Hello Guyz!

Firstly thank you soo much for your reviews. They always bring a smile on my face

Secondly, I do not own the characters of this fanfiction. Richelle Mead is the brilliant mastermind behind the characters :P

I hope that you enjoy xXx

Chapter 12:

Adrian's POV:

My face fell because I wasn't partnered with Lissa, but I wasn't going to let that small set back keep me from enjoying art classes. The thought of my father knowing that I was in college to take art classes was painful. He would expect me to do something like law or business. Like I was made to do either of those things. The mere idea seemed absurd.

I looked up to see my partner whose name was Sydney Sage. Hmm. Sage… I liked it. I smiled at her, and directed her to the seats that Miss had picked for us. I sat down next to her, and took her in. She had shoulder length blond hair and molted golden eyes. She was way too thin for her own good, but that wasn't what caught me off guard. She had a golden tattoo of some sort of flower on her left cheek. She was dressed in clothes that my grandma wouldn't be seen in. I chuckled at the thought of Gran Tatiana were something so underrated. She noticed my amusement, but made not comment or mouth any response to my weirdness. She didn't look like she was about to start a conversation, so I decided I might as well get along with the girl I was meant to work with for the rest of the semester.

"Hi, I'm Adrian Ivashkov" I said looking at her as I extended my hand to meet hers. She slowly turned her head around looking shocked that I had talked to her. He features softened a little bit and she shook my hand.

"Sydney… Sydney Sage" she said with a genuinely sweet voice. It sounded like the most inexperienced voice on the planet. She looked very sheltered, from the look of her clothes, and suddenly I respected her. I saw her hand grow uncomfortable in mine as our handshake lingered. She let go of my hand and tucked some hair that was falling on her face, behind her ear revealing more of the golden tattoo.

"Hey that's a cool tattoo," I noted as I saw the twisted nature of the flowery design. She was obviously still flustered by the fact that I was talking to her, because it took her a few moments to realize that when someone asked her a question, she needed to answer it. I smiled at her shy nature, which was in such contrast to that of Rose's. I was used to being around self-confident girls. This was too new for me.

I couldn't imagine pulling one of my pick-up lines on this girl. She looked so innocent and sweet. I wouldn't have because of Rose, but I couldn't treat Sydney the way I did all girls. She had a pure kind of energy escaping her. I felt surrounded by it.

"Thank you, I really like art, and when I saw it I had to have it." She said with an kind smile. Most people with tattoos looked hardcore, but with Sydney it brought out more of that sweetness that was shining from her. I shook my head. Why was I Adrian Ivashkov, a player being serious about not pulling a pick-up line on a girl? I had no clue, but I wasn't even in the mood to think about that stuff.

"What is it exactly?" I asked curiously eyeing her inked cheek.

"Oh it's a Golden Lily, they are my favorite flowers. Well you see they call them golden back where I'm from, because they look golden in the summer light. They aren't literally golden." She explained. When she was done explaining she grew quiet again. I could tell that she felt like she had said too much. I didn't mind at all. It was nice to have someone say something to me like I understood it all. Most people usually dumbed themselves down for me to understand something, and neglected to think that I can actually understand some of the things they were talking about.

"That's really cool… umm where exactly is back home for you?" I asked hoping to keep the conversation alive. She noticed that I was trying to keep the conversation from dying out, and smiled. I had been the one asking questions, and her the one answering them.

"I'm from America, born and bread," she said with pride. "Where are you from? Ivashkov that's Russian right?" she guessed tilting her head slightly to the right with a questioning gaze. I smiled at her luck.

"Yeah I'm Serbian, but I grew up in Turkey, because my mother is Turkish and my dad Serbian." I answered glad to be able to answer one of her questions. Her eyes grew with wonder, and started to answer, but was cut but the voice of the teacher.

"Alright now, I want you guys to make an A3 representation of the feeling of love," said Missy Miss. I smiled at that, because it was so simple. All I had to do was think about my Rose. My lovely desert beauty. I looked over at Sydney expecting her to be as enthused about the assignment as I was, but I saw her sigh and look out the window, avoiding my gaze. I thought a bit about why that might be. The answer was so simple. She was shy, and innocent how could she have been in love if she looked like such a sheltered girl?

"Sydney? Are you alright?" I asked unsure of how to respond to her shyness.

"Hmm? Oh right, yeah I'm fine Adrian I'm just wondering how I must execute such a task… I have never felt this emotion and so cannot represent it" she said absent mindedly. It was like I wasn't the focus of her conversation; she was talking to herself thoughtfully.

"I can help with that, but have you never felt love? For anyone? Not even your parents?" I asked dying to know how that was humanly possible. I had loved people all my life. Sure I hated my dad most of the time, but he was my dad so I loved him. And not to mention my Little Red. The thought of her beautiful curly hair made my heart warm.

"No. I don't have parents… so I can't exactly love them you see" she said matter-of-factly. I did a double take. How could she speak like that?

"Wait you're an orphan?" I asked incredulously. My eyes were wide now, and I didn't know what to think. Sure I fought with my parents all the time, and most of the time I wished I didn't have them, but to actually be alone in the world was a thought too scary to imagine.

"Well I've live with a foster dad all my life, but he was a drug and alcohol addict. The authorities didn't think it was a suitable home when they found out, and so they transferred me to St. Vladimir's Academy. It's a stay-in school." She said explaining her situation to make it less awful than it sounded, but she wasn't doing a good job. I felt terrible that I never appreciated the people in my life, and here was Sydney… orphaned and alone.

"Umm Adrian? Don't feel bad for me got it? I don't know what it's like to have a family, and so I'm not missing anything I have ever experienced. This has been my life since I was born, and I like that I'm an independent person." She said with a smile on her face. I decided to let the topic slide on a whole. She was right of course, how I could I feel bad for someone who had never felt the feeling of belonging to a family? But that on a whole gave me that much more respect for her. She had raised herself.

"Right… So I can help you with the assignment," I said smiling at her. I for the first time in my life felt like I was being useful. "Love is basically the most beautiful feeling that a person can feel, but it's also the most dangerous. Love… means that you give into your feelings at the risk of your heart being shattered into a million pieces…" I was thinking about Rose now, and how I was always scared that she would come to her senses, and leave me for Belikov. "You care more for the other than you ever could for yourself. Gravity no longer holds you to the ground, you're love does" I said barely a whisper. I looked up to find a confused Sydney staring at me.

"Isn't that a little overdramatic? I mean I don't know much, but isn't it just when you like someone who likes you back?" she asked innocently. Her way of thinking was so logical. No soul, but purely simplistic, and compartmentalized into what she saw of the world.

"No… it's not. Love can be felt even if the person you like doesn't like you back" I explained. Sydney was listening intently as if not to miss a single word I said. Had I said this to anyone else, they would have thought that I was trying to get their attention, but Sydney was completely oblivious. I wasn't saying it to get her attention, but I knew that I could have only said this to her, and have her know that it was purely educational.

"Okay… so you said earlier that love is beautiful, but also dangerous. So why don't we make a kind of gradient with the two on the piece? Like one side is roses and light and that blends into the other side which is darkness and danger?" she asked thoughtfully. I had to admit that was an amazing idea. Most people would look at the beauty aspect of love, and ignore the hurt that came with it. It was so simple…

"That is an amazing idea," I smiled and started taking notes on my blank piece of paper. I saw her do the same, but I could tell she wasn't sketching the outcome.

"Something like this," she said lifting her page. There was a heart in the center, one side was labeled black, and the other side was labeled pink or red. She had drawn curvy designs on the black side to make it love, and on the red or pink side she had made haunted and spooky looking designs. It was purely abstract if you ignored the heart in the center.

"Yes, that's perfect," I whispered. It wasn't even in color yet, but the painting evoked a strong feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was both beautiful, and dark. Sad, and happy. It was… Love…

Rose POV:

I couldn't stay in bed all day… it was just not what I did. No matter how down I was about the whole Mason thing. I didn't even get it. Wasn't the point of an arranged marriage for us not to know each other? I didn't even think that I could go on with it anymore. I hadn't told Adrian the whole conversation of that day when my father had hurt me. If I had he would have never gone out with me.

His sense of responsibility was blurred, but when it came to my honor, he needed to protect it. If it got out that I was seeing Adrian, I would probably never be suitable for any decent Turkish man to marry. My thoughts involuntarily shifted to Dimitri.

It had been two months since he was trying to get me to forgive him. In my heart I had forgiven him, but I couldn't show it. I just couldn't do it. It would mean that he would be around more, and closer to me… something I had been avoiding for the last two months. Why was my life so complicated? Why couldn't I be like Lissa? She had Aaron, the perfect boyfriend, and absolutely no problem other than long distance, which was easily resolved.

I have never been alone… but I can't help but feel lonesome some times. I can never talk to Adrian as freely as I used to. Lissa is a great friend, but how can I tell her that I have been with Adrian this long not just because I loved him, but because I felt like I owed it to him. I laid back on my bed and thought long and hard about what I was going to do.

I knew the answer of course… I had to end it with Adrian… but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had told Lissa about Mason, but I hadn't told her how serious it was. She assumed that I could get out of it easily, but I knew I couldn't. I had made a promise, and I never went back on my word.

I heard a nock on the door. If it had been Lissa she would have come in. she had her own pair of keys. I got up and opened the door. The face I saw was the one I had been avoiding the last few months.

"Dimitri," I forced a smile. "What are you doing here?" I asked thoroughly confused. He smiled at me and handed me a package. It had my name written on it.

"For you," he said with a glint of amusement in his voice. "You know I'm shocked that you decided to miss todays dance lesson of all days." He explained. It took a few minutes for me to remember that today was the day that my dance outfit was being delivered. I had been waiting for this since I went to the school's personal tailor.

"Is this what I think it is?" I asked smiling widely. I had forgotten about my pact to being hard to get around Dimitri, but he made me lose myself. His smile widened and he opened the box. From it he pulled out a beautiful deep red dress. It was sleeveless and had a low V-neck. The top was fitted and from the waist down was put into a different length flowy skirt. It had been made for me… literally.

"Absolutely," said Dimitri, knowingness could be detected in his voice. He had been my dance partner for the dance class, and had put up with my constant whining. Without any hesitation I grabbed the dress from his hands and headed straight for the bathroom. I put the dress on, and a pair of black knee length tights under. I grabbed the rose barrette that Lissa had given me, and took a chunk of hair and used it to clip it back. I was going to leave the bathroom, but then realized that some make-up wouldn't hurt. I made cat eyed smoky eyes, and put some red lip-gloss on my lips. When I was satisfied I put on my black dancing heels and came out of the bathroom.

When Dimitri saw me he did a double take. "Wow Rose, that looks really nice on you" he said admiringly. I smiled a little, because I knew that the dress had all the necessary clinging action to it. Suddenly I realized that this had been a very bad idea. I knew that I looked good, but I had never seen Dimitri this way. His eyes traversed my body expressionless. I sighed slightly. I knew that I had a killer affect of regular guys, but Dimitri was immune to it. It had always been so.

"How about we test you dancing skills in this dress?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Where? This room is too small," I said laughing a little. I had told him that once I got my dress, I would be a much better dancer. He had made fun of me for it, but I could tell that he truly wanted to test my psychological theory.

"Follow me," he said simply. He made his way out of my dorm room and to the stairs. Instead of going downstairs, he headed up to the top. I followed, but wondered where we were going.

When we made it to the top of the stairs, a few steps were slippery, and so Dimitri help his hand out to me so that he could help me up. I let him, because I was scared I would break my stilettos.

The sight that I saw when I came out was… beautiful. It was the roof of the dorm, but it was covered in colorful flowers. I gasped at the sight. Looking over at Dimitri, I saw a breathtaking smile on his face.

"You want me to dance up here? Alone?" I asked feeling slightly embarrassed and shy. I was getting a little nervous of the situation I found myself in. I shouldn't be here… well here with him.

"Why not? If you want though… I could dance with you. I can show you what we learned today," he suggested with a smile on his face. He saw my hesitation, and so quickly took hold of my hand and walked me to the center of the roof, which was surrounded by flowers. When I was standing there he rushed to something in the bush and pressed something. Suddenly music filled the air.

I couldn't help but laugh at the scene of it all. This was ridiculous; it was like he had planned the whole scene. I stopped laughing and smiled silently to myself.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked utterly confused yet amused nonetheless. I looked at his deep brown eyes, and saw wonder stare right at me.

"Because, I wanted to," he said simply, and before I knew it he had put one hand on the small of my back and had taken hold of my hand in a practiced manner. I laughed whole-heartedly, and let the music move me. It was a mix of wales and tango… something like a walgo.

I let the music consume me as I made my way through the choreography, which was no easy routine. It had taken me so long to learn the steps, and that didn't mean that I was able to do them perfectly. For some reason, I didn't make a single mistake. I moved to the beat and even added a bit of my own style to the dance steps. Dimitri smiled down at me and twirled and lifted me as he had been instructed to do, but there was a glint of something else in his eyes that I couldn't decipher.

Our bodies moved as one, and I was pressed up so close to him that I couldn't tell where my body ended, and his started. I felt breathless being in his arms, but I knew that it wasn't right I pulled away from the magical and insanely right moment. He stopped immediately when he saw my hesitation.

"Is everything alright?" he asked softly, unsure of what he could have possibly done this time to earn my disapproval. It wasn't like I hadn't noticed it either. I could tell that he craved my forgiveness, and I wished so bad that I could tell him that there had never been anything to forgive… I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Why are you doing this, Dimitri?" I asked, repeating my earlier question. I kept all amusement out of my voice so that he knew that I was serious. He regarded me with the utmost seriousness, and intensity as he stepped closer to me.

"Oh Roza, I thought that I could earn you forgiveness this way," he said leaving the sentence hanging in the air for a bit. I looked at him with wonder. He had done all this just for my forgiveness? The thought warmed my heart, and caused butterflies to appear in my stomach. It wasn't only this attempt; he had tried numerous things over the last two months to earn it. At first I had like the attention, but soon it became unbearable to tell him that there was nothing left to ask forgiveness for.

"Dimitri, there was never anything to forgi-" before I could finish Dimitri had grabbed me, and had pulled my lips to his. When our lips met, it was like an electric current had gone through me, any coherent thought evaporated, and all that mattered was this… Dimitri, and his soft velvety lips against mine.

I kissed him back, and with every kiss I saw deeper into his soul… his being… his aura. I had waited for this for so long, and could hardly believe that it was happening. As the kiss deepened, I pulled my hands up from his arms so that they rested on his neck, pulling him closer to me so that I could taste every inch of his mouth. His tongue licked my lips asking for permission to enter my mouth. I moaned, and opened up to him, savoring the taste of him as he chanted my name against my lips.

It was as if my body was on fire and no amount of rainfall could set it. His hands slowly reached the small of my back, so that he was hugging me. He lifted me, and managed not to break the kiss. I smiled against his lips and continued kissing him, with oh so much passion. It had been bottled up inside of me for so long that it only felt natural that this burst of energy would escape my body. I felt like I had been a Bedouin in the desert searching for water, and he was all that could quench that thirst.

"Rose?" I heard someone say loudly. I broke away from Dimitri immediately realizing what had just happened. I looked over to the voice that had yelled my name and froze. It had been the very last person on the planet that I wanted to see, and the face did not look happy at all.

"Adrian?" I asked dumbly hoping that it was a mirage or a sick joke, because I felt like was about to break with horror. How could I have done this? What creature from Hell would do something like this?

"What the F*ck Rose? Is that what you do when Lissa's worried sick about you?" he asked furiously looking at Dimitri. I didn't even pay attention to him, but I could see him stiffen in realization of what he had just done. He had kissed me when he knew that I was in a relationship... and I had let him. I was worse than he was. "I searched the whole f*cking school to find you, because Lissa said something was seriously wrong with you, and you're up here screwing Belikov?" He asked with such wrath and anger that I thought he would explode.

"Oh my God Adrian I…" I tried to explain, but no words came out of my mouth. I couldn't explain it. I had cheated on him, and he had seen it.

"No Rose… I don't want to hear your sh*t. Just leave me the f*cking hell alone!" he yelled it so hard that I was sure the whole campus heard. I had tears streaming dow my face now, not for myself, but for Adrian. He turned away from me and ran like hell down the stairs. Without even thinking about it I ran after him leaving Dimitri all alone on the roof.

"Adrian! Adrian, please! You're not thinking straight please!" I yelled after him knowing that what he was about to do could ruin any improvements he had made in the last few months. I got down the stairs fast enough to see him pull out of the driveway with a dangerous speed. I let myself fall to the ground and started to cry. I cried like I had never cried before, so much so that it hurt me. I felt like I had just ripped my heart out, but it wasn't mine I had ripped… it was Adrian's. I got up when I set my head clear, and knew where I would find him. Running I caught the bus that was headed to DYS Bar.

Hi Guyz!

I KNOW DRAMA! Haha I tried to make it more eventful, and I really think it was about time that Dimitri and Rose shared their first kiss, don't you?

And for all of you Adrian fans, I cried while writing this, because I love Adrian soo much. I hope that you will forgive me, but that's why I broke it down into some happy time for Adrian before the bombshell :P

Let me know if you liked it :D

xXx