Hello there everyone! An early update? – Yep I did it! Thank you all for your amazing reviews.

I hope you like this chapter as well. (I have a feeling you will!)

DISCLAIMER: - I do not own VA and its characters.

Enjoy!

"Hey Rose, I heard that someone left the princess a dead fox to cuddle with. Have any idea who was it?" Tasha's voice greeted Rose as soon as she entered the gym on Monday. Tasha had joined the Novice training program the last month, claiming she wanted to learn how to defend herself. Rose thought it was bullocks. The only thing Tasha did was ogling Dimitri in the gym class. But her taunt hit Rose like a ton of bricks.

Lissa had remained cold to her for the rest of the evening yesterday and hadn't even acknowledged her presence. Rather, she had been cozying up to Dimitri. Rose couldn't understand her behavior but just let it go for the moment because it was becoming too much for her to handle. She had hung up on Dimitri's arm even ignoring Christian. Dimitri looked highly uncomfortable at the receiving end of such intimate affection from someone other than his Roza and had run away from the site the first chance he got. Rose had followed right after him, bidding Lissa farewell. For which, she luckily got a nod of acknowledgement.

"Oh, so you know the person then," Tasha said once again, breaking Rose from her reverie. Dimitri had gone for his feeding having missed one yesterday so she was alone at the moment. And she was in no mood to deal with Tasha's bratty ass. Rose, for once being the voice of reason in her head, decided it was best she didn't engage with Tasha right now. Taking account of her foul mood from yesterday and her natural apprehension to the vile moroi girl in front of her, Rose would most definitely send Tasha out of the gym with a black eye or a broken bone or both.

She made a move to get away and stand with Eddie and Mason until Dimitri returned, but a pale bony hand caught her wrist.

"Oh no, you don't get off hook so easily," Tasha snared.

"Leave. My. Hand."

"Or what?" Tasha bared her fangs at Rose, which for the fact of matter; Rose found more irritating than scary. "Don't think I don't know what you did."

This caught Rose's attention. "What do you mean?"

Tasha smiled as if Rose had just taken her bait. "Ah fear! Of course you should be scared. How dare you touch my boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Dimitri Belikov. I saw you throwing yourself at him yesterday out in the lawn. How dare you? If it wasn't for my good for nothing brother, I'd have burnt you into ashes yesterday!" Tasha yelled attracting the attention of the class, but Rose could care less now. Of course Tasha had seen them. They were making out like animals right in front of the female moroi dormitories!

"I did dare. I would do it again in the future. You know why? Because it was MY boyfriend I was kissing, not yours!" Rose said jerking her hand free from her bony grasp.

It seemed as if it wasn't the answer Tasha wanted to hear. She lunged at Rose, catching her by the hair. "You whore!"

It was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Or in this case, Rose's damn of self control. She caught the hand which was holding her hair, twisting it until Tasha roared in pain. Rose then jerked her away, slapping her hard on the face. The gym broke in commotion as few boys started wolf – whistling, making Eddie run from where he was lifting weights on the other side of the gym as he saw her friend once again being the center of the commotion.

Rose then pushed Tasha forcefully making her fall back on her ass. "Now you listen to me!" Rose yelled. "Who do you think you are, huh? Let me tell you – You're nothing but a pathetic piece of shit. Do you have no self respect at all?! Exactly, how many times Dimitri has to reject you before you finally realize that he's never been into you! Get over yourself!"

"You…you blood whore. You'll pay for this. You and your bratty princess…."

"Don't you dare speak anything about Lissa or, Dimitri for that matter! Let this settle in your stupid mind – He is mine!"

"Rose, what have you…? Forget it. Let's go!" Eddie steered a reluctant Rose outside the gym. She was still seething with anger. How dare she? Hadn't Dimitri made it very clear to her that he was off limits?

"Calm down Rose, you'll get yourself in more trouble." Eddie said trying to hold back Rose.

"Didn't you hear what she said? The nerve of her!"

"Roza?"

"Oh! Thank god you're here man!" Eddie almost sagged in relief seeing Dimitri approach them. They were currently standing on the corridors outside the gym room.

Dimitri was hurrying down the corridors to reach the gym for his combat class, when he heard Rose shouting.

"Didn't you hear what she said? The nerve of her!"

He quickened his steps and rounded the corner to see Eddie holding Rose by the arms, trying to calm her down. He broke into a sprint, covering the distance between them.

"Roza?" He asked tentatively.

"Oh! Thank god you're here man!" Eddie said almost sagging in relief.

"What's going on?" Dimitri inquired, seeing Eddie free Rose once he was sure she wouldn't run away. Rose looked furious. She wasn't even meeting his eyes. He superficially ran his eyes over her form, checking for any injuries. Finding none, he turned his attention back to Eddie repeating his question.

"Rose got in a fight with Tasha Ozera. Sprained her wrist and slapped her and was about to tear her hair out when I dragged her here." Eddie explained. Realization dawned on Dimitri and he thanked Eddie saying he could take Rose from here. Eddie nodded his head and left.

"Come." Dimitri said opening his arms. Rose almost ran and buried her face in his chest. He held her tight rubbing her arms, trying to chase away the tension from her muscles. After a few moments, Rose relaxed completely.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so lightly that is it were not for Dimitri's supernatural hearing sense, he would have almost missed it.

"You're sorry for slapping Tasha?" he asked, teasing her.

"No. Absolutely not! I'm sorry for losing my temper like that."

"What did she say?" Dimitri wasn't sure he wanted to hear that but asked anyway.

Rose recounted the tale to Dimitri, blushing a little as she remembered the kiss from earlier.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Dimitri sighed. "I had told her in every way that is known that I'm not interested in her. Better we just ignore her?"

Rose nodded her consent. There was enough drama going on her life and she did not wanted to add a Tasha fiasco in it. They returned to the class. Luckily Tasha hadn't reported her. Rose guessed it was something to do with Eddie. She made a mental note to thank him later.

The class ended and Rose and Dimitri went separate ways, the former claimed of being tired. Dimitri didn't like the frown on her face when she said that but did not question her further. St. Vladimir's was nothing if not a rumor mill. So it wasn't a surprise when everyone knew about the fox incident the next day. Lissa was being held at the infirmary, having passed out yesterday, so the students were on their next target – Rose. Christian too had taken a sick leave. Dimitri had tried to shield her as much as possible, but Rose was still bothered. He kissed her forehead, making her promise to take care of herself, before dropping her back in her dorm.

"Mitya?" Christian asked entering Dimitri's room. It was pitch dark in there, but he could make out Dimitri lying on his bed. He flicked the lights on, causing Dimitri to flinch at the sudden exposure.

"What's wrong?" Dimitri asked turning to face him. His voice was hoarse as if he just woke up. Christian sighed and flopped on the bed beside him.

"Nothing. It's just dinner time and I was saying that I was not in mood, but seeing you….."

"Yeah. I didn't want to go."

"How's Rose?" Christian asked after a few moments of silence.

"Barely holding up. She slapped Tasha today." Dimitri said boredly. Christian chuckled at that.

"She had it coming."

"What about Lissa?" Dimitri asked, not really bothered about her.

"Still in the infirmary," Christian replied gazing at the ceiling.

"Rose is upset about yesterday." Dimitri said without beating around the bush. Christian sighed once more.

"I thought so. I don't know what devil was inside Lissa yesterday. She plainly ignored Rose as if she wasn't even in the same room. She barely talked to me." Christian said rubbing his eyes.

"Not just that," Dimitri said. "She pushed Rose away physically and called her a 'bitch' when Rose wanted to help her get up." Christian gaped at him in surprise unable to form a reply.

"And today, everyone almost chewed her for the details. She didn't even want to spend time with me, she was so drained. I've never seen her like this." Dimitri said sitting up on the bed and running a hand through his disheveled hair.

"You should talk to her." Christian counseled.

"She wants to be alone."

"Of course she does. Oh Lord Mitya! You don't know a thing about women!" Christian said exasperated sitting up and reclining against the bed rest.

"What?" Dimitri asked confused.

"Women are a crazy thing, my friend. When she says its okay – it's definitely NOT okay. When she asks you to decide for anything – then she means that you should decide what SHE likes, meaning the decision is NOT yours. Similarly, if she's saying that she wants to be left alone – then she most definitely need some company." Christian explained, shaking his head a little.

"So, what do you suppose I do? It's after curfew."

"Do I really need to tell you what?" Christian said grinning at his best friend as he saw his eyes shine with excitement at the prospect of meeting Rose.

"I'll leave you to device this then, see you tomorrow. Good night." Christian said taking his exit.

Rose was lying on her tummy, tracing the patterns of her bed spread, having nothing to do. She had sorted away all her clothes, cleaned her room, even did her homework – yeah surprising, but she did and now she was idling around, waiting for sleep to invade her consciousness when she heard a knock on her door.

Her eyes flew to the clock sitting on her nightstand. 6 a.m., it glared at her. Who could be here at this time? She mused. Curfew was two hours ago. Maybe it was Meredith? Or Katherine? Running out of toothpaste or something?

Another round of knock broke her musings as she scrambled out of her sheets to open the door. The person on the other side was the last she had expected to see then, for standing in front of her was Lissa herself.

"Lissa?" Rose asked taking in her skinny form. Her hair was greasy and her eyes were blood shot. Her already pale skin looked paler and she was wearing one of those hideous infirmary gowns. And she was shaking.

"Can I…can I come inside?" Lissa asked her voice squeaky.

Rose broke out of her bewilderment and ushered her best friend inside, settling her down on her bed.

"Do you want some water?" Rose asked.

"Yes please." Lissa said greedily guzzling down the entire glass. Rose let her drink the water and opened the windows allowing some fresh air to come in.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked, settling down next to Lissa. After her behavior yesterday, Rose didn't know how to act around her.

"No. Not really." Lissa replied.

"Are you hurt? Do you want me to take to you to the infirmary?" Rose inquired.

"The only thing I want now is my best friend." Lissa said looking at Rose.

"Liss…"

"No listen to me Rose," Lissa said raising her hand to silence her. "I need to say this. Rose, I'm sorry!"

"You don't …."

"I have to!" Lissa yelled. "Whatever I did yesterday cannot be justified. No matter how hard I try, I can't!"

"I understand Liss. You were in shock. It happens." Rose said taking Lissa's hands in hers.

"You don't understand Rose." Lissa said reclining back on the bed rest. "It wasn't shock. It was like…like something possessed me to do it. There was this voice in my head, I couldn't ignore. I…I saw you as my enemy." Lissa choked out barely containing her tears.

Rose was shell shocked at Lissa's admission. Never in her wildest dreams she would have imagined 'voices' being the reason for Lissa's hatred towards her. What are these voices anyway? And why would they tell her to hate Rose?

She had so many questions; she didn't know which one to ask first. "I don't understand Lissa, what voices?"

Lissa took a deep breath and looked away. "There are so many things I haven't told you Rose. You were so happy the last month; I didn't want to burden you with my problems."

"Stop being so damn cryptic and spit it out, will you?" Rose said exasperated. Lissa chuckled. The old Rose was back.

"It began last month – I started to feel as if someone was following me. Initially I ignored it as paranoia, but after sometime, it became too hard to handle. I couldn't tell Christian, I didn't know what he would think of me."

"You should have told me Liss."

"As I said, I didn't want to burden you. Anyways – One day, I woke up in the noon, still feeling someone's eyes on me. I tried to wave it away again but I couldn't. I got up to get some water when I heard something come and crash on my window." Rose gasped as Lissa continued. "I got out seeing it was a Raven down on the ground below my window. Then it happened,"

"What happened?"

"A feeling, more like a sensation started to roll off my body, urging me to get to the creature. I ran down and to the outside, finding it still twitching."

Rose squeezed her hand tighter in show of support. Lissa smiled and continued. "On instinct, I put my hand over it feeling the same sensation and just a few seconds later, the bird was as good as new. I healed it!"

"What!" Rose squeaked in surprise and looked at Lissa as if the girl had grown three heads. She touched her forehead to check her fever. Indeed Lissa was in shock from yesterday to make up things like this.

"I'm not crazy Rose, well, not yet." Lissa whispered the last part.

"What do you mean not yet?" Rose was getting more confused every second of the conversation. Lissa sighed and began to tell her friend what she discovered from the books in the attic and journals of St. Vladimir's.

"So you're saying that – healing is a part of spirit?" Rose asked finally getting it. Lissa nodded her head in confirmation. "And darkness?"

"They called it darkness – the price that comes with the gift of Spirit. It slowly eats up the spirit user and drives them over the edge. I fear what I felt yesterday was…was…" But Lissa couldn't complete the sentence. She broke out into tears. Rose engulfed her in her arms, rocking her back and forth to calm her down.

"Shhh…its okay Liss! I'm here. We'll figure this out. Don't cry." she soothed her. Ten minutes later, Lissa finally quietened down.

"I'm sorry; I have been a bad friend. I let you deal with all this shit alone." Rose said.

"I can't expect you to stop enjoying your life because of me."

"That's besides point." Rose said sternly. "No more secrets?"

"No more secrets," Lissa giggled.

"So, you have any idea who did that….fox?" Rose asked hesitantly. Lissa shook her head in negation. "I don't know. The Guardians are trying to figure it out though." Rose nodded.

"Well, how did you come here? Didn't the matron see you? Or the nurse?" Rose asked eyeing her gown.

"I compelled them." Rose almost choked on her own tongue.

"You did what? Lissa Compulsion is forbidden!" But all she got was an eye roll.

"I know, but…"

Whatever Lissa was about to say was cut down by the knock on the door. Lissa's eyes widened as she figured it would be the infirmary people looking for her. Rose motioned her to stay silent as she got up to open the door, making Lissa stand out of the sight of the person on the other side. Little did she know that the person on the other side had not come for Lissa, but for herself!

Standing on the other side of the door, in all his six foot seven inches glory was Dimitri.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Rose asked eyeing the corridor wildly to see if anyone had caught him sneaking in there.

"Not the welcome I expected, but won't you invite me in?" he said grinning down at her. Rose shook her head and opened the door wide for him to enter. He took one step and froze. Rose turned around to see Lissa frozen too.

A myriad of emotions passed through Lissa as she saw Dimitri standing on the other side of the door. She could explain almost everything about what happened yesterday, except for one. The infatuation Lissa had felt towards Dmitri was unexplainable. Even being under the influence of darkness, she couldn't understand why she would feel that way for Dimitri. She had never imagined him as anyone but her friend. And the thought of cheating on Christian was almost nauseous.

But still, seeing him standing there, a deep sense of longing tugged at her. She couldn't help but notice how perfectly handsome he was. She shook her head to get rid of such putrid thoughts.

"I…I..I should go. Bye Rose, I'll see you tomorrow!" and before anyone could protest, she kissed Rose on the cheek and took off.

"What was that about?" Dimitri asked seeing Lissa run as if the devil himself was behind her. Rose shook her head and closed the door.

"I'll tell you later, but what are you doing here?" she asked eying him. "Better yet, how did you find my room?"

"Royal secrets," he grinned earning a light slap on the chest. "And I brought you dinner."

"Oh! That was very thoughtful," Rose smiled taking the packets from him and put them on her study table. She then turned around to look at him.

"Comrade…" Whatever she was about to say was effectively swallowed as Dimitri dipped his head to steal a kiss from her. She forgot all the line of her thoughts and wrapped her hands around his neck pulling him close. He snaked his arms around her waist, biting her lips to demand an entrance to her mouth. Rose smiled and opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to explore her. He pushed her slowly, making them fall on her bed with Dimitri on top of Rose.

He pushed a leg between her thighs, deepening the kiss at the same time. "Ты сводишь меня с ума, женщина!" (You drive me crazy, woman!)

Hearing him murmur in Russian turned Rose on a big time and she moaned in his mouth, grinding on his leg. They broke the kiss due to the oxygen demand of their bodies.

"I wanted to do that since the moment I saw you today," he said, his voice thick with desire. He was still hovering over her.

"I can never get tired of this." she said pecking him once more. He smiled and lay down next to her, pulling her close by his side and kissing her hair.

"You okay?" he asked inhaling her scent.

"Yes," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Lissa came to apologize. We talked."

"That's good." he said happy to see her smiling. They were the highlights of his days. Before he could say anything, Rose's stomach gave a loud growl, demanding some food. He let out a chuckled earning a glare from the lady in question and sat up.

"Come love; let's get some food inside you."

Half an hour later and full stomachs now, they were again lying on the bed, holding each other.

"Dimitri?" Rose asked softly.

"Yes milaya," he said looking at her with unbound affection.

"Could you….could you stay with me tonight?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that." He laughed kissing her again. And so they spent the entire night together, kissing, teasing and laughing but more importantly – happily.

…so here we go.

Lots of things happened in this chapter and I would love to hear from you guys.

Tell me how you liked it and please leave me a review.

Love,

Lara.