This is right when Rose comes back from chasing Dimitri in Blood Promise. She leaves Lissa's room after their long chat, and somehow, finds her way back to Adrian's room. ;) I thought this scene squeezed perfectly into the book. Sorry for any little descrepencies, but bear with me, it's worth it !
I was halfway back to the Dhampir dorm when I realized I had nowhere to stay. My old room had been cleared out, and it wouldn't be ready until the next evening. I paused in the empty courtyard. The sun had set after one other day without Dimitri. I wasn't so sure I wanted to keep track of them.
I felt that familiar pang of pain. Not just any pain. It was gut-wrenching, heart-stopping pain that wouldn't let me forget that I had murdered the one true love of my life. I could kid myself all I wanted. Pretend he had already been gone, pretend he had wanted this… but I had stabbed a silver stake through his heart all the same.
My eyes tiredly scanned the campus. Lissa and I had talked off the rest of the human afternoon, and it was now early human evening, or early Moroi morning. All the kids I knew would be busy in their classes for the rest of the night-that is, the day. I had to get used to that again.
Wait. A ghost of a smiled found its way on my lips. Not all the kids I knew.
Without another thought, I veered around and let my legs carry me there. I looked like hell, I knew. So what? I'd been through it. What else was new?
When he opened his door at my insistent knocking, I could tell right away he had been sleeping. His hair was tousled, but much more liberally than with his usual careful styling, and his green eyes were half-closed. They sharpened the instant they saw me.
"Little dhampir" Adrian said sleepily. "I know you've been out of town, but surely you remember this is no time to make a booty call. Even though" he pretended to think about it "I could make an exception for you." Even with his eyes half-closed, his lazy smile was still devastating.
And that was all it took. Ladies and gentlemen, let the floodgates open. Suddenly, tears were flooding down my cheek, at the speed of a tsunami. I, Rose Hathaway, had killed countless Strigoi. Give me my best guy friend with a bad joke though, and I was bawling like a baby.
"Rose!" Adrian sounded alarmed. "Here, come in. Everything is okay." He soothed me, leading me by the elbow towards his bed. Halfway there, he seemed to change his mind, as if he thought the early monsoon was because of his comment, and brought me to the couch instead. I found myself laughing through my tears, something I think concerned him even more.
It wasn't just because of him, I knew that. It was all this pent-up emotion I hadn't allowed myself to feel. Not in Russia, not in front of Alberta, not even in front of Lissa. But suddenly, it was all out and showed no sign of stopping.
Adrian held me against him while I sobbed and shook, his arm wrapped tight around my shoulders. He was silent; something I appreciated after telling my story so many times in so short a time. I needed to process this on my own. After what seemed like forever, the flow seemed to slowly ebb away, leaving me feeling incredibly self-conscious. I hadn't seen Adrian in months, and even though he had told me at the airport we should catch up, I don't think he meant it in the you-can-have-a-nervous-breakdown-and-snot-all-over-my-classy-Ralph-Lauren-shirt way.
With my face resting against his neck like that, I also had to admit he smelled pretty damn good. I had caught him in his pjs (who wears Ralph Lauren to sleep? Only him), so he didn't have any cologne on, but his skin had a clean, sharp, strangely invigorating tang to it, miles apart from Dimitri's own musky scent- no, I couldn't think about that.
"Do you want to talk?" Adrian asked while I wiped my tear-streaked, blotchy cheeks on the back of my sleeve. He sounded surprisingly gentle.
"Nah." I tried to joke, my voice thick from tears. "I figured I might just cry and run, you know."
His lazy smile returned. He brought his hand to my cheek and softly brushed away a tear I had missed. His emerald eyes were inches away from mine, unusually troubled. "Don't run out again on me, little dhampir."
I instinctively pressed myself against him. After so many hard, lonely weeks, chasing Dimitri then losing him all over again… Adrian's affection and body warmth were an oasis in a desert.
"I wouldn't have anywhere else to go anyways." I sniffed. Wow, Rose, are you really playing the pathetic card?
"That's because all the people who love you are right here." He met my gaze evenly. Trust Adrian to turn something so corny into something so charming.
"Oh, Adrian, I missed you!" Those words were as impulsive as the hug that followed them. I had given up a lot to go after Dimitri, and the short time spent with Lissa and now Adrian made me realise just how much.
He rubbed my back. "Little dhampir, you are going to make me blush." He said lightly, but I could see the happiness shining in his eyes.
I looked down. "I killed Dimitri." I spoke quietly, those horrible words splintering yet another little fragment of my heart. "I killed him." I shrugged, and glanced back up at him, waiting for his judgment.
His response was long in coming, face conflicted.
"That's what he would have wanted, little dhampir." Adrian said at last. It was a statement, not a question. A statement of a fact we were both painfully aware of.
"He was my everything." I said simply, hiccupping slightly, not caring how cheesy I sounded. I rarely discussed my feelings about Dimitri to anyone. But Adrian had known the truth about us since the beginning. Somehow, I felt like that meant something. "You have no idea how badly it hurts." I whispered.
He held me tight still, but this time wouldn't meet me eyes. "I think I do." He said in a low voice.
I flinched. Lissa had told me he really loved me, and I had promised him a fair shot when I got back. Yet here I was, crying my heart out over my ex, in his arms.
I jumped to my feet. "I have to go." I told him, horrified. "I'm a horrible person."
He grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks. "Rose, no one so hot could ever be horrible." How he could say that with a straight face, I would never know. "Stay. I'm happy you came to me."
I shot him a disbelieving look, suddenly questioning his sanity. "You're happy I came crying over Dimitri to you?" I clarified. You could never be too sure, right? I glanced around the room, searching for any signs that he was heavily intoxicated. But no, no empty glasses lying around.
His gaze followed mine and paused on the liquor cabinet. I had the feeling he really would have wanted something strong. His eyes finally traveled back to me, with difficulty, but they stayed there.
"No." He corrected, shaking his head. "I'm happy you came to me when you needed a friend." I let him pull me by the hand back to the couch, back into his arms.
I rested my head on his shoulders. "You know I'm broken, Adrian, right? I could never love you right."
He cupped my chin, forcing me to look at him. The intensity of his green gaze surprised me. "No!" He said fiercely. "Rose, you're perfect."
I snorted, but couldn't completely stop my lips from stretching into a smile. "Only you could think that."
"Well, anyone who has seen you naked would." He said smugly, leaning back into the couch and flexing his biceps.
How could he do that? Go from being so serious one second, to so light-hearted the next? Adrian Ivashkov was a mystery. Except-
"You've never seen me naked!" I exclaimed, sitting up.
An interested gleam flashed through his eyes. "Why, am I about to?"
"No, of course not!" I growled, jabbing my elbow into his ribs. He winced. Oups.
"I'm only kidding, little dhampir." He told me as I settled back next to him comfortably. There was a pause. "Unless you want to?" He added hopefully, flashing his devilishly handsome grin.
I elbowed him again, taking care to do it less hard this time.
My eyes closed. He seemed to sense the change in mood and squeezed my arm.
"Sleep, little dhampir." He rested his cheek against my forehead. "I'll watch over you."
I wanted to point out how this statement was wrong on so many levels, even just physically speaking, but his body warmth was lulling me into sleep, the scent of his skin lingering in my nose. I suddenly realized how nice it was to be able to just abandon myself into his arms, without having to worry about having my throat slit open during my sleep, or worse. Adrian wasn't a bad guy, as far as guys went.
He started rhythmically caressing my hair. Dimitri had loved my hair. I tensed, expecting the usual pang of pain when I so much as thought about him. It didn't come. Instead, I felt only Adrian's rhythmical stroking of my hair, as steady as the beat of his heart.
I snuggled into him. Maybe when I woke up we could have that dating conversation.
Sorry, no kissing this time! But it's only the beginning of their story, and slow can be sweet sometimes :) Review & Rate please :D Hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it!