Thank you to Ozera's Girl, xDropDeadBeautifulx, READandWRITE11, guardiana, Lena1997, Taiora-AAML-Serena-Darien, Jade926, cheerleader1100, Kris Ivashkov25, Ashes2Dust18, ChloeBelikov,Christinasearch13, melissamary55, Deanna64, missa27, Demi() and my anonymous reviewer for reviews and favourites. And to anyone else who has been reading, it is very much appreciated.
So does Rose say yes?
Let's find out shall we?
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.
I gasped. Marry Adrian? My heart was screaming "YES! YES! MARRY HIM!" But my head was saying "You can't marry him! You're a guardian now, they don't get married! Think of Lissa!" What do I do?
"Rose?" Adrian said, a look of worry crossing his face. "My knee is kind of hurting now." He laughed nervously and I just carried on staring at him like an idiot.
I looked over at Lissa, Christian, Tasha and Dimitri. They all looked genuinely happy for me. Who wouldn't be? I had the chance to marry the love of my live, have a family if I wanted and be a guardian. But why couldn't I just say yes?
"Adrian...I...I can't...I don't...I'm sorry." I got off the table and ran from the room ignoring the hurt on Adrian's face and the shock on everyone else's. I ran to my room and slammed the door shut.
I didn't cry, I wasn't angry to be honest I don't know what I was feeling. I loved Adrian so much and I wanted to say yes but I just couldn't. I don't know why.
I leant back against the door with my head in my hands. There was a knock but I ignored it.
"Rose? Are you ok? I didn't upset you did I?" I heard Adrian say.
What could I do? I wanted so desperately to open the door and throw my arms around him and shout from the rooftops that I was going to marry Adrian Ivashkov and I was going to have his babies and grow old with him and have grandchildren and live happily ever after, but there that was really irritating voice in the back of my head saying that it wasn't practical and if I was going to be a guardian I couldn't get married and have children because I had Lissa to think of. They come first.
"Baby, please open the door and talk to me. If you don't want to get married yet that's fine, we'll start dating again if you want to, just please don't ignore me anymore." His pleading tones came through the door again.
He kept knocking and knocking but I couldn't bring myself to move. What the hell was wrong with me? Just say yes, think of the consequences later! I thought to myself. Stop being stupid.
Eventually the knocking stopped; I assumed Adrian had given up and left. I took a deep breath and decided to go see Lissa and Jill who were both in Lissa's room without their boyfriends. I need some advice.
I opened the door and something fell on me making me fall on the floor.
"What the hell!" Adrian said. "Christ, Rose, give me some sort of warning when you open the door!" he got up and brushed himself off holding his hand out for me.
"Adrian? What are you doing outside my room?" I asked, taking his hand and standing up.
"I knew you'd eventually decide to go and see Lissa and Jill to talk and they'd tell you to talk to me so I thought I'd cut out the middle man and stake out your room." He smiled and walked past me and sat on my bed after kicking off his shoes.
I closed the door and turned to face him. He looked serious and wasn't looking at me which I didn't think was a good thing. But I couldn't take my eyes off him, in his crisp black suit, his hair in its normal messy style, bright green eyes, lips that were soft but fierce at the same time, how badly I wanted to be in his arms right now, his warm, musky scent that made me tingle with excitement when I was near him...
"Adrian, please let me explain why I didn't give you an answer." I said, sitting opposite him.
"What is there to say, Rose?" he said, looking down at his hands. "You don't want to marry me I know that. I accept that. But don't tell me that you don't love me and don't want to be with me." He looked up at me then and my heart broke. He had tears in his eyes. I had never seen Adrian cry, he was always the one who was there when I cried, he was the strong one.
"Adrian, I do love you. I love you so much it has killed me being away from you. I just couldn't face you not after what I did." I said. It was my turn to look down.
"You mean when you kissed Dimitri when we weren't even together?" I nodded. "Baby, you'd left me remember? And like I said, I know that you would have never done it if we were still together and I trust you completely." He out a finger under my chin and lifted my head to look at him. The tears had been replaced with a smile. "Rose, I love you. All I want is to be with you. I would give up everything to be with you. Hell I would even live amongst humans and leave all my family and friends behind and get a job," he made a face at that, "because all I want is you. As long as I have you I don't care about thing else."
"But...I'm gonna be Lissa's guardian. I can't get married and have a normal life." I whispered. "That's why I can't marry you."
"Wait, you don't want to get married for practical reasons?" he laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked, suddenly annoyed.
"Do you think was going to ask you to marry me without thinking this through?"
Yes. "No."
"I spoke to Aunt Tatiana. She is all for us getting married, she said that I can re-apply to college and go to Lehigh with Lissa so we can be together. And before you ask, I spoke to Lissa as well and she said that she is ok with it."
I smiled. Things could actually right for us for once. "Well then, don't you have a question to ask me?"
"Marry me, Rose."
"Yes." I smiled as he pulled the ring box out of his jacket pocket again. This was the first time I had really looked at it and I gasped. It was gorgeous, it was platinum with diamonds on the band, and there was one massive diamond on the face with even more diamonds surrounding it. It looked super expensive and also very heavy.
"Adrian, it's beautiful." I told him as he slipped it on my ring finger. "You didn't spend loads of money did you?" Don't get me wrong, I loved getting presents but I hated people spending loads of money on me just because I could never give them anything as good in return.
"It doesn't matter. You're worth all the diamonds in the world." He said and he kissed the ring where he placed it on my finger.
"What a line." I laughed and I kissed him. I loved kissing him. His lips were so soft and warm against mine and were both fierce and gentle. Honestly, words could not describe it.
He pulled away after a few minutes. "Rose, can I stay here tonight?" he asked.
"Of course, fiancée." I laughed and I pushed him down on the bed.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
I was in heaven. I was engaged to the love of my life and we were going to be together. My friends were happy for us, even Dimitri but it didn't stop him saying that even though he was guarding Tasha and giving a relationship with her a try, he still loved me and that was why he was so distant at the graduation party.
I was officially Lissa's sanctioned guardian, Dimitri was Tasha's and they were going to live at Court, Christian and Jill weren't going to Lehigh but they were going to a college so close by that they, Lissa, Eddie (who was Christian's guardian), Jill, Adrian and me could all live together in this ridiculously big house that the Queen had brought for Adrian. Yeah, life was good.
We were spending the summer at Court, but we were not scheduled to leave for another three days because there were some important meetings that the new guardians were supposed to have and to be honest; we all still had packing to do.
The first meeting was two days after graduation and I just about made it on time after dragging myself away from Adrian. Making sure I was suitably dressed and I had hidden the bite mark on my neck, what can I say it felt good when Adrian bit me, I made my way out. The meeting was in the guardian building which wasn't far from the novice dorms so it only took me a couple of minutes to get there.
Alberta had already started talking when I entered so I quietly took my seat next to Eddie ignoring everyone trying to get a look at my engagement ring. I saw my mother a few rows in front and I smiled at her when she turned to look at me. She smiled back but suddenly looked nervous. How odd.
"What have I missed?" I whispered to Eddie.
"Nothing much really. Just when we're leaving for Court and the plan for when get there. We are the only two who know out assignments when we leave so I don't think this really applies to us." He replied and he looked down at the ring. "Congrats, by the way." He smiled and squeezed my hand.
"There is also something extremely important that you all need to know. This isn't taught as part of your schooling but it is a critical part of being a guardian, it is kept secret because most Moroi do not even know that this organisation exists." Alberta said. That got my attention.
I noticed a middle aged Moroi man had got up from a chair at the front and was making his way towards where Alberta was standing. He wore a suit with a bright yellow tie and matching handkerchief in his top pocket, he wore a gold hoop earring in one ear as well.
"This is Abe Mazur, he will explain further." Alberta stepped aside and Abe Mazur took her place.
I noticed a few guardians tensed when they saw Abe, Dimitri and my Mom included. "Thank you Alberta. As you just heard, I am Abe Mazur and I am one of the Moroi who help with the Alchemists. Now, the Alchemists are a select group of humans who aid guardians when necessary mostly with disposing Strigoi bodies in an emergency such as if one is killed in a heavily populated area, dealing with the human media in covering up Strigoi attacks and also keeping our existence secret." Abe Mazur spoke with an unusual accent. Most Moroi were of Russian or Romanian decent but he didn't have that sort of accent. He wasn't royal either but he put on an air of importance and, even though there was a lot of contempt for him in the room at the moment, I could imagine he was very influential.
"I think that is everything you need to know at the moment. If you have any questions, I am on campus for the rest of the day but I am sure any of the school guardians will provide you with any information you need." He stepped off the stage and resumed his previous seat.
Alberta dismissed us and we filed out of the room. Personally, I didn't see why the alchemists had to be so secret, they didn't sound that important. I was a little disappointed.
"Rosemarie." My mom said coming up behind me. "Can I have a word?"
"Yeah. See you later, Eddie." He smiled and walked away while I followed my mom back into the meeting all.
Abe Mazur was still there surrounded by guardians but everyone else had left.
"What's up, mom?"
"Rose, I need you to know that no matter what I love you and would never do anything to hurt you." She said.
"Ok." I said wearily.
"I also do not want you to get angry or upset and will let me explain everything." She said and I nodded.
Abe stepped forward. "Janine, what is the purpose of you asking me to stay behind?" he said. He was on first name terms with my mom?
"Abe, this is Rose." She pushed my forward slightly.
Abe's expression went from annoyed to ecstatic in a split second. "Rose?"
"Err yeah." I said hesitantly. "What exactly is going on here?" I turned back to my mom; she had tears in her eyes. "Mom? Why are you crying?"
"Rosemarie." Abe said and moved towards me studying me.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.
"My god, how you have grown. I haven't seen you since the day you were born." He breathed.
"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" I said, annoyed. "And you," I pointed at Abe, "stop looking at me like I'm some sort of experiment!"
"I'm sorry, truly. I just can't believe it." He looked back at my mom and then at me. "Rose, I know this is out of blue and I have a lot of explaining to do but..."
"Just spit it out!"
"Rose, I'm your dad."
I was stunned. My Dad? Abe Mazur was my father? I burst out laughing.
"Good joke, guys. Seriously. Mom you said you'd give me a birthday present when you saw me again." I said, changing the subject abruptly. My dad?
"Rose, I promised Abe when you turned eighteen you'd meet. This is your birthday present. Abe is your father." She said seriously, taking my hand.
There was silence for a few moments. I honestly didn't know what to say. I mean I had gone eighteen years without a father, even a mother to some degree. Why would I need a father now?
I turned back to Abe. "You are my father?" I asked slowly and he nodded. He still had that stupid smile on his face. I turned to my mom. "And you have known all this time?"
"Yes, Rose. But you must understand that it was safer for you not to be involved with Abe. There are a lot of people who don't like Abe and would do anything, anything, to hurt him. I couldn't risk them hurting you to hurt him. Or me. That's why I sent you to the academy, it was safer for you." Mom said.
I couldn't take it in. A few months ago, my mom and I were at each other's throats all the time and now I had a mom and a dad who wanted to part of my life? I couldn't handle this.
"I'm sorry. I have to go. I said I'd meet Adrian." I said and walked out of the room.
I rushed to my room, hoping Adrian was still there. I had to talk to somewhere. I was in luck.
"Little dhampir, what kept you?" he said. He was only in his boxers, lounged on the bed reading one of my books.
I kicked off my shoes, removed my hoodie and jeans and joined him on the bed.
"We just had a meeting about what we're doing when we get to Court." I said, laying my head on his chest.
"You know already, so there was no point in you going anyway." He said, setting the book down and wrapping an arm around me. "Unless they told you about the alchemists?"
I wasn't surprised that Adrian knew about them. "Yeah, they did." I said quietly.
"Bet Mazur came across as a proper up standing bloke, right? I'll give you some advice, avoid him if you can. That guy is trouble."
"You know Abe Mazur?"
"Yeah, he deals a lot with Aunt Tatiana being practically in charge of the alchemists and everything. Why?"
I took a deep breath. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately; maybe I should take up yoga? "Well, my mom was there and she gave me my birthday present." I paused.
"What does that have to do with Abe Mazur?" he asked confused.
"Well...she told me...that Abe is...well, he's kind of...my dad." I said.
There was a pause. "Wow. Bombshell." He said and paused again. "I suppose we know where you get your rebellious streak from." He laughed.
I sat up. "What exactly is so bad about him?"
"Well, you can't actually prove anything but rumour has it, he is renowned for dodgy dealings. Made a lot of enemies. No wonder your mom is only telling you now, a lot of people probably want to hurt Abe." He said and kissed my nose.
"So you think my mom did the right thing in keeping me away from him?" I asked. I stroked a finger down his nose and over his lips. He kissed my finger.
"Yeah, I do. But it doesn't matter what I think. How are you coping?"
"Fine, great, fantastic." I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"It's just so much to take in." I threw myself back on the bed against my pillows, hoping Adrian didn't notice I hit my head on the way down. "I had accepted that I would never know who my dad was. Dhampirs have to accept that they will, most of the time, only know one parent. That I could deal with. But this? I think it would have been better if I never knew." I said.
Adrian put his arm across my stomach and rubbed his hand on my side. He looked down at me. "Maybe you should tell them that you need time. Maybe when you get settled at Lehigh or at Court over the summer you, your mom and Abe could sort through everything. Answer any questions, explain things better." He stroked my neck and I flinched when he touched the bite.
"Yeah." That didn't sound too bad. "Since when did you get so clever?" I laughed.
"I have always been clever. You just use me for my body so you'd never have known that." He laughed and rolled us over so I was on top of him.
"Damn right, Ivashkov." I said and leant down and kissed him. And that was where we stayed for the rest of the day.
xxxxxxxxxxx
"Wow, look at the size of it!" Lissa gushed when I saw her the next day. I had insisted to Adrian that Lissa, Jill and I needed a day to ourselves. A decision I was slowly regretting after Lissa and Jill practically attacked me when I got to their room with shouts of "show me the ring!" and "when is the wedding?"
I had seen Abe the day before briefly and explained that I needed time. He accepted that and gave me a phone number and an email address whenever I wanted to contact him. My mom left yesterday as well and she did the same.
"I know. I can't believe it." I said, bringing myself back to reality. I hadn't told the girls about Abe yet but that was also on the agenda today.
"I can't believe you're getting married! And that we're all going to college and living together! This is going to be great!" Jill exclaimed.
"I know! This is going to be great! It also means that we can help with Rose's wedding planning! We have to go dress shopping! Rose, this is going to be amazing!" Lissa squealed.
"Guys, can we slow this down a bit. Adrian and I both decided that we aren't going to get married until after you guys graduate college so don't get too excited." I told them and their faces fell. "But, seeing as I couldn't decide between the two of you who was going to be my maid of honour, I have decided to have both of you!"
That cheered them up. Even though we still had another four years until we were getting married they still insisted on looking at wedding dresses online. I let them get on with it; I didn't want to get ahead of myself just yet.
"You know, they are all starting to look the same." I complained after two hours.
"Whatever, Rose. You need to start making decisions!" Jill said.
"No I don't." I insisted. I knew what would stop them. "So, I met my dad yesterday."
They both turned to stare at me, wide-eyed. "Serious? Who is it?" Lissa asked.
"Abe Mazur." They both gasped, moving to sit beside me on the bed.
"Wow, no wonder you're a trouble maker." Jill said.
"That's what Adrian said. But I told him and my mom I need time and I'd contact them when I was ready." I shrugged.
"Rose, are you ok? I mean this is big news." Lissa said, taking my head. I ignored the endless flow of question that came across the bond.
"I'm fine. At first I was a bit shocked. Mom said they kept me away from Abe because he was a bit dodgy and didn't want me getting hurt and that's why I was sent to the academy. But, honestly, I think I'm ok." I said. I was ok, I felt fine about it now. Adrian had helped a lot with that.
"It's just so weird. If you don't mind me saying, you've gone from having practically no parents, because your mom was a bit of a bitch, to having both parents. It's like the opposite of me and Liss." Jill said.
"Yeah."Lissa said and I felt the familiar grief through the bond. "What I would give to be in your situation. Having both parents." She whispered.
"But at least you know you're parents and Andre loved you and cared for you. For all I know Abe never once thought of me. I don't want this to sound wrong, but I could have easily gone the rest of my life without having a dad but that's because I've never had one. It's hard to explain." I said.
"Makes sense though. You can't miss what you've never had." Jill said, tears in her eyes.
"Right, new subject! What are doing at Court when we get there?" I said and that effectively distracted them until I left just before sunrise.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The big move to Court went smoothly. We got our own private jet there thanks to Adrian meaning we arrived before all the other seniors.
We got our room assignments, somehow Adrian and I had been assigned the same room but I didn't complain. Lissa was in the room next door with Christian and Jill and Eddie were next to them. Tasha and Dimitri had a place over the 'elite' side of court. I assumed that was something to do with Adrian too seeing as most people hated the Ozera's.
For the first week, none of us did much. Mostly hung out in either the cafe there or watched movies on the massive TV in my room. Adrian had told his parents we were getting married. He said his mom was fine with it as long as we were happy, his dad hated the idea but when hearing Tatiana was all for it he shut up.
It was exactly two weeks after we arrived at Court that things took a turn for the worst. Adrian and I had woken up to screaming coming from outside. So after getting dressed we headed out to see what was wrong, meeting the others on the way.
Court was in a frenzy. Moroi were rushing around trying to find loved ones, guardians were everywhere shouting into phones. It was like the Strigoi attacks over the winter.
"What do you think has happened?" Lissa asked and we all shook our heads.
"Rose!" I heard Dimitri shout and came running towards us with Tasha not far behind.
"Dimitri, what's happening?" I asked.
"Court is in lockdown. You need to stay inside where you're safe. Rose, Eddie you have to make sure the Moroi are safe. Three guardians are going to be posted at every dorm. Just stay inside." He said and started to walk away.
I went after him. "Hey, comrade. Tell me what's happened." I said I grabbed his arm for him to face me.
"Rose, please. For once do..."
"No. Tell me." I insisted.
"Ok. Promise me not to freak out." I nodded. "Victor Dashkov has broken out of prison. Rose, he said in a note left in his cell that he's coming for 'those who wronged him'. And I think he means you, Lissa and Jill."
BIG SHOCKER!What is Victor Dashkov planning? Who helped him escape? Questions, questions...
And for those of you who are interested, I have set up a twitter page where I'll put up pictures of the engagment rings, all of the outfits that I've described, also I want your ideas and opinions on Rose's wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses everything like that. I'd also give everyone a sneek peak into what's coming up, new ideas that I have. Just so you guys can have an input in the story because this is as much your story as it is mine. You guys have helped me so much and I would love to have all your thoughts and ideas.
Just search LittleDhampir21 on twitter!