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Chapter 2
We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just holding each other. This is one of the rare times that Dimitri shows his vulnerable side, but it's over just as soon as it came. He looks up at me gratefully, and stands up.
"Rose, I'm going down to the gym. Do you want to come spar with me?" Yup, vulnerable Dimitri is long gone, replaced by the indestructible Russian god we all know and love.
"I actually have to go talk to Lissa about something. Can I meet you down there in half an hour?"
"I'd love that, Rose. Take your time." He kisses my cheek lovingly, and takes off out the door.
I throw a pair of loose gray sweatpants into a bag for when I catch up with him, along with my fighting gloves. I leave right after he does and close the door on my way out. I jog down the two flights of stairs until I reach Lissa's floor, and take off down the hallway until I'm standing in front of her room. I rap my knuckles impatiently against the wooden door, and she opens it, looking flustered.
I stare in confusion. "What's up?"
She shrugs. "Nothing. Why are you here?"
"Ouch. I mean, if you don't want me, I can go.." I tease lightly.
"Rose, you know I love you. I'm just having a bit of trouble in the kitchen." That explained the burning smell that was wafting from the inside of the dorm.
"Oh, Lissa.." I sigh, shaking my head. "Anyway, I need to ask you something."
"Sure, what's going on?"
"I want to go to Russia." I blurt.
She raises an eyebrow. "Why Russia, of all places?"
"Dimitri's mother just called. They didn't even know that he had been turned back into a dhampir again. For all this time, his family thought that he was still dead. Undead. Whatever. I know he's dying to see them again, and I want to go with him."
She calmly gets up. I frown. "Uh.. Lissa? Where're you going?"
"To book you guys your tickets."
"Wait- what? Liss, I just came here because I wanted to know if it was okay with you. I am your guardian and everything, and I didn't know if you'd be okay with me disappearing off to foreign lands for a couple weeks."
"Rose, you already do so much for me. I'm perfectly fine with it. I've got eight other guardians, and they'll be sure to look after Christian while Dimitri's away. We'll be fine."
"Liss, you really don't need to buy the tickets."
"I want to, Rose. This is my way of saying thank you for everything you do for me. I know it doesn't even begin to cover it, but please accept this."
I pull her into a tight hug. "Thanks, Liss. But, please, don't feel like you have to repay me. I do what I do because I love you, and I'd gladly put my life on the line if it meant saving yours."
She rolls her eyes. "Don't start with me, Rosemarie."
"Liss, you know it's true."
She smiles triumphantly as the papers spew out of the printer. She hands both to me. "Here you go. You guys leave early tomorrow morning, so don't stay up too late doing whatever you guys do." She winks knowingly.
"Tomorrow morning? Is that enough time for you to sort out the guardian stuff?"
She nods. "Yeah, I'll call them now and arrange something for the next two weeks."
I thank her about a million more times and squeeze her around the waist again before I head out to the gym. There's only one on campus, and it's a seven-minute jog from our dorm. It's usually crowded, so sparring is tricky due to the watchful eyes. When I reach the large, modern building, I pull the heavy glass doors open and see Dimitri in a far corner lifting weights. As I get closer, I can see his bare muscles ripple deliciously under the heavy weight. His shirt had been carelessly tossed to the side, and I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from jumping him right then and there. He doesn't notice that I've arrived, so I get to spend a couple extra minutes admiring his body.
"See something you like?" Dimirti asks with a smirk. Damn, I must not have noticed him putting the weights up. I put on a cool façade, and grin right back.
"You know I do."
He shakes his head, mumbling something in his native language.
"Guess what?" I ask him anxiously, poking his arm.
"What's up, Rose?"
"So, I, uh, just talked to Lissa. And you and I are leaving for Russia tomorrow morning." I inform him nonchalantly, and enjoy that I've taken him completely by surprise. His jaw drops a little, and his deep brown eyes go huge.
"We're going to Russia?" he repeats, sounding dazed.
"Yup, flight leaves at six tomorrow morning." I shudder, not appreciating that I'd have to get up that much more early.
"What about your classes?"
I shrug, uncaring. "I'll only be missing about three days of classes. Spring Break starts the week after that, and I'll be back a couple days before school starts up again."
I was not expecting me to attack me then. Well, he didn't actually attack me, more like grabbed me in a huge embrace that may or may not have scared the crap out of me. He buries his face in my hair and breathes deeply.
"God, I love you, Roza."
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before, comrade." I put on a disinterested look. He feigns shock, and he clutches his chest dramatically. I try not to put too much thought into the fact that he's still shirtless.
"Wow, Rose. Way to kill a mood."
I smile cheekily. "So, can I kick your sorry ass now?"
He glances down at me, amused. "You can attempt to kick my ass, but that's as far as you're ever going to get."
I shove him aside playfully. "And we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"
In the locker room, I pull on the black pair of sweatpants and strap the fingerless gloves on. I pull my hair back into a high ponytail and then go into one of the back rooms. The compact space is meant for wrestling practice, but it works just as well for our purposes as well. There's a red mat on the floor, with a white line marking the perimeter. Dimitri's stretching; I walk inside and do the same. Once we've gotten warmed up, we meet each other in the center of the block and prepare our rigid fighting stances.
We're just circling each other for about a minute, each of us trying to weigh out our options. Suddenly, he jerks forward, his fist flying out. I barely dodge it and throw a hook back towards him. He deflects it way too easily, and then goes for a kick behind the knee. I slide out of the way quickly, and opt for a swift roundhouse kick to his chest. He's not ready for this, and the side of my foot makes contact with solid muscle, and he staggers back just barely. I smile.
"Point. What were you saying about me before?" He grunts in response.
"Don't get cocky." He reprimands, frowning.
"No other way to do it, comrade." I throw another punch, which he dodges effortlessly. I don't know what exactly happens next, but all of a sudden I find myself lying on my back, Dimitri's huge frame on top of me, crushing my ribs and lungs. I gasp for air.
"Damn you."
He smiles, his face just inches from mine, and then places a hand over my
heart, pretending to have staked it. "You're dead." He pronounces proudly.
"So are you if you don't get your heavy ass off of me." I growl, trying to shove him off, but he doesn't budge.
"Nah. I think I'll stay. You're pretty comfortable."
"And you're going to wake up with no reproductive organs tomorrow, if you know what I mean."
His eyes widen slightly, but my point gets across. He slowly rolls off of me and groans in disappointment.
"You're no fun, Rose."
"Well, it's not very nice of you to tackle your girlfriend after you'd just hit her."
"It's also not very nice of said girlfriend if she abuses you daily."
"Yeah, but I'm the girl. It's allowed."
"You're also a girl who can take a damn hard punch."
"Doesn't give you the permission to hit me, jerk."
He smiles that half smile of his. "Then what gives you permission to hit me back?"
I land a punch to the side of his jaw. "I have something to prove."
He winces slightly from the impact. "I don't think anybody's actually doubting you."
"You still don't believe that I can beat your ass."
"I don't believe it because it will never happen."
"Somebody's confident."
"Somebody's deluding themself."
We spar for a good half hour after that, and he'd been right- I didn't end up beating him. He takes way too much pleasure in this fact and smirks even while we pack up our stuff and head back to my dorm. After I unlock the door and swing it open, I carelessly toss my gym bag in a corner and flop down on the bed. Dimitri comes and sits next to me, taking my hand in his.
"I should get going, Rose. Start packing for tomorrow." There's a smile on his lips as he says this, and the excitement in his body nearly radiates off of his skin.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." I tilt my head back and glace at the digital clock that sits on my nightstand. The bold red numbers blare that it's 4:47 a.m. into the dimly lit room. Dimitri ducks down and presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes in contentment and sigh softly, enjoying this moment while it lasts. He pulls away, and I can tell that it the act was done so reluctantly. I want to reach out and pull him closer to me, but I know that the two of us need to start getting ready. After gently brushing a strand of hair away from my face, he sends a last smoldering look my way and leaves. I groan and stand up, heading to my closet and pulling a large black suitcase from a shelf on top.
I begin to pack my clothes- a bundle of shirts, pants, jackets, and underwear get thrown in. I lay my large winter coat on top and add in my pair of Ugg boots. I fill a small bag with my minimal makeup and perfume, and zip that into a compartment of the bag. Fifteen minutes pass, and I realize that this is extremely boring work. In hopes to lighten the mood, I set my iPod on my dock and click it on shuffle. An Eminem song that I like comes on and my work becomes a tiny bit more bearable. I've almost finished my work by the time the song finishes and a slow John Mayer song takes it's place. I snort at the cheesy, clichéd song, and wonder how the hell it ended up on my iPod. I'd have to talk to Lissa about this later.
A knock from the door sounds in the room, and I jump and skip over piles of clothes to get to it. I pull it open, not sure of who would be wanting to speak to me. What I see on the other end startles me, and my throat goes dry.
"Little Dhampir." He acknowledges me with a nod. "How've you been?"
"Adrian.." I manage to stammer. "What are you doing here?"
Sorry it's kind of short. It wasn't supposed to end like this, but I kind of liked it. I didn't want too many things to be happening all at once, so we're going to save the Adrian stuff for next chapter. Please review, my lovely readers!