Thank you all for reviewing :) I love you heaps. I might not update this weekend but I might...depends if I'm feeling better(doesn't it suck to be sick?)

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I stretched and yawned after we got out of the plane, only to find that we were about to be greeted by Dimitri and Tasha. I sighed and looked around; Court is located in Pennsylvania, near the Pocono Mountains. We were far from any major cities. It was snowing, but not as much as it was back in Montana.

"What's wrong?" Adrian looked curiously at me.

"Can't you see what's wrong" I groaned and nodded towards Dimitri and Tasha.

"Oh... right, sorry"

"You have nothing to be sorry about. God, they just had to ruin my day" I sulked and stepped on a pile of snow.

"I have a few ideas in mind to brighten up your day" he smirked perversely.

"And what makes you think I'll agree?" I giggled and hurried to Lissa's side.

"You nervous, Liss?" I checked up on her.

"Sort of… What if he gets away with what he did to me…to all of us" her voice broke at the end, tears were forming in her eyes. I stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"I won't let anything happen to you" she nodded and smiled a little.

"We won't let anything happen to you" Eddie added, with his arms wrapped around Mia and Christian who were nodding.

"Welcome to Court, hope you enjoy your stay here" Tasha and Dimitri greeted, hand in hand. No one replied. "They should start advertising in commercials" I whispered to Adrian and we snickered amongst ourselves.

"Thank you, Aunt Tasha, Belikov. I'm sure we will when Victor is put behind bars" surprisingly it was Christian who spoke.

"If he does" Dimitri corrected.

"Which he will" I countered and glared at him. He opened his mouth to speak but Adrian grabbed my hand and we continued walking into the main building.

"Well, let's take you to your rooms, I'm sure you're all tired" Tasha said and broke the tense moment.

"You ok?" Adrian shot a worried look at me. "For a moment, your aura just… wow" he took a step back to study me.

"Well I'm glad I amuse you, Lord Ivashkov." I bowed respectfully, to tease him.

"You do a lot more than amuse me, Guardian Hathaway" he grinned lazily.

"I'm not a Guardian" I muttered.

"Yet…" he added with a playful smile.

"I'll be at my room if you need me" I waved goodbye to him but his hand caught my wrist.

"Maybe you should stay with me, since you're guarding me for the next 4 weeks, I might need some protecting" he looked at Lissa for approval and she nodded excitedly. I swear she'll be the death of me one day.

"Ugh… fine" I rolled my eyes.

"I feel unloved" Adrian pouted.

"Good" I teased.

Some servants took our bags to our room, I sank into the soft king sized bed in the bedroom. The bed sheets were white, the pillow cases and blankets were a black and silver, I felt Adrian sit next to me and I looked up.

"Don't get too comfortable just yet, we have an hour to freshen up then we got to go show ourselves around, then there's dinner" he said in a disappointed tone.

I grabbed my overnight bag and my mind went blank.

"What sort of clothes are we suppose to wear?" I looked around for Adrian.

"Please don't wear those awful outfits Guardians wear and keep your hair down" he made a face. "Just dress to impress and you're good" he finished.

I laughed. "Well I don't have anything, since Lissa practically dragged me out the door after I woke up"

"Guess I'll have to get you something custom made" he ran a hand through his hair. He took his mobile out of his pocket and dialed a number then started describing to the person on the other end about what he wanted.

"Custom made? As if you can get something made in an hour" I gasped.

"There's a really good custom made tailor here but they can't make you something in an hour so I bought you something" he sounded pleased with himself.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. A maid walked in with a garment bag and a box. Adrian thanked her and unzipped the bag. There was a long sleeved grey striped sweater dress and a pair of black lace stockings, in the box was a pair of black stilettos.

I jumped in the shower after I got the temperature right, the warm water soothed my tired muscles. I hopped out of the shower and put on my outfit, I looked in the mirror and I decide to put on some mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow.

Someone knocked. "Are you done yet? I've got to shower too you know"

"I'm done" I giggled, I reached for the door but it swung open before I could reach it. I stumbled forwards and Adrian caught me. "Sorry bout that, Little Dhampir" I straighten up and he got checked me out from head to toe.

"Stunning as always" he leaned in for a kiss and I stuck my hand on his mouth and pushed him away which he laughed lightly at. He took my hand and kissed it softly before disappearing into the bathroom.

I sat on the bed waiting for Adrian to get out, I checked my mobile and saw a text message and a missed call from Lissa.

The Queen wants to talk to me, help? What do I wear? Can you go with me through the bond?

xx,
liss.

I texted back and rested on the bed, I felt myself slip into Lissa's mind. She was already in the middle of a conversation with Queen Tatiana. I felt her phone vibrate, it was probably the text I just sent her.

"I look forward to meeting your friend, Rose Hathaway, and I trust you'll consider my offer" A wry look swept across her face.

"I won't be joining you for dinner tonight. But I'll see you at the trial tomorrow." She sipped some of her tea then excused herself.

After the Queen left Lissa and the Queen's advisor/best friend, Priscilla, walked her out of the room. Lissa ran into Adrian. Wait what? Adrian? I slipped back into my mind and scanned the room.

The bathroom door was opened, meaning Adrian wasn't in there anymore.

I stepped out of our room and went to look for the others. A few Royals were inconspicuously checking me out, which was fine by me since I was used to all the attention.

I ran into Eddie. "Hey, shouldn't you be with Lissa?" I raised an eyebrow.

"They didn't let me in when Lissa was invited to tea with the Queen" he rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I'm on my way to tea at this café, Christian and Mia's already there" he pulled me along with him. "So... what's up" I started the conversation.

"My dad is planning to work here, so I'm starting school here next week" Mia said silently. "What?" my voice broke, even though I've only known Mia for like 4 weeks and we've hated her for a whole year. It still saddened me to see her leave us.

"What about Eddie?" I stood up and looked between them.

"We'll try out long-distance relationship" Eddie said with a supportive smile and Mia's hand was in his on the table. Lissa came into the café with Adrian laughing as she staggered onto Christian's lap.

"Are you drunk?" Christian asked harshly.

"No... I'm not what are you on about? I only had like 2 drinks… I think?" she looked at her fingers and started counting.

"Adrian, what were you thinking? Getting Lissa drunk at broad daylight" Christian yelled. I hate it whenever he gets edgy.

"Hey, she was the one who kept ordering more rounds" Adrian shot back.

"Hey, back off" I stood between them. Adrian's posture relaxed and Christian was at the edge of losing it.

"Stop fighting because of me, nothing is going on between me and Adrian!" Lissa said furiously.

"You guys sort your shit out, my friends and I are going out" Adrian took his pack of cigarettes out then waved bye to us. Suddenly I was furious, Lissa's temper was affecting me, more like passing on to me.

"Christian, stop fuckin assuming shit, you need to learn to trust her a little more, Lissa you need to take a deep breathe and have this conversation when you're sober enough. Just make up ok?" I looked back and fourth between the both of them, and they nodded sympathetically.

"I'm sorry" Lissa started crying and she ran into Christian's arms.

"I'm sorry too, hun" he said in a loving tone, I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Well that was quick. No 'thank you Rose for solving our shit every time Christian throws a bitch fit'. I still felt pissed, I decided some fresh air might help with my situation.

"Oh my god, I'm out of here" I was suddenly raging. I stepped out of the café into a cloud of smoke, clove cigarettes.

"What're you doing out here?" Adrian was leaning against the brick wall, he tilted his head to look at me. He looked so sexy, I always knew Adrian was handsome but this was seriously hot.

"I don't know, I just lost my temper in there, so I came out for some fresh air and to have a chat with you" I flashed my man-eating smile at him.

"I'm flattered, little Dhampir. Can I suggest a few other things we could do?" he smiles his charming smile back.

"I still can't believe you really got us here"

"Guess you should've listened to my family history"

"I already know how great the Ivashkovs are" I rolled my eyes.

"You fail to notice that my great aunt was the Queen? I thought you would've you're your homework by studying through my profile" he pretended to be shocked.

"Not to mention, I'm her favourite" he grinned childishly.

"Don't go thinking that that would make me treat you exclusively" I put my hands on my hips and he laughed his warm hearty laugh.

"But still, thank you, Adrian" I smiled sweetly to him. He put an arm on my back and pulled me towards him and hugged me cozily. "That's 2 thank yous in a day" he muttered into my hair.

I breathe in his intoxicating scent, it was nicer than Dimitri's aftershave. He had a strange scent, it was a mix of cloves, alcohol and his own scent. His natural scent was nicer, since I don't really approve the cigarettes and all that alcohol.

"You really shouldn't drink or smoke this much" I mumbled into his chest. "It keeps me sane" he replied.

"Why can't you do it the safe way like Lissa, if you keep this up, your liver will be fucked soon and you'll most likely die by the time you're 30" I said, annoyed at him.

"Lovely to know that you care so much about my health, little Dhampir" he pulled back slightly to get a good view of my face.

"Adrian, anyone sane enough would tell you to stop, seriously do you even think ab-" I was getting more upset by the second but he shut me up with a kiss. It was tender and warm at first then it deepened, full of compassion and affection.

I heard the door open and heard some gasps, Adrian groaned and we pulled apart. "Are you guys like dating yet?" Lissa asked, intrigued by what just happened. Christian scowled. Well she became sober enough in no time...

"Who cares? Half the school already thinks Rose is pregnant with Adrian's lovechild" Eddie and Mia howled in laughter.

"I never thought I'd say this but, I'm really going to miss you." I hugged Mia and she was stunned for a second then she hugged back.

"Group hug?" Lissa shrieked joyfully and wrapped her arms around us, followed by everyone else.

"If only things could stay like this forever" I whispered. "Mmm" Lissa sighed in agreement. We had a couple of hours before dinner, so the guys went off to play some videogames while we went off for a full spa and beauty treatment. Mia, Liss and I wrapped towels around ourselves and relaxed on massaging tables as masseuses massaged our worn-out bodies.

"So what's going on with Adrian?" Lissa muttered beside me.

"I don't know, it's complicated" I answered back.

"How so?" Mia asked.

"Well, we're sort of like really close friends and I'm not ready to take the next step" I winced when the masseuse massaged the wrong spot.

"Why not?" I heard Lissa sitting up.

"I don't know, I don't think I'm ready yet, I'm still hurting over what Dimitri did. I'm might not be over him." I blurted out, I forgot the fact that no one knew except Adrian.

"What?" Mia and Lissa yelped in sync.

"Shit… I forgot only Adrian knew"

"Why does Adrian know about this and not me? Aren't I your best friend?" Lissa sounded hurt. I wanted to say sometimes it's better to not know about stuff but she's right, she's my best friend and I've been keeping secrets from her, secrets that Adrian, who's only been my friend for like 2 months knows about.

"Coz he figured it out…" I sat up and masseuses left to give us some privacy.

Mia stared blankly at me and looked at Lissa. I gave them a short explanation of whatever happened between me and Dimitri, Lissa didn't like that masquerade bit.

"Besides a relationship with Adrian would mean a lot of drama, controversy, prejudiced royals." I sighed and rested my face in my palms.

"If the legends are true, something good might come from your bad luck at the masquerade" she giggled.

"Would Adrian count as something good?" Mia whooped.

"Hey! He's not some prize to claim" I exclaimed. "He's…" I started but stopped.

"He's?" Lissa and Mia moved closer to listen, their eyes shone with interest.

"He's...more than that he's special" I repeated Adrian's words from this afternoon and felt my cheeks burn so I looked away. What the hell am I turning in to? I'm becoming one of those girls in cheesy romantic movies. God damn it, Adrian Ivashkov, I think I'm going crazy over you at the moment but I'm too embarrassed to admit it.

"Are you going to tell him?" Mia smiled knowingly.

"About?" I turned to look at her.

"How you feel about him!" Lissa cried.

"N-n-no! I don't know! This is Adrian Ivashkov we're talking about" I stared in surprise.

"Adrian Ivashkov who is totally head over heels for you who's also ready and willing to commit to that one girl named Rose Hathaway" Mia's skin was gleaming from the spa and massage we'd just gotten.

"Like Mia just said, it's Adrian Ivashkov, the big womanizer, how many girls do you find him chasing for a serious relationship? I don't recall him ever being in one." Lissa added, I felt guilty, Adrian's been so nice to me, and he's been waiting for me ever after he knew about Dimitri.

"Hasn't he been there for you during all your rough days?"

I nodded weakly.

"Which is why you should give him a chance" she slapped me on the arm.

"I don't know, we'll just see how things go tonight at dinner" we made our way to the hair stylists to get a mani/pedi and our hair done. Lissa got her nails painted blood red, Mia got light pink and I got mine painted a dark maroon colour.

We went separate ways after our spa trip, I was walking down the hallway to our room when I heard footsteps approaching.

"Little Dhampir" Adrian caught up with me and kissed me on the cheek, we walked slowly to our room hand in hand.

End of Chapter 8


Sum 41 - With Me

I don't want this moment to ever end
Where everything's nothing without you
I'll wait here forever just to, to see you smile
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you

Through it all, I made my mistakes
I stumble and fall, but I mean these words

I want you to know
With everything I won't let this go, these words are my heart and soul
I'll hold on to this moment you know, 'cause I'll bleed my heart out to show
That I won't let go

Thoughts read unspoken, forever in doubt
Pieces of memories fall to the ground
I know what I didn't have so, I won't let this go
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you


I really like this song, it's so good. Don't really have much to say, I can barely think straight and I keep forgetting stuff, yes I am sick.. got a fever and a killer headache but I updated for you, my amazing readers.

Spread the love,
lou.