Coming Home to You (VA - Romitri)

Chapter 21: Rose POV

Mia raised an eyebrow at Christian. He was lucky – if it had been me, I'd have smacked him. Of course, that's probably why he wouldn't say something like that to me.

"Hi," she said, "my name is Mia, and I've had sex with two guys at one time. Everything 'designer' I own is a cheap knockoff, and I once wore all black and went Goth for a week on a dare."

We all eyed her 'every shade of pink imaginable' ensemble and perfectly styled blonde ringlets.

"Goth." we all said at the exact same time.

"Nope." She looked pleased. "That one's true."

"Seriously?" I asked. "Please tell me you have pictures."

She blushed. "Actually, I do. It was part of the dare, you know – photographic evidence – but I kept them, because I love them. It's like looking at an alternate universe version of myself. In fact," she went on quietly, "sometimes I get them out and stare at them, and imagine what my life would be like if I'd chosen that route, instead of this one," she indicated her outfit, "when I moved here. I had the chance to fashion a whole new me, leave this one back home in Chicago. Maybe, if I'd done that, things would have turned out better with you guys."

"Aw, it's OK Mia." I reached over and patted her shoulder. "We got past all that stuff. And we like you now."

She looked up, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Yeah." Lissa chimed in. "Now that we know how Andre treated you, we totally don't blame you for all that stuff. I mean, you did it with Aaron and Jesse and Ralph just to get back at me and Rose. Really, you punished yourself worse than we ever could. I mean, Aaron was bad enough. And I should know." She shuddered.

I chimed in again. "Yeah, and Jesse was a terrible kisser. I bet Ralph is worse."

Dimitri stiffened when I said that, then relaxed again as I squeezed his hand. And then he turned beet red when I turned to him and added "And thanks again, Comrade, for getting me out of that situation. I can't imagine why I thought making out with him was going to be a good idea. And you're so much better."

"Um, thanks." he choked out.

"Y'know," I added thoughtfully, "I think that's when I realized that I had feelings for you. I mean, there you were, chewing Jesse out for inappropriate male / female relations, having just seen him trying to drink from me after realizing I fed Lissa while on the run..." there was a collective gasp, and I remembered that Dimitri and I were the only ones who had known that fact. Oops. "Anyway," I hurried on, "I was standing there, with my shirt off, wearing that sexy black bra, and you just stared at me, after Kirova hauled Jesse off. And if it was any other teacher or guardian who had caught me, I would have been pissed. But it was you. And the look on your face..." I trailed off, then shook my head to clear it. "Anyway, all I could think was that you would probably be a way better kisser than Jesse. And I wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped in your arms, instead of pinned under you in training."

I found myself staring into Dimitri's eyes, as I finished my impromptu speech, and I recognized the look of passionate intensity in them as the same one I'd seen then. I was about to lean in and kiss him when he spoke.

"I was harsh – too harsh – with Jesse because I couldn't stand the thought of him doing that to you... kissing you... touching you... and then when I saw you standing there, in that incredibly sexy black bra, I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. All I wanted, though I could hardly admit it, even to myself, was to lock the door, wrap my arms around you, and worship you like you deserve. It was the hardest thing I've ever done to turn and walk away."

Then he leaned in to kiss me. Just as our lips touched, Christian cleared his throat, bringing us back to reality.

"Ahem. As touching as this is, it's not your turn! Whose turn is it? Oh, wait, that's right – mine. And I've been waiting forever to lie to you guys."

We both turned to stare at him. Dimitri raised one brow, and I raised both, then lowered them into a scowl. Hey, I figure, since I'll probably never be able to raise one brow like everyone else I know, I may as well turn it into a menacing look.

He just stared at me. "That... was freaky. Don't do that."

I bared my teeth at him and, even though he's the one with fangs, he cowered behind Lissa. Wimp.

"Anyway," he squeaked, then quickly lowered his voice, "I mean, ahem, anyway... I'm Christian. I..."

"Y'know what?" I interrupted. "How 'bout we just skip Chrissy here, since he's being so mean to everyone. Lissa? You've been waiting patiently. Why don't you go?"

She looked confused for a second. 'Rose, what's...' I heard through the bond, and then comprehension dawned. 'Oh...' she shot me an evil smile.

"OK, Rose," she said cheerily, "So, hi everybody. My name's Lissa, and I once stole a motorcycle to get away from a Psi Hound."

Christian just sat there, openmouthed, too shocked at being ganged up on to protest.

"I own 413 pairs of shoes," Lissa continued, "and I absolutely and completely loathe pineapple."

For a moment, everyone just stared at her. I was impressed, actually; those three things were so different, I don't know how those who didn't know her as intimately as I did would possibly be able to choose. I intended to sit this one out, of course, since the game wouldn't be any fun if those who knew the answers could vote. We'd all been playing this way from the start – it just didn't make sense otherwise, even if Sydney hadn't specifically stated it in her rundown of the rules.

'They'll never guess!' came through the bond. I winced. How Liss could manage to squeal inside my head I had no idea. And Liss-in-my-head was just as bubbly as Liss-in-real-life. Sometimes, talking to her was exhausting. I don't know how she managed to live with her bubbly, hyper, squealing personality. If it was me, I'd have gone crazy a long time ago.

Although, a lot of people probably thought the same thing about me. Huh. With the way my Rose-logic made people's heads spin, they probably wondered about my own sanity. Oh, my God! What if I wasn't sane? What if my Rose-logic was just an outward sign of my insanity? What if...

Get a grip on it Rose! I chastised myself. Apparently, they had guessed wrong, because I could hear Lissa quietly chortling to herself through the bond. Or... what if I was really schizophrenic? What if instead of hearing Liss, I was really just hearing voices? Oh, God!

"Guys?" Sydney's voice came to me from a long way away. "Rose doesn't look so good. Maybe we'd better put the game on hold for a bit."

That's a good idea, I thought fuzzily. The room was beginning to spin and tilt rather alarmingly. I wondered why no one else seemed to be affected. Everything started to go gray around the edges. Dimitri's face appeared in front of me, looking concerned, and I tried to say something to reassure him. Before my lips could form the words, everything faded to black.