"Hey, little Dhampir, up to a little…challenge?"

Rose walked up to me, head held high, "Always, pretty boy," She reconsidered, realizing who she was talking to; "Wait…what is the challenge?"

I smiled broadly, showing my fangs, "An Adrian Ivashkov classic."

"Oh?" She said, and I saw her eyebrows change slightly; she was trying to raise an eyebrow, a skill she's never had, "That almost scares me more."

"I can finally scare Rosemarie Hathaway?"

Rose's smile grew, "Oh, no, but you sure can be entertaining at times…a little too entertaining. Anyways, what's the challenge?"

A mischievous grin lit my face, "A Compulsion Challenge."

Her eyes widened. This was something that was very new. Lissa had recently found a new talent: Allowing people to 'borrow' her powers. To try it out, she gave Rose the power of Compulsion, the power to make people do anything the user wants. Some people, however, were strong enough to fight Compulsion. This was the point of the game.

"Okay…I'm listening."

"Here it goes; we both start to Compel each other. We are trying to get the other to look away. The first to look away, wins."

She thought about it for a minute, and then said, "Okay, it's on!"

We locked gazes, and I felt the power raise roar up in me, as I said, "Go!"

Both of our eyes glazed over, and I said, "Little Dhampir, look the other way …"

"Ha! That's all you've got?" She said, "Now, Adrian, your shoes untied...why don't you tie it?"

This time, I laughed, "And you made fun of me?"

We went back and forth, making it harder and harder to resist the urge to look away. She was actually really good for someone who just got her powers less than a week ago.

"Adrian, there's an alcohol cabinet and a pack of cigarettes with you name over there."

It was surprising how far I've come. This would've been a very tempting thing a couple of months ago, but now I actually had no urge to look whatsoever.

I laughed, "You underestimate me Rose."

With compulsion, I made her hear, "Pizza Delivery!"

Her gaze didn't waver. Apparently, I too had underestimated her.

"Your mom's over there, Adrian, she wants to see you."

That was a dirty trick and she knew it, my mom has been in jail for months and has just gotten out. I had yet to see her. Clenching my jaw, I kicked up the compulsion a notch.

"There's a box of chocolates and all of your favorite candy," I said, "All you need to do is look away…It could be yours…"

We stood there a moment, locked in each other's gaze, thinking of more ammunition. Suddenly, I saw a mischievous glint shine in her eyes, oh, no.

"Adrian…Sydney's standing over there," She paused, and I saw a smirk spread on her face, "…Naked." That dirty little…I bit my lip.

So she was going to play it that way. Well, two can play that game.

I almost said Lissa was being attacked by Strigoi, but I knew better. So, I decided to play at what she was getting at.

"Dimitri's waiting for you Rose…You don't want to keep him waiting."

The smirk slid off of her face.

"Go to Sydney, Adrian, go to her, she's calling you."

Adrian, I heard, Adrian. It's compulsion. It's compulsion, I told myself…But it sounded just like her…One peak wouldn't hurt, would it?

It's Compulsion! I screamed at myself.

"He's right there Rose. Look at him; he's so very hurt you won't even spare him a glance. He is reaching out for you."

Sydney's voice was growing louder and louder.

"Sydney wants you Adrian. Give in!" Rose was almost yelling now.

Adrian, come here. Why won't you look at me? Adrian, I could hear her voice calling me, pleading with me. Then, I heard her start to cry, Adrian, don't you love me?

"Dimitri's begging you; he's calling you…Roza…" I trailed off, letting her imagination do the rest because I couldn't take it anymore.

My whole body snapped to the side, looking for Sydney; she needed me. I saw no one. No one was there. I knew she wasn't there all along, but for some reason I felt my stomach plummet. I felt so empty, so alone. On top of that, I lost! I never lost one of these!

I still hadn't, I realized, as I saw Rose looking for Dimitri. She soon realized the same thing I had, but her expression mirrored my thoughts. Rose frowned.

"Don't look so glum because you lost, little Dhampir," I said, trying to cheer us both up.

It did distract her, at least; she looked at me with exasperation and amusement, "I did not lose. You did. You totally looked away first!"

"I don't think so."

"Well I know so."

"Nope."

"Yup."

I sighed, knowing there was no point in continuing, "Okay, we tied."

She nodded, "Fine."

Right at that moment, Dimitri and Sydney came in carrying groceries. I had forgotten that we sent them to do the shopping.

"Sage!" I exclaimed.

"Dimitri!" I heard Rose shout.

"What's going-" Dimitri started, but soon got cut off as Rose and I ran into our partner's arms, and showered them in kisses.

I felt Sydney go shock-still in my embrace as I kissed her passionately. However, she soon she lost herself in the kiss, and wrapped her arms around my neck, dropping the bags.

When we finally pulled away, both breathless, she asked, "What was that all about?"

She wasn't angry, or even annoyed; she actually looked amused. A small smile played on her lips. That was one of the things I loved about her.

"Just a little Adrian Ivashkov classic."

"We were doing a Compulsion Challenge," Rose said, also breathless from her activities with Dimitri. She probably did the same thing I did to Sydney to Dimitri.

"A what?" Sydney asked eyes wide.

"Is that safe?" Dimitri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably not, knowing Adrian," Sydney muttered.

I laughed, "Calm down; it was completely safe. We tried to out-Compel each other to look away…It was actually pretty fun."

"I won," Rose said.

I looked over to her, exasperated, "You did not! I thought we agreed on this! It was a draw!"

Rose looked skeptical, "I just said that so you would stop talking nonsense."

I sighed, "Your stubborn, you know that?"

Rose laughed, and Dimitri nodded, saying, "I think we all know that, Adrian."

"Are you complaining, Comrade?" Rose said.

"Oh, no," Dimitri said in a low voice, "I would ever complain about you, Roza."

I beamed at Rose, "I knew it! I knew I got the nickname right!"

"What do you mean?" Dimitri asked.

"I finally got her to look away when I said, 'Roza'."

"And you made it echo in my head!" Rose said.

"Little Dhampir," I said smiling, "That was all you. I didn't do anything but say it."

"But I heard it!"

"That's because he says it so much. The second I said it, I look away. I couldn't help it anymore."

"Why'd you look away, Adrian?" Sydney asked, looking amused over the conversation Rose, Dimitri, and I just had.

"Oh," I said, feeling color rush into my cheeks, "Well, she said you were waiting for me…calling for me. What was I supposed to do?"

"That's not all," Rose said, with an evil smile on her face that I knew too well, "I said you were waiting for him…naked."

"Now, that makes more sense," Sydney said, laughing.

I put a hand over my heart in mock-hurt, "That hurts, Sage, that really hurts. That's still not why I looked away, though."

"Then why did you look away?" All three of them said in union.

"Well, you were begging me, and then you started to…cry. You know I'm helpless when you cry. But then…then you asked, 'Adrian, don't you love me?' I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I need to run into your arms saying I love you more than anything, and I always will."

Rose snickered, Dimitri smiled-though it wasn't a teasing one-but Sydney stayed quiet.

She smiled, and her cheeks had a faint, pink blush on them, "Awww, Adrian…I love you too."

Standing on her tip-toes, she placed a small kiss on my lips.

"Okay," I said, turning to Rose, "I officially forgive you for that dirty trick you played…but do it again, and, next time, I might just let it slip that Lissa's being attacked."

Rose glared a whole through my head, "You better not, or, so help me, I'll-"

I put my hands up to silence her, "Hey, hey, I know; I was just kidding. Even I have limits."

The group fell into a comfortable silence. Then, an evil grin spread across Sydney's face, a grin that terrified me more than Rose's glare. Evil Sydney was not good.

"I have a challenge," She said.

"What is it?" I asked cautiously.

"Let's see which one of you can stand still for the longest."

I relaxed, but only a little. "Okay, sounds easy enough…" Rose said, but she sounded like she too knew that Sydney was up to something.

"Go!" Sydney said.

Rose and I both went motionless. I was confused, that is until she spoke again.

"Hey Dimitri," She said sweet and innocently, and he looked at her surprised, "They used us against each other, and this is pretty easy for them…"

Uh, oh, I thought. This would not end well.

"Yeah…" Dimitri said.

"Want to help me make this more of a…Challenge?"

Dimitri smiled, as he realized what she was getting at; I clenched my jaw.

"I'd love to," He said, walking over to Rose.