You guys are seriously so sweet! Your reviews are amazing. I've been trying to post this chapter for a while but the website was having issues. Bright side is, I have the next chapter almost done so it should be up in the next day or so! As always, I don't own anything from Richelle Mead's universe. Here's the next chapter, and keep the reviews coming! I hope you like it!

I flopped down on my bed and groaned. The entire walk back to my apartment, all I could think about was the way Dimitri had shut down on me. I was irritated because he shouldn't be able to affect me like this. Hell, he shouldn't be able to affect me at all; I'd only met him two days ago. And yet, it was nearly ten minutes later and all I could think about was the way he'd said my name in English, without that caressing tone. I groaned again, hitting my head on the mattress for good measure.

"Are you dying in there?" Lissa's voice floated in from the hallway. I groaned a third time. I forgot that I'd be home after her since we'd had full length classes today.

"Yes," I whined toward her. "I'm hungry but I'm too tired to make food." I still couldn't tell her. She'd tell me it was wrong to have a crush on my professor, and that trying to pursue it was twice as bad. I sat bolt upright. That's why Dimitri shut down on me. He remembered I was his student when he told me he was just a professor. At least it wasn't my demi-god comment. Feeling marginally better, I eased off my bed. "What did you say?" I called, padding down to Lissa's room. She had made some comment that I hadn't heard over the shock of my revelation.

"I said that we have microwave meals in the freezer that won't take a lot of effort for you to cook." Lissa was sitting at her desk, blonde hair pulled up into a clip at the back of her head, looking studious and elegant, as usual.

"Thanks," I smiled at her. "Do you want anything? You look like you're hard at work already."

"No thanks, Rose. This English class I'm in is going to be a ton of work. It's a writing course so I have a paper due every Friday!" Lissa pulled a face but I laughed.

"Didn't I warn you about that creative writing course?"

"Yes, yes, I know, you told me so. Ugh." She threw a stray pen from her desk at me but I dodged it. Actually, I probably didn't need to move, it was such a poor throw, but it made her feel better to see me dodge.

"You should know better than to ignore the wisdom of Rose Hathaway," I told her gravely before my eyes widened in panic. She was hefting her large biology book this time, and I didn't want to risk that it would be on target. I sprinted for the kitchen yelling "Have to make some food now!"

"Yeah you better run," I heard her call back.

I moved to the freezer, chuckling, and pulled out a frozen meal. It wasn't a lot of food but it would do until dinner. I put it in the microwave and set the timer, pacing restlessly while it spun. When it beeped I quickly pulled out the meal and started eating, I really was starving. "Liss," I called around a mouthful of pasta, "I'm going to go for a run tonight."

"Ok, I'll be here, writing this thing."

I smiled. That was probably part of my problem; I hadn't worked out in a couple days because of my new class schedule. I always used to go to the gym around 1pm last semester, when it was fairly empty, but that wasn't going to work with my classes this semester. I knew a lot of people got up early to work out, but I'd never managed to get the hang of that. Or anything, really, that required me to give up sleep in the morning. I'd go for a nice run tonight, actually outside if it wasn't too hot. Then I'd hit the gym tomorrow and work off some of my frustration. Surely some physical exercise would help put things in perspective.

I was right; the five mile run did wonders for my mood. As I rinsed off in the shower afterward, I realized just having the chance to think about things without distraction had really helped me process, especially since I couldn't tell Lissa. I felt more in control, like I could talk to Dimitri without flirting. I still wanted to talk to him, still felt like I needed to get to know him, but now I could keep my flirting under control. Or so I believed.

I wrapped my hair up in a towel and changed from my robe into a cami and shorts. I still had a little bit of work to do for my classes tomorrow, but I wasn't really in the mood. It was just reading the introduction to a book, something I could easily do in the morning. Instead, I opened up my Netflix account and started browsing through the available titles. Normally I liked the police procedurals and horror movies, but I wanted to watch something different tonight. I ended up choosing Pirates of the Caribbean. It was one of my favorites, and I was really in the mood to see someone get the guy. I took my hair out of the towel and shook it out, settling back to watch the movie while my hair dried.

It was nearly midnight when the movie ended and I was pleasantly tired. I stripped and crawled into bed, wishing I could go to the Caribbean and relax on the beach. I wondered what Dimitri would look like in a bathing suit; he was tanned and definitely muscular. I gave into my wishful thinking and imagined him with defined, rippling muscles and a six pack. Maybe even that V that guys with muscular hips had. I sighed and slammed my head into the pillow. "Dammit, Rose, now you're going to be twice as frustrated. Stop thinking about him."

Easier said than done, though, and I dreamed of him. I dreamed we were on a quest for the gods, that we had to find a magic rum bottle and that the gods were wagering on whether we'd succumb to each other before we managed to find it. Of course, that meant we were put in some situations that oozed sexual tension, and just when he finally moved in to kiss me, my alarm rang. "GOD DAMMIT," I roared, smashing my fist onto the clock. I heard something crack and the ringing blessedly stopped. Thankfully, Lissa was a heavy sleeper so I wouldn't have awoken her, but I was pissed. Too pissed to get back to sleep and try to finish the dream.

Instead I got up and peered at my alarm clock. It looked like I had merely cracked the plastic casing, and hadn't done any real damage, but I should probably avoid smashing it again. I grabbed the book whose introduction I was supposed to read and scanned it. Pretty basic stuff, I had actually read a similar book by the same author a year ago, and I didn't think the introduction was much different between the two. "Well that was easy," I muttered and tossed the book onto my bed, walking into the bathroom to start getting ready.