Does Love Really Fade? {Vampire Academy}

The Right Track

I waited for three days for Sydney to get back to me, but she never did, so I resigned myself to the fact I was going to have to talk to Dimitri. Unfortunately, I hadn't seen him since that day in the gym, which I figured meant he was avoiding me. Especially since I'd gone to the gym at six different times in the past three days.

So the next day, while I was walking with Lissa to a council meeting (which she was allowed to go to but had no voice in) I found myself asking her for his number.

"Really? I didn't think you'd be ready to talk to him until at least the third week." She mused.

"It's not that, Liss. Part of that super-secret-business I've been working on the past couple of days."

"Huh. When are you going to fill me in on that? I know you're not worried about losing your job so why won't you tell me?"

I shrugged, "Thanks for that. But it's personal, I told you that. I'm only bringing Dimitri into it because even if personally we've been through some shit, I trust him on a professional level and he's got connections no one else I trust has."

She frowned but nodded, "Alright. But promise you'll come to me if you need anything. Anything at all."

"I will, I promise."

She stopped and pulled me into a hug, "Rose. No matter what we've been through, you're still a sister to me and I want to be there for you. I owe you. Seriously."

I squeezed back, "Thanks, Liss, but if anyone owes anyone, I owe you for ditching you twice. Plus, you saved Dimitri, even though I told you not to. It might not have worked out exactly how either of us thought, but I'm here now, and I promise I'm not going to stay away for long."

"I wish you wouldn't go at all."

"I can't exactly bring Daniel here. Or my other friends for that matter."

"That's what makes it so hard to tell you to just stay. Just- I can't tell you how to live your life. That's why you ran in the first place. But I'm telling you right now, you're missing out on a whole lot more than you think by staying away. I miss my best friend. Mia's great and all, by she's no you."

I snorted, "As if Rinaldi could ever replace me. Though, I haven't really seen her lately. Movie night at your place?"

"Sure. I'll text Mia about tonight and give you a time. Oh right, Dimitri's number." She held out her hand and I put my phone into her hand so she could enter it.

"Sounds like a plan," I said as I took the phone back. "Go kick some royal ass."

"I wish I actually could, sometimes."

You will soon. I thought with a sigh as I saluted her at the door to the council chambers. Then, I pulled up the number Lissa had given me. My thumb hovered over the call button for at least ten minutes as I slowly walked to my room. Eventually, I settled on a text.

Hey, Dimitri. This is Rose. It's not exactly urgent but I do need to talk to you, soon. It's a sensitive matter, so it'd probably be best if we met at yours or my place.

I was well aware that he could take the wording to mean something extremely inappropriate, but I hoped he was still as stoic as he used to be and took it to mean business. Still, it felt strange, knowing I'd soon be completely alone with Dimitri. If he responded, that is. Which is probably why I found myself calling Daniel.

"Rose! Hey, I was beginning to worry! I would have called but I figured you'd be super busy so I was waiting for you."

"If I'd known that I would have called earlier. But you're right, I have been busy. Apparently, there's this huge family secret only Lissa's distant Aunt knew about and she's entrusted me to deal with it."