I didn't get as many reviews with the last chapter as I have been with previous chapters. Not sure why, I guess because Dimitri wasn't there? Anyways, I wrote this today. I'm sorry I haven't updated lately but class is really kicking my butt and it has only just begun. I will probably be updating on Thursdays or over the weekend since Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are busy class days. Hope that's okay... I finally have over 400 reviews and I am crazy impressed...you guys are awesome!

So Robert Pattison was in my hometown on Monday which created this big uproar... it was kind of weird since I live in a small town in Texas but it was kinda cool...kinda funny how crazy everyone went...

I hope you like this chapter...it has Rose and Dimitri in it so hopefully this will be liked...next chapter should be mainly Dimitri...

I own nothing and nothing was beta'd...please review!

Stop Being a Coward!

Chapter 18

Abby Badica was tall as most moroi were. She was about 6 foot tall, being just a few inches taller than Rose. She had dark black hair and hunter green eyes that seemed almost catlike in appearance. Her curves were much more than a normal Moroi would have and both her backside and her breasts were closer to dhampir endowment but she was definitely moroi. Her petite fangs were expertly hidden while talking but she had laughed at something Lissa had said and exposed the tips.

Abby had been very accommodating and agreed to meet with them only an hour after Lissa had contacted her at the café. Abby jumped at the chance to show the last Dragomir Princess houses at court and while she was royal herself, she seemed respectful of Lissa's position. Lissa of course had insisted that Abby call her Lissa instead of Princess and soon the two were acting like old friends.

Rose had to admit that Abby was nice. She had grown up around the court as her father was one of the queen's advisers but did not fall into the snobby royal category that most royal court members had. She had been very accommodating and nice towards Rose and Christian both and Rose could tell Abby's actions were sincere.

Showing determination to find the right house, Abby had showed the trio twelve houses already. While thirteen was usually an unlucky number, they might have just found the place for Lissa and Christian to call home once the walked into the most resent home.

Rose noticed that the house was just two down from Adrian's parents home and considered call him to see if he wanted to walk over and see the two-story home they had been looking at but reconsidered when she thought back to his strange exit earlier while they were having breakfast.

Lissa brought up the subject herself though, "Adrian lives just over there. Do you think we should call him to come over? I think this could be the one." Lissa grinned as she looked around the spacious living room that connected to the chef-quality kitchen. The kitchen had French doors that opened into a huge backyard that had landscaping already perfect and an Olympic sized swimming pool taking up the right side of the yard. A huge deck came off of the house to overlook the land and Lissa could already imagine having a party back there. A small white gazebo was towards the left side of the yard, surrounded by a flower garden that seemed to be well loved. Lissa knew that her spirit ability would help her continue to grow the beautiful plants and was excited to see what her green thumb could accomplish.

The rest of the house consisted of a master bedroom with sitting area that had a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub big enough for four people and a walk in closet that was fit for the queen herself. On the other side of the top floor were three spare bedrooms with two bathrooms and downstairs housed an office while the basement had a theater system and game room already set up. They had seen some nice houses, twelve to be exact, but something about this house just seemed right. The soft tan color of the walls and the just darker trim was perfect so Lissa wouldn't have to repaint or anything.

"Did you see how he ran out on us this morning?" Christian asked, "I doubt he wants to come look at houses with us. What was his problem anyway?"

Rose shrugged while Abby suddenly turned a lovely shade of red as a blush rose in her cheeks, "Adrian Ivashkov?"

"Yeah, do you know him?" Lissa asked, interested in Abby's reaction.

"No. I mean yes. I mean I use to but I haven't seen him in a long time." Abby seemed to change from having a carefree and outgoing personality into a shy little girl at the mention of the man's name.

"Use to?" Rose asked, wanting to know more. Maybe Abby would explain Adrian's earlier behavior.

"Yeah, we use to have the same tutor here at court when we were younger. Then he went away for school and I stayed here. I didn't even know he was back."

Rose intuition picked up and she could tell that Abby had had a crush on Adrian at one point in time. Maybe Adrian had liked her as well. He had turned sort of red and was quick to escape at first mention of Abby.

"I'll go call him, see if he will join us. Can I use your cell phone Lissa?" Rose asked, stepping towards Lissa. After capturing the small device, she walked towards the French doors and disappeared into the massive back yard.

Rose began dialing Adrian's number but then hesitated. There was someone else she needed to talk to before she spoke to Adrian. She quickly dialed Dimitri's phone number and waited for him to pick up.

He picked up on the third ring and sounded out of breath, which was unusual for the man. "Hello?"

"Hey." Rose's voice seemed so small and petite to his ears.

"Hi." Dimitri grinned but then groaned when the action caused his head to throb that much more. The drunkenness was gone and all that remained was a killer headache that wouldn't go away. Normally dhampirs didn't get sick or have headaches so the feeling was a much unwelcome reminder that while he might be half vampire he was also half human and drinking was not a good idea.

"You okay?" Rose asked timidly. She had no idea what could cause the man to be out of breath and groaning. A brief memory of their night together in the cabin flashed through her head but that out of breath moaning was pleasurable while this one seemed in pain. Plus, Dimitri wouldn't even think about cheating on her while he was away. That wasn't the type of man he was.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You remember Mark and Oksana?" Dimitri asked.

"Of course."

"Well, do you remember that massive stone wall around their back yard and the bricks that led through Oksana's gardens?"

"Yes, it was so beautiful out there." Rose grinned at the memory. She didn't really like to think about most of her in Russia but she remembered the little bit of downtime she had received while at Mark and Oksana's. The gardens that Mark worked in were huge and very calming to her nerves. She remembered thinking that Oksana must use spirit to help all the plans grow so big and beautiful.

"Yes, well storms came through about two weeks ago and most of the wall and walkway were torn up. My grandmother volunteered me to help Mark rebuild everything. We are even building a fountain towards the end of the pathway. It should be nice when it's done but we've been working non-stop all day long. I thought training was difficult but manual labor seems to be more rough." Dimitri decided not to tell her about the hangover part which was making him feel that much worse. He figured he wouldn't quite as out of breath if he hadn't drank so much the previous night. He nursed a bottle of water as he waited for her to respond.

Rose laughed, "did she make you carry all the bricks there yourself?"

"Most of them." Dimitri grinned; Rose's laugh always seemed to easy his mind.

"At least I am not the only one she tortures." Rose rolled her eyes at the memory glad that she hadn't been pulled out of bed before dawn for those reasons.

"So what are you guys doing? What number are you calling me from?" Dimitri turned to subject back to Rose, wanting to know what she was doing and wishing he were with her.

"It's Lissa's cell phone and we are house shopping. I think Lissa and Christian might have found the perfect one. We've only seen about a hundred today."

"They are moving out of guest housing?"

"Yeah. They have only been there for so long because of me and I know that Lissa wants to get settled and decorate and all that stuff so we have been looking at houses for most of the day."

Dimitri nodded even though Rose couldn't see him, "and you?" He didn't know what she would be doing. Would she also be moving out of guest hosing? He hadn't really thought about what they would do when he got back but he hadn't expected her to move. He had been planning on talking to her about the possibility of them living together for a while. He knew that living together was a big deal but he knew that's what he wanted. If she wasn't eighteen, he might even ask her to marry him but with her being so young, he didn't want to tie her into a decision she might not want in five years. He wanted to wait until she was older to make that kind of commitment. He hadn't even thought he would get married but now that there was a chance it could happen, he didn't want anything to mess it up. He knew that chances were good that both of them would always feel the way they did now, at least he knew he would, but he wanted to go slow and let Rose experience life before agreeing to be with him for forever. That wasn't to say he wasn't going to be with her every step of the way though, because he wasn't going to let her go again.

"Well…" she began, a little unsure of herself. "I'm not really sure. I thought I would probably stay in guest housing or in one of Lissa's spare rooms for a while before figuring out where I wanted to live on a more permanent basis." Rose didn't have to say the words till you come back but both of them knew that that was what she meant.

"Good." Dimitri answered; glad she wasn't deciding where to live yet. Neither of them had had a stable home since leaving the academy. "I need to find a place to live around there too, maybe we can look together when I get back."

"That would be good." She wanted to ask if that meant they would be looking for a place to live together or if it just meant that they would look for a place at the same time but didn't really want to have that conversation over the phone. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. I should be home in a few days. My mother called Moscow to have them send the paperwork to revoke my death certificate. It was supposed to be overnighted to Baia so we should get it sometime today. Once they get it and make sure everything is in order, I should be able to head back home. I haven't been gone that long and I love being in Russia but sometimes it feels like I've been gone forever."

They both contemplated that. Something about the way he had said he couldn't wait to get home meant a lot to both of them. Dimitri knew that anywhere Rose was would be his home from now on whether they were in Russia or the United States.

Yelling in the background brought Rose's mind back to the conversation at hand. "What is that?"

"Babushka, I am talking to Roza, give me just a minute and I will get back to work. Can't I take a break for five minutes? I have been working for over five hours straight." Dimitri answered his grandmother in Russian leaving Rose in the dark. She knew he said her name but wasn't sure what the conversation going on between Dimitri and his grandmother was about.

Dimitri internally sighed, not wanting to offend his grandmother. He wasn't lazy or disrespectful as she had accused him of being and being in the US had not made him soft. He just had a headache and was working his ass off. Even during training he got a break from time to time. His grandmother was a slave driver.

"I'm sorry, I have to get back to work. I am glad you called me. It's getting late there isn't it? I will call you later if we finish up before to late." Dimitri told Rose, turning from his grandmother to walk back towards the fence where Mark was taking another load of bricks.

"Okay, call me anyway okay?" Rose was sad to hear him go.

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too." Rose replied and ended the call. She shook the thoughts of living with Dimitri out of her head and looked down at the phone that was still clutched in her hand. Now she had to make the call that she had come out to actually make. Dialing Adrian's number, she held the phone to her ear and waited.

Was that better than the last chapter? I hope you liked it...please review :)