Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, I am merely borrowing the characters.

RPOV

A lot had changed in three weeks.

Three weeks ago I was still convinced I was in love with Adrian and not Dimitri. Three weeks ago I was on the run and accused for the murder of Queen Tatiana. Three weeks ago Lissa was a Princess and Jill thought she was a non-Royal. Three weeks ago, Lissa and I were still bonded.

Now, everything was different. I hadn't seen Adrian since he broke up with me. Tasha had been arrested for Tatiana's murder and her trial would be in a few weeks. Lissa was Queen and her half-sister Jill was the Dragomir Princess. The bond was gone.

But, no matter what had happened, I couldn't seem to dwell on the bad... not when I had finally gotten my happy ending. When I was hunting Strigoi-Dimitri, I had compared my life to a fairytale. Back then, all I had known was pain. Now, all I knew was happiness. It was so strange how one man could change everything for me. But he had. I loved waking up beside Dimitri every morning. I loved being able to kiss him and hold his hand and whisper 'I love you' in public.

Not everyone had accepted our relationship, but to be honest, I didn't care. Everything was out in the open and no one could stop us from being together. They were afraid to. Firstly, Lissa was the Queen and we were both very close to her. No one would shun the Queen's friends. But secondly, we were both good guardians. Like, really good. No one wanted to force us to run away to be together.

So they had to deal with it. And with our world accepting our relationship, all that was left to face was... my parents.

The alarm sounded, breaking me from my sleepy musings. I groaned as I felt Dimitri reach over me to turn it off.

"Roza," he whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine.

I rolled over so I was lying on my back. Slowly, I opened my eyes and sat up beside Dimitri.

"Good morning Comrade," I kissed his lips quickly.

"Good morning Roza. Are you wearing my shirt?" he asked gesturing to the big grey t-shirt I wore like a dress.

"Maybe," I smirked, "I happen to think it looks better on me than it does on you."

He smiled, "I might just agree."

I suddenly remembered my sleepy musings and where they'd ended... at my parents.

"Great," I groaned.

"What's wrong?" Dimitri asked, sitting up.

"Do you know what day it is today?" I asked.

"Uh... Friday?" he asked confused.

"Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday," I sung under my breath.

Then I focused on what I'd just realised, "And in exactly 2 hours, my parents will be here to take you far away from court with firearms and questions about exactly when our relationship began!"

Dimitri chuckled at my little outburst, "Relax, Rose. I'll be fine."

I almost pointed out that he'd once warned me away from my father, Abe. Then I remembered that it had been when he was a Strigoi and thought better of it.

"You've clearly never heard how Abe threatened Adrian..." I grumbled.

Dimitri kissed my forehead, "Go have a shower. I'll make you some breakfast."

He scooted away from me and headed for the kitchen. Grumbling and cursing under my breath, I got out of bed and had a shower. Today was usually my day off, but after finding out what my parents were doing with Dimitri; Lissa had gotten me some extra shifts to get my mind off of things. I dressed in black jeans and a white blouse- not my guardian uniform but close enough to make me feel comfortable.

The smell of bacon and eggs hit me as I stepped into the kitchen. Dimitri placed a plate in front of me as I sat at the bench.

"Thanks," I smiled, digging into the scrumptious food.

By the time I had finished eating Dimitri was showered and dressed. His damp hair was pulled back into its usual ponytail, tied at the nape of his neck.

"Hi," I stood up and smiled at him.

"Hi," he replied softly, bending his head down to mine and kissing me gently.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back. After a moment he pulled away, "We better clean up."

I pouted and collected up the dirty dishes. He opened the dishwasher and helped my stack the dishes in.

"Done," I kicked it closed and sat up on the bench.

Dimitri smiled and moved closer to me. I put a hand on his neck and bought his head down to my level. My lips touched his and I felt his hands knot in my hair, pulling me closer. I suddenly remembered that my parents would be at our apartment in less than an hour.

"No," I pulled away, "If my parents find us like this..."

Dimitri smiled at me, "I'm not scared of them, Rose."

"You should be," I warned him, sliding off of the bench.

"Well, what do you want to do while we wait?" Dimitri asked, taking my hand.

I shrugged, "Let's just watch TV."

We sat on the lounge and he put on the CW. The Vampire Diaries repeats were playing and Dimitri knew I loved the show. But for some reason, I couldn't concentrate on the show. I sat, staring into space as I worried about what my parents would ask. Dimitri sat beside me, rubbing circles on my back and whispering Russian words in my ear. I didn't understand any of it, but it helped comfort me.

There was a knock at the door and I went to get it, forcing Dimitri to stay on the couch.

"Hello Rose," my mother said.

"Hi, guys..." I said uneasily.

I was about to say that Dimitri was sick when Abe said, "Don't even think about trying to get Belikov out of this!"

I swallowed, "But, guys... I'm eighteen!"

Neither of them moved. I sighed and grabbed my keys and small black handbag from the table beside the door. I tucked my stake into my pocket and called for Dimitri.

"Mr. Mazur, Guardian Hathaway," he greeted them formally.

"Belikov," Abe nodded in acknowledgement.

I handed Dimitri his stake, "Be careful," I whispered.

He stroked my cheek, "I'll be fine."

I turned to my parents, "If either of you do anything to hurt him so help me God..." I trailed off.

"Relax Rose. We're asking questions. It'll be fine. We'll see you tonight," my mother scoffed.

I grumbled and gave Dimitri a hug before he left. Sighing, I locked up the apartment and began walking to the Guardian office. It was going to be a long day.

DPOV

We'd been at the shooting range for ten minutes. Abe and Janine were both silent as they set up the guns.

"Belikov, how do you feel about Rose?" Abe began.

"I love her with all of my heart," I answered honestly.

"That's good. Because if you ever hurt her, I will kill you and it will hurt... a lot!" his threat was similar to the threat I'd given Jesse Zeklos back at the Academy when I'd found him and Rose... I pushed the unpleasant memory away.

"Yes, sir," I nodded.

"Don't think that just because I'm a Moroi I won't be able to do it, boy. I'm very capable," Abe added.

"I don't doubt you for a minute Mr. Mazur. But I love Rose and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her," I promised.

"Good. Because if I hear of you hurting her in any way I will not hesitate! I never hesitate!" he said darkly.

I nodded, pushing away memories of Rose in Siberia. Don't hesitate. I forced myself to think of something else.

"Okay, my turn," Janine told Abe, handing him a gun.

Janine handed me a gun of my own and fiddled with hers before she spoke, "What went on with you and Rose at St. Vladimir's?"

I had known this would come up. Sighing I gestured for Abe and Janine to sit down.

"That's a long story."

They sat and waited for me to continue. I sat and began to tell them the story of how I fell in love with their underage daughter.

"I'm guessing you know that I was part of the team that was sent to take Rose and Lissa back to the Academy. You know why Rose took Lissa away and, while her methods weren't responsible, she definitely protected Lissa," I began.

"What are you talking about?" Janine asked impatiently.

"One of the reasons I love your daughter is because of something I saw that night I met her. We were watching their house. I watched Rose feed Lissa, like it was something they did all the time."

Janine and Abe both gasped. I continued.

"After she fed Lissa, she saw me and they ran. Rose was weak from blood loss and endorphins and hadn't trained in 2 years and yet she tried to take on me to protect Lissa. In that moment I knew she would be an amazing guardian. She is the most selfless person I've ever met and from the moment I met her, I began falling for her."

They both nodded, understanding why I told them of the sacrifices their daughter had made.

"When I trained Rose, I saw this determination and this energy... it was like nothing I'd ever seen. She was amazing... she is amazing," I corrected, "And she was beautiful. I told myself that I was just noticing her beauty and responding to it, like anyone would, but in reality, I was falling for her."

I knew that the story had to take a dark turn and took a deep breath before continuing, "I thought I hid my attraction for Rose, but Victor saw it and he tried to use it to his advantage. He didn't put an anger spell into the necklace... it was a lust charm."

An awkward silence hung around us. Abe glared at me while Janine wore her guardian-mask. Finally she spoke.

"How far did you go?"

I sighed, not wanting to answer the question, knowing I had to, "I took her dress off. But we didn't go any further than kissing. When I took the necklace off, I understood what it was and I threw it out of the window."

Abe glowered, "You did what? She was a seventeen year old girl!"

I nodded, "I know. I couldn't control myself. She tried to kiss me and I grabbed her wrists to stop her. The moment I touched her, the charm took over me as well."

Abe glared again. Before he could say anything else, Janine told me to continue.

"We told everyone it was an anger spell, mainly because I didn't want them to expel her. We didn't get to discuss it because we had to go and get Lissa. All Rose knew was that the necklace contained a lust charm. I planned on talking to her about it when we got back. But I didn't get a chance to. She had taken on psi-hounds and fed Lissa more blood so that she could heal Christian. So I avoided her. Rose, being Rose, came and found me. I told her that we couldn't be together because I didn't want her that way. I lied."

I took another deep breath and continued, "Then I found her in bad shape because of Natalie. She had gone to see Victor to ask him to stop the charm. He told her that the charm had worked because we'd both had feelings for each other. She asked me if that was true and I told her the truth- I couldn't let myself love her because of our age difference, because I was her teacher and because if I loved her, I would protect her and not Lissa. Rose accepted that and nothing else happened for a while. Until you showed up actually," I directed that to Janine.

Janine closed her eyes, "I'm so stupid."

"What?" Abe asked.

She opened her eyes, "At Christmas. I went into Rose's room and gave her the nazar you had given me. I told her about the offer you received from Tasha."

Janine spat the name like it was poisonous. Abe growled at the sound of it. I felt sick at her name.

"After I mentioned that, she was extremely cold to me and asked me to leave. I'd been trying to make an effort and I figured she was just being rude, trying to get back at me. But it wasn't that..." she breathed.

So that's how Rose found out about the offer.

"The day after she got her black eye, we were working on staking. Rose was angry and she just kept staking. I got her to stop and she ended up with her back against the wall. She got even angrier when I tried to give her advice. She told me I was like everyone else and I didn't care about her. That got me angry. And then she kissed me. And for just a moment, I kissed her back. Then I pulled away and told her that couldn't happen again. She told me not to kiss her back. I left and I cancelled the remainder of our sessions to avoid her. I started spending more time with Tasha to distract myself. And when I wasn't around Rose, I was distracted. Then we got to the ski lodge. I noticed Rose spending a lot of time with Mason Ashford. I was jealous, even though I had no right to be. We argued and I called her childish. I caught her with Adrian Ivashkov a few times. I caught her in his room returning perfume and I got really jealous. I tried to make up for calling her childish and hoped she would mature. So I told her where the Strigoi were."

"You told her?" Janine screeched.

I nodded, "I thought I would be teaching her something. I never expected her to tell anyone else."

"She's Rose! She's not the most predictable person around!" Janine cried.

"I know, but I wanted her to see that I trusted her. I didn't see her again until the party. I watched her get dragged out and went to talk to her... to comfort her. It was nice, just sitting with her. When she left, she told me she had to 'go break someone's heart'. And the next thing I knew, she was missing. I was so worried. I couldn't sleep or eat. I could barely function. All I wanted to do was find her. And then I knew. I would never be able to take Tasha's offer. So I said no."

Rose's parents reacted to Tasha's name again, so I changed the subject.

"When we found her, I was so relieved. But she was so broken. I didn't think she'd ever recover. She did. The day she got her tattoos, she came to training. I told her I wouldn't train her yet. We had a nice moment and we... we kissed. Afterwards we decided it meant nothing and we put it behind us. I was able to resist her, until we went to Court for the trial. Lissa and Rose got readings from the clairvoyant, Rhonda. Lissa was told she would be Queen. Rose was told she would 'destroy that which is undead'. She took that as killing Strigoi, but I think it meant... me," I shivered at that last part.

"Did you get a reading?" Janine asked curiously.

I nodded, "I was told that I would 'lose what I valued most so treasure it while you can'. I thought it meant Rose and I started to worry about her. Especially when she fainted on the plane and told us she was seeing ghosts. And then Lissa was tortured by the Mana group. Rose took the darkness and I was left to calm her down. I took her to one of the cabins that had been done up. I truly thought I'd lost her. But that wasn't her and I was able to bring her out of whatever state the darkness had put her in. She was so scared. It killed me to see her like that. All I wanted to do was comfort her. We..." I trailed off uncomfortably.

"You what?" Abe asked darkly.

"We slept together," I admitted.

"WHAT?" Janine cried.

"You slept with my underage daughter?" Abe yelled.

I nodded. Abe punched me, hitting my nose with extreme force for a Moroi.

I continued on with my story as if nothing had happened, "And then we were attacked. I made her run and the whole time I fought; I worried that she would be hurt. Of course, I didn't need to worry. She teamed up with Christian and made half of the kills herself. After the attack, I told her that I was going to get reassigned so that we could be together. But, the prophecy didn't mean Rose. It meant me. I lost myself. I lost my soul," I fought not to be overcome by the Strigoi nightmares.

"What happened between you two after you got changed back?" Janine asked after a moment.

"I was so guilty about what I had done, I pushed Rose away. I thought if I pushed her away, I would be keeping her safe. After not feeling anything good for months, I didn't think I could love her."

Love fades, mine has.

"And then we went on the run. She helped me understand that I just had look for signs that I was no longer a Strigoi. She was the turning point. She was so beautiful and I loved her. I regretted losing her..." the story had come to a point where I would have to reveal one of Rose's darkest secrets. I couldn't do it.

"Something happened before we got back to Court; I can't tell you what it was, that's up to Rose. It almost destroyed her. It terrified her. But she forgave herself. I told her that I loved but she was with Adrian and I respected that. She said that she loved me and she didn't belong to Adrian. I think you know the rest," I sighed.

I suddenly realised that an hour had passed since I'd begun talking.

"Okay," Janine nodded, accepting my story, "I'm not happy with what happened at the Academy, but she loves you and you love her. So... okay."

"I need to know one thing. What happened in Russia?" Abe spoke up.

My breath caught. I felt like I was about to drown in memories... in nightmares.

"She looked so broken when I found her. Do you know what happened to her?"

I nodded, "Rose managed to get a hold of a Strigoi who knew me. She gave him her name and sent him to me. I... I abducted her and took her to Galina's estate. I told her I was going to turn her but it had to be her choice. I used her love for me against her. I... I fed off of her for fun... to keep her weak," my voice broke and tears formed in my eyes, "She became addicted to the bite and I tried to use it to tempt her. Something happened to snap her out of it and she asked me to stop biting her. I figured that she wanted to have her head clear to think about becoming a Strigoi. So I stopped. Rose broke out and was able to get her stake. She attacked some of the Strigoi and I had to kill them. I followed her, planning on turning her. We ended up on a bridge. She unleashed ghosts on me, but they didn't help much. She told me she would rather die than become a Strigoi and tried to jump over the bridge. I caught her and pulled her back. She asked me why I wanted to turn her and I told her that I wanted her. It was the wrong answer. She told me she would always love me and then she staked me. I knew in that moment that that was what I should have said- that was what she wanted. The stake didn't go in far enough and I was able to pull it out and mail it to her. I sent her notes telling her that I wanted her but I would have to kill her before some other Strigoi did it."

Abe and Janine looked aghast at the story. I waited for their anger to be unleashed, but it never came.

"That wasn't you. From what I've heard, you would never hurt Rose that way if you could control it. She's forgiven you, so we do too," Janine said for both her and Abe.

Abe glared at me. I had a feeling he hadn't forgiven me.

"Thank you," I said earnestly to her.

We didn't mention Rose after that. We began to hunt. It wasn't boring, but it wasn't something I enjoyed. When we were packing the guns away, Abe came up behind me.

"I'll accept the fact that you couldn't control yourself as a Strigoi, but if you ever hurt Rose like that ever again, I won't just kill you. I will make have a spirit user, water user, air user and earth user help me torture you with the elements simultaneously until your body gives out. I will run electric currents through your body. I will slice your skin off. I will make sure you are screaming for mercy and then and only then will I sit back and watch the life fade from your eyes," he hissed in my ear, "Do you understand me?"

I gulped and nodded, "Yes, sir. I understand."

"Come on boys, let's go," Janine called.

Abe and I climbed into the car. The drive back to Court was silent. When we got back, I said goodbye and went straight to the apartment.

Rose was pacing inside. The second I opened the door she sighed in relief and threw her arms around me.

"Thank god!" she murmured over and over again.

I chuckled in her ear and whispered, "I'm fine."

She nodded and pulled back to kiss me. When we finally pulled away, I noticed the bags under her almond coloured eyes and her exhausted expression.

"You're exhausted. You should be asleep," I told her sternly.

"How could I sleep with you out there?" she asked wearily leaning her head against my chest.

"Your parents know everything; the Academy, Russia, on the run, everything," I told her.

"Everything?" she whispered.

"Everything except Victor," I corrected myself.

She nodded and yawned, "That's good. No more hiding."

I smiled, "No."

I took her hand and led her into the bedroom. We curled up on the bed, both still in our clothes.

"Good night Roza. I love you," I whispered, kissing her forehead.

"I love you too Comrade."

A/N: WHAT DID YOU THINK? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE R&R.