Author's note: I do not own Vampire academy or any of the characters. (Except one; Jenessa. That I know of for now.) I have done some editing to the chapters and made some changes. (Some of them subtler than others.) I hope you enjoy. (Only updated if you see this header. If not, I am working on it.) Thank you, and please enjoy. 😊

Chapter#3

"Hello Jenessa, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The words tasted like smoke and fire in my mouth. Suffocating me to the raw bone.

The truth was it hadn't been nice to meet her. Maybe in another day, or another life when she wasn't the love of my life's new squeeze I could have felt that way, but right now that wasn't the case.

I looked over towards the front and into the drivers rear view mirror. He smiled deeply. Clearly, he was pleased at my display of civility, so for now that was enough.

"Scooch over."

I looked over, thinking she was talking to me, but I was shocked when I discovered she was talking to Dimitri from the front seat.

"Excuse me?" He bit with a laugh.

She smiled and put her hands on the steering wheel.

"I want to drive."

"Well, I don't want you to drive."

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing crossly.

"Come-on, you've been driving the whole time."

"Yea." I muttered. "Driving us crazy."

I hadn't meant to say it out loud, but there it was.

Dimitri shot daggers at me from across the car, and he wasn't the only one. Lissa was even giving me a squinted side glance. The only people in the car that seemed to enjoy my little outburst were Adrian and Jenessa, who were now outwardly laughing in approval.

Opps. So much for Dimitri being pleased with me.

"See." She said, swaying her hips side to side. "You're giving Roza a hard time. Just let me drive."

He sighed and surrendered the wheel to her.

"Fine." He said, grabbing his hat. "I'll take a nap."

"Good." She said as she climbed into the driver's seat.

"Now I get to play my kind of music." She announced as she flipped the dial.

Dimitri paused as he assessed the seating situation. I knew he wouldn't want to sit next to me, plus right now the feeling was mutual, besides, I felt like I owed him, so I turned to Lissa.

"Hey."

She turned to me with a smile and removed her earbuds from her Ipod. "Hey, what's up?"

"Can you switch with me?"

She turned to Dimitri and then smiled at me as if she understood.

"No, I think Dimitri should sit next to you."

She knew how happy we made each other, well happy he made me anyway. (sometimes) So, I wasn't surprised that she wanted to put him next to me. She was set on getting us back together, no matter how many times I told her that ship has sailed.

"Dimitri if you don't get in the car right now I'm leaving you here." Jenessa called from the front.

He sighed and climbed in next to me and then shut the car door.

I shifted to squish my body close to me, to give myself space, but for some reason I could feel his stare on me.

When I got the courage to look sure enough he was staring and had his hand extended to me.

"What?" I said, pretending to sound annoyed, though really, I was happy to have his attention. It had been a while.

He smiled and waved his fingers towards him.

Tentatively I reached my hand out to hold his but he moved it away and scoffed.

"What are you doing?"

I put my hands up in a surrendering gesture and shook my head.

"I thought you wanted..."

I paused. In that moment, I felt like an idiot. He didn't want to hold my hand. It was just my stupid childish wishes, but I was mad that he just sat there like a little kid not communicating with me.

"My stake." He finally said after a few moments of staring at me. "You have my stake."

"Oh."

With a blush, I reached into my pocket and pulled it out then placed it in his open hand.

"Thank you." He said, before placing it in his pocket and putting his hat over his eyes.

"No problem comrade." It took everything I had not to burst. Not to lash out in tears and cry to the world that it was unfair that we couldn't be together.

Instead I sat there, quiet.

In the haze of embarrassment, I forgot that Jenessa was now in control of the music. Not until she turned it up.

It was Kelly Clarkson's heart beat song.

I sang along, thinking of the irony that I hadn't been able to turn it up, as a matter of fact my heart beat song had been destroyed.

I turned back to Dimitri, wondering how he could possibly be sleeping through it all, but I could have sworn as I took a closer look through the folds of his hat that he wasn't sleeping.

He was looking right at me.