I'm trying my hand for the first time at Vampire Academy fanfiction and starting off light with this all-human AU. For reference, Lissa and Rose are both 24 in this, Dimitri is 32, and all of the Dragomirs are alive. A big inspiration for Lissa's career was Taylor Swift, although all of the songs Lissa sings will be originals written by me. This should be a fun one to do so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Posting schedule is once a week.

Rose's Journal

March 12th

I nearly didn't wake up today and neither did Lissa, but the thing that scared me more than anything was the latter. That Lissa would never open her eyes ever again. That Lissa would never breathe again. It twisted something deep inside of me, a little bit to the left of where the bullet had hit.

I didn't know what to do. I was never prepared for anything like this. When I saw the sun flash off the barrel of the gun, when I heard that sickening bang. I hadn't even realized that I had stepped in front of her; it didn't register at all. I just knew I had to keep her safe. I don't know what happened next... there was a lot of shouting. Everything came at my ears at once like a tidal wave of sound. I'm pretty sure I got blood on Lissa's dress. That beautiful, beautiful dress. And when I saw a bloodstain spread across her stomach as well, that shocked look on her face...I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to do.

I still don't.

A hand held Rose down onto the hospital bed's scratchy blankets when she awoke, gasping for air and muttering one word over and over again.

"Lissa, Lissa, Lissa..."

She blinked, disoriented for a moment before catching her breath. Everything in the room was a faint shade of mint green with blinding fluorescent lighting to illuminate blinking and beeping medical equipment. Two uncomfortable-looking chairs upholstered with vinyl were shoved in a distant corner. The curtains, the ugly, garish curtains painted with yellow diamonds, were drawn. In all of the confusion the only thing that entered her mind was sarcastic.

They must have a fabulous interior decorator.

There were tubes everywhere; in her nose, mouth, arm. For some reason she couldn't lift herself up for anything. The hand on her shoulder gripped her tightly as she struggled.

"Lissa, Lissa, Lissa..."

Rose followed the hand up to the face of a nurse with a chart in her hand and it took all of her brainpower to relax her muscles. Her breathing returned to normal but her eyes stayed wild, taking in everything that was going on. She couldn't remember what had happened, she just needed to see Lissa.

"You're some kind of hero, Miss Hathaway," the nurse said.

All of a sudden it came flooding back. The click of the gun as the bullet was loaded into the chamber, Lissa's gasp when the man jumped out in front of them, that horrible, terrible burning sensation. Rose fell to the ground on fire. All she could see was the colour red. On her shirt, on the ground, on Lissa. Oh god, what had happened to Lissa?

"Lissa," Rose said firmly. "I need to see Lissa."

"Miss Dragomir was attended to a few days ago. She should be visiting soon," replied the nurse. She flipped through the medical chart.

"A few...days? How long was I out for?" Rose attempted to sit up again but felt an intense pain in her stomach and groaned, leaning back down onto the hospital bed.

"Only since Tuesday," the nurse said. "But take it easy, alright? Not everyone can recover from a bullet wound that quickly, especially one to the stomach."

Rose nodded distractedly as her head began to feel dizzy. She slowly moved her hand to her stomach and found a large white bandage covering most of her right side. There was a small amount of blood beginning to bloom. Turns out she doesn't even need a maniac to kill her, she might just end up letting her own stupidity do that.

"Do you need anymore painkillers?" the nurse asked.

Rose managed to focus on her ID for a second and picked out her name. Annaliese. How pretty. She shook her head no. "If...if you said Lissa was taken care of a few days ago, does that mean...?"

Annaliese nodded. "She's fine, Miss Hathaway. The bullet barely grazed her. Matter of fact, it did most of it's damage on you. Went straight through the muscle on your right side and came out the other end. Didn't nick any arteries or hit major organs. You should consider yourself very lucky."

"Yeah," Rose turned to look straight ahead at the door on the other side of the room. "Lucky."

What was lucky was that Rose had even noticed the gun in the first place. What was lucky was that Lissa wasn't walking down the street alone. What was even more lucky was that Rose had been incapacitated so she couldn't smash that bastard's head into the ground until she could make meatloaf with it. To be frank, she didn't believe much in luck. It seemed like a weak way out.

"Would you like any food?" Annaliese asked as she finished making sure all of the machines were in order. "The regular mealtime has passed but I can bring you a bit of late lunch."

Rose's stomach grumbled, upsetting the wound on her side. "Uh, just a little bit. And no Jell-O," she added hastily. "Or, at least, none of the lime kind."

Annaliese smiled. "No lime Jell-O coming right up."

When she left, Rose quickly became bored. She fiddled with the controls on the bed, gliding up and down until she found the TV remote stashed between the mattress and the railing. She turned it on, the only channel with anything other than commercials being the regular news station. They were currently making their way through a weather report.

"High seventies all this week," Rose said to herself thoughtfully. "Huh. Nice."

She was pulled from the weather report when the door opened and in rushed a bouncing head of blonde hair.

"Rose!" Lissa shouted, launching herself at the hospital bed and wrapping her arms around Rose's neck. Her tall frame dwarfed Rose in the best way possible, allowing her to rest her forehead on Lissa's shoulder with minimal effort.

"Liss-" Rose tried to say, but Lissa just kept squeezing her tighter and tighter. She raise a weak hand and tapped Lissa's shoulder. Her voice was strained. "You can let go of me now."

"No," Lissa said with conviction. She gripped Rose with all of her strength. "I am never, ever letting you go again. You hear that?"

Rose chuckled. "Loud and clear, Liss."

Lissa let Rose go and leaned back, allowing herself to get a good look at her best friend for the first time since the shooting. Rose looked so pale and small in the hospital room, like the blankets were going to swallow her whole. Tears began to well in Lissa's eyes.

"I didn't know if you were going to wake up," she managed to choke out.

Rose could see the tears fall from Lissa's eyes, smudging her makeup as they went. Rose's lip began to tremble and she cracked a half-hearted smile. "Oh god, don't make me cry too."

Lissa laughed and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief from inside her purse.

"Come here," Rose said, motioning to the hospital bed. She moved over just enough so that Lissa would fit along her left side. Lissa obliged and climbed into bed with her.

It was nice to be next to each other again. Even though Rose had been mostly unconscious, she could feel Lissa's absence the entire time. They were like two halves of a whole. Rose glanced down at Lissa as she curled around her. They had been best friends forever, inseparable even, and they weren't about to stop; wherever Lissa went, Rose was sure to follow.

"Does it hurt?" Lissa asked softly, eyeing the bandage on Rose's right side.

Rose shrugged. "Can't even feel it."

Lissa slapped her on the shoulder lightly. "Liar!"

"Does yours?" Rose asked, indicating the graze the nurse had mentioned earlier.

Lissa mimicked Rose's shrug. "Can't even feel it," she said with a grin.

They both laughed, Lissa's tears a thing of the past. The TV had switched back from the weather report to a news story. A grainy image of Lissa's shocked face graced the screen along with a caption underneath that read "Songstress Struck in Shooting."

"God, could they pick less corny headlines?" Rose grumbled, shifting her weight off of the wound.

"It's not even true," Lissa said with a frown. Her forehead was drawn in deep concentration. "I was just grazed."

"After exiting a coffee shop in Beverly Hills, popular singer Vasilisa Dragomir was accosted by an overzealous fan and later shot at," the anchorwoman said in a level tone. "While the shooter is now in custody, the status of everyone's favourite pop princess is unknown."

Lissa's frown deepened. "It's been like this for a few days. No one even mentions that you took that bullet."

"Good," Rose replied. "They don't need to know who I am."

"But you saved me!" Lissa cried. "I think they should at least say who's in the hospital and who's not."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You know those publicity guys from the label are just milking it for everything they've got. You can make your big comeback next week at the Easter show. I bet the press will just eat it up."

"Oh yes," Lissa said sarcastically. "I can just see the headlines now. 'Lissa Dragomir Puts on a Brave Face in the Wake of Tragedy.' They'll all be oohing and aahing at my tiny scar."

"Not if you don't let them see it," Rose said. She drew Lissa closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "You'll be just fine, Liss. You always turn out on top."

Lissa nuzzled her head against Rose's shoulder. "No I don't. Not if you not there with me."

Rose didn't have a reply. She was sobered by Lissa's devotion to her. It was almost as if without each other, they would both just fall apart. It's hard to separate yourself from something that's so ingrained in you ever since you were a little kid and Lissa was Rose's something. The thought of leaving her on her own terrified her.

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," Rose said. She patted Lissa's shoulder.

"And neither am I," Lissa replied.

They sat watching the news for another hour. It was story after story of various arrests and political opinions. The shooting cropped up twice: once in general filler news and another time in a short entertainment section. They couldn't stop wondering who would shoot someone like Lissa.

"But Vasilisa Dragomir," one host on the entertainment news said. Her hair was defying gravity as she turned to her co-hosts in their small, stylishly-decorated studio. "If someone wants to shoot a person as sweet and wonderful as her, none of us are safe!"

"Ah, I wouldn't be so sure, Margaret," a second host stepped in. He was tall with slicked-back hair. "After that string of lovers, are you sure this is a random crime?"

The first host laughed lightly. "Good point, Rob. Could the shooter that targeted Vasilisa have been a past lover? Find out more after the break."

"Ugh," Lissa said, grabbing for the remote. "Turn that garbage off."

The media usually blew things out of proportion and Lissa's lovelife was a common target. It was hard for her to date in the first place since normal people always seem to want something from her that she wasn't willing to give but then celebrities could also be just as bad. She hadn't had a boyfriend in two years but her reputation as Hollywood's heartbreaker still followed her everywhere she went.

Watch out boys, don't date Vasilisa Dragomir or she'll write a song about you, Rose thought sarcastically.

"You know what they're saying is the exact opposite of the truth, right?" Rose said with raised eyebrows.

Lissa sighed. "Yeah, I do. I just can't seem to make it go away no matter what I do. Maybe I should date a girl. That'd shut them up."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I don't think the world is quite ready for a bisexual Vasilisa. Give it a few years."

"Ooh, their heads would just explode," Lissa laughed. "But you're right. Then all of those mothers with picket signs would come after my concerts and call me a bad influence."

"Definitely." Rose smiled. "The girl who still sleeps with a stuffed rabbit is the worst influence of them all."

"You're going to get it for that comment, Rose Hathaway!" Lissa gasped in over-dramatic outrage. She barrelled down on Rose and began to tickle her everywhere except where the bandage was, fearing she'd accidentally hurt her.

"Oh god, oh god, I'm done," Rose shouted between gasps of air. She'd been laughing so hard that tears escaped the corners of her eyes.

"Say that 'Lissa is the coolest person on the planet,'" Lissa demanded with a wide grin. She poked Rose in the side again. "Say it, Rose!"

"Alright, alright," Rose held her hands up in defense. "Lissa is... the weirdest person on the planet."

"Bitch!" Lissa shrieked in indignation. She tortured Rose with tickling once more. "You horrid dork!"

Rose could barely speak from laughing. She tried to grasp at Lissa's hands but she was pinned down on the hospital bed too well. "It's true!"

Lissa was about to respond when the door to the hospital room opened and in walked three tall blonde people that made them both pause in their tracks. Rhea and Eric Dragomir, Lissa's parents, stood by the door with a disapproving look on their face whilst Lissa's older brother Andre smirked upon seeing Rose and Lissa.

"Are we interrupting something?" Eric asked. In his hand was a bouquet of flowers. Rhea held a teddy bear with a balloon tied to its paw.

Lissa immediately straightened and sat lightly on Rose's bed instead of pinning her down like she was previously doing.

"No, sir, Mr. Dragomir, sir," Rose said awkwardly. Her eyes flicked towards the wall and she stared intently at one tile until the embarrassment faded.

Eric cracked a smile and began laughing. "Rose, We're glad to see that you're alright. Here, these are for you, from the family."

Rose smiled and accepted the flowers from him. "Thank you. They're beautiful."

The Dragomirs had sort of adopted Rose ever since her mother sent her away to boarding school when she was eleven. Rose's mom had a high-profile security job that made her miss raising her own daughter and her father lived halfway across the globe, so when Rose managed to befriend the polite blonde in her class, they were glad to see she had at least one friend.

The Dragomirs lived nearby the boarding school and offered to house Rose during holidays, which led to her living with them every summer until she went to university. When Lissa skyrocketed to fame, she was able to go to every event with her and was invited on tour. Eventually Rose was just known as one of the family. Even though she tends to stick out like a sore thumb among the willowy blondes, the people on Lissa's team treated her like a Dragomir. Later, her father became Lissa's head of security and hired Rose as Lissa's personal guard fresh out of university. They've been working together ever since.

"We just wish we could do more to speed everything up," Rhea said. She took one of the chairs from the corner and set it next to Rose's bed. "This is such a terrible thing to have happened, Rose."

Rose nodded. "Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."

Rhea smiled softly and stroked Rose's hair. "You always are."

Rose looked up at Rhea and Eric with an anxious expression. "They caught the guy, right? Like, I mean, he's definitely going to jail for this, yeah?"

"He's in custody, if that's what you mean," Andre told her. He ran a hand through his bright platinum blond hair and Rose bit her lip. She'd always had a bit of a crush on Andre when she was younger and it had recently faded into somewhat of a sisterly affection.

"No, I mean he's seen a judge and the judge personally put a ball and chain on him," Rose said with vitriol.

"Relax, Rose," Lissa said calmly. "Nothing has been decided yet. It's only been a few days. They've set bail for him pretty high, though, so I don't think he's going to get out any time soon."

Rose relaxed and laid her head back down on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. "Good. Good. That's what should happen." She paused, finding Lissa's hand and squeezing it. "You know this means we're going to have to testify, right?"

Lissa nodded reluctantly. She flashed a small, restrained smile. "I do. I'm no stranger to the spotlight."

"Let's just hope this blows over quickly," Eric told the girls. "The sooner the better."

Rose was discharged the next week and given a wheelchair to use for a month or until she could prove that she could walk without letting the wound open up again. It was a struggle to get her to even agree to be wheeled around the hospital in it, but Lissa managed to convince her that it would be fun to race each other in them down the hallway back at the house. Truthfully, Rose couldn't wait to be back in normal clothing for once. Hospital gowns were a type of cruel and unusual punishment.

"I can do it on my own," Rose insisted as Lissa tried to wheel her up the front walk to her father Abe Mazur's house. He had invited them to brunch to check up on how they were doing. She'd like to think that he was concerned for her well-being but there was always an ulterior motive.

"No, the doctor told you that you shouldn't engage your core because it would delay the healing," Lissa pointed out as she pried Rose's hands off of the wheels and instead pushed her up to the gleaming glass door and pressed the doorbell.

Rose had always wondered what her father really did for a living. The head of security for Lissa was just one of many jobs he held in America and in his native country of Turkey and the house showed it. The entire structure was beautiful: it perched on the top of a cliff in front of the seashore and was made of clear glass with bright beams of steel intermingled with wood. It looked like something that belonged in an IKEA designer's wet dreams, but the inside was the complete opposite. Lavish was Abe's middle name, from the brightly patterned curtains to the silk upholstered loveseats. His attire was no different: he was usually draped in any number of scarves over a custom suit with gold jewelry adorning his ears, neck, and fingers.

"Hello girls," Abe said as he opened the doors. He quirked an eyebrow at Rose. "Still trying to find your sea legs, kiz?"

Rose stuck her tongue out at him. "You wish, old man. I could still take you even in a wheelchair."

He chuckled lightly. "I'll take that into consideration." Abe reached his hand out and brought Lissa into a hug. "Always lovely to see you, Miss Dragomir. I hope you're not too shaken."

Lissa smiled, charmed by Abe as everyone usually was. "The spirits are still high, Mr Mazur. The doctors are saying Rose is recovering faster than ever."

"What fortunate news," Abe said as he winked at Rose. He stepped aside and waved them inside. "Come in, come in."

Gripping the handles on the wheelchair, Lissa brought Rose into Abe's foyer. She put the parking brake on the wheelchair and leaned down to pat Rose on the forehead. Rose bristled at Lissa's show of affection in front of her father.

"Well, I'll come by to pick you up later," Lissa said as she backed away from the foyer with a wave.

"Wait, you're not staying?" Rose attempted to turn the wheelchair but couldn't move because of the brake.

"No, I've got an interview to get to this morning, but I'll catch you afterwards, okay?" Lissa didn't seemed concerned even though she was practically throwing her best friend to the shark known as Abe Mazur.

"Lissa!" Rose shouted after her, but she had already left the house. She watched Lissa's car drive away with a sinking feeling in her gut. Rose heard a click behind her as the brake was lifted and Abe began to wheel her out onto his back deck.

"Why don't we get to brunch?" he said mildly.

A table had been set up on the dark red wood with the tablecloth moving slightly in the breeze coming off of the ocean. There was a complete spread setup along the table and three places set, leading Rose to believe that Lissa was originally supposed to join them for the meal. That is, if someone hadn't already been sitting in her seat.

The stranger was tall; even in his chair he towered over Rose a good foot or so. The muscles in his arms and neck were amazingly large and he had to be some sort of linebacker or professional wrestler with guns like that. Dark hair was pulled into a ponytail and highlighted a face that was stern and would have belonged better in a museum of marble statues.

"Rose," Abe said and he positioned her at the table. "Meet Dimitri Belikov, Lissa's new personal guard."

Rose's head whipped sharply to the left to look at her father. "What?"

I hope you guys like it! Any questions or suggestions can be directed to my inbox or in a simple review. I hope you have a lovely day!