Vampire Academy 1. Chapter 18 of blood promise part 1

**It was Dimitri...**

'So what happens next?' Christian asked.

'Why don't you keep your big ears open and listen!' I laughed.

Eddie started laughing and gave me a high five.

I snuggled closer to Dimitri who had shuffled away from me and had his head in his hands.

'Dimitri stop it please' I scolded. He shook his head and carried on looking down. I sighed and signaled for Adrian to carry on reading.

**Those same conflicted feelings I'd felt on the street returned to me, love mingled with terror. This time,I pushed through the love, flinching in my attack. Not that it did much good.**

'Rose you don't come up with very good plans when your under pressure.' Eddie said seriously.

'I can see this just not working.' My mother shook her head in disapproval.

'Hey guys I am here you know, and I work well under pressure.' I argued.

'Rose work well under pressure? Once there was this time when we ran away and Rose walked up to this-'

'Okay Lissa, I don't work well under pressure!' I yelled and slumped down in my seat.

I stole a glance at Dimitri, he was still in the same position.

**'Hitting him was like hitting the window.'**

'SMASH!' Christian shouted making all of us jump except Dimitri.

'Christian the window didn't smash remember so neither did Dimitri.' Adrian said really slowly to Christian.

'Dumb ass.' I muttered.

**He shoved me back, and I staggered, still holding onto the chair.I kept my balance and charged once more. This time, when we collided, he grabbed a hold of the chair and ripped it from my hands.**

'What the chair ripped?' Christian asked innocently. I smacked my face with the palm of my hand, Adrian sniggered.

'Are you sure you have a brain?' Abe asked. Everyone started laughing of course except Dimitri.

'Of course I have one!' Christian said angrily.

'No son, I mean one that functions properly.' At this we were laughing excluding Dimitri.

**He then tossed it into the wall, like it weighed nothing. Without that meager weapon, it was back to relying on my own body strength. I'd been doing it for the past couple of weeks with our Strigoi questioning; this should have been the same. Of course,I'd had four other people then as a backup.**

'Rose I feel upset that you relied on four other Dhampirs.' Eddie frowned.

'You know your number one Edwardo out of all the Dhampir's of course after Dimitri.' I chuckled.

**And none of those strigoi had been Dimitri Even as a Dhampir, he'd been hard to beat. Now he was just as skilled-only faster and stronger.**

'Stop it!' Dimitri growled standing up. Everyone looked shocked.

'Now you listen here Dimitri, this is the past, its better to get things off of your chest, yes this happened and its going to be something you always remember, you need to get past this... Your never going to move on if you don't try! My daughter loves you and forgives you what else do you need!' My Mum yelled.

Dimitri looked around the room and slumped back down onto the sofa.

'Dimitri no one is judging you for what happened, its the man you are now not then.' Lissa said honestly.

He sighed and looked up at me. I nodded in reassurance. I scooted over and sat on his lap, he looked at me and for a minute I thought he would push me off when I wrapped my arms around his waist. Instead he wrapped his arms round my waist and I snuggled into his chest.

We were like one big family now. Mia was next to Eddie head leaning on his shoulder while he had a arm round her waist. Lissa was sitting in front of Christian her head and back leaning on his chest.

Sydney was sitting on Adrian's lap except facing forward where as I was sitting sidewards. Adrian had his arms wrapped round her waist. They really were cute together, i'm so happy for Adrian after breaking his heart, him coming to me in the next two weeks, none of us spoke about the past we just carried on like normal... Best Friends.

Gosh... Even my Mum and Dad were together now. He had his arm around her shoulder, in a way i'm glad though, that my Mum and Dad were together.

**He also knew all my moves,**

'All your moves?' Adrian sniggered. My mum narrowed her eyes at Dimitri and me while my Dad looked smug.

'Shut up dream boy.' I warned.

'Or what?' He questioned.

'Do you want kids with Sydney?' I asked innocently. His face paled more then usual and everyone laughed.

'That's what I thought.' I said smiling.

**Seeing as he'd taught them to me.**

Adrian opened his mouth to say something but I got there first. 'Don't even say anything, carry on reading.' I ordered. He smirked and carried on.

**It was almost impossible to surprise him. But just like with the window, I couldn't stay inactive.**

'I think we all know that from the noise in the-' Christian started but I cut in.

'Don't even finish that sentence if you want to live!' I yelled. He nodded and looked down.

**I was trapped in a room-the fact that it was big, luxurious room didn't matter-with a Strigoi. A Strigoi. That's what I had to keep telling myself. There was a Strigoi in here. Not Dimitri.**

'A monster,' Dimitri whispered sadly in my ear. I turned to face him, I gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

'Not anymore,' I whispered back. He nodded and kissed my forehead.

'_Awww.'_ Lissa said through the bond.

_'Hey you can't say nothing because you and Christian are so sweet I need to brush my teeth every time you talk.'_ I said through the bond.

Lissa laughed out loud and then I laughed along with her. Everyone was looking at us like we lost our minds apart from Adrian who could tell through our auras we were conversing through the bond.

**Everything I told Denis and the others applied here. Be smart. Be Vigilant. Defend yourself.**

**''Rose,'' He said deflecting one of my kicks effortlessly.**

**''Your wasting time. Stop.''**

**Oh that voice. Dimitri's voice. The voice I heard when I fell asleep at night,**

'I'm surprised you don't have a recorder next to your bed playing Dimitri's voice at night.' Eddie said seriously.

'I did.' I answered back seriously, even though they were joking, Dimitri put his finger under my chin and turned my head towards him, he raised an eyebrow at me, in asking if it was true. I winked at him and he laughed silently.

**The voice that had once told me he loved me...**

'I love you,' Dimitri whispered in my ear. His voice sent shivers down my spine... In a good way.

'I love you too.' I smiled.

**'No! It's not him. Dimitri is gone. This is a monster.**

'Exactly,' Dimitri sighed.

'Stop it!' I growled.

**Desperately, I tried to think of how I could win here. I even thought of the ghosts I summoned on the road. Mark had said I could do that in moments of wild emotion and that they'd fight for me.**

'And they bloody hurt.' Dimitri chuckled.

'That was kinda the point of them.' I laughed.

**This was as wild as emotion could get, yet I couldn't seem to call them. I honestly had no clue to how I'd done it before, and all the wishing in the world couldn't make it happen now.**

'Isn't that a song?' Adrian asked.

'What is?' Lissa asked.

'Make it happen?' Adrian answered while doing jazz hands.

'Adrian for once in your life just shut up.' Dimitri groaned. Everyone started to laugh, and Adrian just frowned, but a quick kiss from Sydney soon cheered him up.

'Now carry on reading Adrian.' I laughed. He sighed.

**Damn.**

'Language Rose.' My mother scolded. I sighed it wasn't like I said it out loud.

**What good were terrifying powers if I couldn't use them to my advantage?**

Eddie and Christian started doing 'scary' ghost noises. Notice the quote marks over scary...

'I swear you guys are like actually three years old.' I moaned.

'Yeah says the person who-' Eddie began.

'Okay you aren't three years old, carry on reading Adrian.' I yelled over Eddie's voice. Eddie narrowed his eyes at me, I smirked at him.

**Instead I pulled the DVD player off it's shelf, cords ripping from the wall. It wasn't much of a weapon but I was desperate now. I heard a strange, primal battle scream, and some distant part of me realised I was making it.**

'Note the strange.' I heard Christian mutter.

''What was that Sparky?' I asked getting frustrated from his snarky comments, seriously I was the only one good at doing snarky comments.

'Nothing.' He grinned.

**Again I ran at Dimitri, swinging the DVD player as hard as I could. It probably would have hurt-if it had hit him. It didn't. He intercepted it again, taking it from me and, throwing it down. **

'Faailll.' Mia said dragging the letters out.

'You know Comrade you didn't have to throw it, I could of watched a DVD on it.' I said seriously. He rolled his eyes and paid his attention back to Adrian.

**It smashed to pieces on the floor.**

'You could of used super glue.' Eddie said as if it was the most simplest thing in the world.

'One- It smashed to pieces, so all the cords would be broken and two- where would I have got super glue from?' I asked him using the tone of voice he did.

'Err.. well.. err.. you could.. I don't know your smart figure it out!' He covered. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to Adrian.

**In the same motion, he grabbed a hold of my arms to stop me from hitting or reaching for something else. His grip was hard, like it could break my bones, but I kept struggling.**

'I'm sorry Roza.' He said to me sadly.

'I would be a millionaire by now if I got five dollars for every time you said that word.' I laughed. He cracked a smile.

'I'm a millionaire.' Abe said smugly.

'I'll remember that when I need some money.' I joked.

'How much do you need?' He asked me.

'Fifty grand.' I laughed.

'Okay.' He nodded.

'Old man I was joking.' I said to him seriously.

'Ibrahim stop bragging.' My mother said while smacking his arm.

**He tried to reason again. ''I'm not going to hurt you. Roza, please stop.''**

**Roza. The old nickname. The name he first called me when we'd fallen prey to Victor's lust charm, both of us wrapped naked in each others arms.**

'Woah too much!' Christian shouted while covering his ears. I snickered while Lissa giggled.

'Yes too much Rose.' My mum said through gritted teeth.

'Live with it.' I muttered snuggling into Dimitri's chest.

**This isn't the Dimitri you knew. My hands were incapacitated, so I struck out with my legs and feet as best as I could. It didn't do much. Without full use of the rest of my body for balance, I had no force to throw into my kicks. For his part, he looked more annoyed than truly concerned or angry. With a loud sigh, he grabbed me by the shoulders and flipped me around, pressing me against the wall and immobilizing me with the full force of his body.**

No one had interrupted so far, they listened in interested to what was going to happen next. I wasn't really paying much attention, instead listening to the steady rhythm of Dimitri's heart. Dimitri sat listening running his hand through my hair. He really does like my hair.

**I struggled a little but was as pinned as the Strigoi had been when the others and I had gone hunting.**

With the mention of the other Dhampirs Eddie growled, yes like actually growled what was he a wolf?

'Eddie stop it, your like my brother no one can take your place in that.' I said to him while standing up and giving him a hug. He couldn't stay mad at me for long as he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. 'Now kiss Mia.' I ordered. Eddie blushed and Mia whined.

'Roosseeee.' While burying her face in Eddie's chest.

T**he universe had a sick sense of humor.**

**''Stop fighting me.'' His breath was warm against my neck, his body right up against mine. I knew his mouth was only a couple of inches away.**

**''I'm not going to hurt you.''**

**I gave another fruitless shove. My breath was coming in ragged gasps, and my head injury throbbed.**

Dimitri buried his face in my hair ashamed of his self. I leant up and kissed him softly on the lips. Lissa once again gave a 'aw' through the bond, I simply turned to her and rolled my eyes.

**''You'll have to understand if I have a hard time believing that.''**

'Aw Rosie was so stubborn... And still is.' Christian added.

'Don't you dare call me Rosie again!' I hissed. Christian simply laughed what a jerk!

**''If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Now if your going to keep fighting, I'll have to tie you up. If you stop I'll let you stay unrestrained.''**

'What does unrestrained mean Rosie.. I mean Rose?' Christian asked me.

'Are you seriously that dumb! It means not to be tied up!' I said exasperated with his stupidity.

'Gosh calm down, I west testing to see if you actually knew.' He chuckled while raising his eyebrows. I jumped off Dimitri's lap in anger but Dimitri grabbed my arm and pulled me back down.

'Calm down Roza.' He whispered. I relaxed against him and sent daggers at Christian, he slumped down. Yeah that's right be afraid fire boy.

**''Aren't you afraid i'll escape?''**

**''No.'' His voice was perfectly calm, and chills ran down my spine. ''I am not.''**

**We stood like that for almost a minute, deadlocked. My mind raced. It was true that he probably would have killed me already if that were his intent, yet that gave me no reason to believe I was even remotely safe. Nonetheless, we were at a draw in this fight. **

'Wait I thought Dimitri won?' Sydney asked me.

'Just listen.' I sighed.

**Okay, draw wasn't entirely accurate.**

I gave Sydney a look as if to say see, and she nodded in defeat.

**I was at a draw. He was toying with me. My head was throbbing where his blow had landed, and this pointless fighting would only take a further toll. I had to regain my strength in order to find a way to escape-if I lived that long.**

''I would never of killed you Rose you know that right?'' Dimitri asked me.

''Of course I do Comrade.'' I answered. He smiled at me and turned back to Adrian.

**I also needed to stop thinking about how close our bodies were. After our months of being so careful not to touch, this much contact was heady. I relaxed in his hold. ''Okay.''**

**He hesitated before letting me go, probably wondering if he could trust me. The whole moment reminded me of when we'd been together in the little cabin on the periphery of the Academy's ground.**

'I still can't believe you 'did it' where Tasha lived.' Christian shuddered and quoted did it with his hands. Christian no longer referred to Tasha as his Aunt after what happened, and when he mentions her he gets a distant and sad look in his eye. Although over the months he has become a lot better and it doesn't seem to bother him anymore.

**I'd been raging and upset, brimming with Spirits darkness. Dimitri had held me down then, too, and talked me out of that horrible state. We had kissed, then his hands had lifted my shirt, and-no, no. Not here. I couldn't think about that here.**

''Smart Rosemarie.'' My mother said.

''It's Rose.'' I hissed.

''Attitude.'' She warned. I huffed in defeat, Christian snickered I sent him a death glare.

**Dimitri finally eased up, releasing me from the wall. I turned around, and all my instincts wanted to lash out and attack him again. Sternly, I reminded myself to bide my time so that I could gain more strength and information. Even though he'd let me go, he hadn't moved away. We were only a foot apart. Against my better judgement, I found myself taking him in again, like I had on the street.**

'Your irresistible Dimitri.'' I grinned.

'So are you my love.' Dimitri answered with a grin.

'Ergh someone pass me the sick bucket!' Christian teased.

'Watch it fire boy.' I warned.

**How could he be the same but yet so different?**

'That makes no sense Rose.' Adrian stated while scratching his head.

'Yeah well that's what you get picking through my mind.' I snapped.

**I tried my best not to focus on the similarities-his hair, the difference in our heights, the shape of his face. Instead, I concentrated on the Strigoi features, the red in his eyes and pallor of his skin.**

**I was so fixated on my task that it took me a moment to realize he wasn't saying anything either.**

'If he was saying something you wouldn't of heard a word he said anyway.' Lissa muttered.

'I can't help it if I zone out sometimes.' I cried backing myself up.

'Technically you can.' Sydney added.

'Gosh! What is this pick on Rose day?' I snapped.

**He was studying me intently, like his eyes could look right through me.**

'Technically they can't look right through you.' Christian said matter of factley.

'Says the person, who thought the chair ripped, and that the window not smashing meant it smashed.' I said raising my eyebrows.

'Those are common mistakes, where everyone knows what you said is impossible.' Christian laughed.

'Okay, lets take a break, before I create damage to Christian's ugly face.' I hissed.

'That's a good idea.' Abe agreed.

'Meet in about an hour.' Sydney exclaimed.

Everyone agreed and we went our separate ways.


	2. Chapter 18 of blood promise part 2

**RPOV:**

We all returned back to the room and Adrian took possesion of the book again.

"Rememeber this book is not to open up old wounds okay? You have finally forgiven yourself don't shut yourself away." I whispered in Dimitri's ear.

"I know Roza, I won't." He answered with a sigh. I leant back into Dimitri's chest and he wrapped his arms round my waist and placed a kiss to my temple.

**I shivered. It almost-almost!-seemed as though I captivated him the same way he captivated me. That was impossible, though. Strigoi didn't possess those kinds of emotions**

"I never stopped loving you Roza, I just couldn't get myself to say it to you." He told me. It was true, everytime he had come back in the room to bite me, there was always something I wanted more then to feel the bite. Him to tell me he loves me and nothing was going to change. "I love you too." I said and swivelled round in his lap to place a kiss on his lips.

Someone cleared their throat and I growled and turned back around.

**and besides, the thought of him still having any affection for me was probably just wishful thinking on my part. His face had always been hard to read, and now it was overlaid with a mask of cunning and coldness that made it truly impossible to know what was on his mind.**

"You know that always annoyed me." I huffed.

"What did?" Lissa asked me.

"The fact Dimitri could always read me like a book, and still can where as I can't." I whined. Yes me Rose Hathaway whined. "Did you just whine?" Christian laughed. I blushed in embaressment and looked down.

"Woah... and she blushed.. what is the world coming to?" Eddie yelled while putting his hand to his forehead as if he was about to faint. I grabbed a book from the coffee table and threw it at Eddie's head. "OW!" He yelled while rubbing his head. Everyone laughed and even Mia who was trying to be nice to Eddie, let out a snort.

**"Why did you come here?" he asked at last.**  
**"Because you hit me on the head and dragged me here." If I was going to die, I was going to go in true Rose style**

"Obviously!" Adrian exclaimed still looking at the book.

**The old Dimitri would have cracked a smile or given an exasperated sigh. This one remained impassive. "That's not what I meant, and you know it.**

**Why are you here?" His voice was low and dangerous. I'd thought Abe was scary, but there was no competition at all. Even Zmey would have backed off.**

"Nothing scares me." Dad said with a smug smile. That was probably true... My mum nodded and got an evil glint in her eye, what was she going to do? "BOO!" She yelled in Abe's ear. He jumped nearly falling off the sofa, it also scared Adrian who ended up throwing Sydney off his lap, where as Sydney looked fuming.

"Yup, nothing scares you Dad." I said sarcasticly while fist pumping the air. I looked over to Adrian who looked sad. Sydney rolled her eyes at him and scooted away. Adrian sighed, and as he was about to open his mouth to start reading again she jumped on his lap. He laughed and gave her a kiss.

**"In Siberia? I came to find you."**  
**"I came here to get away from you."**

"Harsh!" Eddie exclaimed. I gave him a glare and he soon shut up. Dimitri buried his face in my hair, and inhaled the smell of my shampoo. "Not the most romantic thing to say I must admit." I laughed.

**I was so shocked that I said something utterly ridiculous.**

**"Why? Because I might kill you?"**

**The look he gave me showed that he thought that was indeed a ridiculous thing to say. "No. So we wouldn't be in this situation. Now we are, and the choice is inevitable."**

**I wasn't entirely sure what this situation was. "Well, you can let me go if you want to avoid it."**

"That's a smart thing to say Rose." Christian said sarcasm dripping with every word.

"Got to keep up the smartass comments." I replied.

**He stepped away and walked toward the living room without looking back at me. I was tempted to try to do a sneak attack on him, but something told me I'd probably only make it about four feet before getting backhanded.**

Eddie, Adrian and Christian snickered at my comment. "Do you want to be backhanded against the wall?" I growled. They all paled at shook their heads. 

**He sat down in one of the luxurious leather armchairs, folding his six-foot-seven frame up as gracefully as he'd always done. God, why did he have to be so contradictory? He had the old Dimitri's habits mixed with those of a monster. I stayed where I was, huddled against the wall.**

**"Not possible anymore. Not after seeing you now..." Again, he studied me. It felt strange. Part of me responded with excitement to the intensity of his gaze, loving the way he surveyed my body from head to toe. The other part of me felt dirty, like slime or muck was oozing over my skin as he studied me**.

"Really Rose? Slime and muck, oozing over your skin?" Lissa laughed. I must admit that sounded like a very highly educated choice of words on my part. I never was good at expressing my vocabulary. "Yeah well, you either have it or you don't." I joked looking pointedly at Christian, he glared at me but then cracked a smile.

**"You're still as beautiful as I remember, Roza. Not that I should have expected anything different."**

"Your always be beautiful to me Roza." Dimitri whispered romantically in my ear. I smiled and kisse him on the cheek, loving his affection for me. I faced back to the front and saw Christian whispering something in Lissa's ear. Her eyes widened for a minute and then she grinned wildly and kissed Christian on the cheek. What got her so pleased?

**I didn't know what to say to that. I'd never really had a conversation with a Strigoi, short of trading a few insults and threats in the midst of a fight.**

**The nearest I'd come was when I'd been held captive by Isaiah. I actually had been tied up then, and most of the talking had been about him killing me. This... well, it wasn't like that, but it was still definitely creepy. I crossed my arms over my chest and backed up against the wall. It was the closest I could come to some semblance of a defense.**

"Trust you Rose to think a wall as a form of defense." Adrian chuckled. Why did he have to keep opening his mouth? "Oh Adrian honey, just don't say anything, sometimes it is better when you say nothing at all." Sydney exclaimed while shaking her head. Adrian scowled and then went back to the book.

**He tilted his head, watching me carefully. A shadow fell across his face in such a way that it made the red in his eyes hard to see. Instead, they looked dark. Just like they used to, endless and wonderful, filled with love and bravery...**

"Rose, you say Dimitri's eyes show every emotion there is." Christian remarked. Seriously not this again, he is so frustrating. I decided to ignore his and focus my attention back on Adrian.

**"You can sit down," he said.**

**"I'm fine over here."**

**"Is there anything else you want?"**

**"For you to let me go?"**

Eddie laughed, and looked towards me. "Of course you found a way to fit that in there." How I do love Edwardo's sense of humour, along with Mason he had always managed to put a smile on my face and make me laugh, even if I was crying my eyes out. "You know me." I joked.

**For a moment, I thought I saw a bit of that old wryness in his face, the kind he'd get when I made jokes. Studying him, I decided I'd imagined it.**

**"No, Roza. I meant, do you need anything here? Different food? Books? Entertainment?"**

"Rose read a book? Good luck with that." Lissa commented while rolling her eyes. Everyone laughed looking at the out raged expression on my face. "Hey I read... a little." I argued defending my pride.

"Of course." Lissa snorted. I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest sulking.

**I stared incredulously. "You make it sound like some sort of luxury hotel!"**

**"It is, to a certain extent. I can speak to Galina, and she'll get you anything you wish."**

**"Galina?"**

**Dimitri's lips turned up in a smile. Well, kind of. I think his thoughts were fond, but the smile conveyed none of that. It was chilling, dark, and full of secrets. Only my refusal to show weakness before him stopped me from cringing.**

**"Galina is my old instructor, back from when I was in school."**

**"She's Strigoi?"**

**"Yes. She was awakened several years ago, in a fight in Prague. She's relatively young for a Strigoi, but she's risen in power. All of this is hers."**

**Dimitri gestured around us.**

**"And you live with her?" I asked.**

"Ooo is someone jelous?" Sydney laughed. Of course everyone would think that... well I suppose I kinda did, any women living in the same house as my man would make me jelous. "A little." I spilled looking down. Dimitri laughed quietly to him self. I tured towards him and raised my eyebrows. "What's so funny?" I asked while poking him playfully in the chest. "Nothing Roza." He answered and rubbed his nose against mine. I giggled and turned back around.

**curious in spite of myself. I wondered exactly what kind of relationship they had, and to my surprise, I felt... jealous. Not that I had reason to. He was a Strigoi, beyond me now. And it wouldn't be the first time a teacher and student had gotten together...**

I smiled a little at my comment on a student and teacher relationship. Even though I hated coming back to the academy at first it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Mine and Dimitri's relationship was finally perfect after the cabin, but the attack had changed all of that for me and him. That was the worst of our problems though. But finally we managed to pull through and that made our love even stronger.

**"I work for her. She was another reason I returned here when I was awakened. I knew she was Strigoi, and I wanted her guidance."**

**"And you wanted to get away from me. That was the other reason, right?"**

**His only answer was a nod of his head. No elaboration.**

**"Where are we? We're far from Novosibirsk, right?"**

**"Yes. Galina's estate is outside the city."**

**"How far?"**

**That smile twisted a little. "I know what you're doing, and I'm not going to give you that sort of information."**

"How can you figure me out so easily... It's not fair." I groaned. Dimitri laughed and turned me around a little so I was sitting sidewards on his lap. "Because I love you." He simply said then kissed my forehead. I snuggled into his chest and sighed in perfection. "I love you too." I whispered.

I looked over to my Mum and she actually had a smile on her face. I'm glad she finaly excepted mine and Dimitri's relationship... At last. Lissa was grinning like an idiot, she always was one for romance.

**"Then what are you doing?" I demanded, all of my pent-up fear bursting out as anger. "Why are you holding me here? Kill me or let me go. And if you're going to just lock me up and torture me with mind games or whatever, then I really would rather you kill me."**

**"Brave words." He stood up and began pacing once more. "I almost believe you."**

**"They're true," I replied defiantly. "I came here to kill you. And if I can't do that, then I'd rather die."**

**"You failed, you know. On the street."**

**"Yeah. I kind of figured that out when I woke up here."**

"There goes another one of your snarky comments." Mia pointed out. Me and Mia had begun quite close over the past year, especially after Spokane. Also her love for Eddie was so obvious, you had to be blind not to see it. It was like our group of friends were complete a family. I smiled happily to myself, being happy and knowing everything was perfect.

**Dimitri made an abrupt turn and was suddenly standing in front of me, moving with that lightning-fast Strigoi speed. My Strigoi-nausea had never gone away, but the more time I spent with him, the more it faded to a low-level sort of background noise that I could more or less ignore.**

**"I'm a little disappointed. You're so good, Rose. So very, very good. You and your friends going around and taking down Strigoi caused quite a stir, you know. Some Strigoi were even afraid."**

"If that's not amazing then I don't know what is." Lissa exclaimed. I grinned at knowing some Strigoi were ven scared of coming face to face to me. "Careful Lissa, her head won't fit through the door." Christian smirked. Of course he would see that... I should of seen it coming. I rolled my eyes at him and for once decided to ignore him.

**"But not you?"**

**"When I heard it was you... hmm." He turned thoughtful, eyes narrowing. "No. I was curious. Wary. If anyone could have killed me, it would have been you. But like I said, you hesitated. It was your ultimate test of my lessons, and you failed."**

**I kept my face blank. Inside, I was still beating myself up over that moment of weakness on the street. "I won't hesitate next time."**

**"There won't be a next time. And anyway, as disappointed as I am in you, I'm still glad to be alive, of course."**

**"You aren't alive," I said through gritted teeth. God, he was so, so close to me again. Even with the changes to his face, the lean and muscled body was the same. "You're dead. Unnatural. You told me a long time ago you'd rather die than be like this. That's why I'm going to kill you."**

"I wish I could of seen sense then, I would of rathered had the most painful death ever then being a monster." Dimitri said sadly. My heart yearned for him, He said he had forgave himself and I believe him, but I understand he still gets painful thoughts and memories. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. I felt his head rest on top of mine. "It's okay." I soothed, I felt him nod his head ad place a kiss on top of my head.

**"You're only saying that because you don't know any better. I didn't either back then."**

**"Look, I meant what I said. I'm not playing your game. If I can't get out of here, then just kill me, okay?"**

**Without warning, he reached out and ran his fingers along the side of my face. I gasped. His hand was ice cold, but the way he touched me... again, it was the same. Exactly the same as I remembered. How was this possible? So similar... yet so different. All of a sudden, another of his lessons came to mind, about how Strigoi could seem so, so like those you'd once known. It was why it was so easy to hesitate.**

**"Killing you... well, it's not that simple," he said. His voice dropped to a low whisper again, like a snake slithering against my skin. "There's a third option. I could awaken you."**

I heard Abe and Eddie growl in anger. Lissa, Mia and Sydney looked uncomfortable, where as Adrian looked angry. Christian had a distance look in his eye, no dount remembering how his parents turned and wanted to do the same to him. "Guys seriously this is the past, and your opening up old wounds, plus I didn't and your making Dimitri feel worse, now stop!" I demanded. Everyone relaxed a little after my speech. "Sorry Dimitri." Eddie told him sincerely. If that was one thing Eddie never wanted to cause a problem and always was thr first one to say sorry. "It's okay... You all have the right to be angry and upset for what I did as Strigoi." Dimitri said looking down. "No, because it was the past." Christian told him. He nodded and turned back to Adrian.

**I froze and stopped breathing altogether.**

**"No." It was the only thing I could say. My brain couldn't come up with anything more complex, nothing witty or clever. His words were too terrifying to even begin to ponder. "No."**

**"You don't know what it's like. It's... amazing. Transcendent. All your senses are alive; the world is more alive-"**

**"Yeah, but you're dead."**

"State the obvious Rose." Mia remarked. I simply shrugged, me Rose Hathaway if one thing always got to the point, with no arguements what so ever. Remember that. "I always get to the point." I said.

**"Am I?"**

**He caught hold of my hand and placed it over his chest. In it, I could feel a steady beating. My eyes widened.**

**"My heart beats. I'm breathing."**

**"Yeah, but..." I tried desperately to think of everything I'd ever been taught about Strigoi. "It's not really being alive. It's... it's dark magic reanimating you. It's an illusion of life."**

**"It's better than life." Both of his hands moved up and cupped my face. His heartbeat might have been steady, but mine was racing. "It's like being a god, Rose. Strength. Speed. Able to perceive the world in ways you could never imagine. And... immortality. We could be together forever."**

**Once, that was all I'd ever wanted. And deep inside of me, some part still wished for that, wished desperately to be with him for all time. Yet... it wouldn't be the way I wanted it. It wouldn't be like it used to be. This would be something different. Something wrong. I swallowed.**

**"No..." I could barely hear my own voice, barely even form the words with him touching me like that. His fingertips were so light and gentle. "We can't be."**

**"We could." One of his fingers trailed down the side of my chin and came to rest on the artery in my neck. "I could do it quickly. There'd be no pain. It'd be done before you even knew it." He was probably right. If you were forced to become Strigoi, you had the blood drained from you.**

I shuddered a little at the thought of my blood being drained completly and becoming an undead monster. Deep down I admit when Dimitri was Strigoi a part nearly said yes to his offer, only because of him being my soul mate and wanting to be with him forever. Love is such a strong emotion and when it's gone you feel lost. When I thought I killed Dimitri, I thought my life was over. But tried to get through it to focus on becoming Lissa's guardian, even though when I returned there was a slim chance of me being her guardian. My courage and need to save Lissa when I took the bullet from Tasha's gun showed I would easily put her life first in a life or death situation.

**Then a Strigoi would usually cut himself and bring that blood to your lips. Somehow, I imagined I'd pass out before I was even half-drained.**

**Together forever.**

**The world blurred a little. I don't know if it was because of my head trauma or the terror coursing through my body. I had envisioned a hundred scenarios when I set out after Dimitri. Becoming a Strigoi hadn't been one of them. Death-his or mine-had been the only thought consuming me, which had been stupid on my part.**

**My sluggish thoughts were interrupted when the door suddenly opened. Dimitri turned, shoving me away hard so that he stood protectively in front of me. Two people entered, shutting the door before I could even consider running for it. One of the newcomers was a Strigoi, a guy. The other was a human woman carrying a tray, her head bowed down.**

"Who is is?" Sydney asked eagerly. I heard Dimitri growl obviously remebering Nathan trying to kill me and take control of Dimitri and boss him around. "Just listen and find out." I told her. Everyone looked on the edge of their seats, I was just annoyed at how everyone could read this book and know all my thoughts. I mean how did this Richelle Mead know all this happen? It's just weird and creepy, she has got every thought and word correct. How?

**I recognized the Strigoi immediately. It was hard not to; his face haunted my dreams. Blond hair, about the length of Dimitri's, hung over the side of a face that looked like he'd been in his early twenties when he turned. He had apparently seen Lissa and me when we were younger, but I had only seen him twice before. Once had been when I fought him on the Academy's grounds. The other time was when I'd encountered him in the cave that other Strigoi were using as a hangout.**

**He was the one who had bitten and turned Dimitri.**

"I'm so glad you killed him." I whispered and turned to Dimitri, he kissed me on the forehead, at that one gesture made me feel heady. "Wait he dies? Spoiler!" Adrian whined. Adrian was definatly the annoying one out of our group, him and Christian perhaps. "Oh be quiet you baby." My mother groaned. I can't believe she just said that to Adrian. Everyone burst into laughter, Adrian looked shock, his jaw hitting the floor, he soon covered his shock and frowned as he registered us all laughing.

**The guy barely spared me a glance and instead turned the full force of his anger on Dimitri. "What the hell is going on?" I had no trouble understanding him. He was American. "You're keeping some pet up here?"**

"Woof." I imitaited a dog. Everyone looked at me weirdly and Dimitri chuckled obviously finding my weirdness amusing. I just admitted that i'm weird, what is wrong with me today? "Felt like I needed to do that." I muttered.

**"It's none of your concern, Nathan." Dimitri's voice was ice. Earlier, I'd thought he conveyed no emotion in his words. Now I realized it was just more difficult to detect. There was a clear challenge in his voice now, a warning for this other guy to back off. "Galina gave me permission."**

**Nathan's eyes drifted from Dimitri to me. His anger turned to shock. "Her?"**

**Dimitri shifted slightly, putting himself directly in front of me now. Some rebellious part wanted to snap that I didn't need a Strigoi's protection, except... well, I kind of did.**

**"She was at the school in Montana... We fought..." His lips curled back, showing his fangs. "I would have tasted her blood if that fire-using Moroi brat hadn't been around."**

"Hey! I'm not a brat!" Christian exclaimed. I snickered, now happy that Nathan used them choice of words. Lissa kissed him on the lips to soothe him. I met Eddie's eye and he rolled his eyes, we then both burst out laughing, everyone stopped and looked at me and Eddie like we had lost our minds, we brushed them off and finally calmed down.

**"This doesn't have anything to do with you," replied Dimitri.**

**Nathan's red eyes were wide and eager. "Are you kidding? She can lead us to the Dragomir girl! If we finish that line off, our names will be legendary. How long are you going to keep her?"**

Lissa shuddered at the mention of Nathan wanting to kill her. Christian wrapped a arm round her waist and pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the forehead in a comfort gesture.

I sent a message to her through the bond._**'I would never of let him hurt you Liss.'**_

_**'I know you wouldn't Rose, but I don't want you dieing for me again!'**_

_**'Hey he is dead now anyway so it doesn't matter, your safe, especially having me and Eddie as Guardians!'**_

_**'Yeah, you are both badass and brave, especially you Rose, I love you.'**_

_**'I love you too Liss.'**_

We finished our private convosation through the bond and smiled at eachother.

**"Get out," growled Dimitri. "That's not a request."**

**Nathan pointed at me. "She's valuable. If your going to keep her around as some blood whore plaything, at least share. Then, we'll get the information and finish her."**

"WHAT!" My mother roared at the top of her lungs. We all cowered in fear at her outburst. "How dare he!" Now I definatly know where I get my attitude from, when I get going all i'm missing is the curly red hair. "Mum calm down, and listen to what happens." I told her feeling a little embaressed at her out burst.

**Dimitri took a step forward. "Get out of here. If you lay a hand on her, I will destroy you. I will rip your head off with my bare hands and watch it burn in the sun."**

"See Mum, Dimitri protected me!" I pointed out. She huffed and moved closer to Abe. I suppose it was kinda sweet that my mum and dad were together again officially because that's the way it's supposed to be, but it's still weird to see them so close and lovey dovey. "Dimitri this proves you weren't all bad as Strigoi, you would always protect my daughter no matter what... and that I am happy she has you." My Dad spoke with true honesty in his voice.

"Thank you." Dimitri spoke looking towards Abe.

**Nathan's fury grew. "Galina won't allow you to play house with this girl. Even you don't have that much favour."**

**"Dont make me tell you to leave again. I'm not in a patient mood today."**

**Nathan said nothing, and the two Strigoi stood there in a staring match. I knew Strigoi strength were partially related to age. Nathan had obviously been turned first. I didn't know by how much, but watching them, I got the feeling that Dimitri might be stronger or that it was at least a very, very even match.**

"Of course it wouldn't be an even match, Dimitri would beat the crap out of Nathan!" Eddie exclaimed praising Dimitri. I rolled my eyes while Dimitri chuckled and shook his head.

"He did!" I laughed. Remembering the time he punched Nathan in the face three times, and then kicked him in the stomach. That scene had also scared me a little but I got over it easily.

"You spoiled a part again!" Lissa whined. Opps I did aswell, I tend to have a thing with speaking out loud before considering the words in my head. "Sorry." I apologised.

**I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of fear in Nathan's red eyes, but he turned away before I could get a good look.**

"I bet he was scared." I heard Mia mutter.

**"This isn't over," he snapped, moving toward the door. "I'm talking to Galina."**

**He left, and for a moment, nobody moved or spoke. Then Dimitri looked at the human woman and said something in Russian. She'd been standing there, frozen.**

"I don't blame her." Sydney whispered. At first when Sydney found out Dimitri used to be Strigoi she was scared, she tried her best to be polite and hide it. But when I had enough of her being scared, I talked to her without Dimitri and she finally believed he was safe. She had apologised to him and what suprised me is that she gave him a hug. I'm glad we weren't counted as evil creatures of the night anymore, except she still calls Adrian that when she is annoyed at him.

I gave her a small smile and she smiled back.

**Leaning over, she carefully placed her tray on the coffee table by the couch. She lifted a silver lid up, revealing a plate of pepperoni pizza loaded with cheese.**

"Mmmm, pepperoni pizza." I said dreaming off a pepperoni pizza loaded with cheese. I wonder if that pizza was homemade or weather it was a brand? "I'll make you one later." Dimitri whispered in my ear. I grinned and gave him a kiss in thanks.

**Under any other circumstances, someone bringing me pizza in a Strigoi home would have been ludicrous and funny. Now, in the wake of Dimitri's threat to turn me Strigoi and Nathan's desire to use me to get to Lissa, nothing was funny. Even Rose Hathaway had limits when it came to making jokes.**

"Rose Hathaway has limits when it came to making jokes?" Christian asked with a look of mock horror plastered on his face.

"Oh my god Christian! I can't believe what i'm hearing!" Eddie yelled slumping back pretending to faint. This time I grabbed Dimitri's western novel off the table and threw it at Eddie. "Hey not again!" He yelled. I laughed and Lissa started giggling. Mia wasn't able to control her laughing this time and started to laugh. "Oh my god I have read this one it's well good!" Eddie yelled. We all stopped laughing at him and stared at him in shock. "Okay okay, I like western novels." He said while blushing. Dimitri slid me off his lap and stood up to retrieve his book from Eddie. He came back and pulled me on his lap again. "Stop throwing my books." He warned. I gave him a big grin and turned to face Adrian.

**"Lunch," he said. "Not poisoned."**

**Everything on the tray looked amazing, but I shook my head. "I'm not going to eat."**

"I highly doubt that." Mia muttered.

"What i'm a growing girl!" I argued.

"Growing Elephant." Christian scoffed. This time Dimitri couldn't catch me in time, I jumped off of Dimitri's lap and pounced on Christian. I pushed him to the floor, but as quick as I attacked him I was pulled back by strong arms. "Roza calm down." Dimitri told me rubbing my arms in comfort. I slouched in defeat and sent a death glare to Christian. He shrunk back and Lissa wrapped her arms around him.

"Apologise to Christian." Lissa ordered me in a no nonsense tone. What? I have to apologise, I did nothing other then attack him, but that was his own fault. "What? He said I was a elephant!" I argued. Lissa gave me a look as if to say just please apologise, and she knew I could never say no to that look. "Fine, sorry Christian." I apologised as honestly as I could. Christian gave me one of his signiture smirks, a look of I won written all over his face. I allowed Dimitri to lead me back to the sofa and I sat back down on his lap trying to get my anger towards Christian to calm down.

**He arched an eyebrow. "Do you want something else?"**

**"I don't want anything else because I'm not going to eat anything at all. If you aren't going to kill me, then I'll do it myself." It was occurring to me that the suite's lack of weapons was probably for my own protection as much as theirs.**

**"By starving to death?" There was dark amusement in his eyes. "I'll awaken you long before then."**

**"Why aren't you just doing it now?"**

**"Because I'd rather wait for you to be willing." Man, he really did sound like Abe, except that breaking one's kneecaps seemed kind of soft-core in comparison.**

"Thanks Kizim." Abe said pure sarcasm dripping from his words. My dad would never break someones knee caps, probably beat them around a bit then break their legs. "No problem daddy." He glared at me a little when I said daddy, I only used that when I wanted something from him, or was being sarcastic.

**"You're going to be waiting a long time," I said.**

**Dimitri laughed out loud then. His laughter had been rare as a dhampir, and hearing it had always thrilled me.**

"Is that your way of telling me I don't have a good sense of humour?" Dimitri asked me joking around.

"Yup." I answered, he poked me in the side in a playful way and I laughed a little.

"But i'm glad you like my laughter." He said with a grin, and then he kissed me on the cheek.

**And before I could form a reply, he moved in front of me again. His hand snaked behind my neck, shoving me against him, and he tilted my face up, pressing his lips against mine. They were as cold as the rest of his skin... and yet there was something warm in there, too. Some voice in me screamed that this was sick and horrible... but at the same time, I lost track of the world around me as we kissed and could almost pretend we were back together in the cabin.**

"Not the cabin again!" Christian shuddered. Lissa nudged him with her elbow, yay she was actually taking my side for once... "Christian, stop it." Lissa scolded. He sighed and looked back towards Adrian.

**He pulled away as quickly as he'd moved in, leaving me gasping and wide-eyed. Casually, like nothing had happened, he gestured to the woman.**

"This is Inna." She looked up at the sound of her name, and I saw she was no older than me.

"Poor Inna..." I whispered to myself. No one else heard but Dimitri rubbed my back in comfort.

"She works for Galina too and will check in on you. If you need anything, let her know. She doesn't speak much English, but she'll figure it out." He said something else to her, and she meekly followed him to the door.

**"Where are you going?" I asked.**

**"I have things to do. Besides, you need time to think."**

**"There's nothing to think about." I forced as much defiance into my words as I could.**

**It must not have sounded very fierce, though, because all my speech earned me was one mocking smile before he left with Inna, leaving me alone in my luxurious prison.**

"That's the end of chapter eighteen." Adrian announced. As on que I yawned and stood up stretching my arms.

"See you guys tomorrow for another chapter?" I asked. They all agreed and we all made our seperate ways back to our rooms.


End file.

Vampire Academy, Friendship, Hurt-Comfort