Hey guys!

I know you seriously probably hate me right now, but it's totally not my fault this time. My coauthor has a massively busy schedule and only just got back to me a day or so ago. And yes, I know this chapter isn't even her chapter, but she had some changes that we both agreed needed to be made to this chapter so that her chapter (the next one) would fit with the story line. So, I got Beth's chapter, sent it to our beta and between the three of us, got the two chapters straightened out. So, here you go.

Big thanks to Bethismyname for being such a wonderful coauthor and to jediserenity82 for being such an awesome beta.

Disclaimer: Neither my coauthor nor I own VA or any of the recognizable characters; we do, however, own the plot to this incredible story.

Enjoy!

Rose POV

Knock knock knock.

I buried my face back into my pillow in hopes that whoever was knocking at my door would go away.

Knock knock knock.

I groaned in irritation as the knocking continued.

"Open the door, Kiz." My father demanded from the other side of the door. "Or I'll take it down."

"Fine." I growled, throwing back the covers in aggravation. "But I'm taking my time."

"Suit yourself." Abe said as I opened the door. "Dimitri will be here in..." he paused to look at his watch. "10 minutes."

I felt my eyes widen in surprise. Dimitri and I met nearly two weeks ago, and my feelings for him have done nothing but grown. I'm still not sure, however, of his feelings. One minute, we are laughing together like old friends, and the next, he's all serious, stoic, and professional. After a moment, I regained my composure enough to speak.

"Why is Dimitri coming over? I thought he was supposed to go to the gym in the mornings to train with the rest of the team?" I asked cautiously.

"Ah, that changes today. Since you have your first live interview and your first album is being released today, the security team will be working full time in preparation for the tour." Abe replied.

"Oh. Well, go away, Old Man. I need to get dressed." I told him as I started to shut my bedroom door. He held his hand up to push my door back open slightly.

"One more thing, Kiz." He smiled cunningly. "There will be a surprise attack on you sometime today." I glared at him when he paused. "This attack is a test for your security team. I don't want you to get involved. Do you understand?"

"Got it." I huffed as I closed my door to get dressed. Leave it to my mobster father to come up with something like a fake attack to test my security.

Over the next two hours, Dimitri shadowed me through the process of becoming Rose Mazur, and he has been all business. Other than greeting me when he showed up at my house, he's barely said anything to me. It's frustrating.

I was sitting in my dressing room texting Lissa, trying to keep from being so nervous about my first live interview when Dimitri finally spoke.

"You're nervous." It was a statement instead of a question, but I answered anyway.

"Yeah, but I'm trying not to be. I've never been nervous about being the center of attention before." I replied quietly.

"You will do great, Roza." He said as he slowly reached forward to brush a strand of deep red hair away from my eyes. My breath hitched as his fingers lightly grazed the side of my face. "I have complete faith in you."

I smiled. "Thanks, Comrade."

His fingers still lingered near the side of my face, but he quickly moved away when someone knocked on the door. He moved to the door, and opened it. One of the studio techs pushed his way through and informed me that I was needed on set in 2 minutes. I quickly checked my appearance one last time before heading out on set.

My eyes met Dimitri's briefly as I moved past him, his brown eyes warm as he flashed me a quick smile and a nod of encouragement, and I felt my nerves ease ever so slightly.

My first live interview was on a talkshow called 'Mini Mia' hosted by a small, doll like girl named, you guessed it, Mia. From what I'd heard, she went to school with and was good friends with Adrian, and have seemed to worked out some kind of scheme where she gets to be the first live interviewer for any of his new clients that he thinks might make it big in the music industry.

Baba had told me that this particular interview is actually written into my contract. Glad to know he had at least read my contract because I definitely didn't. I snapped out of my thoughts just as soon as I heard someone -presumably Mia - introduce me.

I walked out onto the stage with as much confidence as I could muster. I thought back to what Dimitri had told me in my dressing room, and used it to fuel my courage. I sat in the large white chair across from the doll like girl who I assumed was Mia, and before I could stop myself, I commented on the lights that were shining in my eyes.

"Why the hell is it so bright up here? The lights are trying to blind me." I heard the audience laugh, and I realized what I had said just as the lights dimmed a bit. I blushed bright red as I glanced over at Mia. She smiled. "Oh. I did not mean to say that out loud."

"No worries, Rose. Honestly, I'd have probably said the same thing had it been me." Mia replied. "You're being yourself, and that's all we can ask for, right?" she continued, eliciting a cheer from the audience. "Besides," she said in a loud whisper, "You wouldn't believe the amount of fake new celebs that I've since doing this show."

I smiled nervously in response. She kept talking and I was grateful.

"So, how about we get down to what everyone wants to know about the new, mysterious Rose Mazur. Whereas your music is blowing up the charts right now, you have been out of the spotlight. How does it feel becoming so famous, so fast?" Mia asked.

"Honestly? It's all kind of strange. One day, I was in high school, worrying about college, and singing in a karaoke joint, and the next, I was being signed to a record deal with my best friend as a backup singer."

"So it's kind of surreal?" Mia asked for clarification.

"Yeah, exactly. I mean, I was an average girl who had barely gotten over the fear of singing in front of others, and now, I have bodyguards. Not just one either. A whole team of them. It's definitely surreal." I commented. Mia quickly moved on to the next question.

"So, Rose, what do you miss about being just an average 18 year old girl?"

"The only difference, I think, is that I have to think before I act. I've never been known for my impulse control. I have an image now and I don't exactly want to ruin it because I acted first and asked questions later."

Both Mia and the audience laughed at my response, and Mia fired off another question.

"Okay now Rose, there has been a lot of speculation behind your inspiration. Not just any teen can sing about love with the same amount of power and feeling as you do. What motivates you?"

I thought for a minute. Did I want to tell them about Dimitri? Maybe I could just skim over the question.

"Well the inspiration for each song is usually different. Sometimes it's an experience that I or one of my close friends have had, and sometimes it's just an idea I have that springs up from a word or phrase that I've heard." I paused to think about how to answer the first question. "The 'what' that inspired me to sing in the first place was actually a 'who'. A very good friend of mine encouraged me to get over my fear of singing in public, and once I did, I was discovered by a talent scout."

"Wow! So all these changes really did happen fast!" Mia exclaimed. "And your new album? I've been told that it's out today, you must be excited!"

I smiled. All of the nervousness I had felt before the show had slowly gone away as I answered each question and been replaced with excitement. "I am!" I agreed, "in fact, I believe that everyone here gets a free autographed copy."

Mia shot off a few more questions that I answered with ease. Something caught my eye, and I glanced up to see that Dimitri had moved from the place he had been standing just off to the side of the stage. I did my best to scan my surroundings, trying to find him without being too obvious. when I finally spotted him, a large figure dressed in black had jumped out onto the stage. I heard a series of gasps and screams before I realized that one of the screams had been my own. I watched in shocked awe as Dimitri quickly advanced on the figure in black. Fear started to settle over me, until the conversation I'd had with Abe earlier came to mind. This must be the staged attack he warned me about.

After mentally cursing my father, I took a calming breath and did my best to try to calm a terrified Mia as we ducked behind the chairs we had been seated at moments before the attack began. I watched from our concealed hiding spot as Dimitri moved with an elegant grace you would never expect from someone so tall. He dodged and parried nearly every blow that came his way, though some of his attacker's hits did manage to hit their mark. I grimaced as he took a hard hit to the ankle.

I hoped, for my father's sake, that Dimitri wouldn't be too inured after this fake attack.