A/N: Hey everyone! You have absolutely no idea how I feel right now, I am elated! I'm so freakin' glad you all still ENJOY THIS STORY! I really enjoy reading each and everyone of your comments.

Not gonna hold you all up with my rambling, so enjoy this new chapter!

VampChick76- You are seriously amazing, can't thank you enough! :)

Chapter 14: Clear My Head

Rose POV

About 30 minutes later we pulled up to the Ranch. Bar W Guest Ranch was in big bold letters. I had to admit, the place was really nice. You could see a couple of horses roaming around the fenced land. Some people riding the horses. Not too crowded; there was maybe a handful of people were here.

But the Ranch itself was huge. You could look at it for hours.

We walked toward the entrance, almost everyone paired up.

Christian and Lissa.

Alison and Adrian.

Mia and Eddie.

Alberta was already talking to what looked like to be the person who owned the Ranch.

That left me…and Dimitri.

Dimitri had a dejected look on his face, which quickly changed to amazement as he took notice of the horses. Noticing me behind him, his eyes hardened and he walked ahead of everyone else leaving me behind.

Ouch.

Finally catching up to everyone else, I noticed that the instructor was telling everyone about the ranch.

"And well…figured, um how do you say it…What the heck?" He shrugged his shoulders, a smile on his face.

Everyone laughed.

I frowned a little, noticing I missed just about all of the conversation.

Oh well.

"Alright, this way ladies and gentleman," he said with a British accent. He motioned for everyone to walk forward and follow the other two instructors. British? Well that was weird considering were at a Ranch… not to mention the whole 'ladies and gentleman' thing.

"Are you with St. Vladimir's?" he asked, holding the door open for me, I gave him a polite smile.

What? I can be civilized.

I noticed Dimitri was looking at me, a snarl on his face as he looked at the guy beside me. I gave him a coy smile.

Let the games begin.

"Yep," I smiled, finally taking a good look at him.

He ranged from about 5'7 to 5'9. His eyes were a warm brown, which matched his hair. His hair was in a nice cut, stopping at the nape of his neck. He looked around 26, 27 maybe. He wore a white dressed down shirt, though it looked more of 14th century kind of shift, along with a pair of dark blue jeans.

He smiled back, "Wonderful."

He seemed as if he wasn't from here. That would explain the accent, not to mention the gentleman he seemed to be. His vocabulary was that of someone who grew up in a different time.

I found myself curious, and decided to ask him. "You're not from here are you?" I asked, though it came out more as a statement.

He gave me a knowing smile, as he nodded.

I looked ahead and noticed everyone was getting introduced to the horses, two more instructor's showing and telling things about the horses.

I looked over at the man to find him staring back at me. I couldn't help it and blushed a little under his intense gaze.

Strangely…it wasn't like the looks I had received from other boys.

It was…as if he was studying me?

He gave me a apologetic smile, "Forgive me, you just remind me of someone... that I've come across before."

"Oh?" I said not knowing what else to say.

He nodded, as we approached everyone else. Alberta noticed me, and walked over. "Rose, I was telling everyone that I need to get back to the Academy,-" she started, but I cut her off.

"Is everything alright?" I found myself asking.

She gave me a reassuring smile, "Yes, I just need to head back to the Academy for a minute. I trust you all to behave, until I get back."

I nodded.

"Alright," she said. "I'll be back in a few hours. Have fun." She turned and walked back down the hill.

The guy turned to me and said, "Rose is it?" He reached out for my hand.

I nodded, smiling. "And yours?" I asked taking his hand.

"Elijah," he replied.

"Pleasure," I say. I gave him a slight smirk; I've never had the chance to say that. So I giggle a little. Geez, what is wrong with me?

I blame that burger I had earlier… I look over and see everyone gone already. Alison and Adrian riding away together on their horses, I look a little farther and see Eddie and Mia pushing each other on the swing over under the big oak tree.

Lissa was riding on her horse, and giggling at Christian who couldn't seem to get on the horse right. Dimitri was looking at me, shaking his head as he stared ahead. Pulling at his hair in frustration, he pulled the things on the horse and caused it to sprint forward.

Elijah placed a light kiss on the back of my palm. "The pleasure is all mine," he says, never taking his eyes off of me.

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"Ugh!" I yell in frustration as I fall of the horse for the hundredth time. "Forget it, I quit. I'll be over there," I said.

Elijah laughed lightly, and grasped my wrist as he pulled me back and picked up my hat off the ground. Placing it back on my head, he smiles "You'll get the hang of it; it just takes a little practice is all."

I scoff and said "Whatever. Not everyone cane me a master like you! Seriously, how are you so good?"

He chuckled, "Years and years of experience. I've been doing this for a long time."

I still roll my eyes, as I walk over to the two swings randomly hung over in the middle of some trees. Elijah and I had been carelessly riding around the ranch, stopping in this secluded area as I continued to try to get the hang of this whole horseback thing.

Elijah would laugh lightly, a relaxed smile on his face. He really wasn't that bad. In fact, I welcomed his company.

He didn't try to get in my pants, like most guys would. His company was just so different. I couldn't actually describe it. It was different from Lissa, Adrian, Christian, Mia, anyone.

Even…Dimitri.

It's not like I was into him or anything, but it felt nice being in his company.

Elijah followed me, and set on the swing beside mine. We lazily swung back and forth on the swing, neither or us really swinging, just pushing back and forth with our feet as we enjoyed each other's company.

Caught up in our thoughts, a nice calm silence enclosed us.

I looked over at the sky, and saw the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a nice orange color, and from where we were sitting it was really a breath taking scene.

I wished Dimitri was with me.

"You know," Elijah spoke. "I've never showed anyone this before."

"Hmm?" I say, realizing that maybe we hadn't just been riding around.

"What I mean is…this spot was where I would come to as a kid to clear my mind. Relax; get away from everyone and everything else. Where I would go when my father was upset with me," he said with a faraway look in his eyes as he stares ahead.

"You use to come here as a kid?" I ask, turning around slightly to face him.

He nodded, "My father was a wealthy land owner. This is one of the properties that we owned. We frequently stayed here, and this was always my favorite place. Thus, I took over it when they died."

"I'm sorry about you parents, err, family," I told him, remembering what Lissa had went through after her family died.

He shrugged, dropping the subject about them.

"Why did you bring me here?" I ask. I barely even knew the guy.

He gave me a small smile, "I could see you had a lot on your mind, and well," he shrugged, "I wanted to"

I sighed, "Was I that easy to read?" I tried giving him a small smile. I failed miserably.

He takes my hand in his, nothing romantic about it, "No, I guess you could say I'm just good at reading people."

And again, I can't explain it, but I find myself telling him. I tell him all about my predicament, and what's going on. Of course, I don't tell him about the fact that we're vampires, but I tell him everything else.

He just listens.

"Don't worry Rose, let the chips fall into place," he said finally.

Something as simple as that, and yet I felt as if he was saying so much more. We set a few more minutes before I received a text from Lissa.

Come back to the front, we've been looking for you forever! Time to go. Wait...you're not lost are you?

-Lissa

I rolled my eyes, and quickly typed a reply.

Smh, no Liss. Be there in a few.

-R

Elijah raised an eyebrow, "Time to go?" he asked.

I nodded, getting off the swing and stretching, "Yep. Time to head back"

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We ride back to where everyone had met, Elijah and me on the same horse. I really wasn't feeling like trying to learn to ride the horse again. Plus, I didn't know how much time we had, so I rode with Elijah.

That sounds... wrong.

Everyone was gathered around, still talking to the instructors as they waited for us. Dimitri was over talking to some female instructor, nodding and smiling to whatever he was saying. Everyone noticed I had finally arrived, and waved for me to come over.

Elijah helped me off the horse, giving me a hug as I got off. "I enjoyed myself today," he spoke, smiling.

I noticed out of the corner of eye, that everyone was staring though I couldn't find it in me to care. I was still in a messed up mood with Dimitri, and him flirting with the whore-bag instructor didn't help.

I smiled at Elijah, as he placed one last kiss on the back of my hand. "I enjoyed myself as well. Thanks again."

"Not a problem. Hope to see you again sometime," he said, getting back on his horse.

I nodded, "Bye Elijah."

He rode away, as I walked back over to everyone noticing that they were piling back into the van. Dimitri was standing outside of it, a scowl on his face.

"Who was that?" he asked, jealously obvious in his voice.

I smirked, "My friend."

He glared at me, "Your friend," he spoke with obvious distaste, "Needs to learn to keep his hands to himself."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, Dimitri," as I pushed past him to get in the van. Dimitri continued to glare ahead as he shut the door and set beside me, in the last row.

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It seemed as though Everyone noticed the tension in the car and would once in a while look back at us, smile an uneasy smile and turn back. Eddie and Christian broke the silence.

"So, uh, Dimitri. What was up with you and that girl?" Christian asked with a smirk on his face.

Lissa punched him in the side. "Ow, babe! Cut it out," he pouted.

Lissa glared at him, "Shut up"

Eddie started to say something, but Mia was giving him a stern look. He didn't say anything, turned around and tried to put his arm around her. Mia plucked his ear.

"What'd I do!" he scowled.

"Shut up, you idiot," she replied, as her and Lissa shot me apologetic smiles.

I gave a sigh of relief when I noticed the Academy building coming into view. Pulling into the parking lot, I quickly slid out the van, not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment.

As I walked ahead, I noticed Dimitri jogging up to me. "Rose, wait!" he held my arm, signaling me to stop.

"Can we…do you…can we talk?" he asked, giving me a sad smile.

I shrugged.

"Please?" he asked again, "Look, I just wanna…I need to talk to you."

A/N: Not that long, but still good right? Tell me what ya thought!

Tell ya what, if I get over 30 reviews for this chapter, the next chapter will be longer than any chapter I've done.

Say.. maybe 10-15,000 words? Or 12 pages in word?