So here's the next chapter. I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks but I already have the next chapter to post when I get back. Enjoy :]

Not Beta'd and the usual disclaimers. I don't own the characters, Richelle Mead does.

Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, reviewed and story alerted me last chapter! It means a lot!

"We're ok Liss," I whispered to her as I rubbed her back soothingly.

Lissa pulled back to look at me with tear streaked cheeks. "Oh Rose! I was so worried about you! What if you had been killed?" she cried slightly hysterical.

"Well I wasn't now was I? Calm down Liss, it's all over." I told her with a roll of my eyes. That's when she noticed Christian and flung herself at him with a shriek.

Then both Christian and I were violently yanked into Lissa's room. First my eyes fell on Eddie. He was standing in the corner still looking like he could take on an army of strigoi. When he saw me however, his face split into a grin.

"Rose!" he came forward and gave me a brotherly hug, "You're ok!"

"Course I am," I scoffed, "No strigoi is taking me out!"

And then I heard a whispered "little dhampir" from the corner and turned to see Adrian's panic stricken face. He stood silently and crossed the room to pull me into a bone crushing hug, or as bone crushing as a moroi can do.

I grunted uncomfortably. "Adrian," I told him soothingly, "I'm okay."

He pulled back and gave me a kiss on the forehead and I stood there awkwardly, suppressing the urge to pull away. I knew he had been worried about me and I didn't want to ruin his moment.

Sensing my discomfort, Lissa cleared her throat. "Rose will you please let me heal you?" she must have known I would fight her on this.

"Lissa, I'm fine! I don't even feel anything. Don't waste it on me." the last thing I wanted was more darkness. All I needed was a long sleep.

Lissa rolled her eyes and took a step towards me, which I mirrored backwards. "It's not a waste," she said, "I want to heal you."

Lissa gave someone over my shoulder a significant look and I felt Eddie's arms wrap around me, restraining. I struggled, but it was fruitless. I was exhausted and Eddie was strong.

Lissa put a palm up to my face and I felt the magic swell through our bond. My whole body changed temperature a few times as the wonderful feelings of spirit began to fade and all the aches and injuries I hadn't realized had been bothering me so much were now gone.

Eddie released me and I turned to scowl at him. "You all planned that, didn't you?" He just shrugged and smiled. "You guys suck!" I said, grumpily to Lissa, but she was already reaching for Christian who and collapsed on her bed. I had forgotten how tiring magic was for moroi.

I felt her magic through the bond again, and silently said a thank you as I found no darkness left behind.

"Thanks" Christian mumbled, reaching up to hold Lissa's hand against his face. Watching Lissa and Christian together reminded me with a pang of Dimitri and suddenly with him was where I wanted to be, even more than here with my friends. Looking at everyone, I was incredibly glad that they were all safe, but that one hug out on the quad just wasn't enough Dimitri for me. What I needed right now was to see him.

"Hey Liss?" I called, tearing her attention from Christian for a moment.

"Yeah?" She asked, looking up at me.

"I'm pretty tired," I told her, adding in a yawn for good measure, "I'm just gonna go check on some stuff and go to bed."

I could feel her wondering through the bond her wandering what stuff I could possibly have to do right after a strigoi attack, but she could tell how tired I was so she let me go with out questions.

I gave everyone a hug goodbye, except Christians was more like a one armed pat on the shoulder because he was too tired to get up.

Once in the hallway, I stared around me, trying to decide where I should look for Dimitri. Finally I decided on the gym, seeing as that was pretty much mine and Dimitri's domain, when I felt a wave of confusion hit me through the bond.

Curious, I slipped into Lissa's head as I started for the gym.

She was trying to figure out why I had run out of her room so fast and she decided to voice her confusion to the others.

"I wonder what was so important, Rose had to run off like that," she mused.

Eddie shrugged, not too worried about it. Adrian looked out the window, as of he was trying to see me walking across the quad.

Thank god I was in Lissa's head because I was just about to step out of the moroi dorm at that moment and I stopped myself. It wasn't a secret that I was going to the gym, I just didn't want Lissa to start asking me why, so I hung out inside the doors and waited for the all clear.

Back in Lissa's head, Christian mumbled something unintelligible from the bed that sounded like "shugonasee beblekov."

Lissa walked over to Christian, confused when suddenly Adrian chimed in. "Hey! Looks like Rose is heading to the gym."

Damn it, I mentally cursed. I'd thought that Adrian had stopped looking out the window by now.

"That's why I was saying," Christian said, lifting himself up off the pillow. Eddie snorted as if to say, those were words? But Christian ignored him and continued. "I said, she's going to see Belikov."

I felt myself/Lissa frown. "Why?"

Christian finally sat up all the way, looking alert. "I don't know. I just heard her tell him that she'd see him later after the strigoi fled."

Everyone was silent for a moment and Lissa noticed Adrian was scowling, but before she could ask what was wrong, Christian spoke again.

"Something else weird happened," he said tentatively.

"What do you mean?" Lissa asked, taking his hand.

Christian stared at the wall as he began to speak. "There was this moment after the fight was over when Rose and Belikov kinda... I don't even know," he sighed and ran his free hand through his hair.

Lissa saw Adrian's scowl become more pronounced. "What?" she asked glancing between the two of them and feeling like she was missing out on a huge secret.

Christian grimaced, " well when Belikov came over to tell us it was all over, rose kinda like ran up to him and threw her arms around him."

Lissa immediately began rationalizing this in her head, even though this struck her as odd, especially for me.

"First," Christian continued, "Belikov looked surprised, like he didn't know what to do, but then he hugged her back."

"That's not weird!" Lissa was defending me and I could have kissed her.

"No, you weren't there Liss. He like had his face in her hair," he gestured to Lissa's shoulder covered by her long blonde hair, "It was like they way you'd hug your girlfriend."

"Oh..." Lissa trailed off, "that is a little weird." Damn that fireboy.

Eddie looked like he didn't believe a word of it but Adrian's scowl has grown even bigger, if that was possible. Lissa glanced at Eddie, trying to decide if she should interrogate Adrian in front of him, because it was obvious Adrian knew something.

Please don't! I silently begged. Damn one way bond. If my secret was going to come out, I would prefer as few people know as possible and especially not Eddie. He had been Masons best friend and I didn't know how he would take Masons almost girl friend sneaking around with a teacher.

Lissa, thankfully, decided to wait until the three of them were alone, but she was impatient to get her questions answered.

She placed a hand on Christians shoulder. "It's late guys, and I'm sure your all tired. Christian you can just stay here for the night."

Christian mumbled a thanks and Eddie and Adrian rose to leave, but at a pointed look from Lissa Adrian hung behind.

It was a good thing that I had learned to still function while in Lissas head, so I wouldn't be standing out on the quad like an idiot, but there was no way I would miss this.

Back in the dorm, Lissa eyes Adrian warily. "Adrian... What do you know?"

In Adrian's defense, he looked like this was the last place he wanted to be right now. He didn't want to betray me but he knew that Lissa would never let him go until he gave up what he knew. I actually felt bad for him and I wished I could tell him to go ahead and save him self from Lissa's wrath.

"Nothing?" he tried, knowing it wouldn't work.

Lissa wasn't fooled. "So why were you scowling?"

With a grimace Adrian, still tried to save my secret. "It's nothing," he told her, "I just don't like the cradle robbing mentor." and then he slapped a hand over his mouth, realizing what had just slipped out. He was so used to calling Dimitri that to me that I think he'd forgotten exactly what it meant and why he'd started calling Dimitri that in the first place.

"Cradle robbing..." Lissa repeated slowly, and then suddenly she realized what he was implying. "Wait!" she screeched, her voice shooting up an octave, "Rose is sleeping with Guardian Belikov?" Even Christian sat up at that.

"Well I don't know about that," Adrian said, looking guilty, "but there is definitely something going on with them."

To CaRiNeSs: when I told you that your idea would be used next chapter I had forgotten that I already wrote like 3 that I had yet to post so it will be in the next chapter I write, but not the next one I post. Thanks for helping me out :]

And thank you to 4ev3rsilenc3d also for another great idea that will be used later in the story.

Im still looking for more ideas so help me out please! (and Im doing requests)

Also I love to know what everything is thinking so review please!

~LLM