"Life's a bitch. So is Tasha. I should be glad that she got Belikov away from Rose, but I'm not. In fact, I'd almost rather her bring him back and hand him to Rose with a ribbon around his neck. No, not to strangle him, just as a gift. Rose hasn't been the same without him gone, and it is killing me to see her acting so…heartbroken." I pause, waiting for my tongue to catch up to my brain. "Love triangles suck. So do love squares. There should only be love lines, with two points, meaning me and Rose, and what lies between them. I just met Rose too late. If I'd seen her first, she would have been mine."

The girl next to me, who I think said her name was Diane, is looking at me sympathetically, and I'm glad somebody cares that I'm in pain. "You poor thing." She says quietly. Her voice is so low it's seductive, but I'm just not interested.

"And why does she love him in the first place?" Diane flinches, and I think it's cause my voice is getting louder. "I'll tell you why. Because she can't have him. Mmhmm, that's it." I turn to take a swig from my crystal glass, but there's nothing in it. For some reason, that makes me really sad, and I tip the glass upside down, waiting to see if any droplets will run out and bead on the counter. But I wasn't going to mope tonight. Nope, I'd come out to have some fun, and I was going to have some fun. I slam the glass on the counter and scowl. "More!" I call. The bartender, a big muscled guy with a head so shiny I can see my reflection in it, rolls his eyes at me. It occurs to me that I should kick his ass, but I'll let it slide. I'm feeling gracious.

"I think you need to get your mind off of Rose." Diane says, sidling closer to me. The action wasn't interesting though; Hell, it was just short of repulsive.

"You don't understand, Di-ane." I made her name two syllables. Well, it was already two syllables, I just made sure she knew it was. I guess she already knew that, because she looked at me in disgust.

"My name is Daisy."

"Really?" I think she's joking, cause I swear she told me her name was Diane.

"Yeah. Remember, I said, 'I'm Daisy'? And then you started talking about roses?"

I smile, because now I know what she's talking about. "That's right. Daisy's are nice flowers." I said absently. She seemed to take that as a compliment. "Of course, Roses are my favorite."

Daisy takes a step away from me and throws her hands all in the air. I think she's trying to look all exasperated, but she only looks like some kind of swamp monster. "I'm not going to stand here and listen to you talk about another girl!" Her voice was whiny. I looked at her feet, taking in the high red heels. The point doesn't look like it's big enough for all of her weight. I don't blame her for not wanting to stand.

"That's ok." I'm trying to be a perfect gentleman now, because that's the way Dimitri acts. He's definitely the type of guy that pulls out chairs and opens doors. So I hooked my foot around the bar stool and pulled it closer. "Sit down."

Daisy didn't look too much more thrilled, which I think is stupid, since I bothered being all gentleman-y and now she's snubbing me. That's very un-ladylike. "I don't want to talk about Rose." Daisy clarifies, and I feel as that dawns on me.

"I'm glad you don't." I tell her seriously. "Because I don't want to talk about her either."

She looks a little hesitant, but she decides to sit down anyways and smile at me. I return her smile, and nearly kiss the bartender in gratitude when he refills my rum. "How about a little something for the lady?" I ask, just before he walks away. The bartender turns back around and looks at Daisy all annoyed.

"What are you drinking?" That's a stupid question, I think. She's not drinking anything. That's why I asked for one for her.

Daisy's eyes scan the bottles in the back of the bar. They are all alight from the neon signs, and she seems overwhelmed. Sensing his impatience, she decides. "I'll have a beer." She says, sounding relieved to have made that choice.

"Really?" The bartender asks dryly. He kind of looks like Mr. Clean, from the commercials on TV. "We only have twenty seven different kinds."

"Oh." Daisy's chewing on her lip now. I find it repulsive. She must be masochistic. Or else she likes the way her lips taste. That's awfully conceited…and gross. "Just a Heineken, then."

I don't hide the grimace. "Heineken? That's gross."

"Does it taste bad? I've never drank before."

"No, no, it doesn't taste bad." I didn't like a girl drinking beer. She should be drinking something cute and fruity. Or else trying to keep up with the big boys. I know Rose could probably out drink me if she tried, and she would have none of that sissy shit, like cosmopolitans. And certainly not a beer, because girls just don't look cute with beer in their hand. Rose probably would, but she's an extenuating circumstance. She's better than the other girls. My brain finally processes that Daisy said she's never drank before. I nearly drop my glass in shock. "You've never drank alcohol before?"

Daisy shakes her head, and I think she's only trying to look innocent. "Nobody's ever bought me a drink before." She's beaming, and I smile cause now I can say I was her first. And then, I stop smiling.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen." She's smiling now, all proud of herself. I stand up so fast the bar stool goes clattering to the floor. "What's wrong?" Daisy's pouting suddenly.

"Sixteen?"

"Yeah."

"Aw, shit." I look around, expecting somebody to come running over and arrest me. But nobody is going to. "Damn jailbait." I mutter, and Daisy looks put out. I reach into my pocket for a twenty, but I pull out a fifty instead. I slap it down on the counter and walk away from the bar as quickly as I can, leaving Daisy on her stool of rejection.

But tonight is Rose's night off, which means it's my night off from pretending that I'm alright with just being her moroi to protect. I'm not done drowning my sorrows in whiskey or whatever gets poured into my drink, so I decide not to leave yet. Instead, I go to where the other bar is on the far side of the room and take a seat. I didn't notice the pretty little red-head sitting next to me until I turned to get the bartenders attention. This girl was different than Daisy. She didn't have her cleavage in my face for one thing, and her hair didn't have a different color coming out of the roots. I decided that was refreshing, and so I introduced myself.

"I'm Ivashkov." I say with a smile. She turns to look at me, and she seems irritated, like I interrupted something. "Adrian Ivashkov." I inform her, noting that I had called myself by my last name. I hadn't done that in years. At least, not since my whole James Bond phase. That had been probably five years ago. It was pretty short-lived, cause it gave way to my Risky Business phase. That was short too, cause the maids always yelled when I slid into the kitchen in a button up and tighty whities. That's why I switched to boxers.

"I'm going to kick your ass." I start scowling, because this girl has a manly voice. And then I realize it isn't her voice, it's somebody behind me. I turn around real quick, showing off my cat-like reflexes. I'm sure this girl wants me now that she saw how quick I move. But as I'm turning around, I feel a pressure on my head and I can hear something crack. I turn to look at a tall, thick-muscled man. His face looks pissed, and he's holding his nose. AT first I think he must smell something bad, and I think the red head next to me was wearing a little too much perfume. And then I notice he's holding his hands to his nose because blood's dripping from it. It's sort of nice that he doesn't want to get it all over the carpet.

"Here you go." I hand him the hanky I have in my breast pocket. Even on a night on the town, I'm dressed up for business. I think it would ruin the royal image if I went to a bar in board shorts and a nintendo shirt. It disappears in his massive fist and I'm feeling all nice, like I did my good deed for the day, until he throws my hanky on the floor. I give him a disapproving look and bend down to pick it up. I feel him put his foot on my back, and I'm thinking that's pretty rude. I try to stand up, but he's a big guy with his weight on me. It's actually a little funny, though, and I really just want to laugh it off. I try standing up again, and notice his weight is gone. And for that matter, so is he.

I look across the room and see he didn't go far. Some short little girl is standing in front of him. Probably his girlfriend, mad he was defending another girl. But as she moves and strikes out at him with a precision so beautiful it makes me want to cry, I realize I know that girl. I would know her anywhere. "Hey Rose." I'm all smiles as I stumble to her, resting my chin on her shoulder, which requires me to slump down since I'm already taller than her. She shrugs me off, so I pay attention to the man bending over double, his hands still around his nose. Rose takes a step closer to him and grabs the collar of his polo shirt, dragging him up. His shirt had red spots on it, and he's looking at it like he wants to cry. Maybe he wasn't concerned about the carpet after all.

"Don't mess with him again." She warns, her voice like an angels choir even when she's threatening this man. Just for good measure, she throws him back on the ground, and his head hit's the ground a little harder than necessary. Rose draws me near and wraps my arm around her shoulder. I feel like we're teenagers on a movie date, like this is some forbidden thing, and I feel so giddy thinking about that, I stick my tongue out at the man on the ground as Rose and I walk by him.

We step out into the October air, and it feels a little more refreshing than being in the stuffy bar had. I turn to look at her, putting a hand in her hair. It's so soft, and I just want to pet her, but I don't want to creep her out. "My knight in shining armor." I smile brightly. She was wearing a red tank top with a black leather jacket, but damn it looked good. I didn't even mind that she wasn't shining.

"Causing trouble again?" She says, disapproving. I frown at her, offended.

"No. I'm not causing any trouble at all."

"So why was that guy going to kick your ass?"

"I don't know. I was trying to ask him that, but he was bleeding, so I offered him my hanky, and he dropped it. So I tried picking it up and then you came to save me." I was leaning on her heavily, but she was strong and sturdy, built up from years of training at the academy. Who would have known she would be saving me from assholes in bars rather than defending Lissa from Strigoi?

"He was bleeding cause you broke his nose." She said, laughing. I looked at her like she was stupid.

"I did not. I never even got to touch him cause you came in."

"You broke his nose when you turned around. Didn't you feel it?"

"Oh." I say, rubbing my head. "That's what that was." Rose is smiling, and that makes me feel good about myself. We're heading back to my apartment. Normally, she would stay in her room at my place since she's the near guard, but as tonight's her night off, she'll most likely stay with Lissa or somebody. That's bringing me down, though, so I look at her again and feel better.

We make it to just outside the apartments, and I notice there's a puddle on the ground in front of the door. It has been raining a lot this year. Without a second thought I pull my jacket off and lay it on the ground. Rose looks at me, concerned. "What the hell was that for?"

I shrug. "It's wet."

"Yeah…"

"It seemed like something Dimitri would do." I mumble, and she shakes her head, fumbling with the keys. She gets me into the house and we head to my room, where she lets go of me. I flop down on the bed face-first, not wanting to move.

"You going to change?" She asks after a moment. I turn to look at her, grinning.

"You want to see me naked?"

Rose rolls her eyes. "As if I haven't seen that before." She's digging through my dresser, and she hands me a shirt and a pair of basketball shorts I wear only to bed. I take my shirt off and throw it on the floor, deciding I'll worry about it tomorrow. I don't bother replacing it with the one she gives me, instead I change into the basketball shorts. I see Rose leaning against the door frame, and her face looks troubled.

"What's the matter?" I ask, flopping backwards. She moves to sit on the bed by me, and I like that she's so close. She smells really good.

"When you put your jacket on the ground…"

"I was trying to be a gentleman." I explain, thinking of old black and white movies.

"Yeah. You said it was something Dimitri would do?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He would do that. He's a show-off." She sighs, and I wrap an arm around her the best I can manage. "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend him." Rose's lips twitch, and I think of questioning it, but decide against it. I lay down, my head in her arms and let my thoughts keep swirling around me like a tornado. I was the trailer park.

I don't know how much time passed, but Rose finally relaxed into the bed. She was tired too, and we lay there for a while. I didn't move, so she thought I was asleep. "I love you."

I pause, so still I'm not even breathing. As my brain processes what she said, I turn my head toward her and turn off the thinking part of my brain. I kiss her, and for the first time since Dimitri has been back in the U.S., and not a strigoi, she kisses me back.

a/n: I wasn't in the mood to write for my other story, so i did this. i hope it is well-received, cause i had a blast creating it. i love adrian so much. if i could pluck him from the book, i so would. =) ok, tell me your thoughts please, my friends. you got this far...it won't take too much longer to leave me a review, and trust me, I think it's worth it. :) Love, BelleCeline