Lissa waited by the gates in front of the Academy, completely quiet. She was cold, and not just on the outside.

How could she have been so blind? It should've been obvious from the beginning, she knew Rose better than anyone, and yet…

She sighed. Lissa was reluctant to admit that she had been to wrapped-up in her own problems to notice the glaring truth, but she had. Even so, she should've known. Rose should've told her.

Should've, could've, would've – it didn't matter anymore.

She was still waiting, because she knew – she just knew, with a scary certainty – that she'd come. Because Rose had promised him, that day on their way to the mall.

Rose rarely broke her promises.

Oh, everyone thought she was the selfish friend, all taking and no giving. And maybe she was. But she still knew Rose better than anyone. She still loved her. They were twins in all the ways that mattered.

Lissa wasn't about to let her best friend go off on a Strigoi killing-spree, though she'd been a lousy friend as of late.

It didn't matter. They were too ingrained into each other – too fused – to be broken apart by a man that had come into their lives merely a few months ago. Too together to be broken up by anything. Inseparable.

When you spend so many years with someone, even if your relationship is not romantic, you can't just let them go. It's not that simple.

It's never simple, is it?

Lissa hugged herself. Rose couldn't leave. She wouldn't – she loved her too much. Plus, she hadn't really promised him anything verbally.

They were real friends. Real friends – best friends, sisters, even – didn't abandon one another.

Hearing the crunching of snow underneath boots, Lissa stood up. It didn't occur to her, for even one second, that she might be wrong.