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Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 27

RPOV

"So, how was your date with Adrian?" I asked Sydney as we slid into our booth. "You haven't told me anything about it yet."

She smiled shyly as she looked at the menu. "It was fun."

"That's all you're going to say? That it was fun?" She just looked at me and I let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on, give me some details!"

"Fine," she said, putting down the menu. "He came to pick me up and then we drove to this chic restaurant – like really chic. I kind of felt underdressed."

"Sounds fancy," I said, intrigued. "What happened then?"

"After dinner, he took me to-"

"Let me guess, the movies." I rolled my eyes.

"No. He took me out of town, to this architecture museum," she said, suddenly looking excited. "Did you tell him I love architecture?"

"I might have," I admitted grinning. 'I can't believe he followed my advice."

She smiled, looking down at her hands in her lap with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Yeah, well, it was amazing."

"And the rest?" I asked curiously.

She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Did he kiss you?" I prompted.

Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened even more. "No! Why'd you think that?"

"He didn't kiss you?!" I said in disbelief. "Wow. He must really like you!"

She eyed me. "Why? Does he always kiss a girl on a first date?"

I snorted. "With Adrian, you're lucky if it's just a kiss."

She frowned. "Oh."

I suddenly felt bad for saying that and reached out for her hand. "But, hey, Adrian changed. He isn't as bad anymore as he used to. I made sure of that," I added with a grin. "And I know he really likes you."

She gave me a small smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Don't you think it's weird?" she asked hesitantly.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what she was talking about right now.

"He used to date you and now, well…" She glanced away, biting her lip. "Now he's taking me out and I'm your friend and-"

"Hey, don't worry about that," I said quickly, taking her worries away. "I don't have any feelings for Adrian anymore. We broke up ages ago. We're over. I swear. Besides," I added smiling, "I've got Dimitri now."

"You sure you're okay with it?" Sydney asked. "I mean, me going out with Adrian."

"Of course! So does that mean there's going to be a second date?"

Sydney turned shy again. "Maybe," she admitted, smiling reluctantly.

After our dinner, we went to the movie theater and watched some romantic comedy. It was pretty good and I had to admit I'd laughed quite a bit.

Sydney dropped me off at campus after the movie and I was about to invite her in, but then Adrian came running towards us. I'd told him earlier I was going out with Sydney. No doubt he'd been waiting outside for my return in the hopes to get a glimpse of Sydney.

"Sydney!" Adrian said, kissing her on the cheek. "What a coincidence!"

I cleared my throat.

"Oh, hey Rose," he said, glancing at me before looking back at Sydney and starting a conversation. I realized I wasn't needed here anymore so I announced I was going inside and left them standing outside so they could discuss what they were going to do on their next date.

When I got to my room, I felt my phone buzz. Dimitri had texted me, Don't forget. Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Sweet dreams, my Roza.

I smiled. Tomorrow was my birthday and Dimitri had arranged a dinner party at his house. I'd told him he didn't have to, but he'd wanted to. He thought it was important to celebrate my birthday. I thought it was very sweet of him to do.

The next morning, I woke with a start when the door slammed shut. I cursed Avery silently for waking me up. With a sigh, I lay back down and closed my eyes again, ready to fall asleep again when there was a knock on the door.

I let out a groan and reluctantly got up. "I'm coming," I grumbled when there was another knock on the door. I opened the door, ready to tell whoever was at the door to come back at a decent hour, and was surprised to see Dimitri.

He gave me a radiant smile and kissed me on the cheek. "Happy birthday, my love."

I looked at him, dumbfounded, then realized it was my birthday today. How could I've forgotten that? I must be still asleep.

I smiled at Dimitri. "I thought I wasn't going to see you until tonight."

"What? You didn't think I could wait 'til tonight to see you?" he said in a teasing voice.

"But…where are the kids?" I asked.

"Ivan's with them," he answered. "Liam and Alisa were kinda upset they weren't allowed to come with me."

"Aww, why didn't you let them come with you?" I said.

"They'll see you tonight," he said, snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me closer.

"So are you," I countered.

"Yeah, but tonight I'll have to share you," he said. "So… do you want your present now or later?"

"You got me a present?" I asked curiously.

Dimitri gave me a funny look. "Of course!"

I grinned. "I'd like it now."

He smiled. "Here you go, birthday girl," he said, handing me a small gift-wrapped box.

I tore the paper off the box and gasped when I saw what was inside it. "Oh my God, Dimitri!"

I looked at the brand-new iPod, which looked rather expensive. It was nothing like my last one – it had given up working a few weeks ago actually and I'd been complaining about it to Dimitri.

"You like it?" he asked, a little nervous.

I hugged him. "I love it." I pulled away from him and kissed him. "Thank you so much, comrade."

He smiled sheepishly. "You're welcome. I've got you something else, too," he added, taking an envelope out of the pocket of his duster.

"A day at the spa?" I said, letting out another gasp, when I opened the envelope. "Wow, Dimitri, this is too much. I can't take this."

"You can," he interrupted. "It's a special birthday. You're turning 21 today."

I smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you."

He smiled happily. "If you get dressed now, I can take you out for breakfast and bring you back before your classes start."

"Hmm. I'd better get dressed then," I said with a grin. "Can't say no to free breakfast, right?"

After breakfast, Dimitri dropped me back off at campus. I went to my classes. I'd expected to see Christian during lunch, but he wasn't there, which I thought was strange. Then, suddenly, arms wrapped around me from behind.

"Happy birthday, Rosie," a voice sang in my ear.

I grinned and turned around. "Christian."

"Here," he said, handing me a small box. "I hope you'll like it. Lissa helped me choose."

I opened the box, revealing a silver ribbon necklace with matching earrings. "Wow. Thanks, Christian."

"I wanted to go for something with roses, but Lissa said you might not like that. Because your name is Rose," he explained.

"Well, Lissa was right," I said smiling.

"Hey, you used to love rose stuff," he said defensively.

"I changed. So did you. Remember that time you were this emo kid? Always wearing black, earplugs in, listening to deathmetal."

He grimaced. "Yeah. Don't remind me."

I chuckled. "No one dared talking to you."

"But you did," he said smiling.

I grinned. "Only because I felt sorry for you," I teased.

Christian elbowed me in the ribs. "Okay. That's enough. You can stop the teasing now."

We sat together for lunch and afterwards I was on my own again. Christian had a class right away after lunch. I still had some time to kill so I went to the library and started researching for my paper. When it was five in the afternoon, I went back to my dorm and got ready for my birthday dinner.

When I was dressed – I was wearing my favorite black, strapless dress and my black high heels – I left and made my way over to Dimitri's house. The heels weren't ideal to walk in, but Dimitri's house wasn't that far so I made it without having to remove them.

When I reached Dimitri's house, the front door swung open before I could ring the bell and Liam jumped into my arms. I almost tumbled over.

"Happy birthday, Rose!"

"Thanks, buddy," I said, hugging him back before putting him onto the ground.

"Alisa and I made you a drawing. For your birthday," he said, tugging at my hand. "I'll show you. Come on."

Dimitri stood in the doorway, smiling. When I walked inside, he pulled me in for a kiss. "You look beautiful, Roza."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"I hope you don't mind, but my family is here, too. They know it's your birthday and they wanted to come over."

"Oh, that's fine. I love your family!" I said, happy they were here.

Liam was still tugging at my hand. "Come on, Rose."

I chuckled. "Alright. Let me see the drawing you made for me."

He showed me the drawing. Alisa had drawn a big cake with candles and he had drawn a girl with dark wavy hair and big brown eyes. She was supposed to be me, Liam told me. He'd also written 'Happy birthday to the best babysitter in the whole wide world!' in block letters.

"Aww, thanks," I said. "That's very sweet of you! Beautiful drawing. I'll make sure to keep it safe."

Liam looked proud. "I knew you'd like it."

I laughed and ruffled his hair.

Dimitri led me into the living room where his family and my friends were. They all shouted 'Happy birthday' as soon as I entered the room. I looked around the room and was surprised to see Adrian among the crowd. I was even more surprised when I saw Sydney.

"Sydney!" I said, walking forward and hugging her. "I thought you'd left town by now!"

"Are you kidding me?" she said, hugging me back. "You didn't think I was going to leave without celebrating your birthday, right?"

I smiled at her, glad she was here. "Thank you for coming."

"Hey, you're wearing the jewelry I gave you!" Christian said, looking pleased. His arm was wrapped around Lissa, who was smiling at me.

"Of course," I said grinning.

"Cupcake," Adrian greeted, pushing Christian aside. He stopped in front of me and took my hand in his, kissing it softly. "Happy birthday, sweet girl."

Rolling my eyes, I smiled reluctantly. "Thanks, Adrian."

The Belikov family wished me happy birthday while hugging the life out of me. After I'd received my birthday wishes and presents, they all mingled together.

Walking over to Dimitri, I said, "I hadn't expected you to invite Adrian."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, he's your friend. And it's not that he still likes you."

I smiled. "True. He's crazy for Sydney now."

Dimitri smiled, too. "I noticed."

"Thank you for doing this," I said, wrapping my arms around him.

He looked down at me and smiled. "You're welcome, Roza," he murmured before pressing his lips against mine in a soft kiss. Then he moved his lips to my ear and whispered, "I love you."

I tightened my arms around him and buried my face in his neck, taking in the marvelous scent of his aftershave.

"Did your mom call?" Dimitri asked.

I groaned. "There goes my good mood."

"Roza," he said, his tone serious. He tilted my chin and made me look him in the eyes. "Did she call you?"

I bit down on my lower lip. "No."

I'd refused to get upset about the fact that my mom had forgotten that it was my birthday today. She usually called me, but I hadn't even gotten a text today. She must've really forgotten it or she'd chosen to ignore my birthday, which I thought was cruel, even for her. I was kind of hoping she'd just forgotten.

"I'm sorry," Dimitri said softly, squeezing my hand gently.

"Don't be," I said, looking away. "It's fine. I'm celebrating my birthday with the people that matter most to me and that's what counts." He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he could. "It's fine. Really."

He sighed and nodded, letting it go.

We didn't talk about my mother again for the rest of the night, which I was glad for. Dimitri had cooked an amazing dinner for all of us – with some help from Olena. If Dimitri had let her have her way, she would've done it all on her own. That was the kind of person Olena was. Too kind for this world.

Dimitri was just the same. He was kind and considerate, a wonderful man. And not to mention, very good-looking. And I was so happy and grateful that he was all mine.

Poor Rose. How could her mom forget about her own daughter's birthday? Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter! Have a nice day/evening! :)