That night, I tossed and turned. I couldn't get to sleep. And then I felt that something was wrong. Something was wrong with Lissa, terribly wrong.

I got out of bed, rapidly throwing on clothing. I searched for shoes, finally finding a pair of flip-flops that had been shoved under the bed.

I rushed out of the room, nervous and near panicking.

The dorm matron got up, seeing me. It was fine. I just needed to make sure Lissa was okay. My goal tonight was not to sneak out.

"Why are you out of bed?" she asked sharply.

She looked tired, and really I didn't blame her. I wondered how crazy her sleep schedule was.

"There's something wrong with Princess Dragomir," I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me, trying to determine if I was telling the truth.

"I'm serious! Please, just let me go see her!"

"Fine," I said. "If you don't believe me, can you call Guardian Belikov?"

She studied me again before pulling out a cell phone. She whispered into the phone, I hoped it was Dimitri and not Kirova.

A few minutes later, a ruffled looking Dimitri arrived. "What's wrong Rose?" he asked, his dark eyes sweeping over me to check for injuries. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "But Lissa isn't."

"Let's take her to the Princess," he told the dorm matron. "When it comes to Vasilisa, Miss Hathaway is completely serious."

I nodded. The dorm matron just shrugged, as if to say, maybe a guardian knows better.

I went in, and what I saw shocked and disturbed me on more than one level.

Lissa was crying, covered in blood.

Her wrists were bleeding. She had cut.

I began to rinse off her wrists, finding some bandages. They had fairies on them, but they would have to do.

A knock sounded on the door. "Just a sec!" I called.

I quickly handed her my hoodie, and just as she had finished putting it on, Dimitri and the dorm matron walked in.

"What happened?" Dimitri asked, shocked.

"I came back, and it- it was in the middle of the floor… like it had exploded."

"What was?" the dorm matron asked.

"The rabbit," Lissa stammered, pointing to the trashcan.

I went to look, unable to stop myself.

I didn't know how she knew it was a rabbit. It was all blood and guts, everything red. There was no white fur to be seen.

"How do they keep doing this?" the matron wailed. "These dorms are supposed to be secure!"

Dimitri, ever the calm one, just asked, "Do you have any idea who could have done this, Princess?"

She tearfully handed us a blood-stained note.

I know what you are. If you aren't careful, you'll end up like this rabbit.

I gasped, horrified. Dimitri's face became stone-like. The matron just blanched, "I'm getting Ellen!"

It took me a moment to remember that Kirova's first name was Ellen.

I began to wash off Lissa's face.

"Tell her that we'll be in the clinic," he said. I helped him support Lissa all the way to the clinic, where Doctor Olendzki immediately began to fret.

"She just needs to rest," Dimitri reassured her. "She's had a traumatic night."

Soon enough, the cavalry arrived.

Kirova forced Dimitri to take me back to my dorm.

As we were walking back, Dimitri gave me a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Rose," he said.

I looked at him, only a little upset with him. I knew it wasn't ultimately his decision. I also knew that he would have let me stay if it had been his decision; he knew how I felt about my friendship with Lissa. Only the two of them knew how far I would go for her. I don't think even Lissa knew the full extent of it, either.

"It's alright, Dimitri," I forgave him I hoped I could convey my thoughts with just those words.

He gave me a slight smile, just a mere upturning of the corner of his lips.

I smiled half-heartedly back, for once not plagued by my secret feelings for him. No, instead I was plagued by worry for Lissa.

Did it have anything to do with the raven? And Ms. Karp?

I once again briefly entertained the idea that Mia had done it. I dismissed it, once again. Mia may have been hostile, but she used words. Mason had once told me that she didn't even do dissections on biology.

Who could it be?

TRSTRSTRS

The next day, there were only a few whispers about the rabbit. There were even more whispers about why Lissa had been taken to the clinic in the middle of the night.

One of the most popular rumors, as usual, was that she was pregnant.

I tried to dispel any rumors when I heard them mentioned in my presence.

By lunch period, Lissa wasn't getting anymore strange looks; I was.

I tried to figure out what was going on, but every time I would walk by, the whispers stopped.

They were scared of me, for some reason.

In Animal Behavior, Mia took one look at me and giggled.

Whatever the rumors were, she had started them. If I had to guess, sometime during the morning. Maybe even in one of my classes.

In Moroi Culture, one guy made an obscene comment. I promptly told him what he could do with his comment.

"But come on, Rose!" he called, leering. "I bleed for you!" He had an obnoxious grin on his face, and I barely held myself back from wiping it off.

I turned away, my nose in the air. When I looked at Lissa, I asked, "Do you know what he's talking about?"

She shook her head, just as confused as I was.

Christian walked by us, and noticed us staring.

"Hey, Princess," he said coolly.

Lissa was confused and a little hurt by his behavior.

"So, Fire Boy," I began. "Do you know what they're saying about me?"

Christian was never noticed, so really, he probably had heard something while lurking in the shadows.

"Fire Boy?" he questioned. "You used fire too, you know."

"I don't use it to set people alight," I shot back. "Anyway, do you know what they're saying?"

He looked to be considering whether he would tell me. "Princess Vasilisa and her Lady-In-Waiting Rosemarie need something from," he paused for dramatic effect, "Me?"

I rolled my eyes, while Lissa felt even more confused about his change in opinion of her.

"Yes," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Well, they center around you and Jesse," he explained.

Realization hit me. "Oh, I get it! He said we had sex?"

While it didn't bug me too much, I would hate for the rumors to get back to Dimitri.

"Not just that," he said, clearly ramping up for more. "You and Ralf, too."

"What?" I asked, offended. I would never even get close to Ralf. I would rather let the Moroi species die if it depended on me and Ralf getting it on. "I wouldn't go near him with a ten foot pole!"

"There's more!" Christian was enjoying this way too much.

"What, did I sleep with the whole basketball team?" Never mind the fact that we didn't have a basketball team.

"They said that you let them drink your blood," he explained.

"What?" This time, I shouted it. Everyone in class turned to look at me. I bit my lip, and made my voice quieter. "But I'm a Moroi!"

"They said it didn't stop you from enjoying their endorphins," he said.

I wanted to push Christian away, throw him to the ground, and maybe knock him out. I was tired of him.

Why would they say that I was a blood whore?

I mean, it was kinky and dirty for dhampirs to give blood during sex, but if a Moroi did it, it was practically cannibalism. Sick on the part of the Moroi who did it, not as sick on the part of the one who took it.

This could ruin my reputation. This could ruin my chances for graduation, if my mother heard wind of it.

It could ruin my chances with Dimitri.

TRSTRSTRS

After school, I showed up to my appointment with Dimitri ready to spar.

I needed to blow off some steam.

Dimitri was there, but he was not giving me any disgusted looks. I guessed he hadn't heard the rumors, and I was glad.

"Why don't you warm up with your laps?" he asked.

I nodded. I didn't have the energy to argue about how much I hated laps.

After my laps, he sent me on my way to the punching bag.

During those moments, I imagined Jesse and Ralf's faces on it.

"Rose, Rose!" Dimitri said. I broke out of my angry trance.

"What?" I asked. "Was my form wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, your knuckles are bleeding," he cursed in Russian.

"Here," he said. He gently grabbed my left hand and led me towards a storage closet. He grabbed a white box, a few bottles, and sat us both down on the gym floor.

He poured some peroxide over my knuckles, and I hissed at the pain.

"We don't want you to get infected, now do we?" he asked. He then bandaged them up, massaging my hands. He rubbed some sort of balm over the chapped sections.

"If I keep training, am I going to look like the guardians?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they all look leathery and stuff. Guardian Petrov, all the guardian women, really. Is this the beginning of that?"

"It won't happen to you," he said a little huskily. "You're too-" Sexy? Goddess-like? Scorching hot? My mind supplied.

He seemed to struggle with what to say, and finally gave up. "It won't happen to you."

I looked at him. His eyes were darker than normal, and his hand seemed to be twitching.

I wished more than ever that I could just kiss him No boy had ever been so frustratingly tempting to me before. Maybe it was because Dimitri wasn't a boy, but a man.

I blew a frustrated puff out, and a few strands of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail blew as if in a breeze.

Dimitri gently grabbed onto a piece of my hair, twirling it around his finger. My breath hitched in my throat, my heart frozen. Oh, how I wanted to close the distance between us.

He seemed to come out of his trance when one of my own hands had started to reach towards his own hair.

"Come on," he said. He gracefully stood up, holding out the hand that had been touching my hair.

It was then that I knew that maybe Dimitri did have the same feelings as me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You're going to your dorm, then you're going to meet me at the library."

More homework, I sighed.

If I got to hang out with Dimitri, then I could deal with it.

I showered and dressed in the same outfit I had worn during school. I grabbed my backpack, my pre-calc book, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which we were currently reading in Colonial Lit. At last minute, I grabbed my Russian book, remembering that we had to do some exercises from it.

I met Dimitri in front of the library.

As we walked in, I heard some snickers from a couple of underclassmen who were hanging out on the couches. I wished I knew the spell Christian had used on Ralf at that moment.

I ignored them, and I wondered if Dimitri had even heard them.

I looked up to read his expression, only to see his jaw tight and clenched.

Maybe he had heard them, after all.

We went to our normal table, and I pulled out my pre-calc book.

He helped me through my homework until it was all finished. Every last math problem, Russian exercise, the whole of Sleepy Hollow, and even helped me research fire magic a little.

Afterwards, I briefly looked up St. Vladimir and his guardian, Anna. The Priest at church hadn't been able to tell me much about them when I had gone to the service the first weekend I'd been back.

I didn't find much on them, besides the usual, "He was so filled with spirit" and "Shadow-kissed Anna was his guardian."

Weren't libraries supposed to be helpful? This one hadn't been much help to me. This was why I never stepped foot in libraries!

As Dimitri walked me back to my dorm, I finally cracked.

"Have you heard the rumors?" I croaked.

He looked at me appraisingly. "Yes, I have. But I don't believe them."

"You don't?" I asked, shocked.

"I know how the St. Vladimir's rumor mill works, Rose," he explained. "Besides, I know you. I know your character. You would never do that."

"Thanks," I smiled at him, too choked up with happiness to really say anything else.

He stopped, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "If you want me to handle the situation, I will," he told me.

"How would you do that?" I asked.

He looked down. "I could talk to Headmistress Kirova, and we could attempt to find the perpetrators."

I sighed, "That's like letting them win, Comrade."

His eyes were thoughtful. "You could always ask your mother for advice, too."

"I don't think she even knew I was gone," I told him bitterly.

"I'm sure your mother cares for you immensely, Rose." His face was earnest, and he actually believed what he was saying. I, however, knew the truth.

"She sure doesn't act like it. She dropped me off at the Academy as soon as I was old enough."

He squeezed my shoulder. "She does work a lot," he excused her.

"So?" I asked. Then, grudgingly, I admitted, "I guess it would be difficult to raise me alone, while working all the time. Not like anyone knows my dad, either."

He nodded. "Having a dad isn't all it's made out to be, either."

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"I knew my father," he explained.

"Wow, really?" I asked, shocked. Hardly any dhampirs knew their dads.

"Yes, well, he liked my mother." He didn't say 'liked' like it was a good thing. "All my siblings are his."

"Wow," I said again. "So what happened?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You made it sound like you didn't like your father," I told him.

"You picked up on that, huh?"

I nodded.

"Well, he wasn't very nice, that's for sure," he seemed lost in another world.

"Did he do like-" I hesitated. "Blood whore things?"

He shook his head. "More like beating her up kind of things."

"And she just took it?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes. But, I didn't," he said. He smiled.

"Please, please tell me you beat him up!" I said. I couldn't help that I was rather prone to violence.

"I did," he said proudly.

"How old were you?"

"Thirteen," he said absent-mindedly.

"Thirteen?" I gasped.

He nodded. "I was almost taller than him, and already a lot stronger."

Dhampirs were a lot stronger than Moroi, just by nature. That wasn't too surprising.

"We never heard from him again," he noted.

"He didn't have a guardian?" I asked.

"He did," Dimitri disagreed. "He was royal. His guardian just didn't… feel the need to step in."

I wouldn't have, either, if I was a guardian to someone like that. Hell, I would have asked to be reassigned, or possibly beat him up before Dimitri had gotten to it.

"Wow," I whispered. "You must be a god."

"What?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing," I said.

"Okay," he said. "It's getting light out. Let's get you back to your dorm."

"Okay," I said back.

TRSTRSTRS

A few days later, everyone was talking about the upcoming dance. The same upcoming dance that I would probably not be allowed to attend.

Really, I'd never attended school dances before, anyway.

Still, going to the school dance meant sneaking out to go to some great after parties. That was what Lissa and I had always done.

"Rose," Lissa said at lunch.

I looked at her, sensing her worry through the bond. "What?"

"These rumors need to stop."

"How?" I asked.

"I'll tell everyone," she said. I could tell this wasn't the first time she'd considered it.

"Liss, you can't do that! It's bad for you!"

"We can't let Mia get away with this!"

"Mia?" I asked, confused.

"Did you really think that Jesse and Ralf came up with the rumors?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" I said, considering. It had been a long time to wait to release the rumors. And Jesse really had been scared of Dimitri. "That does make sense," I told her.

She nodded. "Of course it does."

I chuckled a little at her statement. Lissa always had been so much more logical than I could ever dream to be.

"Still," I bit my lip. "You shouldn't tell anyone any of that," I said.

"But you don't deserve what they're saying about you," she asserted, her eyes wide and upset.

"It isn't that big a deal," I fudged. In truth, I had cried two nights before when the rumors had reached their peak. They would probably never go away, either. Once a blood whore, always a blood whore.

"I'll take care of everything," she said.

TRSTRSTRS

True to her word, Lissa slowly made her way through the list of royals, compelling every single one of them into finally believing the truth.

She didn't even bother to hide it sometimes. Sometimes she would do it while I was right next to her. I tried to chastise her, discourage her, but she was on a crusade. She'd told me that I had spent so much time trying to protecting her, it was only fair that she do the same. At this point, it was useless to argue with her.

Lissa was quickly gaining popularity. Her compulsion was good, but it didn't hurt that she was already naturally likeable.

She even got invited to go to the mall with Natalie and Victor. Well, it wasn't that difficult, since she'd already been buddying up to Natalie. She did, however, manage to convince Natalie to ask if I could go as well.

"I don't know if Kirova will let me go," I said unsurely.

"But she has to, Rose," Lissa said. "You've been behaving really well, too, as far as she knows."

Lissa thought I had been running amok without getting caught. She was sort of right, because most of the time I was running amok with Dimitri.

"That is true," I mused.

"Besides," she grinned. "No one can deny Uncle Victor."

That was true. He was too sick and close to death to really deny him any wishes.

"And if I go to the mall, she'll have to let me go to the dance!" I crowed excitedly.

Lissa and I immediately began to plan for the trip to the mall, what we would wear, and what stores we were looking forward to visiting.

I hadn't been to Missoula in over two years. I was majorly stoked.

TRSTRSTRS

I met Dimitri in the gym after school the day we were supposed to go to the mall.

"Rose, we won't be training today," he said.

I frowned. "Why not?"

"We'll be awake for a good portion of the night, since malls operate on human hours," he explained.

That made sense. "Why don't you take a nap before we leave?" he asked.

"Alright," I said. "See you later, Comrade."

He grinned at me.

TRSTRSTRS

I cursed as I realized that I was completely out of my favorite lip gloss. I'd been running low for a while, but I hadn't had a chance to get any more.

I applied a light layer of makeup and rooted through my wardrobe for a cute outfit. I finally decided on a pair of dark green skinny cargo jeans and a brown hoodie. I didn't really have a ton.

I would definitely need to pick up more clothes at the mall.

I met Dimitri where they kept the cars. Lissa, Camille, and Natalie were already there, along with Victor and his guardians. Guardian Alto was there, too.

I smiled at Dimitri, who just motioned for me to get in the van. "You're late, Rose," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry. It takes time to look this good," I joked.

He only shook his head as he sat next to me. On the other side of him was Guardian Speridon. Lissa, Camille and Natalie were in the bench seat ahead of us, while Victor and Guardian Alto were in the front seats.

I questioned him about Guardian Alto, who was just a school guardian, being present.

"He's here because the Princess and Camille don't have sanctioned guardians yet. Camille would normally be under the protection of her family guardians, but since she's at school, they aren't available."

I nodded my head in acceptance. "And you're here because you are my sanctioned guardian," I noted.

He agreed.

"It's odd that you have a guardian and the princess doesn't," Speridon stated.

I kind of agreed. Usually, only royals got guardians. It was rare for a common Moroi, such as myself, to have such a renowned guardian. It was even more rare for an underage common Moroi to even have a guardian. How had Dimitri been assigned to me?

Maybe whomever had bribed for my place at school had also bribed the council to get me a guardian. Hey, I wasn't going to complain. If it wasn't for whomever was out there helping me out, I would never have met Dimitri.

Lissa and Camille began to chatter about something or another, but I paid no attention. I was too busy watching Dimitri.

He had a strange look on his face. I couldn't place what it meant. It looked like he was at war with some thought.

I was aching to grab his hand. It was so close. I could even do it sneakily.

I wouldn't allow myself to. Dimitri might not appreciate it. I knew he wouldn't appreciate it.

When we got to the mall, Lissa practically turned into a tornado of energy, eager to explore every shop and buy every accessory and dress.

Luckily for her, it appeared that her account had been sorted out. Unluckily for me, my mother never provided an allowance.

Lissa didn't mind buying me things. I felt guilty for allowing her to do so, but I really did need some more clothes.

I think we actually went into every store, even the ones that we didn't need anything from (such as Dolce Italian Tableware).

"Seriously, Liss, why are we even in here?" I asked as she stared, enamored at a spoon.

"Well… we might need some tableware someday," she told me.

I recognized the look on her face. It was one that said she had spent too long without shopping, and had cracked when finally presented with the opportunity.

She ended up buying the spoon.

She dragged me down the corridor and into Victoria's Secret soon after. "You could get something from their new line of running shorts," she explained.

I gave her a look. "You realize those aren't actually for running?"

She gave me a wide-eyed look. "What?" she asked. "But they're cute and practical!"

I finally caved, allowing her to buy me a pair of black hotshorts. As much as I hated to admit it, they were really cute. The waistband was a sparkly champagne color.

"And look at this lingerie set!" she ran over to a display of baby doll nightgowns. She found a dark red one. "It would look so good on you!"

It would look good on me, I realized. However, I wouldn't ever get an opportunity to wear it.

As if reading my mind, she said, "You could wear it in the future," wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I scoffed disgustedly. "That is one of the most sexual things I have ever heard you say," I told her.

She laughed and I noticed that Dimitri was across the store, purchasing something.

What could he possibly be buying? At Victoria's Secret?

Maybe he's just buying some lotion or soap, I told myself.

I couldn't imagine allowing anyone but Dimitri to see me in the lingerie that Lissa was holding up.

"I see the look in your eyes," Lissa said. "I'm buying it!"

"No!" I shouted. Dimitri turned to look at us, and I immediately blushed. I lowered my voice. "I don't have any use for it, Lissa."

Dimitri was walking hurriedly towards us.

"You can just wear it to bed to feel pretty," she said. "I'm buying it and that's final."

Dimitri finally made it to us. "Everything alright, Rose? Princess?"

"Everything is perfectly fine, Guardian Belikov," Lissa said. "I'm just trying to talk some sense into Rose."

He looked back and forth between us, confusion clear on his features.

Finally, his eyes landed on the baby doll.

I blushed once again, and he began to do the same.

I had never seen Dimitri so unguarded in his feelings. He must have been taken by surprise. I knew I was.

"Uh," he stuttered. Dimitri stuttering?

"It's the last one, and in your size, Rose," Lissa told me. "I think it would look good on you."

I didn't know it was possible for my cheeks to grow any redder. I had never blushed before I had met Dimitri, and here I was, about to burst a blood vessel!

I looked at Dimitri. He was swallowing thickly.

Why, oh, why, Lissa?

"I'm not taking no for an answer," she repeated.

Before I could stop her, she ran to the check out counter to pay for the shorts and baby doll nightgown.

Now it was just Dimitri and I. We were standing there, both in shock and slightly traumatized. The other group of Moroi and guardians appeared outside of the store, bringing me out of my frozen state.

"I guess it's time for lunch," I stated.

Dimitri nodded, still shocked.

I didn't understand why he was so thrown by the lingerie. Perhaps he imagined me too young for anyone to have sex with. Perhaps he was just flashing back to that night in the lounge with Jesse. Or maybe, just maybe, he was picturing me in that lingerie.

Hey, guys! So I think Rose may finally be coming to her senses regarding Dimitri, yes? An outtake from Dimitri's POV in this story will be out soon. It may or may not include multiple outtakes as the story goes on, but it will be marked as complete. Tell me what you thought of the chapter!