EQUILIBRIUM

August, 2010

Follow up from the previous chapters.

Rating- General

First Person POV- Rose


"You kissed her?" I was trying not to be annoyed, but honestly, I no longer had a shred of warmth in me toward Tasha Ozera.

Across the table from me, Dimitri simply raised an eyebrow. I was still jealous that I couldn't do that. "Once, and I felt horrible for doing it. I've never questioned you about the men you've kissed; have I?"

"No." I grumbled.

A bit nervous, he actually decided to ask it. "How many have you kissed?"

I glared at him briefly before chewing my lip in consideration. I have no idea how many people I've kissed. "I don't know, a lot."

"Then why does me kissing her one time bother you so much? You and I weren't involved at that time. She hadn't framed you for murder at that time. After she and I said our goodbyes at the academy, the next time I saw Tasha was when she shot you. You have nothing to be jealous of."

I sighed. I hated when he was reasonable. Plus, I had made out with Mason at the ski lodge, and had told Dimitri to go be with Tasha. Not to mention dating Adrian. I was being a hypocrite. "I know."

"I didn't feel anything for her, or for most women I have kissed."

"How many have you kissed, comrade?" I teased.

He shrugged. "I don't know, not many."

"Really? I always thought with your looks that you would have kissed a lot of girls."

He laughed. "Luda and I were involved from the time we were fourteen. We played some teenage kissing games at school with others, a few times, but were usually we were only with each other. After that, there were some girls at parties who Ivan would push onto me. No one was interesting to me, not until I found you."

I smiled at him. How was it that he was such an impossibly good guy? "You are such a gentleman."

"I'm guessing that your record is not as innocent."

I snorted. "You do remember catching me with my shirt off in a lounge right? And I do remember you mentioning something about my reputation..." He looked a bit guilty, so I laughed and told him about my adventures.

"I started kissing boys when I was twelve. This one time when I was fifteen, most of my class of novices gathered in one of the lounges to play spin the bottle. There were seven girl novices my freshman year. The other four left junior year after they didn't pass the qualifier. So there were fourteen of us playing at a time."

"You played spin the bottle with your novice class?"

"Yep." I fondly recalled that game. I managed to kiss most of my novice class that evening. "I kissed Eddie that night, and it was super awkward."

"You kissed Eddie?" The shock on his face was priceless.

Laughing, I put my hand on his. "Comrade, I hate to break it to you, but I am fairly certain that I kissed everyone in my graduating novice class."

It took Dimitri a few moments to register the implications of my words. "All of them?"

I flipped through the names and faces in my mind. "Yep." I rolled my eyes at his shock. "We were a bunch of kids who lived together practically year round from the time we were little, it was bound to happen."

He thought that through before he reached another conclusion. "You kissed your entire graduating class before you ran away from school with Lissa didn't you?"

I nodded slowly as I sipped my chai. That's when Dimitri reached voiced a final thought on the matter. "You actually mean all of them, don't you?"

With a shrug I stood and walked to him, wrapping my arms around him as he sat at the table. I leaned close to his ear. "Yes, including the girls."

He shook his head before kissing my cheek. "Oh Roza, sometimes I wonder about you."

"Mmm," I murmured against his neck. "What can I say, I was a very curious teenager."

He ran his fingers along my arms, which were wrapped around his shoulders. "You're still a teenager."

"Yes, but now my curiosity is all focused on you."

He shifted and pulled me onto his lap. "Glad to hear it." He kissed me, and I melted against him, wrapping my arms around him.

A knock on the door interrupted our kissing. I groaned. "I don't want to open it." He laughed, pressing a soft kiss to my lips before making me stand up.

I opened the door to the sight of my parents. I glared at them both. "You can't kidnap him again."

Both of my parents grinned. "We actually want to take both of you out to lunch." My mom said.

I glanced back at Dimitri and shrugged. "Food?"

"That would be nice." He said.

I turned back to my parents. "Did you want to go now?" They did.

Since Dimitri and I were dressed, and our shifts weren't until later in the day, all we needed to do was put on our shoes and leave. They took us to the nicest restaurant at court. I had only been there once, as one of Lissa's guardians when she dined with Princess Arianna Szelsky. The food had looked and smelled nice, but I hadn't been able to eat anything.

This time, I did eat. The food was good, really good. If I hadn't been so distracted by food and being annoyed at my parents, I might have realized that there was an ulterior motive behind their desire to dine with us. It took until dessert for me to realize that my mom's presence at court, a few weeks after the elections, was unusual.

"Mom, not that I don't enjoy seeing you, but shouldn't you be in Europe or Asia?"

An amazing thing happened, a slight flush spread across my mother's cheeks. "I have a new assignment."

I narrowed my eyes, something in her tone made me suspicious. "Did you get punished for helping me?"

She laughed, a short and amused laugh. "No. I requested the change of assignment."

That's when she looked at my father and he grinned. Oh... oh no... "No... you're not..." My parents chuckled at my distress. So did Dimitri. I glared at him. "You knew?"

His smile turned sheepish. "I had my suspicions yesterday."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It's not my place to tell you my suspicions about other people's lives, especially when those people are your parents."

I groaned and returned my glare to my parents. "So are you two... together?" Ugh, I didn't want to think about that.

My father looked at my mother, clearly unwilling to speak for her.

My mother just rolled her eyes. "I am your father's assigned guardian. As you know, he has many... employed dhampirs, but I am his only official guardian. After everything you have been through this past year, and after nearly losing you, we both decided that we wanted to be in your life more often. The easiest way that I can ensure my availability when you need me is to be with your father."

I bit back comments about how she hadn't been there in the past when I needed her, because she had been there for me consistently this past year. I had wanted her in my life as I was growing up, but I hadn't truly needed her until more recent events had turned my life upside down. I breathed deep, pushing away my resentment. I had been treated no differently growing up than any other dhampir. Actually, I had been treated better than most, by Lissa's parents. I pushed thoughts of the Dragomirs away too, I had more important things in front of me.

"Okay... but I can see that something more is going on."

This time, my mother looked pointedly at my father, forcing him to speak on the matter.

"Your mother and I are still working through the details."

I glared at him. "Seriously?" I turned to my mother. "You're considering actually being with him?"

"Rose, you have no idea what has transpired between your father and I, in the past or recently." She was exasperated, with me.

"I know he wasn't around and that he flirts with every woman he meets." I'm pretty sure my words sounded like I was a sulking child, but I didn't much care.

"The things your father was involved with were far too dangerous for him to be associated with a long term relationship or with a child."

My father elaborated upon my mother's succinct response. "When your mother and I first became acquainted, neither of us were expecting to develop a long term commitment. I knew that my business was dangerous and that I would never be in one place for very long."

Something softened in his expression as he talked, specifically as he looked over at my mother. "Your mother and I ran into one another several times, and I knew that I would never meet another woman like her. You wouldn't believe how many times she turned me down, or how hard it was for us for us to separate when we knew you were on the way. But, I had enemies who would have done unspeakable things to you if they had known I had a child."

My mother continued when my father fell silent. "I told my charge and the guardian council that I was pregnant and told no one who the father was. They reassigned me to court, and this is where you were raised until I sent you to school as a four year old. Your father visited you once, for your first Christmas."

A broad grin spread across Abe's face. "Ah, what a baby you were- adorable, charming, incredibly stubborn. I heard that every guardian at court adored you. Of course, with parents like you have, it was inevitable."

I groaned. Dimitri, who had been silent for a very long time, actually seemed amused. "When you met me again, why didn't you say who you were? Why did you just stalk, tease, and threaten me?"

Abe seemed pleased with himself. "I figured that you would be less likely to listen to me if you knew who I was. I also searched for you during your time on the run with Vasilisa. It seems that Sydney Sage did a better job at finding you than I."

The mention of Sydney distracted me from my parents. I had heard nothing about Sydney since she and the other Alchemists had been released from their hotel prison. "How is she? Do you know anything?"

Abe's smile fell. "She's with the Alchemists. I don't know anything else."

I sighed. "I hope that I didn't get her in any trouble." I looked back at Abe. "You shouldn't have involved her."

"She agreed to it," he replied.

"With how much coercion?" He simply shrugged. I looked back at my mom. "And you seriously don't mind how shady he is?"

"Rose," she chastised. "Be more respectful of your father. His business activities aren't as illicit as you seem to believe they are."

I swear that Dimitri scoffed, very quietly, but hid it with a sip of his drink.

I groaned. "Fine, I give up." I gave my father my hardest stare. "You better treat her well. I swear, if you hurt her, you'll regret it."

"Rose!" My mother's tone was shocked and scolding.

My father simply gave a nod of his head, very serious and solemn. "I promise that I will not hurt your mother."

I held his gaze for a long time before giving him a short nod.

Conversation was weird after that, but we eventually talked about other subjects. Even on my shift, later that day, it was difficult to get my mind off the fact that my parents were sort of in a relationship. They had broken apart to keep me safe and were now together again because they wanted to be in my life more often.

When my parents left two days later, they hugged Dimitri and I goodbye. I would miss both of them, but knew that they would return to me. As they prepared to drive away, I saw my father lean over and press a kiss to my mom's temple. It was the most affectionate gesture I had ever seen him make. It left me utterly speechless.

My life was too weird. I felt like my life was out of balance. I looked over at Dimitri. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, amused by my bewilderment. He was my balance, I realized, my anchor. So long as I had him, I could find my equilibrium.


AN:

Thank you all for your lovely comments on the story so far! :)