Vampire Academy 1. Sister?

*** **Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that this is a co-written story between Melanie Belikov and myself. I will put an authors note at the beginning of each chapter letting you know who wrote which chapter. This chapter was written by Melanie Belikov, so be sure to let her know how awesome this chapter is! Also, I do not own Vampire Academy. I own Katya, and Melanie owns Mika. Other than that, we do not own anyone. Thank you! *

**Sister?**

Sometimes, you must fight to get what you want. You must fight to get what you deserve. Sometimes, even when it seems like there is no hope left, like everyone is against you, you can't give up.

These are lessons I have learned over the course of the past month. My best friend Lissa and I had run away from the academy, and had managed to stay out of their reach for about two years. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, I'm still not sure) one of the school's guardians had captured us and brought us back. The school wanted to expel me. Nobody thought I had what it took to be Lissa's guardian. I had to fight, and fight hard. When I got back to the academy, I didn't have the abilities that I needed to become Lissa's guardian. I had to learn them all over again. It was hard, but I managed. I managed, because I had to protect Lissa. Lissa, who was not only my best friend, but the final Dragomir making her a Moroi Princess.

I worked really hard and I made it. After months of training, I had regained the status that I had before I left, and I was ready to become a guardian. With help my Mentor and secret love Dimitri; I became a strong dhampir. But I didn't get everything I fought for. I fought for him. I fought for my mentor. But I couldn't take him, and I knew he would never become mine.

After hours of hard work, we were finally finished our training for the day, and we were heading to our dorms. We were talking about marks and Strigoi when Dimitri suddenly stopped.

"Come on" he said blankly. I stopped walking too, and turned to face him. "What?" I asked, hoping I hadn't said anything.

"Come on, Rose" he said turning around. "I want to show you something"

"What is it you want to show me?" I asked, trying to keep up with him

"That not all marks are badges of honor" he said, still serious.

I honestly had no idea what Dimitri was talking about, but I followed obediently. He led me out of the boundaries of the campus and into the surrounding woods. We walked quietly for a while, but soon, I saw a large, dark shape ahead. It looked like it was some kind of building.

"What is that?" I asked, but as we got closer I soon realized it was a small cabin.

"An old watch-post" he said.

At first, I thought Dimitri was leading me into some romantic hideout. Then, I heard voices, one of them being Lissa.

Dimitri and I walked up to them and I saw a surprising scene. I saw Lissa and Christian skating, but they weren't alone. A woman I didn't know was with them, but her back was to me and all I could see was her long, black hair.

"Rose!" Lissa shouted when she saw me.

"Thanks for inviting me to the party" I said with a hint of jealousy.

"I figured you were busy," she said, frowning "And this was supposed to be a secret anyway. We aren't really supposed to be here."

I opened my mouth to talk to her, but a scream cut me off. "Dimka!"

I turned, startled, and saw a young dhampir girl running in our direction. She was younger than me, with long brown hair and big chocolate eyes. She was taller than me and she reminded me of someone, but I just couldn't figure out whom at the moment.

To my surprise –and supreme jealously- this girl jumped at Dimitri and hugged him. And he hugged her back!

"Mika!" he said with a warm smile.

"Oh, my God!" she screamed again, "You look so more handsome with long hair."

"You think?" he asked, smirking.

"Definitely" she said, stepping back, "Tasha told me you weren't going to be here"

"Why would she say that?" he asked looking at the woman.

I looked at her too and I almost screamed. Across her left cheek, marring what would have otherwise been smooth, white skin was a raised, purplish scar. The shape and formation looked very much like someone had bitten into and torn out part of her cheek. Which, I realized, was exactly what had happened. It made me think of what she used to look like. She had to have been beautiful.

"Because you don't break the rules," the woman said, smiling.

"Where is Katya?" Dimitri asked the Mika girl.

"She'll be here soon, you know Katya, she probably just got lost." Mika said, giggling at the thought. Dimitri just glared at her.

M y life got that much worse when another girl came. She was exactly like Mika but she was shorter. Much. Her face was more serious than Mika's, but I could see that they had to be twins.

"Dimitri!" this girl said starting to show a hint of excitement.

"Katya" Dimitri said as he went to hug her.

Suddenly Mika turned to me and smiled, "So, are you Dimka's girlfriend?" she asked, still smiling.

Dimitri and I looked at each other with an awkward look. Why the heck would she ask something like that?

"Mika…" Dimitri said seriously, glaring at the girl "I am her mentor"

"Oh, okay…whoops" Mika said, shaking the awkwardness off quickly. She turned to me and said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Mika"

"Nice to meet you too." I said, still feeling a bit awkward. I mean, who was this girl? "My name is Rose"

"You are so lucky," she said smiling. "My brother is the best guardian. You will learn so much from him"

"You're Dimitri's sister?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, she is my sister, and so is Katya." Dimitri said with a soft smile. "And, this cute Moroi is my friend, Tasha."

I looked at them surprised. I finally got the chance to meet some of Dimitri's family, and I already loved them. I knew from that point on that we were going to be great friends. Especially Mika and I. Katya seemed like a good girl, but she looked really shy compared to Mika. From the looks of it, Mika was just as outgoing and crazy as I was, if not worse. Yeah, I could tell we were going to have fun together.


	2. Fight

* Hey everyone, this chapter was written by me (Lexi) so I hope you like it! Also, thank you to RainInTheSun and WishIWasRose for reviewing! *

Fight

DIMTIRI'S POV

I couldn't believe that my sisters were here. I had missed them so much while I was here, possibly even more than anyone else from Russia. I had always felt the need to protect them, and when I was transferred to St. Vladimir's I felt I was betraying them.

Katya was smaller, but she was probably harder to fight off. She used to make me practice with her for hours because she would want to get the moves perfect. She wasn't sloppy at all, and was very thorough. Plus her size usually made people back down thinking that they have the advantage. She was shy and didn't talk much, but she was the one who had the advantages. I had seen her fight before, and she was very good.

Mika was a whole different story. She was a good fighter as well, but she had her moments when she was completely disorganized and messy. Also, she was one of the top fighters in her class, so people knew to be careful. She was a showoff, and sometimes that would com back to bite her in a fight because her opponents knew to be prepared for a rough fight. She was very loud and outgoing, but everyone loved her. She was a good student, and had a lot of friends. Don't get me wrong, she certainly had her fair share of enemies too, but most people enjoyed having her around for a good laugh. I knew I did.

I noticed that Rose had gone off with Tasha, Christian, and the Princess, so I took the opertunity to catch up with my sisters that I hadn't seen in so long.

"So, what brings you guys to Montana?" Katya was about to speak, but Mika cut her off, of course.

"Well, Tasha was visiting last week and let it slip that she was going to visit her nephew who happens to go to St. Vladimir's. We knew that that was where you were stationed, so we asked if we could come too. Of course since we are here we got permission."

"Well, knowing you two you probably snuck out on your own." They reminded me a lot of Rose and the Princess.

"Oh come on Dimka! You have got to have more faith in me than that!" I couldn't help it but laugh. The look on Mika's face was priceless.

"I do have faith in you, I just know what kind of trouble you can get into if you set your mind to it. You two could easily take out a few guardians and get out if you tried hard enough." Katya finally spoke up.

"Well, that is probably because we had such a great older brother helping us improve our skills." she smiled at me. I pulled her into a tight hug, I missed her so much.

"Thank you Katya."

"No problem, Rose is very lucky to have you as a mentor."

"Okay, Katya, you can stop being a kiss-ass now." Mika interrupted. I honestly hadn't noticed, but then again that was probably the point.

"Nice going smart one!" Katya yelled back at her, I knew this wasn't going to end well so I decided to step in.

"Okay, we are going to solve this in an appropriate way. You won't get anywhere with yelling at each other. Now, I haven't seen you two fight in a while, so let's do a match right here. Winner wins the argument." I missed seeing them fight, it was actually pretty funny. Just picture two girls, one that clearly over-powered the other, fighting. One that was going for the obvious, and another that played it safe and was strategic in her moves. It usually ended up me having to break it up. Especially if things started to get too violent.

"Yes!" Mika screamed.

"Ready to get your butt kicked Mika?" Katya bragged. Here we go again.

"Alright you two, let's try to keep this clean, that means no unnecessary blood. Okay?"

"Yes, Dimka." they said simultaneously. They got into their starting positions and I was ready to signal the fight.

"You all know the rules, and if Rose comes back don't get her involved. Ready?" I waited for them to both nod, "Set, GO!" I quickly got out of the way. I had to pay close attention because sometimes they threw the score a bit.

Mika started out on the offensive side, as I predicted. She was a little more cautious about her moves now, but other than that she was still aggressive. I was glad, she would need her aggressiveness, but she needed to learn caution as well or she was going to get hurt.

As Mika raised her arm to get an upper cut, Katya took the opportunity to get a stomach shot in. Ouch, that had to hurt. "Point" she said. With that, Mika stepped up her game. I was proud to see that she was learning. After that punch, she changed to defense, forcing Katya to take offense, something I knew Katya wasn't comfortable with.

Katya took very well to the switch, and got a couple good swipes in, but she was getting killed by Mika. Wow, she had really improved. Both of them had.

"Hey Dimitri!" Rose came up, "Are those your sisters?"

"Yes Rose, please be helpful and help me keep score."

"Alright, comrade."

Just then, Mika made a quick switch to offense while Katya was recovering from a missed kick, and got her right in the head. "Point" she said smugly. Mika, Mika, Mika. Her reactions never change.

"Ooh, that had to hurt." Rose said.

"She's had worse" I said, remembering the time during one of our practices that I had actually broke her nose. If I got the chance before she left, I wanted to help her with defensive kicking.

"Wow, Dimitri. Way to assault your sister." Rose said. I swear, if she went anywhere near Mika, I would make her run more than she had been already. Mika didn't need anymore ideas.

I wasn't really paying much attention, but I should have. I turned back to the match, and noticed that things were starting to get rough. Mika had five while Katya had seven, and let's just say Mika didn't like to loose. She started higher level techniques that an older dhampir must've taught her because there was no way that she had learned them in class yet. I saw her take an opportunity to kick Katya right in the abdomen, and Katya actually had to call time out on that one.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, concerned. Even when her sister pulled something like this, she never called time-out. She hated it and only called it when she was really hurt. She was crying a little, but not too bad.

"No, not really." she said, still holding her stomach. I saw that the Princess had run over to us, and Rose had gone over to Mika. That's it, five extra laps tomorrow. If Rose hadn't known who Mika was earlier, I would've thought that she was the older novice who had taught Mika those moves.

"Here, let me help. My name is Lissa. What's your name?" she said, trying to distract Katya from the pain. We bot knew that the shock would go away soon, along with some of the pain. If it was serious, we would know in a few moments. Until then, it was probably better if we distracted her.

"Katya." she said quietly.

"What's your favorite type of move when you're fighting?" The princess asked her. She was very good at distracting Katya, which was pretty hard to do as she wasn't very social and kept to herself.

"I don't have one. If you have favorites, you'll fall into a pattern in your fighting and your opponents can learn to adapt to your moves by the end of the fight." Wow, I hadn't even thought of that.

"That's really deep Katya, did you think of that on your own?" I needed to know who she got that from.

"Yes, I figured it out while I was watching one of Mika's tournaments. She had the upper hand for the first few fights, but after a while, people learned her moves and adapted themselves to her style. I tried my theory out on my last tournament, and I ended up winning because nobody could predict what I was going to do."

"Great job Katya. Observation is a good skill to have, and I noticed that you were using it to your advantage out there. Good job."

"Thank you. So, was it you that taught her how to all that stuff she was throwing at me?"

"Absolutely not, and if I find who did teach her how to do that, I will personally hunt them down and make sure they never speak to her again." Katya laughed, but we both knew that I wasn't kidding.

"Well, in that case you should probably stop Rose. I just saw her demonstrating a few moves over there." She giggled softly.

"What?" I said, turning around to see Rose demonstrating an uppercut gut punch to Mika. Rose...you are _so _in for it tomorrow morning.

"I'll be right back okay?" I wanted to make sure she was okay, but I knew that the Princess would take care of her.

"Dimka, I'm not five. I can take care of myself. Plus, I have Lissa here with me. Go beat up Mika."

"She may not be the only one..." I said as I turned to go have a little chat with Rose and Mika, the new alliance that was going to wreak havoc on St. Vladimir's.


	3. Too Serious

*Hey everyone, thank you so much for all of the reviews! The first part of the chapter was written by MelanieBelikov, the second part was written by me. Thank you!*

Dimitri's POV

"Rose, Mika" I said. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing" they said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh, come on comrade" Rose said. "Leave us alone. Mika and I are going to be best friends"

"That's why I'm not leaving you alone," he said. "If I let you hang out, you are going to destroy the school"

Mika looked at me and giggled. "Oh, Dimka!" she said. "You used to be funnier than that!"

"He used to be funny?" Rose asked. "That's something that I can't imagine"

"Dimka used to be really funny" Mika said. "He caused so much trouble when he was a novice. He was dating the most popular Moroi girls, and he was the most entertaining guy"

Rose looked at me with wide eyes. She never saw me joking around or something like that, and I knew that she was really shocked.

"How do you know all this?" I asked. "You were just a little girl"

"I've met some of you ex-girlfriends"

Rose was looking at me and I knew her too well. She wanted to say something really inappropriate and I had to stop her.

"Mika, go back to Katya" I said. "You really hurt her this time. And then, I want you to tell me who showed you those moves"

Mika seemed really frustrated about this, but she obeyed.

"I would like to meet the Dimitri she described to me" Rose said, smiling. "He must be really interesting"

"Sorry, that Dimitri was gone years ago" I said. "Let's go back. It's getting late."

Mika's POV

I still couldn't believe that I saw Dimka again. It's been too long since the last time. I would never admit it to him, but I loved him so much. And he was so much more handsome than before. I just hoped that he and Tasha would end up together, they were perfect for each other.

"Katya!" I said as I went to my sister. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, looking at her feet in an attempt to avoid my eyes.

I didn't speak to her again. I knew her too well, and I knew that she didn't want to talk, especially to me. So, I went back to Dimitri.

"She doesn't want to speak to me," I said, pouting.

He laughed. "You didn't change at all," he said. "Come on. Let's go to the dorms"

"No" I said. "I want to have some more fun"

"Dimitri is right" Rose said. "Let's go. We will have fun tomorrow. I will introduce you to Mason and Eddie"

"Ooh, boys" I said with an evil smile.

I heard Dimitri snort and I couldn't stop my giggle.

"Katya!" I shouted. "Let's go, freak!"

She gave me a death glare, but she followed us with Lissa right beside her. Lissa seemed to really like her. I saw Tasha smiling at Dimitri as she went to kiss Christian.

"Tasha is the best" I said to Rose. "She is funny and brave. I think she and Dimitri will end up together"

Rose grabbed my arm really hard. "What?" she nearly screamed.

"Calm down" I said giggling. "You heard me. But why do you care so much?"

I saw her blushing. "Because he is my mentor" she just answered.

We all walked silently at the dorms and Dimitri saw us our room. Of course my roommate was Katya.

As soon as we were alone in our room, I smiled.

"Here we are" I said, proudly. "At St. Vladimir's. With our brother"

"Yeah" she said. "Is it just me, or did he change? He is so different now."

"Yeah, I know." I said. "He's been all serious since his last Moroi died, but... he is way too serious now"

"Yes, but" she said. "I think that he is in love"

"What?" I asked shocked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Did you see the way he looked at her? And I know she's beautiful, but it was more that he admired and loved her than her body."

"Yeah, Tasha and Dimitri would be perfect together, if only they would get past that awkward wall they both have."

"Tasha? I was talking about Dimitri and Rose."

"What?" I shouted. How is that possible? Then again, it does explain a lot, especially how Rose overreacted when I was talking about Dimitri and Tasha earlier.

"You heard me. They would be a cute couple, and they are meant for each other. Rose is perfect for him."

"Rose is nothing like him." I said, denying it. I still wanted Tasha and Dimitri to be together.

"She's like he used to be. Before his charge was killed. She is good for him, Mika, you can't deny that." She's right. I couldn't deny what I knew. Rose would be good for Dimitri, and maybe she could get him to chill out a little.

"I guess I can't."

Just as I was considering about how great it would be if Rose and Dimitri got together, Rose and I would be in laws! I never realized how great it would be if we were together. Come to think, ever since Dimitri moved out, I never really considered him with anyone other than Tasha.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Katya opened the door to reveal none other than Dimitri standing there.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure!" Katya said.

"What's up? I presume you didn't come to just hang out with your baby sisters?"

"Mika, you know I do not view you as a baby. I actually came to discuss your most recent combat." he turned to Katya, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine Dimitri, Lissa helped me a lot. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let that affect me as much as it did. I guess I'm the baby." She sat down on the bed and looked like she was about to cry. Geez, she could wasn't a baby most of the time, but she could definitely pull it off sometimes.

"Katya, you are not a baby either, and why do you think that you need to apologize for not avoiding a move you weren't prepared for?" As he said that last part, he glared at me but I just shrugged.

"I shouldn't have called time out. In the real world, there isn't any timeouts. I need to learn to suck it up."

"Katya please!" I yelled, I couldn't take it anymore, "Please stop wallowing in your own guilt. A _senior _taught me those moves for crying out loud. There was no way you stood a chance. I'm sorry! God!"

"Which senior?" Dimitri asked.

"No one you know. Some kid named Leiv Kharkov. He was friends with Sasha, and he taught me some stuff."

"You really need to stop hanging around senior boys. Ever since you started at St. Basil's you have been addicted to them."

"Not my problem that they are all super adorable." I shrugged.

I looked over at Katya, who was sound asleep in her bed. She was definitely disappointed in herself, and I felt bad.

Dimitri must've seen her too because he said, "It's late. You should go to bed. Oh, wait. One last thing. Mika, what are your plans for tomorrow morning?"

"Sleeping, probably. Why?"

"Becuase you are going to have the opportunity to show off those moves you pulled on your sister today. The only difference is you'll be helping instead of hurting. I'll come get you on my way to the gym."

"Do I have too?" I whined. I hadn't been able to sleep in in ages, and I was pumped that I had the chance to here. He wasn't going to take that away from me, was he?

"Yes, and if Katya's up, she will too." Yup. He would.

"And if she isn't?"

"She wasn't the one with the moves." He said, smirking, he then added, "Get some sleep, I'll come get you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said, then I crawled into bed, and blacked out.


	4. Training

*** Hey everyone, this chapter was written by me, enjoy! ***

**Training**

**KATYA'S POV**

"_Dimka, please don't go." I was begging and pleading with my brother. He had just been assigned to Ivan Zeklos, and was leaving with him to go to Moscow. _

"_Katya, you know that I have to go. Someday, when you are assigned to a moroi, you will have to leave your family too. I promise to call everyday, and I promise that I will come visit you. I will miss you so much, but I really need to go right now." You could see the sadness radiating in his eyes. He really didn't want to leave, but it was his job. His responsibility. They come first, even before family._

"_I don't care, I don't want you to go. Send Mika instead." I pouted. I loved Dimka so much that I would rather send my ten year old sister off to defend a royal moroi just so I could be with my brother. _

"_You know that mama wouldn't approve of that. You both are still in school!"_

"_I don't care, I don't want you to leave me!" I said, running and grabbing his leg. Just then, mama and Ivan Zeklos came in. My mother saw that I was crying, and she came over to relieve Dimitri of me. _

"_No! Put me down!" I yelled, and I started kicking and punching her. Dimitri grabbed me from her and gave me that look that said "If you don't listen to me, there will be trouble." _

"_Katya, you are being ridiculous. I will come home soon, and I can't leave seeing you like this. I need you to stop fussing, because I need you to do an important job for me, okay?" I had stopped crying, he was right. I was being ridiculous and I needed to stop. _

"_What do you need me to do?"_

"_I need you to take care of mama for me? Okay? Can you handle it?"_

"_Yes, Dimka. I can handle it."_

"_No, I don't think you can."_

"_Yes I can!" I whined. I didn't like it when someone underestimated me. _

"_Are you sure?" he said, trying to get a rise out of me, it was working._

"_Da, ser!" I said._

"_Alright. So, I'll call you when I get to Moscow, alright?" _

"_Okay..." I said, getting sad again. _

"_Hey, none of that milashka." milashka was the name he had been calling me since I was born. It meant cutie in Russian._

"_I hate to interrupt, but Dimitri, we really need to go if we're going to catch our flight." Ivan came up. _

"_Alright, I need to go now. Remember what you have to do?"_

"_Look after Mama." I said smugly. Glad that I remembered my challenge._

"_Great job, I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

_With that, he hugged mama and walked outside. I thought I saw him wipe his eyes, but I wasn't sure. He was my Dimka. He never cried. _

_Mama walked to me and picked me up. I hadn't realized it, but I was crying. I hugged Mama and cried into her shirt. She knew the bond that Dimka and I had, and this was the first time we had ever been separated for a long period of time. She also knew that he may never come back. _

_I heard the car start, and I changed my mind. I pushed myself off mama, and made a run for it. I ran out into the middle of the street and yelled "Dimka come back!" I knew he couldn't hear me, but it didn't matter. I kept yelling anyway._

"Shh..it's okay, I'm here. I'm here." I woke up to the sound of Dimitri's voice. He had his arms wrapped around me, and Mika was standing akwardly in the corner of the room. Dimitri looked concerned, but Mika looked annoyed. This wasn't the first time that I had nightmares like that. I suffered from night terrors, so she was pretty used to my screaming. This new one must've been triggered because of Mika and I being at the academy with Dimka.

"Are you okay?" He asked, I hadn't realized that I was shaking until Dimitri held me a little tighter.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, still trying to calm myself down. Mika must've noticed I was having a hard time, because I saw her disappear into the bathroom. She came back out with a vial of pills and threw them at me. Unfortunately, Dimitri intercepted the pass.

"What are these?" he asked, looking at me like I was hiding something. What did he think I was on?

"They're just Anti-Anxiety meds, Dimka. Maybe you should take one." He apparently didn't find this funny because he was still frowning and examining the bottle.

"Why do you have these?"

"Night – terrors, as you just witnessed." I said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That wasn't the first time?"

"No."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Mika was the closest, and Dimitri was still sitting on the bed with me, so she got the door.

"Hey, Rose!" she said.

Dimitri swore and then said, "Sorry, Rose. I stopped by here to get Mika and then Katya and I got talking. We can go now, if you're ready."

"Yeah, I've kinda been ready for the past fifteen minutes. I'll take Mika and warm her up. I already stretched and did my laps."

"Good job, Rose, I'm proud of you."

"So, can Rose take me?" Mika said, excited.

"Yes, but please, behave yourself."

"Yeah, right." Rose said, walking out the door. Mika followed close behind her. That left Dimitri and me.

"Why don't you get ready so we can get there before classes start?" Dimitri said, getting up of of the bed. He was still holding my pills, but I was calming down on my own, even if I wasn't 100% yet. He must've noticed that I was edgy because he offered them to me.

"Do you still need these?" He said.

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"No problem." He said, flipping them over to me. I caught them on the fly. "Nice catch." he added.

I got up, showered, and changed into a t-shirt and sweat-pants. It was what I used to wear to my combat classes back in Russia. I threw my hair in a pony-tail, and Dimitri escorted me to the gym.

When we got there, Rose and Mika were already going at it. Rose was kicking Mika's ass. I didn't feel bad for her, although I think that I should. Dimitri must've seen this too, because he stepped in.

"You guys couldn't wait fifteen minutes?"

"Nope!" Rose yelled out as Mika nailed her right in the gut with her foot. Ouch.

"Should they stop?" I asked.

"No, I think that they'll be fine." He was watching them carefully, making mental notes for later.

"Point." I heard Mika say as Rose stepped out of the red lines. That must be the boundaries.

"Dammit." Rose responded. Stepping out of a boundary was considered a stupid move.

They kept going on like this for about five more minutes until Dimitri finally cut in. It was obvious that Mika was getting her butt whooped, and needed a break. We both knew that she would never call time – out though.

"How'd I do?" She asked, walking over to me.

"You got your ass handed to you."

"Yeah, I know. Rose is pretty bad-ass. Dimitri's a good pairing for her."

"Yeah, totally." she was absolutely right.

"Girls, can you come over here please?" Dimitri called. We both jogged over to where Rose and Dimitri were standing.

"What's up?" Mika asked. She was still panting from the fight. I really hoped that this would teach her a lesson about using moves that you were unprepared for on another person.

"I want to do a tournament between the four of us." Dimitri said.

"I can fight Katya, and can stand my ground with Rose, but I am absolutely sure that I would get my ass kicked a thousand times more if I were fighting you."

"Don't worry, I won't fight my hardest. I'll fight you at the level I think you are capable of. Mika, I've seen you fight twice now. I think I know where you are at. Katya, you haven't changed much. You still use the same techniques, so I'm pretty sure that I know where you stand as well. If I am unfairly fighting, I can make adjustments mid – fight anyway."

"That sounds fair." I said. I know Dimitri would fight at our levels, and nothing more. I trusted him with that.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Mika said, rolling her eyes.

"Mika, since fighting me is such a problem, you can fight Rose first. Katya, are you okay to fight me?"

"Sure..." I said, unsure.

"Alright, we'll go first so that Rose and Mika can catch their breath. You warmed up?"

"Yeah." I said, stepping into the middle of the gym.

"We'll use the red lines as guides, okay?"

"Okay." I said, squaring up. Next thing I heard was Rose yelling go. Then, we started fighting.

MIKA'S POV

This was complete and utter bullshit. There was no way that Katya was going to defeat Dimitri, and there was no way that I was going to beat Rose. They were both complete bad ass, and there was no way that either of us had a chance.

I wasn't surprised when Dimitri played defense, forcing Katya to make the first move. He always would try to make us practice our weak spots. Katya liked playing defense, so she had time to interpret her opponent's moves. She could build a profile of the style they used. She was good at that stuff.

On offense, she couldn't do that. She had to throw the punched herself. Clearly, she wasn't stronger than Dimitri, so it was really hard for her to get a good hit in. She was okay using offensive tactics if it was an even fight, but when it was uneven, she started second guessing herself.

After a few minutes of failure,. Katya came up with the brilliant idea of switching to defense just as Dimitri was about to try to throw her off by backing up when she threw her next punch. She faked it, throwing him off guard, and he lost his footing. He fell right outside of the red lines.

"Point." I heard her say happily.

She stayed on defense for a while after that. Surprisingly, she was pretty good at blocking Dimitri's shots. You could tell he was being careful and trying not to hurt her, but like everyone else, he underestimated her and started out small. He had to increase the tactics. I saw him square to use the move I had tried on her yesterday, but she was ready. She counter – attacked it, and ended up hitting him right in the face.

After that, Dimitri did not go easy on her. He forced her back into offense, and somehow, she kept up her energy. She was still going strong, even after the bell rang. Students piled in, but instead of stretching, they all sat on the bleachers awaiting the outcome of the fight.

The fight ended about five minutes into the next class. Katya started to square up for a move that I was trying to learn from Rose yesterday, but Dimitri caught her. How she knew that he was watching her, I don't know, but she caught him, and threw an uppercut at him, throwing him to the floor.

The spectators from the risers began a chorus of cheers, and I ran up to hug my sister. She did extremely well, and I was very surprised that she could keep up with our brother.

"Excellent job." Dimitri said, walking up to us. Rose was right beside him. You could see the pride radiating in his eyes.

"Sorry Rose, Mika, but I think we'll have to post-pone your match until later. There's a class that needs to start." He said, eying the crowd. He was probably pondering how he was going to explain to everybody how he let himself get beaten up by a sixteen year old.

"That's okay." I said, "I have no problem waiting."

"Yeah, I think I need a break too. That was pretty intense, Dimka." Katya was hugging him. I think that she was in shock. None of us were expecting the fight to be easy, but that was definitely a miracle win.

All in all, we were all pretty proud of Katya. Another school guardian came up to us as we were discussing the recent victory.

"Hello girls, I'm Guardian Alto. I'm one of the teachers here at the academy."

"I noticed" I said.

"Thank you." he said, bowing his head.

"What's up?" I asked, this wasn't going to be good.

"I was wondering if you wanted to observe the class? Maybe help out some of the students. You seem like fast learners, and I was also wondering if you would like to help me demonstrate some moves."

"Of course!" Katya said, excited that she was a new idol at the school.

"Yeah, no problem Guardian Alto."

"What are your names?" he asked.

"I'm Mika, and this is my twin sister Katya. We're juniors." I added. It would make us look even better. Katya rolled her eyes, knowing what I was doing.

"Really? Only juniors? That was impressive." He looked at us with admiration. I was starting to wonder what his students were like if he was looking at us like that.

"Yes, Stan. They are pretty well trained." Dimitri came over. He had recovered from his loss.

"Well, they have an excellent role model."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Well, I better get class started."

"Of course. Good luck girls."

"Thank you!" I yelled out to him.

After that, Stan turned to talk to his students who were waiting excitedly to meet the girls who had beaten up Guardian Belikov, the school bad-ass.


	5. Bring It On

New Alliances

KATYA'S POV

"Alright class, lock it up!" I heard the instructor say. I had already forgotten his name. Mika was standing on one side of me while Dimka was on the other. Rose had gone to sit with a group of kids who I assumed to be her friends.

"Today, class, we are very privileged to have a few unscheduled guests help us with demonstrations." The instructor pointed to Mika and I as if we were the two most amazing guardians on this earth. Mika probably loved the attention, but it was all making me sick. Dimitri must've noticed my increasing nausea because he turned and whispered to me, "You don't have to do this. If you want, I can get you out of here and we can practice some more somewhere else. Mika's probably going to want to stay though."

As much as I wanted to leave, I wanted to stay with my sister more, "I'm okay, Dimka, don't worry."

"Are you sure? You still have time…"

"I want to stay here with Mika." I finally admitted, and he smiled. He knew that the bond between my sister and me was strong. We were usually always together.

"That's what I thought." He said, and went back to paying attention to the instructor.

"Why don't you girls introduce yourselves?" the instructor said to Mika and me.

"Well, I'm Mika…" My sister said automatically. She was used to being the one who had to talk. I was usually pretty shy with this stuff.

"I'm Katya." I spit out. It didn't make it any easier when I remembered that we were standing in front of a crowd of seniors, one of them being Rose.

"Mika and Katya will be helping you with your pairing today. We are having a tournament, and they will be refereeing. Now, I know we weren't supposed to have the tournament till next week, but this is a special circumstance." A boy in the audience raised his hand.

"Guardian Alto?" So _that_ was his name.

"Yes, Mr. Ashford?"

"I have a question for the girls."

"Well, then why don't you come up to the front of the class, Mr. Ashford."  
"Yes, sir."

The boy walked down from his seat, which I noticed was next to Rose, and walked down towards us. I had a bad feeling about this.

"So, how old are you two?"

"My sister and I are 16. We are in our junior year." Mika answered. The boy grinned, like he was going to make a fool out of us.

"Guardian Alto, why would you suggest _juniors_ referee _seniors_? They wouldn't even know half of the moves we are allowed to use on each other."

"You wouldn't know because you weren't here, but these are exceptionally talented juniors. Actually, girls," Guardian Alto said, turning to us, "How would you like to participate in the tournament. You can show these kids what you can do. Your brother and I will referee." I turned to Dimitri and he was smiling, like he was proud Guardian Alto would even suggest that.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Stan." Dimka said. What? Was this seriously happening? No, this couldn't be happening. This was not good. I could take on my grade, I could take on Mika, and _maybe_ with luck I could stand a chance against Dimitri, but to go up against seniors who I didn't even know? How was I supposed to pull that one off?

MIKA'S POV

This was freaking awesome. I was going to kick serious senior ass. My sister looked like she was going to pass out, but I felt fine. She was just scared after what I did to her, never mind the fact she would have to face shit like that every time she fought in this tournament. This was super exciting though, and I had my eyes set on one thing. Winning.

"Alright! So, listen up! For this first seed, you are allowed to pick your partner. As a reminder, you should pick someone who is at your level. Trust me when I say, these girls are at your level, so don't be afraid to pick them as your partner. On the count of three, you have ten seconds to find your partner. One, two, three!"

_Come on Rose…_I thought to myself. I wanted to knock her out of this so I would be the hero of the day. Unfortunately, another kid came up to me.

"You want to be partners?" He asked. He was blonde and very well built. He looked like he was one of the better fighters in the class, but I wasn't going to let that intimidate me. One thing I learned from my sister: Looks aren't everything.

"You're on." I said, challenging him. I looked over at who my sister had for a partner, hoping it was Rose, but it wasn't. It was that bastard kid who decided to beat on us for our age. That fight was going to be interesting. She could take him.

"I'm Eddie Castile." He said, after a moment of silence. I looked up at him for the first time, and saw he was actually kind of cute. I would determine how worthy he was when I fought him though. He needed to be able to keep up with me to be my man.

"Mika." I said, but he already knew that. I decided I was going to ask him who that idiot kid was.

"Who's that kid that hates us?" I asked. Maybe that was a little harsh, but it was kind of true.

"Oh, Mason? He's just picking on you guys. He actually has a crush on your sister." He said. Oh did he now?

"Really?" I said, intrigued. That was definitely going to be an interesting fight.

"Yeah, that's why he picked her. He wants to get to know her more. That's all he's been talking about since he saw her. He thinks she's cute." Wow, this kid showed no mercy. Some friend.

"Good choice of words, Eddie. If you said hot, I was going to have to switch partners."

"Wow, you're a lot like Rose, you know that?"

"I've heard that somewhere before, yes." I said, remembering last night. Probably best not to mention that out loud though. I didn't need to get Dimitri in trouble.

"Okay, listen up! Unfortunately, we can only do two matches at a time, so who would like to go first?"  
"Guardian Alto?" I heard a student ask. I didn't know who it was though.

"Yes, Mr. Aylesworth?" Stan said. If he started calling me Miss Belikova, I was going to attack him, and not even Dimka could stop me.

"I think it would be only fair that since Mika and Katya are Juniors that they go first."

"Do you girls mind?" He asked.

"Not really." I said. It didn't matter if we went first or last for all I cared. I was going to win either way.

"Alright. On ring one to my left, Mika and Edison refereed by myself. On ring two to my right, Mason and Katya refereed by Guardian Belikov. Positions!" Bring. It. On.


	6. The Tournament

KATYA'S POV

I had a very strong feeling this was not going to end well. Mika was practically jumping up and down with excitement, naturally. She was always looking for the chance to fight with people who were older than her. I wouldn't be surprised if in the end, it was her versus Rose. The instructor, Guardian Alto, was going on about something, but then I heard, "Alright! So, listen up! For this first seed, you are allowed to pick your partner. As a reminder, you should pick someone who is at your level. Trust me when I say, these girls are at your level, so don't be afraid to pick them as your partner. On the count of three, you have ten seconds to find your partner. One, two, three!"

A senior boy walked over to my sister, he was tall, very built, and had short-ish blonde hair. She looked disappointed, I think she was hoping for Rose so she could finally beat her, but Rose was with someone else, so she started flirting with the boy. _Typical_. I thought to myself.

Just then, a different boy walked up to me. He had shaggy red hair that went down to his shoulders, and the cutest blue eyes you could ever imagine. And don't get me started on that smile he wore on his face while walking up to me. Then, I realized, it was the same butt munch that got me into this mess. He was done for. Maybe.

"Hey, I'm Mason. Sorry about that back there, but I had heard about you two, and I wanted to see how you'd do with the big kids."

"How considerate of you, Mason. I bet you're one of the top students in your class?"

"How'd you know?" He said, smirking. He was definitely flirting with me. This was going to be excellent.

"I'm just good at reading people." _The cocky attitude didn't help in your defense either, smarty_ I added on. This guy was so done for.

I looked at my sister and she looked back at me and smiled. She was thinking the same thing I was. Mason made the one mistake each of my new opponents make. He sized me up, I just need to play to my advantages.

"Okay, listen up! Unfortunately, we can only do two matches at a time, so who would like to go first?" Guardian Alto said, regaining the groups attention.  
"Guardian Alto?" Someone asked, I wasn't paying attention though. I was too busy looking at Mason. He was a cocky pain in the butt, but I guess that's one of my turn-ons.

"Yes, Mr. Aylesworth?" Guardian Alto said. Mr Aylesworth? Who calls their student that?

"I think it would be only fair that since Mika and Katya are Juniors that they go first." Crap.

"Do you girls mind?" He asked. _Yes! Don't do this to me, Mika!_ I eternally begged, even though I knew it wouldn't make a difference in the end.

"Not really." I knew it. And I'm going to die of embarrassment, even though I can take Mason.

"Alright. On ring one to my left, Mika and Edison refereed by myself. On ring two to my right, Mason and Katya refereed by Guardian Belikov. Positions!" I wish I had a camera for the look on Mason's face for when I got my three points.

MIKA'S POV

_Alright, smart ass, let's see what you've got. _I was trying to get myself pumped up for the fight. Usually there's a reason that gets me ticked off, but for Eddie I had nothing. He was cute, funny, and adorable. His blonde hair added to his innocence. I probably couldn't hurt him if I tried.

The pain brought me out of my daydreaming.

"Point Eddie!" Stan said. This meant war, my dear friend. I brought my knee up and got him in the gut. He recovered too quick though and jabbed me.

"Two points Eddie; one point Mika." Stan said. Wow, he really took this seriously. That's when I realized that I was loosing. To Eddie. Because I was checking him out. He pulled his hand up and got me on the side of the face again. Shit.

"Three points Eddie one point Mika." Stan said, and I desperately wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. Here I was loosing to a senior, someone who I could probably have easily beaten. This was really pissing me off.

I dropped down like a ninja and swirl kicked him. He tripped and fell out of the line. My point.

"Three points Eddie two points Mika." Take that stupid cute senior boy. Take that.

"Hey Mika over here!" Some idiot from the crowd yelled, and me being a gullible dipshit turned and looked, which earned me a gut punch and Eddie a point. One more and he won the match. I wasn't going to let that happen. I went in for a jab, but then I pulled back and kicked him instead. He fell down, but got back up.

"Four points Eddie, three points Mika." I needed to focus. I knew it was my number one weakness, but this dude was god. He was more god than Dimitri. I would actually like to see them fight. Eddie would probably win.

I sidestepped, but overestimated the square, so I had to mark up again. This wasted time that Eddie had, and while I was distracted he got in another punch, winning the match. That son of a bitch.

"Eddie wins! You can both have a seat if you wish." Stan said, and I wanted to punch him just as bad as I wanted to punch pretty boy. I lost because I was checking out a boy. I lost because I was too easily distracted. I lost because I loved Eddie Castile, and I didn't want to hurt him.

KATYA'S POV

"Alright, Mason, you know the rules, but Katya, there is head shots in this league, so be careful. You are allowed five seconds recovery time before I have to call a point. If you step outside of the square, that is an automatic point for the opposing side. If you make contact with no block, that is a point. Any questions?" Of course Dimka had to go over all of the rules. He was that formal.

"Can we start?" Mason asked, being a smarty again. Dimka just gave him a look, that was similar to the look he gave Mika a lot.

"Mason, are you ready?" He asked, getting in his ref area.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Mason said, a little too enthusiastically. It was really going to be hard for me to beat him. Well, morally of course. I hated judging, but he had the same kind of attitude as Mika and Rose did, and that doesn't usually get people very far. Not against me anyway.

"Katya, are you ready?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yes." I said, formally. I wasn't going to be rude.

"On your mark, get set, begin!" Dimitri called, and first off Mason threw a punch at me. I dodged it, and he went flying. He almost stepped out of bounds, but he recovered just in time for me to kick him in the leg and send him down right over the line.

"Point Katya." Dimka said. I smiled, but helped Mason up. People were looking at me like I was nuts, but I knew he wouldn't do anything to me. Except try to pull me down in which case I would twist my arm around while kicking him and get me another two points. That's exactly what happened.

"Three Points Katya, Zero Mason." The odds don't look good, honey. That's why you never underestimate a girl. Especially a Russian one.

"You're going down." He said to me, and I wanted so bad to smile and tell him to bring it on, but that wasn't me. That was Mika. I was polite. So polite in fact, I looked away so Mason could get a punch in. Unfortunately for him, I moved a little too fast for his liking, and he zoomed right by me so I was now at the advantage behind him. I gave him a charlie horse, sending him back down to the ground. Point Katya.

He came back up and just started throwing random punches. Mason was not very happy, but he was cute when he was mad. Apparently he didn't like getting beaten up by a girl. Although, technically I wasn't beating him up, most of it was his own wrongdoing. Being rude never gets you anywhere in life, except on the floor, which is where Mason was after he tripped over my foot, and fell again, outside of the red line.

"Katya wins with a shutout!" Dimitri said, and I turned to Mason.

"The next time you want to size somebody up, think twice about their personal capabilities. I wouldn't be here doing this if I wasn't advanced, and if you think throwing random punches are going to work against me, I would think again. Being rude gets you no where, and neither does stereotyping." I said to Mason, who was looking at me like I just told him I killed somebody. It wasn't my fault I thought he needed to hear this. It was a life lesson. If he listened to me, a few of those points wouldn't have been awarded. It was common sense, or so I thought.


	7. Boys, Boys, Boys

MIKA'S POV

"Hey!" I saw Eddie come running after me after I stormed out of the gym. I was pissed that I had lost because I got distracted. It wasn't the way to loose. If Eddie had been a cute Strigoi, I would've been dead. Now, Dimitri will be lecturing me for the rest of the day. Especially since Katya won her battle.

"Mika! Wait up!" He was still running after me. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't. I caved and I turned to look at him.

"What?" I snapped.

"Sorry about that, but you were really good for your age. I can't even believe that you held on for that long. If you were trying to impress someone, you did a good job. I know you impressed me." He smiled a little, and god, he was beautiful. Most of the time I described the guys I liked as sexy or smokin' or hot, but Eddie wasn't any of that. He was sweet and cute and, well, beautiful.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." I smiled a little too. Hearing him complement me like that, it made me feel mushy inside.

"No problem. Anyway, you're Rose's friend, right?" Rose? What about her?

"Yeah, I think so. We hung out once, and she was pretty cool." In other words, completely badass.

"Anyway, some of us are going to the common room tonight to hang out, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along." He was twiddling his fingers and looking down while he asked me this, it was a test. He liked me. Then I thought of Katya, she would probably want to hang out tonight. Then again, she would probably just go hang out with Dimka. But then he would know about the party...

"I would, but you know, my sister and I just got here and we wanted to explore a little..." I tried not to make it seem like I was rejecting him, because I truly did want to go, but I didn't want to risk being a nark either.

"Katya can come if she wants, I'm sure Mason has a few things to say about how she kicked his ass today...I think he likes her anyway. He's really bad with girls." Eddie was blushing a little now.

"Really? She isn't really the partying type, but I'll definitely ask her," I smiled. Katya at a party wasn't a really good idea, but Katya at a party with cute boys who liked her was a very good idea. My older sister skills could finally come into tact here.

"Sure, well, I'll see you around I guess!" Eddie smiled. He was so freaking adorable I wanted to jump him then and there. I would wait though. I wasn't going to screw this up. Not with him.

"Yeah, definitely," I smiled.

I don't know how long I was standing there for when I saw Katya walk over with Dimitri. _Great,_ I thought, _here come the fireworks._

"Hey, Mika! Sorry about your loss. Apparently Eddie's the best in his class next to Rose though, so you shouldn't feel too bad. You know how Rose is…" she trailed off. It was obvious she didn't like her very much.

"It's okay. I went easy on him anyway," I tried to play it off, "I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his class. Clearly you didn't have the same concern. You handed Mason's ass to him!" I laughed and high-fived my sister. I was pretty impressed with her, and the look on Dimitri's face said the same thing.

"Well, he deserved it. He was being a cocky little you know what and somebody had to teach him some manners. It's just a shame that it had to be a sweet little girl like me," she smiled oh so innocently, even though we all knew that she was about as innocent as a serial killer. Dimitri was very amused by this as well; you could see him trying to hold back his laughter, probably trying to be professional.

"Speaking of Mason, he likes you, you know," I hinted towards her. She blushed. A lot.

"He does? I mean…why? I just embarrassed him in front of everyone…how could he…why does he…"

"Woah, sis. Calm yourself. Why did I loose to Eddie? He's adorable, that's why. Clearly, Mason thinks the same of you. You distracted him," I told her. I know a lot about boys.

"Are you sure it wasn't his oversized ego?" Katya grinned.

"That might've helped a little bit. Anyways, I'm gonna go catch up with Rose. You two losers can stick around here or come hang with us big kids," I offered. I needed to get Katya away from Dimitri. I knew he wouldn't want to come hang out with a bunch of kids. Not Rose's friends anyway.

"Sure, I'll come with you," Katya said, looking towards Dimitri for his answer. He just shook his head.

"Whatever Rose is doing, I don't really want a part of it. Be careful, girls, I'll see you later," And with that, he walked off in the other direction, probably to wherever the guardians hung out when they were off duty.

"Well, now that he's gone, we can talk about more important things," I told Katya as we walked to the dorms.

"Like what?" She asked sheepishly. She never liked it when I got this way.

"Like parties. Eddie is throwing one tonight and you and I are invited. Mason and Rose will be there too, so you can flirt with him or something. Anyways, you in?" I asked her. It was better to be blunt with Katya. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Okay I guess…do the guardians know about this?" She asked. Nark.

"No, and you can't tell them, got it? Remember back in Russia when Nik threw that huge party and you got wasted?"

"No…that was you…" Katya said.

"Well, Dimitri doesn't know that. So if you tell, I'll tell him that our little angel isn't as innocent as she looks," she glared at me.

"And what makes you think he'll believe you?" She challenged.

"I'm a lot of things Katya, but I'm not a liar. Dimitri knows that. To him, I've never told a lie."

"Fine. I'll go. No guardians. Got it," she stormed off. Plan A accomplished.

* * *

WHOA! It's an update! Nothing real important to say except that I'm really sorry for the lack in updating...been a little lousy with that part. Anyways, thanks for those of you who are still with me! I really appreciate it. Next chapter is the party! If you review, I can give you a preview! Hilarity ensured!


	8. Raise Your Glass

MIKA POV

We got to the party at about 8:00 after we had dinner with Dimitri. It was nice, but you could tell that Katya was trying a little too hard not to let him in on our plans. I kept trying to distract her, but you could tell it was all she could think of. Katya wasn't used to breaking the rules, especially when she was trying to make a good impression.

When we got there, we met up with Eddie, Mason, and Rose. Lissa wasn't there, which surprised me. There were also some Moroi and other Novices I recognized from the tournament, but that was about it.

"Alright, so rules," Rose said, standing on top of a table, "Rule one. We need at least two people who are willing to be sober all night to watch for guardians and staff. I really don't feel like getting wasted tonight, so I will be one of them. Any other volunteers?" Eddie raised his hand. He didn't seem like the drinking type. "Good. So, if you have any problems, come to Eddie or me. Rule number two, let's partay!" Everyone started cheering, and within the hour, you could tell who was going to pass out, and who was going to pass the test.

Katya, surprisingly, was one of the people who were probably going to end up passing out. Man, was Katya drunk. Like, really wasted drunk. Like, she'd be passing out soon drunk. And I was the sober one. It was so weird. It was too weird. Then again, I was kind of amused at this side of my sister.

"Let's play SPIN THE BOTTLE!" She yelled from on top of a table somewhere.

Everyone shouted. Apparently, Spin the Bottle was a school favorite. Eddie and Mason were checking out all the girls they were going to kiss, and Rose was complaining about how she had already kissed all the boys in this room. There were a few others-I don't remember their names-but they seemed happy enough.

"Spin it!" Katya was very loud when she was drunk. I had only seen her wasted once before, when Viktoria let her have too much vodka at a party, but mom caught us and we all got in a bunch of trouble. Ever since then, Katya hasn't even had a glass of wine. This side of her was surely missed.

Since Rose had already kissed every guy in this room, she went first. Her spin landed on some guy named Dean, and they kissed. It wasn't a big deal. And then, it was Katya's turn.

She spun the bottle, and it landed right on Mason. The guy who she had been complaining about all night. The famous "lady's man." Everyone started cheering them on, knowing that all night Mason had been flirting with her. Unfortunately, my sister has never been good with boys, even though I told her he liked her, and didn't get the hint. Maybe now she would.

"Mason Ashford, your mouth is mine!" She teased as she leaned in for the kiss.

And they kissed. And they kissed. And they kissed.

"Okay, I know one of you needs to breath at some point, even I don't kiss this long!" Rose yelled, breaking them up. Katya just smiled at Mason, never taking her eyes off of his mouth.

"You, Mason, are an excellent kisser," She told him, smiling.

"Why thank you malady," Mason encouraged. They leaned in again, but Rose sat right in between them. Rose was one of those people who could be both fun and responsible at the same time, even though you probably wouldn't realize it at first.

"Who's next?" She asked, and everyone started laughing. Katya moved over to where Mason was sitting. He took her in his arms, and they looked like a real couple.

It was my turn next. I spun the bottle, and it landed on that Dean kid. I kissed him, but felt nothing. It meant nothing. Ironically, the whole time I was kissing him I thought of Eddie. His luscious lips pressed against mine. His sweet, spearmint breath intertwined with mine. Well, yeah. You get the picture. I really wished it had been Eddie.

KATYA POV

My head hurt so fucking bad when I woke up, and it hasn't been any better in the ten minutes I've been laying here. I don't remember a thing that happened last night; I don't even remember walking back to the dorm. All I remember is kissing Mason, sitting next to Mason, and being with Mason all night long.

"Mik," I groaned, getting out of bed and immediately heading for the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. The good thing about me? I suffer from Migraines, so I get to keep Advil in my bedroom. It's perfect for times like this, even if they are rare.

"Hey, girlie," She smiled a little. She didn't drink much last night, if I remember correctly, so it would make sense she wouldn't suffer from the same blazing headache that I had.

"What happened last night?" I asked her, lying back down on the bed. I felt sick. Like, really sick. Like, I would rather be dead sick.

"Well, you got drunk. Really drunk. Kissed Mason during spin the bottle, passed out in the bathroom around 2 am, and then I dragged you back here sometime after that. You were puking all night, no wonder you feel like crap," she laughed.

"S'not funny," I said, barely finding the will to speak anymore. Now I remembered why I didn't drink. Hangovers suck.

"Actually, it's hilarious. Come on, you've got to get to breakfast otherwise Dimitri's going to be looking for you," she patted my back because I had my head buried in my pillow. God, I forgot all about Dimitri. He would know that something was up.

"I'm coming…" I trailed off and headed to the shower.

When I got out of the shower and changed, my headache had gone away some, but I still felt like shit. It was probably going to last a bit too, which I wasn't looking forward to. Another thing I wasn't looking forward to was seeing Mason. And yet, he can always manage to find me.

"Hey, Katya!" He yelled running to me while I was walking to breakfast. Mika had met up with Eddie sometime before I left. Apparently they were a thing now.

"Hey," I groaned. I really did not want to deal with him right now.

"What's wrong with you? Alcohol to the brain? You know, you were a hoot last night. You should come back soon. I think you're going to be the next Rose Hathaway now that she's playing responsible."

"Could you talk any louder?" I complained. He just smiled. As always.

"Anyways, where do we stand?" He asked, but was quieter this time.

"I don't know, and I don't care," I snapped.

"We have to talk about what happened last night, Katya."

"We kissed, big deal. My feelings for you haven't changed. I still think that you're an attention hogging cocky pig, and nothing will ever change that," I said, and I walked off, leaving him in the dust.

*** Yeah, I know, lame chapter. It's short because I'm planning on updating again this weekend, so hopefully that will work out. Please review and let me know what you think! ***


	9. Hangover

"We have to talk about what happened last night, Katya."

"We kissed, big deal. My feelings for you haven't changed. I still think that you're an attention hogging cocky pig, and nothing will ever change that," I said, and I walked off, leaving him in the dust.

After a few minutes of walking, I reached the dining hall where Mika and Eddie were sitting together. Dimitri would still be training with Rose for a little bit, so I didn't have to worry about him yet.

"Hey, you. How're you feeling?" Mika asked.

"Like shit, but it's gotten better," I said. Truth was, I still felt as bad as I did this morning, but I was gonna have to start hiding it better if I was gonna keep quiet about the party.

"That's good, but I know something that'll make you feel better," she said, and threw me a bottle of Advil.

"Where'd you get this?" I asked, we weren't supposed to have access to this stuff, which is the only reason why I hadn't shoved a bottle down already.

"I jacked it from the infirmary on my way here. She can be really clueless when she wants to be," Mika smiled. I took the bottle and opened it, pouring the majority of it into my hand. Just before I was about to throw them all in my mouth, a strong hand grabbed my wrist. I looked up at Mika and she looked like she had just shit her pants.

"What is this?" the voice asked. Damn.

"Hey, Dimka…" I smiled, trying to be cute.

"Not gonna work, Katya. Outside, now," he demanded. I was not looking forward to this.

I got up just as Rose was taking my seat. She smiled sympathetically at me, and said, "He's already given me the talk. Haven't figured out how he knew yet, though. Good luck."

"Mika, you're next," Dimitri growled before pulling me outside.

"What were you thinking, Katya? I expect this from Mika, but certainly not from you," He looked at me, waiting for answers.

"Well, I wasn't going to go, but Mika wanted to and she told me that if I didn't go, she'd blackmail me. When I got there, there was a ton of alcohol and everyone was drinking it, so I started and I couldn't stop. Now, I have a giant hangover and I think I'm suffering enough so let me go and it'll never happen again," I said, hoping he'd understand.

"I believe you…" he started, "But you're most definitely not off the hook. You two have such good reputations here, especially you. All the guardians know about this now, and it isn't going to make your life easy. You're too smart to let something like this happen to you, Katya. I'm really disappointed."

"So what's my punishment?" I asked him, just wanting to get this over with.

"You and Mika are both going to have to come to ALL of Rose's training sessions, and uphold to the same rules she does until I tell you otherwise," he said.

"So basically we're grounded?" I asked him.

"Yes, for now," he said. You could tell that he didn't like punishing Mika and I, but he had to now. While we were here, he was in charge of us.

"Dimitri? Can I ask you something?" I asked, cautiously. There had been some really bad rumors going around lately, and I knew that he would tell me about them without giving me B.S.

"Of course, Katya. What's wrong?" He kneeled down so he was looking at me in the eyes.

"Are we in danger? The students?" He sighed.

"How'd you find out about that," he said.

"Everyone's talking about it, I just chose to ignore it for a while," I told him.

"We are trying to make it so that all students are safe, but you are mature enough to know that their complete safety isn't something we can promise," he said, looking at me with sad eyes.

"What are you doing about it?" I asked him. I knew he probably wouldn't be able to tell me, but I could at least try and get it out of him. He told me a lot of stuff he wasn't supposed to. He trusted me like that.

"All of the students will be moved to a ski resort over the holiday break. Families that would usually come here will go there. There will be more guardians and more protection," he said.

"That makes sense," I said.

"Anyways, I've got to get back to work, I'm supposed to be on upper campus in five minutes. Go straight back to the dining hall, don't tell anyone what I just told you, and tell Mika that this doesn't mean she's off the hook," I laughed.

"You know this means she's going to take this as an opportunity to make a run for it an hop on the first flight back to Russia, right?" He grinned.

"It's a good thing I'm a lot faster than her then, isn't it?"


	10. Lecture of the Century

Mika's POV

Katya had been in a bad mood all day. Granted, she was hung over, but we all were. We all felt like crap. Just because she wasn't used to the alcohol doesn't mean she can go around acting like a bitch. Kissing Mason last night had made everything that much worse. He was bothering her, and I could see it in her face the minute he came up and tried to talk to her. She was going to kill him by the end of the day, guaranteed.

After Mason came by, I ditched the lovers and went to go find my own personal problem: Eddie. We had such a great time last night, even without the alcohol. I wanted to know what was going on between us.

"Hey, Eddie," I said, walking up to him outside of the dining hall where he was standing with some of the other novices from campus.

"Hey, Mika! How's Katya?" He asked. Why was he so concerned about _her_?

"Hungover. Bitchy. About to kill Mason if he doesn't stop harassing her," I said listing off everything that was wrong with her today.

"That's not like her at all," he said, frowning.

"Eh, you get her mad enough and it is. She's always been a bitch when she gets a hangover; it's just been a long time since I last saw her with one. She's usually the responsible one," I smiled. He smirked.

"How are you doing?" he asked, wrapping his arm around me.

"Nothing I'm not used to. Just because my sister doesn't drink on a regular basis doesn't mean I don't either. Hangovers are as much a part of my life as she is, even if no one else knows about them. Although, it isn't as bad as usual, so I must've been pretty good last night," I told him.

"You were worried about Katya," he stated, not questioning me. Yeah, that was probably it. I didn't like it when she drank. She wasn't herself when she did. You're all witnesses to that.

"Maybe," I said, and then I got to the tough question, "are we 'together' now?"

"Do you want to be?" He asked me. Great, so now we were playing the question game.

"I would really like that," I said, being honest. I didn't want to screw it up with him. Any other guy, sure. But I couldn't hurt Eddie. If I was going to be in an honest relationship with him, it had to start now.

"Then I guess we are, girlfriend," he smiled. I cracked up laughing, and then stopped because my head hurt.

"Okay, boyfriend," I said sarcastically and we walked into the dining hall, getting our breakfast.

"Oh wait, I got you something," Eddie said, pulling something out of his sweatshirt once we sat down . He threw a bottle of something at me and grinned. I caught it and read the label: Advil.

"Where the hell did you get this?" I asked him. There is no way he would've been able to stash it in his room.

"I swiped it from the infirmary this morning on my run. I thought you and Katya might need some," I took a few pills from the bottle and swallowed them.

"You are the best!" I said, hugging him. Just then, I saw Katya come in-alone- and she sat down next to me and Eddie.

"Hey you," I said, "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit, but it's gotten better," wow, Katya swore. That was new. I pulled out a bottle of Advil I had in my pocket that I had swiped from the infirmary on my way down.

"That's good, but I know what will make you feel even better," I threw her the bottle of Advil that Eddie had swiped.

"Where'd you get this?" She said, shocked. She probably tried to find some on her own, knowing her.

"Eddie swiped it," I said.

"Yeah, Dr. Olendenski can be really clueless when she wants to be," he smiled.

Katya opened the bottle and put a majority of it into her hand. Right before she was about to throw them into her mouth, a big hand grabbed her and stopped her. I looked up and saw Dimitri staring right at us. _Shit, shit, shit. _

"What's this?" he asked, looking right at me. Why was it me?

"Hey, Dimka…" Katya said, smiling and trying to weasel her way out of everything by being cute, just like always.

"Not gonna work, Katya. Outside, now," he demanded and Katya started to get up, obeying our older brother. Just as she got up, Rose came in and took her seat. She looked like she had just been through hell.

"He's already given me the talk," she said, smiling sympathetically at Katya, "I still haven't figured out how he knows yet, though. Good luck!" She was saying this as if it were a joke, and to her and me it would have been, but getting a lecture from Dimitri was the equivalent to killing a puppy in Katya's mind.

Before they left, Dimitri looked me right in the eyes, "You're next, Mika," he said, and walked off, holding Katya's arm.

"Damn," I said. There really was nothing else to say. My brother could be pretty friggin' scary when he wanted to be, and I had a feeling this lecture wasn't going to be a quick slap on the wrist.

"How bad was it?" Eddie asked Rose, who was readjusting her seat.

"One of his best, plus he made me run extra laps. He thinks I influenced the whole thing," she said, shrugging.

"You did," I said, still worried about Dimitri's lecture. I hadn't had one in a very long time and I wasn't looking forward to a sequel to the last one I had about underaged sex.

"Oh well, it isn't the end of the world. I get a lecture from him just about every day, so it isn't anything new. Poor Katya though, she looks like she just about died when she saw him," Rose said, and got up to get her breakfast.

"I hope he doesn't go too hard on her," I said, just as Eddie looked at the clock.

"I've got to go, my first class starts in five minutes," he said, and started packing up his stuff. I looked at the clock.

"Me too, walk me to the quod?" I asked.

"Of course," he said, and we linked arms. Rose was going to be pissed when she came back and nobody was here. Oh well.

I made it through the day without any word from Dimitri or Katya. I wasn't that worried, he wouldn't hurt her. Plus, I was pretty sure that the hangover she had would be punishment enough. I was walking back to my dorm when I saw Dimitri walking in the opposite direction. I immediately picked an alternate route to my room in a desperate attempt to avoid him. When I saw him keep walking, I knew I was safe.

I got to my dorm room and Katya wasn't there. There was a note on the bed that she left telling me to meet her at the gym as soon as I got the note. Why she would want me at the gym I had no idea. She didn't like fighting outside of class.

Either way, I changed into sweats and a t-shirt and ran over to the gym. When I got there, Katya was doing pushups, Rose was doing sit-ups, and Dimitri was standing there watching them both.

I took one look at the scene and knew what had happened. I had just fallen into a trap. I instantly ran in the other direction, but Dimitri caught sight of me and ran after me. Me being the idiot I am kept running, my mistake.

Dimitri caught up to me, picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and literally carried me to Rose's practice.

"This is abuse on so many levels!" I told him, trying to get down off of him. If there was one thing I liked more than losing it was being carried. I hated it with a deep passion.

"You shouldn't have run away," He said calmly, bringing me into the gym. He took one look at Katya who shrugged apologetically and told her, "I told you I was faster," he smiled and placed me down.

"If you run away, I will catch you. Every time you run away is another lap you owe me on top of the twenty you owe me for that stupid stunt you pulled last night. Clearly you've been avoiding both your sister and me, so here's the deal. You are to attend all of Rose's training sessions as well as adhere to the rules she must follow. If you fail to comply with these limitations, I'm sending you home immediately," he said monotonously. This ultimately sucked, but I didn't say anything.

"You better get started on the running now, twenty laps," he said, pointing to the track outside. This actually was terrible. I would almost rather go home to Russia.

"That's all she's going to get for a lecture, comrade?" I heard Rose say as I was walking out.

"Not even close, Rose. Go see how Katya's holding up."

I started running, and didn't stop or slow down. Twenty laps, which was about five miles on this track, so that wasn't too bad.

After about five laps, I heard Dimitri come up behind me and run beside me.

"Keep running," he said when I started to slow down. Crap, I thought he was giving me a break.

"This is torture," I said to him, giving him the death glare of the century. Usually I wouldn't mind running, but running after being hung over all day sucked.

"Think about that the next time you drink at a party," he said, and kept running.

"Well, where is it? The lecture of the century? You're going to tell me how irresponsible I was, how my drinking doesn't only affect me, but everyone around me. Can't you just say it already?" I begged. At least I wouldn't be worrying about it anymore. Not that I should be worrying to begin with.

"I could tell you all of that, but at this point you've heard it so many times that it clearly means nothing and would just be a waste of breath on my part. I'm not going to tell you something you aren't going to listen to," he said, "what I am going to tell you is that your actions _don't_ only affect you. Every time you drink and get wasted, you hurt Katya. She's the one who needs to take care of you when you're sick all night. She's the one who is stuck covering up for you when you miss class. Have you ever thought of that? All the trouble she goes through? Even in this situation, she is still doing it all for you without thinking twice about it."

"Damn, that was a good lecture, Dimka," I said, thinking about it. He was absolutely right.

"You need to start using your head, Mika, or you're going to get in trouble. One day, Katya isn't going to be able to cover for you, and you're going to be in an enormous amount of trouble. When you're a guardian, you can't go out and party every night. You are going to have a responsibility, and it starts the minute you graduate high school. On top of that, no one wants to see you get hurt because you aren't thinking straight," he added.

"You don't want me knocked up," I said. I never thought of that.

"You are a smart and talented student, Mika. I don't want you to ruin your life because you aren't using your head. Just…make smarter choices next time, okay? But most importantly, if you do get drunk, call me okay? Don't rely on Katya anymore. You don't know how much it's hurting her to see you that way. I'll take care of you, okay?" He smiled, and patted me on the back.

"Thanks, D." I said to him. He laughed at my new nickname.

"I love you, Mika. You can come back after five more laps," he said, running back in. I guess I was only doing fifteen now. I knew he wasn't all that bad.


	11. PileUp

Mika's POV

"You are a smart and talented student, Mika. I don't want you to ruin your life because you aren't using your head. Just…make smarter choices next time, okay? But most importantly, if you do get drunk, call me okay? Don't rely on Katya anymore. You don't know how much it's hurting her to see you that way. I'll take care of you, okay?" He smiled, and patted me on the back.

"Thanks, D." I said to him. He laughed at my new nickname.

"I love you, Mika. You can come back after five more laps," he said, running back in. I guess I was only doing ten now. I knew he wasn't all that bad.

I finished the next five laps in about ten minutes, which wasn't my worst time ever. I cooled off a little by stretching before I went inside to see Katya and Rose sparring with Dimitri barking orders to each of them.

"Watch your feet, Rose," he told her. He nodded at me when I walked inside, acknowledging that he saw me so that I wouldn't interrupt him. Katya pulled off a senior move that involved getting low for a kick.

"Good, but watch out Katya, if you get stuck down there you will loose," he told her.

Eventually, Rose ended up winning the battle. She was very careful with Katya and didn't make any stupid cocky moves that Mason made. Katya couldn't avoid her like she could with Mason and wait until she got tired. Rose was too skilled for that.

"Nice job, Rose!" I cheered for her, earning a glare from Katya. I smiled back at her, and she rolled her eyes grabbing a towel and drying some of the sweat off of her.

"You next, Mika?" Rose asked me, walking over and giving me a high-five.

"I don't know, it's up to Dimka," I shrugged. It was his stage right now.

"Mika isn't doing any sparring, today. She's going to do conditioning, just like you two were doing while she was running. If she finishes then maybe she can spar with _me._" Damn.

"Tough break, sis," I heard Katya yell from the bleachers.

"Peanut gallery comments not appreciated!" I yelled back to her.

"The list is over in the corner. If you cheat, I will know, and you will make up for it. Get started," he told me.

KATYA'S POV

"Does she know that there's only five more minutes of training left?" I asked Rose and Dimitri as I walked back over to them.

"Nope, and she doesn't need to. If she knows there's only five more minutes then she'll put them off until next time. I want her working hard till the end. Why don't you two run a few laps and cool off?" Dimitri suggested.

"You got it, Comrade!" Rose yelled and then looked to me, "How about we make this interesting?"

"Roza…" Dimitri warned.

"Na, not like that," she said, "let's race. The person who can complete the most laps before class is over wins."

"You're on," I said, I knew I was faster than Rose.

"Dimitri, you in?" She asked my brother.

"You two think you can beat me?" He asked us.

"We won't know until we try," I said, taking Rose's side. She wouldn't have asked him if she didn't have something planned. I could tell this was going to be funny.

"Alright, then, let's go. Mika!" he yelled to my sister.

"What?" She yelled back, panting.

"Move it outside!" he yelled to her, and followed Rose and me outside. We could only faintly hear her response, but the tone of her voice and Dimitri's eye-roll told me I didn't want to.

"She's worse than you sometimes, Rose," he said. Rose just laughed.

We jogged up to the track and lined up, each in a separate lane. We all looked at each other to make sure that we were ready, and then Dimitri started counting down.

"Ready…Set…Go!" he yelled and we all took off running at full speed. I ran about two laps before I could feel myself getting tired. Not terribly tired, but I was there. Then, out of nowhere, I heard Dimitri yell and Rose say:

"You've got to be prepared for anything, Comrade!" and she attacked him right then and there.

Dimitri had no choice but to fight her back, because clearly, she wasn't backing down. It looked like Dimitri was actually loosing, so I jumped in to save him.

"What? That isn't fair!" Rose yelled when I started attacking her too.

"Be prepared for anything, Rose!" I used her line against her. We were fighting, then, out of nowhere someone jumped on my back and pulled me down into the grassy part of the track.

"What was that, sis?" Mika asked me. Rose followed her lead and pushed Dimitri into the ground, and before we knew it, we were all piled on top of each other, and we had an audience. People started cheering for Rose, and I was pretty sure people were taking bets on who would win. Eventually, Dimitri saw what was going on and stopped the fight.

"Alright, uh…trainings over," he said, trying to sound professional when it was obvious he was having just as much fun as we were. He got up and pulled Rose up as well.

"Okay, comrade," Rose said, rolling her eyes and pulling Mika and I up too.

We went back into the gym where people were sitting on the bleachers and clapping, and Rose, naturally, bowed to her audience. We cleaned up our stuff before heading outside and into our next classes. Dimitri broke off and headed back to the guardian's station, but Rose, Mika, and I all stayed together, and we couldn't stop laughing.


	12. I Don't Know How To

Katya's POV

After that day, Mika, Rose, and I became really good friends. Eddie and Mason and even Lissa tagged along sometimes, and we all became really close. The three of us were always together, even when we weren't in Dimitri's training sessions, which had been very rare lately as all the guardians were preparing to move all of the students to the Ski Lodge over vacation. By now, it was well known throughout the school that this was occurring, and many were getting excited over it. Mason, in particular.

"Mason, there is no way you are going to be able to beat me on the slopes," Rose bragged. Her, Mika, and Mason had been going at it all morning regarding who would win in a ski race down the mountains.

"My money's on Mika," Eddie said, smiling and kissed her on the cheek. I don't know what it was about those two as a couple that irked me, but I just didn't like it. Granted, I never liked when my sister dated anyone, but that was beside the point. Eddie just...wasn't her type. She needed someone outgoing and dangerous and Eddie just...wasn't.

"You have to say that, you're my boyfriend," Mika smiled, "But I appreciate the confidence all the same."

"You're welcome, babe," Eddie smiled and they started lip-locking.

"Ew, get a room!" Rose yelled, then pulled me aside, "I won't make your poor little sister watch that, but don't worry, I'll return her in one piece," Rose smiled as she dragged me along an alternate route.

"Rose, what are you doing?" I asked her.

"Intervention time," She said and sat me down on a nearby bench. "No one else has the balls to ask it, so I've decided to take matters into my own hands: What the hell is going on with you and Mason?" _Oh. _I thought, _Me and Mason._

"Nothing," I said softly. Truth was, I couldn't stop thinking about our kiss. The way his lips felt on mine, and how safe I felt in that one moment. True, he could be an arrogant pig, but he had to have had a nice side if he was so popular.

"Bullshit. Tell me the truth," Rose demanded.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked her, standing up. I was not going to be interrogated by someone who had more baggage when it came to boys than I did.

"Because it is incredibly obvious that he loves you and you just keep pushing him away! Don't tell me that you don't see it?" Rose asked, begging me for an explanation.

"I don't mean to push him away, I just don't know what else to do!" I said.

"What do you mean? Do you not like him?"

"No, that's the problem. I think I love him." I confessed. Rose's look changed from one of anger to one of pure shock. I wasn't sure what she was going to say.

"So what's holding you back?" Rose asked, quietly.

"He's just...so...not me. At all. There are times when I just can't stand being around him. Then, there are times when I look into his eyes and I can just tell that everything's going to be okay."

* FLASHBACK *

Practice today had been awful. Dimitri had taken Tasha to the mall that night, so he hadn't been there. Instead, it was Rose's mom. At first, I thought that this would be great. Really, it was just a disaster. Her mom was completely heartless. She didn't care what happened to Rose, and now I understood why she was so tough. Eventually Rose took things too far and her mother just up and punched her in the face. Now, she's with Olendzenski. I didn't know what to think.

"Katya, I told Eddie that I'd meet up with him before class, so I've got to go. Are you going to stay here?" Mika asked me.

"No, I've got to get going. Sitting around waiting for Rose isn't going to help and Guardian Hathaway has been pacing up and down the hallway for the past hour. She's going to have priority over either of us. I might as well try to make myself useful somewhere." I explained.

"Okay, well, I'll see you around," Mika said, patting my shoulder lightly and walking out of the infirmary.

I finally mustered up enough courage to grab my bag and get out of there too. It looked like Mika and I were going to have to be on rumour control until Rose got out. Poor Rose...

"Hey! Watch where you're-"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry-" I looked up to see who I bumped into and saw that it was Mason.

"Oh, hi Mason," I said to him politely. He was one of the last people I wanted to see right now.

"_Oh hi Mason_," he mocked me, then looked at me. My eyes must have been red from me rubbing them so much because Mason added, "Okay, who do I need to beat up?"

I giggled a little, "No one, Mace."

"Then who or what on this earth could possibly make such a pretty girl like you cry?" He asked.

"I wasn't crying..." I said, "I'm just tired."

"Yeah, okay. Seriously, what's wrong?" He pushed, glaring at me with his bright blue eyes. I never noticed them before, they were sort of...beautiful.

"It's nothing I just, I miss my mom." I told him quickly, trying to cover up for Rose. I knew that the minute Mason found out that Rose's mom punched her it would be useless for any kind of rumour control because the whole school would know by lunchtime. I mean, it wasn't completely a lie. I had been in America for almost a month now. I missed my home, I missed my school, and yes, I most absolutely missed my mom. Especially after this morning.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mason said, awkwardly. I guess he wasn't one for sympathy.

"It's okay, I knew what I was doing when I came here. It's no different than being at my old school except I'm used to going home for the holidays," I explained to him. Up until now, I had spent every Christmas with my mother and grandmother, at the least. That was highly unlikely this year.

"It'll be fun, though. You've never experienced the Mason's Christmas Eve Party. I know you'll love it," He said, trying to cheer me up. In a way, I kind of admired him for that. At the least, he could always make me smile. When he wasn't being a jerk, that was.

"I guess I don't have a choice," I told him, smiling. He hugged me and I hugged him back and that was the moment that I realized that maybe Mason Ashford wasn't such a bad guy after all.

* END FLASHBACK *

"You need to tell him," Rose said, drawing me back. "You have to tell him how you feel. He acts this way because he's trying to impress you. You haven't seen the changes in him that I've seen, because you don't know him like I do, but trust me. He loves you like it's nobody's business. You have to tell him what you just told me."

"I don't know how to," I told her. I hated to admit it, but I'd never had a boyfriend. That was Mika's area of expertise, not mine. I had always been the third wheel. I didn't know how to hold my own relationship. I never thought that I would need to. Until now.

"It's okay," she said, holding my shoulders so I would look at her, "I'll help you."

* Thank you all so much for your patience, I really appreciate it. I hope that I can be a better author and get more chapters out now that I'm writing again. I dedicate this chapter to Misunderstooddhampir who gave me a wonderful review with some ideas for this story. She's the reason you all get to read this chapter, so thank her if anybody. Hope you guys liked it! More Mason/Katya on the way ;D*


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Vampire Academy, Family, Friendship