He heard the end of his career with a small click and whir as the tumblers turned in the lock. He shouldn't be here. He knew it. She knew it too. But every night this week, and the week before, as soon as he ended his shift, Dimitri would find himself here – slipping into Rose's dorm room.

The first night had been accidental, in a way. He'd been patrolling on his shift, somehow ending up walking past her door just before he clocked off. He'd told himself he wanted to be reassured she was alright before he retired for the evening. But when he'd heard terrified whimpering from behind her door, he'd stopped. Before he'd had a chance to knock, the noises had ceased, only to be replaced by the sound of someone moving around and crying. And his heart all but broke. She was in there. Rose. His Roza. And she was hurting.

Knowing the whole time he shouldn't, that it was wrong, he'd knocked softly on her door. She'd opened it an inch, almost fearfully. Seeing him, she'd opened the door just enough to let him through. Her room was mostly dark, thanks to the blackout curtains, yet still light enough for him to see her tousled dark hair, her wide, dark eyes filled with tears and her swollen lips.

"Another nightmare?" he'd whispered. She nodded. She had them every night, several times a night now.

When she'd first returned from Spokane, they'd given her medication to sleep – but it hadn't helped. Well, rather it had helped too well. She'd sleep but would end up unable to wake, instead finding herself trapped in the same nightmare for hours. After three nights of not being able to escape the movie reel playing over and over in her head, she'd flushed the rest of the tablets, opting to instead throw herself into her training in an attempt to wear herself out. And she'd been successful, to an extent. She was so tired all the time that she could fall asleep in an instant. Yet still, the nightmares came. Spokane. The Strigoi. Mason. At least once a night, usually two or three times. But being able to wake from them was some sort of blessing.

That night she'd wordlessly stepped into Dimitri's outstretched arms. She was hurting, and every fiber of his being was telling him to comfort her. To protect her in any way he could. They'd stood there for ten minutes, her breathing slowly calming, her heart rate slowing back to normal. She didn't cry when he held her, he noticed. It pleased him – she'd spent far too many hours crying recently.

"Dimitri?" she'd asked hesitantly. "It's always so much better when you're near. Can you stay while I fall back to sleep? I have an exam tomorrow, and I'm going to fail it if I can't get some sleep tonight." And loving her the way he did, he couldn't refuse her; which is how he'd found himself curled up on her single bed, arms encircling her.

She'd slept. Her first peaceful sleep in almost a month. And strangely he had, too. Waking hours later to find her head resting on his chest had been glorious. He'd studied her beautiful face as it was restful in repose. Perhaps he was fooling himself, but the dark rings under her eyes looked a little less prominent today, and she certainly looked more rested than she had in weeks. Telling himself it was a one-off, and no harm was done, he'd carefully climbed out of her bed, leaving her to slumber while he snuck back to his room for a shower and a coffee. They were due to train in half an hour, and while she might not be on time, he should be.

And that's how it had started. The next night he'd patrolled at the end of his shift and again heard her crying. Knowing he could ease her pain he couldn't deny her the comfort of a good night's sleep. So he'd knocked, and for a second night, he gave her his protection. And then a third. By the end of the week, they had a new schedule. She would stay up doing homework waiting for him to finish his shift. He'd always end it at her doorway, letting himself in with the key she'd given him. He'd radio into headquarters that he was coming off shift, he'd strip down to his boxers and put on the sleep TShirt she now kept in her room for him, and then the two of them would climb into bed.

He knew it was wrong, but he'd justified it to himself that he was helping her. Certainly, she'd been much more alive. Now she was finally getting rest she was interacting more in classes and with her friends. Even her teachers had noticed the change. She was getting less concerned looks, and there were fewer worried reports to Alberta. He'd even seen her smile at some antics in the Commons. It had been the first indication of the old Rose making a return. But he knew he had other less honorable motivations. He was in love with her, and the temptation of holding her in his arms as she slumbered was too great. While she'd sink into dreamless oblivion, his imagination was in overdrive. Closing his eyes, he'd let his mind wander, fantasizing about a mythical time and place when he'd be free to sleep beside her. A time when they'd be free to be together and openly share their love.

Because he knew she was in love with him. While they didn't discuss it or put names to their feelings, they both knew how the other felt. So many times he'd wanted to speak with her about it, but naming it would have made things too real, and made their current situation unbearable. So instead they had a tacit understanding. He loved her, she loved him, and other than covertly lying entwined in a twin bed together every night, they tried to keep things above board and professional between them.

Which led them to this moment. Rose had fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She invariably did. While she was doing so much better, she still had a sleep deficit to catch up on, and she was still struggling her way through each day. He was only seconds away from sleep himself when he'd heard the softest of footsteps outside then the rasp of a key turning in the lock. The door softly opened, and he gently kissed Rose's hair before looking up to see Alberta. As soon as he'd heard the key, he knew it would be her. But the Guardian standing beside her was a surprise. Janine Hathaway – Rose's Mom.

Looking up at them expressionlessly, he held his forefinger to his lips, warning them to be quiet. Carefully extracting himself from Rose's embrace and bed, he stripped off his TShirt and draped it over her. He knew from his experiences creeping away in the morning that if she could still smell him, she'd sleep peacefully until it was time for her to wake.

He would have had to be blind not to notice Janine's enraged look as he stood in his boxers in her daughter's room, silently putting on his pants and shirt and then his duster. He picked up his boots and socks and followed Alberta out into the hallway, Janine carefully shutting and locking Rose's door behind them. None of them said a word. They stopped on the stairwell halfway down for Dimitri to sit and put his boots on. By the time they'd reached the ground floor, he was completely dressed and following Alberta wordlessly to her office.

He knew his career was all but over. Caught in a student's bed, there was no other possible outcome. Ironically the crime they'd assume he was guilty of, the thing everyone would immediately suspect, was the one of which he was innocent. Oh, way too many lines had been crossed here, but having sex with Rose hadn't been one of them. In fact, he was almost certain she was still a virgin. She'd said something a while ago that had implied she was. That she was saving it for someone special. Something about the way she'd said it had made him sure she'd meant him.

At Alberta's office, he followed Janine and Alberta inside. He could see the formidable Guardian Hathaway was about to explode. In fact, he thought it was a miracle they'd managed to get all the way from the Dhampir dormitories to Alberta's office in the admin wing without her erupting. Not that he blamed her. She was well within her rights to be apoplectic. With an obvious attempt at keeping herself calm, Alberta gestured for everyone to sit before grabbing three cups and quickly filling them with coffee from the pot which ran twenty-four seven in her office.

"Tell me everything. From the start. Leave nothing out."

He mentally sighed. How far back should he go? From the moment he knew he cared? Should he tell them about the stolen looks, the kisses? Should he tell them he knew their feelings were mutual? In the end, he decided to start with the first night he'd slept beside her. They'd ask if they wanted more information.

"A fortnight ago I was close to finishing my patrol when I was walking past Rose's doorway. I heard her waking from a nightmare. She's been having them several times a night since Spokane. I knocked to see how she was and she wasn't in a good way. She was exhausted and asked if I could stay with her until she fell back to sleep. I only meant to stay for half an hour, but I ended up falling asleep beside her. I left as soon as I woke."

"So you expect me to believe you just happened to be walking outside her bedroom?" Janine spat at him, every word dripping in derision.

"Of course not. I was checking on her. I'd check on her three or four times every shift. You're not the only one who's been beside themselves with worry about her you know."

Janine opened her mouth to say something back when Alberta held a hand up to her. "Let him continue Janine."

"She looked so much better the next day. The rings under her eyes were a little better. She even smiled briefly. For the first time since Spokane. I knew it wasn't right, but I was so grateful to see that haunted look leave her eyes, even just for a moment," he continued, talking almost to himself. "So that night I checked again as I was about to clock off. She'd had another nightmare, so I rocked her to sleep."

"And you stayed with her? Overnight?" Alberta clarified.

"Yes," he all but whispered.

"And since then?"

"She doesn't have nightmares when I'm there," he said as if that explained everything.

"So we're expected to believe you'd go in there and hold Rosemarie at night, risking her reputation and your career just because of a few bad dreams?" Janine snarled. "Or was it just an excuse to get into her pants as well as her bed?"

"It's not like that" Dimitri said, getting angry for the first time. "We didn't… What I mean to say is I believe Rose is still a virgin."

"You expect me to believe that? A man seven years her senior is lying in my daughter's bed night after night and not once did you try and have her. How do I know you haven't forced yourself upon her?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" he bellowed. "I would never hurt her or take advantage of her like that. I haven't touched her in that way. She's so fragile since Spokane, so vulnerable. I helped her in the only way I could – by keeping the nightmares away so she could sleep!"

"You love her?" Alberta asked, surprised.

He nodded.

"You're in love with her?" she clarified.

He nodded again, his head lowered rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Does she feel the same way?" Alberta queried.

"Yes. We don't talk about it but I know how she feels and she knows how I feel. It's been quite a few months. We haven't acted upon it."

"You risked your career so that she could sleep?" Alberta repeated incredulously.

"I'd risk anything for her, Alberta. I know we can never be together. She knows it too. But she's the woman I love, and I couldn't stand by and watch her drowning in depression and pain. Once she could sleep, she started to get better."

"Do I have your word that nothing sexual happened between the two of you?" Alberta asked.

"You have my word," he said flatly.

Alberta looked at Janine. They were having a conversation with their eyes.

"This is the way we're going to handle this. Guardian Belikov you are going to resign your position at St Vladimir's citing personal reasons. You will leave the Academy. Right now. I don't care where you go or what you do, but you will not contact Rose again. If you're willing to agree to these terms, then I won't report you. You'll be able to retain your Guardian title and work elsewhere in the future. You can list me as a referee for future allocations, and I will give a fair and honest account of your time here without mention of this business. It's best for Rose's reputation, as well as yours that knowledge of this matter remains among us three."

It was a better deal than he'd had reason to hope for. Not that he cared about his title or anything else right now. But he could have been charged, potentially even jailed, and he knew it.

"Please take care of her" he begged his only thoughts on her welfare not his own. "She's putting on a brave face, but she's so close to breaking. And please tell her I love her. Tell her I said that me leaving is for the best, but please tell her that I love her. I've never told her before" he said by way of explanation.

Alberta reached into her filing cabinet and pulled out the form he needed to fill out to resign. He filled it out, signing and dating it.

"It's best I leave right away. Before she wakes. If I leave an address can you have my things shipped to my family? There's not a lot."

"Of course. I'm sorry it had to end this way" Alberta replied. And she genuinely was. She knew Dimitri to be a good man and Guardian. But right now her job was protecting Rose and things had already gone well past where they should have.

Back in his room he put his toiletries, stakes, phone charger and his casual clothes in a duffel bag. He left everything else – his uniforms, his Western books, posters and DVDs to be shipped to Baia. The last thing he grabbed was a stack of photos – all photos of Rose – and he left without looking back. No one noticed as he walked down the long driveway to the front gates. He signed himself out, giving no explanation to his fellow Guardians and hitched the first ride he could away from the Academy and away from the woman he loved.