I thought that Dimitri would head back the way we had come, but instead, he grabbed my hand and led me in the opposite direction, further into the alleyway. Confused, I opened my mouth to ask why we were heading towards a dead end. My question stopped before it was given a voice however, as Dimitri rounded a corner, seeming to disappear into the wall. Even with my superior Dhampir eyesight, I couldn't see the turn until we were right on top of it. I realised that the building to our left must be L-shaped, and the building to the right of us was smaller,nestled into the gap that the other building provided. How Dimitri knew the layout I had no idea. Guessing my thought, he answered without me asking. "This is guest housing," he explained in a hushed tone, indicating his head to the smaller of the buildings. "It's where I was held." He didn't have to finish the thought. We both knew well what he meant. When he had been restored and no one believed the miracle that they saw, Dimitri was kept under heavy guard in the guest housing. Still, it was better than the jail cell, I knew from personal experience. "When I left the building, we used the fire exit, at this end, to not cause a scene."

As he spoke, we reached the sidewalk again, emerging from the building from the other side. We didn't speak again as we made our way back across court. It was a comfortable silence, one that I shattered as we got to our building and Dimitri kept walking past. "Hey," I protested, planting my feet and nearly dislocating my shoulder as Dimitri kept walking. I looked down and gestured down at myself "I have to go change. And probably brush my hair." I couldn't see that much, but I could imagine. The glint of amusement in Dimitri's eyes didn't fill me with confidence either.

"No time."

"But-"

"Come, we can keep the queen waiting." Dimitri started walking again, making it clear that he was going to make me sit for dinner in my t-shirt and joggers and complete lack of underwear.

For the third time this evening, Dimitri led in a completely different direction then I expected. Passing the dining room and larger banquet halls, he led up to Lissa's private apartments. Dimitri knocked as we reached the door, and winked at me when he turned his face to my puzzled one. Christian answered the door with his usual, lazy smile, giving me a once over with raised eyebrows as we entered. "Needn't have made such an effort Rose." I shot him a dirty look, and one at Dimitri for good measure. He was unaffected though, thoroughly enjoying the situation. I'd have to think of a way to get him back for this. Though as we walked through to the living room, we found Lissa in a casual t-shirt that fell to mid thigh and yoga pants. Her hair was tied in a messy bun on the top of her head and she wasn't wearing makeup. Not very queenly attire, but she still somehow looked put together, like she could have addressed the council then and there. As it was, she sat cross legged on the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table, opening the lid of a large square box.

"Where did you get pizza delivered from?" Though court was the seat of power and centre of Moroi society, it seriously lacked good takeout choices.

"A Queen has her ways." Lissa replied, using a haughty voice and raising her chin. We laughed as I sat down next to her, giving her a half hug as I looked in the boxes. I chose a slice of pepperoni gooey goodness, careful not to drip greece onto the carpet as I brought it to my mouth. The doorbell rang again, and Dimitri left to answer it. He returned with Mia and Eddie in tow, and I greeted them around a mouthful of pizza. Dimitri shook his head as he took a seat in an armchair nearby, accepting a slice from the box Christian offered to him. I noted that everyone was dressed almost as casually as me and Dimitri were. Suddenly I was a lot less self conscious of my dishevelled state, Well, momentarily anyway.

"Hey Rose, what happened to your hair," asked Mia, heading to one of the couches. I glanced at Dimitri, who was working very hard to keep a straight face, instead focussing on eating. I ran a hand through it, realising that between the air drying on the walk back from the gym and our detour into the alley, it was a tangled mess. I shrugged, trying for nonchalance. "It's windy." I explained, taking another bite of my pizza so that I wasn't able to elaborate. Lissa was watching with amusement, her eyes watching me, then flicking to Dimitri, then back to me. She wasn't looking at me though, I realised, she was looking at our auras. God only knows what they showed. I knew that Liss could always tell when me and Dimitri had had sex, apperently the afterglow was too bright to ignore. I really wished she would try harder. It was a strange mirror of when I would be forced to witness her and Christian's romantic interludes while we were still bonded. Clearly karma really was a bitch. I was curious as to what she saw now though, much as I hated to admit it. While we had gotten pretty hot and heavy, not much had really happened.

We all settled down into light conversation after that, eating and laughing with one another. It came scarily close to normal, and I could see that we were all sort of waiting for something dramatic to happen. None of us were used to normal. But nothing happened, no hoards of Strigoi or angry militia came bursting in, and we all decided to stay and watch a movie, no one wanting to burst the little serene bubble that we were all suddenly existing in. I took a place on Dimitri lap in the armchair, resting my head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around me, his fingers making lazy trails on my arms.

As the lights were turned down and the movie started however, his fingers wandered down to the exposed skin on my hip, where my shirt had ridden up slightly. It made me shiver. He didn't do anything else though, just caressed me teasingly as I tried to concentrate on the movie. About half an hour in, I saw Lissa rise out of the corner of my eye, glancing at me as she made her way to the kitchen. I caught her meaning, and whispered to Dimitri. "I'm going to grab a drink, you want one."

"No, and if you're going to discuss our love, life, at least be vague" he said, raising an eyebrow and giving me a knowing look. I smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips, not giving him an answer.

I found Lissa sitting on the kitchen island, a tub of ice cream sat next to her with two spoons. I hopped up beside her, taking the spoon that she held out to me. "You're going to have to start warning me you know, I'll wear sunglasses next time."

"Oh Liss, it can't be that bad." She raised her eyebrows at me, letting me know it was in deed, that bad.

I gave a sheepish shrug. "Sorry, you know I can't help it. Besides, nothing happened." Her eyes focussed just next to my head and I knew she was opening her senses again. "Yeah, I saw that too." she mused, confirming my earlier thoughts.

"How, why is it different?" I heard myself ask, more curious than I cared to admit.

"Well," she started, then paused, tilting her head slightly and considering for a moment. "It's like, your auras are reaching out to each other, but aren't quite touching. Usually when I see you two together, your auras intermingle at the edges."

"You see us together a lot Liss. You can't possibly think that we are at it that often." We were, but that was beside the point. The look she gave me made me think that the bond had come back and was reversed. I threw my hands up. "Fine, you're right. But why is it so bright?"

She shrugged "No idea." She dropped off the counter, putting the ice cream tub back in the freezer before we could finish the full tub. And by we, I meant I. She grabbed some bottles of water from the fridge, and we went back to join the others.

Mia and Eddie were definitely sitting closer than they had been when we had left. I gave Lissa a sidelong glance as I went to sit with Dimitri, handing him a bottle of water and opening my own. "How scandalized am I? Can I show my face in polite society again?" I looked thoughtful for a moment, then whispered back. "Not sure. You may have to stay locked in the bedroom from now on." Dimitri chuckled quietly, pulled me back against him and kissed the top of my head.

The sun was high in the sky before we all went our separate ways, while Mia and Eddie walked quickly, the bright sun uncomfortable for the Moroi to be out in, Dimitri and I took our time, enjoying the sunlight. We could have taken the tunnels that connected our building and the royal residence, but we chose the long route to enjoy a brief moment of the warm caress of the sunlight. We dragged ourselves back into our apartment, heading straight to the bedroom. Dimitri stood at the end of the bed, his arms wrapped around me as we stood in comfortable silence for a few moments. He placed a finger under my chin, lifting my head until I looked him in the eye. He kissed my lips softly, and ran his fingers through my hair. At least he tried to, they quickly got tangled in the mess of locks. I laughed and pulled away from him, heading to the vanity and grabbing a hairbrush. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching silently as I brushed through my hair. I met his eyes in the mirror. "What?" I asked with a laugh. He simply shook his head at me smiling, and looked down. At his feet, half under the bed lay his duster.

"I'd hardly call this looking after it Roza," he said, gesturing at the wrinkled leather and meeting my eyes in the mirror again. He bent to pick the coat up shaking out the fabric. There was a faint tinkling sound and Dimitri looked down to see what else had rolled from under the bed. My stomach sank as I watched in the mirror as an empty bottle rolled to a stop at his feet.

Dimitri picked the bottle up, confusion all over his face. Meeting my eyes in the mirror once again, he asked "Rose, what the hell is this?"