Chapter 5
I was cuddling with Logan in our apartment, the familiar smell of chinese take out and…pine? What the hell? Turning around to face my love I see…I see…Guardian Belikov..?
Waking from her dream Rose shifted uncomfortably, her eyes too heavy to open.
"Gaaahhh, I feel like I got hit by a train.." Rose whined.
But then the events of the day before came rushing to her; Lissa, the darkness, the pain, losing conciousness…
Sitting up she threw her eyes open, "WHERES LISSA?!"
"Rose, she's okay! Sit back a minute! You're going to hurt yourself!" Dr. Olendzki scolded.
Rose winced falling back onto the bed, already feeling a headache coming on, " ugghhh, as lovely as it is to see ya Doc, I really wished we'd stop meeting like this."
"It's good to see you too, Rose," Dr. Olendzki chuckled. "I'm going to need you to eat something before you run out of here, okay?"
"FOOD!" Rose yelled, feeling her stomach growl in anticipation. This only made Dr. Olendzki laugh, being joined by Eddie Castile and Adrian Ivashkov as they walked in with a few boxes of pizza.
"I had to pull some strings for these pies right here, but I figured you'd like it more than the infirmary food when you woke up," Adrian said with a rare genuine smile once he stopped laughing.
Adrian was a royal moroi with a bad attitude and a drinking problem, but behind his snarky comments and lame pick-up lines he was a great friend. He had always been there when one of the group needed him, and today was no exception.
"Oh Rose! I missed you so much! If you ever leave again I'm going to hunt you down myself just to whoop your ass!" Eddie said half jokingly, throwing himself on Rose for a bear hug.
"Jeeze Eddie, I can't breath," laughed Rose. To be honest she had missed him too. Eddie was a fellow dhampir and they had been training together since Rose's mom dropped her at the academy when she was 4. He was a damn good friend, and would be a damn good guardian.
"I missed you too, Eddie Weddie," Rose giggled in a sing song voice, "but if you think you can whoop my ass you must be dumber than I remember." Her exaggerated wink brought another round of laughter from the friends.
"Now what are you waiting for?! I need me some pizza!"
Chuckling, Adrian handed her a box of deep dish cheese pizza and the boys watched half horrified half impressed as she practically inhaled it.
"Mmmmm, oh god-yessss, ahh," the boys shared a knowing look at her moans of pleasure. If there was one thing Rose loved more than anything it was food, more importantly the unhealthy kind.
"So..Rose..uh..what happened.." whispered Eddie, sounding as if he was afraid of the answer.
"What do you mean, Eddie?"
Both boys looked at her incredulously.
"Don't play with us, Rose. You just up and left two years ago, and the first night you're back you almost kill yourself. We deserve an explanation. We all do," snapped Adrian.
Rose sighed, "I know you all deserve the truth, but I can't tell you yet..not yet. I am so sorry, but you just have to trust me, please." The pain in her eyes told them she was telling the truth, and no matter how much they hated being left in the dark, they knew Rose would tell them when the time was right.
"Okay. But if I find out you're just trying to avoid the topic I'll devise new forms of torture just to test on your ass, understand?" Adrian stated trying to keep a straight face.
"Yes sir," Rose said sarcastically, trying to suppress a smile. As much as loved being a part of Logan's family, this was home. Problems and all this was where she belonged, and who she belonged with. It was a sobering thought. It took her two years to carve her niche in the human world, and now she was back to square one. She had fooled herself into thinking all these problems would go away, that the threat to Lissa and the rest of the vampire world would just go away if she did, but no more running. And that meant no more Logan. She hadn't realized she was crying until both Eddie and Adrian had crawled onto the bed.
"Hey now little dhampir, it's okay."
"Yeah, we're here for you."
"Shhh, love.."
"We all know Hathaway doesn't cry, c'mon now.."
Their comforts just kept coming with the tears. She was so overwhelmed and stressed and she kept hurting the ones who loved her. Why couldn't she ever do anything right? These thoughts only brought more tears.
"Hathaway," a concerned voice from the door interrupted.
Looking up Rose saw Dimitri at the door and involuntarily a smile spread across her face.
"Hey comrade."
He raised a brow at the new nickname, but didn't comment as he walked closer to the bed.
"I was sent to inform you that Princess Valissa is awake."
Rose, Eddie, and Adrian all jumped from the bed in excitement.
Reaching the door Rose swayed, her body not yet ready for all the activity.
"Watch it, Hathaway," grunted a distressed Dimitri as he grabbed onto her elbow, "I'm starting to think you're a magnet for trouble."
"You have no idea, comrade."
a/n:
Thank you everyone for the reviews! My computer is broken so all of this is being done on my phone, and it can be an absolute pain in the ass trying to edit and proof read, so my apologies for any and all grammatical/spelling mistakes! Happy reading!
