The next morning, I awoke to the annoying sound of my alarm clock.

I groaned in protest, hitting the thing that was causing me to lose sleep.

I looked at the clock. It was five-thirty. "Shoot me," I moaned out.

I got up, staggering towards my dresser. I grabbed my running shorts and a tank top. I supposed it might be hot when I got outside.

Why, oh why had I agreed to Dimitri's offer? It was unnatural to be awake while the sun is still up. It was shining brightly through the window, taunting me.

When I got outside, I discovered that it wasn't hot at all. It was actually rather cold. Autumn had hit St. Vladimir's sometime while I had been asleep.

I opened the gym doors to find Dimitri sprawled out on the floor, reading a Western novel. "Is that Louis L'Amour?" I asked. "And is that Prince?" I was incredulous.

He nodded.

"Why are you listening to this?" I asked. I was ashamed that I even knew When Doves Cry, but a roommate of ours had been a huge fan of Prince.

"Because that is what I like," he stated calmly.

"Look, I know this is a hit in Eastern Europe right now, but-"

"Siberia isn't an arctic wasteland, Rose," he told me.

"Are you sure?" I tried to raise an eyebrow, but once again failed.

"I lived there until two years ago, Rose," he said exasperatedly.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically.

He smiled at me, causing my heart to shudder.

"Since the sun is out, I won't be having your run laps. Instead, we're going to focus on boxing," he told me.

"Really?" This was the moment I had been waiting for!

"Yes," he said, clearly amused.

For the next hour, he taught me how to hold my fists when I punched. He taught me the correct movements and had me practicing on the punching bags.

I was lucky that I naturally had such good form. Maybe I was meant to be a fighter.

Dimitri also lectured me about why not to hit with certain parts of my hand, and not to hit someone unless sparring or in danger.

I sighed. He expected so little of me. Actually, he knew me quite well. I had thought about teaching Mia a lesson, in all honesty.

I rushed out of the gym, in a hurry to take a shower and get to breakfast.

I didn't have time to visit the feeder's for breakfast this morning, so when I got to the commons I piled on heaps of food on my plate.

"Jeez, Rose," Lissa smiled at me. "You sure are hungry today!"

I smiled back at her, wishing I could tell her about my training with Dimitri. However, I knew that I couldn't. Dimitri could get in trouble for teaching me how to fight. I would hate for him to lose his job, just because of me. I would hate to never see him again.

We parted ways for first period. I was finally starting to get the hang of Russian, but knew it was really only because Dimitri had been tutoring me. It helped having someone who knew everything about the language. I wanted to impress Dimitri with my Russian knowledge. I didn't know how that could happen when I was only in Russian I, though.

I paid rapt attention, even taking notes. I highlighted important points and starred things that I was confused about. I decided I'd ask Dimitri about those later, though I didn't know if he'd want to spend another extra hour after school with me. Surely he had a life, too.

My magic was getting better, I noticed, when I was practicing in fourth period. My flames were just as bright and vibrant as Christian Ozera's, not that I was comparing anything of mine to his. I could finally hold the flame in my hand for ten minutes, without breaking a sweat. I could light candles on fire from across the room. I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.

I wondered if getting in shape had some correlation to my magic working better. I hadn't fed since the morning before, but my flames were more vibrant than ever.

Things were finally falling into place.

I visited the feeder's at lunch with Lissa. I requested Alice again, while Lissa was just led to a random feeder.

"You haven't been protecting the Princess, Rose," Alice told me after I said hello.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

I mean, sure, I hadn't been spending every waking moment worrying about getting her out of St. Vladimir's, but things were better than ever. Lissa didn't feel as if somebody was watching her, there were no dark whisperings in her ear about people. Things were under control.

"You've left the Princess unprotected," she told me. I frowned, tired of trying to work out Alice's puzzles. I sidled up to her and bit into her neck. I fed until I knew it was time to stop, an internal alarm going off. I was satisfied, and it seemed Alice was, as well.

"Bye Alice," I told her, waving.

"Bye, Rose," she said woozily.

I walked out of her room, feeling a bit more alive than I had before.

I waited for Lissa in the lobby. We went to lunch, and she grabbed a yogurt.

I didn't even grab as much as I usually did. Instead, I just grabbed a sandwich and a chocolate milk.

Lissa gave me a strange look, wondering why I wasn't pigging out.

I just felt happy today.

Natalie and her friends just smiled, not noticing anything different about my eating habits. They were pretty oblivious to everything, really.

"So what are you doing after school today, Liss?" I asked.

"Well, after I finish my homework, Natalie and I were going to watch a movie with Erin."

At least she was playing it safe. Alice's chastisement came back to my mind, and I wondered if St. Vladimir's would slowly drive Lissa crazy.

"That's cool, what are you going to watch?"

She looked at Natalie and Erin, wondering why she hadn't even bothered to ask. Suddenly, I felt as if Lissa was slipping away from me. She was becoming closer to Natalie and Erin. They hung out after school. She had agreed to watch a movie with them, not even questioning what they would be watching.

"Titanic," Natalie answered, smiling.

Titanic was Lissa's favorite movie. She claimed that she loved how romantic it was. I just thought it was depressing. And if she really loved him, she would have found a way to let him on that piece of wood. Why didn't he just swim around so they could balance the weight out?

Lissa smiled a large, brilliant smile.

I was envious of her beauty. She looked so innocent, so angelic. She was tall and thin, the perfect Moroi body type.

I wished I could look like her. I looked more like a dhampir, to be honest.

While she was angelic, I was the opposite. If she was the angel on one shoulder, I was the devil on the other. Or at least, I had been just mere weeks ago.

After Moroi Culture, Lissa and I walked to Slavic Art together.

I finally decided to tell her about Jesse and the lounge, and my sudden realization about Dimitri.

I passed her a note. So, J and I met up in the abandoned lounge last night.

What?! she asked. What happened?

We hooked up

How was it?

It was good.

But you guys aren't together?

Nothing really happened. Dimitri showed up and bitched Jesse out.

"Excuse me, Mr. Nagy, I can't concentrate on the question with Lissa and Rose passing notes over there!" Mia was attempting to worm her way out of a question she obviously didn't know the answer to.

The class shuffled in anticipation. Mr. Nagy was infamous for his note reading.

He read the note to the class.

"Are we to assume that the usage of 'hook up' is the more carnal use?" he asked us.

"Yes sir, Mr. Nagy," I said.

The class laughed.

After class, Jesse came up to me, nearly sweating. "Listen, Belikov knows I wasn't involved in this, right?" he asked.

I looked at him, my eyes narrowed. "Yeah, yeah. I won't tell my guardian."

He nodded and left. "You know, Jesse just doesn't seem that hot anymore," I told Lissa.

She giggled. We walked back to the dorm together so I could change into my running shorts and tennis shoes. I walked her to her room, telling her, "Have fun watching Titanic!"

She waved and said, "Oh, I will!"

I hurried to the gym, aware that I was late.

I got to the gym, shouting, "Sorry I'm late, Comrade!"

He looked up from the same western he had been reading this morning. "You'll be running an extra four laps, Rose."

I gaped at him. "That will make it four miles!"

"That'll get you in shape," he said.

I began to stretch, counting to sixty instead of thirty. Dimitri looked at me, an expression between amusement and irritation on his face.

"I know what you're doing," he told me. I looked up from my Figure Four stretch, eyes wide. He knew that I was just trying to spend more time with him?

"You do?" I asked nervously.

"You're trying to stall running," he said, smiling.

I laughed, relieved. "Oh, you're so right, Comrade!"

He gave me an odd look. "If it's bothering you that much, I'll run with you again."

"Do you run every day, Dimitri?" I asked as he helped me stretch my back again.

He pressed a little harder. "Yes, before you arrive, I usually run about five miles. Sometimes I go for six."

I couldn't help but look up at him in astonishment. This man had to be a machine!

He smiled at my expression, and my heart skipped a few beats. I prayed that he hadn't felt my traitorous heart.

"Time to run, Rose."

I grimaced, and felt the loss of his heat on my back.

He held out a hand to help me up. I took it, just wanting more contact with him.

"Let's go," he said, nodding towards the doors that led to the track.

We walked out, and I realized that he was still holding my hand. It was so warm and I could feel the electricity coursing from his veins into mine. His hand was so big compared to mine, but it still seemed to hold it perfectly.

He must have realized that he was still touching me, because he subtly pulled it away from mine.

We began to run. It was pretty easy going until I hit the twelfth lap, which was when my muscles began to ache. Soon, my lungs were huffing and puffing again. I finished my sixteenth lap, collapsing right after the finish line.

I smiled up at Dimitri, who was barely out of breath. He looked so gorgeous with the moon shining behind him.

"Your time was about the same average," he told me. "Eight minutes per mile. Not bad at all, Rose."

He helped me up once again, but let go of my hand right away.

"Hey, Dimitri?" I asked.

"Yes?" he looked at me expectantly.

"Can you help me with some school stuff after I shower?"

He looked at me appraisingly, and for a moment I doubted whether he would do it.

"I mean, I know you probably have a life, and I know that I'm taking up more of it than usual from now on, but I had some questions, and I really want to do well," I explained. "I'll understand if you don't want to do it."

He smiled at me, one of those half-smiles that I always hoped would turn into a true one. "Of course I'll help you, Rose," he told me. "I don't mind at all. Do you want to meet in fifteen minutes at the library?"

I smiled, excited that he would help after all. "Yeah, that works, Comrade. Thank you, so much!" Thinking, I tacked on a last minute, "Spasibo!"

He smiled at me then, a true, full-blown smile. I smiled in response, and waved as I walked towards my dorm room.

I showered, did my hair, and got dressed. I looked over myself in the mirror, wondering how Dimitri would feel about my outfit. It was simple, even kind of sloppy compared to what I had worn in the days before we had left St. Vladimir's.

I was wearing a light grey Portland State sweatshirt and pair of high-waist light blue jeans. I was wearing a pair of white Keds, and my hair was up in a messy bun. I really didn't feel like dressing too fancily when I was just going to the library for a while. Even if I was meeting Dimitri, it wasn't like it was a date. It wasn't like I had a chance with him.

Even so, as I walked across campus, I still found myself wondering whether he'd find me attractive in this outfit.

I entered the library and immediately began to search for Dimitri. I found him at our usual secluded table. "Privet, Comrade!"

He looked up from his western, immediately stowing it away in the pocket of his duster. "Privet, Rose," he said.

I grinned at him, happy to just be in his presence. I tried to squish the emotion down, and instead I pulled out my notes from my backpack.

"So, I was confused about…"

TRSTRSTRSTRS

After I finished studying with Dimitri, I realized that it was passed dinner time. "I am so sorry!" I said. I hadn't meant to starve him. I had often heard that dhampirs needed lots of food because they were always so active, and here I had kept him from his meal. "I didn't realize it was so late!"

"It's alright," he said.

"Are you sure? Are you hungry? I know I am. Maybe we could try to sneak into the kitchen for food?"

"Calm down, Rose. I'll be okay. If anything, I should be apologizing. It's almost curfew-"

I didn't get to hear the rest of what he had to say, because I was pulled into Lissa's head. She was upset. All she could see was red. She was crying.

I forced myself out of her head after only a few seconds, and Dimitri was looking at me worriedly. "Was it Lissa?" he asked.

I nodded, and took off running. Despite the fact that I had run a mini-marathon only a few hours earlier and hadn't eaten since lunch, I ran as fast and as surely as possible. I heard Dimitri's light footsteps behind me. I ran all the way to the Moroi dorms, to Lissa and Natalie's room, and didn't bother to knock on the door.

I barged in, immediately enveloping Lissa in my arms. "Shh, it's okay," I told her, cradling her to my chest.

I rubbed circles on her back and looked up to survey what had happened.

There was blood everywhere on her bed. It was gummy and starting to congeal. I grimaced, and looked to the source of all the blood. A dead fox, its neck slit, a hole in its stomach.

The wound in its neck looked jelly and white, the blood stopped running and a little crusted on the flap of the skin. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. Not only that, but it was on Lissa's bed. My sister's bed.

"It's okay," I said, rubbing her back once more. I looked up at Dimitri, wondering what he would do.

"Dimitri?" I asked.

"I'll call Headmistress Kirova immediately," he told me.

He pulled out a silver cell phone and walked out of the room to place the call. Within minutes, the room was swarming with teachers and dorm matrons. Even some students had gathered around to see the spectacle.

I glared at the students, trying to tell them to back off. None of them listened, of course. They were all much too curious about what was happening to the last of the Dragomirs.

"Princess, can you tell us your account of this?" Kirova asked.

Lissa looked up from my arms, her eyes still teary.

"I was getting back from dinner when I walked in, and there it was! On my bed…"

She couldn't say anymore, breaking into fresh sniffles.

I looked up at Dimitri once again, trying to scope out his reaction to all of this. I couldn't read his expression, as usual, really. His guardian mask was impenetrable.

Eventually, Kirova kicked me out of Lissa's room, ordering me back to my own two floors above. I gave Lissa one last hug and a kiss on the top of the head, before I left with Dimitri in tow.

"Do you know anything about this?" Dimitri asked me worriedly.

I looked up into his brown eyes, my own wide with worry. Did I know anything about it?

I wasn't even sure, except for Ms. Karp years before, and Lissa in the woods, healing the raven. I could hear Ms. Karp telling us not to tell anyone. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get.

Lissa hadn't healed the fox tonight.

It had to be a coincidence. It just had to be.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "It's just a sick joke."

Dimitri nodded. "Are you alright?"

I felt shocked. I didn't think anyone would ask me how I felt. No one ever really did, not even Lissa. Usually I was the one who took care of her. No one ever cared enough to ask me.

Then, I thought about it. Was I alright? I honestly didn't know.

I wasn't as upset as Lissa, for sure. If anything, I was more upset for her than at the sight of the animal that had been slain on her bed.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I told him. "What about you?"

He smiled softly. "Yes, I'm alright."

And then, he came over and sat next to me on my bed.

"If you need to talk about it, I'm here," he assured me.

I bit my lip, fighting my urge to pull his hand into mine.

This crush was getting out of hand. The sad thing was, I had never felt this way before. I was beginning to realize that this was the hugest crush I had ever had. I worried for my future. Dimitri was ruining all other guys for me, including Jesse who I had deemed long ago as the sexiest boy at St. Vladimir's.

Finally, I couldn't resist the temptation. I scooted close to him, wrapping my arms around his torso. Oh, wow, he had a nice stomach.

I felt him stiffen from the contact at first. After a few seconds, he relented and wrapped his own arms around me. It felt so right, so natural, to be in his arms.

I allowed him to comfort me. He rubbed circles on my back, very similarly to what I had done with Lissa. I sighed into his chest, listening to his heart beat. I had heard heart beats before, of course. It was a common occurrence as a Moroi, if you got close enough to anyone. I had even heard his before. It was just as beautiful as before, thrumming wildly.

I reveled in it.

A few minutes later, I wasn't exactly sure how long, we both pulled away.

"Do you need to eat?" he asked me.

While I wasn't one to turn down food, and I was starving, I didn't know if I could handle any more time with Dimitri without falling over the edge.

But, I was really hungry. And I really, really, couldn't turn down food. "Where would we get said food?" I was curious.

"I have a mini-kitchen in my room," he explained. "I have a few basic things in there. What types of food do you like?"

"Well," I launched into a full fledged discussion. "I like donuts, and French toast, and Italian, and Chinese, and Japanese, but I hate salads and I hate sweetbread."

He chuckled. "What about Russian? I've got ingredients for kurnik."

I wrinkled my nose. "Kurnik?"

"I think you'll like it, if you keep an open mind. It's got bliny, chicken, rice, and mushrooms."

That did sound pretty decent, actually. "Alright," I said. "Let's go!"

He chuckled again, held his hand out to help me up. He let go as soon as he knew I was steady. I was saddened, but I knew that he didn't see me romantically. He was my guardian. He was seven years older than me. He probably still thought I was a child.

He led me across campus, nodding at various guardians as we neared the staff dorms. We walked up a flight of stairs all the way to the end of a hall before we reached his room. It was the most secluded room on the floor, and I wished my room was like that.

He pulled a key out of the pocket of his duster and unlocked the door.

He held the door open for me, and I entered under his arm. I looked around, examining his room.

It was pretty nice, much nicer than even the Moroi dorms. It was a large room, with a bed on one end and a kitchen and bathroom on the other. The kitchen was really more of a kitchenette. There was linoleum floor for a few feet, and a shag carpet in the rest of the room.

The bed was a satiny red comforter, and there was a small television that sat adjacent from it with an attached shelf that was full of VHS tapes.

Dimitri must have brought in the small coffee table that stood by the kitchenette, though it only had two chairs. Maybe he didn't entertain very often.

I heard Dimitri enter the room behind me. "You can make yourself at home while I cook," he told me.

I looked at him, smiling. I wanted to see how Dimitri lived. First, I went to the bathroom.

I snooped through his medicine cabinet, only finding a toothbrush, toothpaste, a razor, and aftershave. There were a few small hair-ties around the doorknob. He didn't have a shower curtain, but a door attached to the small shower.

I did my business, not bothering to pay attention to the toilet paper. After all, it was school issued.

I washed my hands and walked out. He was still cooking, so I decided to snoop around some more.

TRSTRSTRS

All of his VHS tapes were Westerns.

"Comrade, is that all you do? Fantasize about the 'Ol West?" I grinned, slightly exasperated but mostly just thought it was cute.

"Rose, not everybody is a huge fan of modern movies."

"I can tell, because you don't have any DVD's," I said.

I looked around some more, but found nothing interesting. I noticed he had a different book on his nightstand than the one he had been reading earlier in the day. I finally sat down on his bed, removing my shoes.

I buried my face in a pillow, wondering which side of the bed he slept on. It turned out, he slept on the right side. The pillow smelt just like his aftershave.

I breathed it in, feeling close to him. I liked it in here. I liked seeing how Dimitri lived.

I flopped onto my back, my hands beneath my head, as I turned to examine Dimitri. He looked so relaxed. It was the most relaxed I had ever seen him, to be honest.

I could see the muscles in his back as he flipped the whatever he was flipping. He was one hunk of man, to be sure. If only he could be mine.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thoughts. I got under the covers, slightly cold.

"Is my bed comfortable?" asked Dimitri.

I gasped in surprise. He hadn't turned around since I had made myself at home, in his bed. Where he slept.

I blushed. He chuckled. "It's alright, you can stay there for a while," he assured me.

I smiled, snuggling into his bed further. Eventually, I fell asleep.

TRSTRSTRS

I awoke to Dimitri shaking me gently, telling me the food was ready.

"How long was I asleep, Comrade?" I asked, groaning.

"About thirty minutes," he told me. "No come on, I have your kurnik on your plate. What would you like to drink?"

"What do you have?"

"I have orange juice, water, mors, sbiten, hot chocolate, and tea."

"Um, considering I don't know what a few of those are, I'll take the hot chocolate!"

He grinned at me and turned around. I watched him as he boiled water in a tea kettle and pulled two packets of hot chocolate out.

"Are you drinking hot chocolate, too?" I asked.

"No, I'll be having sbiten," he said.

"Then why are there two?"

"That's the best way to have hot chocolate," he told me. "Just one packet isn't sweet enough."

I giggled, liking his logic. Really, I could never get enough chocolate.

"So what's, uh, spit, uh-"

"Sbiten," he corrected. "It's a warm drink with honey, spices, fruit juices, and water," he explained. "I can let you taste some after the water boils."

"That would be nice, thanks."

The tea kettle started to whistle, and he pulled it off the burner. He immediately turned it off and began to pour the water into two cups. He pulled a mix of brown stuff from the fridge, and I figured it was the sbiten.

He mixed the two concoctions (though not together), and handed me his own cup. I took a sip cautiously. "It's alright," I told him. And it was. It wasn't the best drink in the world.

He nodded, taking his cup back and placing my own mug in front of me. On a coaster, of course.

I smirked at him. He seemed to know what I was thinking. "Not one word," was all he said. "Now, try your kurnik," he said.

I did as I was told, picking up my fork and hesitantly placing a bite in my mouth. As the taste enveloped my mouth, I gasped. "This is really good, Comrade!" I said excitedly, around my food.

"See, I told you that you might like it," he said, digging into his own food.

"You sure know how to cook! We should do this more often and I can try more Russian food!" I knew I had crossed a line as soon as it left my mouth.

His mouth tightened into a thin line, his eyebrows furrowed. I didn't know why he was so upset about my suggestion, though. I knew that it was blurring guardian/charge lines a little, but really, we'd already done that so much. As he took in my expression, he lightened a little, and just said, "Maybe."

"No, really," I told him, grinning. "You cook much better than the cafeteria!" In fact, I wished I could spend every meal with him. However, I knew that wasn't possible.

"I don't know about that," he said bashfully.

"The cafeteria would seriously screw something like this up. The best food there are the donuts and the chicken nuggets, you know."

He snickered before taking the final bite of his food.

"We need to get you back to your room," he told me, glancing at the clock. I looked and saw that it was ten-thirty. Pretty late, really, considering we were alone. It was pretty bright out by now, too.

I helped him place the dishes in the sink and went to put on my shoes.

He walked me to my room, nodding to the Moroi woman manning the front desk and the dorm matron at the end of the hall.

"No practice tomorrow," he reminded me. "It's Saturday."

"Right. Thanks for everything," I smiled a little, looking up into his eyes.

"It was no problem. I'm your guardian," he reminded me. "I'll be there whenever you need me. And now, in an emergency," he said this part very pointedly, "You know where to find me."

I nodded. "Goodnight, Dimitri."

"Goodnight, Rose," he said.

I closed the door as he began to walk away. I slid down against my door, completely happy and satisfied just by having been in his presence. I had it so bad for him, it wasn't even funny.

I hope you guys liked it. I know chapter three took me a couple months to get out, whereas this one only took me a few days. Sorry about that, by the way. It seems that the story is finally ready to be told. Also, I know that Dimitri and Rose do seem to be getting close quite fast. Part of it is because right now, the pacing is a lot faster than the actual series. Another reason is because now that she's his charge, and she's invited him into her life, it's easier for him to allow himself to do so. Anyways, I hope you all liked it!