A/N: Vampire Academy has become one of my favorite alternate vampire (aka non Twilight-esque) series. I still love the Twilight Series, but this one is just a nice twist from the usual vamp stories.

Warning-there are spoilers from Spirit Bound, book 5 of the series so if you haven't read...well you can take this as a one shot. The intro scene really does happen in the book but everything with Rose running into Christian onwards is my own idea as to what would have been nice to see happen. Please R&R, I miss hearing input on my latest creations!

Standard disclaimers apply aka Richelle Mead rocks for writing the Vampire Academy series. I can't wait for book 6!

Story is all in Rose's POV, just like in the books.

Vampire Academy: A Twisted Misunderstanding

by MakoRain

"I don't want to see her. Make her go away."

Like I was going to make this that easy. "The hell I'm going! I just-" Lissa's stern voice in my mind made me shut up for an instant.

You just helped us move an inch forward but this lashing out could move us back a mile. You two can have your lover's spat in private.

It could have been just me but she sounded pissed. Like I had messed this up for her. As if.

"Now I need to take him home." With me.

I'm pretty sure those last two words weren't said at all but they were making it easier to understand the words she chose to say aloud just now.

"You're taking him to your house?"

Dimitri, the man I loved, followed after my best friend in awe and worship looking at her as a goddess-his goddess. What I had once been in his eyes. She was taking everything away...every last thing. I couldn't take it anymore, I just couldn't.

"You really hate me, don't you?"

Before she could answer aloud, before she could send her pity to wrap around me like a suffocating blanket, I turned and ran blindly through the Court's manicured lawn, cutting through bushes Mikhail and I had just planted only a week ago.

How could she do this to me? It was bad enough to hear Dimitri say the words that he didn't, no-couldn't-love me, but Lissa? It was written all over his face, the adoration making his eyes glint in a way they had once burned for me.

Me! I was the one deserved to be looked at like that, touched like that, kissed and caressed and cherished like that. I stopped my tirade stride and blinked for a moment.

Wait a minute, what was I thinking? They hadn't done anything or I would have sensed it through the bond.

Of course, she had somehow managed to charm spirit into the stake without my knowing...

I continued walking, not liking the idea of taking this train of thought without motion. I needed to move, I needed action.

Sure Lissa had saved his undead soul but that was thanks to me. He had no idea what I'd done for him, but she had and now...

But what about-

"Umph," a startled grunt surprised me as I turned around the corner until I realized who I had just run into.

"Speak of the devil."

"Huh?" Christian's startled and confused gaze turned into one of his snarky smiles of acknowledgement, always happy to be noticed for his old ways. "What can I say, all I need is to be thought of and poof, I appear."

The way he looked over my shoulder and the recognition in his eyes noted that he had seen Lissa leaving with Dimitri, very likely holding his hand or comfortingly touching his arm. Something physical from the jealousy that radiated from him in waves.

They're getting awful close. The words rang clear from what he had said before. He didn't like this situation no more than I did, not one bit. Under all that hostility though, I could sense a pain so deep and so raw that it nearly mirrored my own. That had to be the reason I replied to his banter.

"That I bet you do."

Hold on a second, what was going on? Was I actually having this conversation? Was I flirting with Christian Ozera, Lissa's now very eligible (besides Mia, if you believed that) and very past ex- boyfriend? Or so she claimed. I sensed the sexual tension and anger every time the two were in a room together, alone or surround by people, using the bond or not.

But suddenly, I didn't care. I could feel the old Rose creeping up from her depths of punishment where I had buried her back freshman year at 's, recalling my reckless behavior and somewhat awkward position I had gotten myself into and caught in the act by none other than my mentor-would-be -lover.

My chest tightened at the memory of Dimitri catching me with Jesse right after my "I'm not a blood whore" indignation. Thank God he hadn't heard that part. But the way he had laid into Jesse, lifting him up by his shirt and shaking him like a doll wasn't what made me squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the lump down my throat.

I only opened them again when I felt the brush of Christian's fingers, just the lightest touch but the warmest I had felt in a while. The look in his eyes met the sincerity of his voice.

"Want to talk about it?"

I almost laughed aloud. Almost.

Instead, I moved my hand to his, gently lifting it to let it rest at his side. If only talking could heal this. I wanted to be touched, to be kissed and loved like I had been only once before, but I wasn't going to find it here. There was only one who could provide me that comfort, and he was long gone.

Then realization struck-not only one man had been vying for my affection and physical passion.

Sadly, it wasn't in the form of the one currently standing before me, longing to have his broken heart mended as much as I did my own. I wasn't the one he needed, and I could see it in his gaze as he watched me walk away after I quickly kissed his cheek and bid him goodnight.

Little did we know that someone had decided to linger longer than needed and heard, saw, and rather misunderstood everything.

I left Christian there, off in search to find the man of my dreams. So to speak.

I didn't have the nerve nor the energy after the last few days and continuous incidents I had forced myself awkwardly into with the many royal families of the Moroi court. Adrian's Great Aunt, Queen Tatitana, was one of them. Lower on the list was his spineless yet loyal to a fault father, doing anything and everything his dear aunt requested and required of him-even going along with voting a bill into law that would force young and restless 16 year-old guardians out into the Strigoi-fighting and Moroi-defending real world.

I huffed in frustration, letting my anger seep away into nothingness. I had fought that battle enough for today. It was time to move onto more pleasant thoughts. Much more pleasant. Who said meditation was dead?

Not even debating going to Adrian's parents house, where he would undoubtedly be, I turned and headed straight for my room. After a long and luxurious shower, well for me anyways, I slipped into a red satin night set. The skirt trimmed with black silk barely met the middle of my thighs while the corset provided a bit of lift to my already noticeable chest.

But not too much, I wanted to look tasteful and yet delicious at the same time.

I couldn't help smiling to myself as I slipped into bed, getting as comfortable as possible before drifting off into the dream world, my thoughts focused and probing for Adrian. In an instant he was there, creating the surroundings of a sunny garden where I sat a little self-consciously shifting on a bench in my outfit. He hadn't bothered to dress me to his liking, as per my past dream-loping requests.

And so there I was, cross legged and trying to look endearingly alluring and yet nonchalant at the same time, trying not to fidget at the realization of him seeing me practically naked. I had on a matching set of panties underneath but the sheer satin left little to the imagination in that overly-subtle way. The kind of way that makes a guy wonder what's provocatively hiding underneath.

In an instant, I was pulled away from the dream, awoken by someone knocking at my door. Confusion laced my thoughts until I opened it to none other than Adrian Ivashkov, looking at little bed-ragged if his half hazard appearance of hastily pulled on pants and a button down shirt were any evidence to this.

He had even missed a button! I tried to hide my giggle behind my hand but he saw my smile even as he was eyeing me up and down, apparently pleased with the fact at what I still had on.

"What?" He asked with a grin, turning a bit sheepish as I pointed out the button with my finger. Instead of letting him fix it, I stopped his hands effectively by grabbing the front of his shirt.

"We don't need to fix it. That will only be counter-productive."

With a smirk and a hint of the old Rose of earlier, I pulled him inside my room and locked the door behind him.

Sex with Adrian hadn't been like any other sex I had had before. First of all, he wasn't dhampir like Dimitri. He didn't have the muscles of a fighter's body but I still took in every inch of him once the clothes started coming off.

I had never noticed how much of a Moroi Adrian was until that moment as he stood regal and tall and oh so graceful even when naked. Heat and passion and pleasure sang through me as his hands easily discarded what little clothing I had on and then we were on my bed, moving together and yet apart at the same time, rhythms lost and then stumbled upon again.

In the midst of losing control I ended up on top in the dominant position and he didn't seem to mind but I did a little. Adrian was the one who had the skills when it came to sex and making sexual fantasies a reality. I knew about his playboy status and it usually didn't bother me-he'd given up his old womanizing ways just as he said he would in the dating decree. I on the other hand had only been with one man, a man neither of us wanted to admit or think about.

All thoughts vanished as Adrian carefully rolled me onto my back, our skin flushed and pressed together while sliding in sweat. We moved again as one and that's when I realized that even though he didn't know me like Dimitri, he didn't reply in an instant to my actions as my past mentor would after training me to do so, he still cared about me.

Dare say it, he might even love me. And in the throws of passion, everything went hazy and for an instant I swore that I loved him too. It was scary and thrilling and downright terrifying but in that instant when we gave ourselves to each other, I touched Adrian's soul, knowing that he was slowly filling in the space Dimitri had ripped to shreds.

In the afterglow, we held each other close, my head resting on Adrian's chest. His hands brushed through my hair, pulling it back to look at my glowing face. He kissed me again and again, finally resting his lips on my forehead as he had the tendency to do. At times it made me feel like a child he was watching after, but right now it didn't feel so bad to be the one taken care of instead of the other way around.

He broke the silence with his cocky smirk, emerald eyes shining in the darkness of the room even as the sun was burning brightly outside. "So, how was I?"

I couldn't help snorting a laugh, leaning up to toss a pillow at him. "What, is that the first thing you say to all of your conquests?"

That dimmed the fire in his eyes and I looked away, feeling bad for having said it. I knew it was more than that and so did he. "Rose, you are anything but a conquest."

Adrian's fingers found my cheek and I leaned into it, kissing the palm of his hand. "I know."

The playful look in his eyes told me that he was still waiting for an answer to his earlier question.

"I've only been with one other man," I quickly lamented, not needing to go into details since we both knew who the other ad been. "And this wasn't rushed or forbidden. Well, mostly."

The fact that his aunt, the queen, didn't necessarily want me dating her favorite great-nephew added a bit of thrill to the secrecy. Even though most people knew and accepted or steered clear of our relationship, no one had first hand knowledge that it had been taken to the next level.

What did that even mean anyways?

Steering clear of that question, I continued. "This was...you were...so attentive. Which I will say surprised me a bit."

He pulled me back into his arms and I kissed his lips softly, so much more calmly than minutes before.

"And the fact that you were so amazing has me shying away from wanting to know how you got so good."

I looked up at him from the place I rested my head and saw the guilt in his eyes. Like I'd said, I didn't want to know, and so I stopped his lips from moving by placing mine over his in a scorching passionate kiss.

"It's okay. I loved every minute of it."

A genuine albeit rare smile graced my lips and Adrian kissed me again, leaning back onto the bed and pulling me with him. Sleep was starting to wrap around me as his arms tightened their hold, his voice soft and warm against my cheek. "I love you, little dhampir."

I felt my smile against his chest and whispered my reply in a sleepy haze, not knowing if he heard but knowing it needed to be said and that it was finally true. "I love you too."

The sun was low in the sky by the time I woke up and stretched my body along the warm man's beside me. I had never had the pleasure to spend the night and bask in the glow of the morning after sex before and found that I really quite liked it.

Nuzzling into Adrian's chest, I listened to his heart beat, feeling his chest rise and fall below my cheek. I could smell the mix of us in the air, a combination of Rose and Adrian that made me heady with delight. I watched him as he slept until his face was no longer in front of me, someone else's was.

I had slipped into the bond without knowing it and before I could pull back, I was startled to realize I knew who was laying next to Lissa. I'd know that voice anywhere, even if his face was still a blur.

"Oh no, she wouldn't have." I whispered to myself before lifting myself off of Adrian, my mind reeling. "She couldn't!" I was up and around the room in a flash, dressing quickly before darting out the door.

"Rose? Rose!" Adrian called behind me but I didn't slow down as I tore through the Court grounds.

I had to get to Lissa, I had to see for myself that it wasn't true, it couldn't be true.

Finally I made it to her luxury suite and tore through the door, not bothering to stop as her newly assigned guardians called me to do. I didn't stop until I made it to her bedroom, where her and her lover were still wrapped up in each other.

No, it couldn't be.

"Liss, how could you?"

Lissa quickly pulled her lips away from the dark-haired man entangled with her. One look at his black hair and crystal blue eyes sending me a death glare across the room made me realize I was terribly mistaken.

"Rose, do you mind? We're kind of in the middle of something here." Christian's words were filled with crisp annoyance, understandably so.

I took a step back only to run into Adrian who had followed me here after all. A quick look around the room made me realize he wasn't here and I breathed a pent up sigh of relief because I am just that petty.

Lissa seemed to connect the dots first. "He's not here, Rose. He has his own room down the hall from the entryway. He should still be sleeping."

"If he could sleep through all the noise we made." Christian stated simply even as Lissa gave him a side long glance, not that she could hide her smile at the truth of the matter.

I gave her a sheepish look of thanks for understanding and turned to walk away but not before she could scold me, talking over Christian's witty remark. "I told you to be more careful with spying on me through the bond."

I turned around and smiled as she did, Christian wrapping his arms around her.

"Congrats, by the way."

"Now go away so we can finish celebrating." Christian waved me off with his hand.

"I always knew you two crazy love birds would get back together." Adrian remarked beside me, giving Christian a thumbs up before we were both running out of the room, a fire ball hot on our heels until we closed the door and left. Christian had such a temper sometimes.

Adrian and I walked through the hallway that I had just stormed earlier and I shrugged at the new guardians in as much of an apology as they were going to get. They in turn just shrugged back, knowing me through my rash reputation no doubt.

Just as Adrian was leading me through the door out of Lissa's suite, I couldn't fight the sudden urge to turn around. A quick glance showed Dimitri shrouded in the shadows of the hall off to the side of the entryway, just as Lissa had said where his room would be. A million emotions flashed through me and in that instant I made my choice, letting him know this as well as I took Adrian's hand and walked away.

"So that was an interesting and yet confusing way to start the day."

Adrian and I had made it back to my room and promptly picked up where we had left off, clothes discarded on the floor and our bodies entangled once again gleaming with sweat. I couldn't help licking a bead from his nose and he looked at me funny. I just laughed. I hadn't felt this free in so long that it was amazing what a little soul searching could do.

"You loved it, admit it. You love my crazy world."

"Mostly, but not all of it."

I looked up at the semi-serious tone his voice had taken. Serious Adrian was about as fun as Drunk Adrian, which was not at all.

"That's all in the past, okay? Right now, this is what matters to me." I held his face in my hands and kissed him long and deep, loving the feel of his tongue gliding against mine in a slow and sensuous rhythm instead of ravenous and pleading to understand.

Adrian simply nodded. "It was all just a misunderstanding." With that, the uneasiness in his eyes vanished as he put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him exactly the way I liked.

How great was it that I could finally find a guy who didn't get hung up over my past guy issues? Almost as great as it was to say that I was no longer hung up over them either.

A misunderstanding? You have no idea.

As it was meant to be.

The End.