"He mentioned Tasha."

I froze.

"Oh?"

"She...she's been asking to see me." He let out a deep breath. "I don't know what to do." That immediately put me on edge. Why would he even consider talking to the women who tried to kill me?!

"What are you thinking?" I tried to stay calm and let him explain himself, but you could hear the tension in my voice.

"I just want to see what she has to say. I think...On one hand I never want to see her again, she almost...she tried to..." He held me just that little bit closer. "But she was also my friend for years." He sighed. "I'm just curious about what she could possibly have to say? They said she's been showing no remorse, that she's flat out denying all charges. That doesn't sound like the Tasha I knew." He moved our fingers so they were linked, his other hand still in my hair. "I just don't know what to do."

"Do what you think is right Dimitri." I could see where he was coming from; if Lissa had suddenly tried to kill Dimitri, I'd think I'd want some answers. I couldn't hold it against him.

"And I don't want her to lash out in court, you know, say anything untoward just because I've been ignoring her. What do you think?"

"You...you have to do what's best for you. If you think you need closure, answers, then go for it. I'm not going to stop you." I paused. "That doesn't mean I'm going to go with you either." I don't think I could bare to see her all simpering around Dimitri again.

"I don't need closure, she means nothing to me any more." He sighed. "I just want to know what...why she would ever try to do such a..." He shuddered.

"Hey, it's okay." I kissed his chest. "I'm fine. You're fine. We're both okay." I knew how much my being shot affected him, but I still hated to see him so upset. He took a few deep breaths.

"I'm not going to go." I looked up at him, surprised.

"No? Why not?"

"I don't ever want to see her again. After what she put us both through, I can't believe she's the same women I met when I was 19. She is nothing like her." He shook his head. "I don't care about answers. As far as I'm concerned, she's delusional and dangerous." I frowned, unhappy that she'd even put us in this situation. "I'll tell Christian tomorrow. I can't look at the women who tried to hurt you. I just can't."

"Well, if you're sure." I was slightly relieved though. I didn't like the thought of Tasha any where near either of us.

"Sorry I brought it up." I smiled softly up at him.

"You can tell me anything you want Dimitri, and I won't ever mind." He smiled back at me.

"Time for sleep I think. We both have full days ahead of us." I kissed him softly before returning back to his chest.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" I waltzed into Lissa's apartment, stealing a piece of toast from the side.

"Why are you so happy this morning?" She was busy sorting out some papers on the side.

"No reason. Just happy." It might have had something to do with my shower this morning, and the very muscley Russian who joined me.

"Hmm. Well stop eating my breakfast." I grabbed another piece of toast from her plate.

"No time for food." I explained, my mouth full.

"Oh ew. Nice to see your manners have improved." I resisted the urge to retaliate, simply smiling and stealing a sip of her tea.

"So, what are we doing?" I hadn't had an official itinerary through, so it was one of Lissa's 'free days', if you could call them that.

"I need to go to the royal tailors. There are a few state banquets and such coming up, and I need to pick some dresses."

"Ooh, shopping Queen style." She rolled her eyes.

"We also get the mall to ourselves for a few hours." I perked up at that.

"Now that sounds better than sitting around and watching you being poked and prodded." She finished up and picked up her bag. "Hang on, we're going now? Its-"I checked my watch. "It's half past 8 in the morning! What's the hurry?"

"We're going dress fitting from 9 till 11, and then we hit the mall."

"Two hours? How many dresses are you buying!"

"They need all sorts of dresses and measurements. We might as well get all the dresses at least ordered now, so I don't have to keep going back." She yawned. "I hate it just as much as you do." I sighed and followed her out the door.

"And turn to the left please Your Majesty." I yawned again. This had been going on for an hour already. Turn this way, lift your arm up, breathe in, breathe out, legs straight, legs bent. Lissa complied willingly, showing her ever-present patience.

"Thank you Your Majesty. Now we'll bring out the sample dresses." The dressmaker tottered off, her apprentice or whatever following behind her with the clipboard.

"At last." I muttered.

"Rose." Damn she heard me. The small woman tottered back in, flanked by eight assistants, each holding multiple dress bags. I sat up straighter. Now we're talking.

The sheer amount of fabric these people had was astounding. They were mainly pastel or floral, and most made her look about 20 years older.

"Hold up, what's with all the old women clothes?" Lissa looked sharply at me.

"Rose!" I shrugged.

"What? You're 18 years, old, not mid-forties. Bring out some bolder colours! At least dress her her age." The kindly old lady turned on me.

"And you think that a Queen can show up to the state banquet, with monarchs and officials from all round the world dressed like a teenager on a night out? I mean honestly, she needs to look mature and regal. Not like a common tart." Woah where did that come from.

"I'm not saying change the styles of anything! I'm telling you to dress her like a hooker, just make it look a bit less frumpy and a bit more youthful." I got up to one of the dress rails. "Look at this one. Dark blue, classy but not old lady-ish. Or green, green looks good on Liss." I wondered around and grabbed a few dresses off the rail. One of her assistants, one not much older than us, came up and helped me.

"Not hot pink, that can never look classy. But this deep red, with the right material and cut, will look good." She was in her element, and I let her flitter through the rails.

"Jane! That will be enough. I am the head dressmaker, I make the decisions."

"Hang on a minute." Lissa's quite, but firm voice sounded out. "Let's have a look at what – Jane is it? - picked out. I like the look of that blue."

An hour later, and they had much more suitable samples for Lissa to try on. Of course, some of the pastels stayed, but we made another appointment in a weeks time to have a meeting with just Jane to go over dress designs. The nearest official engagement was a month away, so we had time.

Bossy-lady wasn't happy, but I kindly reminded her that the Queen could just employ Jane as an independent dressmaker, meaning they would lose all state business. That shut her up pretty quickly.

We made our way towards the Court Mall; not so much Abercrombie and Forever 21, more Gucci and Prada.

"Bloody hell Liss, I know you're made of money, but I'm still on a budget!" I looked at the shop displays enviously. What I wouldn't get to buy a few of those clothes.

"This is a free shopping trip." I rolled my eyes, not taking my eyes off a pair of Jimmy Choos.

"I'm not having you pay for me again." They really were perfect.

"This whole thing is free. The designers want the publicity of having me wear their clothes. I get free reign on anything. Including you." I looked up at her.

"Please tell me you're not kidding." She shook her head, grinning.

"Whenever you want a shopping trip, just give me a call." I flung myself at her. In my peripheral I saw a few guardians flinch towards me, but no one moved closer.

"You are literally the best friend ever." I looked at all the shops in front of me. "Let's go shopping!"

Four hours later, and I was still in heaven. While dresses were more Lissa's thing, I found myself swooning over the Vera Wang evening dresses and the Louboutins. I also picked some things up for Dimitri, but lets be honest, he wouldn't mind if it was a Gucci sweater or one from Target. Nevertheless, I threw a good number of sweaters, shirts, jeans, shoes and pretty much everything else I saw that I could imagine him in. I was going to get him a watch too, but left it. He had the one his mother bought him for his 18th Birthday, and that meant a lot more than a free Rolex.

We'd hit pretty much every shop, and had one left – the lingerie store.

"Oh my God Liss, who pays $200 for a bra." Although it was a beautiful bra. I threw it into my basket.

"Slow down Rose! You've nearly filled that basket." I shrugged.

"Everyone needs underwear." She gave me a knowing smile.

"Has the red lacy number I saw a few weeks ago survived?" I looked up at her.

"Possibly not." I blushed slightly.

"Once we're finished here we're going back to your place. We need some girl time." I grinned. It had been too long since we had hung out, just us two.

If I'm being honest, I was a lot more excited about the lingerie than some other stores. Lissa found it funny that I spent so long browsing through rails of panties, corsets, negligee and nighties. What can I say? I wanted to look good.

At last, we had finished. I swiped a few bottles of hard liqueur on the way out, earning me an evil grin.

"As long as you don't wonder round Court drunk, I figured it's okay." She just grinned again.

Her bags were dropped off at her building, before the car took us right up to the front of my building. Two guardians stayed outside my building, another three in the lobby, and four rode in the lift with us, another three walking the stairs.

Two entered my apartment first, searching the area before letting us in. I almost rolled my eyes at this, but she was the Queen. Two stayed outside my front door and the other two walked around the top few floors. Lissa took it all in her stride – it was general procedure for her.

We collapsed onto the sofa, my bags being dumped around us. I heaved myself up, getting fruit juice and glasses for our cocktails.

"Right, tequila time." I set out the shot glasses, the salt and the lemons, and we were away.

It took three shots to get Lissa tipsy. She went straight in for the big one.

"How is Dimitri in bed?" She was sipping on her Sex on the Beach, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Woah Liss, at least lead up to it." I took another swig of coconut rum before adding some to my Pina Colada.

"Fine. What's the weirdest place you've ever done it?" I chewed on my straw, thinking it over.

"A plane?"

"Bloody hell, you've joined the mile-high club before me." I snorted, finishing off the dregs of my drink, before topping hers up.

"Your turn."

"In a church." I rolled my eyes.

"Attic doesn't count. Try again." She went a deep crimson.

"No, I mean in the church. The attic was locked so we did it behind the alter..." I gaped at that one.

"Liss! That's sacrilege!" She giggled.

"What have you done? Like, how far have you gone?" I looked at her.

"Ask me what I haven't done." That set her off, giggling away.

"You've done, you know, the big one then?" I took anther shot.

"You're gunna have to decode that for me." She blushed again.

"You know..." She shuffled in her seat, and I was still none the wiser. "You know, the big one..." She shifted again and smacked her own ass.

"What do you...No! Liss! No!" I gulped my drink. "Why, have you?"

"No, but I think I want to." I scrunched up my face.

"Please don't go into detail, I'm not drunk enough for this." She downed half her glass and shrugged.

"You've seen me at it, I don't care." I shuddered and gulped down more.

"Please don't remind me I've seen Christian naked."

"Next question. How big is he? You know, how big..." She waggled her eyebrows at me.

"Big." I couldn't help grin at that. Yep, I was a pretty happy women.

"Show me." She demanded, and I held up my hands, showing her. "Fucking hell! Your first time must have really hurt. And your second..." I shrugged.

"Sure it did, but it got better really quickly." I tried not to go red and took a swig.

"No. You did not, you know, finish, on your first time." I looked up at her, surprised.

"Sure. Twice." Man, he was good.

"Shut up." I nodded. "Man, I didn't." She gulped down more, and I was starting to get worried. She better not throw up on all my nice new clothes.

"Next question Rose, how often do you do it." I didn't even hesitate.

"Usually at least once a day. More often than not twice, or three times." She looked agape.

"Every day!"

"Well, not everyday." I thought back. "We stayed with his family for two weeks, and a few times since we got back...about 10 days since I woke up. Yeah, done it every day, apart from ten." I smiled smugly to myself.

"Fuck. I don't even know how that is possible. We're both so tired at the end of the day." I frowned. It was pretty easy really... "Today?" I looked sheepish.

"What do you class as one? How many times he finishes, or me?" If her mouth got any wider, I'd start to worry.

"You..." She lowered her voice. "You finish more than once?" I nodded.

"Sure, most of the time." She leant back, swigging straight from the bottle now.

"I'll leave that one until last. Right, classing it as him finishing."

"Today? Only once." So far. She let out a huge breath.

"No wonder you were so happy this morning." I grinned. "Right, what's your record?" I frowned, sipping my drink.

"In one night...Eight? Oh no wait, there was the window...Nine." That was a crazy night.

"What?! When!" She was a bit too interested for my liking.

"Our second night in St. Petersburg. He had chocolate body paint, and things just kind of went from there...What about you?" She looked grumpy now.

"Four. And it was our anniversary. I was quite impressed with that." She glugged more alcohol. "Do you ever fake?" My eyebrows rose.

"Why, do you? No, I, you know, at least once every time." She swigged again.

"Lucky bitch. I have a few times. Mainly with Aaron, but once with Christian."

And that's pretty much how the night wore on. We would compare notes, techniques, like and dislikes, and the more drunk we got the less we cared. By the time 9 o'clock rolled around, nothing was too personal.

The sound of the door opening was hidden by our giggling.

"Roza? Why is there...Oh. Hello Lissa. I guess that explains the guardians outside." He took in the scene. We were both wasted, and had started putting my lingerie on over the top of our clothes. I currently had four bras on and unknown number of panties, while Lissa had tried on some negligee, but her head was in the arm hole.

"Hey hot stuff!" I leaped up and stumbled over to him. He caught me and kept me upright.

"Have a good day then?" I nodded, pulling on his neck, trying to get him to kiss me. "Not now Roza." He glanced at Lissa, who was cackling away, clapping at us – God knows why.

"Oh, pretend I'm not here." She giggled to herself again.

"Yeah Dimitri, give us a little kiss." I leaned up to him, pursing my lips. He chuckled and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips.

"You, my love, are drunk." I nodded.

"Why aren't you?" He backed us up until my legs were against the sofa, and pushed me so I was sitting.

"I'll get you some water." As he was walking away, Lissa called out;

"You're right Rose, he is really tall. No wonder he has a massive c-" I lunged at her and covered her mouth, both of us giggling.

Dimitri came back with two glasses of water. "Here, both of you drink this." We took them and gulped them down, not really caring.

"I''d better go Rosie. Leave you alone with Mr Nine over there." I squeaked and blushed.

She swaggered over to the door, taking off my clothes as she went. Once she'd reached the door, the guardians took one look at her and lifted her into their arms – there was no way she'd make it to her apartment safely.

"Bye Liss!" I waved at her from the door as she was carried away.

"See you later Miss Every-Time woooo! Proud of you babe!" She slurred as the lift doors closed.

I turned around and saw Dimitri looking at me, very amused.

"Mr Nine, huh?" I grinned and lunged at him.

"Mmmm, she's just jealous." I fused my mouth with his as he hoiked me up and I locked my legs around his waist. He was walking towards the bedroom before I spluttered out, "Can we order Chinese?" He stopped and laughed, walking us towards the kitchen.

Still attached to him, he perched me on the work surface while he got out the menu and called the restaurant. I kissed my way up and down his neck, trying to distract him from the task at hand.

Finally, he hung up and he lunged for me again, kissing me furiously. "Sofa." I managed to mumble around his mouth, and he picked me up and walked towards the living room.

We broke for air when we heard a knock on the door, half an hour later. He fixed his rumpled shirt while I combed his hair with my fingers, probably making it more of a mess. He wore a sexy smile as he went to open the door, and I'm 100% sure the delivery man knew what we were up to.

We ate the food on the sofa, our legs tangled up and stopping to kiss every now and again. The greasy food and make out session sobered me up a bit, and I wanted to show off some of my purchases.

"Go into the bedroom. I'll meet you there." He raised his eyebrow and smiled, kissing me hard before untangling himself. As he walked away, he unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it on the floor, the sound of him unbuckling his belt following him as he went out of sight.

I shuddered and reached for the nearest bag, fishing some matching lingerie out. I spied a hairbrush on the counter and ran it through my hair, before taking off all the mismatched underwear I had on over my shirt and trousers.

I stripped, pulling on one of the more sexier sets, before taking a deep breath and trying to walk in a straight line towards the bedroom.

Needless to say, we tried to break our record. We failed, but six still made for an interesting evening.