Our steps on the tiled floors reverberated throughout the hall. Sounds carried unfortunately far in the dorms, it had always been difficult to sneak in or out, and to approach someone's room stealthy was almost impossible. That's why, though we were fifty feet away, Lissa stuck her head out of her room.
"Rose! Where have you been?" She ran to us as quickly as she could, draped in a pink silk night gown, a white negligee peeking out from the top.
"Wow, Liss, you didn't have to dress up for me. Or, should I say, down?" She was now standing in front of us, but her eyes were to the ground and a pale pink dusted her cheeks. Moroi never seemed to blush darkly, the lucky bitches.
"Oh, Guardian Belikov, I'm… Oh… Come in, sit down, let me change," She ushered us in and scattered off to her bedroom like a dog with her tail between her legs. Feeling out her mind, I felt her embarrassment and a touch of curiosity at why my mentor was accompanying me everywhere.
"Roza, it's going to be fine," Dimitri's warm fingers stroked my palm, tracing the lines and scars across them. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The anxiety was clenching my chest, bubbling up through my throat.
"Ok, I'm decent, what's up?" Lissa plopped on the love seat across from the couch were Dimitri and I were, now dressed in a cute teal top and skinny jeans. I slid away from Dimitri slowly, and Lissa didn't notice. She was smart, though, and knew something important was going down.
I palmed my forehead and sighed. No words were coming out. "I can leave for a moment, if that makes it easier?" Dimitri questioned quietly.
"No!" I half-yelled, causing an impossible eyebrow raise from both Lissa and Dimitri.
"Oh, God, Rose, what did you do now?!" I thought you had calmed down, after what happened with Jesse?
"It's not like that, Liss. I'm not in trouble. Yet." I breathed. Dimitri's leg was bouncing, the only sign of what was going on in his head, but it was moving the couch and really distracting me.
"Dimitri, please!" I gripped his lower thigh, steadying his leg. His hand reached out to pat mine apologetically, and suddenly there was a strange silence in my mind. Lissa's constant buzz of emotions and thoughts were gone.
Her mouth was open as she stared at our hands in shock. My hand was still on Dimitri's leg, and his hand was still on mine. I quickly pulled my hand away and held it up, as if I was approaching a feral dog.
"Look, I can explain-"
"How long?" She whispered
"What?"
"How long have you been together? How long have you been dating?" She whispered again. Her eyes mirrored her sharpened emotions- betrayal.
"Oh, I don't know if you'd say we're together, or dati-"
"We've fought it for several months. Nothing was truly official until last week, after the fight with the Zeklos boy," Dimitri confessed. My heart tightened to hear him say that, that we were really together.
"I'm going to make some tea, if that's okay," He added, rising to his full height and walking back to the kitchen.
"You better start explaining. Right. Now." Lissa growled. Now, I've never found her even remotely scary, but her angry expression mixed with the furious emotions pouring off her made her very frightening indeed.
"I've always been attracted to him. From the moment he popped out of nowhere in Portland. It just escalated. A few stolen kisses here and there. But after that night, I love him, Liss," I gazed at her pleadingly. And her face softened, and she reached out for me.
"I just don't understand, Rose. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Lissa, you have to understand, I didn't really understand what was going on. He's seven years older than me, he's my instructor, but when we're together, it's just…" I trailed off. Lissa and I hadn't had a talk like this in forever, and it felt good to talk about this. She sympathized, too, I saw in her mind what she felt for Christian, how she related it to us.
"That must have been so hard. I wish you would've told me, but I get it," She smiled at me reassuringly and squeezed my hand.
"You are really truly amazing, you know that," I sighed.
"Tea's ready," Dimitri called, carrying in a tray of three cups and a cup of honey, setting it down at the small wood coffee table before taking his place next to me. We both stared at him, making him more uncomfortable than he obviously already was.
"What did I do?" He questioned pseudo-innocently. Lissa whipped her gaze over to me and pushed a thought into my head.
Have you guys… Have you slept together? We both blushed, and I nodded. Lissa gave a soft squeal and sent out another question.
What was it like? He's good, isn't he. Tall, older…
"Liss, you have no idea," I confessed, still slightly flushed.
How many times? Who's on top, him, right? He seems like that kind of guy. I know you don't ask me this, but I figure you've seen it, so spill! She shuddered at the mention of my accidental spying.
"Only once, really. And yeah, he was." I held back a slight smile.
"Wait, what. Are you talking about- Oh my God," Dimitri sputtered. I'd never heard him so embarrassed, sounding so flustered. It was kind of endearing. He was even blushing again, twice in as many days, what a record!
"No need to be shy about anything anymore, Dimitri. Lissa and I share everything." I smiled up at him, and Lissa gave a feminine snort.
"So, Guardian Belikov…" Lissa glanced at me conspiratorially.
"Yes, Princess?" Dimitri swallowed. He feared her, he was actually scared of my 110 pound best friend.
She leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes at him, "How many other women have you been with?" I looked over to him, eager and scared to hear the answer.
"Well- I mean- I can't- how is this relevant to anything?" That gave me the only answer I needed. I leaned back against the plush back of the couch, "A lot then, huh?"
"No, God, Roza, stop," He cupped my face with his warm hands, "They don't matter because they're not you. I've never felt like this," he gestured to the little space between us, "ever before. This is a first for me as well."
"Aww, how sweet, cradle robber," A masculine voice called from the doorway. IT could only be one person.