Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or anything surrounding it (but I do own this plot :D)
RPOV
Morning broke like its usual open wound feel but I did not notice; my attention was on something else entirely.
"What if he leaves me!?" I tightened my grip around her shaking body and caressed soothing strokes across her silk hair.
"He will never leave you, he loves you too much." I assured, but it apparently wasn't enough.
"But what if he does Rose!? What if he doesn't want me anymore!?" she cried harder into my shoulder which made the task of pulling away and looking her dead in the eye all the more challenging.
"If he does, he will not see the light of day again because I will fucking obliterate him if he ever thinks about hurting you." I said squarely, leaving no room for arguing. Lissa nodded her head slowly and I pulled her in for another quick hug.
"Rose…" she said softly, calming her ricocheting sobs to gentle sniffs.
"Yeah Lis?" I replied.
She pulled back and looked down at her hands, twiddling her fingers nervously. "I want to tell him."
Taking in her slightly disarrayed exterior, I decided to voice a little concern. "Are you sure? Because, no offense, but I don't think-"
"Rose I want to tell him." She said with an aura of authority. "I have to at some point and I don't want to wait and prolong the inevitable." She sighed and I nodded my head.
"Okay." I conceded before deciding to lighten the mood from Lissa's sombre paranoia. "But I am not letting you out like that young lady…" I gestured to her crumpled clothes that were stained by waterfall-ing tears. She offered a small smile before allowing me to lend her some of my clothes. She quickly changed whilst I initiated a search of my cramped apartment for anything edible. Upon finding a lone rotten pear, I decided we would be eating out.
We arrived at the Shadow Kiss Inn half an hour before it was opening. I could see Stan already pissed off for the day as he was trying to direct his anger into violent pacing across the length of the pub. I just rolled my eyes, knowing full well that I would probably get it in the neck from him. Lissa, however, had her focus on the black-haired, blue-eyed young chef that she was engaged to marry. Looking at him now, casually chatting to Mia and Adrian and completely oblivious to the bombshell that was about to be dropped on him, I remember thinking just how much he had grown up. I am painfully aware how old and 'granny-like' that makes be sound but it was very much true. Up until about two years ago he was still putting ketchup in soap dispensers. Now, he was sustaining a relatively mature adult life and I think that fatherhood would suit him well. If that failed, at least he would be able to pass on some pretty good practical jokes.
Lissa took a deep breath and pushed her way into the Inn. As if by instinct, Christian looked over and his face softened a little. She offered him a warm smile and walked towards him, pecking him on the lips before pulling him into the kitchen. Christian wore a confused look on his face but followed unquestioning. As if by instinct, Adrian looked over at me and shot me a smug 'I-know-what-is-going-on-here' smile. Mia just looked bewildered.
"Hello, Little Disaster." He grinned.
"Wipe your face Ivashkov, its ugly enough as it is." I responded taking note of Stan's fierce glare and putting myself behind the bar.
"You know that is not true, my face is beautiful." He winked.
"Who's face is beautiful?" I new voice joined the conversation causing Adrian to all but choke on his drink. I now wore the 'I-know-what-is-going-on-here' smile which only made Mia more confused.
"Hey Sydney, how's life?" I asked cheerfully as she sat down next to Mia, who was now in the middle of the lovers. It was honestly a comical sight.
"Okay I guess," she shrugged and glanced over to Adrian who was refusing to meet anyone's gaze, "what were you guys talking about?"
"Oh nothing really…" I shrugged and Adrian shot me a dark look which only provoked me more. "Just the state of Adrian's face; I thought it was quite the displeasing thing, care to share your thoughts?" I smiled innocently which caused Adrian to glare deeper and Sydney to lose her ordinarily spectacular command of the English language. I saw a customer come in and took the opportunity. "Well, I'll leave you guys to ponder over that one." I said winking at Adrian who I knew was going to kill me. I left them there both blushing furiously with a very conflicted and uncomfortable Mia between them.
I was proud of my work.
"Rose." Uh oh.
I turned to face the voice that had addressed me and forcefully smiled when I saw my mother – I know I was trying to fix my relationship with her but she still irritated me. My smile fell into a deep frown when I noticed that there was someone standing next to her, more specifically, a man…
He had dark hair and dark eyes that held within them a hint of deviousness. His dark hair fell into a neat goatee and rings of golden metal looped through his tanned skin. He was wearing a dark suit with an elaborate yellow scarf that could only really be described with one adjective: bright.
"Mom?" I asked not taking my eyes of the man who was looking upon with a gentle smirk.
"Hello, there." She said and pulled me into a hug. Granted, it was a little awkward but I was still happy that we were trying. She pulled away and smiled at me. I returned the smile but nodded towards the man.
"Care to shed some light on the old man." I said and she looked around before her mouth formed a little 'o'.
"Oh, Rose this is Ibrahim Mazur, he has offered to help the Inn." She explained a little nervously.
"Really?" I said excitedly, brushing off her nervousness that seemed a little out of place (and character) considering this man wanted to help.
The man – Ibrahim – smirked a little more. "Yes, Rosemarie." His voice held an even more devious quality than his eyes which surprised me a little.
"Please, Rose." I said before he could continue calling me by my least preferred name. This only caused him to smile further which confused me.
"Then you may call me Abe and might I say how much you have grown." He said with what I thought was pride in his tone.
"Thank you…" I responded very baffled, "So, you've seen me before?"
This evoked another smile. "Yes, I saw you last when you were just a tiny little thing." He gestured with his hand.
"So you know my mom?" I queried circumspectly.
His smile broadened. "Very well." I looked at my mom who was now blushing furiously. It took a moment but I put two and two together and, well, screeched.
"Rose!" my mom yelled, pulling me into the kitchen with everyone staring at me. He followed and closed the door behind him, locking us all in the one room. Mia was busying herself at the coffee dispenser but upon seeing our dramatic arrival, dashed out of the door – most likely afraid of losing a limb.
"He is not! Tell me he is not!" I roared and she sighed. Oh, she should be afraid of losing limbs!
"Rose-"
"Tell. Me." I snapped and she shook her head slowly. Un. Be. Liev. Able.
"Rose-"
"Where the fuck have you been?" I was now ignoring my sobbing mother and unleashing the full Hathaway temper on this man. He looked towards my mother and then back to me, his casual smirk was very much gone.
"It was safer for me to be away from you and your mother." He explained. I could hear the irritation in his voice; he wanted to shout. Perhaps he was where I got my temper from? No! I refused to believe I had any connection to this man.
"Oh was it?" I mocked sarcastically.
"Yes, my adversaries would have had you dead if I had stayed; I would never put my family in danger." He said darkly, as if he was threatening them now.
I was having none of it.
"I am not your family." I spat and stormed out of the back door. I ignored the siren calls of my mother; my only focus was on releasing this anger and distress. I sprinted out of the back door into the alley. Swerving round the obstacle course of bins and crates, I joined the early morning convoy on traffic and wormed my way through the crowd to get to the gym. Even though I was in a noticeable state, no-one stopped to notice. The sad reality of this world: people are so caught up in their own lives to give a damn about the girl running through the streets with tears coating her face in a sea of anguish. Fuck them.
My mood didn't improve when I darted into the lobby of the gym. The red-headed receptionist gave me a confused look but I ignored her, grabbed a towel and ran into the main gym…
…right into a wall.