A/N: Hello human beings! What was that? I'm still alive? Yeah, I know. If you read my other story, Just Go With It, then you know that I have been absent for far too long. To tell you the truth, life has been kicking my ass. But I'm doing everything I can to get my writing back on track. (By the way, the latest update for JGWI will be up in a few hours, if not less; I just have to finish it off)

So, moving on. This story was inspired by the song Rude by Magic! It's just something that crawled into my brain while I was listening to it. It's not going to be long, it's sort of just acting as a break from my other story. I'm estimating about 10 chapters. But anyway, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

I don't know why, but that morning I woke up with the strangest urge. I'd thought about this desire many times, but this time was different. The urge was overpowering, smouldering even. Maybe it was her bare back facing up at me, its shining complexion proof of the previous night's activities. Maybe it was her beautiful locks, flowing around her shoulders and onto the pillow. Maybe it was her perfectly shaped, pink lips hanging open against the mattress. Maybe it was the tiny little snores that she only let out when she was so deeply asleep that a siren couldn't wake her.

I don't know what it was, but that little voice in my head just kept repeating the same thing over and over.

Marry her.

Marry her.

Marry her.

I sat up in bed and leant against my elbow, looking down at her with what I'm sure was an endearing expression. I could hear my heart pumping slowly, each beat a cry of love. I'm certain that if I laid my head on her chest I would hear her heart beat in time with mine.

God Rose, I love you.

I got out of bed, knowing that there was something very important that I had to do.

I'd only been here once before, standing in the exact same position, in the exact same spot, with exactly the same emotions pumping through me. Last time I had a bit more confidence, however, because it was only hunting. This time, no, this time was a little different.

I lifted a fist to the extravagant wood, and knocked gently.

It was only a little while later that the door opened, but it felt like a century. A million thoughts crossed through my mind, each of them seeming to transform into droplets of sweat and make their way down my forehead. I wiped them away with my sleeve, scolding myself for being so nervous.

What if he says no? What if he doesn't approve? What about-

"Dimitri?"

I looked up from my feet to find the most shocking, surprising, unusual, yet amusing scene that I've experienced in a while. I held back a smirk and a snicker from seeing Janine Hathaway in the front door of Abe Mazur's house, clad in only a revealing nightgown. Despite having a blanket wrapped around her shoulders I still noticed the ruffled fabric of her pyjamas and her untidy hair- hair, oddly enough, that resembled Rose's post-love-making hair. I shivered uncomfortably at the thought. There was an unfamiliar flush to Janine's cheeks, and she closed the door a little to hide her appearance.

"Good morning, Guardian Hathaway," I replied, trying desperately to hide my amusement. Obviously my guardian mask has started to fail me over the last couple of years, because Janine rolled her eyes and opened the door wider again. Taking it as an invitation, I made my way inside, softly closing the door behind me.

The house was as I expected: large, elaborate and chilly. Not the kind of chilly you get early on a winter morning, or the kind that a warm jumper can cure. It was the eerie kind that can only be fixed with family and photos and laughter. Perhaps the only sign of life, the only inch of the house that was a home, was Janine.

It seemed that whilst I was mulling over Abe's not-so-homey-house, Janine had prepared a hot chocolate. She handed it to me, smiling at my surprised expression, and gestured for me to sit down. I'd never told Janine about my fondness for hot chocolate, I'd never even had a full conversation with her that didn't involve guarding, but as she smiled at me I felt like we were old friends.

Rose, for most of the time that I've known her, refused to believe that there was even a minuscule piece of her that connected her back to her mother. But even through her refusals and denial, I'd always seen Janine in her. They shared the same determination, fierceness, temper, and drive to do the right thing (not to mention that glare, I'd been on the wrong side of that glare far too many times). This was the first time that I had seen Rose in Janine, however, and after catching a glance of the similarity, I couldn't believe I'd ever missed it. They both had that inconceivable way to read a person, to tell a story from first glance and yet still have the ability not to judge.

Looking into Janine's tired eyes I could see that she knew about my time with Rose, how much I had hurt her. She knew about my unimaginable horrors in addition to what I'd been through, and there was no doubt in my mind that she knew not from word of mouth, but from observation.

I wondered if it was a Hathaway thing, or a woman thing.

I took a sip of the hot chocolate and almost sighed. It even had double the chocolate, just the way I like. Janine seemed to notice the question in my eyes, because she answered before I could even open my mouth.

"Rose visited me the other day. Just for a while. She asked for two spoons of chocolate in her hot chocolate, which she has never done before. I don't know my daughter that well, but I do know that you affect her in more ways than one." She never blinked as she gazed into my eyes. She shifted forward in her seat, an auburn curl falling forward from the bunch, over her shoulder. "I know that you've hurt her Dimitri, I know that you've hurt her pretty badly, but I also know that there isn't anyone in this world more suited for her than you. So take care of her."

There was an unspoken threat in the air and as it wafted over, brushing against my skin, I shivered.

I don't know how the Hathaway women do it, but they can make the bravest men want their mothers.

Janine sat back against the leather couch, sipping her own drink as casually as if we were discussing guardian tactics. We sat there for a few minutes until we had both finished our drinks, before she spoke the silent question.

"So, Guardian Belikov, what brings you here?"

I explained my situation and my proposal, whilst she listened patiently. I think she could hear my nerves, but when I finished she answered nonchalantly.

"Well of course you have my permission. I admit that I don't completely agree with the whole dhampir- dhampir relationship, nor the previous student-mentor situation," I cowered under her disapproving stare, "but you make my daughter happy, and I know that you will not make her neglect her duties. That is all I ask for."

I was a bit confused after her whole speech, but gradually the bubble of excited started to form in my stomach, before quickly being popped by her next words.

She gestured behind me to where Ibrahim Mazur stood, "Of course, it isn't me that you need to worry about."

Well what did you think? Let me know!