I woke up abruptly to the sound of someone at my door. It only took me a second to know who it was. I could feel Lissa's worry though our bond.

"One minuet Liss," I called to her as I looked to the alarm clock on my desk. Shit! It was supposed to meet her and Christian for lunch but when I had come back to my dorm room to gather my thoughts, something I did a lot lately since the attack on the school, I guess I had fallen asleep.

I don't know why but lately I had been feeling really tired. I walked to the door and opened it to see Lissa with a look on her face that mimicked the way she was feeling. "Why did you ditch us at lunch. We were looking for you everywhere." She stormed in the room and sat on the bed. I could feel a little bit of anger stir up in her once she realized that I wasn't injured nor looked sick.

"I'm sorry. I guess I've been under a lot of stress lately and just dosed off."

Okay, dosed off was an understatement. I had fully passed out and had missed the rest of the school day. Not that it would have mattered much. The attack had happened during our field experience and though the school gave us a few days off to grieve for the fallen Moroi and guardians it seemed like the school was bouncing back to its normal routine. I on the other hand was still on half shift with guarding Christian so most of my time was spent in my dorm or training with Dimitri whenever he had the time away from his shifts of pretending to be a Strigoi.

Dimitri pretending to be a Strigoi. Whenever I thought about this my heart gave a sign of relief. I had gone with the group of guardians, and some brave fire using Moroi teachers, on a rescue mission to save some of the students that had been taken by Strigoi. The mission was a dangerous one as it was never heard of that so many Strigoi gathered together the way they did. A lot of people were lost during the battle but I almost lost the most important one to me. I could still see the Strigoi as clearly now as I did that day; with his blonde hair and red ringed eyes. He had surprised Dimitri and the two of them grappled on the ground.

Dimitri struggled against the brute strength of the Strigoi. I was frozen as I watched the two of them fight for dominance. The guardians closest to me were in the middle of their own struggles to lend him assistance and just when it seemed like the Strigoi was getting the upper hand I made a move. I didn't have time to run at them and plunge my stake into the Strigoi's chest so I figured a distraction would at least give Dimitri the seconds he needed to finish the job. In one swift motion I grabbed the largest rock in front of me that fit into my hand and with all the strength I had left in me I chucked it at the Strigoi's back.

Of course it didn't hurt him, but it did cause him to flinch which gave Dimitri the opening. As he dug his stake through the rib cage of the Strigoi I could not help but think about the countless times he made me show him where to stab a Strigoi on a practice dummy to get access to its heart. I knew before the Strigoi fell that Dimitri didn't miss his target and he quickly pushed the lifeless body off him and ran to where we were. Soon the remaining Strigoi were either killed off or had fled the scene and the group headed back to the school. With everyone else well ahead of us, Dimitri and I were the last to arrive and before we crossed the border in to the school grounds he stopped me and pulled me towards a tree to give us a little bit of coverage. He then looked at me for the first time since his close call.

"Roza. I―" He looked like he either could not find the words or he was still shook from his near death experience. I thought he was going to say thanks or something but what he did was even better than words. He pulled me into his arms and for a second I worried that someone would be able to see us thought the thin tree trunk. The look in his eyes told me that even if they did it would not matter "I love you Roza."

He cupped his hands over my face and brought his lips to mine. They were warm on mine and made the cold around us fade. Kissing him, I thought back to the cabin where we made love. It seemed like so much time had passed since then but I could remember every detail about it. He pulled away and I could not help but look to see if anyone noticed us. It seemed like they were preoccupied with more pressing matters though. I was just so relived that I didn't lose Dimitri.

Despite the one way connection we had, Lissa could tell what I was feeling sometimes. The small amount of anger she had in her had gone away when she saw the change in my face.

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" She gave me a concerned look. When the group had made its way back from the battle, Lissa's life has changed drastically. Everyone now knew of her Spirit abilities as she had healed a lot of the injured students and staff. At first I didn't want to talk about what had happened at the caves. I knew she was stressed enough without me telling her my deepest secret about Dimitri and I and how I had almost lost him, but she somehow got it out of me. I didn't tell her the whole truth though. I just told her that we had become good friends during our training and that I had grown strong feelings for him. I left out the part that he returned those feelings for me as well.

"Rose, Dimitri's okay. You saved him," She said as she puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I know. It's just―" I let out a sign. "What would I have done if he would have died." I didn't want to think about it, but the idea of him being gone forever never left my thoughts.

Lissa didn't say anything but her thoughts gave her away. She thought that I was holding onto this non-existent reality too much and thought I should let if go before it drives me insane.

"Don't worry Liss. I'm okay." She gave me a small smile before looking at the time.

"I'm supposed to meet up with Adrian in a little bit," Lissa said as she sat up from the bed. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

I gave her a nod, "Yes, I'll be fine. Have fun with Adrian." As she walked through the door I took a step forward. "Only not too much fun, okay. Christian is worried about you two enough as it is."

"Nothing is going on between me and Adrian Ivashkov," she said, shaking her head.

"I know that Liss. But Christian doesn't seem to get that sometimes."

"I'll be on my best behavior. Promise." She turned and headed down the hallway as I shut the door behind her. I looked in the mirror. Yikes! My hair was a mess. I gave it a quick brush before pulling it into a high ponytail before heading out in search for Dimitri. After all the dark thoughts of what might have happened with him I just really wanted to see him now.

This is my first ever story here on Fanfiction. If you like this chapter please leave me some feedback. I would love to know what you think so far!