Birthday Surprises

Adrianna POV

"I'm sorry." I heard Spencer speak softly and when I looked up, he was sitting down in the empty seat beside me and I was shocked.

It was lunch time and we normally sat with our own friends which suited me just fine, we both spent all our time at a boarding school so I could see him whenever I wanted and we both didn't want to be the type of person who ditched their friends for a boyfriend or girlfriend.

"What's he done now?" I looked over at Bri as she spoke, before Spencer had joined us it was just the two of us as Declan and Josh had been distracted by some girl and our Moroi friends hadn't turned up for lunch just yet.

"Placing inappropriate thoughts in my head," I replied and Bri merely rolled her eyes, it goes to show just how often Spencer does this.

"Again?"

"Again."

"I really am sorry," Spencer spoke softly, and I looked over at him. "I didn't mean for you to get angry at me, it was just meant to be a bit of fun." His face softened and I just shook my head before focusing back on my lunch.

Nothing else was said but Spencer wrapped his arm around my shoulders and softly kissed my temple, it was when I didn't pull that he would have realised that while I was still annoyed at him, I wasn't annoyed enough to send him away.

"Spencer." I looked up and gave Declan a look when he spoke, there was such venom in voice as he spoke, and I hated it.

Declan and Spencer didn't get along, I wasn't too sure why Spencer didn't like Declan, but I knew where Declan's distrust of Spencer came from.

It was during the last New Year's Eve party that the senior Moroi were throwing, I still don't know how Spencer ended up there, but things got out of hand when someone had brought a feeder along. The party ended up being broken up in a big way by the instructors and everyone involved was in a lot of trouble, including Spencer.

Declan hated that Spencer was involved in something like that with a feeder that got badly injured and had way too much blood taken from them while Spencer said he had nothing to do with the feeder, he was just there. I trusted Spencer but Declan didn't, I had also threatened some of the senior Moroi to tell me the truth about Spencer's involvement and that they didn't they wouldn't be so pretty to look at anymore.

I took it as enough to know that Spencer wasn't involved and I trusted him but it wasn't enough for Declan and while I was grateful that he was looking out for me, making sure I didn't get hurt. I still hated that they didn't get along.

"Declan," Spencer returned with just as much venom and the only thing I could do was shake my head.

They always had their issues but it was the New Year's Eve party that made it worse, I still to this day don't know exactly what it was that set them off but they were civil enough around me.

"Are you two ever going to get along?" I questioned softly, looking between them, both hoping that one day that they could get along.

"No," they both grumbled together, and I let out a sigh before looking across at Bri.

I had on numerous occasions complained to Bri about the tense friendship between Declan and Spencer, a couple of times I had been tears because I couldn't handle them arguing anymore. It was then that Bri told them what idiots they were being, and they started being a bit more civil with each other. She also said that they were being boys and were just immature but if they cared about me they will put up with each other they do, more so after Bri told them both of how I had been crying over their actions.

Before the crying there had been incidents when I had come across the two of them in fist fights, Spencer was a part of the Moroi body combat class and could hold his own against Declan to a certain point. Their fight broke up when I was yelling at them, tears in my eyes and I couldn't explain what I was more worried about, Declan severely injuring Spencer or Declan getting into a lot of trouble for injuring Spencer. After that event I didn't speak to them for days and I haven't witnessed a physical fight between them since, but I have heard of verbal disagreements between the two. I can deal with the arguments if they didn't turn physical ever again.

I shrugged Spencer's arm off me and pulled away from, he leant over to try and kiss the side of my head, but I just moved to the side not even looking at him.

"Ouch, someone is in the doghouse." I looked up at the sound of Bas' voice and saw he had a massive grin on his face.

Sebastian Tarus was a royal Moroi and was Spencer's best friend since the two of them had grown up together, it didn't matter if Spencer wasn't a royal since his family had money and power and among the Moroi, that was all that matter to some groups of people.

"Bugger off Bas," Spencer grumbled but a small smile appeared on my face.

"Aww don't be like that Spence, it's not my fault your smoking hot girlfriend no longer wants you, it's about time you realised she actually wants me," Bas winked at me and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped, it was a little funny but Bas was also a shameless flirt. He flirted with anyone in a skirt, it's how he was but it never went any further, with me anyway. Normally Spencer had no issues when Bas flirted with me because the two were best friends.

My laughing caused Spencer to look at me and he looked worried, which was unusual for him when it came to Bas flirting with me. "Aw Spence, you worry too much. You know Bas is just a shameless flirt." I leant over and softly kissed his cheek and it seemed to remove his worry.

"See Spence, she isn't mad. Come on, we need to talk anyway," Bas ruffled Spencer's hair and the look he received in return just caused him to laugh.

"I'll see you later?" he questioned softly, and I gave him a smile. He gave me a kiss before getting up and follow Bas back to their usual table.

I wasn't at all surprised that Declan got up and moved around to sit in the seat that Spencer just vacated. "What was all that about Dri?" he hissed, and I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't normally sit with us."

Before I could response Josh, Stephanie and her lackeys had come over to join us and I looked at them while ignoring the finger to my side from Declan. I was beginning to wonder when Josh was going to break up with Stephanie like he said at breakfast and by the look on his face he was getting more and more frustrated with her as the day went on.

"Seriously Dri," Declan spoke to get my attention but his voice low to gather attention from Stephanie. "I mean it out of concern, he doesn't sit with us. We all know you like your space and him spending most of the day with his friends is probably why you two have lasted so long."

I knew he was right, I liked my space and I knew one day when I became a Guardian it would bug me having to be stuck with someone I either didn't know, do know or can't stand for hours on end because I have to protect their life. Spencer understood I liked my space and as such he tended to spend the day with his friends, I spent the day with mine and we spent time together in the evening together before curfew set in.

It was what worked best for me, I didn't feel suffocated. There were even moments with my friends where I just needed a break from all the socialising and they knew when I locked myself in my dorm then I wanted my space but there was an unspoken rule about my door. If it was locked, then I wanted to be left alone but if it was unlocked then I wanted company, but I didn't want to speak about what was bothering.

Classes were over and I barely made it through the afternoon, the first day of classes were generally boring as the instructors droned on about what was expected of us for the year and being seniors it was even worse than previous years as they added in the part about how we will be Guardians in no time and should start acting like one so we can start getting ourselves in the right mindset.

Our morning classes were generally split between dhampirs and Moroi while our afternoon classes were when we were all mixed together. I shared all my afternoon classes with Bri and shared three of them with Declan and Josh while it was a mix for our Moroi friends. I was grateful to realise that the one class I didn't share with Declan I shared with Spencer it allowed us to sit next to each other but of course today Spencer spent the class placing fake memories in my mind, making my annoyance of whole situation much worse.

I didn't know what I was more annoyed about, him placing the fake memories in my head or the amount Spirit he had used today to do so. I knew how taxing Spirit can be on a person and I was worried something was going to happen to Spencer because of it.

I was sitting in my dorm staring at my laptop as I read the email over and over that came from my mother's lawyer, he had been keeping in touch with dad ever since he had brought me home and then when I turned thirteen the lawyer started keeping in touch with me while sending the occasional email to dad. It was a part of my mother's will for the lawyer to check in with me regularly no matter who got custody of me. I had no idea why, I tried asking the lawyer why this was the case when I was fifteen, but he said all will be explained when I turn eighteen and claim everything.

This particular email was different from the others, he was talking about my upcoming eighteenth birthday and reminding me that I would then be able to gain access to everything that was left to me by both my mother and my grandparents since I was the last living member in my maternal line everything went to me.

I didn't know if I could do it though, I had been just fine growing up with what dad could give me, I couldn't decide if I wanted to access something that had been kept from me for a specific reason.

I heard my door open but I didn't turn around, I just assumed it was Bri coming to check on me since I left classes as soon as the last bell rang and came straight to my dorm, not bothering with the gym and what should have been a workout that I said I would do with my friends.

It wasn't until a pair of arms came around me that I assumed it was Spencer, even as a kissed placed against my head I still assumed it was Spencer.

"How did you sneak up here?" I questioned softly, frowning at my computer screen as I read the words once more.

"Easy enough," Spencer replied, and I turned around to look at him, noticing the smirk on his face. "I've done it plenty of times." But his smirk quickly disappeared as he took in the words on my screen and a frown appeared.

"What?" I was worried about what had upset him.

"Why are you in contact with a human?" he growled, and I was shocked. Most of our race didn't communicate with humans for a specific reason and they couldn't understand why some of did communicate with humans.

I knew how he would have worked it out, the sign off from the lawyer had his offices location listed in Melbourne Australia and not too many Moroi or dhampirs lived in Australia, most of our kind stuck to America and Europe.

But for some us it was needed, some of us lived and blended among the humans and others, like me, communicated with humans because they handled some of our business that our own kind couldn't.

"It's the lawyer that has been looking after the estates for both my mother and grandparents, it was a condition that the lawyer kept in contact me over the years to make sure I was fine. It is usually just an email or phone call every couple of months." I pulled away from him and closed my laptop.

"I'm sorry."

That got me, I spun around and glared at him. "Really!?" I snapped. "I've heard a fair bit of that today and it's only the first day of classes." I pulled a face at him before taking a deep breath and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Babe," I shook my head at him, I didn't want to deal with this, but he just took a step closer to me and cupped my face. I tried to pull away, but he kept a firm grip and I didn't really want to use force against Spencer and ruin our relationship because I really didn't want to lose after this long with him.

Spencer took a deep breath before speaking. "Dri, I really am sorry. I didn't know you were contact with the person that oversees your families' estates. I get it okay, you're part human and will always have a connection to that part of the world instead of the rest of the dhampirs that are part dhampir but I honestly thought you wouldn't have any contact with the humans since you've been here with us for so long. You complain about how you barely get to leave the safety of the wards that are Court and the academy."

"And that's understandable but what about the rest of the day, you've used a lot of Spirit today." I responded softly, a frown appearing on my face. "I worry about you."

"You don't have to worry about me," Spencer spoke softly before he kissed my forehead. "I'm fine, honestly and plus you're the one that is going to be risking their life soon enough. You mean everything to me Dri." I couldn't help but smile at that comment and Spencer grinned knowing I wasn't mad anymore.

It didn't take long for Spencer to close the gap between us and kissed me, it took even less time for it to get heated and the two of us end up in my bed.

.oOo.

"Dri, wake up!" I heard Bri yell but all I did was mumbled a mess of words that was meant to be fuck off before I buried my head under my pillow, but it resulted in her stealing my blanket.

I turned my head and cracked open an eye and looked at her. I knew why she was doing this, but it didn't mean I liked it.

Today was my eighteenth birthday but I didn't feel like celebrating much this year, I didn't know if it was the fact that I knew I could now claim everything left to me from my mother's side of the family or the fact that I couldn't celebrate with my mother.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Ellie and she was the best replacement anyone could ask for a mother, but it wasn't the same as having my own.

"Bugger off Bri." I complained before closing my eyes once more.

"Oh, come on, you and I both know how much you love this tradition."

I didn't say anything but I did shift on my bed so she could join me and lay down beside me.

It was tradition for as long as I could remember, we would wake up at the crack of down and head into each other's room and wake them up before gifting them with their presents. She was right though; I did love this tradition and I vaguely remember something about me being the one who started it, but I was excited to see what Bri had gifted me. She wasn't predictable with her presents and I could never pick what she had gotten me, sometimes it would be something she knew I would love, or it was something I had voiced about wanting.

I didn't sit up, but I raised an eyebrow at her, noticing a lack of box. "Where is my present?" I questioned and she laughed before leaning over my bed and pulling up a box.

I eyed the box, I had seen a number of boxes over the years that looked very similar to that one and they normally came from Lissa when she gifted me fancy dresses and I just hoped Bri hadn't caused herself to go broke by buying me one of those dresses. But I also knew that Bri wouldn't buy me a dress that looked like something Lissa would buy, it would most likely be something that would get me in trouble if worn to a school sanctioned function.

I opened the box and was shocked at how bright the red dress was. "It will look amazing on you, I unfortunately am too pale and have red hair, so it clashes," Bri spoke but I was still looking at the dress.

I pulled it out of the box, taking a good look at the dress and noticed it was strapless and most likely going to be incredibly short like all the other dresses that Bri had gifted me, as well being tight. It was something that wouldn't be able at any of the academy dances and I was instantly curious as to why she would gift me a dress like this.

"And where am I meant to wear this?" I questioned, finally looking over at her with a smile on my face, the dress was amazing.

Bri was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Okay, so you didn't hear it from me, but Declan and Josh have organised a surprise party for you. I figured you could do with a killer dress, something to cause all the boys to go crazy."

I internally groaned, Spencer wasn't going to like this. "Spence will go crazy seeing all those guys drool over me." I pointed out but Bri shrugged.

"Who cares, it's your birthday and you can do whatever you want." There was a grin on her face and when she winked at me, I couldn't help but laugh.

As much as I knew Spencer would hate seeing how the other guys react to me in this dress I was actually really excited about the idea of wearing this dress and a party was exactly what we needed since we hadn't had the chance to have one yet this year. My birthday was typically the first one of the year.

"Is Spence even invited since Josh and Declan are organising it?" I questioned; I knew the boys had their issues, but I truly hoped that they could put it aside for my birthday.

"I made sure they invited Spence, don't worry about that." A smile appeared on my face, thank god. There was no way I would have survived it if I had a party for my birthday without Spencer. "Now try this dress on, I want to make sure it looks as good as I hoped it would be."

I grinned at her before scrambling off my bed and getting changed, I was excited to see this dress on.

"Holy shit…" I whispered as I stood in front of my mirror. Bri was right, this dress did look incredible on me and it was definitely short and tight like I suspected it would be.

"I knew it would look amazing on you," Bri spoke, I couldn't almost hear the delight in her voice, and I couldn't help but grinning at her.

I was excited for the party now that I had this dress to wear.

"This dress is perfect, thank you," I walked over and hugged her.

"What is your plan for the day?" Bri questioned as I got changed and hanged the dress up so it wouldn't wrinkle before I was able to put it back on before the party.

I walked over and climbed in beside her on my bed before I spoke. "Mum has flown out with Rose and Dimitri; I'm going to spend the day with them in dad's suite even my brothers are coming up from their end of the grounds." I had heard from Lissa last night, unfortunately her and Christian were unable to come out here but she said they could spare Rose and Dimitri knowing how much it would mean for me to have them here for my birthday. It did mean a lot that they could be here, yeah it sucked I couldn't see Lissa or Christian either but it was what it was, things didn't always go to plan when the Queen was in your family.

"When are you heading down there?" Bri questioned as we both made ourselves comfortable, she had even reached over and grabbed the remote for my television so we could watch a movie.

"Dad wants me there for lunch, Spencer wants to see me and Declan and Josh made a comment about wanting to see me after dinner but I assume that is because of the surprise party they're throwing," I explained and she nodded, still flicking through the choice of movies, I hated that she could never make up her mind but she always had to be the one to pick the movie, I was just glad we had the same taste in movies though.

"Well aren't you little miss popular?" Bri teased as she finally decided on a movie.

It was the crack of dawn and we still had a couple of hours before breakfast so we stayed like that in bed watching movies and it's what our birthday mornings consisted of, we skipped our extra practise sessions on our birthdays so we could stick with our traditions and I loved them, I would definitely miss them next year.

There were days when I would get lost in my thoughts, typically the days where I was having disagreements with dad and it made me wonder what my life would be like if dad didn't claim me, if he didn't know I existed and I stayed among the humans and it was in these moments that I realised how much I relied on Bri, how much I needed my best friend in my life and I would completely lost without her. She was my first friend when I entered this world and she made everything stay up right.

.oOo.

It was time for me to head towards dad's suite so I could spend some time with my family for my birthday, I knew this only happened because my birthday happened to fall on a Saturday, which I loved because it meant no classes. While I knew I would hate not having any workouts put in today because my day was jam packed with family stuff and then surprise parties, I had to remind myself that I was allowed one day off, that I couldn't workout and practise every day because I would run myself into the ground.

I was heading towards the building that housed the Moroi suites, the same ones that housed guests and instructors and while typically students weren't allowed in I had a pass because my dad was an instructor, I wasn't able to abuse it but I was allowed to enter to visit him. Much like my own dorms there was someone who was typical positioned at a desk in the ground level where there was a few lounges, students were allowed in this part of the building because if we had issues with our homework and assignments we could request them to come down and help us, and that's what the lounges were for.

It was when someone reached out and grabbed my arm that I panicked, and my guardian instincts kicked in and my arm swung out to make a grab for them.

"Woah, babe it's just me," I heard Spencer's voice as he managed to duck my arm.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't hear realise it was you. You startled me," I quickly apologised, I was glad that he didn't look upset at my actions, but he did look worried.

"It's fine babe, how did you not hear me though?" He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close and I buried my face in his chest, taking a deep breath.

"Lost in my thoughts I suppose," I mumbled against his chest and I felt him press his lips into my hair.

After breakfast I went back to my dorm to quickly check my emails, I assumed there would be one there from the lawyer since it was my birthday but instead there was another that sent a chill down my spine.

Adrianna, remember I know what you are. No matter how hard you try, you won't be safe forever and at some point, you will be mine.

B.

I had been getting similar emails for the last twelve months, they always said something similar and was always signed by the same B person. I didn't know what they wanted with me and I didn't understand what they thought was so special about me, aside from what I already knew but they couldn't possibly know that, could they?

I knew I should have told someone about the emails but I couldn't bring myself to do it, I couldn't bring myself to tell the adults in my life that looked after me, who cared for me and had done everything in their power to make sure I was safe and the fact that the Spirit in me was kept a secret.

I hadn't had an email for months, so I thought they had given up, but of course one had turned up this morning on the day of my birthday and it unnerved me.

Nothing had ever come from the emails, but it didn't mean they weren't creepy as hell.

"Is everything alright?" Spencer questioned softly and I looked up at him, I could see the worry on his face, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell anyone about the emails.

"Everything is perfect," I gave him a smile that I hoped he would buy and wouldn't see through it. I was happy when he returned the smile before leaning down and softly kissing me.

"Happy birthday babe."

"Thank you," a large smile appeared on my face as I watched him reach into his pocket and pull out a small box.

I knew instantly what I would be gifted with. Spencer always, and I mean always, gifted me jewellery and while they were always stunning pieces of jewellery and I loved every single one of them, well the ones that didn't have emerald gems, I knew I wouldn't get much of a use of them once I was guardian. It was a risk to wear jewellery, it was something that Strigoi could grab and use against me.

I twisted in his arms, them wrapping around my waist as I grabbed the box and carefully opened it. Inside was a simple chain with a small teardrop that a had a round opal gem in the middle. It was plain and simple, something that jewellery from Spencer never were.

"Spencer, it's beautiful." It truly was, I pulled it out and held it out so I could get a good look at it under the lamps surrounding us.

"Here, I'll put it on for you." I let Spencer grabbed the necklace and I lifted my hair, I was bit hesitant to add it to the necklace I was already wearing, the same one I had worn since before freshman year.

Dad had organised to have something of mum's delivered to us, giving me a piece of her before I started the most important part of my education. My final four years at the academy was when they really started focusing on guardian training and it had been full on for the first three years and my last year had been no different so far.

I loved it and only took it off for practical classes, to prevent the risk of it getting broken.

A shiver ran through me as Spencer softly ran his fingers along my neck and exposed skin of my shoulder from the top I was wearing. "I know I always give you jewellery, but I wanted you to have something that wasn't as flashy as you call them," I let out a soft laugh. "I wanted you to have something plain and simple that you can still wear once you graduate."

I turned around and looked at him in shock, I couldn't believe he put this much thought into my present but I didn't have the heart to tell him that this was still something I wouldn't wear once I was a Guardian. Even something as plain and simple as this was a risk.

"It's perfect, and stunning and thank you," I smiled before I leant up and kissed him again, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms tighter around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Adrianna." I heard the deep Russian voice and pulled away, annoyed.

I couldn't believe that it was Dimitri that had caught us in the position that we were, I had been pushed against the wall and Spencer had just slipped his hand under my jumper, his fingers feeling warm against my skin.

I knew from the sound of his voice that he was annoyed at what he was witnessing and the look on his face was even worse and I pulled away from Spencer.

"Dimitri," I flashed what I hoped was my most innocent looking smile. "What are you doing here, I thought I was meeting you in dad's suite."

"Don't play that act with me Adrianna," Dimitri spoke, and I knew I was in trouble, the fact he used my full name didn't help the situation.

I knew Dimitri wasn't happy with the fact that I had a boyfriend, dad wasn't either but both mum and Rose had been able to keep them inline and nothing too bad had happened otherwise. Rose had been the one to convince Dimitri to take Spencer in during the summer otherwise he would have been given a guest suite in the Moroi section of Court and that idea was apparently worse but then Spencer was no longer allowed to visit so it didn't matter.

I wasn't going to leave now, I feared what should happen if I leave Dimitri alone with Spencer.

"I'm just going to leave, I will see you later Dri," Spencer leant over and pressed his lips into my hair before turning.

"Run," Dimitri growled, and Spencer looked scared, I couldn't believe it.

My smile dropped once Spencer was gone and I couldn't help but glare at Dimitri, I couldn't believe he threatened my boyfriend like that and I knew what he meant by run, I just hoped that Spencer didn't.

"Come on Adrianna."

The glare didn't leave my face, but I placed my hands on my hips. "No, this is bullshit, you can't threaten him like that."

"I do as I want; you aren't old enough to date." I couldn't believe he was pulling this card today of all days, not on my birthday that gave me privileges that came with being an adult.

"No, as of today I'm eighteen, doesn't that mean I'm an adult and come June I graduate and become a guardian. Why can't I have fun until then? You can't even blame Spence for anything, there hasn't been a drop in my grades, and I was getting in trouble long before the two of us started dating. Spence isn't a bad influence in the way that you and dad think he is." I argued with him, a glare still on my face.

When Dimitri didn't say anything else, I shook my head before pushing past him and heading towards Dad's suite.

I stormed right in, ignoring those that were in the room and took a seat on the couch, I knew Dimitri entered not long after me but I didn't look over at him as I just put my focus on whatever it was my brothers were doing on the floor, it looked like they were playing a card game of sorts but I wasn't too sure.

Dimitri walked straight passed us into the other room and it wasn't long until Rose came out and sat beside me.

"Heard you were caught with Spencer," Rose spoke but I didn't acknowledge her, I didn't want to discuss this, but she obviously had other plans. "Dri talk to me, don't shut me out again."

It was Rose asking me to not shut her out again is what got, and I let out a sigh before turning to face her. I last time I shut everyone out, it didn't end well for me.

"Dimitri threatened Spence, he threatened him."

"What happened?" Rose questioned, almost as if she didn't believe what I was saying.

"I was heading here from the dorms and Spencer must have spotted me once I was on the Moroi side of the grounds, he pulled me aside to give me my present and I was kissing him as a thank you and Dimitri spotted us like that."

"You know he doesn't like the idea of you dating."

I've heard that so many times of the course of my relationship with Spencer and I hated it, I hated that me as a girl couldn't date. I bet if it was Matt or Nate dating then they wouldn't get the same grief that I was, but I had a strong feeling that they also didn't like that I was dating Spencer.

"He doesn't like the idea that I'm dating Spence," I argued but Rose shook her head, looking over at where Matt and Nate had focused on us, their game no longer important compared to our conversation.

"He just doesn't like the idea of you dating in general."

"That's bullshit."

Rose didn't say anything else but she also knew it got to the point where I didn't want to talk about this anymore, I was sick and tired of being treated like a little girl that wasn't allowed to date.

Dimitri had re-entered the room and I looked up at him, he was carefully watching me, almost as if he expected me to snap at him but I stayed silent.

"Dri, I'm sorry." Dimitri apologised but I couldn't help but notice that as Rose got up to leave, she took my brothers with her, leaving Dimitri and I alone. Bloody traitor, I thought to myself, but I didn't say anything to Dimitri, just watched him carefully.

I didn't know what more to say on this subject, I knew he didn't like Spencer and didn't like that I was dating him. It was when I was waiting for something else to be said that my hand went to the necklace that belonged to my mother and I wondered how she would have reacted to everything that's happened in my life, how she would have handled the whole vampires are real aspect of my life and what she would have thought of her only daughter dating one.

Dimitri said something in Russian and all the tension I had in my body left as I leant back against the couch and closed my eyes to listen to him.

I didn't understand Russian, I didn't have the patience to learn another language while at points I wish I did. For all I knew he said 'I like cotton candy and bubble baths' but for some strange reason whenever Dimitri spoke in Russian, his voice sounded so soothing and my nerves and tension disappeared. It worked with any language, although they had learnt it was more soothing when I trusted the person speaking but it was most common for Dimitri to calm me with Russian.

I wasn't too sure why it worked but all the adults said it came back to when I first arrived at Court. I wasn't sleeping properly and when they realised it worked Dimitri was on the phone to his family, speaking Russian as he normally does with them and I relaxed enough to fall asleep on the couch as I listened to his side of the conversation. Ever since Dimitri would speak to me in Russian and it soothed me, it stayed that way as I got older and no one knew why it worked as well as it did.

"I didn't mean to lose it like that, I just don't want to see you treated poorly by a Moroi," Dimitri spoke softly, and I opened my eyes to look at him. He also used Russian to calm me down so we could have a rational conversation instead of me yelling at him.

"I've been with Spencer for eighteen months and nothing bad has happened, he treats me perfectly fine Dimitri, I don't understand why you're so worried when he hasn't done anything to make me think otherwise," I pointed out and he nodded, walking over and taking a seat beside me.

"I still don't like."

I gave Dimitri a smile. "I never expected you too, I just wanted you to accept it and the fact that he makes me happy and be happy for me and if Spence ever did break my heart then I expected you to hurt him then."

Dimitri didn't say anything in response, just had a smile on his face and we both knew it was true except one thing. Both he and Rose would attempt to do something to Spencer should he ever break my heart and he wouldn't be safe from them, probably none of the guardians that cared for me.

We made it through lunch and everyone was asking how classes were going and I said they were fine, giving them the information they wanted to hear but it was Matt and Nate who jumped in at the chance talk about what entertaining things were happening down at the junior part of the academy and I barely paid attention to the story since they were always similar, something did something stupid because they thought it would be hilarious but I couldn't judge my brothers, me and my friends did similar things at their ages.

Once lunch was finished I escaped out to dad's balcony, his apartment was on the fourth floor and he had a good view of the grounds, the back of it where students typically didn't go and I was able to see the typical landscape of Montana, despite how cold it was getting already.

I had this thing about always being outside, I missed the sun immensely and it was partly why I snuck out of my dorm as much as I did. It's how Anastas and I first begun talking, he caught me out of my dorm, just sitting in a clearing nearby and it didn't take him long to learn that I didn't do anything, I just sat there wanting fresh air and the sun since the window in my dorm didn't open, it was busted.

"Are you alright?" Dad's voice interrupted me from my thoughts, but I didn't turn to face him, just continued to sit there in the chair watching the stars.

"I'm fine," I responded quietly, and it wasn't long until dad came and joined me at the small table, I was sitting at but nothing else was said.

Dad placed an envelope on the table and pushed it towards me, I caught the action out of the corner of my eye, and it spiked my interest. I picked up the envelope, I was confused about the envelope but didn't say anything as I faced him properly, waiting for him to speak first.

"It's your birthday present, open it." Was all he said but I just watched him for a moment before looking back at the envelope in my hands stayed still while I was completely confused about it.

It was when dad let out a laugh that I finally opened it, shocked at the contents as it wasn't anything of interest and I pulled out the piece of paper and unfolded it.

I couldn't believe it was plane tickets to Melbourne Australia, now I was shocked. We both knew the moment I turned eighteen I could claim everything left to me by my maternal family but I just assumed that the lawyer would come out here and I would meet him in the local town since I wasn't typically allowed to leave the safety of the wards.

"I just assumed…" I trailed off, staring at the tickets as I realised there was only two tickets in here.

"That you wouldn't be allowed to go?" I nodded at his question, hoping he would continue. "Originally, we were going to get the lawyer out here and you would meet him in town, but he wasn't able to come. Alberta said you've stayed out of trouble so far this year, mostly, and your grades are still top of the class, so she is allowing the weekend pass for this. Most students get approved for leave for extreme circumstances and this classifies."

"I just assumed you wouldn't want me leaving the safety of the wards," I responded.

"You would have had to; the lawyer obviously couldn't come here for the obvious reasons so that meant you leave the wards to go to the local town." Dad pointed out and I nodded.

"But there are only two tickets meaning you aren't coming with me; it means it's just a guardian coming with me." I explained, watching dad carefully.

"Yes, Guardian Anastas is going with you."

I held my groan in, knowing this wouldn't end well. "Of course, he is," I muttered, hoping dad wouldn't realise I was displeased with this situation. I folded the paper and placed it back in the envelope. I was torn at the idea of spending the weekend in a foreign country with Anastas.

"Are you alright with him going with you?" Of course, dad picked up on my displeasure.

"Sort of, we get along just fine so that isn't the problem," I responded, turning around in the chair to face him properly. "You're an instructor here, surely you've heard how the female student refer to him, I just worry about what will get said with the two of us disappearing for the weekend."

"I have but I also hope I know you well enough to not do something so stupid as to have sex with an instructor," Dad responded and I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face before I let out a laugh.

"I'm not worried about that, I'm not that stupid. I'm worried about the rumours that will pop up in my disappearance, especially if they work out that we're together." I responded calmly, I was truly about the rumours because of my last name everyone knew who I was, and I was typically heard about in rumours much to my displeasure.

"I know," dad responded, and I was shocked at how he understood what I was getting at, but it was still happening this way. "It's why I'm going back to Court as well, we will all leave for Court at the same time and return at the same time, everyone will just assume Anastas has to take care of something at Court and then the two of you will fly out of the public airport near Court, we've done it this way to try and help reduce the rumours."

I was grateful that they went to this much effort to try and make this work for me, to try and limit the amount of rumours that would appear on my expense if anyone knew the truth about who I was going to Melbourne with.

I stood up and walked around the table, hugging him and I knew I shocked him because it took him a second to wrap his arms around me. "Thank you, this means the world to me, you have no idea," I spoke quietly but dad didn't need to say anything else.

.oOo.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story, it means a lot to me.

Thank you to MariaBelikova for reviewing.