Characters belong to Richelle Mead. This is just a fanmade story by me.

What to say but "I'm so sorry I haven't updated this earlier"? I really am sorry about that - you have no idea - but during awhile there we had no internet, so I couldn't update anything even if I could have. And then there's always real-life drama. Thankfully it's over now though.

In the meantime I've been reading a whole lot. Read "Fallen" by Lauren Kate, and now I'm on "Torment" (the sequel) - please refrain from spoilers if you've read it. And I've read a non-fiction book, too - also, besides "Torment", I'm reading a Louis L'Amour-book (it's Western - you know the author D likes?) called "The Lonely Gods" (borrowed it at the local library - just had to! xD). I mean, the name... good god. It was a must, seriously, haha!

I know I said you'd get teasers for this chapter, but after all this time, I think the real chapter is better - don't you agree? ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

If I was being honest, standing in the same room as Adrian now scared me like nothing else had ever done before. Hell, I was more scared of him than I had ever been of Dimitri back when he'd been Strigoi. Despite the fact we were apparently going to try and be friends now, I kept thinking about what Adrian had told me mere hours earlier, and about how much I hated myself for causing him that much pain.

He'd told me he couldn't be with anyone else, because all he saw was that they weren't me. He couldn't move on. And because of that, I couldn't move on either. Part of me had, because of my feelings for Dimitri, but there was still that part that wanted to be with Adrian. And I supposed I'd have to come to terms with that part, to let it go. So that we both would be free.

I wanted to move closer to him, to bring his chin up so that I could look into his eyes and maybe make him smile, but at the same time I just wanted to run, and keep on running. Absentmindedly I noticed how my hand was rising to fulfill that need I had, but when I realized what I was about to do, I let it fall down to my side again. Thankfully, Adrian didn't seem to notice my actions and remained the statue he had become once more.

"When is Lissa going off to Lehigh?" he wondered.

Mentally I tried to shake off all those hormones and look at this the way I was supposed to. Things were bad here and they needed to be fixed, not be screwed up or something like it. "Next week." I told him.

He considered this for a moment before his eyes turned my way. "Are you going with her there?"

"Yes."

He walked off towards my bed to sit himself down next to my suitcase. "So you're leaving in a week."

The tone in his voice made me feel puzzled; I couldn't decipher how he felt about it. Did he want me to stay here, with him, or did he actually want to know when he'd be free of me again? When I would disappear from his life? But then again, he had been the one to come to my room and ask me to stay...

"It's undecided." I murmured, keeping my eyes down, not really having it in me to meet his.

"What do you mean?" He suddenly became serious, more so than before, and it wasn't really a side I was used to yet. The serious Adrian – he used to be all fun and games, and not at all like this person that I happened to find here in Las Vegas. Where had that Adrian gone? Was he still in there somewhere or had that been one of those collateral damages he'd talked about back in my room, after my miraculous recovery, a month ago?

I heaved a sigh. "It means it's undecided. Things change."

His eyes turned my way again; I could feel them staring at me, studying me. Maybe he had that same feeling I always had now, like I was looking at a completely different person than the one I'd once gotten to know. That, to him, I wasn't the same Rose Hathaway he'd said goodbye to a month ago, that I'd changed – just like he had done during this time.

Silence hung thickly in the air for several moments. Several times I wanted to say something, to ease the tension between us, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what to tell him.

It was he who eventually broke the silence.

"I'm going to head down."

Head down. He was leaving.

"Oh, okay." I said meekly.

He looked at me hesitantly, kind of like he didn't know what to do. "I don't suppose you wanna come with?" The words almost seemed to come with a certain reluctance. As if he didn't know if he did want me to come with him or not.

I didn't know how I felt about that.

"You going to drink?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "What do you think you do in a bar?"

Crossing my arms, I frowned. "Really, at this hour?"

"Yup."

Didn't he see how badly it was for him, how run-down he'd become?

"If we're going to be friends, you can't drink like that." I warned. "I won't allow it. You want me to stay, you stop drinking."

One of his eyebrows rose. "Since when are you in a position to make demands?"

Since I love you; since I knew you loved me, too. And still do, deep down. "Since you told me you wanted me to stay."

He shook his head. "Not good enough, little dhampir." he got up from my bed, passing me as he headed towards the door. "Not good enough at all."

Right as he grabbed the doorknob, I sighed in defeat. "Fine," I conceded, just because I didn't want him to leave again. "Wait. I just need to change clothes, alright?"

He turned around and looked me over - standing there in my pj's - with an indecipherable look on his face. "Okay."

I opened up my suitcase and started rummaging through it while Adrian stood still by the door, watching me throw some garments to the side until I eventually settled with a simple blank tank top and a pair of jeans.

"I'll be right back," I murmured before I headed into the bathroom to change. But once I closed the door between us, I realized I was actually kind of offering him a way to get away from me, if he wanted to. I mean, it occurred to me that I could've actually changed my clothes still in my room - he'd already seen all of me. Although, I was fairly certain that wouldn't have helped us any - he'd probably still be on edge with me, maybe even more so if I'd done that.

As I eventually exited the bathroom I found him standing by my suitcase. His back was to me, so I couldn't see what he was doing, but seeing him there didn't feel right. At all.

Something was up.

"Ready?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him as he turned around.

He merely nodded, his face completely void of emotion. That blank, neutral look on his face was kind of scary - mostly because it didn't resemble the one I'd used to know - but that was how he was now, more or less. What I didn't get, though, was what was up with him now. Should I ask? I considered it for a moment, but then again, this wasn't my Adrian after all. And we weren't that close anymore.

"Let's go then."

As I walked out of my room, I noticed Mark standing on guard right next to the door. He didn't say anything, but he did raise an eyebrow as he saw me. He had to be wondering what was going on, but once Adrian came out into the hallway, too, and without another word began to walk towards the elevator, he just followed suit. As did I. After all, I'd told him I'd go with him downstairs.

So the day was spent by the casino – I watched how Adrian gambled, gambled, and then gambled some more – until he finally gave up and headed over to the bar. I didn't say much, merely just watched him and tried to figure out what to do about him.

Obviously he was still in my life, and I wasn't leaving this place. Yet. But I had to get things back to the way they used to be – at least somewhat. Make him lower the shield he had around me and realize that us parting ways – but remain as close friends - was the best thing we could do. It was for everyone's sake, even Lissa and the others. Surely they didn't like that Adrian and I weren't talking to each other - since we had the same circle of friends - and all the drama that always seemed to circulate around me concerning the messed up triangle that was him, Dimitri and I.

This had to get fixed. Soon.

Watching him play black jack and poker was okay. Mark had held his distance, leaning against a pole not too faraway, as had I. He still didn't know our history together, but obviously he could tell that there was something going on (or had been going on before) between the two of us. Either way, it didn't refrain him from cracking a joke. Well, make a bet with me.

Leaning in, but still keeping his eyes on the lookout for any suspicious behavior, he said: "I'll bet you fifty bucks he won't win anything tonight."

I gave him a sideways glance, noticing a smirk on his face. "What?"

"Fifty bucks he'll lose."

My eyes diverted from a still-smirking Mark to Adrian at the poker table, head hanging low and with eyebrows furrowed together. After awhile his head rose, and he folded, laying the cards down on the table.

I thought about it.

Here in Las Vegas I was forced to deal with this tough-hearted Adrian, and being away from Dimitri and Lissa and all my other friends for God-only-knows how long, so as the opportunity struck to have some simple fun, I figured I'd take it without another moment's hesitation. After all, the next few days weren't set in stone to be pleasant.

"You're on." I whispered as I leaned towards him, smirking, too.

Hands extended, and we shook hands. It was so on, and I was so going to win this. Mark and I watched him play for hours – sometimes folding, sometimes even going as far as all-in – and all the while I was hoping he wouldn't lose.

"Hope you got cash on you." Mark taunted one of the times Adrian decided to go all-in, pushing all his chips forward on the table.

"You wish," I replied levelly, eyeing Adrian. He looked more relaxed now, but still enough on edge to make me almost pray to God he wouldn't lose this round. "But your money's mine tonight, bitch."

Come on, come on...

There were three players left at the table, one of them being Adrian. From this distance I could never see what cards he had, so I had to rely on reading his expressions. But reading people had never really been my thing, so of course I failed now. Like I always did. I took things at face value, and acted accordingly. There'd been too many people I'd misread in the past – Victor, Dimitri, my mom... but most definitely the man who was sitting at that poker table not too faraway.

Eventually it seemed like Adrian was bored, or that was what I assumed then, since he got up from the table without another word. He just gave up, much to his co-players both annoyance and joy. From the look at his stack of chips, he'd actually been winning. His eyes connected with mine as he rose from his chair, and I immediately understood that he wanted a drink.

"It's a tie then," Mark murmured to me as we headed off after him. "But we've always got next time."

I smirked. "Definitely."

Like I said before, it was okay to watch Adrian gamble because at least he hadn't done what I now – about twenty minutes later, at the bar – had to witness. Maybe he was trying to piss me off - I wasn't sure - but if that was his intention, he surely managed to do a great job.

He was hitting on other women. In front of me.

And not before long some girl had found herself into his lap, straddling him, and he obviously forgot all about the drink the bartender had just given him once their tongues were doing a pretty mesmerizing show right before my eyes.

That girl clearly belonged to a circus, and I was royally pissed off.

My fist struck out before anyone could stop me – not that anyone tried though – and landed squarely on the side of the bitch's cheek. She flew off his lap and landed on the floor, sputtering like an idiot and trying to get back on her feet, but failing miserably - obviously she'd had one too many drinks beforehand. My actions left a stunned Adrian, staring at me.

Mission accomplished.

"If you're not going to drink that, I will." Before he even had time to react, I grabbed his drink and downed it. Out of my peripheral view I noticed how Mark was watching us, and behind that guardian mask he had on now, I knew was concern. And apprehension, considering my reputation.

"Why did you do that?" Adrian wondered. I could see that he was coming back to his senses then, and, slowly but surely, that stunned feeling was turning into annoyance.

I had to fix that.

Just not now.

I got up from my seat without another word. Things could quickly get ugly with us, and this was so not the place for it. And I kind of felt bad for Mark since he was forced to stick around and watch our drama. So I left the bar and hurriedly tried to rush over to the elevator in the lobby before anyone could stop me.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" I heard Adrian cry out. And in my peripheral view, as I hoped the door to the elevator would open soon, I saw other guests at the hotel turn around and stare at us.

He caught up to me a moment later, and stepped inside with me once the doors opened. And he was quickly followed by Mark. "Why did you do that?"

"It was a tic." I lied effortlessly. "I got Tourettes."

"No, you don't." he said, obviously seeing right through me, but all I really noticed then was the noise Mark made. A light chuckle under his breath.

"This isn't funny, dhampir." Adrian snapped at him, who had regained his composure before Adrian even opened his mouth.

"My apologies, Lord Ivashkov." he said perfectly politely.

That didn't make Adrian ease up though, because he glared at Mark for a moment longer, before he turned back to me again. "You had no right to do that. You dumped me, remember?" He said that last part a bit more quietly, as if to not make Mark able to hear him. But of course he did anyway. We were in an elevator after all, mere inches apart.

My heart was beating like crazy, and I just wanted the damn elevator to reach our floor soon. I had to get away from Adrian, for both our sake. Now. But seeing as I couldn't get away yet, I tried to remain casual, but I barely managed it.

"I'm your friend. I'm looking after you, that's all." I shrugged, trying to ignore my racing heartbeat.

As the last word left my mouth, the elevator finally pinged, announcing we'd gotten to our floor. And as soon as the door opened, I snuck out and almost ran to my room.

But Adrian caught up to me easily.

Damn those keycards.

His warm hand closed around my wrist, stopping me from opening my door. "Talk to me, Rose." his voice, his sultry breath, brushed my ear. And it made me feel things and think things that so wasn't helping our situation right now. Deep down, a part of me just wanted to turn around and press my lips to his, not caring about the consequences it'd bring, but then another part told me to run for it. That it was best to flee, because this was only the calm before the storm.

I turned around, back firmly up against the door. And Adrian stood inches away in front of me, and I was painfully aware of how close his lips were. And how close his body was... And how if I only leaned in, I could get at least a physical release. I could distinguish the light air of alcohol around him, but my body honestly couldn't care less about that. It still wanted him.

I must have looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights, because he hadn't been this close to me since when I slept in his room, next to him. He was still just as beautiful, even if he was looking a little haggard nowadays.

In the back of my mind I was very much aware that Mark was watching us, and listening. And our neighbors at the hotel could surely hear us, too.

"Let's talk in here," I murmured to Adrian. Turning my back around to open the door, I let us both in.

His eyebrows rose as he strode in. "If you came here to babysit me, then you can just go back to Court." He said as he went to sit down on the bed just as I closed the door behind us. A frown appeared on his face as he met my eyes. "This is my life; either you accept it or you leave me to my business."

"Why are you being this person?" I wondered. "I know you're better than that. So just stop it."

"I told you, and I will tell you again: I'm not you, Rose. I'm no superhero." he replied, sounding exasperated. "I'm just an ordinary guy with a fucked up life, and I'm dealing with it the best I can."

"But you're not dealing with it at all!" I cried. "You run. You run and you hide. Behind all your liquor bottles and your- your cigarettes and the women!" I shook my head at him as painful flashbacks crept into my head, to those times I'd seen him around Court a few weeks ago and how different he'd been mere months prior. "Just stop it. You managed it once, you can do it again."

"I don't need your advice." he spat. "You're the last person anyone should take advice from."

What?

"Since when am I the bad guy?"

"Oh, let me then retell your past, little dhampir, since you so adequately described mine." he was serious, and he was fuming. "You ran away from school, endangered your Moroi. The last person of the whole Dragomir line nonetheless. You got yourself involved with your teacher, probably seduced him. We all know you're good at that-"

How dared he? I was about to protest, and he knew it.

"Uh uh, let me finish." he shushed me. "Let's see, then you ensnared that poor redheaded guy. Mason, wasn't it? And you flirted with me a little – yes, you did, little dhampir. To make your precious lover jealous, and we all know how that went.

"Hm, after that you've run away from school, again. Well, dropped out, but whatever. Technicalities." he shrugged, but the look on his face was what did it for me. He wasn't mad or anything, instead he looked a little disgusted.

"And let's see... then you've aided felons, like your dad said. You've broken in and out of jail, twice. Although, the in-part was only twice, but who cares in the grand scheme of things, right? You got the guy in the end, so who cares about how you actually got there?"

I thought he was done there, and inwardly sighed in relief. But as it turned out, he wasn't. He hadn't even mentioned the big finale yet, the one that struck me the most, and which he knew it would: The most humiliating part of my life.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the part when you were a bloodwhore for a Strigoi-"

Having all that laid out there made me feel dirty all of a sudden. But how dared he? I'd gone through hell to get where I was now, and he made it sound like I really was the worst person alive. Running away, lying, cheating, and selling myself for what was pretty much like drugs. He really got it all, didn't he?

"Just shut up!" I shouted, feeling very much tempted to grab the lamp next to me to throw at him. He surely deserved it. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

He shrugged, as if this argument didn't affect him at all. Or he hid it extremely well... or maybe he just didn't care about me anymore, at all. That thought hurt more than his next words did, "Just saying, I'm not taking advice from a person like that. And the fact you're even trying... just go back to wherever you came from."

His neutral stance only angered me further. "I hate you, you know that?"

"Not as much as I hate you, darling." Was his eloquent response.

My mouth opened and closed like a damn fish for several seconds. "You- you... Get out! Get the hell away from me!"

He jumped up from my bed without hesitation. "Fine with me." But there was an edge to his voice then that almost made me think that he did care after all. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.

Either way, he was back to that devil-may-care persona he'd once excelled at, but this version of it was just wrong though. It wasn't at all charming like it had once been. This was him defeated, I had to remember that. But then, even if I knew that, it didn't erase the harsh words he'd just thrown at me.

As the door closed behind him, my heart was a mess all over again. Where the hell was my Adrian when I needed him? Had I lost him already? Was this it?

Drawing my hands through my hair, it felt like my mind was about to explode. Incoherent thoughts ran through my mind, and I couldn't single them out properly. Adrian, Dimitri, Adrian, Dimitri, Court, Lissa, Adrian, Dimitri, duty, love... And then I realized that I really missed my mom. Sure, she wasn't great at giving advice, but she'd put me in the right direction anyway. And that's what I needed right now, just some direction.

But then a moment later...

Knock, knock.

Please tell me it's not him... Because I was so not up for a repeat of the last twenty minutes or some lame apology again that consisted of him begging me to stay. Once was surely enough.

I flew up from the bed, janking open the door before I looked through the keyhole. "I thought I told you to-!" I cut myself off once I saw the person standing outside my door.

Mark.

I blinked. "Aren't you supposed to watch Adrian?"

His lips twitched. "Yes, but there's plenty of security here. Cameras, guardians, human security plus this hotel is owned by Moroi. They have their own means of security in places like this. He's safe." And then his expression changed. It looked more soft; concerned. "And you're upset."

I turned away from him, but nevertheless let him in.

"Want to talk about it?" he wondered, voice soft, as he closed the door behind him.

I went over to the bed again and sat down. "Not really."

He sat himself down next to me. It was silent for a moment before he started, "You and Lord Ivashkov," he paused for a second. "Are you together?"

"Is that your subtle way of asking if I'm single?"

He smirked. "You caught me."

I eyed him. He looked calm, interested but, most of all, reliable. But should I just tell him? That was the question – should he know? Perhaps he'd understand things better, why Adrian - and I - acted the way we did around each other. Maybe it'd help him guard him better – I didn't know – but honestly, was it even fair of me to tell him about our messed up triangle?

"It's complicated." I settled with eventually, turning my eyes down to my hands.

"It always is," Mark said serenely next to me. "But trust me on this, the best things are always complicated. You just have to fight for it."

I glanced at him. When did he get so wise? "You sound like you've got experience..."

"I do." he said, and I could hear the small smile in his voice. He extended his left hand, showing off a thin golden band on his ring finger. "Engaged."

How hadn't I noticed that before?

"Wow."

He smiled as he looked at me, resting his palm on my knee for a second before he got up. "If you think it's worth it, you fight for it. No questions asked."

Once Mark left my room, I had a lot to ponder over: My relationship with Dimitri, my strained barely-existing friendship with Adrian, and what I should do now. Maybe it was time for me to head back to Court after all. But my thoughts were clearly muddled by my emotions, because a part of me kept telling me to keep going. That Adrian was worth it. And that he deserved it; he deserved to find peace. Maybe he wouldn't find it with me, but I would make him ready to find it for himself.

Time. I just needed more time.

A longer chapter this time. You like? :)

Not my best work, but some parts... man, they were giving me a headache. Like the prelude of their fight... Ugh.

I've recommended songs before, songs that remind me of Adrian & Rose, so this time I bring you this:

"Sometimes when I'm alone, I wonder
Is there a spell that I am under
Keeping me from seeing the real thing?

Love hurts...
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive.
Love sings,
When it transcends the bad things.
Have a heart and try me,
'cause without love I won't survive."

~ Love Hurts - Incubus

I think it fits A's POV perfectly, especially in SB and LS. Poor wonderful dreamer... D': And speaking of 'dreams', I've got an obsession with Fleetwood Mac - a band from the 70's - now. They've got a song called "Dreams", which I'm listening to right now even. :3

Anywho... only 67 more days until Bloodlines comes out! :D

Please take the extra sec and leave a lil comment before you leave! Would mean the world to me! x3