Rose woke up with a killer headache.

She rolled over and groaned, grasping for the water on her bedside table. Why did I drink so much? she thought to herself, rinsing her mouth with water to get rid of the dead animal taste of a hangover. The clock beside her only read 3pm, the middle of the vampiric night and she greedily drank the rest of the water, looking forward to an extra few hours of sleep before she had to be up.

She rolled over in her bed and snuggled into her covers, feeling fragile and sick. Despite this, she was soon drifting into a sleeping state, vaguely asking herself what on earth had happened last night.

The next time she woke up, she found herself looking directly into a pair of concerned eyes, and she sprang up from her lying position, immediately tense, all traces of sleep gone.

Lissa did not look happy.

The two friends remained in silence as the seconds grew longer, before Rose finally broke the silence. 'Sorry I stole your car.' she said meekly, feeling a little bit remorseful and a more than a little bit scared of Lissa.

'What?' Lissa asked disbelievingly. 'I didn't even know you took my car. How did yo- ugh, never mind.' She stopped mid sentence, sensing some Rose logic coming her way. 'Did you at least have fun?' she asked with a small smile.

'I think so.' Rose replied. 'A lot of the night is a blur.'

'How much did you have to drink?'

'Well,' started Rose, 'I took a flask of straight vodka with me and finished that. Then I got a couple of drinks at the bar, from some guys. I think the bartender bought me one too?'

Lissa shook her head in part amusement, part annoyance. 'Why didn't you ask me to come? You know I would've been up for it! It's been ages since it's just been us two alone.'

Something in Rose's face darkened. 'Maybe because I wanted a night to forget about your Russian shadow, not see him in a club when I'm trying to have fun.'

Lissa frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but promptly shut it. 'You're right. I'm sorry. I know I've been neglecting you recently, and that's the last thing I want to do to my best friend.'

Rose exhaled deeply, letting her words wash over her. She found it was always almost impossible to stay angry at Lissa, especially when she was being so honest. 'Maybe I overreacted to the whole interrogation thing. Maybe. I'm sorry I didn't invite you yesterday. Can I make it up to you?'

Lissa smiled, recognising her oldest friend trying to make amends. 'That would be lovely.' Lissa said earnestly. 'I'm not free today, but tomorrow, I'm all yours!'

'What are you up to today?' Rose asked curiously. She was normally privy to all of Lissa's plans and whereabouts, so not knowing gave her a strange feeling.

Lissa sighed deeply. 'More interrogations. If you're feeling up to it, I'd love for you to come?' she said hopefully.

Rose jumped at the opportunity to both spend time with her friend and be more involved in the current investigation. They arranged a time and place to meet at, and Lissa left, leaving Rose alone with her peace at making up with Lissa, and a hangover that didn't seem to be getting any better.

Entering the hospital room where Melanie, one of the released hostages, was briefly staying, Rose saw Lissa, Dimitri and Christian gathered around her bed, clearly waiting for Rose before starting any questioning. The thought made Rose feel lighter, and she approached the group with a genuine smile.

'What's up, gang?' she said, addressing them all, careful not to pick Dimitri out in her greeting.

Christian answered. 'Not much; we were just waiting for you. You look better than you looked last night.' he said with a smirk.

'It's only up from there, to be honest. I can't really remember much of it, just that the club was called Luna.' Rose replied, suppressing a laugh at Lissa's stern look at them both.

Before Christian had a chance to reply, Melanie, who had been watching this interaction with very little interest, suddenly screamed. A low pitched, keening sound was coming from the back of her throat, and she was getting louder and louder with each breath she struggled to take. Those around her immediately jumped into action, with Lissa moving to soothe her, Rose holding her thrashing limbs as best she could and Dimitri and Christian running off to find a doctor.

Lissa's calming words had little impact on the now crazed woman sitting in front of them. No matter what they tried to do, they couldn't get through to her, and it was easy to see she was becoming more and more desperate. Lissa, already close to her, had to duck her head to avoid her flailing arm from hitting her squarely in the face. Seeing this, Rose instantly moved to shove Lissa away from the bed, but Lissa held firm.

Finally managing to get a grip on her, Rose wondered aloud where the doctors could be. Upon hearing this, Melanie visibly calmed. Lissa took this as an invitation to slowly approach her to keep her in this placid state.

'It's okay Melanie. You're safe here. You're back at court. Doctors are here with you. We will protect you. You're safe here.' Lissa assured, putting on a gentle tone that seemed to relax Melanie enough to still her limbs. Her eyes were still wide with panic, but at least, for now, she was less anxious. Lissa continued these platitudes until two doctors rushed in, with Christian and Dimitri hot on their heels.

The lead doctor took in the scene before her and turned to Rose. 'What on earth happened?' she asked incredulously.

Rose shrugged helplessly. 'I don't know! We were just talking, not even about anything to do with the kidnapping, and she just started freaking out and screaming. It was completely random! I held her down so she didn't hurt herself or anyone else.'

The doctor frowned deeply and seemed annoyed at their intrusion. 'I'm sorry, you have to leave.' She held up her hands to stop the incoming protests from the others. 'I can't have you upsetting my patient when she is clearly not ready to be having any difficult conversations. You will speak to her as and when I give the all clear to do so. We don't know the extent of what Melanie suffered, and until then, I want all of you to stay away from her.' She addressed the last part to Rose, adding on, 'And you can tell Hans Croft that message from me, too.'

She shooed them out unceremoniously, wanting to attend to her now unnervingly still patient as soon as possible.

Christian, Rose, Dimitri and Lissa congregated outside, all wearing equal looks of shock and confusion on their faces. Christian was the first to break the silence. 'What the hell was that?'

Lissa looked concerned and guilty. 'I don't know. I couldn't even calm her. I was trying to use Spirit, but it was like there was a block there. Something wasn't letting me through. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough.'

Rose instantly dismissed this. 'Don't blame yourself Lissa. She's been through so much, there could be a hundred reasons why you couldn't reach her.'

Lissa shifted her weight on her feet. 'This sounds stupid, but... when I tried to make her calm down using Spirit, it felt like I was being watched. Not by Melanie, but by something inside her.'

She was met with blank stares, each trying to process the information. Dimitri spoke for the first time since this ordeal had started. 'We need to tell Hans. And anyone else you think might know what is going on.'

Rose nodded, and added, 'Sooner rather than later. I don't want to panic anyone, but that doesn't sound good. If someone is 'inside' Melanie, they know everything that is going on in Court. You need to tell someone, Liss.'

Lissa squeezed her eyes shut, but took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back. She looked at Christian imploringly. 'Would you come with me, please? I don't think I can face their questions alone.'

Christian looked mildly surprised but agreed, and they both set off towards the guardian headquarters to inform Hans of what had happened, leaving Rose and Dimitri alone.

They walked towards their rooms in silence that wasn't entirely uncomfortable, both lost in their own thoughts about what had just transpired.

'That was quick thinking on your part. Holding her down to protect Lissa.' Dimitri said approvingly.

Rose shrugged. 'Melanie clearly wasn't well and I know she would never purposely hit anyone. I wanted to save her from that guilt.'

Dimitri looked surprised, and then shook his head in wonder. 'I keep forgetting.'

'Forgetting what?' Rose asked, looking up in confusion.

Dimitri's voice was as soft and rich as butter, his tone fond. 'How much you want to save people. It is... beautiful.'

Rose stopped walking, with Dimitri following suit. 'What do you mean?' she said quietly.

Dimitri sighed, visibly expelling all the breath from his body. There was the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and he looked directly into Rose's eyes. 'Your whole life, you've been protecting others. Lissa, Mason, Eddie, any of your friends. I thought that was a result of your loyalty to your friends, but... you'd do this for a stranger? You're trying to spare a stranger from guilt?' He reached out a hand towards her cropped hair, twirling a lock around his finger. 'Time and time again, I underestimate your kindness.'

Rose didn't dare to breathe, instead focusing on the warmth emanating from his hand that was now placed on her cheek. She was acutely aware of how close they were standing, and how unguarded Dimitri's eyes were. For the first time after turning and being restored, Dimitri was letting her see his true thoughts of her.

She thought she saw love in his eyes, but couldn't give herself that hope.

Rose gently leaned into his hand, closing her eyes, relishing the contact with him she had so sorely missed. 'Thank you.' she whispered softly, eyes still shut. She didn't want to break the spell of the moment, but knew she had to.

With a squeeze of his hand and a final parting wave in his direction, she headed off in the opposite direction. She was desperately trying to ignore the feelings of affection that came rushing back, but eventually let it overwhelm her, still feeling the imprint of his hand on her face.

She had to admit to herself that it felt good.

I'm sorry! I just had to end it on a sweet note. I told you they're endgame ;)

Here it is! The (very eagerly, going by the reviews) awaited chapter 8!

I want to thank you all for sticking by me and STILL checking my story for updates, even when I've been particularly inactive recently. Your support is invaluable to me. The fact that people are still finding my story, reading it and reviewing it even though it has been months since I last updated is so humbling - thank you to all that read and reviewed.

Please do leave another review if you liked this chapter - I can't always respond but I do always read them and smile!