I don't own VA.

Vampire Academy.

Rose Hathaway and Christian Ozera.

Steps.

A troubled Christian was walking around the campus. It was the middle of the Moroi night. It hadn't been easy to sneak out. The security around the Moroi dorms had been increased significantly. He hated it. He hated being confined to this school. He hated having Guardians keeping an eye on him ever since the Spokane thing happened.

He had somehow found himself having a nightmare about that horrendous night and had woken up sweating and gasping, begging his parents to somehow appear in front of him so that he could see them just once.

Was that so much to ask for?

He disliked these vulnerable moments. He was supposed to be strong, to care about anything, to put on a perfect, royal mask and act like a snobby royal.

But he was far from these things. He couldn't be always strong, he was allowed to be weak, he was allowed to be scared. He hated his blood status. A lot of times he wished he could have blended in with other Moroi.

Sure, Aunt Tasha always said to see positive things in everything, to make others listen to you, to find where one stood.

But no one ever listened to him. He always stayed in shadows, even if it was being with Lissa at some school party or a royal gathering. He didn't understand where he stood. And he was tired of looking for goodness in others.

It had been years since 'the incident' had taken place and yet he was still having nightmares about his own parents killing him as well as what had happened in Spokane. He hadn't been able to tell anyone about it. Not his Aunt Tasha. Not even Lissa. Even though both of them had begged him to open up about it.

It was hard to do so. He hated seeing the pity and sympathy in others' eyes and he hated it even more when Aunt Tasha's or Lissa's eyes flashed with sympathy.

It was late night. The corridors were free of any running students or murmuring Guardians. The chirps of bird, the crisp air, the blue sky, it was a feeling that he couldn't describe. Moroi dorms barely got to see any sun. Sure, it hurt him but it was nice to see the sun now and then.

Lost in thought and not realizing where he was going, Christian found himself near the Dhampir training building.

He paused as his ears picked up the grunts and the rhythmic sounds of footsteps. Someone was in there, training probably. Wondering if the person was a Guardian or not, Christian peeked in, his moments barely audible.

Moroi senses were better than Dhampirs, but Moroi barely had the training that made Dhampirs use most of their enhanced senses. Still, practicing magic with Aunt Tasha had made him sharp.

It wasn't a Guardian.

It was Rose.

Christian watched, perplexed, as she punched the day lights out of the red punching bag. What the hell did the poor punching bag do to suffer Rose Hathaway's wrath? Or more importantly, why was Rose so mad?

The expression on her face was obvious, but it made him even more baffled when Christian noticed tears glistening on her cheeks.

Christian hesitated.

His friendship with Rose hadn't exactly being the best thing. They had once hated each other. But they had been through a lot of things. And there were things that Rose didn't talk about to Lissa and instead went on to chat with him.

They bickered constantly, but Christian also knew that deep down, he would not hesitate to stand up for Rose.

Normally, Christian would have said something sarcastic that would lead to a stupid, baseless argument between the two of them. But at the current moment, even he could understand what Rose needed.

"Rose?" He called, taking a few steps forward, "Are you okay?"

She got into a stance, a lethal expression on her face. If he hadn't known her, then Christian would have definitely flinched under that harsh face.

"It's just me," he said slowly, as if talking to a toddler.

Rose didn't relax immediately.

Christian didn't blame her.

Having traveled the world and face numerous Strigoi made her even more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that the lioness was wounded, deeply wounded.

Christian felt his heart sink as he stared at her face. Tears and sweat made trails on her face. She looked beyond exhausted, it was even worse than seeing Adrian on a bad day. Her face looked sunken. She had lost weight. Dhampirs were usually muscly, she was muscly too, but these days, it was a sick kind of muscly.

"Rose?" He said when she still hadn't put her hands down.

She seemed startled at the sound of her name. Even though it was brief, she looked flustered. Then she looked away and began to unwrap the blue bandages on her hands.

"What do you want?" She asked, still not looking at him, now a towel in her hands. Her voice was monotonous, too monotonous.

Christian kicked at nothing in particular. What he wanted to say made him reluctant, "How are you, Rose?"

He was really bad at the confrontations stuff.

Rose looked at him, startled. Her lips trembled. And then she was sobbing.

Oh, shit.

He was really, really bad at this. Sarcasm and insults, sure no problem. But this. Oh, Vlad, for a moment he thought why he had even asked her that. Then he squared his shoulders.

Rose needed someone right now.

He took a tentative step towards her.

She took a few deep breaths and rubbed her face.

"It's okay, I am cool." She said with a few hiccups. She put her on brave-Rose-Hathaway-grin.

"Rose." He said, "I know you are upset. And I know you are trying to fool everyone. You have been shutting us all out for the past few-"

"If you are going to give me Lissa's 'move on' talk then spare me." She snapped.

He gave a humorless laugh. "Move on from something like that in a matter of days? No, you don't move on from something like that. You merely learn to live without the people you lose." Christian let out a sigh.

Rose gaped at him like a fish.

"Was that too much?" He asked.

To his surprise, she cracked a smile and shook her head. "Just... unexpected."

"Well," he shrugged, "I have my moments."

Rose let out a noise between a snort and a sob.

There was a pause. Awkwardness hung around them like a heavy curtain. Or maybe it was just him thinking that. Rose continued to pack her things with a few hiccups occasionally escaping her lips. Christian shuffled his feet.

"Look, Rose, I can't say that I know what you are feeling. You are hurting and need some time to think, but... please, don't shut us out. You can't just keep to yourself forever. You can't just stay in your room and use catching up with studies as your excuse." He said.

"I am not shutting anyone out." She mumbled. "I hang out with Lissa and you, with Eddie. Hell, I am going out with Adrian!"

Oh, yeah. Adrian.

It was another thing that Christian couldn't really understand. Why the fuck was Rose dating Adrian? Sure, a part of him was glad that Adrian wasn't after Lissa. But Rose and Adrian? Really? The drunken asshole and the badass Strigoi killer?

All because Rose felt like she owed it to him.

"Why are hurting yourself even more by going out with him?" He asked, slightly irritated.

"I am not." She said quickly. "Adrian's nice. He's changed. Or at least, trying to. He's sweet. He sent me a bunch of roses last week. He's, yeah, okay." She tried to smile.

Christian heard what she couldn't say. "But he's not Belikov." He said softly. "And you hate rose stuff."

"Yeah, that too." She whispered, turning away.

Christian felt his throat caught up. He had never seen her so vulnerable. She looked broken. And yet, she was trying her best to join back the pieces.

"I should...should go." Her voice cracked.

Christian nodded. "You know I am here... if you want to talk about it." He said.

Rose smiled a watery smile. "Thanks, Fireboy. Now, don't go hugging me now. We both have a reputation to maintain."

He chuckled. "Yeah, right."

She picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder. "You'll be fine sneaking back in, right?"

He nodded. "Don't worry."

"Bye, Christian." She said, "Thanks for, well, thanks for talking."

"Get some sleep, Rose. You look like you could use it."

Her eyes flashed like her old self again.

Oh, he loved getting on her nerves. It was rare these days.

"Bye, Ozera," She muttered and walked out.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder, when would he see the old Rose again.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry for the super late update.

See you all soon.

Sacraa.