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Dimitri curses loudly, both English and Russian, and slams the phone down.

I sit on my bed, watching him pace away his anger. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"The strigoi numbers are increasing rapidly around Court. They're not allowing any planes to enter or leave."

Not really sure how I'm supposed to be feeling, I just sit still while he paces back and forth.

"Why can't we just fly in on a public plane?"

"Because we'll land outside of the wards. I'm not risking that. But now we have to wait." He curses again.

"So?" I reply. "It's only a few days, right?"

He sighs, looking wearily at me. "That just gives you more time to run. You think that I'm naive? That I don't know you're planning an escape?"

Now, it's my turn to sigh. Yes, of course I thought about it. What he obviously didn't know was my reluctance to leave, to leave him. All my old feelings for him had begun to resurface.

But, in response, I shrug.

And Dimitri returns to his pacing.

"You're going to go through the floor, you know." Silence. "You're making me dizzy..." Again, no reponse. "Why are you so mad?"

"I'm not mad."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, Dimitri. Right."

"I'm not mad."

"You're a horrible liar!" I accuse, feeling suddenly angry myself. "The plane will be here in a few days. Relax, would you? I haven't run away yet."

He sighs loudly and sits down on the edge of his own bed, his head resting in his palms.

"It's going to be okay," I say again, unsure of why he's so upset at a time like this. "It's not that big of a deal."

He looks up. "It is to me."

God, why did he have to be so... removed.

"But why?" I push.

"Because I know you, Rose. And I know that you can just disappear in a heartbeat." Ouch. A guilt trip? That's what I was getting?

"Maybe I want to go back!" I shoot back. "Maybe I've had enough of running away! Maybe I've missed Lissa, and Christian, and Adrian."

He flinched at my words, but remained silent. "God, you are so infuriating!" I cry.

"Me?" he grits his teeth.

"Yes you!"

"You ran away! You abandoned your friends, your family! You didn't answer your phone for weeks!" Whoa, that was uncalled for.

"You abandoned me!" I scream. "So don't you dare tell me how horrible I am!"

"I'm not saying that!"

"Sure as hell sounds like it!"

He growls. "Stop putting words into my mouth!"

"Stop being such an ass!"

He throws his hands up, as if I am the most frustrating creature on the planet. "I didn't force you to run away, Rose! Would you quit acting as if this is my fault?" By reflex, when I feel threatened, I head towards the door, an escape. But Dimitri jumps in front of me.

"It is your fault! If you wouldn't have been such an idiot in the first place, I wouldn't have run away!" I yell.

He freezes. "You ran away because of me?"

I guess I did. "I loved you, Dimitri! After everything that happened, I still loved you! Do you want to know what hurt me? Not being bitten! Not fighting you! It was when you told me you didn't love me! That was what hurt me!

So, yeah, you're right. It hurts me to even look at you. It hurts me to be around you! But it's because you abandoned me, and not because of anything else! Not because of anything else that you did!" I jab my finger into his chest. "Besides, why the hell do you care? You were hired to bring me back! It's not like your doing this for me!"

He stays silent. But slowly, so slowly he steps away from the door, out of my way. "Then go," he whispers. "If you don't want to see me, if you don't want to be near me, then go."

I stomp out of the door, but not before calling over my shoulder,

"You're right. Love fades."

...

The wind whips around me, tearing at my bare arms, leaving me shivering. You ran away! You abandoned your friends, your family! You didn't answer your phone for weeks!

I sigh, and reach for my phone in my pocket, as if this will prove him wrong.

97 New Voicemails

108 Unread Messages

I immediately dial, punching in my voicemail code, and hold the phone to my ear, sitting down on the curb. I might as well, now.

Hey, it's Rose Hathaway. Well, I didn't pick up, so if I haven't lost my phone, you've obviously pissed me off. I'll call you back if you're lucky! Leave a message!

New Voicemail From: Dimitri
"Rose? Rose, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to meet me. At the cafe in Court? At six? It's me, Dimitri. I just need to talk."

New Voicemail From: Dimitri
"Rose, it's Dimitri. I know your angry. But please, just come. I'm still sitting in the cafe. It's... 7:42. Rose, please come."

New Voicemail From: Dimitri
"It's Dimitri again. I'm starting to get worried. Just answer your phone, Roza. Where are you?"

New Voicemail From: Liss
"Rose! You c-can't just l-leave me! Please, Rose! Come back! We can figure this out! Please, don't do this."

New Voicemail From: Adrian
"Rose, you can't just run away. Please come back. Come back to Lissa, your parents. Come back to me."

And the voicemails continue. For weeks, they have called, Lissa, Adrian, my parents, even Christian. After a while, the dates start to become more spaced out, fewer and fewer as time goes on. But Dimitri has called me every day since I left.

New Voicemail From: Mom
"Rosemarie! Don't do this! Not again. You don't need to run away! We can work this out. Please, Rose. I... I love you."

New Voicemail From: Adrian
"Rose, what are you doing? Just come back. I miss you so much. Liss needs you more than anything. Your parents are sick. And Belikov, Belikov is falling apart Rose. I know your pissed at him, but you have no idea what you're doing to him. Answer your phone, your texts, anything. Please?"

But the last call is from a few days before Dimitri had shown up in Moscow. And it made my heart break.

New Voicemail From: Dimitri
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just... I needed to hear your voice. One last time. I'm sorry. I miss you. Goodbye, Roza."

Oh, Dimitri.

The sun warms my face as it rises, the last of the night crowd dispersing, although the weather was still frosty and chilling. Even though I was technically on a human schedule, I was exhausted, and wanted to sleep while everyone else was just getting up.

But mostly, I just wanted Dimitri.

I sigh, picking myself off of the grimy sidewalk, and shove my pale, shaking hands into my jean pockets, my entire body convulsing with shivers. My fingers brush the 310 rubles, or roughly ten American dollars, in my pocket, and I decide to go and get breakfast, seeing as I haven't eaten in at least ten hours.

Luckily, ten dollars goes fairly far when buying fast food, and I manage to get a coffee, a water bottle, and a couple sausage-looking items that I guessed was good, based on their scent.

My lips were blue by the time I got back to the hotel, the cardboard tray of drinks shaking in my hands. I walked quickly up to the room, balancing the food in my hands. Dimitri has left the door unlocked, but when I slip inside, I am astonished.

The sheets have been ripped off the bed, the pillows laying on the floor. The armchair sits at an odd angle, and one of the mattresses is sitting almost entirely off of the side of the bed frame, obviously having been kicked repeatedly.

And Dimitri sits on the other bed, head buried in his hands, his shoulders slumped and shaking.

But when the door clicks shut, his head snaps upwards. The look on his face pains me, and I slowly hold up the paper bag and tray, a peace offering.

"I brought food," I smile, but Dimitri just stares blankly at me. He slowly rises off of the bed, his entire posture seems to indicate that I will snap any second, as if he'll move too quickly, and he'll spook me, making me lash out, or run.

"You didn't leave," he murmured. "You came back."

I smile again, shrugging. "Yeah, well..."

He looks down at the food in my hands, raising a brow. "I got breakfast," I explained. "I used my own money. What I had left..."

Dimitri just looks blankly at me. "You left without the money I had given you." I thought of the card, for if I did run away, and would have to live without him.

"You've paid for everything. This is my lame attempt at repaying you."

Slowly, he nods again, still seemingly in awe.

"I'm not accepting the money," I tell him.

"Rose..."

"No," I say more firmly. "I'm not accepting it, because I'm not running away again. I'll go back to Court, I'll let you take me."

For another moment, his face stays expressionless, but a wide smile washes over his lips, and he pulls me into a tight embrace, the most intimate touch he has initiated since returning to his current state, and gently takes the cardboard tray from my shivering hands.

"Thank you," he whispers into my ear, and gives me the hot coffee to heat my hands.

Afterwards, we eat in silence. Even though the sun shines brightly, we both slip into bed, exhausted, emotionally and physically.

But I am unable to quiet my mind, and I lay there for hours.

I was going back, back to Court. Back to my life.

It has seemed like forever since I've seen my friends, my parents. I'm anxious, but one thing, probably the root of my insomia, haunts me.

I can feel a small sting that he, the former love of my life, has been paid to capture me.