I saw a pretty good Dimitri look-alike in town yesterday, which reminded me I needed to update ;) Obviously, I followed him for as long as socially acceptable before it would be classed as stalking ;P

Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy.

DPOV

I couldn't believe that I had been pulled over. As I rolled down my window, I wondered what I had done. I hadn't been speeding or anything.
"Good evening, officer." I said, polite as ever.

"Evening," he replied formally. I had a feeling that this cop wasn't too bothered about exchanging plesantries. "When was the last time you left this vehicle unattended?"

I thought about it, before answering, "at home, yesterday. We stopped for gas about an hour ago. Why?"

"There is some graffiti on the side of your car that I cannot believe you failed to notice when you stopped for gas. Did you know anything about this?" The cop asked.

"What does it say?" Eddie asked from beside me.

The cop's mouth was set in a thin line. "Well, come and take a look."

We all got out of the car and walked around the side, where in bright pink paint were the words 'Gay Pride' and 'I love cock', surrounded by lots of hearts.
We stared, wide-eyed, at the writing. How had we missed this?

We got back inside the car as it started to rain, and the cop leaned against the door, elbows resting on the edge of the window.
"So, did you write this?"

"Hell no!" Adrian shouted, like the fool that he is. "It was probably our girlfriends, doing it as a joke." The cop raised one eyebrow. Adrian backtracked, "well, ex-girlfriend. That's why she did this, her and her friends."

Suddenly, something inside the car caught the officer's attention. Leaning forward, he pointed to the picture of Rose. "Is that her, your ex?" He asked, looking around the car. I felt the rage build inside me, he was checking out a photo of my Roza!
Wait, no, he wasn't. His eyes narrowed and his lips set in a thin line.

"Yeah, should probably burn that picture." Adrian answered, not realising what the rest of us had; that he was digging his own grave right now.

"Is your name Adrian, by any chance?" The cop asked. What the-?

"Yeah, that'd be me. How'd you know?" Ivashkov grinned lazily. I resisted the urge to smack my forehead, and hide behind my hand. The officer's face went purple.

"Then you're a right prick, you know that? And as unprofessional as it may be, I am so glad that I caught you, and can be the one to issue the punishment. That girl, Rose, just wanted a good guy that she could rely on, and she got stuck with you. You are a jerk." Wow. That was all I could say.

Adrian had finally seemed to realise that something was going on here that went past being an angry cop. Looking into the angry human's eyes, he spoke slowly.
"You will forget you saw us here. You will forget all about the graffiti on our car, and once you are back in your car, you will have no memory of ever meeting us. Now, go."

His face softened as the compulsion took effect, cheeks returning to normal colour. A dreamy smile took the place of the previous frown. The human nodded once, then walked away. Before he even reached his car, I put my foot down and pulled away as fast as I could.

After a few minutes, I asked the question we had all been thinking. "How the hell did that guy know Rose, and what was all that about with Adrian?"

They just shook their heads, eyes wide.

"She has some 'splainin to do when we see her." Christian said, and we all agreed before lapsing into silence.

I jumped when Adrian suddenly shouted; "I found it!"
He was holding up a small key, a great smile of triumph on his face. I recognised the key to the glove box, and took it out of his hand, passing it to Eddie, who quickly opened it. Reaching in, he pulled out the map that had clearly been unfolded before being scrunched up in a messy ball. Roza. She sure knew how to annoy me.

Eddie pulled out something else, from the glove box, a carton of something. I couldn't see what it was, as the label was covered by a yellow sticky-note that had Roza's untidy scrawl on it.

Eddie read aloud; "Enjoy it whilst it lasts, Vamps. Because this is the last. 'winky face'."

Christian reached forward and grabbed the carton, ripping off the label. It was a box of blood.
"Oh no. No, no, no." He chanted, panicking. Reaching into the cool bag by his and Adrian's feet, he pulled out a 3-pack of cartons.

"Oh, shit. That bitch!" he shouted, and showed us the packet. It was a pack of Ribena cartons, with a yellow sticky note on it. This one had 2 stick figures on it. One a girl with long hair and a laughing face, pointing at a stickman with a sad face. And fangs.

"Hey, Ribena! Thanks, Rose!" Eddie said, and grabbed a carton.

Adrian looked sadly into the rest of the bag. Obviously the entire supply of blood had been switched. "Hey Pyro, please tell me you torched the girls' blood supply as well." Adrian practically begged.

"Of course I didn't! I only burned the food to get at Rose, not starve Lissa and Mia! Just because Sydney doesn't need it, don't forget that our girls do. This is cruel, even for Rose."

Eddie suddenly groaned. "That's why she did this, not the normal food. This way, it would piss you off, and potentially slow us down, without affecting Dimitri. She's clever." He said, his voice filled with resigned understanding and a grudging respect for Rose's plan.

Silence descended over us again, matching the darkness falling outside. We were on a human schedule for the next week, as we could stay together at night for safety, and we had additional Guardians for backup at night that wouldn't get in the way of whatever Lissa had planned.

"I'm going to stop at the next service station and get some coffee for me. Then you can try and get some sleep, especially Adrian and Christian. You'll be weaker without blood, so conserve your energy as much as you can. You won't get blood until we reach the camp ground and the girls arrive. I'm guessing Rose took the blood in their car, she isn't that cruel to have left it at home."

"Wanna bet?" Christian asked, and I glared at him in the mirror. He shut up, and I pulled into the gas station, and everyone got out to stretch their legs and use the facilities.

After that we got back on the road, and everyone else was asleep within minutes. After five minutes of driving in silence, the radio crackled, followed by a voice.
"Hey, Comrade. Everyone else out for the night?"

RPOV

I didn't know if we were physically capable of stopping the hysterical laughter that had been shaking our bodies for the last 10 minutes. Dimitri had been pulled over, and it had been by my cop. I was so glad that I had chosen to get the picture with him. I couldn't wait to explain to them what had happened and show the proof. They were so clueless.

When we eventually calmed down, an additional 5 minutes later, we didn't have long before heard Christian discover the Ribena/blood switch. Lissa and Sydney were pissed at first, saying how would I feel if it was Dimitri without food. But when they heard what Pyro said about trying to starve me and piss me off, and how Adrian wanted to cut Lissa and Mia's blood supply, that chastisement changed to congratulation. We had just finished our second round of hysterics, triggered by Eddie's reaction to Ribena, when I noticed how tired they all looked.
"OK girls, time to sleep."

"But aren't you tired?" Sydney asked.

I shook my head, though that was not entirely true. I wasn't tired exactly, but I did want to lie down and sleep. "I have the best of both your species, remember? Plus I'm a Guardian who was trained by Dimitri, I am impervious to fatigue. You would not believe the time that man forced me to get up at every morning." I said, smiling.

"Oh, you loved it really. Just you and him, out training, the two of you against the world, it was what you lived for, and don't try and deny it." Lissa sighed sadly. I knew she had been really hurt that I had not told her one of the greatest secrets of my life.

"Yeah, OK, I did. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't have liked the odd lie-in." I quipped, before continuing, "speaking of, or lack of, you really need to sleep now. Night everyone." Whilst we had been talking, they had been getting ready for sleep as best they could in the car- passing round pillows, reclining seats, and covering up in blankets and fleeces.

A chorus of 'goodnight's echoes around the car, before it fell silent. I had turned the volume on the radio right down so that I could just hear the buzz of low voices, but that had stopped completely now as well. I guessed this meant that the boys were also asleep. Adrian would still be talking otherwise.

I waited until all of the girls' breathing had evened out, before turning up the radio volume slightly, and speaking softly.

"Hey, Comrade. Everyone else out for the night?" I asked

A few seconds later, I got a reply.
"Yes, Roza. Same with your lot?"

"Yeah. Out like lights."
I suddenly felt incredibly lonely, surrounded by my unconscious best friends, and wished that Dimitri was here. Even in bed, on the rare occasions that he fell asleep before me, I didn't feel like this. I still felt complete.

"I miss you." We both said at exactly the same time. We laughed, and I let him speak.

"I hate being apart from you, especially when everyone else is sleeping. I hate not knowing where you are, if you're safe." I smiled at his attempt to get info out of me.

"Well, you know I'm safe, because I'm talking to you right now. As for where we are, I can assure you that we are on the right road, and will be at the campsite on time." And ahead of you I added in my head. Whilst eavesdropping on the guys, I had heard that we were about 40 miles ahead of them.

He laughed. "Good, because I want to see you as soon as possible."

"I bet you do. How are you getting along with the guys?" I asked. "Being in a confined space with them for this long would have driven me crazy by now."

"I live with you, I've had practice."

I gasped in mock hurt. "Dimitri, how can you say that? What about me, having to cope with a wannabe cowboy?"

"Well, the only thing remotely cowboy about me right now is the duster. I can't even listen to music, as someone very kindly updated my playlist."

I laughed outright. "Okay, so that was a little mean. Maybe this will make you feel better. On the playlist Dimitri&Roza4eva, the first 4 songs are total crap. The next 10 after that are the top 10 most played from your old music. I'm not a total bitch, though some people seem to think I am."

"No, you're not. You can be sweet, kind and compassionate, even towards people who don't deserve it. That's why I love you." He said sincerely.

"I love you too, Dimitri. But you better not be putting yourself into that category of 'people who don't deserve it', because that would make you one of those people who doubts themselves and is way too modest, and then I'd have to hit you, and ruin your perfect face."

"Sorry, Roza. Please don't hit me. I'll make it up to you, promise."
I giggled. I was glad the girls weren't awake to hear that. Dimitri was the only one who made me actually giggle, and I had a reputation to uphold, which giggling wasn't a part of.

We talked for ages, about noting in particular. Funny stories we'd heard, our time back at the academy, what we'd do over the next week. It didn't really matter what he was saying, I was content to just have this easy conversation, and to listen to his voice. We hadn't seen each other much over the last week; Lissa, so naturally me as well, had been preparing for her time away, so had been really busy.

After about 2 hours, we fell into a comfortable silence, like we would have if he were actually here. We didn't need to talk all the time, it was enough just to know that the other was there if we wanted to say something. Leaving the connection open, I put some music on.

Several hours later, just as the sun was beginning to rise, Dimitri and I started talking again. Mid sentence, he suddenly cut off; I heard a different voice through the radio. It was Eddie.
"Hey, man. How you doing?" Eddie asked Dimitri.

"I'm fine. Not even tired." He replied.

There was silence for a few moments. "You seem happy for someone that's been up driving all night without even any music," Eddie said suspiciously. There was a pause before he continued. "You've spoken to Rose, haven't you." He stated accusingly. "Yeah, I can tell. Don't worry, though. I won't tell the others you've broken the pact."

They must have all promised not to secretly call their girlfriends. We hadn't done that, we had just agreed that if you spoke to them, you had to mess with them too.

"Sorry. I miss her like crazy, and she wanted to talk to me. Who am I to deny her that? I'll never deny her anything that she wants if it is within my power to give it to her."

Aawww. Eddie laughed, before continuing, "I'm glad that she found you, Dimitri. I always worried that she'd end up with some Moroi jackass that would just use her, like other Dhampir girls. She's like my sister, you know? When Jesse was talking all that shit about her, I almost killed him, and Mason wanted to help. We'd secretly make sure that she was okay with whatever guy she was with, and if he didn't make the cut, we have... words, with him. But you're good for Rose; I doubt she'd ever find anyone better for her. I know Mase would have felt the same. Above everything, he wanted her to be happy. I mean, just being around the two of you makes me want to brush my teeth it's so sweet. I've never seen Rose this happy before, and she needs that after what she'd been through. So, from Mase and I, thank you."

For a moment I was shocked, but then I was overcome by a warm rush of affection for Eddie. He was my brother as much as if he had been Abe and Janine's son too. Before Mason had been killed, they had both been my closest friends aside from Lissa. But since then, Eddie had really become family to me.

After a few seconds, Dimitri spoke."No, thank you, Eddie. Not many guys would be happy with their sister dating her older mentor, so thanks for giving me a chance. Roza is lucky to have you as a brother, I just hope I am as good a brother to my own sisters. I probably wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for you, that was a great thing you did for her."

"Hey, anything for Rose. Anyway, I didn't do too bad out of it. I gained a new friend."

"As did I."

I heard what sounded like a manly slap on the shoulder, which signalled the end of the guys' little heart to heart. I was so happy that my almost-brother and my boyfriend (who, let's face it, was his old teacher), were getting along so well. I just wished Mason were here to see it too.

Lissa stirring beside me pulled me out of my sad thoughts.
"Hey, Liss. Good sleep?"

She stretched, and groaned as her back clicked. "Not the best, but not the worst either. I miss Christian so much, though I guess you're the same."

It was too good an opportunity to pass up. "Yeah, I miss Pyro so much, without his poor excuse for wit I feel like a light is missing from my world, like someone stole the sun or something."

She gave me a withering look. "You know what I mean."

I sighed. "Yeah, I miss Dimitri. But sometimes we're apart for this long back at Court, and it doesn't feel so bad. Though I guess that's because this is by choice, and I don't have anything to take my mind off it."

"Aaw, Rose! I love seeing you in love!" Lissa said, reaching across the gearstick to give me a half-hug.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nice and all, but not when it wakes me up!" croaked Sydney angrily from the backseat.

Yeah, Sydney wasn't all that into mornings when she woke up after sleeping upright in a car and had only drunk 2 cups of coffee in just under 24 hours. Mia was still asleep, snoring.

"Sorry, Sydney. We'll stop at the next gas station and get you a latte to make up for it, yeah?"

"Better make it two," she mumbled, before closing her eyes again.

DPOV

I was happy that Eddie had taken the time to tell me that he approved of me. I knew Roza loved him like a brother, and I knew he was a good guy. He was a good friend of mine now, despite being the youngest, he was the most mature out of the friends I had inherited from Roza, Adrian being the baby of the group, despite being the oldest of the 3.
Yes, I even classed him as a friend now. I had said before he was a good guy, and it was easier to get along with him when one of us didn't want what the other one had. With Sydney, he was different than he had been with Roza. He still flirted with her all the time, and teased her, but Sydney could banter back and it didn't seem like they were constantly at each other's throats.
It was a relationship that had been built on trust, not lust, like Adrian's feelings for Roza had originated.

I knew the feeling, as that was how I had felt when I had met Roza, like how she understood me better than anyone else and saw right through the shell I had put up, just as I saw through the image others cast over her, and saw the truth about Rose underneath. Though of course, there had been plenty of lust, too.

Christian woke up next, dark circles under his eyes after 30 hours without blood. He didn't look weak, exactly, but maybe a little paler than usual, and his snarky comments were less.

Eddie noticed this too.
"Christian, maybe you should have that carton of blood now, before Adrian wakes up."

"Nah." He said, waving the comment away. "I'm saving it for just before we get there, it'll be like drinking 3 cans of red bull after a long night. It'll make me look better for just long enough to get to the blood that'll be there. Plus, Pretty Boy might spray his man-perfume in my eyes if I drink his share, and I won't be able to see Lissa properly, which would suck."

Adrian began to stir half way through Christian's speech, worryingly close to when Christian said 'Pretty Boy'. "Sydney? Did you say my name, babe?"

He groped Christian. "What the-" His eyes flew open and he looked at where one hand was gripping Christian's, and the other was resting on his inner thigh. He jerked back, apologising. We were all laughing so hard, I nearly missed the turning.

When Eddie got his breathing under control, he said; "If that's what girls wake up to every morning, no wonder you had so many one night stands. The night was great, but you groping them in the morning made them run for cover! This is why Sydney always gets up so early!"

Adrian huffed. "She gets up first so she can make the coffee. In fact, just the other day she was saying how much she loved waking up with me beside her." He said defensively.

"Yeah, beside her, not on top of her!" Christian snapped. "Get off." He pushed Adrian away from him.

Lack of blood apparently made his already short fuse practically non-existent. Thanks, Roza.

So, who do you think will get to the campsite first? The Bitchmobile or the Man-Van? :P

Review and have a night-time chat with Dimitri :D