Hello Everyone! Happy Friday! I hope you all had a wonderful week!

I wanted to clarify a few things before we get started. Many people have told me that they were taken back my Rose's reaction to being assigned to Lissa. They didn't think she would be upset or mad. Rose isn't mad or upset really, she is very frightened. She is frightened because she is losing her best friend, the person who is supposed to support her is making it know that they hate her relationship. I also want to point out what is happening to Lissa at this time. She is practicing a lot of magic with Adrian, you will see more of that in coming chapters, which means her view is becoming a little twisted. Please be patient with me and with the story, we are not even halfway yet.

I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you to all the guest reviewers as well. I so appreciate the support! I hope you all enjoyed your sneak peek this week. Remember, FF members that are logged in when they review will get a sneak peek. If for some reason you did not receive a sneak peek, please message me individually, do not leave it in a review! Mistakes do happen.

Here is chapter 20! I hope you all enjoy it! Please forgive all mistakes.

Chapter 20 RPOV

"What?" I asked the man sitting in front of me. I was in complete shock. I didn't know what to do. Janine Hathaway was the mother of his child? Was my mother the mother of his child? Wait . . . that would make him my father. Abe Mazur was my father! Never in my wildest dreams did I think this could happen. A rich Moroi was telling me he was my father.

"I am your father, you are my daughter," he told me. The words sinking in as he said them again. My mind was racing. I had so many questions and I didn't know what to ask first. What was happening? My mind was spinning and I felt a little sick.

"Explain," I commanded as I processed the information. I needed information, I needed answers. I tried to breathe slowly, I felt a little slowly. I watched as Abe took a deep breath, I was glad I wasn't the only one finding this difficult and nerve-racking.

"I met Janine Hathaway at Court, she was a new Guardian. Only a few months out of the Academy," Abe smiled as he remembered. "I immediately wanted to get o know her, she was beautiful, talented, feisty, and had no regards for the rules. I tried to convince her to date me for almost a year. Every time I was visiting Court I sent her flowers, chocolates, jewelry, so many things. After a year she finally agreed to go on a date with me, I took her out to the best place and walked her home. I wanted her to know I was serious so I kept everything very proper. A year later she accepted my request for her to travel the world with me."

I nodded at him to continue when he paused. It was hard to think of my mother as someone who wasn't married to her job. But I guess she was young once too. Abe surprised me, he wanted a relationship with my mother. I always assumed he didn't and that my father was a one night stand. It was weird a Moroi man wanting to have a life with a Dhampir woman, not something you hear about in our culture.

"Janine and I were together for a few years before I proposed to her. We were only engaged for two months, it was around that time she fell pregnant with you," Abe told me. "I'm assuming she found out right around the time we were brutally attacked. I didn't have as many Guardians then as I do now, and sadly we both got hurt. Not very bad, but I was in the hospital for a few days. Twenty-three of my twenty-six guardians had died in battle. Three days later I was out of the hospital and came home to find the engagement ring I had given Janine on the dresser with a note saying she couldn't live this way. I never knew she was pregnant. For the next few years, I did everything to make myself forget the woman who left me."

"The day she left you at the academy was the first day she called me in almost five years," he said softly. "She told me that we had a child and she would do everything in her power to make sure I stayed away. I desperately wanted to go to you and bring you with me or at least enroll you in a school closer to me. Jean used the argument I knew I couldn't resist, she told me I had too many enemies and it was safer for you if I wasn't in your life."

"Is that true?" I asked him when he paused. It would be much easier to accept that my father stayed away because of the enemies he had than to believe he didn't want me. I desperately wanted it to be true.

"Very true," he nodded. "I have many enemies. Gossip exaggerates most things but in my case, it doesn't come close to what I really do. I have spent the last fifteen years or so, getting rid of as many enemies as I can. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what some of them would do to you if they knew I had a daughter. About two years ago, I decided I wanted in your life. I called Alberta and Janine trying to find out who you were. But I never got anywhere with them. I knew you were turning eighteen this year, so Janine couldn't stop me."

"So what now?" I asked him.

"Now?" Abe chuckled. "I want to get to know you. I want to be there for you. I want to give you the options you never had. Do you want to go to college? Do you want to travel the world? Do you want to be a Guardian? I'm your father and I want to give you the world. The question is what do you want?"

I stared at Abe trying to bring myself the courage to ask the one question I needed to know the answer too. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my palms were sweaty as I rubbed them against my jeans. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the tears not build up, I took a deep breath. I opened my eyes and asked the question I needed the answer to, "Did you want me?"

"More than anything," Abe said without missing a beat. His eyes so much like mine stared into mine when he said that. I could feel the tears building up and threaten to spill. My mind rolled over the question he asked me. What did I want? I wanted a parent that wanted me.

"Abe is my father," I told Dimitri that night on the phone. I had gotten back from dinner with Abe about two hours ago. He offered me the world and I didn't know what I wanted. I did know that it was going to take both him and me some time to figure out how to have this whole father-daughter thing. Thankfully we were both really new to it. We agreed to let each other know when something bugged us because we weren't sure about any of this. Abe did tell me he wanted to talk to Dimitri though, something about a father speech.

Lissa was in the shower and it was the time that Dimitri and I would talk. Eddie would go down the hall and use the communal bathroom so Dimitri and I had about twenty minutes of privacy. It wasn't a lot but it was better than nothing, especially with the way Lissa had been acting. It was good for both of us to reconnect especially with how little time we would get these weeks.

"I know, I found out the day you got your assignments," Dimitri's smooth voice came through the phone. "He wanted to kill me because you are underage and he was sure we were sleeping together. But I calmed him down and promised him I hadn't taken your virginity."

"Not yet at least," I teased Dimitri. I giggled when I heard his exasperated sigh, but I also heard the soft chuckle he tried to keep to himself. He would never admit it, but he liked my sense of humor. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I promised him I would let him tell you," Dimitri said. "I thought it would be better coming from him. But I also decided that if he didn't tell you by Friday, I was going to tell you. I didn't think you should wait that long to find out."

"I don't know what to do," I told him honestly. "It's really weird. I never thought I would ever meet my father. Let alone have one that was offering me the world. He offered for me to go to college. Or to leave this world. Or to travel the world!"

"A lot of good offers," Dimitri mumbled. I could tell he was feeling a little insecure. He probably was worried about the offers that Abe made me if I was him I would be. It was weird for a Dhampir to get so many amazing offers. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," I whispered. It was something I had been thinking about since Abe made the offer. I didn't know what I wanted. "I know that I want to be with you."

"Well, that's good for me," he chuckled. I wished he and I were in the same room. It had really only been a few days but I missed him like crazy. "How is it with Lissa? Is she driving you crazy?"

"Every chance she gets she mentions something that she finds bad about our relationship," I told him honestly. "Today she was focusing on that fact we both wouldn't get a lot of time together, yesterday was your age."

"Wow, sounds like you are constantly battling her," Dimitri said. "I feel bad that I am causing so much trouble for you." This wasn't the first time that Dimitri had stated he felt bad for causing problems with me and Lissa. It wasn't his fault though, it was mostly Lissa. She was constantly giving me her opinions on everything. She decided she didn't like Dimitri or my relationship, instead of supporting me she decided to voice her dislike and opinions.

"It's really not you," I shrugged as I spoke into the phone. "Things were on this track for a while, you and I just made her focus on something she doesn't like. She wants me to be in her shadow for the rest of our lives. She hates that something is going well for me. I could be dating someone she thought was perfect for me but she still would be mad."

"Have you told her about Abe?" He asked me. I could tell he was trying to focus on something else.

"Comrade, she hates that I am dating someone," I rolled my eyes a little. "How do you think she is going to react when she finds out I have a rich Moroi father who wants to be in my life?"

"It's only six weeks, baby girl," Dimitri said for the hundredth time. "Maybe you can use this time to restore your friendship. Or you can figure out if you want to stay friends with Lissa, I know that's difficult. But since you have been back at the academy things seem to be getting worse."

Dimitri didn't need to elaborate which time he meant. Ever since Spokane, Lissa has gotten worse. She was bad when we first came back in the fall. But now she is 100 times worse. I didn't know what to do. This wasn't the same person that I went on the run with or the person who was my best friend.

"Yeah," I said thinking about it. I did need to figure out if I wanted to stay friends with Lissa. Or see if we could fix things. At this point, I wasn't sure if we could fix things, but I could at least try. I couldn't just throw out over ten years of friendship without trying.

"I miss you," Dimitri said to me. I smiled at his words.

"I miss you too," I told him. "I really miss sleeping in your arms."

"I hope these next six weeks go fast," Dimitri told me, his voice husky. "I can't wait until you are in my bed again."

I could feel my cheeks heating up at the innuendo in his words. A shiver traveled through my body as I thought about being with Dimitri that way. Something I thought about a lot.

"I can't wait for that either," I whispered.

"Who are you talking to?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see Lissa in her bathrobe towel drying her hair. She knew who I was talking to, it was no secret that Dimitri and I would talk at this time. Lissa was just trying to bully me off the phone because she hated that I was talking to him. It was childish and stupid but it worked. I didn't need to give her any more ammunition.

"Dimitri," I told her. "Uh babe, I gotta go. I love you." Dimitri knew if I jumped off the phone it was because Lissa was in the room I was thankful he understood it.

"I love you too," Dimitri said before he hung up.

"You have already said I love you?" Lissa asked as she looked at me. "Isn't it a little soon? You haven't even been with him that long."

"We have been together for a while," I shrugged. "It's been almost two months."

"You only told me a few weeks ago," Lissa told me. "I feel like it's too soon. Do you even know if he is going to stick around? How do you know he isn't going to sleep with you and leave as soon as that happens? He just seems like a creep to me."

My jaw dropped at her words. I watched as she grabbed her hairbrush and started brushing her hair. I was in so much shock I didn't know what to do. I knew she didn't like it but did she really have to say all those horrible things.

"I'm sorry," I said catching her off guard. "I'm sorry that I have a life now. I'm sorry that I have a boyfriend that loves me. I'm sorry that you can't see past your own nose and be happy for me. I can't believe you thought I would always live in your shadow without a personal life. News flash, that wasn't going to happen!"

Eddie walked in sometime during my speech. He looked surprised and a little unsure of what to do. I had started off talking normally but by the end, I was shouting. I turned and saw Eddie standing there, I needed to get out of this room.

I grabbed a sweatshirt and my phone before running out of the room. I was lucky that for the field experience we were required to be in training clothes, I didn't need to waste time to change. I pulled the sweatshirt on over my workout top as I ran down the stairs.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

The moment I was outside, I took off running. There was still a little bit of time until curfew. No one was going to think anything as I ran across campus. I wasn't really sure where I was running too but I knew I needed to run.

I don't know how long I ran for, but at some point, I stopped. I looked around and realized I was at the cabin Dimitri had redone for us. I looked around me and I noticed the sun rising off to the East. I didn't realize how late it was.

I noticed a flickering out of the corner of my eye. I turned to the dark side of the clearing I was standing in and my heart stopped.

"Mason," I whispered softly. He looked exactly the same. He was wearing the same thing he did the day he died. His mouth opened and closed a few times. I stood there in shock as he flickered in and out. "Mason?" I asked a little louder.

"Roza," I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Dimitri. "Are you okay?"

"Mason, I saw him," I told Dimitri. I whipped around but Mason was gone. "He was right there."

I felt Dimitri's arms slip around me. "Milaya, are you okay?" He asked me softly. "I'm worried about you."

"Yeah," I said. My brow crinkled as I thought about what I saw. It was just my imagination, I told myself. It was just my imagination. It was just the stress of everything. Yeah, I was just stressed. It was my overactive imagination. That's all this was.

"What are you doing out here? You were fine when we got off the phone," he asked me as he pulled me close to him. My head instinctively went to rest on his chest. My body instantly relaxing as his arms wrapped around me. I was safe, everything was going to be okay.

"Lissa was just talking a whole bunch of shit and I couldn't take it," I said honestly. "I had to get out of there. How did you know I left?"

"Eddie told me," Dimitri said, his voice was full of concern. "Apparently he has my number, he called me when you took off. I'm glad he did though.

"I just had to get out of there," I repeated myself. I turned my face into his chest and buried it there. My voice muffled as I spoke my next words. "I'm probably going to be docked points for that when Alberta does room checks tonight. Fuck."

"I think we can talk to her," Dimitri told me. I could feel a hand running through my hair in a soothing manner. "I am more concerned about you."

"I'm fine," I told him. "Just stressed, I should get back before curfew." I pulled out of his arms and went to walk away from him but Dimitri grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward him.

"Roza, something is wrong," he said. I could see the worry etched on his face. I could hear it in his voice too. "You just said you thought you saw Mason, that is more than just stress."

"I'm fine," I defended myself, my words a little a harsher than I intended. I took a deep breath and softened my voice. "I'm stressed and pissed at Lissa. And when I was running I was thinking about him. I just have an active imagination. I'm fine, trust me."

"Okay," Dimitri said a little uneasy. "Let's head back then. Do you want to see if you can get a different assignment?"

The two of us started walking back toward campus. Dimitri's hand held mine. I knew it wasn't much, but I was glad we got these couple minutes of together. It meant a lot to me. And Lissa had no idea what she was talking about.

"I don't think that would happen," I shrugged. "I can handle it for the next couple weeks, I am just going to switch with Eddie. I'm going to ask him if I can far guard."

"That might help," Dimitri nodded. We walked the rest of the time in silence. At one point when we were walking, Dimitri pulled me close and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. By default, my arm went around his waist. And my hand slipped into the back pocket of his jeans.

"I love you," I said as I looked up at him. We were approaching the Moroi dorms now. And I wanted him not to worry about what Lissa was saying. Nothing she said was going to change my mind. Dimitri was my soulmate.

"I love you too," Dimitri said as we approached the door. He leaned down before I walked inside and placed a soft kiss on my lips. His mouth was soft and warm against mine. He pulled away and placed a peck on the tip of my nose quickly.

I grinned at him before giving him a soft peck on the lips and heading inside. I was a lot calmer now than when I ran out of Lissa's room.

"Hathaway?" I heard as I walked up the stairs. I looked up and saw Stan. No doubt he was doing room checks tonight. Every night a Guardian would check the senior Moroi dorms that were supposed to have Novices in them. They wanted to make sure we didn't ditch our charge at night.

"Hi," I said as I climbed the stairs. I reached the landing he was standing on. "I just needed to get some fresh air."

"I just started," he smiled at me. "Go ahead and run up."

"Thanks, Stan!" I grinned at him and ran up the stairs. I barged into Lissa's room a little winded from sprinting up seven flights of stairs.

"You okay?" Eddie laughed at me from his spot on his air mattress.

"Stan just started room checks," I told him. "I wanted to beat him up here."

I noticed Lissa was texting away on her phone. She didn't even look up at me when I walked in the room. I tried not to let it get to me, but it did. I debated about pushing into her head but she would notice that now. Better idea to do it later.

"Why don't you take a shower?" Eddie suggested. "I will let Stan know you are in there."

"Thanks," I nodded. I grabbed my pajamas and headed into Lissa's attached bathroom. Lissa was lucky because she got a room to herself, well more like a suite. She had a sitting area and a bathroom. Benefits of being a Princess, I thought to myself.

I stripped down and steamed up the shower. I liked my showers super hot, almost burning hot. I stepped in and lathered up. I stood there with my head under the spray as I went to slip into Lissa's head. I wanted to know what she was thinking.

Christian
Can you blame her?
You attacked her boyfriend

Lissa
He's a creep!

Christian
You don't know that

Lissa
Something just isn't right

Christian
I think you are jealous
Why can't you be happy for her?

Lissa
I'm just trying to protect her

I huffed. Why didn't Christian get that I was just worried about Rose? She's never really dated! And now she was just throwing herself at a man who gave her the slightest bit of attention. Really, how much did she know about him? I bet he was just using her for sex. Would make sense because he could have sex without consequences with Rose. She should really just listen to me.

"What do you think of Rose and Guardian Belikov?" I asked Eddie.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked me. "I think they are good for each other. He obviously cares a lot about her."

Why was Eddie defending them? This whole thing was messed up. I can't believe Rose was falling for that creep. Everything was weird. Like why did they have to hide it? They shouldn't hide their relationship! That alone should tell Rose something was weird. Plus Tasha was all over him at Christmas, I bet there was something going on between the two of them. Which just shows that he as creep.

"Then why do they have to hide it?" I shot back at him. "That's no kind of relationship and why would a man be interested in Rose?"

"No offense, but that's a little harsh," Eddie defended. "Rose is amazing, she's smart, beautiful, funny, and super talented."

"But he's a man! She's a high school student," I told him. "Plus, she is so naive. He's just using her for sex. And she doesn't even know it!"

"I don't think that's happening," he said to me. "They aren't having sex. I know that for a fact. So I doubt he would be going through all this just to get laid."

Rose was just rebounding from Mason. I don't care what she says but Rose had somewhat of a relationship with Mason. And Belikov was just sliding in there when she was rebounding. He was taking advantage of her when she was upset. She should be waiting a couple months before she dates someone else. Everything was messed up in this relationship.

"She's just rebounding from Mason," I told him.

I pulled out abruptly from Lissa's head. I still can't believe she was focusing on Mason. I also couldn't believe she thought about Tasha, that hurt the most. I knew nothing had ever happened with Tasha and Dimitri. But that was a huge insecurity for me. It made me sick to even think about the two of them. I was just so surprised by her opinions and how horrible her thoughts were. Her mind was dark. This wasn't my best friend. The things she was thinking. The things she was saying, this wasn't the person who I ran away with. This was a horrible dark person.

I felt the water start to run cold and quickly got out of the shower. I knew I needed to sit down with Lissa and we needed to either fight this out or end our friendship. It made me sad but that was what it was coming down too. I guess the next six weeks would make or break our friendship. I hoped it wouldn't come down to this, but unfortunately, it was. It made me sad that this was happening. I just wanted my best friend back.

I walked out of the bathroom and went to sit on the air mattress set up for me. Lissa was at least thoughtful enough to have those for me and Eddie. Most novices were sleeping on a floor with a blanket and a pillow. He and I both had it a lot better. She wasn't completely horrible, she just needed to understand my relationship. I hoped we could work this out.

"Good night," I said when Lissa flicked off the light. I might have been a little passive aggressive, but oh well.

The next morning the three of us were walking to the cafeteria. Thankfully, Eddie was near guarding today. I was constantly scanning the area looking for danger. Well, more like Guardians pretending to be Strigoi. It was day three and we hadn't been attacked yet. It was a little odd. I thought for sure we would have been attacked by now. It was bound to happen any minute.

I felt like someone was watching us, more me really. I just felt odd the entire time. Maybe that meant they were waiting to attack. Possibly a surprise attack? It would make sense to try to find a weakness and then come at us. Take us by surprise. After all, Eddie and I would be working as a team, it would be a lot harder for one to take us on.

Christian was walking hand in hand with Lissa. I envied them. They would always get to have a normal life. Dimitri and I didn't necessarily have that option. We always would have to fight someone else's battles. I just wished he and I could walk hand in hand and not worry about having to protect someone. If my mother heard me know she would have beaten the crap out of me.

Maybe I should look into Abe's offers? I couldn't hurt to explore them, right? Plus, maybe I could talk to him and see if I could find a spot for Dimitri with Abe. Pavel seemed to like Dimitri and so did Abe. Plus Dimitri was really talented. There had to be something he could do with them. I hoped there was at least. And maybe because Abe desperately wanted to keep me happy, he would find something for Dimitri.

We made it to the cafeteria without incident. Though I was sure there was going to be an attack. Something didn't feel right. I felt as if everyone was watching me. That had to mean something was going to happen.

"You eat first Rose," Eddie told me as we waited in line with Lissa.

"Something's not right," I told Eddie. "I feel like something is going to happen. You eat first. I'm too on edge to eat right now."

"Okay," Eddie agreed. "I will be quick. I think we both shouldn't use the fifteen minutes we are allotted."

"I agree," I nodded. I watched Lissa and Eddie get food before heading toward our typical table. Christian was already seated when we got there. I watched both Eddie and Lissa sit.

I watched the room as Lissa and Eddie ate. I noticed Camilla Conta coming over toward the table. I resisted the urge to grown, she was such a horrible gossip. I could just tune them out. I needed to focus on everything else anyway. Camilla slid into the seat next to Lissa and they both started gossiping.

"Rose, your turn," Eddie said after he threw away his trash.

I nodded at him once he was in place and went to get my breakfast. I sat a couple seats down from Lissa and Camilla, I didn't want to be in their conversation. Not to mention I was still mad at Lissa from last night. I didn't think it was a good idea to put myself in a situation where I would get mad again.

I still felt like people were watching me when I was eating. Something felt off.

"Hey Rose," Ralph came up to me. I didn't respond. He blew me a kiss and walked away. What was that about?

I decided to ignore it but I noticed everyone in the cafeteria was talking about something. Normally mornings were quiet, people were groggy and they typically didn't talk much. So it was odd that everyone was buzzing about something.

Jesse came up to me a few minutes later and blew me a kiss. Ugh! I watched him walk away before getting up and throwing my stuff away. My appetite was completely gone after that. Jesse was such a creep.

I stood next to Eddie and decided to ignore the gossip floating around. I just needed to focus on being attacked. Because it was going to happen soon. I just knew it. Lissa didn't stay much longer in the cafeteria, she wanted to go to the feeders. Eddie and I decided to switch positions on the way to the feeders. I near guarded and he far guarded.

I stood next to Lissa and slightly behind as she and Christian walked to the feeders. Lissa fed quickly and soon we were off to classes. I knew we were going to be attacked soon. Or at least something was going to happen. Why did I feel this way?

We had been walking relatively quietly when we cut through the quad to head to classes. And that's when I saw it.

My heart stopped for a minute before it began beating wildly in my chest. I felt my stomach drop. My palms were sweaty and I felt my entire body stiffen as I took in what was in front of me.

In front of the quad was a massive blown up picture of Dimitri kissing me from last night. Right in front of the Moroi dorms. Unfortunately for us, it was bright enough from the sunrise that you could see us clear as day.

Dimitri and I were out.

I hope this chapter cleared up some confusion. Though I am sure some of you are left with more questions than answers. Until next time!

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