"So you're going to forgive him?" Lissa said lying lazily on Rose's bed. Her earlier gym expedition was blown away by Dimitri and Tasha so she had retired to her room, only to find her best friend already comfortable inside.

Rose was now sorting away her recently laundered clothes in her little wardrobe.

Listening Lissa ask the question which had been haunting her all this time made Rose sigh.

"I don't know Liss…" she trailed off.

She didn't know what to do next. It's true that Rose felt 'something' for Dimitri but this 'something' was still unknown to her. She didn't know him, other than that he was a playboy and didn't take shit from anyone. Of course, she had seen his philanderer side in the classroom earlier but she didn't miss the hurt and longing in his eyes either when she had snapped at him.

She also couldn't shake the thought that he had after all come after her. As far as she knew him, he could only insult or humiliate someone. Anyone!

Hell! She had seen with her own eyes what an ass he could be when things didn't go his way. She had been the first hand witness of him saying off to a moroi girl who for the loss of better word was 'being too clingy for his taste' in a rather colorful way.

She half expected him today to stand by Tasha's side and mock her to death but no! He snapped at her! At Tasha. For her. She was somewhat happy to see him standing up for her.

He had been the first one to do that. Her lips twitched at the thought.

"So you'll not forgive him," Lissa said as a statement. Rose had almost forgotten that she was still on her bed lounging rather comfortably. Damn Dimitri!

Rose stopped piling the clothes and leaned against the small and rather rustic wardrobe of hers, crossing her arms in front of herself.

"I don't know Liss. And it's not like he said sorry," Rose said trying to sound monotonous and recalling that indeed he had not apologized. His tone surely had been apologetic but the magical words never left his beautiful lips.

His lips…mmmmm..They looked rather delectable..Ugh stop it Rose! Don't go there!

"Don't be absurd, Rose. You know he never says sorry," Lissa said scowling. It was a well known fact for both the girls that the Russian was too proud to apologize. He had made this clear in the first week of his arrival three years ago, when he had got caught up in a rather heavy fist fight with a senior Dhampir. Though none of them knew the reason for his outburst, he had made a point clear and nobody bothered him again.

"Then he should not expect any forgiveness!" Rose snapped at her friend. Normally she would never do that but today, she was confused over a certain Russian and Lissa's small talk wasn't helping.

"Then he should not expect any forgiveness!"

Listening Rose snap at her, made Lissa sit up straight in the bed. She felt bad about agitating her friend further when she was so stressed in her own.

"OK, I'm sorry Rose. I didn't mean it like that." Lissa was really sorry. She was just trying to look out for her best friend. She had known Rose for her entire life and Rose has, on more than one occasion been there for her. The situation Rose was facing with Dimitri was so similar to the one Lissa had faced herself three years ago.

Lissa could always read Rose like an open book. Well, seeing auras also helped but she knew that Rose liked Dimitri.

She was not too keen on the subject as she was not so big fan of Dimitri herself. He was like all others, but she wanted Rose to understand her feelings. She knew what a wrong crush could cost you.

She shuddered thinking about Aaron. Aaron Drozdov had been the star senior on whom Lissa had a big schoolgirl crush. She was over the moon when he had asked her out on a date. Everything went good for few weeks which led Lissa to think they were a match made in heaven. After a few dates together, he had already claimed Lissa's virginity. It was not good or magical everybody had told her it would be, but she didn't mind.

Next day, Aaron was found in the broom's closet with Mia Rinaldi screwing her brains out.

To say Lissa was devastated would be an understatement. She had holed up in her room, crying nonstop. She stopped eating and feeding and did not attended any classes.

Had it not been for Rose, she did not know what would have become of her. Rose had been THE FRIEND for her. She was always by her side, trying to cheer her up and help her fight her demons, her insecurities.

A week after, Lissa was still trying to get over her heartbreak. Rose had sneaked into her room after curfew. She didn't say anything but brought Lissa's dustbin from the corner of the room and handed her all the photographs and cards and teddy bears, all gifts from Aaron.

"Here Liss," Rose said bringing up a lighter and handing it to her. Lissa looked at her confused.

"Dump all these things in the bin, light it up and swear as loudly as you can at the asshole of your ex-boyfriend," she had said with utmost hatred in her voice.

Lissa had looked at her mortified on the idea of cursing. She rarely cursed and when she did, she made sure no one heard.

Seeing her horrified expression, Rose had chuckled and said, "Trust me. You'll feel better!" And trust her, she did.

Lissa took all the things and dumped then in the tin pit. She took the lighter next and lighted it up.

"Very good Liss. Now yell every profanity you know. Imagine the burning bin as his face!"

Doing as she was told, Lissa took a deep breath and started,

"You motherfucking, son of a bitch, ass hole Aaron. I HATE you! You are a bastard who has no fucking self respect and you cannot belittle me down. I am VASILISA DRAGOMIR! And I don't take shit from anyone. You better get over yourself or I'll kick your ass hard till in bleeds. You are no more than a sucking douche bag and a fucking sleaze ball with a little dick!" She all but screamed till the fire died down and all that was left was smoke and ashes with tattered papers.

She opened her eyes to find Rose standing on the other side of the room with an amused expression.

"Better?"

"Much much better!" Lissa smiled and threw her arms around rose, capturing her in a bear hug.

Net day, when she saw Aaron standing in the corridors, with a new found courage, she marched up to him and without saying anything, she slapped him. Hard.

He was so taken by surprise that he fell on the floor and the coffee which he was carrying had got dumped over him. He cried like a bitch and was about to yell at Lissa 'a crazy bitch' but she kicked him in the nuts.

Everybody in the corridors cheered her, laughing loudly at the pathetic state of the playboy and Rose couldn't help but feel proud of her best friend. After that day, nobody troubled her!

But after all those years, Lissa still couldn't shake the thought of how she had felt after she found Aaron cheating on her. How devastated she had been for days.

She didn't want any of that again. Not for herself and definitely not for Rose. She never wanted to see her miserable.

"It's ok Liss, I didn't mean to snap at you." Rose said falling in the bed beside her. There were a few moments of silence.

"It's just I'm so confused," Rose moaned burying her face in the pillow.

"Tell me?" Lissa asked gently.

Nodding her head, Rose started and she told her everything right from the beginning, that is three years ago.

She told her how her heart had skipped a few beats, the day she saw him for the first time walking down like a God in the cafeteria. How he had ignored her for the rest of the sophomore year and how he'd started paying her undivided attention lately! How his smell, his close proximity affected her so much! How she felt nervous and jittery around him today! How he always captured her attention and held it! How she hated Tasha and felt a speck of jealousy! Everything!

"You really like him, don't you?" Lissa asked after a moment of silence, letting her words sink in. She recalled these were the very symptoms when she had met Christian for the first time.

Rose contemplated on lying and maintaining her hard façade but in the end, her honesty won.

"Yes Lissa," she said softly. "I like him more than I should." She hid her face as if ashamed of her confession.

"Hey, there is nothing wrong in liking some person!" Lissa said trying to alleviate her dying mood.

"Even if the person is a complete ass royal moroi who wants to keep me as his blood whore?" Rose asked with a humorous smile at the attempt of her friend to cheer her up.

Lissa grimaced at the term 'blood whore.'

She was about to reply, when her phone started ringing. She moved slightly to wriggle it out of her pocket only to find that it was Christian.

She gave her phone screen a goofy grin before picking up and say, "Hello baby!"

Rose rolled her eyes at which earned her a playful shove.

"I'm good…."

"oh…ok.."

"In the attic..?"

"I'll be there in ten…"

"I love you… bye!"

She turned toward Rose to tell her what Christian had said but she beat her up on that.

"You've got a date with Christian in the next ten minutes at the church attic. I've no qualms, you are free to go!"

Both of them laughed as Lissa bade her friend farewell.

He heard the door slam shut and got up from the couch to see an angry Dimitri making his way towards the small fridge in the kitchenette. He grabbed the handle roughly and pulled out a bottle of beer. He took two long swigs, draining the bottle dry.

"What's wrong man?" Christian asked genuinely concerned. It wasn't in his friend's nature to lose his cool. Something terrible must have happened. Could it be..? Christian shook his head trying to erase that particular thought and memory. No it's something different. Not that, he told himself.

"Все не так" he shrieked in Russian. If Christian had not been so damn confused, he'd definitely cower from the angry Russian in front of him. But he wasn't fazed.

"Never mind. Tell me what happened. Is it about Rose?" Christian asked.

Christian was Dimitri's best and only real friend in St. Vladmir's. He had one more back in Russia – Ivan Zecklos. It was not because of lack of trying on other's or his part. It was just because Dimitri couldn't bring himself to be with stuck up Royals always going on and on about themselves. He may be a royal, but he definitely wasn't like one of them. He sure hung out with them now and then to maintain his position in the royal circle, but he could hardly call them friends.

Christian shared the same interest as him and nonetheless to say they have buddies from the start.

As a result, Dimitri confided all his secrets on him. His crush on Rose had been one of them.

"Who else?" Dimitri said, a bit relaxed than before.

"So..?" Christian said as a matter of fact wanting him to go forward. The story must be good to elicit this reaction from him.

Dimitri sighed and started,

"It was during the Bodyguard Theory and Protection. I was reading my book when she came and asked if she could sit with me as the other seats were full. She looked so beautiful with her hair out and her perfume was so sweet and her lips…." he said with a dreamy smile on his face imagining her pink soft full lips.

Christian was amused. Never in his wildest dream, could he have imagined Dimitri- always hard and stoic Dimitri - with a goofy grin on his face fantasizing about some girl. He was more surprised to hear the praises he was singing. Beautiful and sweet wasn't the words he would ever use with Rose in the same sentence.

"Whoa Dude! Don't get carried away! Tell me what happened," he nearly dissolved in a fit of laughter seeing Dimitri's scowling face at the interruption but he continued nonetheless.

"Yeah, we started off good. I did the introductions and she seemed quite well. I was getting all nerves and jitters, I don't know why? it was like I wanted to say a million things, but no words would come out. It was so stupid, it's not even funny," he huffed.

Christian simply snickered and told him to carry on.

"Anyway, Stan interrupted and I don't know what got inside me. It was like my other side kicked in. I told Stan that I 'liked my seat and company' very much and then pulled her to my side and….flirted a little," he said apologetically.

"Oh no, this can't be good," Christian held his breath, silently checking his friend for any injuries or broken bones.

He knew the only thing Rose hated was moroi boys cornering and teasing her in public, making snide comments. She thought it was just a way for them to declare a conquest on her in front of everyone. She felt humiliated and didn't like that one little bit. Jesse and Ralph had enough rumors fleeting around the campus about her being a blood whore and Dimitri's little show wouldn't have helped either. He grimaced thinking about her reaction.

"Of course, it wasn't. I gets even worse." he said gloomily but continued. "She pushed me and told me to fuck off and ran away. I followed her which led to another round of yelling and screaming. As soon as I thought I had convinced her to listen to me, your sweet sister interrupted," he snarled giving him a pointed look.

Christian groaned and face palmed himself. It was well known to him that Tasha had every eyes set upon Dimitri. Despite of him telling her off on innumerable occasions, the logic didn't seem to get in her mind. That and she were extremely jealous of Lissa and by extension of Rose.

"She started bitching my Roza calling her names and accusing her of wanting my money. That was it. I lost it and snapped at her but Roza seemed furious and walked away. She didn't show it but she was hurt. I saw it in her eyes," he said painfully.

The use of 'my' and 'Roza' in the same sentence didn't escape Christian's attention. He understood that being yelled at hadn't got him agitated but Rose getting hurt by Tasha's words did. He smiled an – I just discovered the greatest knowledge in the earth- smile and said,

"You really like her don't you?"

Dimitri seemed to take an offence in his question. "Of course, I do! She.." he started defensively missing the sly smirk on Christian's face and started to give the same speech, he gave the first time Christian had asked him to stay away from Rose if he was eventually going to break her heart in the end.

"I'm not talking about that," Christian cut him off.

"I mean like her, really like her and not just some stupid crush," Christian said meaningfully.

Dimitri looked contemplated for a moment but then sighed and nodded his head. "Yes. I do like her."

"But I don't know what to do. She won't even listen to me!" he moaned banging his head on the armrest of the sofa he was currently sitting upon.

"I..can help you with that…" Christian trailed off mysteriously.

Dimitri's head shot up. "But you said.."

"I'm not going to talk to her. She will have my head if I do. Friends or not, the girl can be a real bitch if she wants." Christian said fishing out his mobile phone from his pocket. Dimitri didn't like the use of the b-word for his Roza but kept quiet.

Dialing an all too familiar number, Christian held the phone to his ears. The person picked up in three rings.

"Hey beautiful…"

How's my girl?..."

"Listen. I need to talk to you about something important…."

"OK I'll meet you there…."

"Love you….!"

It didn't take a genius to guess whom he had called. Dimitri looked at him with confusion in his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Christian grinned like a Cheshire cat and said.

"Rectifying the situation!"

So here you go.

Isn't it sweet of Lissa and Christian to stand by their friends?

Any guesses how the situation will be rectified?

Leave me reviews, tell me everything!

….until next time.

Love

Lara.