"Uh, Dimitri," I said, once I'd stepped out of his shower, "we've got a problem."

"Oh?"

"Well, what am I going to wear?" It was the middle of the Moroi afternoon, and campus would be crawling with students, guardians, and teachers. There was no way I'd be able to get away with walking across campus in that dress. Much less walk out of Dimitri's room in it. And wearing his towel wouldn't really be any better.

"Oh." He looked at the rumpled dress skeptically. "Maybe…" But we both knew it would be a terrible idea.

I picked it up. "Oh. It's…"

"It's what?"

I held it up wordlessly, giving him a moment to take in the fact that it was practically ripped in two.

"Oh."

"You've been saying that a lot this afternoon."

He grimaced. "I need food, Roza. We both do."

"Yeah. Which brings us back to this." I dropped the dress, nose wrinkled.

"Um. Maybe I have something you can wear?"

I eyed him skeptically. "Comrade, if you hadn't noticed, you're like, two feet taller than me. In fact, you're probably twice my size."

"So pants are out. What about shorts?"

"You own shorts? You're from the –"

"The frozen north. I know." he interrupted my familiar jibe. "We do have summer though. So yes, I have shorts."

He dug through his closet as we spoke, unearthing a pair of athletic shorts, which he tossed at me. A T-shirt followed seconds later.

I slipped them on, and went to stand in front of the mirror. My snort of laughter soon drew Dimitri.

"I look ridiculous." The shorts fell past my knees, and the T-shirt sleeves hung past my elbows.

He failed to hold back a snort of his own. "Yes, Roza, you do. However, that's the best we can do."

I nodded. "I need a belt." I held out the waistband to illustrate – it would have easily accommodated two of me. "And better toss me a sweatshirt."

"Are you cold, Roza?" He looked puzzled.

"No, but these," I indicated my chest, "need a bit more coverage. Unless you really want all the guys to stare."

He eyed my chest and gulped. "Right," his voice came out strangled, "let me see… here."

I caught the hoodie he tossed me and pulled it on. A bit warm, but it would do. I rolled the sleeves up, and cinched the belt around my waist to hold up the shorts. I then rolled up the legs of the shorts to a more reasonable length. The T-shirt sleeves felt weird, but they were hidden under the hoodie, as was the odd bunching where I'd rolled the waistband of the shorts over the belt.

We both surveyed the results. Not bad, I decided. Not my best look, but not bad. Maybe I'd start a trend.

Dimitri wrapped his arms around me from behind and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"You look sexy when you wear my clothes, Roza."

I wiggled my hips, pressing back against him, and he growled. He spun me around in his arms, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his face to mine. I pressed my lips to his, but instead of kissing him, I whispered against his lips.

"We both need to eat, and you know it. And if we start this now, we'll be here all night."

He groaned, but released me. I instantly missed his warmth, and was tempted to snuggle back into him and kiss him senseless, but my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that both of us would be really grumpy if we didn't eat soon. With a sigh, I pulled away, and headed for the door.

Dimitri held out a hand to stop me. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

The sexy underwear I'd planted last night dangled from his finger.

"Oh, Comrade." I purred, "Those are a souvenir." I shot him my patented man-eater grin.

His eyebrow went up, and his eyes widened. I expected him to give them to me anyway, launch into some lecture on responsibility, but he just grinned and slipped them into his sock drawer.

No way! He was actually going to keep them. He must have seen the surprise on my face; his grin widened as he playfully chastised me.

"I told you, Roza, I'm not going to deny our relationship any longer."

'At least until this evening, when we face Alberta.' my mind helpfully warned. God, did it have to be so freaking pessimistic? At least let me enjoy this new Dimitri while it lasts!

"Come on, Comrade," I said aloud, "lets go eat."

Luckily the Guardian dorms were deserted, so we didn't have to explain my being in Dimitri's room. We decided to get food before going back to my room for a change of clothes. Of course, we'd neglected to check the time. It was the middle of lunch, and the cafeteria and commons were swarming with students. Oops. So much for staying under the radar.

"Whoa, Rose, nice look."

"Damn. Who's the lucky guy?"

Whistles and catcalls followed me across the school grounds, but it wasn't anything I wasn't used to. Dimitri, however, wasn't used to it. He growled, and his frown deepened as we walked. He had dropped back from my side as soon as we left his dorm, but I could feel his tension increasing. I had to think of a way to defuse it before he lost control – he did not need attacking a Moroi on his record, no matter that these dicks deserved it.

They come first. Sometimes that phrase – the code we lived (and died) by – just made me want to scream. I'd live and die for Lissa, sure, but some of these jerks…

"I've got a shirt you can wear, baby."

…Jesse came to mind, just as his voice joined those already taunting me. He certainly didn't deserve it. Ugh. I mentally kicked myself. I had enough to deal with right now – no sense in getting worked up over something I couldn't change.

Thankfully, we were nearly at the cafeteria, and the welcome distraction of food. Of course, it couldn't be that easy.

'Rose!' came through the bond, just as a petite blonde to my left squealed "ROSE!" and started jumping up and down, windmilling her arms at me.

Thankfully, Christian managed to pull Lissa back down to her seat and restrain her before she attracted too much attention. Or hurt someone. She'd come pretty close to accidentally decking Eddie just then - not that that would have been a problem, really. Waves of excitement, frustration, and impatience washed through the bond, nearly knocking me down with their intensity. I sighed, and looked longingly at the food line. But there was no way Lissa could wait that long. "They come first." I muttered to myself as I turned away from the food. Oh, she was gonna owe me.

"Rose?" Dimitri looked from the food line to where I was now headed. "Oh." Understanding softened his features. "I'll bring you something, OK?"

"Thanks, Comrade," I smiled at him, feeling some of the tension and annoyance fade, "you're the best."

When I reached the table, I got a few strange looks, but I couldn't really focus on them - Lissa immediately sent so many questions through the bond I couldn't even process them all.

"Whoa, Liss, slow down!" I exclaimed, hands held out to ward off the mental interrogation.

"Sorry. But, Rose, where the Hell where you?"

"Asleep?"

She shot me a look that said 'I heard the question mark there, missy.'

"Rose," she said exasperatedly, "didn't you think we'd check your room? I know for a fact that you haven't been there since yesterday." She glared at me.

"Wait, how do you know that?"

She sighed, and spoke slowly, as if to a child, "Because your bed is made, Rose."

"So?"

This time her stare was incredulous. "You've never made your bed in the entire time I've known you. I made it yesterday while waiting for you to come out of the bathroom – like I do almost every day. And the first thing you do, when you go in your room, is flop dramatically down on the bed and muss it all up. Since it's still perfectly made up, you obviously haven't slept in it."

"Oh."

"Exactly. Now. Where were you last night? And what kind of clothes are you wearing?"

"You mean whose clothes is she wearing, Liss." smirked Christian.

"What? Oh. OH! Rose! Who –"

I slapped my hand over her mouth. "Geez, Liss, could you yell any louder? I'm not sure everyone at the elementary campus heard you." I glared at her. Unfortunately, since I've known her since we were four, it doesn't really work on her. She ignored it. I was somewhat mollified to see that Christian and Eddie – seated on either side of her - had shrunk back in their chairs and leaned away from her.

I was trying to formulate a reply for Liss when a plate of food appeared as if by magic in front of me. Dimitri sank into the empty chair next to me.

"Pepperoni Pizza and Chocolate Donuts! Comrade, you're my favorite person ever!"

He just laughed. "Yes, well, I won't let you eat that way every day, but this once won't kill you."

I elbowed him. "If it was gonna kill me, Comrade, it would have done it already. I eat this stuff almost every day – have for years."

He turned a bit green at the thought. I pointed my fork at him menacingly. "And if you think you're going to turn me into one of those girls who just eats salad, you'd better reconsider, or you'll find yourself missing a few important bits." I dropped my gaze to his lap, to drive home the threat. He just laughed.

"Roza, you wouldn't like that any more than I would."

"Damn." I dropped my head to the table, narrowly missing the pizza, thank God. "I shouldn't try to threaten people before breakfast."

"Uh, Rose," Lissa looked really confused now, "this is lunch."

"Breakfast for me, Liss. I…" I cut myself off, but not before comprehension dawned in the eyes of my closest friends. Double Damn.

"Wait!" My head shot up off the table and I stared wide-eyed at Dimitri. "Did you just make a sex joke? Oh. My. God. You did!"

He flushed bright red, and ducked his head. I couldn't resist patting it.

I managed several bites of pizza, and a few of donut – what can I say, I don't see the point of waiting for dessert – before anyone else could form a question. Finally Eddie pulled it together enough to stammer "You! He! Did?" I cut him off before he could embarrass himself any further.

"This stays at this table, got it? Dimitri and I are together. Now pick your jaws up off the floor and eat your lunch."

At Lissa's wordless squeak, I relented. "Liss, we can talk later."

To my surprise, Christian overruled me. "No, Rose, we'll all talk later. This is too big to leave without some kind of explanation. And, anyway, we have to come up with our story, and it would be best if we all had the same one." He turned to Dimitri. "And Eddie and I have some questions for you."

I was touched by their concern.

"OK guys, I guess we can do that." I looked to Dimitri for confirmation, and he nodded assent. He seemed impressed too.

"Well," he said, picking up his empty tray, "we'd better get to training. Rose?"

"Coming." I picked up my own tray, stuffing the last of the donut into my mouth as I got up.

Christian had to get in the last word. "Riiiight. 'Training.'" He emphasized the word, and even made air quotes with his fingers. I reached over the table and smacked him on the head with my tray.

"Liss. Please control your boy toy."

"Hey!" he tried to look offended, but spoiled it by rubbing his head at the same time. It just made him look petulant.

Dimitri was trying to keep the laughter from escaping, but not entirely succeeding. "Come on, Rose," he choked out, and practically dragged me from the room. When we were safely in the gym, he burst out laughing.

"Rose," he shook his head, "I finally let you in, and in less than a day you've nearly ruined my guardian façade in front of everyone we've met. I don't think I'm gonna survive you. Now come here and let's see if you can channel some of that destructive energy."

We spent the rest of our training period sparring. It was oddly relaxing. He knew my moves, and I knew his, and now with our greater knowledge of one another's bodies, we moved almost as one, almost as if we were dancing. We were so completely absorbed in the fight we didn't even realize we had company until the sound of applause filtered into the bubble we had created around ourselves. We stopped and turned to find Alberta leaning against the wall and watching us.

"That was amazing." She complimented us. "You've clearly made her lethal, Belikov."

I blushed. "Alberta, what are you doing here?"

"You were supposed to be in my office 15 minutes ago. I came looking for you, and decided to see what you could do. Which is a lot. You two are very impressive. In fact…"

She trailed off, obviously deep in thought. I wasn't sure I really wanted to know what she was thinking about. A glance at Dimitri told me he was thinking the same thing: whatever it was, we probably weren't going to like it.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and continued. "Anyway, that answers one of my questions."

"Which was?" She kept throwing me off my balance, and I tried to keep up my usual bravado.

She smirked. "Which was what exactly you two get up to in training." Geez. What's with the air quotes today?

"In any case, I can see that you actually do train her, Belikov. And you, Rose, have improved astronomically since he's been mentoring you."

"About that," Dimitri broke in, "I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Yes." She cut him off. "I'll have to talk to Kirova, but I think I can arrange it. So long as you will still train her?"

"I will happily train with her," Dimitri clarified, "as her equal. But not as her superior."

I was confused, but Alberta nodded. "I'll propose it to Kirova at our meeting tomorrow, but I don't foresee any difficulties with it."

"And now," she continued, "why don't the two of you get cleaned up, and meet me in my office in 15 minutes. There are some things we need to discuss that are better kept out of public areas." She looked pointedly at the students clustered around the door, obviously drawn by our fight.

Dimitri and I nodded, grabbed our bags, and headed for the showers.