Hey guys just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed my story. I have to tell you I am a detailed writer, I have a hard time zipping through stuff so please bare with me. Please continue to review the chapters it makes me write more and faster.
Again I do not own any of these characters, they are owned by Richelle Mead
I didn't think I just reacted. Jesse was on the ground my hands wrapped tightly around his neck. Eddy and Christian were up out of their seats coming around the table. The look on their face I knew they had heard what he had said. Ralf was standing behind them watching with fear in his eyes.
"What did you call me" I growled at him. I loosened the grip I had on his neck so he could talk. I knew that it wouldn't be long before the guardians came to break it up but I wasn't moving until they did.
"I called you what you are, a blood whore" he spit the words at me. I knew he wasn't smart but I never figured him to be so stupid. I tightened my grip on his neck. I could feel Lissa's uneasiness, but the anger that I was feeling was overpowering all other emotions. Eddy moved forward grabbing my arm. "That is enough Rose" he said attempting to pull my hands free. Keeping one hand on Jesse's neck I pushed Eddy away with the other. Christian attempted to reason with me telling me the guardians were coming but I couldn't tame the darkness that was now consuming me.
"Rose you need to let go" a voice of reason flowed through my ears and into my brain. I felt him touch my arm and I released my hold on Jesse's neck. Jesse took a deep breath in and then scrambled to his feet to get away from me. Adrian pulled me toward his body tucking my body into his.
"Lets go" he said pulling me out of the cafeteria and away from my worried friends and curious students. Once we were outside I took a deep breath letting the evening air fill my lungs. I started to walk toward my room when Adrian pulled me the other way. "Lets go to my room" he said tugging me toward the guest housing. I let him guide me, letting the dark feelings fade with each step.
We got to his door, pulling out his keys he unlocked it and lead me to the couch. He took a seat and pulled me onto his lap. I hadn't said a word since we had left the cafeteria, and still couldn't find my voice. "Rose are you ok?" he asked wrapping his arms around my body pulling me closer.
"What he said was so awful, but I lost control and I couldn't get it back. There was just so much darkness and anger and I couldn't get myself to let him go" I said letting the tears fall. I was sure Adrian was tired of seeing me cry but I couldn't stop them from falling.
"It's ok Little Dhampir, you did let go and he is fine. If not I am sure Lissa helped him out" he said kissing my forehead. We just sat there in silence all the anger fading completely.
I woke up laying in Adrian's bed a few hours later. I turned my head back into the pillow breathing in. Adrian's smell use to bother me but now it was a simple pleasure. I sat up glancing around the room when I realized I was in the bed alone. I went to climb out of the bed when I noticed the note sitting on the nightstand. Kicking my feet over the side, I turned the lamp on to read it.
"I thought it was best to let you sleep, plus it gave me time to finish a few things. I have set out a couple of towels for you in the bathroom, and your outfit is hanging on the back of the bedroom door. When you are finished go to the kitchen to find your next note. Don't cheat Little Dhampir, one note at a time and in order" I set the note down and walked over to the bag that was hanging on the back of the door. Slowly I unzipped it to reveal a dress. Grabbing the hanger I pulled it down, the dress was perfect and so me. It was a black knee length strapless dress, it had a little bit of flare at the bottom and an off white ribbon to tie around the waist. Running my fingers on the soft fabric I noticed the shoe box sitting on the floor. Putting the dress back on the door I walked over to open the box to reveal a small clear heel shoe with a black ribbon lace.
The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy. I placed the top back onto the box and glanced around his bedroom. I had been to his dorm enough the last two months but this was the first time I had been in his bedroom. It was kind of plain but very clean, I was assuming he had done this in preparation for me because I had been in his dorm enough to know he was a slob eighty-five percent of the time. I walked over to his dresser and was surprised to see a framed picture of Adrian and I. I picked it up trying to figure out when it was taken. I was facing the camera and Adrian was standing to my side staring at me, he was smiling but my body seemed tense and my face did not seem pleased after examining the picture I realized it was at the ski lodge. It made me laugh, realizing I had no clue someone was taking a picture and the fact that Adrian either paid someone to take it or went out of his way to find it. Then it warmed my heart to realize he wasn't lying when he said he knew we would be in each other's life even when I didn't like him and found him extremely annoying. I put the picture back on the dresser and walked out of the room toward the bathroom. I was tempted to walk into the kitchen and take a peak at the next note, but stopped myself half way there. I didn't want to ruin the surprise and he had clearly put some effort into this. Turning myself back to the bathroom I stripped my clothes and got into the shower. Not only did he leave me clean towels but my favorite shampoo and conditioner were on the shelf next to his with a fresh shaver. Washing my hair I moved on to shaving my legs and washing my body. I turned the water off and climbed out wrapping a fluffy towel around my body then one around my hair.
I opened the door thinking I would need to run to my room to get fresh underwear and a strapless bra. I walked back to his room and closed the door. I wasn't going to put my dirty clothes back on and I definitely was not going to chance getting ready in my dress. I walked over to Adrian's dresser hoping he wouldn't mind. I opened the first draw to find his boxers and socks, to personal I thought moving to the next drawer to find pajama shorts and shirts. I grabbed the smallest pair of shorts that I saw sliding them on, they hung loosely off of my hips, but they would do for now I thought grabbing a white t-shirt. Taking the towel off of my head I slipped the shirt on and then walked back to sit on the bed. I had no make-up here as much as I hated it, I could not put that dress on and not do a little something to look pretty. Plus I was doubting Adrian had a blow dryer since his hair always looked like he just rolled out of bed. I thought about calling Lissa when I heard the front door open. I was excited but also conflicted. I wanted to see Adrian and thank him for everything he did for me, but I was wearing his pajama shorts and shirt with no underwear or bra. I was not feeling to pretty at the moment. The door handle turned and Lissa walked in.
"Well don't you look comfortable" she said pushing the door open the rest of the way.
"What are you doing here" I asked, realizing after I said it, it sounded rude. "I didn't mean it like that Lissa, I just wasn't expecting you" I said trying to clarify myself.
"It is alright" she said smiling. Walking over to the bed she dropped two bags onto the bed. "Sorry I was suppose to be here when you woke up to give you these" she said pushing one of the bags toward me that contained fresh underwear, a strapless bra, a pair of soft shorts and a t-shirt.
"It looks like you made due with what you had" she said smiling looking me up and down. I grabbed the bag and stomped off to the bathroom to change. After swapping out the shorts and putting my underwear and bra on I walked out of the bathroom. I left Adrian's shirt on, there was something comforting about wearing his shirt.
"Yeah, I got everything you told me to bring. I promise I don't think she read it" Lissa chirped in her phone. Realizing she didn't see me I stood in the doorway listening to her talk, hoping she might give some clue as to what was going on.
"Yeah I got here after she got out of the shower, trust me she was not shivering in her towel. She actually looked pretty comfortable in your."
"Hey" I yelled at her to get her attention and to get her to stop talking. I really didn't want Adrian thinking he can't leave me alone for a hour without me going through his drawers and wearing his clothes. Lissa blushed then told whoever was on the phone she had to go.
"Hey, so we have a little over a hour to get you ready so lets get started" Lissa said patting the bed to tell me to come sit down.
"I am assuming you know what he is planning since you are clearly helping him" I said sitting down on the bed watching Lissa pull out what looked like eighty different make-up products.
"Yeah but you won't be getting anything from me and don't even try going into my head I got you blocked out completely" she said rubbing lotion on my face.
"Not to much Lis, you know I don't like make-up that much" I said closing my eyes while she went to work.
"Don't worry he told me the same thing, something about taking away your natural beauty" she giggled then started to apply a light coat of eye shadow. "So tell me everything, like when and where you realized you were in love with Adrian" Lissa practically sung out the question with all of her excitement.
"I guess I started to look at him differently when I came back, but I was so messed up that I didn't put much thought into it. Then the past month he has really proven how much he loves me and slowly I started to let myself feel again. I think part of me always knew there was something about him, but I was just so wrapped up with you know who and then trying to face my grief that I never really gave him a shot. You know he has visited my dreams everyday since I got back. The first few days I was having these awful nightmares about what had happened and when I told Adrian that night when I went to sleep he was there and he hasn't left since" I said smiling to myself thinking about all the time we would get to spend together alone without any distractions.
"I am sorry" Lissa said sadness filling her voice.
I opened my eyes to look up at her. "For what?" I asked searching her face for some clue as to why she would have a reason to be sorry.
"For not being there when you needed me. You have always been there to protect me and I was selfish when you came back all I could think about was my own pain and I totally ignored yours" she said tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Lissa I don't think anything you could have done would have made the pain go away or lessen. Please don't blame yourself for something you can't change" I said grabbing her hand into mine making sure she seen that I didn't blame her.
"That is not all I am sorry for" she said softly still holding my hand. She didn't wait for me to ask why this time she just keep going. "My darkness seeps into you and I am not strong enough to defuse it so you get it. It is not fair to you to have to fight your own darkness, but mine too. What happened today was my fault" she said a tear sliding down her cheek.
"Don't be silly Lissa, it was Jesse's fault for being such an idiot. And it was my fault for letting my emotions get out of control" I said trying not to think about the earlier afternoon to much. I wanted to have fun and be in a good mode for Adrian and if I keep thinking about what Jesse said I was going to drive myself crazy.
"I don't think you will have to worry about Jesse or Ralf anymore. After you left I healed him so he wouldn't have any marks to show Kirova and get you in trouble. Then Eddy and Christian went off on him and Ralf that if they messed with you again that even my power wouldn't be able to heal them after they were through" she smiled weakly at me trying to gage my reaction. Rose two years ago would have been infuriated that they thought she needed them to protect her, but Rose now was happy that she had great friends that wanted to protect her. "Jesse started to laugh and point out that Eddy couldn't touch him because he would get expelled and told Christian that his family reputation was bad enough there was no reason to add another murder to it. I thought Christian was going to set him on fire then, until Adrian came up" she surprised me. I didn't think I feel asleep that fast when we got back to the dorm but clearly I was wrong. "Rose I don't think I have ever seen him so mad, before anyone registered his presence he had Jesse by the collar up against the wall. I couldn't hear what he said to him but the look on Jesse's face was pure terror" she finished telling me to pucker my lips.
Having my friends stick up for me was nice, but thinking about Adrian having Jesse pinned up against the wall sent a wave of happiness and lust through my body. The next fifteen minutes we sat in silence as Lissa worked on drying my hair. I sat there trying to think of what Adrian could have said that would terrify Jesse. I would have to ask him about it later. Lissa finished blow drying my hair and started to put curls into it pinning half of it up.
"So what is going on with you and Christian?" I asked while she sprayed what seemed like half of a bottle of hair spray in my hair.
"We had to make a few compromises, but you my dear are running late so I will have to fill you in tomorrow" she said walking over to grab my dress. I slipped my shirt and shorts off and stepped into the dress. Lissa walked around to the back to zip it and tie the ribbon around my waist. Sitting on the edge of the bed I slipped my shoes on and started to lace them halfway up my ankle. I walked over to the full size mirror and looked at the dress. It was beautiful and my hair looked wonderful.
"Thanks Lissa" I said turning to give her a hug.
"You're welcome now get going before you are late" she said swatting me on the butt.
I walked to the kitchen to get my next clue.
"I hope you are reading this because you are ready to come meet me and not because you let your curiosity get the best of you" he even put a smiley face next to it. "The first night I visited you in your dreams when you came back, I took you here. If you can remember correctly I will see you soon. All of my love Adrian."
I could remember that dream like it was yesterday. I had one of the hardest days of my life, I had just received a letter from Dimitri telling me how I had failed. My heart was aching and I hadn't sleep the two previous nights, because Dimitri keep coming into my dreams. Every time I closed my eyes I saw him falling off of that bridge. I was so tired and drained that I had sent Adrian a text asking him to be there. As soon as I closed my eyes he was there sitting on a blanket next to the pond that was a few hundred yards from the gym. He didn't say a word he was just there. We sat there the whole night in silence watching the sun set.
I yelled goodbye to Lissa one more time and was out the door. The heels slowed me down but I made it past the gym in less than five minutes. The closer I got my stomach started to do flips. I seen a faint glow and the more I walked the brighter it grew.
When I got closer I had to stop what laid in front of me caused my heart to skip a beat and took my breath away.