THE OTHER WAY ROUND
Chapter 26
(DICLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THE AMAZINGLY TALENTED RICHELLE MEAD DOES)
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RPOV-
You know when someone is close to you…
Like- standing really close to you…
About to kiss you…. And then a sudden image pops up in your stupid head- and its not the person you're about to kiss.
Its someone else…
Someone you shouldn't even think about at that time- or at all!
Someone that shouldn't be on your mind but you cant help it… it just feels so right to think about that person during that moment...
This is so wrong.
What is about to happen right now is so wrong!
I felt his nose brushed against mine, his hot breath grazed against my chin…
He smells of hazelnut…
He doesn't smell of coffee… or a heavenly fragrant mint aftershave…
This is not him.
He is not for me.
"No Andre" the words my mouth before I could think further.
He pulled back like a bullet hit him and snapped his neck up to meet mine.
Shock plastered all over his face, his beautiful emerald green eyes had pain…
The eyes I used to get lost once, they just don't seem like maze now…
I would never want to hurt him but things have changed.
I don't see him in that way anymore…
I always told lissa, Christian- everyone! That I could never love him in the way he wants me to.
I loved him and cared for him like a friend- like how I did for lissa…
But maybe if we had gotten more time… im sure I would've fallen for him.
But now… after all these years, all I know is that we were never meant to be.
"im sorry" we both blurted at the same time.
Okay! So now we're flushed with embarrassment.
DPOV-
She didn't kiss him!
Yes, you heard it right! she didn't kiss him!
I honestly feel bad for andre but who am I kidding- im on 'cloud 99' right now!
I feel like a giddy teenager who's crush turned down some guy's prom proposal…
"im sorry rose, I shouldn't have done-"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AT THIS HOUR!?" a loud and sharp voice shouted behind me interrupting Andre.
They instantly pulled back from the corner.
I felt a rough hand on my shoulders
Oh! im screwed…
I slowly turned around and saw a very angry Stan standing infront of me
Dammit!
Im so much in trouble…
Good thing is that im taller than him
This is not a time to think about these things.
"why are you out at this hour?" stan demanded
I swallowed the hard lump down my throat. If rose sees me here she is going to flip!
"don't you know its past curfew, belikov!?" stan questioned and immediately loud thumps of footstep came rushing from the other side.
Rose's eyes widened and mouth open in shock when she saw me and stan standing there. Andre was quiet startled too.
"Hathaway, Lord Dragomir- what are you doing at this hour?" stan asked them, this time his voice was down and polite.
Rose was still shocked to see me, looks like she knows that I saw her and andre…
"uh- I couldn't sleep so I just came out for a walk. I met Ro- Guardian mazur here in the hallway" andre explained.
"you are late for your shift Hathaway and what happened to you eye?" stan asked rose who's gaze was still fixed at me
Andre nudged rose lightly on her shoulder which made her made her jump a little
"uh- yeah! I- um- I just fell asleep… sorry" rose said looking down at the floor
"you have never been late for your shifts and now you are never at time" stan scolded her "what's happening to you these days, huh?"
"im trying to figure out the same thing" I heard rose mumble which thankfully, stan didn't hear.
"go to your shift. Now!" he instructed. She looked annoyed but still nodded at him.
"and you" he turned towards me "what are you doing in the academy's hallways at this hour?"
I cleared my throat to say something but nothing came out.
I have broken curfews a lot of times- but never got caught… and now that I am, im completely clueless about what I should say which doesn't expel me from the academy."
Say something! My mind snapped at me.
What should I say? That I was literally checking whether my 24 year old mentor, who btw Im in love with, kisses her ex boyfriend or not?
"uh- he was walking with me stan."
Wait… am I dreaming?
Andre is defending me…
Why the fuck is he doing that?
I looked at him asif he was a crazy maniac which I think he is.
He just gave me a small assuring nod.
"he was with you?" stan asked, confused
"yeah! I- I told him to walk with me since none of us were sleeping at that time. Didn't realize that it was past curfew. Sorry stan"
Stan looked less mad now "well… even if you convinced him to tag along- he should've known better. I am letting this matter slip and not informing the headmistress- but just this once." Stan gave me a death stare, I tried not to flinch "meanwhile you will have detention afterschool with your mentor."
"are you okay with that?" that question was to rose, even though he was asking it didn't look like he would take a no.
She nodded again.
"alright! Now back to your rooms- and you Hathaway, you're on forest patrol." Stan instructed and started walking away
Rose's eyes widened "wait! That's the worst place for patrolling!" she called out to stan "ill sleep there, stan!"
"no you will not!" stan called out and disappeared in the darkness.
"fuck!" rose grunted and kicked the lockers in anger.
There's something about when Roza curses… she looks more hot-
Oh! Shut up! Stop thinking about her like that. just because she didn't kiss andre doesn't mean that she like you!
She turned towards. Okay… she looked angry- very angry… her eyelid was a bit purple now- thanks to me (note the sarcasm). I hate myself for doing that to her- now whenever ill see her… it'll always remind me how I punched her…
Now wont be a good time to apologize…
For apologizing what exactly? Punching her or breaking the curfew because you were stalking her?
"go back to your room" she instructed me. her voice was very hard and rough.
I just nodded and turned around.
I was a few steps away until she called out my name which made me stop on my tracks.
"meet me in the gym before school!" she called out. I nodded again and walked back to my room.
It was all great between me and rose…
We were going along so well- she understood me and supported me like no one else did. I was happy.
But ofcourse- my fate cant see me happy for too long!
My father just had to turn up and ruin everything for me- like always!
After changing in my night clothes I slumped down the bed and fell asleep instantly.
oOoOo
okay! So im 10 minutes late for breakfast today!
I took a quick shower and then changed into my black track pant and black fitted tshirt which makes my muscles look good and put on a grey jacket because it was freezing cold!
My gaze fell on my clock. It was 8:45 am (pm for humans).
Maybe ill just get an apple…
I quickly brushed my hair and tied it in a low ponytail around the nape of my neck.
I stuffed my uniform, books and water bottle in my backpack and head out of my room walking straight to the dining hall.
On my way I saw vika and ivan coming out of her building. They both were dressed in their school uniforms.
Did ivan stay over last night?
No… maybe he just picked vika from her room in the morning.
I waved my hand in there direction to get there attention.
"dimka!" vika said as I walked closer to the couple.
"how are you both?" I asked him.
They exchanged a look "we're good dimka" ivan answered "you have training with rose before school?"
"yeah… and detention with her after school" I admitted.
Both of them gaped at me "wait- you got detention?" vika was the first one to question
"and what for?" ivan asked
"I just… broke curfew" I shrugged
"you broke curfew?" vika was shocked "why but?"
"just couldn't sleep."
She hummed.
"did you meet him?" my voice was down to a whisper. I felt viktoria growing stiff at our father's mention.
"yeah. He came by last night- we talked a bit and then I threw him out" vika said curtly
I tried to stifle a laugh when she said she threw him out.
"I heard you beat the shit out of him" vika murmured
I just nodded.
"don't loose control so fast dimka… if Kirova knows about this then you'll get in trouble"
I nodded again. She is right. no matter how angry I was at him- I shouldn't have pounced on him like that.
We started walking towards the dining hall "can we talk after school?" vika asked
I grew tense "yeah- but why? Is something wrong?"
I saw a smirk break out on her face but she quickly covered it up "N-no! its nothing bad- just that it has been long since we talked properly" she shrugged
"ofcourse vika. You know you can talk to me whenever you want" I said smiling.
She smiled back.
She was right though- it has been long since we talked. Its my fault really- between all the training and catching up with my studies I completely forgot about my little sister.
The dining hall was filled with people when we arrived. Thankfully, breakfast is still there.
The guardians and teachers where seated far away at there tables. I insantly spotted Christian, lissa, mason and eddie sitting at there regular table.
They gave a small smile when the saw us.
My eyes searched eagerly for Rose but she wasn't there.
"lets have breakfast together" vika suggested. Ivan and I nodded in agreement.
We saw mike sitting at the table a little far from rose's friends waving at us telling to join him.
We all dropped our bags at mike's table and joined the queue for food.
I got an apple, and fruit yogurt, meanwhile ivan and vika had there plates full of toast, eggs, doughnuts and other stuff.
We all sat down at mike's talking and started talking. I didn't participate much- my eyes were scanning the room for Rose.
Maybe she wasn't coming… but rose can never say no to food- especially doughnuts! She will come
From the corner of my eye I saw that even rose's friends had there eyes fixed on the big entrance gate, waiting for her.
She will come.
The breakfast was nearing end. There were only 15-18 people left in the hall. We were also almost done with our food.
Then suddenly I heard someone enter the dining hall. everyone's neck on my table and rose's friends turned towards the narrow passage.
She came!
A little bubble of relief burst in me when I saw her.
She was wearing black fitted yoga pants which had a long mesh wave starting from her calves and stopping upto the thick waistband of the pant, showing her lightly tanned legs through the net with a short fitted white top with a thick black band on the waistline which had 'BADASS' written in white bold letters on it.
Her hair was up in a tight bun showing off her molnijas. As I assumed- rose's had a black mark around her right eye. im pretty sure she covered it up with makeup. It looked light but still very visible.
In all- she looked hot!
Like a bad boxer from some underworld fighting competion.
I don't know if im crazy- but that black eye made her look more hot- dangerously hot!
Oh! You are so crazy!
"vlad! She looks hot!" I heard vika say "those pants are fire!"
I have to agree with my sister on that one, those pants were really hot. Rose's ass looked good.
Oh you have a very dirty mind! She's your mentor for vlad's sake!
"but what happened to her eye?" ivan asked in a low voice
I gave him a 'tell you later' look.
Everyone was whispering and talking about her black eye.
"rose! What happened to your eye!" we heard lissa exclaim in shock
"its nothing liss. Just a little punch during a spar" she said hugging her sideways before sitting down on the vacant chair.
"wow! Im feeling déjà vu and nostalgia at the same time!" Christian joked. Im pretty sure he was talking about when rose's mom punched her for god-knows-what reason.
Rose rolled her eyes as she stretched her hand and picked a doughnut from his plate and took a bite before he could react.
"hey! That was mine!" he exclaimed
"listen! Im not in a good mood! So don't mess with me" rose said. her tone wasn't snarky or teasing, like how she always talks with Christian. It was more serious and hard.
"what happened rose?" lissa asked her softly
"well for starters your brother tried to kiss me!" she snapped at her which made lissa drop her fork.
Everyone's jaw was on the floor, even ivan, vika and mike's.
"whoa! What!?" mason exclaimed
"j-just forget about it- im sorry, I didn't mean to snap like this at you liss."
"no- but- wait- andre tried to kiss you!?" Christian asked her. She just shrugged
"well- what did you did?" eddie asked her.
"well I fucked him against the wall!" she replied in her snarky tone. Even if what she said wasn't true it almost made me choke on my water.
Everyone at her table gasped
"wait- I was kidding!" rose said waving her hand "you guys would really think I would do that!?"
"I mean-"
Lissa nudged Christian on his shoulder "I mean of course not!" he said raising his hands in surrender.
"so you didn't kiss him?" lissa asked softly
"ofcourse not liss!" she exclaimed "he's engaged to a shelzy for fuck's sake!"
"then why would he kiss you?" lissa tried to reason. It was clear that she still rooted for andre and rose.
She took another bite from her doughnut "I was walking down the hallway for for my shift and I just saw him there. He had a fight with Ariaana and we just talked for a while, I think he just misread my intentions" she said and shrugged.
I tried to focus on my plate but it was quiet hard with rose just sitting a feet away from me.
"it would be nice you know… you and andre" lissa mumbled.
Rose looked at her with her eyes wide in shock "are you still hoping that me and your brother will get back together?!" she said with her jaw clenched. She was really mad at her.
Lissa didn't say anything, just shrugged
"oh you've got to be kidding me!" rose said chuckling humourlessly "what andre and I had was history! 7 year old history! Liss, please don't assume things like that! it'll never happen again!" she sprang up from her seat but just as she was about to leave, lissa grabbed her arm and harshly jerked her down to the chair again catching rose offguard.
I let out a small gasp. Lissa looked raged! I never saw lissa angry, but right now it looked like she wanted to bite rose's head off.
Rose looked down where her bestfriend harshly grasped her hand. Everyone at there table were shocked with lissa's bold move.
"liss don't make a scene here" rose muttered looking around the dining room.
There were only a few people left and most of them were too absorbed in their talk. Ivan, vika and mike were also listening them closely.
"don't tell me what to do!" lissa snapped at her in a low voice
"liss, baby leave rose's hand" Christian requested her girlfriend which he plainly ignored
"tell me rose, my brother was a mistake, wasn't he?" she demanded
Roza's eyes widened "what do you-"
"you were in a relationship but you never really accepted it, did you?" she spat. I was really mad at lissa right now, how can she talk to her like that after every thing rose had done for her? "you never loved him while he did everything he could to please you. But all you cared about was your picture perfect reputation and top grades!"
Rose looked like she was about to cry. Its was visible that her bestfriend's words really hurted her. But still she kept her calm and tried to convince lissa to let this go and that they would talk later about this. But lissa didn't budge.
"and you know what the worst things is? When we went to court after graduating, it didn't took you a second to pounce on another royal. He was a good one for an ivashkov but you left it too. You don't deserve love."
All of us were stunned. my father's conversation came rushing back to me in my head- he said something about rose and a ivashkov…
Rose sat there stunned. A single tear leaked out of her eye…
She was beyond hurt.
And that's when she lost all her calm…
She looked up and met lissa's hard gaze "you want to know why I didn't love andre. Its because of you!" lissa's eyes widened at rose's statement.
"I never got close to him because I knew that if I did It would affect you- it would affect your future! Even if I'd be your guardian, I would've never protected you with all in me, if I had loved him. and as for my grades and reputation- you know very well what happened. How your dear brother almost destroyed my chance of becoming a guardian. It was my dream to become a guardian and unlike some people we have to work our asses off to achieve our dreams and earn respect in this bloody world. We are all not born as a princess with a perfect family, perfect status and the privilege to do nothing but still have a big fortune."
"rose don't go there-"
"why Lissa? Why shouldn't I go there?" rose argued "you call yourself as my best friend right and my moroi? then tell me- how much is my salary? How much do I earn?"
Lissa opened her mouth to say something but closed it quickly. She had a guilty look on her face.
"say something dammit!" she whisper-yelled at lissa who was on the verge of crying "20,000. I get 20,000 dollars every month for keeping my life on a stake to protect you. Do you even know how hard it is to manage in this much money?"
I knew that guardian salaries were not much but I never knew it was this low… I mean- rose was a blood master 7 guardian plus she's protecting a royal princess.
Lissa obviously wasn't aware of her salary, but Christian, mason and eddie weren't as surprised as her.
"But I never said anything! I never complained about it to you or get you to increase it, you know why? Because you are my bestfriend! Because you mean the world to me and I would protect you even if I weren't getting a single penny! And I thought that after all this time- you would've support me. but it breaks my fucking heart to hear what you think about me.
You have really hurt me today Liss."
She pulled her hand from lissa's grasp "and if you are so ashamed of me being your guardian- then let me tell you something- I have resigned my post so im no longer your guardian!"
With that she bolted out of the dining hall.
There was complete silence in the room. All the faculty members and the cooks and the lunch lady were standing far away talking in hushed voices.
Her friends were sitting on the table trying to register the news she had broken to them.
I turned my face towards the people sitting on my table. Mike, Vika, Ivan- everyone looked hurt and shocked.
I felt like shit.
I cant even imagine how rose must be feeling right now… but im sure that Roza was terribly hurt…
I picked up my backpack and ran out of the hall.
I stepped out in the moonlight, Roza was no where to be seen.
And I knew exactly where she was.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and ran towards the gym.
I was met with the sound of grunts and groans as soon as I entered the gym.
As expected- rose was there.
She was beating the shit out of the boxing bag- and she was not wearing any gloves.
Déjà vu…
The scene instantly reminded me of the time when rose was drunk…
I saw tears rolling down her pink cheeks. She doesn't deserve to shed a single tear.
"Roza…"
This time she stopped the assault on the bag immediately.
She turned around, facing me.
Her face was red and tear stained. She looked immensely hurt and vulnerable.
I hated seeing this side of rose…
She looked like a wrecked doll.
The rose I was used to seeing was a sarcastic and beautiful woman.
The most gorgeous woman ive ever met…
Those tears were just ruining her beauty…
"its okay…" I said softly
She shook her head "no its not… Im such a loser… I shouldn't have done that"
"roza-"
She held back a harsh sob "lissa is right, I don't deserve love…"
"no." I said
"what?" she mumbled
"No Roza… if anyone in this world deserves love- its you. You are an amazing friend, guardian and mentor." My voice was more stern that I intended. But I bear, rose thinking that she doesn't deserve love…
She deserves everything. Every good thing in this entire world.
I walked upto her and did what I wanted to do for a long time…
I wrapped my hands around her tiny body and hugged her tightly.
She buried her face in my chest and started sobbing.
"let it all out, Roza" I said caressing her back.
And that's what she did…
She let it all out as I held her close to me, not intending to let go any time soon.
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Author's note-
And there you have it!
The answer to the question all of you creatures of the night wanted to know.
Rose didn't kiss Andre because a certain "someone's" image popped in her mind!
With everything that's happening right now- all we needed was a bestie drama!
What do you all think? Was lissa's anger justify able? Or did she crossed her lines like always?
But for now Dimitri and Rose are together in each other's arms… but will it stay that way?
And what did Dimitri's little sister wanted to talk about with her big brother?
If you wanna know, you gotta keep reading…
Until next time…
~K