Summary: She was sick of it. She did everything she could; she changed who she was... all for him. But did he appreciate it? Any of it? No. But that's okay. Two can play at this game. Welcome back, Rose Hathaway, aka bad-ass flirt. We sure did miss you.

Regressing

Chapter 1

Gritting my teeth and trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my abdomen, I quickly dashed forward to punch my mentor. I smirked when he looked momentarily surprised; I was getting better and better everyday. He didn't expect me to be able to move as fast as him, which, quite frankly, offended me a little. Not that I'd ever let him know that.

He managed to get with the program. Just in time too, I noted. Even a second later would have meant I won right then and there. But I wasn't quite that good yet, and he caught my fist just as it was about to crunch his perfect nose. Dmitri twisted my arm as fast as lightening, shoving it behind my back so I was trapped. Or so he thought.

I didn't give myself the chance to enjoy the feeling of my back pressed tightly against his chest. I knew if I did, I would get distracted (and rightfully so). "Rose," he said sternly, in his most professional voice, "If I was a strigoi, you'd be dea-"

Using my hand that wasn't being held hostage, I swiftly latched it onto his closed fist. Luckily, I had the element of surprise or this probably wouldn't have worked. I threw all my weight on his hand, throwing him over my shoulder and onto the ground. The bigger you are, the harder you fall.

He let go of my arm, because of the force of the impact or out of shock, I don't know. But it didn't matter. All I knew was that I was straddling his hips, pinning his wrists over his head with one hand, the other snaking slowly over his chest. Our eyes were locked, neither of us looking away as my hand made its way steadily across his toned, hard torso. He had had the breath knocked out of him, but I couldn't say whether that was the reason for his fast, shallow panting.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, my hand found it's way to it's target. I pushed slightly harder over the skin the was covering his rapidly pounding heart, where I pretended to be holding a stake. I won.

"...You we're saying, Comrade?"

At first, he didn't say anything, our eyes still connected in a way that I didn't want to ever end. "Rose..." his breathing wasn't getting any better, and I could feel his heart rate increasing from quick, excited beats into an uncontrollable thumping. I uncurled my fist from it's fake stake, making sure to keep my movements at a snail pace. My fingernails raked easily against his shirt, in a way that I knew would drive any boy crazy. My own breathing was uneven. One of us would have to make the next move. I suspected that any move Dimitri instigated would help carry on what I had just started, so I decided to take the initiative.

I scratched my fingernails completely down his chest, him shivering at every place they touched. Before he could say, let alone do anything, I had held his hip in a strong hold. "Comrade?" I asked again, sounding as innocent as possible. Before he knew what hit him, I jerked my own hips against his. He gasped and bucked upwards involuntarily.

"Rose-"

Ï continued my actions, thrusting myself steadily. He had already been subtly turned on when I pinned him down, but there was no hiding his desire now. The harder I pushed against him, the harder he grew.

"Is there something wrong, Comrade? You seem a little... tense."

He muttered something in Russian, it coming out more like a groan than anything intelligible. His eyes had closed in bliss at some point during my talking. He had the appearance of a man who was trying very hard to ignore something. Well, obviously he didn't know who he was dealing with. Like I'd let anyone ignore me.

"Dimitri?" I purred softly, and his eyes snapped opened immediately, unable to resist the temptation of looking at me. Eyes following my every move, he looked hypnotized when my tongue traced my lips. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I picked up the thrusting, and it was apparent that he was anything but oblivious. "Aren't you going to answer me, Dimitri?" I pouted. "You know how much I want to help you. And I know that there are things you want me to help you with..."

Releasing my hold of his wrists, I let my hand slide down to his other hip. It didn't matter one way or another really. I doubt that he could have pulled himself away, even if I wasn't straddling him. I lowered the top of my body to hover over his, our eyes once again in an impenetrable gaze. Our lips were inches apart, our breath intertwining. His cologne was as strong as ever, and without even trying to, he was turning me on just as much as I was him.

"Is this okay, Dimitri?" I murmured softly, refusing to close the space between our lips yet. "Do you want me to stop?" I was moving closer and closer, me rubbing against him all the while. I knew how much we both wanted this; how much I'd been waiting for this. And all of a sudden, he pushed his head up oh-so slightly, and we we're kissing. Immediately, our tongues were tangled and our torsos we pressed tightly together. He moved his hands to the back of my head, his beautiful fingers twisting in my hair.

I briefly wondered if his back was hurting. After all, the gym's floor wasn't exactly soft. But then the thought left my mind as he moaned into my mouth.

Why was he even letting us get this far? Shouldn't he have stopped us by now? That was a stupid question. Of course he should have, and would have. Except I don't think he was counting on me taking it quite so far so quickly, and he got lost in the feeling of me on top of him, got lost in the wondrous feeling of me grinding on him. Not that I was complaining. I wanted to enjoy this while I could, and trust me, I was enjoying it.

My left hand went underneath his shirt, to his toned abs. The other hand went to the waistband of his sweat pants. It slid in easily as our tongues battled for dominance. He jerked his hips up again longingly, and when my hand reached it's target, his eyes flew open.

All of a sudden, I was pushed off of him, and he was getting up at an unimaginable speed. We were both panting hard, the smell of lust clinging to the air. I got up just as quickly. His eyes were wide as they stared at me.

I took a step forward, wanting to feel his lips against mine again, but he stumbled backwards, his back hitting a weight lifting machine. "Don't come closer," he snapped breathlessly, trying to glare at me but failing miserably as his eyes flickered down at my heaving chest. They lingered, and he unconsciously licked his lips before stiffening and forcing his eyes back to mine. I smiled at that. I felt certain that had he not pushed me off right then and there, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself.

"But why, Dimitri?" I fluttered my eyelashes, looking like the perfect picture of innocence. Well, I would have if it wasn't for my swollen lips and slightly messed up hair, or my red lace bra strap that had somehow gotten exposed throughout our make out session. But personally, I think it just turned him on more.

Dimitri visibly swallowed, trying to gather composure. I kept walking forward. With every slow, tantalizing step I took, he leaned farther back into the exercise machine. I took one more step before I stood in front of him fully. He couldn't look away, and I got the distinct impression that he was holding his breath.

Placing one hand onto his chest, I stood on my tiptoes to reach my lips to his. I could see in his eyes that he wanted me. Oh god, did he want me; but he wouldn't accept it. Just before they touched, he shoved me out of the way.

"Damn it, Rose! Stop that," he growled at me, running his hand through his hair. His hair had been in a short ponytail, but when my hands had surrendered his wrists, they had taken a slight detour to let loose his hair as well. I loved his hair almost as much as he adored mine.

He kept his front to me the entire time as he tried to get away from me. He was clearly trying to avoid touching me at all, and it was quite amusing to watch him struggle between me and the work out bench behind him. At last, he managed to get out from in front of me. He tripped his way a good 15 feet from me, never once letting his back face me. Eyebrow raised, I couldn't help but wonder where all of his elegance and grace had gone to. I suppose that what just the effect I had on men sometimes.

"New rule," he huffed, trying to form his face into an emotionless mask and failing miserably. "Ten feet away at all time."

"Why do you keep fighting this?" I finally broke, unable to keep the pure frustration from my voice. No matter how much I didn't want to admit it, it really did hurt to be constantly rejected like this. "I know that it's not about you not being attracted to me," I scoffed. I looked pointedly down at his sweat pants, where there was a very obvious bulge. "What's so bad about us?" I asked, my voice quivering despite my best attempts to keep my distress at bay. "What's so wrong with me loving you...?"

He took a deep, steadying breath. "...Rose, everything is wrong with it."

I felt my shoulders slump, and I knew I must look defeated. I felt defeated. Apparently, me turning him on, no matter how much, wasn't enough for him to look over our teacher-student status or our age difference, or even the fact that we were both dhampirs. Don't even get me started about us both guarding Lissa... There were so many things that were keeping us apart; I knew that. We'd gone over this before. Maybe not after such a thorough make out session, but it was pretty much the same as always. The only thing I learned from this was that even when I pushed Dimitri to the edge of his self control, he still couldn't let himself fully love me.

I guess I just never let myself believe it. But now I did, and it wasn't only despair I was feeling. An unexpected wave anger and humiliation rolled over me. Did he realize how much I cared for him? (I absolutely refused to let myself think 'loved'). When I thought back to how much I did for him- changed for him... The old Rose Hathaway had fun. She didn't think about consequences. She punched first, and asked questions later. She fooled around with guys for the hell of it. She had fun! I tried to think back to the last time that happened. The last time I genuinely laughed carelessly. I couldn't think back that far. And if anything, that hurt the most.

I couldn't believe that I let myself be suckered like that. What the hell was I expecting? He was my teacher, for God's sake! I can't exactly say that this was all my fault; he clearly had some sort of role of leading me on, at least a little. But then he had backed off, tried to set me straight, and what did I do instead? I tried to screw him in the Gym during practice!

Now I was the one backing away, looking anywhere but at him. He must think I'm pathetic. He probably thought that I was trying to act all responsible to impress him. God, Rose! Get a freaking hold of yourself. What in hell's name happened to you? This isn't you. You don't question yourself. And you most definitely don't throw yourself at your teachers! Besides, laughed a little bit of the old me, you don't need to. Think of all the boys at this school who drool over you. Why are you pining for one who clearly doesn't want to deal with you?

Oh great, I realized suddenly. Now I'm thinking in third person. Terrific, now I get to add 'crazy' to the ever growing list of adjectives to describe my new pathetic self.

Fine, Dimitri, fine. I changed once, didn't I? I could change back.

I stood up straight, makings sure to guard whatever emotions were on my face.

"I understand, Guardian Belikov. I'm very sorry for my inappropriate behavior. Practice is over, isn't it? I'll be going now. See ya, Comrade."

Dimitri, apparently convinced that I wasn't about to jump him any second, let down his guard. He looked confused, a little upset, and most definitely still turned on. I frowned at that, because with every second he felt that for me, was another second that I felt like an idiot.

"Rose, what are you-"

"Look, Comrade, I get it. I took it way too far, and it was really idiotic of me. You're seven years older than me, and my mentor. It's just not logical for us to even try to be together. Like I said, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done all of that. It was beyond inappropriate, even for me." I shrugged in what I hoped was a careless manner. "You're just too old for me."

Cue the guilt. Yup, here it came pouring in. I pulled a 360 on him before he could blink. Talk about bipolar. And yet, it had to be a nice change for him, right? Now he didn't have to worry about some kid chasing after him, trying to seduce him at every turn.

I flashed him a brief, formal smile. I wondered if he was going to miss me giving him my 'come hither' look.

Dimitri's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. If he didn't think I was a freak before, he definitely did now. I didn't give him a chance to try and figure me out. I grabbed my Gym bag, throwing it over my shoulder quickly. While I was high tailing it out of there, I made sure not to look back at him.

Besides, class started in five minutes. I had to get there so I could reintroduce everyone to the old me. Wait... was it the old me or the new me? Did it really matter? The point is, I just hoped it was as fun as I remembered it to be.