My – Lissa's lips were kissing Dimitri hard on the neck. No. Who am I kidding? It couldn't be Lissa kissing Dimitri. She wouldn't do this. Of course not. I must be in one of my crazy dreams, because surely they wouldn't do this. I must have passed out at the gym and now I'm dreaming. Or maybe I didn't even get out of bed yet. I sure imagined being pushed into Lissa's head. I was dreaming.

In the dream I needed Dimitri. I needed him like I needed to breath. I needed him like my life depended on it. I needed him. So I just kept kissing him hard on the neck while his hands ware sliding along my hips. At this point, Dimitri was only wearing his boxers and I my panties. I trailed kisses down his bare chest and up his neck until finally find his mouth. We kissed passionate and it was like I had a fire burning with me. A lust fire.

"No, I can't" Dimitri said pulling away. "I'm sorry."

What was he saying? I needed him!

"Yes, you can." I said and looked into his deep brown eyes. "You can do this." I said and put a bit of compulsion on my words. Cool, I could use compulsion in my dreams.

Dimitri nodded and kissed me. All I could think about at the moment was how much lust I felt. Dimitri managed to take the rest of our clothes off without breaking the kiss. It was now... I could feel it. We were about to become one. It has been so long since I felt this way... Since Christian…

OH, WHAT? Christian? Compulsion?

No way I was in Lissa's head. NO WAY she'd do this to me. NO WAY Dimitri would ever make love with another woman. NO WAY!

We were – They were deepening the kiss, Lissa's pressed her body closer to his…

I was in Lissa's head watching her having sex with the love of my life. I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! I yelled at myself and like that I came back to my own mind.

How could she... How could him... She is my best friend and he is the love of my life! My best friend and the love of my life! How could they?

"Rose," Someone was shaking me. "Rose! Are you ok?"

Ok. Someone was asking if I was ok. Was I? Would I ever be ok knowing that my best friend slept with the love of my life? Would I?

"Rose!" The person tried again shaking me really hard now. I opened my eyes and saw Ambrose staring at me. I felt tears all over my faceow .

"Oh my…" I cried and buried my face in Ambrose's chest. He was surprised at first but after he embraced me. I couldn't believe… I just couldn't believe…

How could they? I thought that she was my friend! And I thought… I thought that he loved me! How could they?

The scene I'd just seen was repeating over and over in my head and I didn't know what was more painful: Lissa's or Dimitri's betrayal.

Lissa has always been my best friend since we were little kids. She's like a sister to me. When her parents and brother died I was the only family she had and she was mine. Lissa and I made a promise that we'd be best friends forever. So why did she do that to me? Why?

But on the other hand... Dimitri and I have been on an amazing connection since the first time we saw each other. We didn't need words to express what we were feeling. No one knew me better than Dimitri, and no one knew Dimitri better than I did. We were soul mates. We were perfect together… So why would he do that to me? Why would he betray me in the most painful way imaginable?

"What happened?" Ambrose asked soft wiping my tears away.

Should I tell him? Would he understand? Would anyone in this world understand? No. No one would ever understand the pain I was feeling. It was too much. I felt like my heart was broken and it'd never get fixed again. So I just shook my head and kept crying.

"You'll feel better if you tell someone." He said. His voice was sweet trying to comfort me, but I knew that telling someone wouldn't solve my problem. Nothing would. But I was feeling so… so alone. My best friend and the love of my life… I needed to know that someone was by my side. I needed someone to tell me that everything would be fine, even knowing that fine wasn't an option anymore. So I told him everything. I told him how much I loved Dimitri. I told him how Lissa has always been my best friend. Everything. And finally, I told him what I'd just seen.

When I finished I was still crying. I've never cried so hard. I've never felt so much pain.

"Stop it." Ambrose said serious. "Stop crying. They don't deserve your tears."

"Of course they do." I said between sobs. Lissa has done such wonderful things. She has healed so many people. She gave me a second chance at life. And the most amazing thing, she healed Dimitri from that evil state. And Dimitri… He was tough enough to kill strigois but at the same time he was such a gentle man… His lips were so soft when connected with mines. The same lips that were now touching Lissa's lips. Lissa who didn't even think about me while making love with my soul mate. "You're right. They don't deserve me or my tears."

Realization hit me then. I didn't need this. I deserved a lot more. I deserved more than a guy who always made me suffer. I deserved more than have a best friend that would betray me in such a low way. I deserved more. And right now I wanted more.

They come first. Not anymore.

"I need to get out of here." I said to myself. I'd already stopped crying.

"What?"

"I'm done, Ambrose." I said more confident than I felt. "I'm done. All my life, Lissa came first. And do you see how she paid me back? She slept with my boyfriend. Or almost boyfriend. Or whatever. The thing is I'm done. Now, I want to live my life. My own life. Away from Court. Far away from Court."

He didn't say anything for a moment and I was really thinking he thought that I was crazy. Then he took my hand and started walking out of the gym.

"Wow… Where are we going?" I asked while he dragged me with him.

"We're visiting someone who can help you" He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Help me?" Gosh, he thought that I was crazy and needed help. I knew it. I stopped walking instantly. "No, I don't need help. I mean, I am sane, I swear I'm not crazy!" Great, Rose. This is just what a crazy person would say.

"Not this kind of help" He laughed. "I'm talking about someone who can take you out of Court, out of the Moroi world."

"Oh, so you don't think I'm crazy." I said relieved.

"Of course I think you're crazy," Ambrose smiled. "But who said that I'm not crazy too?"

And with that we walked into a building that I recognized, toward a room that I recognized too. We were in front of the room Tatiana yelled at me some months ago when I was still at the academy and she thought that I was dating Adrian. Ambrose was about to open the door when I caught his arm. "Are you crazy? This is the queen's room!"

He shrugged "I know."

Then he opened the door.

"Hello!" He said smiling bright.

The queen smiled back. She was drinking something that looked like coffee. I said looked like. I had no idea what she was drinking. Behind the queen there were three guardians that were staring at me and as soon as the queen noticed me her face fell. "What's going on?" She asked slowly.

I didn't move. I couldn't believe Ambrose brought me to see the queen! How could the queen help me? I didn't even like her! And sure she didn't like me either. It was obvious. And… she was the queen!

"Well," Ambrose said and told her everything. Everything. I wanted to slap him! How dare he tell my problems without my permission to the queen? I was so ashamed but at the same time I was mad. Mad with everything. I wanted to kill everyone in a very painful way starting with Lissa and Dimitri.

"You're a great guardian, Rose. And in times like this, the moroi world needs a guardian like you." The queen finally said.

Did the queen just complement me? I think so. "Yeah, I'm leaving." I said. "And I'm sure the guardians can replace me. I was just with a stupid desk job anyway."

"Didn't Hans tell you?" She asked me. "We talked a lot about it and… well, we decided that you can be Vasilisa's guardian."

I could be Lissa's guardian. I've wanted that since we were kids and now I could get it… But after what I saw today… It was the last thing I wanted right now.

"I don't want it." I whispered.

"I understand that right now you don't want it, but this job is your great chance and I'm sure you and Vasilisa will solve things out and everything will be ok again." Tatiana said. But would it be ok?

"Ok." I whispered. Would I ever be able to look at Lissa and Dimitri the same way I did before? And what would happen to them? Would they be dating? Would Dimitri be Lissa's boyfriend? "I don't want it." I repeated.

"Well, If you don't want guard Vasilisa we can at last find another moroi for you, but be the guardian of the last Dragomir would be honorable."

"I don't want other moroi either."

"Ok," The queen said carefully "But why are you telling me all this?"

Good question. I didn't answer because I didn't know either. But Ambrose however did. "Well, you see. Rose is leaving and she doesn't have any money..."

OMG! How could he say that? Even though it was true, you can't go to a queen and ask for money like that.

Tatiana, however, didn't seem to mind. "How much do you need, Rose?"

Huh? "Oh, well," I didn't know where I was going to go or what I was going to do once I left Court. "Thank you, but I think I'll just get a job…"

"Oh Rose!" Tatiana said "Please, skip this part, just say how much you want. I'm pretty busy today."

Was she serious? What Ambrose got me into?

"This is serious, Rose." Ambrose said almost like reading my mind.

I shook my head "I can't accept this."

"Sure you can." Tatiana said. "But I have to say that Vasilisa won't be happy about you leaving. She'll try to find you"

"I know."

"If Vasilisa wants to find you it'll be easy. She can just hire a detective and she'll find you." The queen said like it was obvious. And it was.

I hadn't thought about it. I mean, I hadn't thought about anything at all. I didn't even know where I was going. But Tatiana had a point. Lissa would try to find me. She'd probably hire a detective. And a detective would find me easy. But I had the solution.

"I can change my name." I said suddenly sure what I had to do. Lissa wouldn't be the only person that would try to find me. Abe and my mother probably would too. But they wouldn't find me if I changed my name.

"You're really crazy." Ambrose stated.

Tatiana seemed to ponder at my words. "No, actually it is very smart, Rose. But we've to do it very carefully or rather someone can find out."

Wait… did she just said we? "Oh, you don't have to worry about it, your majesty."

She didn't even listen me. Instead, she started talking to a guardian in a rushed voice. A minute later the guardian left. "Well, now we wait."

Some minutes passed and we didn't say anything, but of course I had to ask one thing, even though I knew I'd regret it.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I asked and she gave me an I'm-The-Queen look. "What is it that you're drinking?"

"You really don't want to know, Rose." Ambrose answered me. And his answer scared the hell out of me. But, thankfully the guardian came back with the papers the queen asked him. It was now, I wouldn't be Rose Hathaway anymore.

"Are you sure you want this surname, Rose?"

I nodded and signed the document. Now there was no come back. I wasn't Rosemarie Hathaway anymore. Now, I was Rosemarie Mazur.

I know, Mazur? My dad's name… Well, Lissa wouldn't find out. Anyone would since just a few people knew that he was my father. Maybe Abe would… But that wasn't a problem since he didn't tell Lissa. And deep down I liked my old man.

After that Tatiana made a few calls and finally said "Go to this bank, they will give your credit card." She gave me the bank's address that wasn't far away from Court.

"Don't get me wrong, but why are you doing all this for me?" I asked.

She looked into my eyes "I know how you feel. Once, my friend and my ex-boyfriend also betrayed me in a similar way." She said sadly and I wondered if this was the reason Tatiana never got married. I wondered if she was lonely because she never totally recovered from this betrayal. I wondered if I'd ever be lonely like her. "And, well, Ambrose's friends are my friends too." I felt like I would throw up as I remembered that Tatiana and Ambrose were… lovers. And well, she wasn't lonely at all.

I felt bad, like it was wrong to accept her money, but at the moment I didn't care because I really needed it. "Thank you." I said and left the room. Ambrose asked if I wanted him to go along with me to my room but I refused saying that I needed to be alone. And I really needed. So I just walked as fast as I could toward my room. While walking the image of Lissa and my Dimitri together came back to my mind and I felt tears in my eyes. No, I told myself. I won't cry.

When I finally arrived my room, there was someone at my door. "Christian? What are you doing here?"

"We were going to have lunch, did you forget?" He asked. Staring into those ice blue eyes I realized that he didn't know what happened. He didn't know what Lissa and Dimitri had done. He didn't know… Should I tell him? "Rose, are you ok? Looks like you cried." Great! He was asking if I was ok too. I was really getting annoyed with the word ok. "What did the Russian guy said to you now?"

No, I wouldn't tell him what happened. It was Lissa's job telling him. "No, nothing happened. I just had a little chat with the queen."

He gave me a crooked smile "The queen?"

"Yeap. She wants me to go to a kind of secret mission." I lied.

"A secret mission? I'm sorry to disappoint you but you aren't the 007 type." he joked.

"What? Of course I am!" I faked hurt in my voice.

"So what mission is it?"

"I can't tell you. It's top secret."

"When are you leaving?"

"Right now." I said. I wanted to leave as soon as I could. "So, I'm sorry but I have to cancel our lunch. I have to pack."

"Are you serious?" I nodded and he seemed to believe. "Wow. When will you come back?"

"I don't know." I said and I really didn't know.

"Ok." He said after a moment. "I think it will be good for you." Then we said our goodbyes and I realized that I really would miss Christian.

After that I made my way into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I took a deep breath and just as I was about to start packing I heard a knocking in my door. "It's open"

The door opened and Lissa stepped into my bedroom.

"Hey," she said smiling. I couldn't believe that she was standing at my door smiling after what she did to me. "I've just had lunch with Dimitri."

Seriously?

"Really? And how is he?" I asked playing along.

"He is fine! He looks so much better –" Of course he looked so much better after sex.

"GET OUT!" I yelled at her.

"What?"

"Get out." I repeated this time my voice calm and pointed my finger at the door.

Realization hit her.

"You saw it." She whispered.

…

Hey guys, I'm so happy with all yours reviews! Yaaay!

Okay, I've finished another chapter and I really hope that I didn't disappoint you. It was so difficult to write the Dimitri and Lissa's scene… I mean I really can't imagine them together. Anyway, I hope you liked it.

xoxo

Mandy.