Okay, Ehlimana. Breathe. This is the first one-shot I'm doing and I'm so nervous.
All of you who read my story, The Fiery Heart, probably know that I wanted to start this ever since I started the story itself. And you probably know that I'll still upload TFH daily, but I won't do this series as often. I'll try to do it weekly or more frequent, whenever I have time.
So, okay. This one-shot series will be made exclusively out of your requests, so feel free to demand via PM or just write what you want to read in your reviews.
This one is dedicated to HopperIvashkinator, my lovely sister who gave me a wonderful idea. It might be boring for those who just want steamy Sydrian, Jeddie, Trengeline, or Zeil, but for poets like HopperIvashkinator and myself, it will be very interesting. And since I'm trying to follow all pairings here, I'll try to do a 3rd person POV. Hope it works! :D
Enjoy, follow, review, PM, do anything you like! But remember, the sooner you ask for a one-shot, the sooner I'll update and write it! And I'm not lying when I say I'll write all of them, not just those I like.
(and of course, all characters belong to Richelle Mead)
„This is crazy," Angeline said, pacing the room.
And she was right. Being stuck in a hut with eleven other people was ridiculous. There was barely room to sit on the floor, let alone anything else.
„There's nothing we can do about the storm," Dimitri said, glancing through the window. „We'll just have to survive the night."
All girls, or rather, women, sighed in the room. And all boys, or rather, men, rolled their eyes at that.
„Well, we won't just sit and look at the ceiling," Rose said, slipping from the couch to the floor, „everyone, on the floor."
This was met by a raised eyebrow from Adrian and Christian, but they complied. Sydney started shaking her head, saying that she wanted to rest, but she stopped talking as soon as she saw Rose's serious face.
Lissa sat down next to Rose, grinning. „What did that brain of yours come up with this time?" she said gently, as Christian sat behind her.
Rose just winked at her. Everyone sat up in a circle, without Rose even having to say anything. And it was funny, the order in which they were sitting.
Lissa was next to Rose on the left, and Christian next to her. Next to him was Adrian, and beside him was Sydney. Zoe was snuggled up her sister's arm, and Neil was watching her with crossed arms and a cute grin. It was Trey who was sitting next to him, and Angeline was lying on the floor next to him. Those who noticed that just rolled their eyes.
Eddie was playfully touching Angeline's shoulder, while Jill was laughing. And next to Jill was Dimitri, pure contrast to that girl with blonde hair and a pale blue dress.
„Now," Rose said, grinning, „we are going to play a game." In her hand was suddenly a bottle, and she raised her eyebrows, met by blank looks of Sydney and Angeline. But of course, everyone played that game once in their lives, except if they were living in the woods, without electricity or Internet, or even soap, or if they were too caught up in their jobs to even have a social life.
„Truth or dare?" Adrian asking, smirking. „I like that."
Rose shook her head. „As much as you'd love to take our clothes off, Ivashkov," she said, grinning, and Sydney furrowed her eyebrows, obviously not understanding what she meant, „no, we're not playing truth or dare. We're playing just truth."
Almost all men in the room groaned at that and now women rolled their eyes and laughed. Sydney was whispering something to Adrian, obviously unaware that 10 people in the room could hear her.
„What did Rose mean?" she whispered and Adrian grinned at her.
„You'll hear the rules, Sage, just be patient," Adrian said and Sydney sighed, turning towards Rose.
„Now, the rules," Rose said and looked pointedly to Sydney. „I'll roll the bottle and the bottle will choose a person. That person must answer one question about love, and honestly. But you can't ask about names and stuff, you'll probably be more relaxed if it's anonymus." She shrugged.
Adrian shook his head. „I'm waiting for the part where you say those who don't answer honestly must discard their clothes."
Christian nodded, but Lissa simply rolled her eyes. „If someone lies, Adrian and I will be able to see it from your auras," she said and Adrian started to protest, but she put one finger in front of her and continued, „and those who lie will must answer one question including a name."
„And what if they still decide not to say the truth?" Trey asked with a chraming smile and Angeline hit his arm.
„Then I'll throw them outside, in the storm, until they change their minds," Dimitri said in an outgoing voice, but everyone knew he was dead-serious. Seeing everyone's serious faces, he laughed and said, „I'm too old for this stuff."
Rose just rolled her eyes and spinned the bottle.
Sydney sighed when the bottle stopped, pointing at her. „Why does it always have to be me?" she said, putting her head in her hands.
Rose smiled wickedly and Dimitri touched her arm, telling her with his look not to be too hard on Sydney.
„Okay, Sydney," Rose said and Sydney glanced at her with her big, brown eyes, „tell me what is your definition of love."
Sydney scoffed. „Well, that's an easy one. I expected something scandalous." She smiled and glanced at Adrian. „I never believed in love. My parents never showed any affection," that was met by a nod from Zoe as Sydney continued, „and I thought it was like that for everyone else. I thought love existed just in books and movies."
Angeline laughed at that. „That's why I never read books," she said and everyone laughed.
The laughing trailed off as Sydney continued. „But I found love. And I think that it is being able to give, along with recieving. Love is actually wanting to give. That's where I was wrong, because I thought love is when someone cares for you."
Adrian nodded at that, and Christian whistled. This resulted in Sydney blushing.
After a moment, people realised that Sydney wasn't going to spin the bottle, so Adrian touched her shoulder. „You spin now," he said, watching at her with affection and she blushed even deeper color.
The bottle ended pointing at Jill. She smiled. „Shoot, Sydney," she said, and Sydney nodded.
„I'd like to know when you realized you were in love, and by that I mean really in love, not just liking someone," Sydney said and Jill nodded. She knew Sydney wasn't referring to her involvement with Lee, but what happened later.
„There was a man, and he had a girlfriend," Jill said, deep in thought. „I never liked her just because of that fact. And one day, when they broke up, I looked at that man and saw him for the first time. It was weird, you know, seeing how beautiful and handsome he was, when I saw him every day and never noticed it before. I also saw how fierce he was, how devoted to his job and loyal to his friends, and I asked myself, God, how did I never notice him before? And when I closed my eyes and his face lingered in my mind, I realised I was in love with him." She was fiddling with the hem of her dress, her gaze on the floor, and she was blushing.
Eddie touched her arm, smiling at her, but nobody noticed that since Jill already started spinning the bottle.
And the bottle ended on Christian. He just raised his eyebrow as Jill grinned.
„If you could change one thing about the woman you love, what would that be?" Jill asked and now Christian smiled at her.
„Well, that's easy. I'd think about changing her habit of talking so much but..." he shook his head as everyone laughed and Lissa playfully hit his shoulder. „I'd change nothing about her." He shifted his gaze from Jill to Lissa then and the affection in his voice was evident. „I love how she's brave; not afraid to stand up for what she believes in, how she wraps up all her weaknesses somewhere and people think that she doesn't have any. And I know those weaknesses. I love how she was the first person to look at me and not see me how everyone else did. When she looked at me, she saw me, not my parents."
Lissa squealed after he said that and kissed his cheek. Christian was looking kind of embarrassed, probably because a man shouldn't speak so much of his emotions.
„My turn," he said with a smirk, after a moment. He spinned the bottle.
Adrian's eyebrows rose. „This is going to be interesting," he muttered and Sydney giggled.
„Is everything about physics for you?" Christian asked with a glint in his eyes. „I mean, could you be a woman without literally being with her?"
Adrian chuckled at that. Nobody laughed – they probably would, but they were too interested in Adrian's response. And with everyone focused on Adrian, nobody noticed Sydney's blush.
„This is a shocking thing," Adrian said, grinning, „but I'm in a relationship for half a year already and we still haven't done the deed."
Gasps, whistles and giggles sounded through the room. Adrian tried to silence everyone by gesturing with his arms. „So yes, Christian, I am capable of being with a woman only on a mental scale."
„Impossible," Dimitri said and then seemed to think intently about something. „Actually, when i think about it, it is possible if the woman is under 5 years old."
People laughed again and Christian tried to silence them by speaking loudly. „But if it isn't physical, then what kind of a relationship is it?"
„And it seems to me that I'm the only person in this room that has no idea who is the girl?" Rose said angrily and everyone laughed.
„It is the best thing that happened in my life," Adrian said, his eyes looking at Sydney with adoration for a moment. „Being aknowledged, being worth something, being believed in. And just like Sydney said, that's not the best part – it's aknowledging, believing in, giving value to the other person. I've never had that before."
Before anyone could say anything, he spinned the bottle, and to everyone's surprise, it ended up on Christian again.
„I'm not answering this one," Christian said and spun the bottle again.
Adrian rolled his eyes. „You're just afraid of my question, and I had a pretty physical one for you," he said with a wink and Lissa paled, while Christian just laughed.
After a moment, they noticed that the bottle was pointing at Zoe. She was shaking her head.
Adrian grinned. „Were you physical with the lucky guy?" he asked her.
Zoe continued frantically shaking her head. „I'm not playing."
Sydney gently touched her shoulder. „Oh, come on, Zoe, we're anonymus. Nothing bad can happen."
She gulped and looked at Adrian. After a moment, she said in a strong voice, „No. I wasn't phyiscal with anyone, and I never even had anyone."
Adrian's grin widened. „I was waiting for this moment," he said and then turned to the group. „Zoe didn't tell the truth," he said in a louder tone and Sydney gasped.
Lissa nodded. Everyone was already looking at her, not looking at Adrian. „Adrian's right. Her aura shifted when she said that."
„That means you have to say a name now," Adrian said, winking at Zoe.
Zoe was as pale as the wall by that moment. „I'm not lying," she said and then saw Dimitri start to stand up. He was trying to look big and scary, but he was smiling, obviously finding the moment amusing. Sydney was looking at her, her mouth half-open, her head shaking.
„I don't believe it, Zoe!" she said in a strained voice. „I don't know what I'm more upset about – you lying or what you're lying about."
Zoe gulped again. „I might have... done something... one time..." she said slowly, her voice thicker and more silent with every word.
Sydney shut her eyes tightly. She didn't see Neil's grin, but almost everyone else did. He didn't seem to care. „You know what?" Sydney said, her voice showing struggle for control, „Just spin the bottle."
Zoe nodded slightly and spinned the bottle. It pointed at Trey.
„You go, girl," he said and winked at her. She blushed, obviously more comfortable with Trey being human. Not that she was uncomfortable with dhampirs, judging by her words.
„How do you put up with Ang-„ and she stopped when everyone tsked at her, „with... the girl you love being different from you? Are you disgusted by that?"
This earned a look that said, 'Are you kidding me?' from Angeline and when she started to say something, Trey touched her hand and she kept silent.
„Look, Zoe," Trey said, amused, „only people that aren't in love can ask a question like that. When you love a person, you love the whole package – her crazy hair color, her addictions to things, her ability to kill you without even blinking, everything. You don't take one thing and love it, while you ditch the rest. It doesn't work that way. You can't be disgusted because she's different. No matter what you're taught or what you believe, when you experience it, it's totally different."
Trey and Angeline ended up making out on the floor, while everyone rolled their eyes. Zoe glanced at Neil and he winked at her, but Sydney was too busy whispering about Zoe's earlier statement to notice.
„Trey, could you please spin the bottle?" Rose said and he cleared his throat, sitting up.
And, the bottle pointed out at Eddie.
Trey grinned. „I need advice – how to put up with a girlfriend that is capable of killing you?"
Eddie laughed. „Learn how to fight yourself. Now, the real question?" he said, raising his eyebrows.
„Is it hard for you, fighting for the person you love?" Trey asked thoughtfully.
Eddie's gaze moved to the floor. „It is, since I had to put up with her being with other persons," he said and then cleared his throat, looking at Trey. He was also uncomfortable, having to talk about his emotions in front of other people. He was a man, after all. „I was jealous at first, but I knew that she was happy and that was stronger. I let her be with others, not realising that nobody really cared about her and that everyone would hurt her except myself. I gave her up and I didn't fight for her, when in reality, she would've been the happiest if I fought for her. And in the end, she had to fight for me, since I was resigned that I could never have her."
Jill was smiling, but nobody noticed since she looked down, at the floor. Lissa spoke first. „And? What happened in the end?" she asked, almost melting by the love story Eddie told.
Eddie spinned the bottle, saying, „I answered the initial question, Lissa."
The bottle pointed at Sydney again. She smiled and said, „Thank God it's you, Eddie. I think I'd rather go out in the storm if Adrian was the one asking me the question." She was oblivious to the fact that she didn't need to answer another question and everyone found it cute, but nobody said anything. Hearing her answer another question was something everyone was curious about, especially Rose.
„If you could go back, would you do it all again?" Eddie asked with a slight smile.
Sydney looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. „Yes," she said finally. „If it didn't happen the way it did, not only that I wouldn't have love – I wouldn't have anything. I'd still be stuck as an Alchemist, being a puppet to others, not knowing the truth. Love opened my eyes."
Eddie nodded, satisfied by her answer.
The bottle ended up pointing at Zoe again.
„His name," Sydney said in a cold voice but Zoe shook her head.
„No. I don't have to answer second question until everyone answers at least one," she said and when she saw the look on Sydney's face, she added, „What? It's the rule!"
„Why didn't anyone say something to me?" Sydney asked, looking at Adrian. He just grinned at her.
The bottle was spinning again and it ended pointing at Dimitri. „A pleasant person to ask," Sydney said as Dimitri nodded at her politely.
„While you were a Strigoi, could you feel love?" Sydney said. „I know it's a personal and a prying question, but I can't help but ask."
Dimitri just nodded. Rose looked at him with fear and hope in her eyes, remembering the time in Russia. She knew the answer, but she still flinched when Dimitri said, „No. I couldn't feel anything except hunger. I was hungry for power, possessive and ruthless, without mercy or anything human in me, actually. And when Rose came to me, she was like an object for me. An object I wanted to claim and possess forever. I did feel like I wanted to turn her into Strigoi, but I didn't love her. I couldn't."
„It's okay," Rose said and hugged him. „I didn't mind. The important thing is that you're back." By now she was whispering and Dimitri kissed the top of her head.
Rose stayed in his embrace as he spinned the bottle again.
The bottle pointed at Lissa. Dimitri nodded at her, and without further delay, asked his own question. „I'm wondering if you ever get unsure or jealous. You're able to see auras and you always know how the person you love feels. But is it like that, always? Do you always know how he feels?"
Lissa shook her head, and answered in a pleasant tone while pulling her fingers through Christian's hair. He seemed to be enjoying that, his eyes closed and his mouth pulled up in a smile. „Most of the time, I don't know how he feels," Lissa said, furrowing her eyebrows, trying to explain. „Emotions are complicated, and I can't always look at auras. It's not as easy as it is for Adrian. I must concentrate really hard to be able to see them. I can read his current state of mind, but I mostly get it all wrong, because I didn't decipher every color yet. So yes, I do get unsure and jealous, but he assures me I'm beautiful all the time."
Christian grinned, not moving even for an inch, and Lissa just smiled, spinning the bottle.
It was Angeline's turn. Lissa kept her easy, pleasant tone as she asked her question. „Angeline, was coming to this, let me call it that way, modern world, hard for you? I mean, do the Keepers see and understand love differently?"
Trey was looking at Angeline intently, just like everyone else. It was always interesting to learn something about the Keepers and their weird traditions. Angeline sounded proud when she said, „The Keepers tend to keep love physical," and when giggles started to echo around the room, she rolled her eyes and continued. „Physical as in you need to fight to earn someone's love. A woman that can't cook, hunt or defeat the man's family can't marry. Everything is about you being useful to the community. The weak never marry. Here, strength doesn't matter and that's what shocked me the most. But then again, other – for me unimportant – things do matter, like race or eye color or some minor thing that has nothing to do with surviving, or being able to find food, or important stuff. That's why I never changed my view of love. My man has to be strong, and if he wants to marry me, he needs to fight my brother and win."
Trey made a choking sound. „How strong is your brother?" he asked in a quiet voice.
„I guess you need to find out," Angeline said, grinning.
She spinned the bottle and it pointed at Neil.
He rolled his eyes. „Here it comes, an uncivilized question."
Angeline winked at him and Zoe snuggled up closer to him, shooting her a look she didn't notice. Or she did, but didn't care. „Did you find love?" Angeline said after a minute of thinking and everyone made disappointed sounds. They were expecting some cataclysmic question. „No, seriously. It's not the same as finding a girlfriend."
Neil nodded, but he was looking a bit annoyed. He could never quite belong to the group, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't even try. „I believe I did. And I found it at the most unexpected place, among people I was taught to despise."
Neil spinned the bottle and it ended pointing at Rose. Neil started to say something, but Dimitri shushed him.
Everyone looked at Rose – her head was in Dimitri's lap and her eyes were closed. She was sleeping, and Dimitri was gently touching her cheek with his hand. He was watching her and smiling.
Lissa squealed and buried her head in Christian's arm. „That is so cute!" she whispered.
Adrian moved to the gramophonone that was in the corner of the room, because the game was obviously over. He loved music and hoped that there was something he liked among thousands of grammys in the drawer.
He found a record and played it. The storm was still strong and they'd obviously have to spend the night where they were, but he didn't mind. He was among people he loved and cared about. He was among people that loved him and cared about him.
As the song started playing, he returned to his place close to Sydney. He noticed that Zoe fell asleep too, near Neil, who was watching her sleep, and he kissed Sydney in front of everyone. They all knew about their relationship anyway. Only Rose and Zoe didn't, and they were both asleep.
Everyone heard say Eddie whisper, „You're beautiful," in Jill's ear and she blushed as she hugged him. They were adorable – he was the strong one, protecting his princess from every possible threat. But in that moment, he was just a man in love, watching his princess with loving expression.
Trey and Angeline were in love too, but they tended to show it in a different way – on the floor, freely making out. Nobody paid attention to them, though, since everyone were too busy with thinking about the words of those they loved.
As the song „Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" by Bryan Adams played, the lyrics You've really got to love your woman echoing in everyone's minds, Dimitri realised Rose was the only person that never got to say something about love.
And eventually, everyone fell asleep, in arms of those they loved, knowing that all the sacrifices they made for love were worth it.