You're The Only One

Rose and Dimitri were sitting in the living room of the court palace. Rose was exhausted, she had followed Lissa around all day protecting her at the mall. She was starting to feel the stress of being a Guardian, she hadn't had a break all day. She loved spending time with Lissa but it was intense, she couldn't relax at all.

"How was your day Roza?" Dimitri asked as he ran his hand through her hair.

Rose was laid across the couch with her head on Dimitri's lap.

"It was long."

"I thought you liked shopping."

"I do, I did, I can't afford to shop, if I drop my guard just once something really bad could happen to Lissa," Rose emphasised worriedly.

"Roza you can stop and look at things, you can shop. Lissa had four other guardians with her today so that you could relax with your friend. You have no need to worry, she's the queen now she has a lot of guardians lined up to look out for her. Roza, Lissa needs you to be her friend every now and again," Dimitri tried to convince her.

Rose closed her eyes and nodded, she knew that Dimitri was right but she had spent her whole life training and preparing to be committed to looking after Lissa, it was a hard habit to break. Dimitri leaned down and planted a delicate kiss onto Rose's forehead and then he went back to playing with her hair.

Rose smiled, she enjoyed these moments with Dimitri the most, moments when they were on their own and had no commitments, they could be together and relax and no one would stop them. It was also these moments when she allowed her mind to wander and it always chose the more sinister thoughts to invade her with. Those thoughts that told her that Dimitri would leave her as soon as he found some Moroi woman whom he was attracted to and could have a family with. As much as Rose wanted to believe that Dimitri only had eyes for her it wasn't easy for her to convince her heart that he was only hers.

"What are you thinking Roza?" Dimitri asked.

Rose didn't know how to respond. On one hand she wanted to be honest and have him reassure her but on the other hand she didn't want him to think that she questioned his love for her. She had done so in the past and they had had big arguments that left them both feeling miserable.

"How I can finally relax and just enjoy being with you," Rose said as honestly as she could.

Dimitri chuckled, "you have a serious look on your face like you're thinking really hard about something."

Rose sat up and Dimitri knew that something wasn't right. Rose frowned not knowing what to say.

"I- I- I'm scared."

Dimitri had a sympathetic look on his face, he had a feeling that Rose was worried about their relationship, a Moroi lady had caught his eye at dinner and had started flirting with him, unfortunately he hadn't discouraged her. He was just being polite but he knew that Rose was uneasy about women flirting with him because she was terrified that he would find them more intriguing. She wasn't wrong that a Moroi woman could give him a family, she wasn't wrong that people talked about their age gap. She was wrong in thinking that their age gap was an issue to him. In any case he wasn't going to start an argument with her over it this time.

Dimitri pulled Rose close to him and held her hands in his, looking into her eyes.

"Roza, you have no reason to be concerned. I know that you are insecure and I should not have allowed that woman to flirt with me tonight because I know how it makes you feel and the last thing that I want to do is give you a reason to feel insecure."

Rose wasn't fully convinced, "Dimitri what if someone else comes along who is everything that you have dreamed of? What if- what if the next time some woman offers to have your children you agree? What if you get a better offer to be someone else's guardian and you aren't at the court any more?"

Dimitri had to admit they hadn't talked about those possibilities before and he wasn't entirely sure if he's answers would be enough to convince Rose that those things would never happen.

"Roza, you're my only one. I have dreamt of you from the moment we met. When I listen to you all I hear is a song. A song that is only for me and that is all encompassing. Whenever I want to tell someone something that has happened you are the first person that I think of. When I wake up in the morning all I can think is that I'll get to see your gorgeous eyes. When I fall to sleep the last thing that I see is your beautiful smile. I love you Roza more than you can possibly imagine. You were the only one who believed in me when I was Strigoi, no one else thought it possible to bring me back. You didn't give up hope even after I hurt you in unimaginable ways. I gave up on wanting children the moment I became Strigoi because I don't ever want to destroy lives the way that I did after that change. I will never be a guardian to anyone other than Lissa, you forget Roza that royals get guardian's first and seeing as Lissa is the queen she is entitled to choose her guardian's. So unless she gets rid of me you're stuck with me here at court for as long as Lissa is queen. I can't imagine being with anyone other than you. I am excited for our holiday in a months time to Russia where I can introduce you to my family as the love of my life and the woman whom I am going to spend my life with. Roza you are the only one for me, you are my only one."

Rose had tears streaming down her cheeks at this point. She had never heard Dimitri say those kind things with such intensity before. She was convinced now that he really wasn't going to leave her. She felt the strength of his love for her pouring out in his words. For the first time Rose wasn't scared of the future and she knew that she had no reason to be.

"I love you," Rose whispered.

"I love you too," Dimitri responded.

They shared a soft and passionate kiss neither of them doubting the love that they shared.