Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.

Note: See the author's note below!

Ch. 7 Mistake

I woke up to hear someone faintly yelling something from upstairs. I sat up, looking around. It didn't feel like anything was wrong, but you never knew.

I checked my cell phone. It was around 9 in the morning or so. I looked over at Dimitri on the other couch. He was still peacefully sound asleep. Memories of last night flashed through my head and I sighed. It didn't mean anything for us, though, even though it meant a great deal to me.

The yelling stopped, and I was puzzled. My phone let out a faint beep on the table and I made a dive for it.

I nearly knocked the white phone off the table before catching it. Phew. That had cost me almost six months' salary and I'd hate to replace it before I'd even had it for a year. I looked down at the screen. 1 message from Liam.

I have a horrible headache. H20 please?

Coming, I texted back and quickly shook Dimitri's shoulder. "Comrade, wake up." As soon as I said that I hated myself. I'd accidentally called him by my old nickname for him.

I'm so hung over, Lissa said to me through the bond. I opened myself to her, and winced. Her headache was horrible. I need medication. Or water.

Dimitri opened his dark eyes. "W-what?"

"I think everyone's in need of water," I said dryly to him. "Wake up Eddie so we can get everyone water."

He hurried to find Eddie as I rushed to the kitchen and pulled out six glasses. Eddie and Dimitri appeared and poured water into the glasses. I hurried up to give water to Liam and Dash.

"Thanks," Liam croaked as he downed the water in one gulp. Dash looked a lot better than him, but he kept complaining about his monster headache.

"No problem," I said to Liam as I took back the glass. "I'll be back with medication."

I went downstairs and saw Eddie looking through the cabinets. "Any luck on medication?"

"Not even a tablet," he said, shaking his head. "I'm going to take the Civic and drive over to Walgreens." This was directed at Dimitri, who nodded.

"Hurry back though." Eddie took the keys and was out the door in a flash.

I went back up to tell Liam medication would be coming soon. He groaned and flopped back over.

I went back downstairs and saw Dimitri sitting on the couch. "Everyone's really hung over," I reported.

"I know. Adrian seems to be the worst off," Dimitri replied, shaking his head. "You need to keep alcohol away from him."

"He'll always get his hands on a little more alcohol," I said a little ruefully, shaking my head. "Helps him numb spirit."

"It's not a healthy way," Dimitri said darkly as someone knocked on the door. He got up and opened the door.

"That was fast," I said as Eddie came in with two boxes of Tylenol.

"I sped into town. Luckily, the Walgreens was only a five minute drive from here," he said, putting the boxes on the counter and opening them. "Who's the least hung over?"

"Tasha," Dimitri said as he took one of the boxes and started distributing them on tissues.

"I'll take care of everyone upstairs," Eddie said, grabbing some of the tablets. "This might take awhile, so expect ten minutes." He was gone, and I took a tablet to Adrian before coming back out.

"Are we going to talk about last night?" Dimitri asked, keeping his velvet voice soft as he sat down next to me.

"No," I said brusquely. Part of me ached all over to talk about it.

"Why not?" he asked insistently.

"Last night was a moment of weakness. Maybe of temporary insanity," I said flatly, keeping my eyes on the floor. Not looking at Dimitri made it somewhat easier to be harsh in my words, but not really. It was killing a part of me to lie to him and say these words.

"If it was a moment of temporary insanity, why did you kiss me back?"

"Maybe because you forced it on me," I growled, getting away from him. Lessening the space between us didn't help matters.

"I would never force you to kiss me if you didn't want it. You know I would never make you do anything that you didn't want to do," he said fiercely. "You said you loved me, so that's why I kissed you. And you kissed me back."

I was silent for a moment. He was right. I had kissed him back, despite my harsh words. And I'd told him I loved him…

"And what about the first time you kissed me, huh?" I asked, deciding to change the topic. "You kissed me without my consent."

"And yet, you kissed me back that time too," he reminded me. My cheeks flamed red with shame. "You didn't push me away or kick me until later."

"It was only so I wouldn't cause a scene."

"There wasn't anyone in the house, Roza. Stop lying to yourself. Last night, you told me you loved me."

"We're not talking about last night!" I almost yelled. I heard footsteps above me and remembered to keep my voice down. "Nothing happened between us, and I'm determined to keep it that way." I should've listened to my instincts telling me that I would regret last night. I sort of didn't regret, but now Dimitri would want to talk about it. That is the reason I now regret last night.

"If we're going to have a-"

"Last night was nothing but a mistake. It just brought back old feelings that are long gone," I said harshly.

I flashed back to the night after we rescued Lissa from Victor, remembering he'd said that what happened between us because of the lust charm was a mistake. I was echoing his words again. The hideous irony was that I was now the one saying it was a mistake instead of him.

Dimitri stared at me in shock. "A…a mistake?" he asked after a long moment of silence.

"Yes. I just gave in to feelings that were from a long time ago," I said, hating myself for the lie. It wasn't true. I'd kissed him because I still cared about and loved him. What I wouldn't do to spend a day just with him…

Dimitri was silent. "You think everything that's happened between us ever since I left you is a mistake?" he asked, his voice low, not giving away what he was truly feeling on the inside.

"I…well…it's not that I regret kissing you," I said, tripping over my words as I spoke. "It's just…it's…there's no use in bringing back feelings from the past. They don't matter anymore."

"Feelings from the past?" Dimitri repeated, still looking at me in shock. "How could you say that? With the love we once shared…and you still love me."

"Even if I did still love you…it doesn't change anything. Nothing is the same now. We've both changed after you left me."

"Why doesn't it change anything?" Dimitri asked, sorrow in his eyes.

"It doesn't change that you left me to guard Tasha, regardless of whether you loved her or not. And even if we could have a relationship, how would we manage? You can't leave Tasha unprotected just because you want to be with me, Dimitri. It also doesn't change that you probably just used me for sex that night," I said bitterly.

"I didn't use you for sex," Dimitri said furiously, his eyes full of anger…and passion now. "That night was one of the best nights of my life, Roza."

I stared at him in shock. That certainly changed my outlook on our previous relationship, but it didn't mean that we could now have an actual relationship. "And have you forgotten how much everyone – Moroi and dhampirs alike –condemn relationships between guardians?"

"No one else's opinion matters. As long as we're together, then everything will be alright," Dimitri said softly, walking closer to me and taking hold of my hand.

I looked down at the floor. Even more irony – he was saying the things I thought back when we were still together at the Academy and thought everything would be alright.

I took a deep breath. "Dimitri…it's time to let go of the feelings from the past and just move on with our lives now. Pretend that nothing ever happened between us. It would be best for both of us."

As I spoke those words, it felt like I'd just shot an arrow through my own heart. I felt like I'd broken my own heart into a million little pieces that would never be pieced back together again.

I didn't want him to pretend nothing had happened. I wanted him to always remember me in his heart. And I would be deluding myself if I said that I didn't want to be in a relationship with him. I wanted to be with him and stay by his side forever.

"Move…move on?" Dimitri repeated, looking even more stunned...and heartbroken. "How am I supposed to move on when I still love you so much, Roza? I told you last night – I'll do anything to get you to come back with me."

I shook my head, a tear tracing down my cheek. "It's too late, Dimitri. Forget everything that happened between us. Last night was just a mistake out of many."

With that, I let go of his hand and ran to the bathroom as the tears began to fall.

Author's note: Hey everyone! This is going to be the last chapter I'm going to put up for awhile. I'm going to be busy packing in the next couple of days because I'm travelling for the next 2 weeks, so I won't have internet access (or the time to write...or even a laptop to write on). But I promise I'll start writing again once I come back from my trip! So have a good 2 weeks while I'm away everyone :)

And please keep reviewing so I know if anyone's actually still reading this :D That's all for now!