A/N: This is an eventful chapter, but I think that the structure had to be like this. I went through different ways of writing this, different characters coming, different endings. This is what worked. Adrian was the best person. I'll explain why at the end.

There is an alternative chapter eight with more fluff in it that I wrote in my story, 'If there was love.' So please look at that if you could use a little happiness or love or whatever.

Chapter 8:

Adrian's POV

The night was unforgiving and I couldn't sleep. I needed to see Rose.

How cruel was I to leave her alone in that room. Knowing what state she was in, knowing that she wasn't eating or sleeping. She needed me now and I was nowhere to be seen.

As I stared out my window into the sun's light that burned my eyes, I remembered how Rose had helped me, even though she didn't know it. She was the first person to ever put aside my reputation, the first person to be my friend without wanting my money. I wouldn't have learnt to care for someone the way I cared for her if she hadn't given me the chance.

Had I not been trying to get through to her this whole time? But then I'd discovered her love for Dimitri and given up on her heart. Sure, I'd kept flirting with her and teasing her but I had thought I'd never get her to love me as much as she loved Dimitri Belikov. So in a way, I did understand her love for him otherwise I wouldn't have given up.

Whether she admitted it or not, she needed someone to come and look out for her this time. Lissa was pretending to be strong and she was, but not strong enough to really understand Rose's feelings right now. She herself wouldn't have been able to handle feeling what Rose felt. She compared Rose and Dimitri's love to hers and Christian's relationship, but I didn't think they could even be measured by the same units; Rose's love for him was off any scale that could be believed. Maybe his was too, he had died for her in a way.

I had to remember that she really didn't hate me or I'd end up not going.

I pulled on some jeans and grabbed my jacket, running down the stairs to the guardian on duty in Rose's dorm.

"Excuse me?" I said politely

"Lord Ivashkov, you're not allowed in the girls dorms after curfew." She said sternly.

"I'm sorry, Guardian...?" I wanted to know her name, which often helped with compulsion.

"Petrov." She said in a sharp voice.

"Guardian Petrov, I know I shouldn't be here but I'm worried about my friend." I remembered Rose and her joking around sometimes but Rose had called her Alberta, I wasn't polite for me to address her by her first name.

"Lord Ivashkov, I hope this isn't a trick to get into one of the dhampir girls' bedrooms. Who is your friend?" She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I assure you it's not. My friend is," I said but she seemed suspicious, "Rosemarie Hathaway."

She frowned, "I'm sorry to disappoint Lord Ivashkov but she has been unwell, I don't think you should be seeing her at this time of night."

I wouldn't give it one more try before I used compulsion,

"Guardian Petrov, I'm concerned about Rose. You know I was there when you found her in the woods, I don't think she's been doing very well since then. I would really like to check on her."

She sighed, "Adrian, I'm sure she'll be there in the morning. You should get some sleep. If you're really worried you can have 5 minutes while I patrol the other girls' dorms." She smiled kindly and nodded to Rose's door.

"The thing is she hasn't been answering the door. I really need the key; I promise that this isn't a trick. She hasn't eaten in days."

She looked worried but kept a stern voice, "I'm not allowed to give you a key, sorry."

"Please Alberta, If you unlock the door I'll say it was already unlocked." I sounded pitiful even to myself but Rose needed me.

She looked tired as she considered it, "I know Rose, so I'll open the door but if anyone else hears of this..."

I smiled "Yes, I understand, thank you."

She walked over and silently slid the key into the lock and pulled it out then she walked away and I just saw her gesture to the door.

I rushed to it and gently turned the door knob. It quietly opened and I looked at the room within.

It was dark, the curtains were pulled closed and the lights were off. My vision adjusted to the light and I saw Rose huddled in the corner of the room, staring blankly ahead at the wall. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing the same thing she'd worn to the counsellor's office yesterday. Rose's skin was paler than I'd ever seen her which made the rings under her eyes stand out and look black; her eyes were dull and lifeless. For a second I was worried that it was too late but she was breathing.

I walked into the room and pulled the door shut behind me, nobody else needed to see her like this. I walked slowly towards her so she wouldn't get a fright,

"Rose, what have you done?" I whispered as I knelt down beside her.

She looked at me surprised, "What are you doing here? You shouldn't have come." She said, her voice rough and cracked.

I looked at her sternly, "Are you injured?"

She looked back at the wall, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

I took her hand, "Rose?" She turned back and shook her head, what does that mean? She's not injured or she won't answer?

I stood up and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her with me. Then I walked to the bed and sat her down, turning on the light. She blinked, obviously not used to having it on. In the light she looked even worse. It was about 2 in the morning for the school, so I decided it was probably safe to go down to the kitchen without getting caught by anyone.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a minute." I said as I grabbed her set of keys from a table near the door and walked out.

I realised when I reached the kitchen that I had no idea if she would eat what I gave her, but I'd have to convince her to. So I grabbed a couple of biscuits, a muesli bar, a muffin, a bottle of water and a bottle of juice. I wouldn't be able to come back when the students were awake so it seemed like a good idea to get more food than necessary.

I walked back into Rose's room and she was sitting where I'd left her yet again staring into space. It was hard to think of her like this, but I kept remembering what she used to be like, I had to help her get back to that. When I sat down she looked over,

"Adrian, you should go back to bed." She said weakly, she didn't have the energy to be angry it seemed.

I smiled at her, "Nope, I got to look after my girl."

She shook her head and stared at her hands.

I put the food down in front of her and passed her the bottle of juice, she refused to take it.

"Rose, you have to drink something, this is serious." She took the bottle put didn't open it.

"Seriously Adrian, I want to be alone." She said harshly, I had said it was serious, at least she was still Rose.

"Not going to happen, Little Dhampir."

I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, wetting it under the tap and walking back to her. As I took her hand and wiped it with the towel I looked at her eyes,

"You can't do this Rose, just hide out here. It's only been two days and you already look terrible. You're so pale, jeez Rose. Don't do this."

I shook my head remembering Lissa's command to be strong for Rose. Rose however seemed to have given up on being strong,

"What's the point? Just let me be."

I didn't want to hear her talk like that so I ignored the comment and continued cleaning her hands and moved on to her face.

"Rose, please drink something." I pleaded but she didn't touch the juice.

After I was done with her face I pulled her jacket off and tossed it aside, then I pulled off her shoes and socks. She didn't seem to care so I lifted her off the bed and pulled back the covers for her. I waited but she didn't get the hint so I had to carry her back to the bed and pull the covers around her.

"Rose, I'm not leaving until you've had something to eat and drink. This is not optional."

She looked up at me, "I bet this is the first time you've ever done this, looking after a girl when you take her to bed not making out with her when you reach the bed."

I smiled at her even though I really didn't have any reason to smile, I couldn't show weakness. Be strong for Rose.

"I'm going to give you one more chance before I make you." I said handing her the muffin and the juice yet again.

She stared at them blankly, "Why do you care?"

I sighed, "Please don't do this to me, Rose. I'm trying my best here."

She opened the juice and took a sip, "There I've had something to drink."

Under my breath I whispered, "I wish I had something to drink right now."

Then louder I said, "Drink more." And walked over to a table, looking for her hair brush – I was so out of my depth here. But it was Rose; I couldn't leave her and say 'Oh sorry, but I can't be seen brushing your hair it would ruin my reputation.' That would be cold. My only problem was that I doubted I could make her have a shower by herself and if I helped it would be considered as taking advantage of her. Oh well, the shower could wait.

When I finally found it I kneeled on the bed behind her and tried to gently untangle her hair. Since it was my first time brushing any girls hair she winced a little when I tried to brush out a knot but she didn't say anything. She slowly sipped the juice as I brushed and ran her fingers over the sheets on the bed.

"Sorry if this hurts, I'm not very experienced."

She shrugged, "It doesn't really hurt that much, it probably would hurt more if I did it – I don't have any patience with knots."

I laughed lightly without really finding it funny, "That's not surprising." I reached around her and grabbed the muffin, passing it to her, "Eat."

She turned it around in her hands, "I'm sorry about saying you treated people badly." She said it simply like she did mean it but she hated admitting it.

"I kinda proved you wrong, huh?" I didn't want to say, 'I understand, you're suffering from a great loss right now, I should be sorry.' Because she'd probably punch me.

She sighed, "I guess."

I coughed awkwardly, "Uh, Rose, You should probably have a shower."

I stopped brushing her hair and moved to sit in front of her, she just shrugged,

"I suppose that would be a good idea." But she didn't move.

She still hadn't touched the muffin so I grabbed it and broke off a piece, waving it in front of her,

"Do I really have to feed you? I mean I have done this before with girls in bed but I didn't think you'd be the type to go for that." I smirked at her and got a small almost half smile from her,

"Oh wouldn't you love that." She joked.

I moved the piece of muffin closer to her mouth, "I'll do it if I have to."

She grabbed my wrist to stop me, "I don't think so."

I put the rest of the muffin down and put my hand over the hand she had on my wrist,

"You need to eat something, I know that you don't feel like it but you are going to starve if you don't and I won't let that happen." I said in a more serious voice.

She pulled it from my hand with her other hand and ate it slowly and grudgingly. As she ate the rest of the muffin I tried to reason with her,

"How about that shower after you finish eating?"

"Are you going to make me?" She smirked at me, knowing that I'd probably say yes - If the circumstances were different.

So instead I gave her a solemn expression, "I would prefer not to."

She laughed but it wasn't happy or warm like it used to be, "You mean you would prefer not to have to be forced to help, that you'd just like to help to be nice."

I just stared at her, she knew what I meant. After a moment she sighed,

"I would prefer not to."

"But I'm going to make you?" I asked.

"Probably, wouldn't that be like all of your dreams come true?"

"Of course not, I like to make sure my dreams have variety. The only constant is you, sweetheart."I said with a deep accent teasing her.

She hit my arm and then looked thoughtful for a moment,

"I'll have a shower if you help me."

I looked at her shocked, "Rose, I can't – I don't want to take advantage of you."

She smiled, "That's sweet, but isn't this what you've been waiting for?" She laughed again and continued, "No, I don't mean that. God, Adrian, I didn't lose my mind."

"Okay then, what do you want help with?" I asked curiously.

She stood up and I copied her then she put her arm around my shoulders and walked into the bathroom,

"Find me something to wear – I mean something I can sleep in and then find where I left my jeans, I need to wear them tomorrow." She said and pushed me out the door, closing it.

I found her jeans on the other side of the room under a chair and went to the closet, I searched through some draws finding t-shirts and denim short shorts stuffed into the top draw, okay no PJ's in that draw. The next was training clothes. Then I found a draw with boxers and sweatshirts in it, I guess this was what she slept in because the only other draw was lingerie. So I grabbed clothes and just as I was about to knock on the bathroom door, I heard her quiet sobbing, without my Moroi senses I probably wouldn't have heard it.

She cried for the next five minutes and then turned off the water and stopped,

"Adrian, did you find me clothes?" she called.

"I think so, I wasn't quite sure because you have such a great organisational system." I called back and moved to the bathroom door.

She opened the door in her bathrobe and I passed her the clothes, "yeah, this is fine." Then she closed the door and I went to sit on the bed. A minute later she came back out and sat beside me,

"This is a really obvious question, little dhampir, but I need to ask. How are you?"

She sighed, "I don't know."

I took her hand, "Rose, Promise me you won't let this happen again."

"I can't. I can't even promise you that I won't let this happen tomorrow."

I looked at her, "This was just for tonight, wasn't it? Tomorrow you'll go back to sitting in dark corners and not answering the door. Then if I do get through the door, I probably won't get you to eat or drink. You let me have my way tonight."

She shrugged, "I'm not going to make any promises. Tomorrow I might not be Rose, the day after I might not be here at all."

I looked at her sharply, "He wouldn't have let you do this, and he would have knocked some sense into you. Do you think now, that he's just going to stop caring because he's not here?"

She gritted her teeth, "He's not here. That's the point."

I let go of her hand, "I see."

Then I stood up and walked towards the door, but her voice stopped me.

"Adrian, please don't leave me." She crawled under the covers of the bed as I walked to sit beside her,

Softly she whispered, "Just don't leave me."

I stroked her hair back from her face, "Never."

A/N: Okay, tell me what you think and check out 'If there was love.' –Its 3500 words so a bit longer than this. It shows more of the feelings or desperation and despair Rose is feeling after the loss of Dimitri than this. But it's got a lot of dark humor which I think would be scary to see from Rose. It refers back to frostbite as well so please look at it.

This chapter:

I said I'd tell you why other things didn't work.

Different Characters:

Lissa: Wouldn't have made Rose talk.

Christian: Wouldn't have shown the love etc.

Eddie: I can't write Eddie without him sounding Lame and stupid.

A Guardian: They would have dragged her to the clinic.

Different endings:

More romance: Wouldn't have worked for the rest of the story. (But I did write a romantic ending in 'If there was love.')

More crying: You wouldn't get to hear what's going through her head.

Less talking and sanity more silence: Again, that's boring.

So I did try really hard to make this perfect.

Xx Girl on Sunshine.

Please review.