Woo hoo, another chapter up!
I'm finding it hard to stop writing now that the juices are running :D
Anyways, I'm proud to say that I didn't cut it off because of a perfect ending or because I was rushed. I cut it off because it was getting too long...
It'll continue in the next chapter though.
And just in case you forgot, the numbers (first and 3rd line) are a continuation of the list Rose started in the last chapter.
Enjoy!

4. Call Sydney, threaten her into secrecy and then get all the information we can get on Lissa's half-sib.

Scratch that.

4. Survive drive with Dimitri to Baia.

Have you ever realized how thick tension is? It's practically palpable. I rolled down the window, feeling like I was going to suffocate from it. The air felt cool, a nice change to the increasing heat of nerves inside myself. I so badly just wanted to reach out and hold that hand sitting on the gearshift. He didn't need to have it there. I bet he was tempting me, testing out my self control. (Or maybe I was just paranoid...) All that was ahead of us was highway. Lots and lots of highway. This was almost the exact same as when I took this road with Sydney. Minus the tension, constant blabber and apparently awesome car. In fact, it was dead silent in the car. Painfully so. And all we had was a crapped out Volkswagen that we bought last minute after deciding it wasn't smart to rent. It was nice but I was actually kind of surprised it had taken us so far without whimpering and rolling to a stop. Dimitri claimed that it was in perfect condition for the drive out. He said nothing about afterwards.

I sighed, dreading the awaiting Belikov family. I still felt like they were the closest to a family I had but that was because, well, because to them I was Dimitri's "widow". What would they do after they found out that the heartbreaking news about their son was wrong, though true at the time, and that he wasn't as in love with me as they'd thought, though that was as true as it was at the time? I was almost willing to just go back to jail and serve an execution then deal with what was ahead. Almost.

"Stop sighing. That's the fifth time in ten minutes. What's there to be all sad about? You're out of jail."

"Yeah, as a fugitive." And I'm out of jail with you. Which both makes me both extremely happy and pissed off at the same time. You have no idea. "About to see you're family. I didn't leave on very good terms with your sister either." I sighed again. I'd forgotten about how she might still hate me. Hopefully she'd asked her sister the name of her babies father.

He didn't respond to my first couple comments instead asking, "Which one?"

"Viktoria."

He let out a soft laugh. "The only way you can leave is if you leave on bad terms with her. She'll make you stay if you don't"

It was almost as if we had gone back in time with the easy conversation rolling between us. "Huh. Guess I should thank Abe for supplying the perfect way to get on bad terms with her."

He stiffened at the name of my father. A father I hadn't seen since the trail… "What did Abe do?"

"You know, first he threatened me to get me to leave and then he made a deal with me once he realized that Rose Hathaway isn't easily threatened. Get Viktoria out of the blood whore-to-be house in exchange for me leaving. I took it."

His face crumpled in pain. "Viktoria? Blood whore?" he stammered.

I nodded, adding quickly, "I'm sure it's all fine now. The guy won't go near her again."

He only responded with more silence. Damn. I automatically placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and the moment we made contact, I felt a shock run through my arm. At the way he flinched away from my touch, causing us to drive into the ditch, I knew he felt it too. That little fact just made my day.

He sat frozen, the car now seemingly stuck in a very badly placed thorn bush, staring out the window. I fixed him with a look, "You felt it too. I know you did. Don't even deny it." Watch him try.

He looked at me, the hard, unreadable mask back on his face. Nothing like what it had been while we were talking. "Felt what, Rose? Your hand jumped me out of my murderous, big brother thoughts. Stop reading into things with nothing to read." His words were like a slap to the face. I hadn't taken that into consideration…

"You're never surprised. Or at least you never react to someone touching you this bad," I waved my hand in direction of the bush attached to our car and took a satisfaction in how I had this effect on him. Because if he hadn't felt it how would he know what I was reading into?

"Am I not allowed to have a bad day?" he growled. He shifted the car into reverse, the engine revving as it pulled against the bush. He sighed, took his foot off the gas and said, "You drive, I'll push."

XXX

Once we got the car unstuck, the rest of the ride had even more unbearable tension and silence. Not to mention Dimitri keep his Guardian mask on the whole time, refused to look at me and when I attempted to make conversation or say sorry he'd answer with either a. A one worded answer b. Indistinct noises or c. No answer at all. It really was like talking to a wall. A wall that made noises every once in a while.

We finally rolled to a stop in front of a hotel. "I thought we were going to your house?" Dimitri had said that we would make it there by the end of day at the latest.

"We have to stop. It's getting dark and I don't want to risk the Strigoi waiting to ambush us on the road. I guess getting stuck took up more time than I'd thought." Rementioning the getting stuck incident made my hand tingle where I had touched him. He, on the other hand, showed no emotion at the topic. "And so we have to stay at a hotel."

We got out and Dimitri grabbed our bags. Apparently, Lissa took the time to pack some of my stuff that she'd thought I'd need. What are best friends for? We entered and I looked around the small, cosy building. It had a couple comfortable looking, but battered, leather couches along with a matching armchair in the lobby with soft lighting from a hanging lamp. The front desk also looked well used but at least, from the looks of the computer room that I could just glimpse at, they had a decent technology system. The place had an overall old, family run feel to it and I took a guess that they didn't have many rooms to begin with. Dimitri set the bags down in front of the desk and asked if there were any rooms. She nodded and he pulled out a wad of cash, counting out the cost of the room. I prayed that it wasn't his because I knew how small the Guardian pay check was and he'd be dead broke within a few months of paying for both of us without another pay check. He waved me over, walking into the elevator. Once the doors shut he said, "Check out's at eleven so no sleeping in past 8. With your knack of being late for everything I figure I need to give you a three hour lee-way time."

"Oh, thanks for the faith, Dimitri. Really makes me feel appreciated for all my talents."

He graced me with a twitch of his mouth. "You're welcome."

He unlocked the door, pushing it open with his foot. He walked in, took a quick look around and stopped in his tracks. I, not reacting quickly enough, ran into him. My body tensed, assuming some sort of threat and took a step to the side so he didn't block my view. I looked to what was causing him to have some a grim face and saw it.

Only one bed.

My palms started sweating and I knew what he was going to say before he did it. "I'll sleep on the floor," he said, deadpan. It was a good thing I'd took the liberty to start looking at other things that he hadn't, for I had the perfect argument.

"Where on the floor? The bath tub?" There was no couch and really no floor room in the cramped little room. It contained a small bathroom, a table, TV and armchair. All of that left enough room to walk around but no where near enough space for a six foot something man like Dimitri to lie down.

He shrugged, like he contemplating it.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be so immature Dimitri. This wouldn't be the first time we've shared a bed." He looked away, Guardian Mask in full force. Whoops. I felt the faint brush of a blush on my cheeks at my slip up about the cabin. So not the time to bring that up. The increasing butterflies in my stomach agreed.

"Yeah, I think I'll sleep in the bath tub." He actually walked into the bathroom to view his sleeping conditions. I heard a quiet cuss in Russian and he walked back out.

I crossed my arms. "What? Does it have soap scum?"

He showed an obvious effort to not roll his eyes. "No, it's a shower."

Oh, score one for Rose.

"You think that table could hold my weight?"

I gave a loud groan of annoyance. "Dimitri, it's a queen bed. I'm sure we can both fit on it without getting to urge to jump each other," I said sarcastically. I internally snorted. I always had the urge to jump him.

Eventually, he gave in, tossing me my bag to get changed in the bathroom. I allowed myself a satisfied smirk as I shut the door.

Hahaha. Poor Dimitri. Left to share a bed with a determined Rose.
 Please review ! They motivate me to write faster. And as I've been updating daily, imagine just how much faster I could type?
Ideas still welcome :D

xo Darla