.

Defeated, Adrian sat on the arm of the sofa and rubbed a hand over his face, unsure on what would happen to them; he felt like slapping himself for ruining everything. Not that he ever wanted to admit it, but he had wanted to be with Clara when he was fifteen. And now, ten years later, nothing has changed. Sure, his feelings remained dormant for a while; however, it was only when he saw her again that he realised that they had always been there.

The one piece of solace that Adrian could find was in the soft crackle of the fireplace as the flames danced in the enclosed space of the log burner. The fire was a little excessive, it wasn't cold enough for it, but it created a cosy and inviting atmosphere. The reflection of the flames could be seen in his eyes as they glazed over and focussed on the fireplace. After watching the flames for a while, Adrian was broken out of his gaze as he noticed a very sheepish and nervous-looking Clara standing in the doorway.

Just as she always did when she was nervous, she was playing with her sleeve as she bit her lip and glanced at him. Mustering up all of the courage she could manage, she sat herself down on the sofa as he swivelled on the arm to look at her.

"I'm sorry," Clara began, finding it very difficult to make eye contact with him as she did so. "I'm sorry I just ran off." Her voice was soft and full of uncertainty as she spoke, yet she placed a hand on Adrian's arm in an attempt to redeem herself a little.

If Adrian's robotic nod was anything to go by, things weren't too promising. His eyes gave him away.

He was hurt.

Clara could tell by the way his eyes didn't stay in one place for too long, as if searching for some kind of answer or comfort. As much as he tried to mask it, emotions shone in his eyes. He was an open book. Some people say that the eyes are the window to the soul and Clara had never found that to be entirely true until she got to know Adrian. Well, then again, she hadn't noticed his feelings for her. Or, perhaps she did, and she was willfully ignoring it.

After a while longer of Clara sitting with her teeth biting down on her bottom lip so hard that Adrian thought she'd draw blood, he spoke up.

"That's okay. I'm sorry." Feeling more than a little drained, he turned to face her as his shoulders sagged in defeat.

"I'm just going to get some space for a day or two, clear my head." His voice lacked its usual lively tone that always managed to make Clara feel a little better. Nothing hurt more than knowing that she was the reason for the loss of his usual cheery and loving self. Everyone believed that rejection was one of the worst things to feel; however, it was not as bad as what Clara did to Adrian. He took a massive gamble, just to have her run away rather than answering him.

Forcing down the urge to ask him to stay, all Clara could do was nod. The little voice in her head sounded desperate as it shouted for her to stop him and to do something, anything, to show him that he should stay, and yet she remained silent.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, Adrian stood up and walked upstairs to pack a few essentials. This left Clara alone downstairs, trying to think of a way to make him stay.

She needed him to stay.

Tears pricked in her eyes at the thought of him leaving. It would just be for a day or two, and they didn't have a massive argument, but it felt like she was going to lose him. They'd been reluctant at the start of their loveless marriage, using it as a way to fulfil their contract. Clara couldn't have hated her RAD more as the realisation that it was impossible for her to have a healthy relationship began to sink in.

Clara had never been good with emotions or relationships, and so she did the one thing that she could think of... she decided to hide some essentials. Okay, a little childish, but she was out of options and beggars can't be choosers.

After allowing her mind to settle a little, she put her plan into motion and started upstairs. Ensuring that her footsteps were soft so that she couldn't be heard, she plodded along the hallway and into the bathroom. She gave the door a gentle nudge to close it while making a minimising the volume of the click as the latch closed. Spying his neon pink toothbrush, Clara chuckled to herself as she tucked it into her jacket. Nothing about Adrian conformed to stereotypes, and it was one of Clara's favourite things about him. He was never afraid to show his emotions, he was an open book, and he never cared if his masculinity was questioned. He was confident in himself, and that's all he cared about. She was also well aware that he wouldn't notice that he didn't have his toothbrush until he was almost out the door.

Clara almost laughed at the ridiculous position she was it as she poked her head out a small gap in the door and checked to see if the coast was clear. It tuned out that espionage was rather fun.

Just as she was about to leave, she spotted Adrian walking out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom. In a panic, she clumsily closed the door and jumped towards the toilet to flush it. After taking another moment to pretend to wash her hands, she pulled the door open and came face to face to a suspicious Adrian who raised an eyebrow at her as she passed him, acting as if nothing had happened.

Next on her list was his phone charger. He was prone to forgetting to charge his phone, and so she hoped that he had forgotten to pack it already. As her luck would have it, his charger was still lying discarded on his bedside table. Clara had to fight the urge to clap as she glided over to it and shoved it in her pocket with his toothbrush... probably not very hygienic, but Clara wasn't too bothered about that. Oops.

Again, she stuck her head out of the gap in the door to make sure that he wouldn't see her before she headed back downstairs. Admittedly, she knew it was unnecessary to check to see if he was there considering it was her house too, meaning it was reasonable for her to be in any room in the house without looking suspicious, but she was having too much fun.

Once she had successfully completed the upstairs part of her mission, she made her way back downstairs to grab his keys. As always, they were sitting in the little dish by the door. She all but giggled as she tucked the keys into the pocket with his charger and toothbrush. It got a little heavy with the addition of his keys; however, she didn't mind much.

All that was left was to wait until he was ready to go. Much to her delight, she didn't have to wait too long; just as she knew he would, he made it downstairs before he sighed, placed his bag by the door and headed upstairs to grab his toothbrush and phone charger. His fumbling could be heard from downstairs as he rummaged around to find his missing items. He searched for a few minutes before giving up and ambling back downstairs feeling a little puzzled.

However, what was more puzzling was that he noticed his charger and his toothbrush lying on top of his bag.

"Clara?" Adrian asked as he poked his head around the doorframe to look into the living room. Clara was sprawled out casually, watching a beautiful bride try on a dramatic ball gown. Ahh, he thought, 'Say Yes to the Dress' is on.

She looked at him, blinking innocently as she feigned innocence.

"Yes?"

"Did you move my toothbrush and charger?"

"No? What do you mean?" Even though she had been feeling awful before, she started to feel a lot better after her little mission, so she was eager to tease him a little.

"Clara," he sighed as he gave her a look to let her know just how unconvinced he was.

"What?" Clara offered an innocent shrug as she tried her hardest not to giggle.

It was very out of character for her; however, Adrian could also read her like a book. She was lying. No matter how hurt he was, he couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at her childish behaviour. She reminded him of Aphrodite, although he made a mental note never to tell her that if he wanted to live.

"What did you do?" Clara still didn't want to admit that it was her, so she smiled and shrugged, leaving Adrian no choice but to turn and step into the hall and reach to grab his keys, only he grabbed air.

"Clara?" Adrian called to her. After a second, he saw her bounce over to him.

"Yes?" Clara asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Please can I have my keys." He tried not to smile as he held his hand out for the keys. However, Clara's mood shifted as the corners of her lips began to turn down.

"Please don't go..." She couldn't meet his eyes as her hands grew clammy, and her heart began to pound once more.

"Clara-" Adrian started before finding himself cut off by Clara

"No, please. Please stay... I'm sorry. Stay."

Adrian felt his heart begin to swell as he sensed her nervousness. He knew how hard it must have been for her to ask him to stay. Instead of responding verbally, he conjured up all of the tenderness he could and pulled her fingers from her sleeve.

"Hadria?" Clara looked up at him, still feeling little butterflies swimming in her stomach.

"Come here, Sunshine."

Adrian pulled Clara towards him and wrapped his arms around her waist as they simultaneously leant in and kissed each other. It was different from their kiss on their wedding day. That was a brief kiss to appease Aphrodite; this was a gentle, loving kiss that they poured their love into.

Their first proper kiss.