*Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does!*

Rose's Point of View

"Charlie," I whispered. My youngest brother's head snapped up to look at me. Charlie was only seven years old the last time I saw him. I knew he would be almost nine now and he looked it. He had grown several inches. Charlie had always been closer to me than my other brothers. Part of it was that when he was born, I was old enough to help my mother with him. It often had fallen to me to take care of Charlie when my mother was out. Charlie had been dozing off against Toby's shoulder, my second-youngest brother.

Charlie stood up and walked towards my bed. He may be eight years old, but the second I extended my arms to him, he climbed into bed and snuggled into my side. It wasn't until I had seen them that I realized how much I had missed my brothers. They had always been supportive of me, had always been sympathetic. They had never made fun of me for wanting to be a guardian. Instead they had trained with me. And how had I repaid them? By leaving without as much as a goodbye. I hoped they knew why I had done it though. If I had said goodbye, I would never have been able to convince myself to go.

My older brothers, Frank and Andrew both guarded different moroi. Last I heard, their moroi were living in Iowa. I didn't know how they had managed to come here. They come first. Even before family. My other older brother Kevin was a different story. He got his promise mark, but never became a guardian to a specific moroi. Much like Dimitri, he chose to be a guardian to the whole. He worked at a college specifically designated for moroi. I wasn't surprised he was able to get off.

As for my four younger brothers, they were still in school. My mother must have pulled them out for a few days.

"Rosie," Charlie said to me sadly. Charlie was the only person that has ever gotten away with calling me Rosie. He only uses it when he's upset and I couldn't find it in my heart to yell at him when he's upset. I have never been particularly maternal, but that all melts away when it comes to Charlie.He was the only child I would ever be semi-maternal towards. The only one.

"I'm alright Charlie," I promised him, kissing his forehead. "I'm right here."

"I miss you," he whispered to me. His bottom lip quivered, the same it always did when he was close to crying. Much like he always had when me and my mother got into fights.

"I missed you too. More than I can say. I'm so sorry I had to leave you," I told him. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying. I had been able to handle so much, but one look at my family and I was suddenly emotional and on the brink of tears. "Can you forgive me?"

"Already have Rosie," he said. "I would have done the same thing if mommy wanted to marry me to Adrian." Charlie wrinkled up his nose in disgust.

I chuckled. I truly hoped Charlie would never grow up.

As if Charlie forgiving me gave them an invitation, the rest of my brothers stood up and joined me at my bedside. I looked towards Kevin. After Charlie, Kevin was definitely the one I was closest to. He was the only one that had known that I was making plans to leave and become a guardian. He was actually the one that suggested it. Even though Kevin was only three years older than me, he had always been my biggest protector. He was the first one to check my closet for monsters or tell me that as long as I stayed by my big brother, I would be okay. He was the first one to help me start training and learning some of the moves they learned as guardians. He was my biggest motivator.

So it was natural that right now, when I was feeling so emotional, surrounded by family that he be the first I turned to.

Kevin carefully captured me in one of his bear hugs. I felt like I was a little girl again. Crying to Kevin about how it wasn't fair that I didn't have a say in my own life.

After Kevin stepped back from our hug, he smiled at me big. "You did well little sis, you did well," he said seriously.

I couldn't help but smile back. I may have lost my chance to be a guardian, but I was proud of myself.

I looked at my brothers. Six of them grouped together and one of them lying at my side. "Guys, I'm really sorry. I wish I could have let you know that I was going to leave, but I was afraid. I didn't think I would be able to make myself leave if I had to say goodbye."

"Do you know what it was like?" Sam asked me angrily. Sam was born only eleven months after me. I understood his anger. He was always like this. If things didn't go exactly his way, he would make sure you knew it. Even at sixteen years old, he was like that. Sam was the only one that ever opposed my dream to become a guardian. He didn't understand why I wouldn't just go along with what my mom wanted. "We got a phone call from mom. 'Wedding is off. Your sister ran away.' I didn't know if I would ever see you again. I didn't know if you survived the night. And what was worse was that no one seemed to care. When I came home for break I went to find Lissa and she just told me she was sure you could take care of yourself. I had no idea if you were okay! Why couldn't you just have stayed put? You could have had a great life!"

"Sam," I said harshly, cutting off his tirade. "I'm sorry. I don't know how many times you want me to say it. You knew that I wasn't happy. I've always wanted to be a guardian. When I got the opportunity to leave, I took it."

"Sam," Frank warned. "Drop it. The important thing is that Rose is safe. Stop being selfish and be grateful for that." Frank patted my shoulder uncomfortably. He was less touchy-feely than I was. Even when he was younger, any kind of loving contact made him uncomfortable. He had a bubble and he liked keeping that bubble to himself and not letting anyone in.

With the exception of Sam, the rest of my brothers seemed to have forgiven me almost instantly. For what I guessed to be close to an hour, we just talked and caught up on the last year. Even Sam eventually relaxed and started contributing. It was great to see them again and to hear all about school and their jobs. They had been one of the hardest things to give up.

Then all of a sudden, everyone jumped back into my room. I looked at them confused. "Everything okay?" I asked them uncertainly. It was odd, but in the moment the only thing I could register was the complete shock on Christian's face when he saw me with my arm around my brother. It was entirely comical. I don't think I would ever forget it.

No one answered me. Instead a guardian that I didn't recognize spoke up. "The queen is here," he announced, stepping aside.

Let me know what you think please. I love reviews!