Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from this story and all creative rights to the characters belong to Richelle Mead.

The original content, ideas and intellectual property of this story are owned by Ms. Belikov. Please do not copy, reproduce, or translate without express written permission.

Previously on Saving Me…

"Easy, love. It's just me." Adrian chuckled, and my body instantly relaxed. "I come bearing the ingredients to bake you the most epic blueberry muffins ever. Buzz me in."

A jolt of happiness and excitement—which had nothing to do with the fact that I was about to eat some seriously awesome dessert—shot through me, and, not wanting to act like a stupid girl in love, I fought the urge to squeal.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure if I should let you in."

"And why is that?"

"Because you didn't give me the magical password,"

"I got something magical for you, but it ain't got anything to do with a password." Adrian grunted. "I'll give you a hint: it's behind my zipper."

"Adrian!"

"Let me in. These muffins are getting cold!"

"They're not even baked yet."

"I was talking about my sweet ass cheeks."

Rolling my eyes, I pushed the star key, opening the gates.

"I'm coming in, love." was the last thing I heard before I slammed my cell shut.

Though I wasn't exactly proud of admitting it to myself—or accepting it—I had developed serious feelings for Adrian over the past few months we'd been dating. I had been extremely cautious at first—still was—but Adrian being the cocky bastard he was, never gave up and slowly but surely wormed his way into my life.

The thing I admired about my boyfriend was the fact that he never left me. Even when we hit bumps in our relationship—and believe me, there was plenty of them, mostly because of my own personal problems—he stuck by my side and bit the bullet. Aside from Lissa, he was my best friend. Someone I could be my true self with. Someone I could possibly fall stupidly and dangerously in love with. At the end of the day, I was blessed to have him in my life.

Excited and thrilled to spend time with Adrian, I hastily picked up the old battered box and tossed it on the top shelf of the closet. Though I felt a twinge of guilt, the duty I had of finding that old café flyer would wait until tomorrow.

Something white floated down through the air, catching my attention from my peripheral vision. I bent down and picked the piece of paper up. My heart stopped beating and I went ice to my core.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I flipped the check over and punched in the numbers written on the back.

He answered on the fourth ring, "Belikov."

Hearing that voice shot me through the sky and made the clouds my kingdom. I had the absurd urge to burst in tears. The feeling, truly indescribable in words, made me feel like I was flying home after years of being alone.

"Dimitri…" I breathed.

"Rose?" The rough voice on the other end of the line was a mix of genuine surprise, pain, and longing.

Tears instantly filled my eyes and spilled onto my cheeks. "Dimitri," I sobbed, my chin quivering with the need to keep control. But I lost the battle. "Oh, God, Dimitri. I miss you so fucking much—"

"Baby?" Adrian's voice came from behind me, and I momentarily froze before slamming the phone shut.

"Hi, babe," I said hoarsely, then cleared my throat and wiped the excess water off my cheeks.

"What's wrong?" His voice instantly became concerned as he laid a firm hand on my shoulder.

"I'm just looking for a tampon," I said, angry with myself for not being able to come off the emotional rollercoaster I had just ridden. "Or a douche. Or a chocolate bar. You know…damn those womanly problems."

"Look at me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just…can't. Okay? Please back off."

"Okay, you need your space."

One thing I admired about Adrian was his infinite patience and understanding. He knew when to back off, and he was well aware that now was not a good time to push my buttons. The only response he would get in return was walls in his face—the mental walls I kept built around myself when I felt most threatened emotionally, when I felt as if all of my deepest and darkest secrets would spill out, when I felt as if someone could reach inside my brain and get to know me on that level. So far in my life, there had only been two people to ever get that kind of power and control over me, and those two people were my captor and Dimitri Belikov.

I thought about Adrian and the distance I forced between us, both sexually and emotionally, despite him being my boyfriend for the last half year. It was what made our relationship work, and it bothered me only when I thought about how truly vicious and deceptive that cycle was. Because of me, we never faced the problems in our relationship; we merely buried and ignored them for as long as we possibly could. Which, duh, would only make them worse and harder to mend in the end. But I didn't have to put up with them for now, and that was all that mattered. God, I was a coward.

The phone vibrated relentlessly in my hand, and when I looked down and realized who was calling over and over again, my heart pounded like a drum in my chest until all I could hear was the deafening beat.

"It's him, isn't it?" The look in Adrian's emerald eyes tore me to pieces.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I know there is only one man in the world who can cause that kind of reaction in you," he smiled grimly, exhaustedly.

My back hit the wall and I slid down, utterly tired. "Yeah, it's Dimitri." The phone continued to vibrate non-stop, and with a cry of frustration, I flung it against the wall. Everything went silent except for my labored breathing. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Why did you call him?"

"I honestly don't know."

"You're still in love with him, aren't you."

"No, I'm not!" My defensive tone and all too quick response spoke wonders. I looked down in shame. "Look Adrian...I just really don't know about anything anymore."

"I don't know. That's your answer to everything." Adrian walked over and crouched down in front of me. There was a hostile glitter to his gaze that I had never seen before. "Do you have any idea how you feel about me?"

"I like you."

"Like," he barked out a harsh laugh. "Just like? Wow, six months and the only thing you feel for me is like. I am a stupid, stupid man for letting myself develop serious feelings for you."

"I really like you, if that helps at all." I cringed, waiting for a reaction. He gave another one of those dry laughs that was infuriating, but I knew I deserved his contempt.

"You know what, Rose?" Adrian pulled a Clove out of his jacket pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag before speaking again. "I can honestly stand here and say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I love you. Love you so goddamn much it hurts me. But sometimes love isn't enough, and I'm not going to waste my whole life waiting and hoping for something that might be nothing."

I rubbed my chest where a sharp pain suddenly occurred. The pain was stubborn and wouldn't go away. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No," he said. "I just need a break. We need a break. Some time to think things out clearly without being around one another."

"But, but Ad—"

"I don't want to hear it," he said softly. "I'm sorry Rose, but I have to do this. For me. For both of us."

When he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to my cheeks and forehead, I felt like a hopeless child being abandoned by the only person they had left. "When will I see you again?" I asked, the lump forming in my throat. "Please don't give up on me."

"Don't you ever say that." Adrian grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "You know I would never do that."

Then he released me, slowly stood up, and walked away without looking back.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, absolutely horrified. "The zipper won't budge? Try again! I'll suck it in even farther."

Bringing my shoulders up high, I breathed in like my life depended on it and held it. Avery, the snobby young lady who worked at the bridal shop, shook her head in contempt and pulled up the zipper and...

BINGO!

"Ohmigod!" I squealed in victory. "It worked! It fits! It fits!"

"Breathe out," Avery said flatly, arm cocked on hip.

I did.

And heard a loud tearing noise.

I screamed and flipped around, trying to get a decent look of my backside through the reflection of the mirror. The satin yellow bridesmaid dress had split all the way down the middle. My eyes bulged. "What. The. Fuck."

From a faint distance, I heard Lissa's voice spilling through the hallway and I panicked.

Ripping off the ruined dress, I tossed it in Avery's face and hopped down from the stool. "She is going the choke the life out of me. Fix this as soon as possible!" I whisper yelled at the staff worker, as I sensed and heard my best friend growing nearer.

"Why?" Avery said with clear disgust, as she nonetheless hung the dress up for repairs. "It won't fit you anyways. It's too small."

Letting that one slide, I said, "I'll lose a few pounds, okay? Just take care of it and don't say a word."

It had been two weeks since I had last spoken or heard from Adrian, and it was beginning to worry me. It wasn't like him. He refused to answer any of my calls or texts, but Christian had told me yesterday that he'd spotted Adrian at a local bar getting wasted off his ass. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to discover, but at the very least, Adrian was alive. And that was reassuring.

Lissa entered the room and smiled goofily into her iPhone, "You are so full of crap, Christian! Okay. Alright. Love you too. Bye." she looked up at me. "How did everything go?"

I shot Avery a warning look and returned my eyes back to the future bride. "Swimmingly."

Lissa beamed. "Ready for lunch?"

"You betcha."

Fifteen minutes later, while we were munching at a small cafe across the street, the phone buzzed inside my pocket. Reaching inside, I pulled out the device and rolled my eyes when I read the text:

Dinner at 7, roast beef & angel cake w/ strawberries—your favorite. Hope to see you there, Love dad

It boggled my mind why he still sent those messages. It was a mystery Abe continued to try to reach out to me. Several months had passed since I had last seen or spoken to my parents, and to be honest, I liked to keep them at this distance.

Lissa dabbed her mouth with a napkin, and I could tell from the look in her eyes that I wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

"Don't you notice this disturbing trend?" she asked, indicating to the phone. "Dimitri, your parents, and now Adrian."

The D word stung more than I wanted it to. "I don't know what you mean." I lied, taking a sip of my water. To keep from meeting her knowing gaze, I moved the straw and stirred the lemon and ice cubes around.

"You keep pushing people away, Rose," Lissa said. "And I'm afraid I might be next."

"You know that will never happen,"

"No." my best friend said sternly. "You think that will never happen. Be brutally honest with me here Rose, did you ever think you would get to this point with the people who were closest to you?"

"No," I stated. "but I also never thought they would stab me in the back like they did."

"Tell me why you think they betrayed you."

I narrowed my eyes, feeling my blood get hotter. "You know why."

"Because they had their doubts about that one night you ended up half-dead in the hospital?" Lissa gave a short, humorless laugh. "Of course they would, that's natural. You were going through a really rough time. Anyone would think the way they did-"

"That doesn't excuse them for the way they treated me, betrayed me. When they didn't believe me, when no one believed me, when everyone I trusted and loved didn't trust me, looked at me as if I were crazy...it killed me, Lissa. Tore me apart inside. I had never felt so alone."

"Oh, baby girl." Lissa reached out and grabbed my hands, and that's when I noticed the wetness on my cheeks.

"It was the worst feeling in the world. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." I said lowly.

"People make mistakes Rose, they're only human. I know for a fact that your parents regret the way they treated the situation, wish they'd have done things differently." she sighed heavily. "But in reality, they don't have the luxury or ability to take back what they did. They are obviously very sorry. Otherwise they wouldn't be making an effort to be apart of your life."

I stuck my chin out stubbornly, feeling defeated. God, Lissa knew how to reach and get under my skin like no other person in this world, an ability to shine a light on all of my faults and allow me to see my wrongs through a third point of view. There was a good reason she was my best friend. She was my rock, my sanity.

"I'm not going to forgive them."

"I'm not asking that of you. All I am asking of you is that you at least give your mother and father a chance...that way you can at least say you tried to get along with them. You never know how things might turn out; great or horrible, but you have to at least try." Lissa paused. "Don't make the same mistake I did, Rose. You'll have to live with that regret...if something happened to either of your parents, God forbid, it would eat at you for the rest of your life."

She blinked rapidly and tears dripped down her porcelain cheeks. "You don't want that kind of death-bed love, that kind of love you realize is there only after it is too late."

"Stop, stop. You're breaking my heart." I laughed to hide my embarrassment at the fact that we were both crying in the middle of a restaurant, but my words were as true as the sky was blue. I hated seeing her so sad, so vulnerable.

Lissa smiled and wiped her eyes, as she worked to pull herself together. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad Rose, my only wish is that you just give them one chance. One chance. I know they'll make you see your situation in a different light. You're lucky to have both of your parents that love you. Many people aren't as blessed."

I stared down at the phone for several heavy moments, ran my thumb over the keypad and screen. Then I knew what I had to do. "Okay..." I sighed. "I'll go to dinner tonight."

"You can do this," I breathed out, trying to keep myself from hyperventilating. My skin was damp with fresh sweat, my stomach was knotted painfully, and my heart beat like a drum in my chest. On the drive over, I'd had to pull over four times to vomit. Thank the heavens I kept a spare toothbrush in my purse for emergencies.

After a fair amount of fierce pacing in front of the door, I marched up and pounded my fist against the heavy oak wood. I instantly winced and fought the cowardly urge to run back to my car, speed off, and pretend like this whole horrific situation was just a bad dream.

The door opened and I didn't recognize the person standing there. She had to be in her mid-sixties, with exhausted, blood-shot eyes, streaks of gray in her thin hair, and fines lines over her drained face.

"Mom?"

Janine's eyes widened and she stared at me as if she'd seen a ghost. "Rosemarie? Rose? Is that you? Oh God...my daughter. My beautiful, beautiful daughter...please tell me that is really you."

Something twisted inside my chest and I had the instant urge to wrap my arms around my mother, comfort her, and just for a moment, pretend like the rest of the world and all of our problems and differences didn't exist.

So that's exactly what I did.

"Oh, mommy, mommy. Everything's okay. I'm here." I ran my fingers through her fine curls as she broke down in my embrace.

Janine Hathaway was the fighter of all fighters and quite possibly the most stubborn woman I had ever met. She didn't depend on anyone, even during the process of her divorce. But right now, she seemed tiny, like a child that had woken up from a terrible nightmare and merely needed the comfort and peace of knowing their mother was there to protect them. For a little while, our roles were reversed.

"I'm so embarrassed. I'm so sorry." Janine pulled back, shook her head, and roughly wiped away her tears. "I'm so glad you came."

My heart became a heavy weight in my chest. "Are you?" I was on emotion over-load, because I felt the simplest tasks, such as talking, were very difficult and required a lot of energy and skill.

My mother looked at me with the most humble eyes. "Yes," she said thickly. "Please come in, will you? Please. Your father will be so happy to see you."

Inside, I grew overwhelmed with the familiarity of my surroundings. The sight of my home, the smell of dinner drifting from the kitchen, brought me back to a time that was much simpler than nowadays. And for a couple of seconds, I just let myself get lost in the sheer serenity that settled over me.

"Are you hungry?" Janine asked.

"Starving."

My mother smiled brightly and seemed to have a whole new purpose. She disappeared inside the kitchen.

"Who are you." Came a rough, accented voice from behind. I turned around and felt as if I'd been stabbed in the gut.

Apparently my father had a similar reaction because he grunted loudly and the color drained from his face. "Kiz?" The breath shot out of him. "Rosemarie, is that really you?"

My chin began to shake uncontrollably. Goddamn it. I hated showing such weakness in front of my father, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. "Who were you expecting...Santa fucking Claus?" I managed a weak smile.

"Lord," Abe breathed in relief, and before I knew what had happened, I was wrapped tightly in his strong embrace. And then I was home. Or as close to the real thing as I would possibly get with Dimitri no longer apart of my life.

"Oh Kiz, I missed you so much," he hugged me, if possible, tighter. "There are no words to describe how sorry I am-"

"Shut your face," I made a sound that was a mix of a hysterical cry and a burst of giggles, which sounded so oddly hilarious that it made us both crack up.

"Will you ever forgive me?"

"You're already forgiven." I said, opening my eyes to look over my father's shoulder. My mother stood there in the doorway of the kitchen. Janine was clutching a towel to her mouth and had tears welling in her eyes. But in spite of all that, she actually looked...happy. The happiest I had ever seen her in my life.

I mouthed three words to her that fixed everything, "I love you."

"I love you too, my beautiful baby girl."

"Really dad, fishing again? Ugh. Damn that precious father and daughter bonding time."

Abe playfully glared at me as he set his sunhat on top of his head. "I know you don't mean that."

"True," I grinned.

Who knew the magic of one lazy sport could mend such deep family problems. Since I had reunited with my parents just a little over a weak ago, Abe had made it his life's mission to reconnect with his one and only child. And boy, that's what fishing was all about. Just the two of us on a boat for twelve hours a day, the sun beating down on our skin, and nothing but the open lake and ice-cold beers to look forward to, had done wonders to repair our relationship that had grown non-existent in the past year.

As I set up camp on board, Abe made quick work of untying the boat, hopping on, and firing up the engine. Forty five minutes later we arrived at our destination—a small, deserted island that was my father's fishing hotspot.

"Isn't it beautiful out here, Kiz?"

I took a long moment to truly absorb my surroundings, the beautiful greenery of the forest, the crisp smell of the deep-blue water, the sound of the soft waves crashing. "Yeah, it sure is. Who knew I'd be such an outdoorsy person."

"Outdoorsy." he repeated, chuckling. "Yep, just like your old man."

The quiet was comforting as he constructed our fishing poles and tied bait to their hooks.

"How are you and mom holding up?" I asked some time later.

"What do you mean?"

I didn't have to look over from my sunbathing to know that I'd upset the whole peaceful mood.

"You know exactly what I mean," I said, peeking at him through one eye. "And before you get all defensive and give me bullshit answers, just know that I am not here to judge."

"I'm not really sure about how your mother feels anymore, she hardly talks to me like she used to. And apart of me knows it's my fault, because I'm not giving her as much attention as I used to." Abe sighed and tossed out the reel. "There's no easy or simple answer to your question, Kiz, 'cause I honestly don't know. But I can assure you that I love you and your mother more than anything in this world and I promise that I will never give up trying to make our marriage a success. For it to end...that would be the last thing I would want to happen."

I smiled. "Thanks."

He looked confused as he stared out at the open water and waited for a tug. "Thanks?"

"Yeah," I said, climbing up on the edge of the boat. "That was a good answer." Then I stretched my body long and dove into the lake.

Much later, just as the sun was setting and it was about time to head in for the night, I wrapped up the fishing poles and straightened up so that my father didn't have to and he could rest during the trip back to shore. He looked so peaceful sleeping, and I hated to wake him because I knew how hard he worked.

I was just about to turn the keys in the ignition when something glinted in my peripheral vision, catching my attention. I glanced over. It was the lockbox. The one my father had sternly told me to stay away from when he'd caught me trying to pick the lock yesterday.

The bad girl in me and the buring curiosity wouldn't allow me to just walk away, so I snatched the ring of keys from the ignition and went to work. Countless, unsuccessful attempts later, I chucked them down in frustration. Then a light bulb went off in my head.

Tiptoeing over, I crouched down and patted each of my fathers pockets. Bingo. It was in his left one. Very slowly, I fished in and grabbed the key, wincing when I thought I had awoken him.

With a little victorious dance, I ran over and quickly opened the lockbox.

I wasn't sure what I expected to find. Maybe a wad of cash, a gun, or a present for my upcoming birthday. Something along those lines.

But nothing in the world could have prepared me for what was actually in that box, and my heart stopped when I picked the object up with trembling fingers.

"Oh. My. God."

The masquerade mask. The beautiful one with purple and lime-green paints, gold jewels, feathers, and glitter. The one that haunted all of my dreams. The one my captor had worn.

A deep voice came from behind me, "Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat'?"

Something struck me hard in the back of the head, and my whole world went black.