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Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 21

RPOV

Despite the fact that I'd gotten home late last night, I still got up early in the morning to have breakfast with my parents. They asked me a couple of questions about Dimitri's birthday party, mildly interested. I was glad that they were keeping it cool.

"We have something to discuss with you," Dad said, changing the subject.

Uh oh. The last time he said that we were moving across the country.

"Okay," I said cautiously.

"Your mother and I would like to go away next weekend," Dad explained. "We'd leave on Friday night – after you've left for your school dance – and come back Monday night."

I was surprised at first. I hadn't realized they were in need of a vacation because they were on vacation pretty much every day here. I mean, all they did was golf or go out to fancy restaurants to meet with their new friends. But maybe this wasn't so bad. I'd have the house all to myself – for the whole weekend.

"Okay," I said, giving them a smile. "Do you know yet where you're going?"

"No, we're still looking," Mom answered. "So you're okay with it?"

I nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

After breakfast, I went upstairs and finished my homework. I would've finished it Friday afternoon if Dimitri hadn't distracted me. I'd really liked his distraction, though. Sighing dreamily, I opened my notebook and started reading my assignment for English.

On Monday afternoon, I met up with Lissa, Sydney and Viktoria to go shopping. I'd invited Sydney as well, knowing she wouldn't have a dress for Homecoming either. They were both timid at first, probably because they didn't know Lissa. But my best friend welcomed them with open arms and after a while they became more at ease.

"So you and Adrian, huh?" Lissa said smiling. "I would have never guessed."

"We're not…we're not together," Sydney stammered quickly. "He just…asked me to be his date for the Homecoming dance. It doesn't mean anything."

"It means you're practically a couple," Lissa said, her smile widening.

Sydney's eyes widened immediately. "It does?!"

"Only if you'd want to," Lissa said hurriedly.

"Let's talk about something else than boys," I said as I put my arms around both of them. "Maybe dresses? Seeing as we're in need of those. What are you planning to wear? A cocktail dress? Or something more formal?"

Lissa started telling about her ideas for her Homecoming dress, momentarily distracted from Adrian's and Sydney's dating life. Sydney shot me a grateful look before turning her attention back on Lissa.

I already knew which dress I wanted to buy. I'd seen it in the shop window when I passed by last week with my mom. Hopefully they still had my size.

When we got to the store, I immediately started searching for the black strapless dress. Lucky for me, there was one dress left in my size.

"It's really beautiful," Viktoria commented. "Dimka would love to see you in that."

"You think so?" I asked.

She smiled, nodding. "Yep. And if not…well, then he's crazy."

I laughed.

Viktoria gave me a push towards the fitting room. "Go put that dress on. I want to see you in it."

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Lissa and Sydney looking at dresses. I could faintly hear Lissa babble about which dress would look good on Sydney. I knew I could leave my friend in Lissa's capable hands.

When I'd changed into the dress and came back out, Viktoria gasped, eyes wide.

"What?" I asked, a little concerned. "Does it look bad?"

"No, it's gorgeous," she said. "It looks perfect on you."

I turned towards the mirror. I had to admit it did look good on me. "Thanks," I responded, smiling.

"I'll go get Lissa and Sydney," Viktoria said.

"Oh, that's okay," I said quickly.

"I'm sure they want to see it as well!"

And with that, she rushed off to find them. Not even a minute later, she returned with the other girls. Lissa squealed as soon as she saw me. "Oh my God. That dress is perfect for you!"

Viktoria grinned. "That's what I said as well."

"You look really pretty, Rose," Sydney said.

I beamed at her.

"You have to buy this dress, Rose," Lissa said. "Dimitri's going to go nuts when he sees you in this. He won't be able to keep his hands off of you!"

I cleared my throat, glancing at Viktoria. But she was no longer paying attention to us because it seemed like her eye had caught something more interesting. She was staring at a grey silk dress. Just like mine, it was strapless but there was a bowknot in the front.

"Put it on," I told her.

"N-no," she said, shaking her head vehemently. "I shouldn't. I can't afford it anyway."

"Just try it on," I said, and I gave her an encouraging smile.

"Okay," she said after a moment of hesitation.

When she came back out, wearing the grey dress, she looked at me timidly. "What do you think?"

"It's stunning," I said truthfully. "You look stunning."

She smiled shyly.

"Buy it," Lissa said. "When a dress looks that good on you, you should buy it."

"I can't," Viktoria said sadly. "I don't have the money."

"I do," I said.

Her eyes widened. "No. I can't let you buy this dress for me."

"It's not a problem for me, Vika," I reassured her. "Come on, let me buy this for you. It'd be a waste if we didn't take this one. Someone else will buy it and I bet they won't look as good in this dress as you do."

"Still…" Viktoria said, though I could see she was in doubt.

"Listen to Rose," Lissa said. "For once she's being smart."

"Hey," I exclaimed, scowling at her.

"Kidding," Lissa said, smiling sweetly.

I looked back at Viktoria. She was biting her lip, thinking.

"Okay, how about this… I buy this dress for you and you repay me whenever you can," I suggested.

"That's a good deal, sweetie," Lissa commented. "I would take it."

Slowly, a smile spread across Viktoria's face. "Deal."

I smiled back. Before I knew what was happening, her arms flew around me and she was hugging me tightly.

"You're the best, Rose!" she exclaimed, happy.

"You're welcome," I said softly, hugging her back.

Lissa nor Sydney found what they were looking for in this store so we moved on to the next one. I was a lot more at ease now that I'd bought my dress. I only needed to look for a couple of accessories and then I'd be ready for the school dance.

We found Sydney's dress in the next store. It was red and made from silk. Adrian would surely lose his mind when he saw her in that dress and some killer heels. Finding Lissa's dress proved a little bit difficult, though. At long last, she found an emerald green colored cocktail dress, with a sheer beaded top. It had cap sleeves, which came to her elbows.

"It matches my eyes," she gushed. "This is what I've been looking for."

After shopping another hour for accessories, we were all exhausted. I suggested to get something to drink, but Sydney had to leave for home, as well as Lissa.

"I'm thirsty," Viktoria said. "Do you still want to go?"

"Sure."

After buying ourselves some soda, we sat down on one of the benches in the mall. I was glad to have some alone time with Dimitri's sister. I wanted to get to know her better. But I also kind of wanted to find out why she was being mean to Dimitri. Though Dimitri had told me that things were getting better between them.

"So you and my brother," Viktoria started, breaking the silence. "Are you, like, in love with him?"

I didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Her eyes widened for a brief moment. "Wow. So you guys are serious? I mean, even when you were friends I could see he was into you, but I wasn't really sure if you felt the same way."

Was she looking out for her brother right now? How sweet. Maybe she cared more for Dimitri than I'd thought. I bet she would never admit it, though. Maybe that was why she was being so mean. Because she didn't want him to know how much she cared.

"I feel the same way," I reassured her.

She gave me a small smile. "Good."

"Can I ask you a question now?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Why do you pretend not to care when you do care?" I asked bluntly. "Cause I know you care a lot about him. You just proved that."

She looked away, not speaking.

"Look, I'm not saying I know how you felt when…these horrible things happened to your family," I said softly. "I'm sure it was a lot to deal with. But…why are you taking it out on your brother?"

She shrugged. When she looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes. "Because I'm too stubborn and proud to tell him I'm sorry," she mumbled at last.

I stayed quiet, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I know why he beat up our father," she said quietly. "And I understand why he did it. I was never mad about that." She snorted. "I wish I'd known he was such a terrible man, though. I'm not mad either that Dimka never told me."

"Then why are you mad?"

"Because he wasn't there when Mama fell apart," she whispered, not looking at me. "He wasn't there when our father came to collect his things and left without saying a word. He didn't even want to look me in the eye. He wasn't there either when our grandmother died and Mama fell apart again. He wasn't there when I was bullied." She sighed and a lone tear ran down her cheek. "I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders. Dimka has always had my back…until he ended up in juvie."

"You felt abandoned," I stated softly.

She nodded. "I know I can't blame him. I shouldn't."

"Do you still blame him?"

Viktoria shook her head. "No. He saved our family. He saved me. I should be grateful, but instead I'm complaining."

"It's not too late to apologize," I said. "Your brother would love nothing more than restore the bond you two had." I paused. "He's hurting, but you could change that."

"I know." She looked up at me. "Now you wish you hadn't bought me that dress, huh?"

"You made a mistake. You're only human after all," I told her. "We all are. But this is a mistake you can still fix. I wouldn't wait too long, though."

"Thanks, Rose. I really appreciate you talking to me. I know you don't have to, but you do it anyway. So…thank you."

I offered her a smile. "You're welcome, Vika. If you ever feel the need to talk again, you let me know."

I wasn't sure she would talk to her brother right away when she got home, but when I saw Dimitri the next day he was all smiles. He kissed me fiercely and when he pulled back, he breathed, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome?" It came out like a question because I didn't realize what he was talking about at first.

He kissed me again. "Vika said she had an amazing time with you and the girls. You really didn't have to buy her that dress, though."

"Oh, it's okay," I said, smiling. I was glad to see him so happy. "She's going to pay me back anyway."

"Yeah, but still… You're so kind, Roza," he said, sighing. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

That made me blush. "Really, comrade, it was no big deal. I saw how much she loved the dress and thought she should have it."

Dimitri pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. "Thank you for doing this. It really meant a lot to my sister." He smiled down at me. "It means a lot to me as well."

I smiled back. "You're very welcome, comrade."

As we started walking to class, our hands entwined, he said, "Vika also told me you found your dress."

"I did," I answered.

Dimitri grinned at me. "I can't wait to see you wear it."

I grinned back. "Good. Because it's a really pretty dress."

"It can't be as pretty as you are," he shot back.

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. "Are you sucking up to me right now?"

"No," he replied.

"Because you're not going to see that dress before Homecoming," I told him. "No matter what you say."

"I will patiently wait until Homecoming," he vowed.

I smiled. "Now that we're talking about Homecoming," I said slowly, starting to feel slightly nervous, "I have a question for you."

"Okay," he said, waiting for me to ask my question.

"My parents will be out of town that weekend. Maybe you'd like to stay over?" I asked as my heart pounded loudly in my chest.

He looked startled by my question.

"I mean, you don't have to," I added hastily. Oh God, this is embarrassing! "But if you wanted to…you can. You don't have to answer right away-"

"Sure," he interrupted, and the look of surprise vanished from his face. He looked as nervous as I felt, though, which, strangely, relieved me. "That'd be… I mean, I'd like that."

I gave him a bright smile. "Great."

Before things could get more awkward, I kissed him quickly and darted off to class.

I hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Have a great week :)