AN: Hello dearies!
Hope you like this one-shot! It was really fun to write because it is 100% Romitri!
This "deleted scene" takes place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. So the lust charm has happened but neither Rose nor Dimitri have really declared their love to each other out loud. Hopefully this puts you in the right mindset:)
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.
Falling For You : Rose POV
"I hope you know that that is completely unnecessary."
"It is just a precaution."
"I can't believe your lack of faith in my agility prowess! I'm like a ninja but better because I have a supernatural advantage."
Ten minutes ago, when I'd stepped into the gym, it had been empty. But before I'd had a chance to celebrate the unbelievable feat of beating Dimitri to practice, I'd seen the note that told me to meet him in the woods by the primary campus. And in a P.S. he'd told me to run the whole way there because "he'd be timing me." (How he knew when I'd arrived I had no idea.) It was a strangely warm day for fall in Montana - which was probably why Dimitri decided to have practice outside - so I'd had no trouble with discarding my jacket and taking off at a sprint across the grounds. When I'd made it to the intended location I'd been surprised by what I saw: the twenty foot high obstacle course that had been banned from use 5 years ago due to rotting, had been restored almost completely. I'd been looking up at the course, thoroughly impressed, when Dimitri had stepped out from behind a particularly large tree (It'd have to be large to hide his whole muscled frame) with an amused smirk.
"Did you do this?" I'd asked.
"I think you overestimate the amount of free time I have," he'd said.
"You didn't answer the question, Comrade."
"I had a part in it, but I also had a lot of help."
"Cool, so do I get to run it?" I'd asked excitedly, but also slightly turned on by an image of him smudged with dirt and covered with sweat, hammering and building and sawing and – woah focus.
"Yes," he'd said, his amusement growing. "It's been tested so we know it's safe. The purpose of this is obviously for you to work on your balance. You could use some improvement in that area."
"Hey, you try and keep your footing while fighting someone who not only out weighs you by at least 100 pounds and is a foot taller than you, but also is like 10 times stronger than you."
He'd just shrugged and told me to climb up. Which leaves me where I was now – at the top of the ladder ready to begin the Sky Run (that was what it'd been called when it was still operational), and arguing with Dimitri about his insistence on standing beneath me through the entirety of the course.
"If only you'd embrace their silence as well," he said in response to my ninja comment. Then laughing at my answering scowl.
"Seriously though. I don't need you to baby me. I won't fall," I told him, donning my usual stubborn attitude and placing my hands on my hips for emphasis.
"And I won't take any chances. Please humor me. I believe in your capabilities, but I'll be more at ease if I am here to catch you if you do fall."
"Even if I fall, not saying I will, you wouldn't be able to catch me without hurting yourself."
He smirked. "Now who is doubting who's agility prowess? Don't worry. I won't let you fall."
"I not going to fall!" I yelled.
"Prove it."
Fully agitated, I began the first obstacle of the course: The Plank. The Plank was exactly what you would imagine it to be: a plank. It had a width of 5 inches and the length was 15 feet (the distance between every platform). The Plank was beyond easy to cross. It helped that I'd never been afraid of heights because that would've been the only difficulty for that portion of the Sky Run.
The second section was a little trickier. Two parallel ropes ran the length between the platforms, and wooden boards were placed across the ropes in one foot intervals. It looked like an old bridge that a villain might cut in a movie. So it was no surprise that this obstacle was called The Bridge. (Guardians weren't known for their creativity.) This segment looked simple enough, but there were no railings and The Bridge swung and dipped at every little movement. As I walked across, moving slowly from board to board, I was forced to break the vow I'd made to myself while climbing the ladder – I had to stick my arms out for balance, causing myself to have the appearance of a confused bird. I hated birds so I sure as heck didn't want to look like one. At one point I tilted and lost my center of gravity, nearly taking a tumble. Dimitri must've thought I was going to fall because I heard a sharp intake of breath below me. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being right so I added some extra gesticulation to my arm movements and righted myself. When The Bridge stopped swinging I looked down to see a concerned Dimitri. I smirked and winked at him, letting him know that I was fine and that I was still a warrior ninja. He smiled back encouragingly and I continued on at a more deliberate and slow pace. Eventually though, I did make it across.
The third challenge was called The Ropes. This consisted of two ropes criss-crossed at vertical, acute angles. The beginning and end of this section was simple because the lower rope provided a "path" of sorts to shimmy across while the upper rope served as a handhold. But as I neared the middle and the ropes got closer together, it became more difficult. I had to crouch down and continue to shuffle across with my handhold being only inches above the rope holding my feet. The center, where the ropes crossed, was the most problematic. I had no handhold whatsoever and I needed to switch my feet from one rope to the other. With some fancy maneuvering and foot work I managed to get my right foot onto the other rope – the one that had been my handhold previously. I had to slide that foot down to create room for my left foot, but I hit a complication when the foot kept sliding. The shifting of weight had jostled the ropes and so neither of them were stable right now, including the one holding my left foot which was bearing most of my weight and – to my horror – was now sliding too. I tried to pull them both back to my body, but that only caused the ropes to swing more which in turn made my feet slide faster until I was doing a full split 20 feet up in the air on nothing but two awkwardly crossed ropes. The number of obscenities that came to my mind couldn't even be counted on both of my hands.
I was nervous and sweating now, and sadly, like I always do when I'm nervous or flustered, I said something stupid.
"So, Comrade," I called, knowing he was beneath me somewhere. "How do you like the view?"
"Rose, focus," came his serious mentor voice.
"I'm trying! I'm sure everyone before me had a hard time getting out of this position too."
"I don't think anyone has ever gotten themselves into that position before," he unhelpfully pointed out
"What can I say? I like a challenge."
"Focus," he said again.
I stuck my tongue out at him and attempted to get out of this situation once again. This time, instead of trying to bring my feet to me, I folded the upper half of my body towards my right foot and grabbed the rope there. After making sure I had a secure grip, I pulled my legs off of the ropes so I was now just hanging with my feet dangling beneath me. I could feel the rope cutting into my hands, but there was no way that I was letting go.
In a split second decision I opted to go hand over hand the rest of the way across, while maintaining my suspended position, rather than pulling myself back up. I'd probably regret that later when I had rope burns and cuts to deal with, but right now I wasn't going to chance another acrobatic performance.
When I made it to the other side and hauled myself up onto the platform, I stood and raised my fists to the air in victory.
"Yes!" I shouted.
"Don't get too cocky," Dimitri warned. "Pride comes before the fall."
"Is that supposed to be some kind of foreshadowing pun?" I asked.
He quirked an eyebrow. "No, though I am impressed with your use of the word 'foreshadowing'."
"Hey, I'll have you know that I know many words in the English language. I have an impressive vocabulary."
"And a colorful one." I smirked smugly and he rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Keep going. you've got one more leg of the course left."
With an exaggerated salute I spun on my heels to face what was going to be the most challenging obstacle yet: The One Footer. The Guardians had gotten slightly more inventive with this name, but not much. It was only called The One Footer because of how you had to cross it. Parallel ropes ran from this platform to the next, much like how The Bridge was set up, but this time there were three ropes and they were placed very closely together – practically touching. The ropes, instead of holding boards, had small rectangular platforms, located every five feet, that were only large enough for one foot to stand on (thus the name The One Footer). These ropes were thicker and pulled tauter than the ones on The Bridge in order to prevent serious swinging, but regardless of the developments the ropes would still sway when I jumped onto the wooden blocks. There would be no avoiding the confused, flailing bird look on this one.
I took a deep breath and made my first move, leaping skillfully onto the first block. The ropes dipped a little and almost threw me off with a returning wave before they steadied again. With both of my arms sticking straight out, my left leg pulled slightly to the side, and my right knee marginally bent in order to help with my balance, I prepared for the next jump. I could do this. There was only one other block to the next platform and then I'd be done with the Sky Run. Two little jumps would lead me to victory and prove to Dimitri that Rose Hathaway doesn't need a safety net – or safety person.
I took another filling breath and let it out at a controlled slowness as I shifted into a deeper crouch with the bending of my knee, all while keep the line of my body – that held all of my weight – straight. I exhaled the remaining air quickly as I pushed off from the block and extended my left leg for the next one.
It was at this moment that I was rudely and unwillingly shoved into Lissa's head.
She was in the male Moroi dorms. In Christian's room. On his bed.
Thankfully their clothes were still intact and on their bodies, but they wouldn't be for much longer if their current activity continued to progress.
I was only in her head for a second (brought quickly back by my body's own terror), but it was enough to throw me completely off course. My foot missed the second block and I began to fall into open air. On the way down my shoulder connected hard with that stupid, small wooden block (the one – you know – intended for my foot), flipping my body in a way that would have me land on my back rather than my stomach. Not sure which option was better. My hands could've help with the impact, but then one or both of my arms would probably be broken.
I squeezed my eyes shut and my muscles contracted, preparing for a jarring impact. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to tense up, but I don't think the guy who came up with that was hurtling towards the earth when he said it.)
But then there was no impact.
Well, there was, but it wasn't the hard, unyielding ground. It was a pair of sturdy and careful arms wrapped underneath me and cradling me to a muscled chest that contained a pair of rapidly moving lungs and a speeding heart.
Dimitri
I looked up into wide, brown eyes, immediately feeling safe. Feeling...right. My arms instinctively took advantage of the situation and wrapped around his neck, securing my body to his further. My fall was now only 30% of the reason my pulse was still racing.
"Roza," he breathed. "Are you alright?"
I nearly choked when he said 'Roza.' He hadn't called me that in a long time. "I...wha – yeah. Yes, I'm okay."
His hold on me tightened and he grew even more concerned, probably taking my stuttering as shock. Well... he wasn't wrong, but the reasons for my lapse of speech were a little different than what he was assuming. Less to do with near death and more do to proximity to a certain Russian.
"Really I'm fine, Comrade," I reassured him.
The nickname must've helped convince him because moments later he gingerly lowered me to my feet (much to my dismay), but he didn't step back. His hands continued to hold my waist and my arms held their position around his neck. Perhaps he didn't notice what we were doing, or rather what it looked like we were doing. I wasn't about to inform him if that was the case.
"What happened?" he demanded. "You were doing well and then you just froze."
I thought back to the brief glimpse I got of Lissa and Christian. Even now I could feel her excitement, love, and happiness. I suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, anger, and a little bit of pride (I mean come on, she snuck into the male dorms and was fraternizing with her boyfriend. There was no way that that wasn't due to my influence). The jealousy and anger, however, were still dominant. Her feelings, while impossible to control, had caused me to plummet 20 feet. It may have been into Dimitri's arms, but that fact was irrelevant. What if he hadn't been there?
More than anything though, I was upset that I couldn't demonstrate or act upon or even state my love for Dimitri the way she could to Christian (hence the jealousy). I wanted to be able to sneak into Dimitri's room an hour before sunset and have him hold me while I kissed him senseless. To have him whisper precious words of love in his native tongue while I gasped at what said tongue was doing.
I could do none of that. My heart was forced to feed off of mere morsels: unexpected seconds of closeness, unintentional brushes, unplanned locking of eyes.
But right now...at this moment – with our bodies standing close enough to create a heated atmosphere between us, with his hands still gripping my waist, with our eyes holding each others unwaveringly – well, it was no wonder that my heart was racing to consume it all.
"What happened?" he asked again, more gently this time.
"Lissa pulled me into her head."
"Is she okay?"
"More than okay," I muttered without thinking. Dang it. Dimitri wasn't an idiot and it certainly didn't take a genius to figure out what I accidentally implied.
"I'm sorry Rose," he said, deciding not to acknowledge Lissa's current activities. "I didn't even think about that. I'm usually not too worried about that happening during our morning sessions because she's asl...well, she's supposed to be asleep. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm-" I hissed in a breath through my teeth as he applied a small pressure to the juncture between my collar bone and shoulder where I'd hit it on the block.
He carefully pulled my shirt aside to get a better look. It was already starting to bruise and would definitely look worse tomorrow. Oh, and soreness. That too would be present tomorrow.
While most people would believe him to be reactionless, I saw the softening of his eyes. They weren't worried – which was good because it meant nothing was fractured. But they were concerned and guilty. Of course he would think that this was somehow his fault.
"Hey," I coaxed, using my hand to draw his eyes from the bruise up to me. "Don't be sorry. This wasn't anyone's fault. Just bad timing. Besides, I'll be good as new in a few days."
He nodded and I drew my thumb across his cheek bone. For a moment he closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. I had to work hard to keep my breath from catching. When he still didn't pull away from me, I chanced taking a step closer to him. The step practically closed the gap between our bodies. My mouth was close enough to his that we shared the same breath, and my chest was close enough to his that my breasts brushed him when I breathed. At this his breath caught and his eyes flew open. The unspoken feelings were all there. I could read them as easily as if he'd written them out: longing, affection, but...also resolve. He stepped back and dropped his hands – the moment was over, and I cursed the part of my brain that gave me the stupid idea to step forward.
"I'm glad you're okay Rose," he said.
Rose, not Roza.
"Me too, Comrade. And...thanks by the way. You know...for saving my life. Guess I did need you there after all."
He smiled. "Anytime. I told you that I wouldn't let you fall."
As we walked back to the secondary campus, side by side but with no less and four feet between us, I contemplated what he said and decided that he was wrong. He was wrong and he lied.
Because I had fallen long before today.
I had already fallen so hard and impossibly deep in love with him that even his promises couldn't save me. He'd let me fall and has yet to catch me. Perhaps he never would. And try as I might, I can't stop myself from falling or continuing to fall. Maybe one day he'll catch me or maybe I'll run out of sky and hit the ground, but until that day…
I'll keeping falling for you.
AN: Please let me know what you thought in a review and/or comment and thank you so much for reading!
I'm sure, because of the title, you all guessed what was going to happen in this story, but none the less I hope you found it entertaining to read!
If you have any questions about any of the sections of the course (perhaps you were unable to visualize them based on my descriptions) then let me know and I'll PM you:) The first three sections were actually in a high ropes course that I did a few years ago, but unlike Rose I was harnessed. So that is actually where I got the idea to write this. That and the play on the word "falling."
Also, I am well aware that the first time that Lissa and Christian have sex is in Frostbite. This was just a make-out session that Rose thought might lead to sex. I know the writing kind of implied that they were about to have sex, but that is not the case my friends:)
Have a stupendous day! XOXO
