"The pope?"

I shot Roran an exasperated look. "That's your plan? Please tell me you're joking."

He scowled, causing a wrinkle form between his dark eyebrows. "And what exactly is wrong with it? It seems like a pretty solid plan to me."

"Roran, you and I would never be allowed anywhere near the pope, and even if he agreed to see us, he wouldn't believe a word we said. I don't know if you've noticed, but people don't believe in monsters in this time period."

"I never said we would tell him that Moroi was a vampire," he snapped in reply. "We just need to convince him that the souls in purgatory are in danger."

 I rubbed my forehead, feeling a tension headache building behind my eyes.

"You haven't explained how you are going to convince the pope to see us. He may not even be staying at the Vatican right now. He travels all over the world."

"It doesn't matter. We can go there and wait," he replied, refusing to see reason.

"Go there and--" I took a deep breath and counted to twelve. Ten just didn't seem to be long enough.

"Go and wait? Are you being serious? My parents are in danger now. We can't afford to waste time, Roran!"

"And how long are we supposed to just sit around and wait? Huh? A week? A month? Six months? And how many times will Moroi try to kill us while were waiting? And where will we get the money? They aren't going to let us stay anywhere for free, you know, and my savings is running out."

He tilted his head back and rolled his broad shoulders. If he still had his powers, Roran's body would probably be encased in angry red flames right about now. But I didn't care. I wasn't afraid of him.

After several minutes of tense silence Roran let out a deep sigh and said, "First, no one said you would be forced to tag along. Second, vampires won't attack us on holy ground. And it isn't going to take us that long to convince the pope to see us. I was planning this out a long time before you showed up."

I shrugged and threw my hands into the air. "Fine! We'll do things your way, stubborn ass! But don't complain to me when we get there and things don't work out like you've planned."

He scoffed. "I'm stubborn? Me?"

I placed my hands on my hips and rolled my eyes. "Yes, that's what I said. Are you hard of hearing as well?"

"You are the most infuriating woman to have ever been created," he said, stalking toward me with a grimace. "I swear if I wasn't so in love with you I would have never helped you in purgatory."

He and I both seemed to realize what he had said at the same time. Our faces contorted into matching looks of horror and embarrassment at his accidental revelation. Despite his darker skin tone, I could clearly see a faint blush staining his cheeks as he turned away from me.

Not knowing what else to say, I led with, "But you don't even know me that well. We were only in purgatory for six days, Roran."

I winced at how it sounded out loud. My words sounded harsh, almost cruel, but they were true so I didn't take them back.

Expecting him to argue with me or get angry, I was surprised when all he said was, "I know."

My mouth opened but no other words came out. Social interactions were completely foreign to me. I was getting better at them, but this was uncharted territory.

Roran sat down on the bed and placed his head in his hands. From between his fingers he mumbled, "I don't expect you to understand—"

"Are you sure you aren't just feeling an attachment to me because of everything that happened in purgatory and you're just mistaking it for love?"

He looked up at me and glared at my interruption. "I'm sure."

He stood up and walked past me on his way to the bathroom.

"Did you stop seeing that psychiatrist?"

I blinked at the oddness of his question. "Yes. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

Over his shoulder he said, "Because you're starting to sound like one."

I huffed and turned around, only to have the bathroom door shut in my face. The squeak of the sink faucet and the sound of running water made me realize he had only retreated to the bathroom to get away from me. Guilt and uncertainty made me rethink how I had reacted to his confession.

 "Hey, um, Roran," I called, and tapped my knuckles against the door. "I'm sorry. Really. You kind of freaked me out, but that was no reason for me to act like a total witch just now."

The faucet squeaked as the water shut off and Roran opened the door. His face was cold and emotionless and I knew what he was about to say before the words left his mouth.

"Look. Let's just forget it, alright? We have more important things to worry about."

Knowing from the books I'd read and movies I'd watched that things never ended well following that plan of action, I replied with a firm, "No."

He glared at me and snapped, "Thea-"

"Listen," I said, talking over him and trying my best to figure out a way to say what I had to without hurting him or making things awkward. "I'm new to this and I'm not about to make any grand declarations I don't feel. That wouldn't help either of us. But ignoring how you feel, especially after everything we've been through, seems ridiculous."

The look on his face told me I wasn't doing a very good job of making things better.

"I don't want you to have to ignore your feelings for me. You think you love me—"

"I do love you," he stated, crossing his arms. "I don't have to think about it."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine. You love me. I don't want you to feel like you have to hide that, and I don't want that to change things. Like you said, we have important things to do, so can you maybe wait until everything is over before we explore whatever this is between us?"

Roran nodded and I was pleased when a small smile made it's way onto his face. "I can wait as long as you need," he said, brushing my hair behind my ear.

I flushed, but didn't pull away. No matter how much I claimed to want things to stay the same between us, I couldn't help but be flattered to think he was in love with me. And truth be told, I did feel something for him. I wasn't as unaffected as I acted.  

He was incredibly good-looking, with a ton of muscles and a grin that made me want to giggle like a schoolgirl with a crush. He was also an incredibly honorable and thoughtful person. Not to mention he had saved my life countless times. But that was just it – how could I be certain that what I was feeling for him wasn't just gratitude disguised as something deeper?

"Thea?" Roran called, waving a hand in front of my eyes. "You okay?"

I dragged myself out of my own thoughts and shook my head. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking."

"About me I hope, " he said, giving me a wink and making his way over to sit in the chair next to the window.

 My cheeks felt hot and I knew I must be blushing darker, but I chose to ignore his comment and ask instead, "So when should we leave for Rome?"

"Soon. I need to give my boss some notice before leaving work, and I need to pack my things."

I snorted. "You need to give your boss notice? An evil vampire is hunting us and you're concerned that you're going to inconvenience your boss. I can definitely see why Arthur made you a knight of the Round Table."

"Cute," he remarked in an annoyed tone. "Want me to set you up for a bird joke too? Or maybe you want to make a crack about my age?"

I smirked. "If you think back I already did that last one. 'Hard of hearing,' remember?"

"Yeah, you're a real comedian," he replied, rolling his eyes.

He stood up and made his way toward the door and my heartbeat picked up a bit from nerves. The last time he was out of my sight, both of us nearly died.

"You're coming back, right? Tomorrow?" I asked, trying by best not to sound needy and failing.

He looked at me for several long seconds before replying. "Sure. Or you could just come with me? Then you wouldn't have to waste money on a hotel room." 

Hesitant, and knowing this could end up making things exponentially awkward, I asked, "Do you have a spare bedroom or something?"

Roran shook his head. "I can take the couch and you can sleep in my room."

"Are you sure? I don't want to kick you out of your own bed."

He laughed and responded, "Are you kidding? The couch is a hundred times more comfortable than what I was used to in purgatory. It's not a problem, Thea, honest."

I nodded and gathered my things, but inside my little voice of reason was telling me this whole thing was a bad idea.

...

So I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry. My computer STILL isn't fixed, but I borrowed one to type this up for you guys. Hope you liked it. It's a bit different, so let me know what you think!