AN: Hey everyone! Here is a longer post then yesterdays, and there may be another coming later tonight but I make no promises! I just wantedto thank everyone for the amazing reviews I've received, I really love hearing from you guys!

Chapter Review: Rose left the party early, Dimitri and Lissa had a short talk about Rose!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or the characters with the exception of Kai! Everything else belongs to Richelle Mead!


"Wake me up if you're about to go out on one of your rampages." Kai joked, his tone light hearted and a grin on his face, but I could see the serious worry in his cobalt eyes. We were standing in the hall outside of my room that I'd been temporarily assigned to in guest housing. We were both still dressed in the fancy attire we'd worn to the party. After I had bolted from the ballroom like a coward, Kai had come looking for me, only to find my standing in the courtyard outside of the church.

I don't know why I had chosen to go there, but it was the only place I wanted to be, it was the only place to seek refuge. Maybe, it was because the courtyard had been a product of my blood, sweat and tears, or because that's where I had spent majority of my last days before departing from court. I didn't know what possessed me to go there, and I didn't really want to know why. The only thing I'm certain of, was when I was rushing away from the ballroom, my legs had somehow brought me to the had found me shortly after, while I was sitting on the base of the marble statues. I wasn't crying and I wasn't angry, I was just numb. At least until Kai pulled me in for a comforting hug with reassuring words, and I found myself wondering what I would ever do without him. Over the years we had become so close, and without him I wouldn't have made it this far. Without him I wouldn't be alive.

"I don't want you going alone, and remember I will know if you go or not." Kai warned, before adding with a laugh. "Besides, with the way you sometimes yell, I bet the rest of court will know too." I just shook my head and rolled my eyes, not in the mood to banter with "rampages" as Kai liked to call them, only occurred when I am under unbearable stress. I usually wake up in the dead of night - if I could even get to sleep to start - and sneak out of the house to do some serious stress relieving activities. Those activities range from throwing/breaking everything and anything I can get my hands on, or exercising until I'm on the verge of night, after a particular bad rampage, Kai had found my with my knuckles split and broken. I had hardly noticed the blood or how lopsided my hand seemed, until Kai practically restrained me, and pulled my away from the punching bag. Luckily, we had been living in Russia at the time, and Oksana had been able to heal my injuries without a problem, but after that Kai refused to let me rampage alone.

"I've only yelled a few times, and I wasn't even that loud." I argued, while crossing my arms across my chest. "Besides, I'll be fine tonight." I assured him, putting in as much patent Rose Hathaway bravado into my words as possible, while Kai just cocked his eyebrows. He could see right through my false assurance, he always could. "But if I go out, I'll let you know" I added.

"Scouts honour. Now go to bed!" I commanded when he still remained unconvinced, and the frustration and anger began to boil within me. I uncrossed my arms and put both hands on his chest, giving a huge shove. But it was no use, he was like a brick wall. We just starred at one another for a moment, willing the other to back down, and once he realized that he wouldn't he broke eye contact. He ran his fingers through his light brown hair, before signing and taking a few steps back.

"Scouts honour, my ass." He mumbled as he retreated down the hallway, in the direction of his own room. "Like they'd ever accept you into girl guides." I just smirked and shook my head, before unlocking my door and stepping inside.

I felt a little guilty for ignoring Kai's request to wake him I was going out. But I justified my decision to let him sleep, by telling myself that Kai was already stressed from moving halfway across the globe. And taking on a new position in the American guardian system, along with following me around all day, he so did not need to be woken up in the middle of the night. Especially not just to baby sit me. I was Rose Hathaway for god's sake, and I am perfectly capable of taking care of is exactly what I was doing when I woke up, pulled on a hoodie and running shorts while snatching my ipod from my luggage, and locking the door to my room. I needed to clear my head before getting sleep, and before dealing with all the challenges I had ahead of me. I needed to slow my swirling emotions, and calm my racing mind.

I plugged in my ipod as I quietly walked through the halls of guest housing, I didn't know where my destination was when I burst through the doors, or what route I was going to take to get there. All I knew was that I was running as hard and as fast as my legs would possibly sun was shinning down on me, glowing brilliantly in the chilly March day. My dark hair flicked behind me, while sweat poured down my face, and my legs burned as I pushed myself even harder. I was trying so hard to run away from my past, from all the thoughts that haunted me for years, and from everything that had finally caught up with me. And in the back of my mind I wondered what it would be like if I stopped running.

I was drenched in sweat when I flopped onto the dewy grass, my legs unable to hold me up any longer. My breathing was heavy and I felt light headed as I starred up at the bright, birthday cake icing, blue sky. My mind continued to race, a million thoughts entering my mind while I quickly shoved them out. I closed my eyes, needing to somehow block out all of my thoughts, as I ripped out my ear buds and focused on the silence of the Pennsylvania spring. I was starting to feel calmer when I heard the sound of a twig breaking, and I jolted up onto my feet, taking a defensive stance as I turned to see the person I was trying so hard to run from.

He was standing there in all his 6 foot 7 glory, his chin length brown hair hanging loose, while his dark brown eyes gazed at me thoughtfully. He was still wearing his guardian uniform - which did a decent job at showing off his muscles - and I wondered if he had even gone home after the party.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice sounding strong and steady, despite all of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. How did he always seem to find me whenever I was trying my hardest to get away from him? How did he always seem to make me feel like such a mess whenever he was around? Why was I always so out of control whenever I caught sight of him?

"I was doing a perimeter check, and I saw you running." His light Russian accent laced his words, making my stomach knot and my knees quiver. "You used to hate running, but when I saw you just now, you seemed to take comfort in it. Almost like it's a release to you." He stated, his honey like voice sounding perplexed, but his face gave nothing away. It was true that I used to complain about running laps, thinking that it would never help me in the future, but now it really was part of my release.

"That was before I had anything to run from." I blurted, adding a shrug in an attempt to remain nonchalant. I didn't want him to know just how much he really effected me, or how much of a hold he still had.

"What could you possibly have to run from Roza?" He asked, and I felt every muscle in my body tense. I had not heard that name in years, and hearing it again - hearing him say it again - in that velvety tone of his, it brought back a plethora of memories that I was trying my hardest to run from. The lust charm. The Spokane rescue. The cabin. Galinda's estate. The of those memories flitted through my brain, reminding me just how much he used to care and adore me. It was also a agonizing reminder of how he stopped loving me. Of how he couldn't love me.

"Don't." I spoke, my voice sounding oddly calm despite all my inner turmoil. I made sure to keep my face blank and to clench my shaking jaw, I didn't want to give away any of the emotions that were erupting inside of me. I couldn't let him see just how broken I still was, or any of the wreckage he left behind all those years ago in the church.

"Do not call me that. My name is Rose or Guardian Hathaway. I do not care which you use, but do not call me that." My voice was low and deadly, with an icy edge that made his eyebrows raise, while he scrutinized me. I knew instantly that he was trying to read me - to see what I was feeling and thinking - in the past he could read me like an open book, and I wondered if he still had that ability I hoped that he couldn't read me. I didn't want him to know what I was thinking and feeling, I didn't want him knowing just how badly I was damaged. I didn't want him knowing that his words still effected me - that he still effected me. But there was a tiny part of me that was praying he could still read me. Because if he could, then maybe it meant we still shared a connection. That there was still a fragment of what we used to have left. I quickly tried to squash that hope.

He hesitated a moment before opening his mouth to answer, and I held my breath in anticipation. Unsure of what he was going to say, but knowing what I desperately wanted to hear. It may make me a fool or pathetic to still hold out hope, but I knew that I always would. There would always be a part of me that will never stop hoping, and loving him.

"Rose!" Someone shouted, cutting off whatever Dimitri was going to say, and I craned my neck to see Kai jogging towards me. Part of me was relieved to see him, knowing that he would save me from this potential catastrophic conversation with Dimitri. But another part was completely pissed off, because he was interrupting this conversation with Dimitri. I sighed, I seriously need to get control over my raging emotions. Kai approached us and I watched as he assed this situation at hand, before deciding how to proceed. He quickly stepped beside me, wrapping his arm around my waist and looked Dimitri dead in the eye. Kai knew everything about what happened between me and Dimitri, even the details I didn't want to share, and he also saw the entire recovery process that took/is taking place. And obviously Kai came to the conclusion that this was the infamous Russian.

"Kai Peters." He introduced himself, extending his hand out toward Dimitri, who had snapped his guardian mask into place. Dimitri starred at Kai's hand, I knew that the old Dimitri would never be rude and decline the gesture, even when he was at his angriest Dimitri kept a calm façade. Besides, this wasn't just any type of gesture, it was a challenge, and Dimitri rarely backed down from a challenge. So it wasn't a surprise to me when Dimitri grasped Kai's hand, and shook it firmly.

"Dimitri Belikov." He nodded, his dark eyes boring into me. I felt myself mechanically taking a step away from Kai, breaking his hold around my waist. It reminded me of the time when Mason and I had been walking to a dance at St. Vladimir's, and we'd run into Alberta and Dimitri. Mason had been gripping my hand, to make sure that I didn't fall on the icy terrain, and I had removed my hand when I saw Dimitri. I didn't want him to get the wrong impression. Was I doing the same thing now?

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I really need to speak to Rose." Kai forced a smile, his attempt at appearing easy-going, but I could see that he was retraining himself from doing something stupid. He had saw just how badly Dimitri had hurt me, and he stood by me throughout t all of my meltdowns and rampages. He had helped pick up the pieces that had shattered when Dimitri rejected me, and I knew that he wanted nothing more than to hurt Dimitri. He wanted Dimitri to feel some of the pain that I had felt over the years, but he was holding back and playing ignorant.

Kai reached for my hand but I snatched it away, feeling annoyed by his actions. I knew that he had my best interests at heart, and he was only trying to do what he thought was best, but my stubborn Rose Hathaway self wanted to prove to everyone that I was capable of taking care of myself, because it seemed that no one thought I could. I didn't need either men in my life to help me.

"Actually, I think whatever you have to say can wait. Both of you." I looked back and forth between them, but plucking my ipod off where it fell when Dimitri startled me, and plugged the headphones back in. "I'm going to finish my run." I announced as I began to sprint away from the pair, feeling my legs groan in pain while I forced myself to keep going, not bothering to look back.