Just-kiwi, Rose will start training, of course. It wouldn't be a complete fic if she wouldn't

Thanks for the support, guys!

And I am sorry to come up with bad news, but I will go back to posting once every two weeks. I have just changed my job and I am more busy than I've ever been (I have to learn a lot of new stuff), and that doesn't allow me to come up with chapters on a weekly basis. I barely wrote this one. I hope you won't get too mad about it and I hope you'll stick to the story nonetheless, because I plan to finish it, no matter how long that takes :)

Have a nice weekend and I'll see you on the 20th!

CHAPTER 13 - You're fucking dead to me

Rose's POV

"You knew?" his face tells me plenty already. "Of course you fucking knew! How the hell did you follow me everywhere these past days and you didn't fucking tell me?! How dare you?!"

What I get from him is a big pile of nothing. And of course that fuels my anger.

I go in front of him, standing across the table, and bang my fist against it.

"Answer me!"

"Lower your voice, and maybe then I'll talk to you."

"The fuck I will! You-"

He gets up from his chair, an upset glance in his eyes, and my mouth closes in an instant.

"First off, I'd really like for you to stop using that word."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll make you."

"Not going to fucking happen, Belikov. Now tell me what the fu-"

Bending over the table, he gets closer to me and that move of his makes me gasp. There went my offensive. How could I forget he's so much taller than me? And the way he looks at me…

"Thank you." he pulls away. "And second, would you take a seat so that we could talk? Calmly?"

"I don't want to calm down. I want to know-"

"And I will tell you. As soon as you sit down and calm down. I'm not having this conversation with you unless you are willing to be rational and listen to me."

"Rational? You're implying I'm not?"

He hardly abstains from making a shitty comment, I know it.

"The way you're fired up-"

"Don't I have reasons to be?"

"I didn't say you don't. But I am not going to respond to it. You can yell at me and get it out of your system, but I will not be having the same attitude."

His attitude makes me feel like I am in the wrong here. And it makes me hate him more for making me feel like this.

"Fine." I let myself fall onto the nearest chair. "But tell me already."

"Would you like something to drink?"

"I swear to god, Belikov," I growl. How much longer is he going to stall this? "Would you just fucking talk?"

"If you don't cease with that language, I promise you I'm not telling you anything."

I bite my tongue not to add another fuck.

"Fine. Give me a drink." even though I doubt it will be anything I need right now. Something alcoholic would be perfect.

I wait as he pours me a glass of orange juice, and I do my best to drink from it. He thought well by giving me that, as I have my mouth full as he speaks.

Dimitri's POV

All I can do now is remedy the situation, even though it worked out just as I expected. I wanted her to get this mad at me, but I hate myself for it.

"You know it would have eventually ended up like this. You would have had to go to the Court one day."

The way she rolls her eyes tells me we're far from getting to an agreement.

"But not today! Or tomorrow!"

"Does it really matter when it happens?"

"It does. And it matters more when I have no idea about it."

"We were going to tell you." I would add that I was the only one against lying to her, but I doubt she'd believe me.

"When? When we were at the Court's doors?"

"Of course not."

"Then ten miles before that?"

Seeing her so snappy, I get the same attitude and let myself talk without thinking.

"I did it for your safety, Rose."

"You did what?"

"I told the Lord to-" dammit. I should have picked my words more carefully. I shouldn't have even headed this way.

I see the wheels spinning and when she leaves the glass on the table, I can say I'm happy she didn't throw it at my head.

"Wait. You came with the fucking idea?"

It would be useless to lie or try to talk my way around it.

"I did."

She gets up and comes closer to me, poking her finger into my chest.

"You… you… wow," she laughs. "It's nice that after everything you know about me, after you know how much I hate for people to make decisions for me, you went and did just that. You bastard, you came up with the idea, and you did all this without letting me know! Without consulting with me, even for a second!"

"Rose-"

"Don't you fucking dare."

She pushes me away and walks away, but she's heading toward the storage room's door.

"Rose."

"What?!"

"The exit… is the other way."

"You arrogant fuck!" I swear I didn't have that intention, but I couldn't suppress the amusement in my tone. But maybe something good can get out of this.

"Big words."

"You cocky bastard!"

"Come on, say more. Let it all out, then we'll talk and sort things out."

She watches me hateful.

"I have nothing to talk to you about. I thought I could trust you, Dimitri."

"And you-"

She lifts a hand. "I don't want to hear it. You… you're fucking dead to me, you hear me?" I knew all this will come and bite me in the ass, but I never thought it would do to such an extent. I never wanted to betray her trust like this, but I did. And that hurt her. "I don't want to see you ever again!"

But she has to. I'm her guardian.

The next time we meet after that fight is on the day of our departure. She's not happy about the prospect of having to occupy the passenger seat as I drive toward the airport, but she doesn't protest. Yet.

The atmosphere is gloomy and I think it would be a nice idea to put on some music. I choose to play that song she asked me about a while ago, but she's still too pissed to fall for my little trick, even though I see the recognition on her face. I will have to try harder if I want her not to forgive me, but at least look at me from time to time. After all, I never planned for things to go this far.

I know that I half-bribed her once with Yoo-hoo, but the plethora of snacks that we brought for the ride doesn't move her this time. I didn't think it would, but it still bothers me that she refuses to eat whatever she is offered. I know for a fact that she hasn't been eating these past days and it's all stuff that she likes, so would it be that bad if she would be just a little less stubborn? It is hurting her in the end.

What seems to be the last drop is when I propose we stop for a few minutes to visit a tourist attraction. It wasn't included in the plan and I don't have the wish to visit it, but I thought she would like it because it's some artsy stuff.

"This is no school trip, guardian Belikov. And stop it with this fake kindness and deliver your charge to the Court, will you?"

I get the message. It would be useless to keep pushing her.

When we stop for a bathroom break, she is the first to go back in the car and sits in the backseat.

Once again, I understand the message, but what she doesn't know is that at this stop we were supposed to change drivers. Thing that, once again, puts me in the seat next to her. And oh, the look she throws me. If I'd die right here and now, she couldn't be happier.

This time, she makes herself busy with playing silly games on her phone. Yes, we finally came to the conclusion that it would come handy for her to have one, despite the fact that she could use it to plan her escape in some way. But I am almost convinced she got past that phase.

As she has already accommodated herself with me next to her on our car trip, I don't get another glare when I sit next to her in the airplane. To be honest, I was a little preoccupied with another thing too, and I may have not observed it if she looked.

But what I can clearly observe is when she falls asleep and her head finds its rest on my shoulder. I move as slowly as I can to put a blanket on her, and she welcomes it. I must admit it is comforting to feel her so close. Her breath on my neck gives me something else to focus on than my previous worry.

When the little turbulence of the landing starts, she wakes up and realizes the position she has been in all this time. She gets up fast, slightly embarrassed, and doesn't dare look at me. It's not like she wanted it to happen, and neither did I, but she still resents me for it, I'm sure of it.

We're finally in the town near the Court, and I feel the unease starting to grow in her, the closer we get to our destination. She fidgets more, shakes her legs, plays with the hems of her blouse, flips her hair from side to side, and looks out the windows, like for a way out.

Of course, if I wouldn't have been fighting my urge to comfort her in some way, maybe I would have put two and two together and figured out that her rising anxiety wasn't particularly brought by the soon arrival, but by the intention of fleeing.

As Nikolai starts slowing down for a yellow light, she pushes the door open and makes a run for it.

I guess I hurried to think we're over this.

As Nikolai is busy with stopping the car in the middle of so many others, it falls on Pavel and me to go after her.

In our surprise at her gesture, we missed the red light on the other side of the street, and we need to make sure no one walks over us while keeping an eye on her. Of course, we already wasted some time as the car moved us farther away from her until it stopped.

We split so that one of us would go after her and another would block her escape on the street, but when I round the same corner as she did a few seconds ago, she's not there. I see Pavel at the end of the street, just as confused as I am. But she couldn't have just vanished into thin air.

The only logical explanation is that she's hiding somewhere. She could be inside one of the trashcans, but that would have taken more time, and it would have made some noise, which I didn't hear. She could have tried to climb the emergency stairs on the block, but we would have seen her. The last place that remains is somewhere around here, maybe a gap between the walls.

I signal Pavel to stay there, in case she gets past me and makes a run for it.

I search the area and the second I get too close, she wants to run past me, but I catch her just in time. The only way to stop her struggle is to pin her against the wall.

"What the hell, Rose?"

"I can't go there. I just cannot." she's now hyperventilating and she keeps on repeating that sentence, some kind of terror taking over her.

Thinking I'm only making things worse for her, I release her.

"Hey. Talk to me."

"I'm not ready. I didn't even learn half of the things I should have and… everyone told me I should be prepared for the Court and… I am not! I'm shitty! I thought I still had time to learn and do stuff, but now…"

This is the truth. Or some part of it, I guess. She's the kind of person who dives headfirst into any situation, so I find it strange for her to get so distressed over not knowing a bunch of stuff.

"You'll be safe." and that's the most important thing.

"But I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"I can't see- I just don't want to go there."

"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can change now, but-"

"It's easy for you to say that, isn't it? Just…" she sounds defeated, and I hate doing this to her. "Let's just be done with this."

Rose's POV

We eventually got to the Court and I've been taken to my room to get settled in, but as the evening rolls over, I'm still feeling pissed. Not even Millie's cuteness - who has been returned to me, and who I don't have to hide anymore - can make it better. I feel the need to blow off some steam. Moroi never heard of working out and I couldn't ask for a gym from them, so getting dressed comfortably and heading to the gym, in the guardian's quarters, seems like a good idea.

No one questions my presence here, they don't dare to, considering my angry face. Or you know, the fact that Morois do whatever the fuck they please.

Naturally, I head toward the boxing side. It always made me feel better, hitting stuff. I wish I could hit someone instead, but a punching bag will do too.

I spend close to an hour kicking things left and right, music blasting in my ears. I've eventually ditched my hoodie somewhere on the floor, but I'm still flushed as hell and covered in sweat. But it does feel so much fucking better to let out my anger. Now that I've released it, I don't even know why I was so mad.

When I see Dimitri entering the room, that fiery anger is back and I remember why I was so pissed.

Out of all the hours of the day, he needs to go to the gym now?!

Perfect. Fine. But to hell if I'm leaving. I am not letting him ruin this for me too. His presence here will not affect me.

But I cannot stop staring his way, and if he saw me too, he didn't approach me. Good for him. I am starting to get tired of this punching bag and he would be a good substitute.

I continue to pound the boxing bag until I can't feel my knuckles anymore and I need to sit down because I get dizzy. When that doesn't work, I lay on the floor in the hopes it will just go away. It doesn't, so I close my eyes and pray that I won't die from exhaustion.

As my breath steadies, the dizziness seems to disappear too.

But I am wrong because as I want to get up, I do it faster than I should have and I lose my balance and end up back on the floor, on my back. Ugh! I pound on the floor, trying to let out my frustration somehow. Fine! I am going to lay here forever.

Hearing some steps coming toward me, I don't bother to open my eyes.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine."

The steps go away, but soon enough I hear some more movement and something covers the light that falls on my face.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

I need to open my eyes because when I don't speak to him, he doesn't go away.

He is hovering above me and gods, he looks so good. Even sweaty he looks hot. Even hotter.

And I should stop thinking about that! I need to remember that I hate him. Or that I should hate him. Do I hate him? I do! He betrayed me! He lied to me! The level of his hotness is irrelevant.

"Why do you care?"

He smiles lightly and shakes his shoulders. The remnant of that black eye makes him look like such a bad boy and I hate that I like that sight.

"Maybe I don't."

This only makes me angrier. How dare he be like this?!

"Good. Then don't! I don't need you to care about me. And get out of my way."

I want to get up again, even push him out of my way, but my steadiness is fucking with me big time and this time my knees give up on me. Of course, he catches me.

"Easy, there. Maybe you should sit down some more, okay?" he puts me back down on my butt, this time, on a machine. "Do you feel dizzy?" I nod. "Do you need something? Water? Something sweet? Do you need to feed?"

"No. I just need a second, that's all. It will pass. I guess I moved too fast." crouching in front of me, he takes one hand to the nape of my neck, cupping my head. "What are you doing?"

"Shh."

He has a focused expression and he gets the thumb of his other hand in between my eyebrows and applies pressure.

"Wha-"

"Just a few seconds."

"You're the last person I want to be around right now, so excuse me if I cannot offer you some seconds."

"I know. But give me a couple of seconds. Bear me for some seconds, it's all I'm asking for. Let me do this."

I seal my lips and let him do his thing, biting on my tongue and counting the seconds until he lets go of me.

I watch him, being so close to me, his eyes moving up and down on my face and my breath gets heavier as I take in his cologne. And damn his lips. I hate myself for thinking these thoughts right now!

When he gets his finger off, the vertigo sensation has faded away.

"It worked!" I say excitedly, then I remember I should be mad, so I temper myself. "I um… thanks, I guess."

He nods, gets up, then extends a hand for me to take, which I don't accept, and he doesn't press it.

"Do you get that thing often?"

"Just today."

"When did you eat last time?"

"I don't know." but I think that if I'd ask him, he'd know the answer.

"It may have gone for now, but let's get you to lie somewhere though." why does he need to get bossy with me again? "And some chocolate maybe," he tries to make the offer more tempting, and on a usual day it might work. But not now.

"I'll do that myself. Thank you for your help, guardian."

"Rose-"

"It's Princess Yilmaz." I am not his friend. Not after what he did. "And I don't want you around me, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I'm dead to you."

"Yeah, exactly." I won't forget that easily what he has done, just because he was nice to me for five seconds.

I get up, praying he won't have to catch me once again. That would be more than embarrassing and it would prove that he was right, that I needed his help. But I don't feel like fainting anymore, so I gather my stuff and head toward the exiting door.

"I'm sorry." my feet stop without me having thought about it. "I knew you don't like people to decide for you, but-"

I rush out before I hear it. No excuse will make me forget or forgive it.

I gather all the courage I am capable of to get out of my room the next day. If not so many people saw me last night, today it is inevitable.

I arrive at the cafeteria to get some breakfast and thank god that nothing happened. It sucks to be the new one alone. When I changed schools with Mase, at least I had him to keep me company. Now Lissa is god knows where and I don't feel like interacting with anyone I met before.

When I feel a hand on my upper arm, my blood turns cold. I swear, if it's Dimitri, I am so breaking his nose. How dare he?! I told him I don't want him near me!

When I turn around, I see it's worse than expected.

Aaron. He didn't change, not even a bit. Same cold, blue eyes, the same shitty blonde hair, the same devilish smirk on his lips. Same wandering hands.

"Wow, Rose, look at you! It's really you! I've heard some new Moroi girl will be here, but I didn't expect her to be you."

He hugs me and I stiffen in his arms, not knowing what to do.

No. No, no, no!

When he finally releases me, he bends to pick up my bag. I don't even remember dropping it.

"It's so nice to see you again. It's been so long," he adds, sliding his hand across my forearm. "Almost six years, right? You changed a lot. Don't get me wrong, the long hair and the semi-bangs suit you well. You're even hotter than I remember. We should go out sometimes. You know, to catch up," he ends up with a wink.

I am so afraid. More afraid than I've been in a long time, and all my mouth can let out are some whispered words.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Let's do that. I um…" I can hear my voice shaking. Does he? I don't want him to catch onto that.

I take some steps away from him. The room is spinning and I need to leave. I don't care which way I go as long as it's away from here.

No! I will not have this! I will not run. I promised myself I will not run ever again.

Turning my fear into anger, I make my way back to Aaron, as he is still there, looking befuddled.

I find myself pushing my hands against his chest, making him take some steps back. He should be the one to walk away from me, not the other way around. I'll show him I'm not a silly girl anymore.

Of course, everyone around is watching, but I couldn't care less.

"If you ever come near me again, if you ever lay a single finger on me, I swear to god I will fucking kill you," I still whisper at him, for I can't find enough force in me to speak louder.

"Rose…" he wants to reach his hand for me, but I pull away.

"Don't you fucking dare! Don't you… don't. I'm not… ever. Don't ever come near me again. I will rip your fucking head off!"

"Rose, what's the matter with you? What did I do?"

Hearing him play the innocent, I fear I might do what I threatened to do.

"Drop the acting, Aaron. And don't you ever dare… I won't regret it. Even if I'll spend the rest of my days in jail or they kill me, I will not regret hurting you."

When too many people are staring, I want to get back to my room as fast as possible, but I cannot find my way. I am way too unsettled to think straight. Still, I pick up the pace, round a few corners, and when I end up god knows where, I finally stop to catch my breath.

My knees feel weak and as there is no one here to bother me, I decide to sit for a second, just to calm down.

Dimitri's POV

Someone bursts into the meeting we're having, all flustered and catching his breath.

"Guardian Belikov!"

"What happened?"

"Princess Rosemarie… she…"

"What's the matter with her?" what did she do now?

"I don't think she's well. She's near the library and she seems… distressed. I tried to talk to her but she yelled at me not to touch her and… I didn't know what else to do."

I barely heard what he said, as I was making my way out of the room.

It doesn't take me much to find her, as there are a lot of people staring and whispering to one another.

"I think you all have something better to do, don't you?"

I manage to make them leave more with my staring, rather than my words. If I had to, I even would have pushed them away. I couldn't care less about them being Moroi. They can write me as many reports as they wish, but I am not letting Rose endure their judgmental stares.

I get closer to her and kneel. She has her arms rounded on her bent knees, her face hidden in the space formed by that, and she's shaking all over.

Hearing what happened with the other guardian, I think the best approach is not to touch her.

"Rose? Rose?" She doesn't want to lift her head. I don't even know if she's hearing me. "Rose, what's wrong? Rose, talk to me, please."

I get nothing.

I take my coat off and put it around her shoulders, hoping she could take some comfort in that. She accepts it and squeezes it tight around her body.

"Rose…"

"I'm fine." but the way her voice shakes tells me she's far from that.

I don't know what else to do, so I sit there too, waiting.

Rose's POV

I know he didn't leave. What I don't know is how long we've been sitting here. But I do know I need to get my shit together. Fast.

So, at last, I lift my head and meet his worried eyes.

I realize my hands were trembling when he stops their movement by taking them in his. He's so warm.

"Rose, what's happening?"

"Nothing. I just… I hate being touched without warning. And he…"

"Who?"

"Aaron!"

"Aaron Drozdov?"

"Yes! He-" what can I tell him, huh? The truth? "It doesn't matter. He just shouldn't have. I told him not to- Did I stop him? I didn't. It's my fault, right? He did and I… I just hate it. I hate him."

I'm again hyperventilating and that makes him let go of my hands, my only comfort.

"Then I should apologize."

"What for?"

"I did that too. Earlier now. I haven't been considerate of you."

"No, it's okay. I um… you…" It's not about him or anyone else touching me. It's about that guy. Dimitri wouldn't understand. It didn't matter until he… it didn't affect me anymore. Not until now. "Where can I find a bathroom? I need to…"

I try to get up to my feet and I let him help me because I know I need it.

"At the end of the hallway, it's the door on the right."

"Thanks."

"You'll be fine? You're still shaking."

"Yeah. I just… I think I got a little too angry. I overreacted. I'll be fine."

I have to be. I cannot have such an outburst each time I see Aaron around.

I try my best not to trip while going to the bathroom, even though my legs still feel unsteady.

One look in the mirror and I'm too aware of the fact that I look like shit. Now I understand that expression 'You look like you've seen a ghost.'

I wash my face with cold water and drink some, wanting to regain some control over myself.

When I'm ready to face the world again, I see that he waited for me in the hallway. I don't even know why I expected him to leave.

Dimitri's POV

When she gets out, I try a little smile. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I just… I hate it when people don't understand what boundaries are." she shakes her head, like she has said too much once again. "I'm fine. I really am."

But she's not. She looks left and right, like for a way to get out of here. And the few people that are passing in the hallway are watching. That's the thing about the Court. News travel so fast.

I already know she wants to be alone and I'll let her have that. This place is safe enough for that. But beside her room, another place comes to my mind where she could do that.

"Do you want to see something?"

"Like?"

"Why don't you come? I think you'll like it."

"Okay…"

She follows me and I take her to the chapel around here. It's a small, old building, but it compensates plenty through architecture and art. I think she'll like it.

She laughs, even if so little. "I don't do god."

"I wasn't trying to bring you closer to god. I just know for sure that unless it's Sunday, no one will bother you in here. There's no one to stare unless you count that statue. Some people say it always has its eyes on you."

My comment makes her smile and I am glad for such a win.

"Thank you, Dim- thank you." so we're not over it yet. Well, I never expected it to be easy, regaining her trust.

I nod and go on my way.

I can only hope that her time alone calmed her because I am about to piss her off again. I should stop being the middleman. I always end up getting the worst of her wrath.

I find her in her room, playing with Millie. That's good, she should hold on to the kitten. I'm almost sure she wouldn't throw Millie at me. I hope she doesn't.

I can see that she doesn't like at all what I'm telling her. Of course, I wouldn't like it either, to find out that two days after arriving here I need to pack up again and go to some resort with all the Moroi, for a nice family gathering.

"Why is that happening?"

"For Christmas."

"Wow. With everything going around, I didn't even take the time to think about what time of the year we got to. But I am not going."

"You don't even know-"

"I don't even want to know. Why would I go? Do you think my dear father will be there for us to be a nice, bonded family? That he'll want us to exchange gifts? He won't. And if everyone will start asking me about him…" she shakes her head.

Indeed. What could she tell them? About the time he drugged her?

"And if he'll be there, that's one more reason for me not to go. I don't want to see that piece of shit. It's enough for me to try not to bump into him around here, don't you think?"

But I still need to be the bearer of horrible news.

"You know, you kind of have to go."

She laughs. "Says who? You decided for me again?"

I am not going to make that mistake twice, I've learned my lesson.

I shake my head and that peaks her interest.

"Let me guess then. Ivan? Anton?"

"No. The King did. He thought it would be a good occasion for you to bond with other Moroi. That might be nice. It's a nice place," I am trying to sweeten things up, but I am failing with grace. "It has spas and other relaxing activities you could try."

"Great. I guess I'll do it then. But you know what?"

"What?"

She thinks about it for a second. "You'll find out. You can leave now, guardian."

I find out soon enough. She asked for another guardian to accompany her at the resort, and I agree. Another ride spent with her ignoring me would have driven me mad.

But you can read her request in another way, can't you? At least that's what I'm basing my excuse on when she will yell at me tomorrow. A misunderstood preposition can, I hope, work wonders.

Although I'm the only one in the hallway, my luck makes it that a green dash almost knocks me off my feet. In my attempt to catch her as she slips, I drop all the things I was carrying, a thing that I find rather cliché, considering how many high school dramas are out there. Plus, she should have been the one dropping her things, right?

One thing I know for sure. Ivan's things for later are soaked in coffee. As are my clothes.

The one whose shoulders I'm now holding starts apologizing in a cascade of babbling words, which demands from me to restrain a laugh. She doesn't even look up. I don't even think she sees much of me as her hair is covering her face.

I remember I have my hands on her shoulders, and I promptly take them off. I wouldn't want her to dislike me more than she does. I didn't ask if I can do that. I'm not even supposed to be here, as of her demand.

"I'm so sorry. I woke up so late this morning and I barely got here in time. I was hurrying and I was looking on this shitty map for this room and… I will make it up for it, I promise. Oh, dammit, I ruined your T-shirt."

She fumbles some more and now she starts looking for something in her bag, at the same time that she's trying to get her hair out of her face, a thing she fails at.

Finally finding what she's looking for, a pack of paper tissues, she extends it to me.

"For your T-shirt. I know it's not much, but I… I'm really sorry. I was late and I didn't see you and- here. Wait a second." Looking into her bag some more, she now has gotten some money out of it. "At least that I can do after I ruin your day. For another coffee." She gathers some more money. "And your T-shirt cleaning. Gods, I'm so sorry."

"I don't consider my day ruined," my mouth speaks without consulting my brain first. I guess I am a little too excited about seeing her being better than the other day. Lately, I get excited whenever I see her, to be honest. Not that I can say the same thing about her.

Looking up, her eyes widen as she sees me standing before her.

"You," she whispers, still dazzled to see me.

My reaction is to smile.

"Princess," I remember to keep a professional attitude, as she asked of me. Plus, anyone could hear us.

"What are you doing here?" she goes straight to fury and I didn't expect any less.

"I'm guarding this room."

"You can't."

"Can't I? Why?"

"Because you… Because I'm going to be in it."

"And it means I'm forbidden to be in there? Your mere presence here makes sense for me to be here."

"But I asked…"

"For another guardian to take you here, which happened."

"No. I asked them to replace you! I told them I wanted someone else to accompany me at the resort."

"To the resort."

"No. I asked them to change you."

"But you knew that would not happen, don't you?" not that I'd brag, but I'm the best at what I do. It would make no sense for her to get another guardian.

Her jaw clenches. "I'm out of here."

But as she wants to leave, a man comes toward the room and stops her.

"Princess Yilmaz, right?"

She forces a smile. "Aham."

"Where are you going?"

"I um…"

"You're supposed to be in there, aren't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Come then, enter. We wasted enough time already with me being late."

He pushes her to get inside the room. I follow after I pick up Ivan's stuff and take my place at the back of the room.

Rose's POV

This overly-friendly guy makes us sit in a circle and only god knows nothing good can get out of this. I mean, I am surrounded by all the younger members of the Royal families. Something dramatic must happen.

"So," he begins by clapping his hands. "Most of you have been here for a lot of years, right? You're all accustomed to the activities we do. But let's do something new this year. Let's pretend we don't know each other. We're going to start with an icebreaker. Let's form new friendships, folks."

He's fucking with us, right? I mean, this is no newly formed team he's having before him. And the only new person here is me, I bet. I don't want to feel too important, but was this shit planned so I wouldn't feel bad for not knowing anyone? If so, it will only accentuate my lack of knowledge of the people around me.

He is excited to tell us the rules of the game. We need to say our name and the person to our left must say the thing they are thinking of when looking at us. Disastrous choice, in my opinion.

"What if we start… here." he points toward me.

Great. I love when people make me the center of attention without me asking.

"Hi. I'm Rose."

"Trite." the answer of the one to my left follows in the next second.

Someone snickers. Fucking shit. Fucking bitch!

I kinda lied when I said I don't know anyone here. I do remember one name. Sweet Cathleen, who is next to me. When I tried to meet people after my outburst in the cafeteria, she made it more than obvious that she hates me. Why, I have no idea, but anything I say, she tries to discredit me and almost everyone who tried to come near me, got pulled away by her.

"I didn't think I should mention it, but think of something positive, guys. We should train our minds to see the good around us."

Staring at me, she now seems to be taking her time thinking, making me want to punch her in the face. Maybe giving her little brain a shake would bring up a thought.

"I think your pretty face helps with the rest that's going on for you. It moves the attention from your hips."

Of course, more people are snickering now.

"Ooookay. Let's move on," the man says, feeling awkward. I hate him. And I so hate her!

I don't even hear what compliment Cathleen receives from her bestie next to her, I am just so embarrassed and all I want to do is dig a hole and die in it.

"Hey." the person next to me tries to get my attention by nudging me with her elbow. "Don't listen to her. She's just jealous that she's not the one who's on everyone's lips these days."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Is it about what I did in the cafeteria?"

She shakes her head. "You're kind of a badass girl, or so the rumors say, and everyone would like to know what's the deal with you, but I guess they're too afraid of her to try to get close. But don't listen to her, she just had her head up her ass for too long. She loves putting people down. None of us really like her around here, but you know, she's the Counselor's daughter and that got to her head."

"Thanks for the information. It doesn't make my ego feel better, though."

She smiles. "I'm Emma."

"Nice to meet you, Emma. I'm-"

"I know. Rose. I'm really glad you're here. I wanted to introduce myself earlier but I never got the chance. You're good at making yourself scarce."

"I kind of have a full schedule." Evette followed me to the Court and all I did yesterday was study and eat.

"You don't need to excuse yourself. I'm just glad I got the occasion now."

I smile. "I'm glad too."

I guess Emma saw me scrunching my nose as I was watching Dimitri because she elbows me again.

"You know, she has always had a thing for Ivan. They had a fling for a while, and since you got him as your future husband…"

"That's one more reason for her to hate me."

"Right. I think she'll get over it. Eventually. You'll be fine."

"Thanks. It feels good to have a friendly face around here." at least I can hear the Court drama firsthand from someone more implicated in it.

"Oh, I am not saying these things out of friendship. She's a crazy bitch and I am telling it to you as a good citizen. If you can, keep as far away from her as possible."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

"I'm Aaron," I finally get back to the conversation in the room. I forgot about him. I wanted to, let's make it clear.

Emma, who is sitting to his left, has some problems coming up with a nice word about him. I do too.

At last, she says he's very friendly. But not in a good way, as I know from first-hand experience.

When it comes for me to describe her, I must appreciate how honest she is.

As the man who started this shit is talking to us, she leans toward me.

"If you want another piece of honesty from me, keep away from Aaron. He's a little too friendly at times, if you know what I mean."

Oh, I surely do.

Dimitri's POV

After they were allowed to sit down, the man starts filling them in on what they're supposed to expect from their staying here, from activities to the whole range of expensive services.

She can't focus on him, though. From time to time, her eyes would drift toward me. I didn't let her notice I was looking at her too, but I saw her throw glances toward me during the entire meeting. She thinks she is being sneaky, but she is not that good at it.

The next time she looks my way, I wasn't fast enough and our eyes meet. Hers widen and her lips part as she takes a sharp breath in. Too shocked, she blinks a couple of times, then shifts her gaze toward the man in the middle of them, and keeps it there for the rest of the presentation.

This only gives me the chance to shamelessly look at her, which I totally take delight in. I just can't help it, I swear. I know I shouldn't, but I cannot look away.

Rose's POV

Fifteen minutes later, we're finally allowed to go and I want to return to my room and throw a pity party, but someone calls my name.

It's Aaron. I don't stop walking. I've been avoiding him since the cafeteria thing, and I hoped I could manage to see him as little as I can from that moment on.

He catches me by my upper arm and stops me. I turn around and jerk my arm away from his grip. I promised I will not react the same as I did before, but what am I supposed to do when he does stuff like this?

"What the hell did I tell you about touching me?!" some people pass by and look at us, but again, I couldn't care less.

"I just wanted to-"

"I don't care. Leave me alone."

I rush away from there, losing myself in the crowd of people and make my way toward the football pitch, as no one seems eager to get into sports today. I know I am missing the next activity, but I can't see his face there too. This is much harder than I thought it'd be. I told myself I could do it, but it's too much. And with Dimitri here too, I hate it! I can only be grateful that he chose not to find me here.

Later on, as I'm rushing toward my room's building, it sounds like someone is calling for me, so I take a second to look into the direction that came from.

"Whoa!"

By not paying attention to where I was stepping, I manage to slip on a wrapper. And from all the places I could have ended up in, I end up in his arms. Dimitri's, I mean. All this running away from him for nothing. I keep on getting into these situations and I don't know if I should love them or hate them.

How do I know it's Dimitri's arms holding me against his chest, keeping me steady on my feet? Because unlike this morning, I'm much, much closer to him, and I'm able to recognize his cologne. I can now feel it plenty as my face is pressed against his chest. Sandalwood is the essence I like most. Then, there's that combination of spices, and some faint vanilla. It's overwhelming my senses. It's… scary in the weirdest ways.

"This is becoming quite a habit, huh?" he says amused as he's taking a little step away from me.

"I um… I didn't mean to. I just…"

The sense of fear is paralyzing. I feel it within every inch of my body. I want to… I need to run away now, otherwise I feel like I'll die. I need to get away from here.

"Hey, I was joking, you know that, right? Do you feel alright? You're really pale."

When his fingers touch my hand, I yelp as a wave of electricity shakes my entire body.

"What's wrong?"

My heart is threatening to break out of my chest and my head is buzzing. I'm so afraid, that's what's wrong!

"Princess? What's happening?"

"I… yes. Yes, sure, of course. I… I need to…" I need to run. Now.

And I run like my life depends on it.

Of course, things couldn't have gotten any better from there for me.

As I was running like a mad woman, I round the corner of my hallway and stumble over someone pretty hard. Of course, this person was carrying something liquid and I manage to spill it on both of us this time. Orange juice. It really is becoming a habit of mine, isn't it?

"What in the fuck!? You?!"

Cathleen. Fuck!

"I'm sorry, I-"

"You're such a fucking mess! Don't ever come near me again, you hear me?!"

And with that scene, she walks away, complaining about how I ruined her Gucci blouse.

I brush past some more people and I make it into my room, locking myself inside and sitting in my bed, trying to stop my heart from beating so hard.

This trip will be a fucking disaster, I know it. Can't I just hide in my room until it ends?