AN: I'm so so sorry that I haven't updated in a few months. I know that some of you were really looking forward to me continuing the story ,and I am! I've just been very busy lately. I hope you enjoy it :)
After returning to my room, I went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately. It was strange seeing all of them tonight, and what was stranger was that they didn't really speak to me, except for Tasha. They were exceptionally silent...
When I woke up, I saw that it was 8am, vampire schedule. Fortunately, I hadn't been hit by the time difference too much, since there were 8 hours between Court and Moscow. I reached for my phone and saw that Christian had sent me a text message that said Come to that café we used to go to, the one next to the ice cream place. Bring Ethan with you. Leave it to Christian to be brief. So, I got out of bed and got dressed, all the while calling Ethan.
"Get up, we're going to meet Christian," I told him.
"Rose...you just woke me up."
"Well get up I wanna get the good food before the other people get it," I said, hanging up.
When I was dressed, I went out of my room and knocked on the door next to mine. While he had a pretense of being asleep, it seemed that Ethan had been quick in dressing and brushing his hair. We made our way out of the building and towards the cafe. Ethan had been to Court numerous times, but tended to avoid it due to the looks people gave him, due to his reputation. His parents were strict and he would rather just avoid them. He'd gone to a school in South Carolina, but he had spent a year in the school in Glasgow, the one my mother had attended. After that, he moved to Moscow because he'd always been attracted to the Russian culture. What people did not know, was that he could fight against Strigoi just as well as I could, which had shocked me when I'd met him. Due to our similar snarky attitude, we'd quickly become good friends, and the same had happened when Christian had come to Russia.
When we reached the café, I saw Christian sitting at a table, looking like his dog had just died. He was not alone at the table, it seems that between the time he sent me a message and the time we got here, Tasha and my friends from St. Vlad's had come to the cafe and decided to sit with him. So I went to the counter and ordered a hot chocolate for me, and a coffee for Ethan. I still hated coffee just as much as during my high school years. I also grabbed some pastries, since I was beyond hungry. The fancy royal dinners didn't feed us, but they were decorative.
I went to the table, Ethan trailing behind me looking very sarcastic. He only knew Christian, but I'd told him about the others and what had happened.
"Hey guys, Christian didn't tell me you would be here," I said, not appearing aggressive but definitely not friendly either.
"Rose, it's just been a long time and I think we all want to catch up with you," said my best friend (could I call her that anymore?). I'd taken up my job as Brandon's charge when she had sided with Dimitri. I still resented her for it, but it was understandable that she choose his side. I still hate her (somewhat) for it because she'd chosen his side, and not mine.
I looked at the others at the table and noticed that only Tasha, Adrian, Dimitri, and Viktoria were present, apart from Christian of course. My only friend, Eddie, wasn't here. I sighed at started eating my croissant.
It was only then that I realized that I hadn't replied to Lissa, and everyone was giving me odd looks. It was kinda to be expected...I mean, I'd broken up with Adrian before I left, Tasha didn't know why I hated her, Dimitri didn't care for me anymore (although he was giving me a curious glance), and Viktoria probably hated me for coming between her and Rolan four years ago in Russia.
So I glanced at all of them, gave them my best Rose Hathaway smile, and said, "Well of course you do. But what would you like to know, I mean it's kind of strange. All of you hated me four years ago and now you're all sitting here looking at me like I'm some sort of lab rat. It's kind of strange, don't you think? What do you think, Ethan?"
Ethan had been quiet watching this whole exchange, but said, "Look, you may be my best friend but I don't think that this is any of my business right now." He gave everyone a smile and just downed his coffee. Only Christian gave me a snide glance before laughing to himself. I gave him an evil glare in return.
It was Adrian who spoke next.
"Well of course we'd love to hear about you, you're our friend. Also, you should know that I don't hate you, no one could hate Rose Hathaway. But it seems like I've been replaced by a Voda" He said this while winking, looking at Ethan. Adrian never changes...although he did seem slightly jealous of Ethan. The others at the table laughed, seeing that the tension had eased. I gave Adrian a grateful smile.
Ethan laughed, giving me a sly glance, "Oh yeah, Vodas are definitely better than Ivashkovs. Right Rose?"
I smiled, but didn't reply to him, because I loved them both.
"Would you like to come to dinner tonight?" The question was aimed at both me and Ethan, and it was Tasha who had asked. "It'll be all of us sitting at the table, but I'd like to catch up with Christian too. Since it seems like you've become closer, I think he'd like for you to come, right Christian?"
Christian replied but I was ignoring what he said, because it was suspicious that Lissa, Dimitri, and Viktoria had remained silent for so long. I look at the with a question, while evil, glance, but they just averted their gazes.
I was thinking, but all of a sudden Ethan nudged me. I looked at him and he pointed to Christian.
"Rose, wanna come with me to get some more food? I need to go get these Turkish delights at the supermarket, and it's right over there," Christian said, pointing two streets behind me.
I gave the rest of my friends at the table a flippant look and said yes to Christian.
"You, stay here and talk to my friends. I shall be back later," I told Ethan, looking smug that he was stuck with the people that I wanted to talk to the least.
As we were walking away, I slung my arm over Christian's shoulder and told him, "Aren't I enough of a Turkish delight? Why do you need to go to the Oriental food market? Also, why in the world do you need to buy Turkish delight? You hate that stuff." When he'd been dating Svetlana, she'd loved these candies, but he'd thrown his out the window...and it had landed on someone's head. Not something that he liked to talk about, because Svet had broken up with him 4 months after they started dating.
Christian started laughing uncontrollably after we were 15 feet from the table, and everyone at our table gave us curious glances...well almost. I felt a surge of jealousy through the bond. Hmm...so she still likes him.
I looked very proud of my joke, and we made out way towards the store. I noticed that while Christian had laughed, he hadn't responded to my question.
When we got back to the table, I noticed that they were all in a deep discussion. As Christian heard what they were talking about, he groaned. I, on the other hand, sat down and said, "You can't do this to everyone." I gave a look at Lissa, Tasha, Dimitri, Adrian, and Viktoria, and continued, "ever since he moved to Russia, he's been obsessed with all things Russian. His room is full of books in Russian history, and you don't even want to know how many girls he's dated since we've been there. I don't know how he dates them, because all he seems to talk about with them is their country. Of course, they love talking about their country since they're all obsessed with Russia. I've actually counted how many girls you've-" I stopped talking once I saw the look Ethan gave me. "Anyways...Dimitri and Viktoria, I recommend you not sit next to him at dinner tonight, unless you want to hear the whole story about Rasputin, because that's what he usually talks about to Russian people he just meets."
Thankfully, they laughed, and Dimitri said, "Thanks for the advice, duly noted."
Regardless of what I'd just said, Ethan continued talking about...were they talking about the Russian Revolution? Good god, he should spend more time with Adrian. So I reached across the table and took Christian's Turkish Delights, and started eating one. When he saw that I'd opened the package, he said, "No don't eat those!" I grinned once I saw his reaction. Of course. They were for Svet. He'd been trying to win her back for months now, but nothing was working. It was only in America that they sold these types of candies, and she hated coming to America.
I gave him a smug glance and said, "I knew it." He just gave me this evil look, while everyone else looked confused.
I just laughed and said, "If he wants to tell you, he will. But I don't think he will. I don't think he wants you guys to know. And I'm gonna shut up now because you're probably too curious and Christian will kill me in my sleep. Anyways I've got to go to a meeting with Hans in...3 minutes and I'm late so I've got to run. Ethan, what are you doing today? I'll probably be with him til 3pm."
"I don't know I think I'll go get a tattoo, go skydiving, or maybe throw a party in my tiny room. What do you think I'll be doing today, Rose?" he said this in a very sarcastic manner.
"Well you already have a tattoo and we did go skydiving when we went on a road trip. And god knows how many parties you've thrown in your house, and in mine as well. with NO permission. So no, I don't know what you'll be doing today, and as long as you don't set anyone on fire or kill them you're good. See you later," I said, grabbing the remainder of my food and running to the guardian offices.
Through the bond I saw that Adrian and Dimitri were in some sort of deep discussion, and Viktoria was chatting with Lissa. Ethan was talking with Christian, who wanted to spend time with him, apparently.
Well this is going to be an interesting day...
