A/N: I guess this is the end. Sort of. I have decided that this story is getting too long and well, the title is Aftermath, this isn't really an aftermath anymore. But on the other hand, I'm so not done with this story. So, I have decided to have my fun in another story and you can choose your ending: I'm going to make a team Dimitri ending in a one-shot and continue this story in my team Adrian goodness in a new fanfic.

So here's the last chapter of Aftermath, the other fanfics will continue from here.

Chapter 34

Promises

No POV

Song: Promises by Sundays Away

What's the big deal with promises? Well, there is a big deal, maybe the pressures too much? Especially for young lovers. It's the silent promise that's the killer, though.

A head tilt from fire-boy, his promise of a challenge later. Heads bowed and a soft silence from the best friends, Rose and Lissa, signalling the end of whatever had been going on. A hand sliding down Rose's back a little too far, a hand belonging to Cameron, his own promise of more to come.

That boy really will do anything for a dare, but I think we can forget him in this love triangle.

Adrian probably took it as a silent promise from Rose when she kissed him that she was with him and only him.

Well, he should have taken Rose's reputation as his promise.

Rose and Dimitri had no promises, they were free, but the freedom would crush them, eventually. Maybe Rose said she would come back but he never said he'd be there. Maybe he said he'd fight the shadows but Rose never said she would forgive him. Let's just say, they have serious issues- But no promise to resolve them. No promise of a future at all.

Dimitri didn't really have a future at all... I think Rose thought she could find a way past that. But is it possible?

Rose walked away from the cabin somewhat resigned. But as she kept walking, the future burned bright. Everything would be alright. This might have been because Rose believes in the impossible, or because she had had the best night's sleep she'd had in a long time.

She was practically skipping by the time she reached the cafeteria.

"Hey guys!" She greeted the four of them.

"Little Dhampir..." Adrian said and went to get his breakfast without another word.

But Rose didn't notice that he had been less than pleased with her, she was too busy throwing herself at Lissa and hugging her for a very long time.

"What was that for?" Lissa asked when she was finally free.

Rose giggled, "Oh, nothing, I just missed you and someone told me that you might want a hug."

Lissa looked at Christian as Rose went to hug Eddie. He laughed and pulled out of the hug before it became awkwardly long. Then, surprising them all Rose was hugging Christian.

He tried to pull back but she wouldn't let him, whispering in his ear, "I'm sorry."

What is Rose sorry for? Hugging her best friend's boyfriend? Or was it the fact that she'd been having a fight with him? All bets are on the latter.

Adrian came back; he must have missed the hugging phrase because he sat down to eat breakfast without getting a Rose-hug. But maybe he was avoiding one, because Rose turned and sat down beside him; bring her chair closer to him.

"Hi Adrian..." She said hesitantly because she didn't know what she was going to do with him now that Dimitri was back.

He thought she'd noticed his aloof mood.

"Hey." He said, biting into a granola bar.

"So, um..." She started.

"Missed you at dinner last night and you're still wearing my t-shirt," He offered.

"Oh, yeah, I'll go change and wash it for you." She said smiling brightly.

"Mmhmm..." He agreed as she stood up.

"I wasn't hungry last night but I'm starving now so I might grab something to eat while I get ready." She said smiling again and walking towards the food line.

Adrian didn't miss the fact that one of the boys at Ralf's table got up when she passed and hit her ass, but he didn't do anything about it.

Wow, he needed to go drink something...

"What's up with you? I thought you and Rose were sort of together now?" Lissa asked, biting into an apple.

"It's nothing. I just thought she could have told me she wasn't coming to dinner last night. After all she did ask me to be there, she could have showed. She keeps disappearing and only giving half-formed explanations when she returns." Adrian said shrugging.

Christian looked up from his bowl, tilting his head to the side as he looked at Adrian knowingly.

"I'm sure she's fine, did you see how happy she was just then?" Lissa said smiling.

Christian nodded a silent promise to talk about Rose later and share thoughts.

When you're looking, you can see that everything means more than it seems.

Rose wasn't ready to break Adrian's heart. She looked back at him from her spot in the line; he was frowning as he talked with Lissa. She didn't want to mess up someone else's life. Especially someone as kind-hearted, funny and wonderfully sleazy as Adrian. She grinned at him across the room but he didn't see.

How would Dimitri find out? He was all the way at the cabin... Rose thought to herself.

Wow, someone forgetting he stalked you for weeks and you didn't notice?

She grabbed a bottle of juice and a bagel and ran to her room, class would start soon.

Rose rushed to her room and re-emerged with Adrian's t-shirt folded and clean in her bag and a little black dress showing way to much skin for the dress code. But class was over, nobody was going to stop her fun, right?

She smiled to herself, a small secretive tilt of her lips that was more in her eyes.

Adrian answered the door quickly, eyes widening as he saw who was there but more importantly what they were wearing. He sighed, thinking he was truly in love. Men.

Rose's ankle boots made a sharp snapping sound as she walked into the room and smiled warmly at Adrian.

"I brought your shirt back." She smiled.

He took it from her hand, giving her an appreciative look. "I wish I owned one of those dresses and you were looking to borrow it."

She laughed at the inside joke and Adrian couldn't stop himself from running a hand over her arm softly, smiling when he saw the hairs stand on end where he'd touched her skin.

"I'm all yours..." He whispered in her ear.

Rose bit her lip and Adrian thought she was trying to be seductive. Rose was thinking how she wasn't really his.

Adrian spoke softly taking the edge off his words, "But you're not all mine."

Rose's head snapped up, "What do you mean by that?"

He sighed, "Look Rose, I get it, okay? It would just be nice if you made it clear what this was between us. Because right now, it seems a little like you're using me for the bite. Couldn't you just get your other boyfriend to bite you? Or is your young love deeper than that?"

By the end Rose felt tired and weak and the weariness showed in her eyes, Adrian felt hurt but he wasn't going to let Rose know that, so he added venom to his last words. Rose's sigh sounded like she had the world on her shoulders but when she spoke she sounded slightly offended and a lot confused. Great acting skills, Rose.

"What are you talking about? Are you angry because you didn't get what you wanted the other night, because you're the one who stopped it from happening. What other boyfriend? Seriously Adrian, you better sort this misunderstanding out now or I'm leaving."

He shook his head, "I saw him touch you in the cafeteria this morning, you keep disappearing off to see him, I'm not stupid. People have seen you talking."

"Wait, what? I don't know what..." Rose started and then stopped, remembering. "Oh."

"Oh? You mean 'oh damn, I've been caught, I can't lie anymore'?" Adrian said back smirking at her.

I'm going to get drunk again when she leaves. So drunk. Adrian thought to himself, this was his coping mechanism when people hurt him: Be mean to them, be sarcastic, and get drunk. It worked quite well. Not.

"No! Oh God, no. That was Cameron. He's some arrogant jerk who's stalking me. He wants me to go out with him, I said no, I said I was taken and he still keeps turning up. He's harmless; he'll give up before the end of the week. And I wasn't disappearing. I was just taking some time to think, to catch up on sleep, space to breathe."

"Really?" Adrian said in a bored voice, staring at her like he could make her vanish with his mind.

Rose sighed, feeling even more defeated, she was trying not to hurt this guy and here she was in this awkward situation. She grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the couch; he snatched his hand back and moved to the other end of the couch, away from her.

"Adrian... Listen, he's not worth this. I don't even know him; I can only remember his name because he's told me so many times. Some guys... like him... do this stuff. Trying to get attention. I would never go out with him, don't worry." She said slowly.

"I'm not worrying, not anymore." Adrian snapped, standing up."

"Please. Don't be like this. I'm with you, not him."

"You're with me? Really? Doesn't that have to be consensual?" He sneered with his back to her.

Rose knew what he was doing, she did it herself. This was his shield.

She stood up and took his hand again, holding on tight when he tried to pull it away, he glared at her and then looked away, pretending he couldn't see her honest, innocent face or her black dress covering a not-so-innocent body.

She blew out a breath, "I'm here. I'm here for you. I know you've been here for me a lot, and I'm so grateful. I don't want to hurt you. But I don't know what else you want me to say. What I can say to convince you. I'm here when you're ready to trust me. That's the best I have."

Adrian wanted to believe her, because she was Rose. But he didn't. Not yet. Maybe he did a little but he wasn't admitting to that because then he'd have to admit he was wrong and apologise and right now he couldn't bring himself to. However, he didn't need to. When he glanced at Rose again she just simply nodded and pulled him into a hug, running her fingers through his hair lovingly and telling him that she was sorry. He didn't know what for but it seemed to be the right thing for her to say, somehow.

After a few minutes he spoke quietly and softly, looking over her shoulder and taking a deep breath, it wasn't over just yet.

"You are here. I know what you can say, but I also know you'll say it whether it's true or not. Because you have been saying it to everyone for weeks."

Rose pulled back and stiffened, "What's that?"

"Tell me you are over Dimitri. Tell me you love me, not him. Tell me that you care about me at least half as much as you cared about him. Tell me the truth, Rose." He answered, looking down.

Rose was silent as the minutes passed, how could she say something like that when her Dimitri was back? She wanted them both.

He sighed and walked over to the window, staring out, "I guess that's my answer. I'm not that surprised really..."

"I'm sorry that that is the way things turned out. But really, how do you expect this be a long-term relationship? You're a royal Moroi; I'm the most famous novice guardian this place has ever seen. But... We can have something." Rose offered.

"Need an endorphin fix?" Adrian asked sarcastically.

Rose shook her head and walked over to him, "I really wish you could see what I mean, there's still hope. We'll talk later. Goodbye, Adrian." She kissed his cheek lightly and shook out her hair, spinning towards the door and walking purposefully out.

There's a big deal about promises, one some are yet to learn. Nothing breaks a heart, a soul or a person's spirit more than a promise. However misguided, promises are here tonight, so let's not wait for sunrise to admit it: Rose and Adrian have no promises, their hanging, blissfully, while Dimitri stands back from Rose and hides in his shell (also known as the cabin). Lissa and Christian are all promises of the future, somehow I don't think their going to part, ever. Life means nothing when you're young and in love - Proven by Rosemarie Hathaway, graduating class of 2010.

A/N: For conformation: This is going to be the final chapter of aftermath. If you author alert me you will get alerts for the other stories that connect with this one. The story's far from over, so I hope you continue to read. I took about two weeks of deliberating before I updated this, so it isn't insane.

The one-shot will be all about Dimitri and Rose's ever after.

The next fanfic in this story will be less angst – if any – than aftermath. It will be light, fun and disregard anything that happens in the Dimitri one-shot. I also hope to make it funny, but that may not happen.

I'm thinking I may also write an Adrian x Rose one-shot... just in case people want to have some closure.

Thank you so much (just in case you've deserted me and will not read the other stories) to all those who have reviewed, I would mention names but then I'll forget people or do something wrong so that's just not a good idea. You know who you are, and I love all you guys for giving me inspiration.

My beta – MyLifeisEdwardCullen – my gratitude, all the readers gratitude, you are awesome.

Let me know what you think, give me your ideas, review and author alert me for some more great addictive reading times.

Xx G.

Ps. I have to be a little self centred to sell it, hey, who says I can't be confident the next stories will be awesome?

Pps. She graduated in 2010 because that's when the book that included her graduation was released - Spirit Bound - May 18 2010.