A.N:

Hey guys thank you so much for the reviews it was so sweet of you. I guess you didn't like it as much as usual because I did get a HUGE drop in the number of reviews well I hope this one will be more inspiring lol.

I have another VA story in mind pretty exciting but I won't start posting it before this one is over =D

Well don't forget to check out my play list ( I updated it) and please Review to tell me what you think.

Take care and ENJOY

Chapter 7:

At first Adrian kissed me back and it felt good, better than I thought it would. His lips were warm and soft against mine, his hard body radiating with want made me shiver. Almost as soon as we deepened the kiss he gently pushed me away breaking it altogether.

I groaned with frustration.

"Not like that…" He said breathlessly.

"You don't want me?" I asked him, feeling both confused and hurt. I didn't deal very well with rejection.

"Of course I do Rose." He retorted like he never heard something stupider in his entire life. "I never wanted anyone as much as I want you."

"So?" I replied, opening my arms. "I'm here to be claimed," I said smiling widely.

"Not while you're like that." He shook his head, "not when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" I said trying my best to sound offended.

Adrian was still looking at me with a sad smile. "There is not much that a French kiss can hide my little dhampir."

I blushed slightly. "Well I'm not that drunk! It won't be like you're taking advantage of me I promise," I said reaching for him.

"Maybe not," he caught my hands before I could touch his torso. "But you are clearly drunk enough to regret it when you wake up." He added keeping my hands in his.

"So what? It will be my mistake. Consider me warned," I shrugged and looked up at his face that was torn with indecision. I stood on my toes trying to attain his lips but he just leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"No," he whispered against my forehead. "I don't want you to look back on something we did together and see it as a mistake."

I got out of his arms feeling slightly angry. "Being a good guy sucks!" I said childishly walking into the room.

"It really does," he agreed. "Not so long ago I wouldn't have thought about it twice but things changed…you changed them."

I snorted still looking away. I took a small bottle from my pocket, I only had time to get half way through it when Adrian ripped it away from me.

"How many of those did you have?" Adrian asked seriously. He even seemed to sound a little worried.

"Ummmm 8?" I tapped my chin, "no wait!" I pointed to the little bottle he was holding. "8 and three quarters of that one."

"9 bottles?" He asked rhetorically. "Wow… you are drunker than I thought you were," he said setting the bottle on the table.

"I told you I'm not drunk!" I said as I raised my arms in exasperation, which was a stupid idea because I already had trouble keeping myself balanced.

I could already see my head banging the side of the coffee table. When I felt an arm wrap tightly around my waist to steady me, I felt slightly relieved.

"Sure you aren't," Adrian responded, keeping his hold around my waist. "Come on you drunk, let's get you to bed," he said as he started leading me to his room.

I shook my head. "You don't understand," I said my voice cracking.

Adrian stopped walking keeping me against him. I presumed that he liked to have me against him, maybe as much as I liked being against him. "What don't I understand Rose?" He asked softly removing some rebellious hair from my face.

"I need to save him." I said in a tearless sob. "But to save him I have to become a traitor, renounce to everything I believe in."

"Who do you need to save Rose?" He asked with real concern.

"My prince!" I stated like if it was evident.

"Your prince?" Asked Adrian with a small smile playing on his lips. "And who is that lucky bastard?" He asked teasingly.

"Dimitri," I could feel the tears starting to fall down my cheeks. "I need to save Dimitri."

I saw Adrian recoil slightly and wince like I had just punched him, but he kept quiet and we continued our way to his bedroom.

Adrian gently help me to sit on his bed but his face was somber now. He took my jacket off.

"I…please understand," I said looking at him helplessly. "I have to save him."

Adrian eyes were sad now. "He is dead Rose, you killed him remember?"

Adrian kneeled down and took my shoes off.

"No he is not dead. I failed and now he is coming here to take me or to kill me." I said in a hushed tone.

Adrian put my shoes aside and looked at me with incredulity.

"Belikov is alive?" He tried.

I nodded crying even harder now. "And now I even have to break Victor Dashkov out of jail to save him. Victor knows how to save my prince he told me last night."

"Rose…Rose focus for a minute," Said Adrian with urgency and for the first time since I met him I could see pure fear in his eyes. "You saw Victor? Where??"

"In jail! I went to a secret meeting." I said like he was an idiot. "Can you believe that only the bad wizard knows the way to break the spell and give me back my prince. Cause you see…" I brought my hand to his cheek. "The princess can't go on with her life knowing that her prince could return to her and finally give her the 'happily ever after' she is longing for."

Adrian pursed his lips so strongly that they turned white. I could see pain and deception in his eyes, like I was letting him down, breaking his heart. He slipped away from my touch and took the bottle of water on his night stand. "Drink please," he said nicely yet his voice sounded so cold, so distant.

He helped me down on his bed and carefully tucked me in.

"Sleep now," he whispered and there was pain both in his eyes and his voice.

I closed my eyes. "Why are you sad?" I mumbled already drifting into sleep.

I was not sure I heard it right or if it was a dream because I was already half way gone but I thought he said something like. "My heart is breaking because I realized that I have to let go the only person I ever loved. The worst feeling in the world is giving all the love you have and knowing it'll never be returned." I think he kissed my forehead and then I was asleep.

I woke up with a killer headache. I looked around slightly panicked, not knowing where I was. Although, I sure knew that this big comfy bed wasn't mine.

I instinctively patted the other side, it was empty and cold and I patted myself, I still had my shirt and jeans on.

I closed my eyes again and sighed with relief trying to remember what the heck happened to me. Well the headache attested to a hangover, that was already something.

I heard voices coming from the other room.

"She is still sleeping," Adrian said.

Okay, I was in Adrian's bed…another clue.

"You're taking good care of her," said a deep man voice.

Abe? I thought.

"Someone has to." Adrian replied, apparently angry.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Abe a lot colder now.

Adrian sighed heavily. "You know what forget it, it's none of my business, not anymore."

Not anymore? What is happening?? I thought my heart pounding in my chest.

"You'll figure out eventually that what Rose wants and what is good for her are sometime two totally opposite things." Added Adrian matter of factly. "Anyways don't you worry they all believed me when I explained she had dinner with me in my room and ate something apparently not so good, and that she spent the night vomiting which is actually not so wrong."

"She's been sick?" Abe asked with concern.

"Yeah but she is fine now, she is sleeping soundly. Apparently whiskey is not her best friend." He sighed again "That is a part of her I really didn't need to meet."

"The drunken Rose?" Asked Abe and I could hear laugher in his voice.

"No I knew drunken Rose. I meant vomiting 'like-in-the-exorcist' Rose." Said Adrian and for once there was no humor in his voice, I could hear a underlying despair I couldn't understand.

What the heck did I say to him? I wondered but my brain was still slow.

"Don't worry I'll take care of her and I'll give you a call as soon as she is ready to go." Said Adrian and he seemed annoyed and that shocked me.

"Thank you," Abe replied and I could hear the real gratitude in voice.

About two minutes later the bedroom door opened slightly and Adrian peeked in.

"Hey…" I said with a sleepy voice.

"Oh you're awake," he commented, walking to me to check my temperature with the back of his hand.

He didn't smile at me or anything he looked so…distant and oddly enough it made my heart ache.

I frowned slightly but decided to ignore his attitude. "What time is it?"

"Classes are about to end," he said opening the drawer of his night stand. "Here take that with this full glass of water." He added putting two Tylenol in my hand.

"Are you alright?" I asked sitting up taking the tablets. I almost chocked drinking when I saw him take his suitcase out of his wardrobe.

"What's going on?" I asked jumping out of bed and apparently my equilibrium sucked because I almost fell. Adrian sighed with exasperation as he reached to steady me.

"Adrian please talk to me," I said reaching for his hand as he let go of me.

Adrian looked at me and sighed. "I think it's time for me to go, go back to Court."

"But…But what about Lissa and Spirit?" I asked but I just realized that I didn't want him to leave me.

"She will be moving to the Court in 2 months…We'll restart our work then," he said dismissively and started to load his suitcase.

"What about us? Our friendship?" I asked trying the best to contain my tears.

He snorted and it sounded so bitter coming from him. "Please you really don't need to keep it up. The pretenses are never good." He said continuing to pack his things into his suitcase.

I walked briskly to it, closed it, and sat on it.

"But what are you talking about?!" I asked annoyed now. "Talk to me please. I…I have no idea what happened last night and if I did anything to hurt you I'm sorry…really I…" I took a deep, shaky, breath. "I don't want to hurt you, ever."

Adrian stopped in front of me with a pile of clothes. He looked at me silently for minute before sighing in resignation.

"If you didn't want to hurt me you should have told me that Belikov was still alive and that you were still holding on," he replied and the pain in his voice made me wince.

Did I say all that? I thought astonished.

"Oh yea you talk when you're drunk and every word you said last night hurt me." He shook his head "I know you didn't do it voluntarily but it hurt just the same."

"How much did I say?" I asked still sitting on the suitcase.

"Much more than I wanted to know but if you don't talk to the others about it I will." He said threateningly. "If he is coming for you and if you're going to become an outlaw they have the right to know."

Ok he knows everything I thought ,wanting to kick myself.

"But I won't stay here and watch you destroy yourself and everything good in your life for something that was doomed since day one." He said with his voice full of sorrow. "I said I'll stand by you but not while you destroy yourself I can't do that!" .

"Doomed?" I asked because it was the only word that lingered in my mind.

"Oh come on Rose," he said putting the pile of clothes beside his suitcase. "Everything was against you two from day one but you were so gone for him you didn't see it!! Think Rose what did this relationship bring into your lives except heartache??!!"

I opened my mouth to answer but closed it again.

"I won't make the same mistake Rose… I won't insist on a road that will end up hurting me…hurting us." He closed his eyes. "I can't do that."

I got off the suitcase in defeat. "You wouldn't like the real Rose anyways," I said softly." If you knew all my dark secrets, it's maybe better this way."

"Don't try to put that one on me!" He shouted.

I turned around briskly looking at him completely surprised because I really didn't expect such a radical switch in his emotions.

"I know all your dark secrets and I still love you just the same." He added flush with anger. I was not even sure he realized that he told me that he loved me.

I thought about how I degraded myself being Dimitri's blood whore, almost begging him to bite me, I could see my bruised neck in the mirror again. Yeah, I was sure he wouldn't 'love' me anymore after that.

"You seem to ponder that," said Adrian as he stopped packing his suitcase. "You don't believe me?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"No I do believe you," I said sincerely taking a step toward him but he instinctively took a step back. "I just don't think you know my darker secret."

He bit his bottom lip for a little while like he was trying to decide what to add. "I know what you are ashamed of Rose and there is no reason to be. You know when I walked into your dreams, the one when you were wearing that little blue summer dress, and that sapphire necklace… your aura was all wrong then."

I closed my eyes… He knew. "Please don't," I said in a breathe.

"I saw your neck Rose, I know what you did and do you think it changed anything? Do you think it made me care about you any less? Respect you any less?" He shook his head, "No! Never! And that's the truth! You are still the Rose I met and always will be!"

I looked at him in a whole different light. He was honest, I could see that in his eyes. He cared about me enough to disregard that. I... maybe if I tried harder, maybe I could learn to love him.

He closed his suitcases and took it off the bed.

"So if you love me so much…Why are you walking away?" I questioned, my voice hoarse.

Adrian walked in the small living area and set his suitcase down.

"You see people think it's holding on that makes you stronger. But sometime it's letting go." He gave me a sad smile. "I've seen what holding on to the wrong person could do," he said pointing to me. "I can't let history repeat itself. Lissa brought you some clothes. Take a shower and chill out a bit. I'm going to arrange a little meeting with the others so you can tell them." He shrugged slightly, "you don't have to tell them everything but you need to tell them the basics."

I nodded, resigned.

"And then I'll take the plane back to Court." He added looking away.

"I'm going to miss you", I replied in a low voice and I realized how much I would actually miss him.

"Certainly not as much as I'll miss you," He said before leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

I smelled my shirt and it did have the faint odor of vomit and alcohol. I groaned. I was rather pleased I didn't remember the vomiting part since I'm sure it was pretty embarrassing, as far as Adrian was concerned that is. It was clearly a part of me I didn't want him to see.

I walked to the fresh pile of clothes and almost stumbled on his suitcase. I had the childish impulse to hide it somewhere but I knew it would not be enough to make him stay, because as crazy as it sounded, I wanted him to stay…I needed him to stay.

I took a the quickest cold shower in history just to try and put my brain in the right place. In the process removing the not so nice odor.

Adrian was residing on the fourth floor of the guest area and I decided to take the stairs down. I was on my way to the second floor when I froze midcourse. There was a very quiet conversation going on, almost whispering but the voices were unmistakable. It was my mother and Abe.

"She is fine, I was up there maybe half an hour ago," said Abe soothingly.

I knew it was wrong to listen but I just couldn't help myself.

"I…" My mother sighed. "I just don't know what got into her. She was getting better, at least I thought so."

"It's just an indigestion meleğim, nothing to worry about.''

My mother snorted. "Indigestion? Right! I know my daughter and she has a strong stomach! And I know you well, very well, you are an astonishing liar but you never fooled me." She said and her tone was getting cold.

Be careful Abe…Angry Janine can be dangerous. I thought wincing quietly going down two more steps as they dropped their already barely audible voices.

"It's because I never really tried to fool you."

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I came to see Rose, she is my daughter after all…My only child. I helped you get her back, I deserve a place in her life." He said his voice cold too.

I didn't really realize it before but I felt relieved, slightly pleased, about being his only child. It made me special.

"Rose is…" I could hear my mother sharp intake of breath. "Well you don't know her Abe. She looks all tough and brave but she is much more sensitive than she lets people see."

"Are you blaming me?" He asked and I could hear the hurt in his voice.

"Well you came here yesterday unannounced and today she is so drunk she passed out in Ivashkov's room. I'm sorry but I can't help to connect the events."

"But I'm her father!" Abe snapped angrily, well as angrily as a whisper could convey.

I felt bad, now I was the cause of a fight between my mom and dad…I really was bad luck.

"You are her genitor! It doesn't make you her father." My mother whispered harshly.

"You didn't leave me the choice anyways did you?! I asked you to marry me but you said no! You are the one who decided to call it quits! You decided for us not me."

I was shocked. My mom was not kidding when she said that Abe wanted to assume.

She stopped talking for a minute. "I'm sorry I didn't mean that," I could hear the sincerity in her voice. "That was uncalled for."

They stayed silent for a minute or two.

"And you agreed with me then," added my mother finally. "You knew as well as I did that it was better for Rose. I mean it was almost two decades ago and a Dhampir/Moroi marriage would have been such a scandal, especially ours. We didn't have the lives for that and you know it."

"I know but letting you go didn't mean that I stopped loving you or that I didn't love the little baby you were carrying. Letting you go was my way of saying I love you." He added and I could hear the love in his voice.

I was getting uncomfortable and decided I needed to go now. I started to go up the stairs.

The last thing I heard was my mother saying, "I didn't leave because I didn't love you anymore."

I had barely closed the door behind me when my phoned beeped in my pocket. Talk about timing!

It was a brief text from Adrian saying that they were all waiting for me in Christian's room.

There was no turning back now, I just hoped I'd have some friends left when I get done.