Thank you for all the reviews! A lot of you think Jesse is behind the notes. Unfortunately, you won't find out who's behind it this chapter and probably not in the next few chapters. It'll be for later :p

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 26

RPOV

The next few days I didn't get any notes. I didn't know what to think about that. Had he given up or was he just waiting for the right time?

I felt relieved when the last bell rang on Friday. Just like the other students, I left the classroom immediately instead of staying behind to talk to Dimitri. We'd decided to not meet each other in school anymore. It was too dangerous. We had to keep a low profile.

Just like the last few days, Jesse was at the gate waiting for Camille. I looked straight ahead as I passed him, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I turned around.

"Let go of me," I shrieked when I saw it was Jesse.

"Sorry!" he said, holding up his hands. "I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry."

"Just…just stay off of me, okay?" I said. "I don't want you to touch me."

"Okay. I understand. I just wanted to talk to you for a second," he said.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

He shrugged.

"Well, I'm not interested," I said, turning away.

"No, wait!" Jesse said. "I want to apologize."

I looked at him again and raised my eyebrows. "Apologize?"

"Yes," he said, giving me a small smile. "I should've left you alone when you wanted me to. I was a jerk to you. I'm sorry."

I stared at him in disbelief. Was he being serious or was he just messing with me?

"Hey! Leave her alone."

I turned around and saw Eddie, his hands clenched in fists. "Eddie, what-"

"Stay away from Rose!"

"I wasn't trying anything," Jesse said. "I just wanted to-"

"I don't care what you wanted to say or do," Eddie exclaimed. "Just leave her alone."

He grabbed my arm and hauled me away from Jesse.

"What are you doing?" I said when Eddie finally let me go.

He looked at me. "Are you crazy? Why were you talking to him?"

"I wasn't talking to him. He just said-"

"I don't think Belikov is going to like it when he hears you were talking to Jesse," Eddie interrupted. "Why can't you ever stay out of trouble?"

"I wasn't in trouble," I hissed, "and what do you care if Dimitri's not going to like it that Jesse was talking to me?"

"Well, it seems like he's the only person you listen to so I guess I'll have to tell him about your little encounter with Jesse," Eddie said. "I know he'll stop you from talking to the bastard."

"For the last time, I wasn't talking to Jesse!" I exclaimed. "And since when are you teaming up with Dimitri? Did I miss something?" Eddie started walking again. I quickly followed him. "Hey, I'm talking to you," I said when he hadn't said anything in five minutes.

"We had a conversation," Eddie finally said.

"You talked to him?" I exclaimed.

He nodded.

"When did that happen?"

Eddie shrugged. "A few days ago."

"What? And why has nobody told me about this?" I said, outraged.

"I'm telling you now."

"And?" I said impatiently.

"And he made me realize that I shouldn't be angry with you for loving someone." Hesitantly, he looked up at me and gave me a small smile. "After all, you can't help who you fall in love with."

I stared at him, shocked.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Eddie said softly.

My anger faded immediately and I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him. "I missed you," I whispered.

I felt his arms wrap around me. "I missed you too," he whispered back.

I let go of him and grinned. "Friends?" I said.

He smiled. "Friends."

We started walking again, in a comfortable silence. As we neared my house, Eddie put his hand on my arm and I looked at him questioningly.

"Are you okay? Mr. Belikov said you're stressed."

"He said that?"

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. He's worried about you. And so am I," he admitted.

I gave him a small smile. "I'm okay. I'm just a little…"

"What?" he pressed.

I looked at him and decided to tell him about the notes. Lissa also knew about it so I didn't see why I couldn't tell him. Maybe he could help, but I doubted it.

"So yeah… I don't know what I have to do now," I concluded after telling him the whole story. "I have no clue who it could be."

"It seems to me that he doesn't really like you and Belikov," Eddie muttered. "Did you have a fight with someone lately? Did you make someone angry?"

"Beside you?" I said teasingly.

He elbowed me playfully. "Focus, Hathaway."

We came to a stop in front of my house. I walked to the door and turned to face Eddie, who'd followed me.

"I don't think so," I said at last.

"Whoever it is, he's bound to make a mistake sometime. He can't hide forever," Eddie said.

I sighed. "Well, we'll see how it goes." I smiled. "Thanks, Eddie."

He smiled, too. "I guess I'll see you on Monday, then."

I nodded and watched him leave. Smiling, I opened the door and went inside. My problems might not be solved, but at least I had my friend back. I didn't know if we would ever be as good friends as we'd once been, but this was a start. And it was all thanks to Dimitri. I needed to remember to thank him tomorrow.

The rest of the day was rather boring. I did my homework and watched some TV later that evening. Mom came home around ten, but she was exhausted and went straight to bed. I followed her lead and went to my own bedroom. I couldn't sleep, though. I was too keyed up and wanted it to be morning already.

I hadn't talked to Dimitri in a couple days, now that we'd agreed on not seeing each other at school anymore. Tomorrow night I'd go to his place – my mom thought I was going to Lissa – so we could spend some time together.

At long last I fell asleep, but just like the last couple of nights, my sleep was filled with nightmares. It was always the same dream: Lazar finding out about us, Dimitri getting fired, my mom taking me away from Dimitri…and then this guy, enveloped in shadows, who would smile evilly and say, "Told you so." Then I'd hear him laugh maniacally and that's when I woke up, drenched in sweat and shaking.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, telling myself over and over again it was just a dream. Telling myself that Lazar wouldn't figure out we'd lied, that Dimitri wouldn't get fired and that my mom wouldn't take me away from him.

I let out a sigh, got up and quietly walked to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Hopefully that would distract me from the nightmare.

Just like yesterday, I sat down in front of my books again. Finals were almost there so I'd better start to study, because I really didn't want to fail this year. To my surprise, the day went by quickly and soon it was seven o'clock. Time for me to get ready.

Mom dropped me off in town. I'd told her I would meet my friends there and spend the night at Lissa's. Like always, she bought it. I didn't know if I should be happy it was so easy to fool her or not. I guess that once she found out about Dimitri and me, she wouldn't be fooled so easily anymore.

I walked toward Dimitri's apartment, looking over my shoulder from time to time to see if someone was following me. But the streets were empty besides me. I let out a sigh of relief and quickened my pace.

I entered the apartment building and as I climbed the stairs, I heard screams in the distance. When I was on Dimitri's floor, I realized the screams were coming from here. I guess Dimitri's neighbors were fighting again. Ignoring the loud voices, I knocked hard on his door and waited for him to open.

"Hey," I said, giving him a small smile as the door opened. "Your neighbors having a fight again?"

Dimitri sighed. "Yeah. Hopefully they'll shut up soon."

"Why don't you tell them to take it down a notch?"

"Believe me, I tried," he said as he let me in and closed the door behind me. The screams faded. "I knocked on their door and asked if they could stop yelling, but that guy slammed the door shut in my face."

"And what about the other residents?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but they've asked the owner to throw them out due to nuisance."

"I guess it's for the best. I mean, if your neighbors can't keep their voices down… There are people who'd like to relax after a day of hard work," I grumbled.

He smirked. "Are you saying you worked hard today?"

"No, I'm talking about the other residents. But yes, I also worked hard today," I added grinning.

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes." I made my way to the couch and flung myself on it. "I've studied all day. What have you got to say now, comrade? Aren't I a good student?"

"Sure, Roza. You're a very good student," he said as he sat down beside me.

I grinned proudly and he smiled, amused. "So what did you study?"

"Math, English and history. Not that I really need to study for history," I teased. "You're going to give me an A anyway."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's me we're talking about."

"You know I can't do that, Roza," he said.

"I know. I'm just kidding, comrade," I said grinning as I nudged him. "Relax."

Dimitri rolled his eyes, but smiled reluctantly. "You are something else, you know that?"

I playfully slapped his arm. He glared at me and I giggled. I didn't know why, but suddenly my mood was better than it had been in days. It had probably something to with Dimitri. Smiling, he leaned in to kiss me. I decided to play with him and moved away.

"Hey – get back here," Dimitri said.

I shook my head, scooting away until I reached the end of the couch.

"Roza," he said warningly. "Stop teasing."

I grinned. "What are you going to do about it, comrade?"

Within seconds he was on top of me, pushing me down on the couch. I squealed and tried to fight him off, but he was much stronger than me. He could easily hold me down for hours if he wanted to. He grinned wickedly before he started to tickle me.

I trashed beneath him, trying to push him off me. "Stop it!" I shrieked. "Don't – Oh God! Stop it, stop it, Dimitri!"

"Now, why would I do that?" he said.

He kept tickling me and I squealed again. I pushed against his chest, but he wouldn't budge.

"Dimitri, stop! Please!" I begged. "You're killing me."

Finally, he stopped, resting his hands on my sides, and I sighed in relief. Dimitri still lay on top of me and made no attempt to move. I didn't really mind.

"That's better," I said.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me again. This time, I let him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I responded to his kiss.

"Thank you," I said when he pulled away.

He looked at me funnily. "For what?"

I smiled. "For talking to Eddie."

Dimitri smiled, too. "He talked to you? What did he say?"

"He said he was sorry," I answered. "And that you made him realize he shouldn't be angry with me."

His smile widened. "So you're friends again?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Dimitri brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "Good. I'm glad you worked it out."

"That never would've happened if it wasn't for you. Thank you, Dimitri," I whispered and I kissed him softly on the lips.

Caressing my cheek, he said, "You're welcome, Roza."

He got off me and sat up again, pulling me up. I snuggled closer to him.

"Hey, your neighbors stopped yelling," I suddenly noted. "Now we can watch a movie!"

"If they keep quiet," Dimitri muttered.

He let me choose the movie – it was a horror movie, I loved those even though it scared the crap out of me sometimes – and when the movie started, I leaned into his chest as he wrapped his arm around me. I kept hiding my face in his chest whenever there was something scary about to happen, which made him laugh.

"Why do you even want to watch horror movies if you turn away every time something scary happens?" he said.

"I don't know!" I said in a muffled voice.

Dimitri chuckled and kissed my hair. "It's over. You can look again."

I dared a peek at the screen and saw that he was right.

Halfway through the movie, someone knocked at the door. I looked at Dimitri, panicked.

There was another knock and then a voice said, "Dimitri, I know you're there! Let me in! I need to talk to you!"

Dimitri cursed in Russian and said quietly, "That's Ivan. I'm just going to ignore him and-"

"Dimka! Open up," Ivan exclaimed, pounding on the door. "I'm not leaving before you've opened this goddamned door."

"I'll go hide in your bedroom," I suggested.

"Roza, no," Dimitri said. "You don't have to-"

"What else are we going to do? Ivan can't see me."

Sighing, he gave in. "Fine. But I'll send him away as soon as possible." I walked to his bedroom and he followed me. "I'm so sorry, Roza. I had no idea he was coming."

"That's okay," I said, giving him a small smile. "It's not your fault."

"DIMITRI!"

"Go," I whispered before closing his bedroom door.

I stayed at the door and listened to their conversation. Dimitri had finally opened the door and I heard him say that it was not a good time to come by, but Ivan didn't let him finish his sentence and emerged inside the apartment.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I frowned. Why wouldn't Dimitri be okay?

Apparently Dimitri thought the same. "Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because Tasha's back," Ivan said. "I just heard it from your sister. I'm sorry, man, if I'd known, I would've come sooner, but I just heard it."

"Ivan, I'm okay. Really," Dimitri said.

"Are you sure? I understand if you're not. I mean, that little bitch has-"

"I'm fine," Dimitri interrupted. "I really appreciate that you came by, but I'm fine. Great, even."

"Oh, okay." For a moment I didn't hear anything, but then Ivan spoke up again. "You had company tonight?"

My eyes widened. Oh no. Had I left something in Dimitri's living room? Maybe he'd seen our drinks on the coffee table.

"Umm…Yeah."

"Was it some girl? Are you dating?" Before Dimitri could utter a word, he continued, "Make sure Tasha sees the two of you. That will teach her a lesson."

"I'm not dating anyone and I don't need to teach Tasha a lesson."

"Then who was here?" Silence. "It wasn't Tasha, right?" Ivan exclaimed. "Don't tell me you believe the bullshit she fed you!"

"No! Calm down, Ivan. It was just…Viktoria. She was here."

"Viktoria?"

"Yes, Viktoria."

"That's weird, because I just saw her and Olena."

Oh no. Oh no. Everything was ruined.

"She's the one who told me Tasha's back," Ivan continued.

"Umm, I meant Karolina," Dimitri said quickly. "Yeah, Karolina was here."

I didn't see Ivan, but I could imagine the look on his face right now. "Okay..." he said at last. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Ivan seemed to believe him - or maybe not, but at least he didn't question him - and then he started talking about something else. He mentioned some girl's name – I figured he was talking about his girlfriend – and kept talking. Sighing, I walked away from the door and sat down on the bed, waiting until Ivan would leave.

After half an hour, it became clear Ivan wasn't about to leave yet. I made myself more comfortable on Dimitri's bed and picked up his book that he'd put on his nightstand. I flipped it open. A smile spread out on my face when I saw his bookmark. It was a picture of me when I was at the school dance. I was standing at the entrance of the gym and looked directly into the camera, smiling. He must've gotten it from our school site. A week or so ago they'd uploaded all the pictures from the dance on the site so students could take a look. Apparently, those pictures were also available for the teachers.

Figuring Ivan would still be here for a while, I started reading.

DPOV

Impatiently, I glanced at my watch for the tenth time. Ivan was here for over an hour now and there was no way of getting him out of here. I'd tried many times, hinting that I'd rather be alone now. What was he doing here anyway? It was Saturday night. Shouldn't he be with his girlfriend? Like I had been, before he'd come to ruin my only night with Roza. I appreciated him coming by to see if I was okay, but now he really had to leave. I wanted to be with Rose.

I cleared my throat and said, "Um, I'm kind of tired. So if you don't mind…"

"Oh, sure. Sure," Ivan said, though he didn't make a move to get up from the couch. "Oh wait, have I told you about Julie?"

I clenched my jaw. Sometimes Ivan could talk as much as a woman – maybe even more. I was surprised I didn't have a headache from all his talking. "What about her?"

"Well, Sarah told me she started dating this guy…"

I didn't really pay attention to his story until I heard my name.

"…still not over you, Dimitri. She still hopes you will change your mind about her."

"That's not going to happen." I sighed. "Ivan, I'm sorry, but I would really like to-"

"Oh yeah! Of course." He got up and walked to the door. "Next time you see Tasha, just ignore her. You deserve much better than her."

I walked to him and said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to get back together with her."

"Good." He smiled. "Good night, Dimka."

"Night," I said before closing the door and letting out a sigh of relief.

I looked at the clock and noticed it was almost eleven. Great. I knew Ivan hadn't meant to, but he'd really ruined my night with Roza. She'd probably fallen asleep by now.

I quietly opened the door and went inside. Roza was lying in bed, but her hair covered the most part her face so I couldn't see if she was asleep or not. The lamp on the bedside table was on, though. I stripped down to my boxer shorts and slipped under the covers. She didn't move.

I couldn't help myself and whispered, "Roza, are you awake?"

"Hmm?" Slowly, she turned around. "Comrade?" she said, squinting.

"I'm right here,' I murmured, taking her hand under the covers.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Did I fall asleep?"

I sat up, too. "Yeah. Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up."

"No, it's fine." She yawned. "God, your book is boring."

"What?" I said frowning. It was then that I noticed the book in her lap. "You were reading my book?"

"Yeah, but it made me feel sleepy."

I rolled my eyes.

"But I like your bookmark," Rose said teasingly as she looked at me.

I stiffened. Oh God…She'd seen it?

"Don't you?" she said, still in that teasing tone.

I think this was the first time in my life I actually blushed. Luckily it was dark enough so Rose couldn't see. Why was I even embarrassed? I was allowed to have a picture of her. She was my girlfriend, after all.

"Yes, I like it too," I said at last, smiling.

Rose wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a kiss.

"I'm sorry," I said when she pulled away. "Ivan wouldn't leave and…" I sighed. "I'm sorry. This was supposed to be our night together and-"

"It's okay," she interrupted me gently.

"But-"

She silenced me with another kiss. "Don't worry about it." She smiled. "I borrowed one of your shirts to sleep in," she said, looking down at the shirt. "Do you mind?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. I quite like it on you," I said, tugging on the shirt. "In fact, you look very sexy in it."

She grinned. "Why, thank you, comrade. You look very sexy without a shirt on."

I rolled my eyes at her and leaned in to kiss her. She sighed in content as she lay back down and I hovered over her to flick off the lamp before laying down next to her. I draped my arm over her waist and pulled her closer to me, nuzzling my face into her neck.

"Good night, comrade," Rose murmured.

"Good night, Roza," I whispered, kissing her shoulder.

I watched her angelic face as she slept, her breathing even, until I finally fell asleep myself.

Eddie and Rose made up! Yay! And Dimitri almost messed up with Ivan. Do you think Ivan really believed him? I thought you guys deserved a sweet, nice chapter before something goes wrong again so I hope you liked it :p

Please leave a review on your way out and tell me what you think ;)

P.S. They started filming VA today! Who's excited?! :D