Hi everyone! Sorry about the horrible delay on this chapter, but uni life has been super stressful and I've started publishing shorts on amazon so that's been taking up a bit of time too. Though, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope it's enjoyable! Really getting into the meaty stuff in this story now!

Hope you enjoy and sorry again for the horrible delay. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me!

Breakfast couldn't have been more awkward. Christian and I had decided to skip past "talking" about what had happened and just gone downstairs instead. And that meant dealing with questions about Lissa and Victor Dashkov whilst Christian and I could barely even look at each other.

"So there's really nothing that can be done about him being let out of prison?" Tasha questioned, frown prevalent. "It's horrendous, really. Yet another thing the Moroi elite have managed to get wrong."

Christian only nodded his agreement, glancing at me once before lowering his eyes to the half-eaten slice of toast on his plate once more. "How's the body clock working out? It's a shame you're only staying for a week, really."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired." Christian agreed half-heartedly. That probably had something to do with the fact we'd been awake for a significant chunk of the night.

I let out a small sigh, though only Christian caught it, acknowledging with a small one of his own. "So, what are you two planning on doing today?" Tasha inquired.

I was just leaving all the talking to Christian here, a bit worried that I'd snap at someone if I did any myself. I wasn't in the best state of mind right now. "I'm not really sure." Christian dismissed. "I guess we'll decide in a bit. Do you have any plans?"

Christian and I had given each other one look this morning before deciding that we'd get something to eat before broaching last night. I wondered how much longer we could put it off. "Not really. I thought we'd just tag along with you, unless you want to do something by yourselves." The implication I was sure was there had me cringing inside. "I've booked a table a restaurant tonight though, I thought we'd go out. It's a bit fancy, you'll be horrified to note." She smirked at Christian and his apparent need to wear a proper shirt.

I wasn't sure if I'd even brought anything 'fancy' in my case. Did I even own anything like that anymore?

"I guess we'll just go for a walk." Christian muttered, quickly stuffing his mouth with toast to avoid more conversation.

"Sounds fun!"

"I'm just going to go and call Liss." I excused myself, grateful for the excuse. "She wanted me to call her and I'm sure she'll be going to sleep." The time difference thing meant early morning and late at night was the only time we'd both be awake.

Christian sent the harshest of glares, but I simply willed down a blush and scampered for the stairs, abandoning the food I had no appetite for.

Back in the room, I didn't pick up my phone, but decided to simply lay on the bed and delve into Lissa's head instead. She was just cleaning her teeth, her mood glowing from practising her magic with Adrian. I saw the blackness though, lingering, pushing her to remember that Adrian had learnt one of her skills whereas she'd not been able to pick up anything.

I dragged it away without a second thought, hoping it wouldn't affect my mood too much. It had only been a smidgen of darkness, so much she'd not even been able to feel it, and that was good. Lissa was perfectly serene and not a thought of me lingered in her mind, so I wasn't going to call her.

A touch on my arm broke me away from Lissa's thoughts and I came around to Christian's handsome face hovering in my vision. "Liss okay?"

"Really good, actually." And so was I. I couldn't feel that darkness either. Then the situation came crashing down around me and my eyes averted to my hands, which clung to each other. "I guess this is the talk, then."

Christian also shifted uncomfortably, taking a seat at the other end of the bed so there was a healthy distance between us. "I guess so."

Neither of us wanted to be the one to say it. It was a harsh reality.

"Look, we can't do this." I finally made the words leave my mouth, unable to look at him as I said it. "It's not all right for us to do this."

"I know." He agreed, though I could hear the protest whirring in his head. Lissa had cheated on him - he didn't owe her anything. The reason we weren't doing this was to protect my friendship with Lissa, and that wasn't fair on Christian. It was just a rough situation all around. "I know we can't. I understand." I almost wished he'd kick and scream and argue that we should just do this anyway. Because we shouldn't have to owe it to his cheating ex-girlfriend.

But she was my best friend.

And so I couldn't.

No matter how quickly the tears gathered in the corner of my eyes at that realisation. "I'm…just going to use the bathroom." I stood up too quickly and avoided Christian's gaze as a tear plopped off the end of my nose.

"Rose-"

I escaped his arm as it attempted to grab my wrist and slammed the door behind me, locking myself in the bathroom so that I could get my sobs out without any interference.

Thankfully I had packed something relatively smart that had sufficed for dinner tonight. It was a pencil skirt that was long enough to be elegant and a flowery top that stopped my outfit being over the top. My strappy sandals hurt my feet and didn't do anything for my foul mood.

The pizza was making it hard to stay upset, though. Tasha certainly had good taste when it came to eating out, anyway. The conversation had been neutral so far and easy for me to stay out of. Tasha and Christian talked offensive magic and memories. It was actually nice to hear and had obviously done a lot to cheer Christian up. Seeing his genuine smile and those ocean blue eyes shining made my lips quirk in spite of myself.

"So, what are your plans for next year now?" Tasha inquired nonchalantly, pushing a salad leaf around her plate. "Do you think I might get your company full time now you and Lissa are…separated?"

Christian's eyes flickered to me immediately, though he returned them to his Aunt quick enough. "I think I might still go to Court for a while." He offered, quite clearly to appease me.

Christian would certainly not be coming to Court with Lissa and me. There was absolutely no reason for him to. He'd hate Court and we both knew it.

Tasha's eyebrows shot up as my heart sank. "Really?" She inquired, quite clearly shocked. "Why?"

Christian shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hating the topic just as much as I did. I barely lifted my eyes from my plate – not that I'd made any effort to for much of the dinner. "I really like the look of Pennsylvania College." He lied, offering his Aunt a weak smile. "And besides, my friends will all be at Court. Mia is there already and I know Eddie is hoping to work there rather than being assigned to a Moroi."

"Oh," she mulled this over. "I suppose I did get my hopes up without really thinking it through."

Christian wouldn't be coming to Court.

"So, Rose, do you have your graduation outfit sorted out yet?" Tasha changed the subject, though not an overly better one. Graduation simply meant Christian's departure. This also meant I had to socialise, which I was less than in the mood for right now.

"No, not yet." I hadn't even thought about it, with all that was going on right now. "I'll probably just pull something old out of my wardrobe, to be honest."

Tasha looked terribly affronted. "Oh, no, you can't do that." She waved me off in horror. "There's a gorgeous row of boutiques in the town and I was planning on taking Lissa for this reason, but, I'll be honest, I'm quite sure your figure would suit these gorgeous dresses much better anyway." I flushed at the compliment, images of Christian peeling me out of such a dress coming to my mind unbidden. Now we'd had one intimate moment it was like a floodgate had been opened. The thought of us getting hot and heavy dominated my mind, only to be crushed by the fact it would never happen. It was a vicious cycle.

"I have no money." I apologised, my cheeks still red as I shot a look at Christian, who was also watching me. I groaned mentally. What I'd do to be able to just have him. He was wearing a tight black shirt tonight, showing off the small amount of muscle he'd gained from training with me. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop the desire spreading all over my face.

Tasha waved me off once more. "I have more than enough. It'll be worth it to be able to spend a day dressing you up and to see my nephew's bored face at being dragged around shops."

That earned a chuckle from me. "Okay, that would be great, thanks Tasha." It was so hard to find any anger towards her regarding the Dimitri situation.

Dimitri had been stoic and silent for most of the dinner. He'd shot me glances every now and then with a concerned frown on his face. I obviously wasn't doing a very good job at hiding my foul mood from him. I'd effectively passed it off as being tired to Tasha, I hoped.

Finishing up with the meal, Tasha paid and we left the restaurant. I wasn't unaware of Christian's gaze as it landed on my ass that was shown off just a bit too much in this tight skirt. That did nothing to ease the sexual frustration that had come out of nowhere and seizing me. I couldn't bring myself to look away when our eyes met.

The heat between us was obvious.

I wished we hadn't stopped and been sensible last night.

The car ride home was mostly silent and I was sure being left to my own thoughts wasn't a good thing. I decided to check in on Lissa, but she was practicing her magic with Adrian and I couldn't deal with the weird flirtiness that entered their conversation on occasion and then the awkwardness that came after it. I doubted their relationship would be going back to normal any time soon.

Back in the house, Tasha excused herself to use the bathroom and Dimitri followed her up the stairs, clearly not wanting to be left around me and Christian. I stood awkwardly in the living room, shifting my weight before cursing the sandals out loud. "These things are so damned uncomfortable."

I received a light chuckle. "They look good, though. You look good."

I willed the heat not to rise in my cheeks, but it was unsuccessful. "Thank you. So do you."

We settled into an awkward silence filled with tension that wasn't even remotely innocent. A sudden blackness weighed on my mood though and I began to panic, sending Christian a pleading look. "Christian, Lissa's in a really bad mood." I avoided going into her head for the longest time, instead just having the weight of her blackness pressing against my own mood. It was there, waiting for me to take it from her, before she did something she'd regret.

Christian was instantly in front of me, any thoughts of our romantic dilemma fled from his mind. "What's happened?"

"I don't know, I don't want to go into her head to find out." I admitted, clinging onto his arms as tears formed in my eyes. "I have to take it from her, Christian."

Christian cupped my face with his hands, maintaining eye contact with me. "No you don't. You don't have to at all, Rose. She can work it out for herself. She can cope."

I shook my head, "no she can't."

I let the barrier dissolve, accepting the blackness into me and allowing it to take control. My hands had immediately torn Christian's hands off me, a feral grimace settling onto my features. "I have to get out of here." I explained to him, already walking towards the door. "I have to do something about this. It's not fair, that Adrian can pick up Lissa's moves whilst she can't learn his. How is that fair Christian? Something has to be done."

Christian had realised what I'd done immediately and attempted to block my path. But I was on a rampage, heading for something, anything, that I could take my anger out on. "Rose." My name from his lips was normally something else, but in this state I completely blanked it, my hand yanking the front door to Tasha's house open.

Christian had it closed before I'd managed to leave and had removed my hand from the handle. "You're not going anywhere, Rose."

When I tried again I was forced back against the door, Christian using his entire body weight to restrain me as my wrists were pinned to the hard wood. "Rose." He was trying to get through to a brick wall of hatred and anger. It was useless. "Rose."

I thrashed against him. I just had to do something. There had to be something I could punish for the injustice of Lissa's situation. There had to be something. "Rose."

Christian buried his face into my neck, placing a soothing kiss on the skin and derailing my anger for a moment, letting actual Rose get a look in. "Please calm down, Rose." My name was said with so much despair that I had no choice but to respond, ceasing in my struggling.

Warily, Christian let go of my arms and I threw them around his neck, burying my own face this time and allowing my real emotions to flood me. "I'm so scared." I whispered, sobs wracking my body as Christian clung back.

"It's okay. It's all going to be okay." He had promised it before and he stuck by it now, rubbing a soothing hand up and down my back. "It's fine."

"I don't want to do it anymore. I just don't want this."

"I know." His voice was just as choked as mine and I held on tighter, trying not to let total despair overwhelm me.

The sound of Dimitri's voice cut through the air. "What's going on, Rose?" He demanded, voice oozing of worry. I wondered how long he'd been standing there. Had he seen everything?

Wiping at my eyes and pulling away from Christian, I knew I'd have just smudged my make up everywhere. "Nothing, it's nothing." I dismissed, not meeting his eyes and staring at Christian instead, focusing on the concern in his face. Christian could get me through this, I believed it, but after graduation he wouldn't be there anymore and then what would happen?

"You weren't yourself just then. Something's wrong. I know you, Rose."

I finally brought myself to look at him and register the fear written all over his expression. He'd seen more than enough, then. "Look, it's not a big deal. I can handle it."

"That didn't look like handling anything. Please, just tell me what's wrong. Please."

I shifted, just wanting to get out of here and sleep. I just didn't want to think about it when the experience was still so raw. "Can I tell you tomorrow? I just want to sleep. I will tell you, I promise. Just not right now."

Dimitri was torn, but he eventually sighed and submitted with a nod. "Okay. I hope you're feeling better."

I managed a miniscule smile and returned my attention to Christian, asking with my eyes for him to join me in coming upstairs. It was obvious from his expression he hadn't been planning on doing anything else.

Back in our room, I fiddled with my sheets on the floor in silence, hoping but unwilling to instigate. Christian linked his fingers through mine and pulled me into the bed with him, wrapping his arms around me in a reassuring embrace. "Are you feeling better now?" He inquired, chin resting on my head and fingers threading through my hair.

I nodded. "Yes, thank you." Tears sprung to my eyes despite that statement. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

"I think I'd be a pretty big mess if you weren't around too." He mumbled it into my hair with a small chuckle but a sincere tone.

My hand bunched in his shirt and I swallowed my doubts. "I really like you." I said it a lot stronger than I felt. "I really, really like you Christian."

Christian had anchored my head up by my hair and placed his mouth on mine without a verbal response. This told me more than enough about his emotions.

Our kiss was heated, passionate and my hands clung to his back and laced through his hair as if it was the only thing keeping me sane.

My heart pounded a mile a minute and my skin was on fire, longing desperately for him to touch me everywhere, to take me completely.

I needed Christian more than I had ever needed anyone, in every way.

Our moans were soft as hands travelled across bodies and our kisses never let up, even as clothes were shed and things became as intimate as they could.

We'd deal with this turn of events in the morning, but right now I was quite happy to revel in the coursing desire and genuine happiness that had completely overtaken me.