Hey guys, I'm really frustrated because I just wrote out this whole authors note, and it deleted so I have to write it again now *sigh*

Anyway, moving on! I did update pretty quickly I think (for me, anyway), and this is one of the longer chapters that I've ever written. Not to mention I've put a lot of work into it :)

But I'm about to fall asleep sitting up, so I better head off considering it's quite late here.

For updates about updates (?) you can go ahead and follow my twitter (in profile), where I also post sneak peaks and teasers ;)

Oh, also, let me know if it was irritating to change POVs so much!

Adrian POV

I downed my sixth drink of the night, laughing as Tasha swayed in her seat. She hiccupped, slamming her class on to the table. I let out a howling laugh for absolutely no reason at all, slapping my hand down onto the table repeatedly. She giggled, and for the next few hours- as the two of us got more and more drunk- everything became a dark void of laughing, stumbling and stuttering.

Tasha suddenly became very serious, looking me in the eyes, and sitting up straight. She had a slight flush to her cheeks, and her usually seamless hair was tousled and ruffled.

"You know, Dimitri's a great guy," she began, continuing after I nodded, "and I really love him." I wasn't sure where this was going, but I took another sip of my drink, feeling the alcohol pumping through my veins. I stared at her wearily, watching as she ran a hand through her dark curls.

"But sometimes I wonder if he loves me back, or if he still has feelings for Mia," She continued, tears building in her eyes, and little sobs escaping. My eyes widened, and I took a horrified intake of breath. A girl crying is scary enough, let alone a drunk girl crying.

"I uh," I was speechless.

Even in my drunken state of consciousness, and a crying woman in front of me, my only thought was for Rose. My beautiful little Rose, hopelessly pining for a man she'd known for over seven years, and yet had never second-glanced her. And now, when he finally does, she's willing to drop everything; her dignity, beliefs, and feelings.

"I know he loves you," I started, hesitantly. I know Dimitri cares for Tasha, but did he love her? Truly love her? I wasn't sure. However, Rose is a hell of a lot more important than Dimitri. She's kind, caring, funny and honest. If I could keep her away from Dimitri- or rather, Dimitri away from her- then I know that she won't get hurt. "In fact, I know that he has plans to marry you."

I couldn't believe I was lying like this about my own cousin, but all I could see was Rose sobbing in my arms after being rejected by the only guy she'd ever truly loved.

Suddenly it was like I'd just told Tasha she'd won the lottery.

"Ooh," She trailed off, smiling at me softly, "That's good. I want to marry him too, and I really don't want to have to get Mia out of the way, it would be too much of a hassle."

She grinned, finishing off her drink and gesturing to the waiter for another. I stared at her is shock and horror, shivering at how casually she spoke of getting rid of Rose.

Drunken Tasha is scary.

DPOV

Rose held her heels in one hand while her other was wrapped around my arm as we walked back towards the hotel. We had no idea where Mia and Aaron went; although I had a slight suspicion they went somewhere private to discuss Aaron's sexual orientation.

We strolled down the path along the beach, the same one that we had a fight along only days before. The waves washed loudly and the tide was actually quite high, not to mention that the beach was empty. Overall, it was a beautiful night, but my mind was otherwise preoccupied.

"I can't believe we won! I finally beat her!" Rose screamed the second part, running ahead to jump and dance. I would have laughed, if her slim black dress hadn't crawled its way up her leg. I felt like I was trying to swallow a rock, I couldn't think straight and my senses were going wild. At that moment I was a parched man, and Rose was my glass of water.

"We were amazing! And you!" She exclaimed, "You had the men practically taking notes. Who knew you could oh-so-romantic, Comrade!"

She stopped dancing and turned around, chuckling to herself. Her laughter trailed off as she saw me just standing there watching her.

A gentle wind blew her hair across her face; the long dark strands, floating gracefully. I walked forward, without even really knowing what I was doing. So slowly that I should have had plenty of time to stop myself, but I honestly couldn't.

I brushed the strand away, setting it gently behind her ear. My hand followed a path from her ear, down her neck and back up to the base of her head. From there I took another step forward. I bent down slowly, so I was eye to eye with Rose. She let out a deep sigh, which I felt drift across my face- that's how close we were. Stroking her cheek with my thumb, I let out a whisper, "Roza".

My other hand wrapped so agonisingly slowly around her waist, pulling her bottom half closer. The soft fabric of the dress only added to her appeal, and encouraged me further. Rose still hadn't moved an inch. Blood pumping, I felt my heart ache when I finally saw the tears welling in her brown orbs. I felt so scared; here I was, arms wrapped around her, holding her closer than I'd ever held another woman, and she hadn't done a thing.

My courage was quickly decreasing, so I decided to go with what I had and lean forward. Scrapping my lip from her smooth forehead down her nose, I placed a tender kiss at the tip. Rose still hadn't moved, but I felt a surge of affection and determination flow over me like a tidal wave as her eyelids fluttered closed. Slowly withdrawing my lips from her nose, I went for the cheek. Silky and soft against my dry lips, I set another kiss there. I repeated again on the other cheek. Her eyes still closed, I couldn't help but wonder if she was being affected the same way I was.

I felt like my heart was about to burst from my chest; it was so swollen and overpowering that my thoughts were no match for my emotions at that moment.

Another gust of wind and the gentle chatter of a couple in the distance were barely noticed by the two of us, but was enough to draw me away from the moment for a few of seconds. Long enough to look down at Rose and notice the colour to her cheeks, the flutter of her eyes as they opened to look at me, and the way her tongue darted out to lick her dry lips. Now moist and shiny, I could hardly tear my eyes away from them, but I did; long enough to see her eyes fall down to my own lips. I too noticed the dryness of my lips, and licked them, both in preparation and prayer that she would kiss away the worry and thoughts that threatened to ruin this beautiful moment.

I stroked her cheek again, but when she didn't move I began to pull away.

"Don't stop," She whispered.

So I kissed her. I kissed her with every inch of myself, pulling her closer than ever. Lips colliding, I felt like a bomb had gone off in my chest as my heart surged and convulsed. Affection, lust, tenderness and (god forbid) love pulsed through me. It clouded my thoughts and escaped me with each breath. I tugged ever so gently on her hair, finally sighing as her body reacted. She gasped in passion, wrapping her arms around me, keeping one pulling me closer and one sliding up into my hair. Her fingers worked my scalp while her nails scraped down my back, eliciting a moan.

I tugged on her lower lip, nibbling it, only to pull away and stroke it with my finger, watching in both fascination and worry as it burned a deep red. I used the same hand to lift her head up firmly by the chin. It wasn't rough, quite the opposite actually, but strong. Now with better access, I kissed down her neck, leaving little bites here and there. I didn't know what had come over me, but this was the most daring thing I'd ever done, let alone with Rose.

I worked my way back up to her mouth, quite pleased to see her pink, swollen lips parted, letting out the occasional sigh or moan. Her head was still tilted back, her arms wrapped around my neck. I used the hand I had behind her head to look into her beautiful brown eyes, not being able to resist; I kissed her hard and fast, tugging her closer, if at all possible. Sparks flew, erupting and exploding in my head, chest, muscles and skin. I was alive.

"I love you, Roza,"

It just fell out of my mouth, hardly any thought necessary. I opened my eyes- which I hadn't even noticed had closed- as she became unresponsive yet again. I watched as the fresh tears broke the walls, flowing down her cheeks. I went to wipe them away, but her lips fell into a harsh line, and her eyes squeezed shut. I heard her slap before I felt it, my neck aching from the harsh turn.

"How dare you?" She cried, before whispering softly, "How dare you…?"

APOV

I burst out laughing again when Tasha walked into the glass doors, dropping her purse clumsily. She giggled, rubbing her now-red nose. It had been like all the way home- the two of us far too smashed to comprehend anything.

I bent down to pick up her purse, handing it to her before walking into the glass doors myself.

Stupid doors.

Tasha buckled over laughing, finally making her way into the hotel lobby. I followed after her, clutching on to any stable object that would successfully support me. I watched as the world turned upside down for a few seconds, and I didn't approve.

"World…? World what on Earth are you doing?" I paused for dramatics, before I cracked up laughing at my own pun.

Dear God I'm genius.

Tasha giggled at my joke, before halting as Rose came storming around the corner from the doors that lead out to the main pathway from the beach. She looked deadly, her heels in one hand and purse in the other. Her hair was messy and let loose; as if she'd been out in the strong wind and her make-up was also a little bit smudged from what I could see, as she was staring down at the ground. I don't know who upset her, but I really hoped it wasn't me.

A second later I discovered the object of her anger.

"Roza! Roza, please wait!"

Dimitri came tearing down the corner running frantically, but stopping as he saw Tasha and I; coming to a slow stop. His hair was also tousled, and desperation hung off his features.

"Just leave me alone, Dimitri." Rose turned briefly to glance at him, before turning back to look ahead of herself, finally noticing us. She also came to a stop, gaping like a fish.

Even with her smudged lipstick and frustrated expression, she looked absolutely stunning. And I especially loved the little black dress.

"Hi," I exclaimed, hoping to break the awkward silence. Fortunately, Tasha was far too drunk to catch onto the uncomfortable situation. She just ran past Rose, straight up to Dimitri. Falling into his arms, she gave him a slobbery, wet kiss. But his eyes never left Rose. I glanced back at Rose, opening my arms wide in invitation. She ran into them hurriedly, and I wrapped her up in my embrace, stroking her hair as she shoved her face in my shoulder, pulling me close by the waist. I kissed her temple, giving Dimitri surreptitious glares. He noticed them, however; paying absolutely no attention to Tasha's irritating rambling and simply stared at the woman in my arms. He glanced up to look at me- to look in my eyes- and I saw his heart shatter as the severity of his actions took their toll.

Tasha looked up at Dimitri adoringly, and he finally took the time to look at her. She giggled, kissing him again.

"I love you so much, Dimka," And, yet another kiss. I could practically see my cousin rolling his eyes, but he was far too much of a gentleman to actually do it. Plus, I believe his mind was preoccupied by something a little more important.

Desperate eyes glanced up into my own, the brown colour paled by the unshed tears. I stroked her cheek bone, "Let's go see your kids," I murmured.

Dimitri gaped, looking as if he very much wanted to stop us, wanting to reach for Rose. Tasha confused his desire for Rose as desire for herself, and laced her fingers with his. She gazed up at him, using her other hand to redirect his vision to her own face by gripping his jaw. She smiled.

"Let's marry," She exclaimed, taking his surprise as joy, "Let's marry tomorrow! I don't need a ring Dimitri, I just need you,"

It was all quite romantic. It was that gooey, gross kind of romantic that you might watch in a movie; the pathetic kind of romance. That might be jealousy talking, jealousy for the fact that Dimitri had two woman pining for him and I still struggled to find a date. Or it could be my love for Rose, and the anger that she was still being hurt in despite of my best efforts. Whatever it might be, the yucky, sticky sweetness of the situation made me want to take a shower.

Rose sniffed. I gripped her hand, squeezing it tightly for a moment. Giving one last glare in Dimitri's direction, I shook my head and let out a simple sigh. Anger, that's what coiled in my stomach at that moment. Anger that he could let such an amazing woman, such as Rose, go.

Using the hand that I had in my grip I pulled Rose towards the elevator, making sure that she didn't look back. Once we were inside the elevator I pushed her behind me so she was out of Dimitri's line of sight. I left him to deal with a incoherent Tasha, while I dealt with the mess he left Rose in.

The doors closed and Rose finally let it all out. She sobbed, resting her forehead on my back, gripping my bicep with one hand. I glanced to my left, staring into the foggy reflection of the elevator walls, watching as Rose sighed and glanced in her reflection too. She smiled a sad, sad smile to herself, letting a single tear glide down her cheek delicately.

We eventually came to a stop on the fifth floor, making our way down the intricately decorated hallways to our shared room. Mirrors along the walls constantly reminded me of Rose and the inner turmoil that she was putting herself through. I could almost hear the self-bashing circling around her mind, and her confidence taking a hit.

"It'll be okay, honey," I whispered, but I should have known it wasn't the right time. She snapped, and whilst I knew it wasn't anything personal it still hurt.

"No it won't, Adrian. He said that he loves me." My head whipped to look at her in shock, I certainly wasn't expecting that, "He's throwing me into a world of a hurt and confusion. I'm just so confused, Adrian!"

She took her head in her hands as I unlocked the door, praying that the children were still asleep. We walked through the dark room, carefully winding around the furniture and seeking our way to the couch where I asked Rose to sit down. I rubbed my temples with my thumb and middle finger, trying to rub away the migraine. I felt Rose watching me without even needing to look at her, because I was so incredibly aware of her presence.

I sat down, turning to face her and grasping her hand in mine.

"Tell me what happened, Rose."

She let it all flow out, telling me in detail what had happened. At first she smiled, even let out a laugh or two, but it only went downhill from there. She described the competition, the kiss, the argument, everything. My anger only bubbled and grew further, spreading from my chest and stomach to the rest of my body. Without my knowledge my leg started bouncing, pumped full of adrenaline and I knew I'd have to calm down if I wanted to keep Rose calm.

As she finished recalling the night's events, I watched her eyes droop heavily. She fought to keep them open, sniffling and coughing with exhaustion. Eventually, sleep won out and I carried her to bed, wrapping my arms gently around her waist and under her knees.

Laying her in bed, I gently took off her jewellery and removed her heels from her death grip. I looked back just before I turned off the light, my heart splitting in half to see her makeup ruined and eyes sorely red.

I closed the door as I left.

RPOV

I was awoken by a faint noise in the background, pulled out of my own dark nightmares. As I advanced further into waking consciousness, the noise became louder and I recognised it as the ringing of the phone. Groaning, I forced my eyes open painfully, now fully aware of the migraine pumping through my head. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes with my thumb, finally reaching for the phone on the bedside table.

"Hello?" It came out rough and strained having not spoken for over four hours, and been crying for almost an hour before that.

"Rose?" A soft voice came through the connection. I couldn't believe who it was.

"Lissa?"

I sat up in the bed, pushing the pillow flat against the bedhead to cushion my back. Rubbing my eyes again, I turned on the lamp.

"How are you?" She whispered, but I could still hear the anxiety in her voice.

"Lissa, get to the point." I was tired and completely not in the mood to deal with her 'polite' crap. She's known me for over a decade, you'd think she'd know that by now.

She chuckled softly, "I thought you'd say that,"

There was a pregnant pause afterwards, but neither of us made a move to break it. This was the first time we'd spoken in over a week and I just now realised how much I missed my best friend. Especially with all the Dimitri shit going on, I really need to hear her voice, and I think she knew that.

"Honey, Adrian rang me."

That was all I needed to hear. I exploded and everything I needed to say to my best friend just fell out of my mouth like word vomit.

"Dimitri and I kissed and I finally beat Mia but then he said he loved me and now I'm so confused but I know that I can't return his love because I don't want to put my kids through that but it hurts so much and I just can't handle it and he's going to marry Tasha tomorrow-"

She cut of my incessant rambling, sounding as shocked as I was that I, 'Rose Hathaway', had resorted to rambling.

"Woah! Slow down, Rose! Take a deep breath," I did as she said, taking a deep breath and clearing the fog from my head. I could finally see a bit clearer and decided to take the time to tie my hair up. The long dark strands were falling around my face, so I put the phone on speaker and placed it on my lap.

Lissa continued as I tied up my hair with a scrunchie, snuggling under the soft cotton sheet and doona.

"Rose just do what your heart tells you to do," I almost snickered at the cheesy-ness of the situation. Yes, cheesy-ness. "Do you really want to let Dimitri go?"

Did I want to let him go? No. But did I want to run the risk of getting hurt? No.

"Remember what you told me when Christian first asked me out?"

I sighed, rubbing my forehead with my palm, realising where she was going with this as the flashback rolled in front of my eyes. It wasn't really a time I liked to look back on.

I was sitting on the couch with Aisley while Michael played in his room. As usual, Jesse had gone out and taken no consideration of the fact that the kids and I hadn't seen him in over a week, seeing as he'd been on a business trip for the last week and only got back a few hours ago. I was braiding Aisley's hair when the phone rang. I groaned, transferring her hair to one hand to hold for the moment, reaching for the phone with the other.

"Rose Zeklos speaking,"

"I'm never going to get used to you saying that," Lissa's voice registered in my mind, and I smirked. Despite being married for years now, Lissa still hadn't got used to my last name no longer being Hathaway, but I think it had more to do with Jesse than anything else. For some reason she'd never been too fond of him.

"What's up, Liss?"

I put the phone between my head and shoulder, finishing off Aisley's braid. She giggled as I gave her neck a little tickle, running off to her brother's room when I tied off the end of the braid.

"Christian asked me out." She stated, and my mouth fell open in shock.

"It took him long enough! He's been making goo-goo eyes at you for the past two months!"

She didn't laugh like I expected her to, but rather she just sighed. I sensed her sadness and uncertainty through the phone, practically feeling her emotional tornado.

"I don't know what to do Rose; you know I just had a bad break up a while ago,"

I snickered, "It was a little bit longer than a while ago. It was six months ago, and he was an idiot anyway. He cheated on you, Liss."

"I know, I know. I just… I just don't know if I'm over it yet, Rose. He really hurt me."

My heart broke for my best friend and the pain she was going through. I was so lucky I had Jesse.

Lying on the couch, I switched the television off and prepared myself for a long talk.

"I know, but that doesn't mean you say no to every decent guy that shows a liking to you." I was reminded of Dimitri, and the many, many Zen lessons he constantly feels the need to give me. Good God, I sounded like him.

"I hate when you make more sense than I do."

"Yeah but you love it at the same time."

She giggled, and the conversation turned to more light-hearted topics.

Back to the present, I answered Lissa's question.

"I told you that you shouldn't turn down every decent guy just because you got hurt. And then you ended up getting married to an idiot and getting pregnant with his child. Maybe you should take that as a lesson and not listen to me."

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

"Rose, just think about it. Remember, he's getting married tomorrow." She let those words sink in before wishing me goodnight and hanging up the phone. I sighed again, hating the irony of the situation.

I put it back in its holder, laying back down in bed and pulling the pillow to my chest, cuddling it in an attempt to fill the void in my chest.

Did you like it? I hope you did! If you could review, that would be absolutely stunning, amazing, awesome, fantastic, wondrous, etc!

Even if it's just a smiley face, that would make me smile :)

Have an awesome day/night wherever you are my lovelies x