A/N: Give me another chapter to work up to a big problem! Mwahahaha. It's going to be fun to write the next chapter. This is more of a transition chapter.

Chapter 8


I panicked. My mind worked twenty times faster than it usually does. I looked for something to distract Kirova. I looked out the window. "Oh my God! Is that student streaking?" She shot around like I planned. Dimitri's eyes didn't leave me, and mine didn't leave my mother's.

I mouthed: Not here! Later!

She responded: What the hell is going on?

Kirova looked befuddled. "I don't see anyone Rosemarie. All the students are in their classes. Are you feeling okay?" She turned around and looked concerned towards me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, my mistake. Anyways," I tore my gaze from my mother, hoping she'd do as I told her. "Is there any way I can pick up classes where I left off? Taking another semester seems a little extreme, since I only missed three months." I'm sure Dimitri could hear my nerves, but he kept quiet. I kept focused on the issue at hand.

Kirova dug through a stack of papers mumbling, "I swear, you cause me more trouble than any other student I've ever had," I smiled at the idea that I had taken up so much effort. She pulled out a couple and scanned over them. "I believe we can fit you into a few summer classes and you'll be finished within a few months, but you are still hopelessly behind." Like I've never heard that one before.

She turned to Dimitri, exasperated. "Guardian Belikov, I know that I've no right to ask this of you, so shortly after your return, but would you mind training Miss Hathaway again?" Oh, God.

My mom nearly opened her mouth to protest, but I hushed her with a, "that's a good idea," I glared at my mother. "Guardian Belikov, what do you think?" I said, turning to face him.

He looked at Kirova, avoiding my gaze. "Of course." Simple answers. Good technique.

We signed a few papers, registering me as a student again and finally walked out. But the storm was far from over. My mother hovered behind us like a shadow of doom. I felt her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. Not once did I dare make contact with Dimitri.

We returned to my old dorm room and discovered not much changed. I sat down on the bed and covered my face with my hands. "Oh just get it out of your system already, Mom."

She didn't hesitate. "What the hell is going on?" Not once, had I ever seen my mother lose control, but there's a first time for everything.

I've never been good at handling impulse control. "What does it look like?" I threw my hands in the air. "A student going after her teacher because she wants to learn something? I forgot why school was important by the time I was in kindergarten!"

"So what's that supposed to mean? That you did it out of love?" We were both yelling, and Dimitri seemed to be the only calm one. He didn't say anything.

"You seem to know everything! Why don't you tell me?"

"Yes." It came from Dimitri. We both shot our heads in his direction with the 'stay-the-hell-out-of-this' expression. He held up his hands as a peace symbol. "Rose came after me because she loved me enough not to let me suffer that kind of fate."

My mother forgot I was in the room. Her eyes burned through Dimitri. "So you're telling me she loves you?" She forced through her teeth.

I scoffed. "Duh, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Victor Dashkov figured it out before you did." I rolled my eyes. My mother glared.

"And you love her, I'm assuming," she sent an icy glare towards Dimitri.

"Yes. If not more." My heart fluttered. I didn't give him more than a smile.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as if a killer headache suddenly hit. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening," she repeated over and over to herself like a chant. She paced back and forth. "Why did you do this to her?" She asked. "She doesn't need this kind of complication in her life right now."

"Oh, and you just now get to decide what I need?" She didn't have control over my life!

"Shut up Rose," she snapped. I stood my ground.

"We tried to prevent it," Dimitri said softly to calm my mother, who was currently on the road to murder.

She glared at him and let go of her bridge. "How? You certainly couldn't avoid each other due to the fact that you train together all the time," she nearly shouted. "What about Tasha? Why did you deny her? You could've had a good life without this kind of complication."

He kept calm. "I couldn't accept her offer," he paused to look at me, "not when my heart is somewhere else." He said it with such honesty, not even my mother could deny that he loved me. My heart swelled.

"When did this start?" She asked. She looked between the two of us, waiting for an answer.

I thought. "Officially or unofficially?" I needed clarification. She looked pissed.

She thought I was being a smart ass. "When did you first discover this undeniable love for each other? When did you come to accept it?" She looked between the two of us. Well, more like glared.

Weight suddenly landed on my shoulders. Until now, I didn't realize how tired I really felt. I lay down on the bed and covered my eyes with an arm. "A little less than five months ago we realized that we loved each other…thanks to Prince Dashkov," my mother interrupted my thought process.

"So that rumor was true? At court, when Lissa was kidnapped several months back," I'm not sure how much more my poor mother could take.

Deciding better of it, I only gave part of the true story. "He put a spell on me and Dimitri…and…well, yes, to answer your question, it did happen." Before she could blow, I moved onto her original question. "We didn't really accept, or come to terms, with this until the ski trip. I'm sure you remember that very well." That was the ground breaking trip between my mother and me.

She calmed a little bit. "Yes."

I felt myself dozing off. Fatigue washed over me and I wanted nothing more than to sleep. Instead of being part of this on-going battle, I just listened to it. Thankfully, it calmed after a few minutes.

"So what exactly happened? I want the whole story. Even though Rose looks like she's sleeping, she can probably still hear me. She'll hate me if I judge based on so little information." Huh, I guess she knows me better than I thought.

Dimitri took a deep breath. "Well, our first encounter wasn't all too pleasant. She tried to attack me because she thought I was going to touch Lissa. She was angry with me for a while. I'm guessing I was the first person to notice her bond with Lissa, which very few people seemed to believe. They couldn't be separated, so I…partway volunteered to give Rose extra training sessions. It seemed to be the only way I could convince Mistress Kirova to let her stay." He chuckled for a second and then paused. I could feel eyes on me. "She is strong, that's the first the I noticed. She pushed through peer criticism, no matter how ruthless they were."

"What do you mean?" I heard my mother say.

"There were a lot of rumors about why they left," he explained briefly. My mother could tell the subject would go no further. "She complained a lot," did not! "Then one day she started talking about how leading a guardian lifestyle could destroy a woman's looks. I looked at her, and I just couldn't see it. I couldn't see her being any less beautiful than she already is." My mother didn't say a word.

A little uncomfortable, I rolled over, trying to block out any sounds. If Dimitri's voice didn't sound so damn alluring, then maybe I'd already be asleep, but nooo.

My body seemed to be sending signals to Dimitri. "She's asleep. Let's take this somewhere else." My mother agreed. A few chairs were moved and a door opened. Heavier footsteps moved towards me, and I knew it was Dimitri. I felt the comforter move and be placed on top of me, sending warmth throughout my body. He brushed hair out of my face. His hand sent chills down my spine, and I was thankful for the blanket covering my entire body. I wanted that hand to go elsewhere on my body, but I felt too tired to respond. His footsteps faded and the door closed.

I prayed to God that my mother wouldn't do anything stupid.

****

Hands. A pair of hands kept roaming over my entire body. It felt good. I felt lips on my neck, and hot breath against my skin. I opened my eyes and…

Shit.

Damn Lissa and her active sex life! I could feel the skin against skin…and it was not the skin I wanted to feel. They were both moaning and groaning and…

Why am I still in her head debating? This is not something my eyes were meant to see!

Get out. I told myself.

There was a twitch between her legs.

Holy shit! You do NOT want to witness this!

Something stiff grazed her inner thigh, moving closer and closer…

Son of a bi—

I woke up with a start. My breathing came in quick, shallow breaths. That's one way I do not want to start my…yup, it was way early in the morning. Six o'clock to be exact. The sun was still up. Unfortunately, Lissa isn't in school anymore and I'm trying to get my sleep for school while she's fucking her boyfriend! My dreams are going to be haunted by her and Christian for the rest of my life.

Damn.

I needed fresh air. Realization hit me and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I slipped out of yesterday's clothes and put on some sweats and running shoes. Knowing that there would be night watchers, I snuck quietly down the hall and around corners to get out. I saw a few maids walking through the halls, but they were oblivious to me.

When I opened the door, a brisk breeze woke me up right away. I looked around, and then jogged towards the usual path I usually ran. It felt good to take out my frustration. The wind brushed harshly against my exposed skin, but I didn't care. Lissa's little escapade made me irritated.

I'm not sure how long I ran for, but I was suddenly very aware someone was coming close behind me. I didn't realize just how close until an arm grabbed at me. Gasping, I shot around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Dimitri.

He wore a slight smile on his face. "What on earth are you doing out here Rose?" He looked bemused. "And you couldn't possibly be testing the security out here. So that excuse isn't an option." His hand slid down my arm and took a hold of my hand. I looked into his dark eyes, and wanted to tell him everything, but I didn't.

I shrugged. "Just felt like I needed a run." I couldn't come up with anything good on the spot. Having Dimitri penetrate my eyes didn't help that much either.

"Roza," I took a deep breath. "You've been running for nearly three months. Don't you think it's time to stop?"

His words hit me harder than I expected. I didn't really consider it running, I thought of it more as chasing. Running means running towards something. When you chase something, you're running towards it. I wasn't done chasing.

I smiled. "Nope," I said, popping the "p". I reluctantly pulled my hand out of his and started to run again, and Dimitri easily kept up with me.

"So why are you really out here at this hour?" His curiosity always got the better of him.

Sighing, I said, "You don't really want to know." We jogged past a few trees. The sun was beginning to go down, and the sun looked beautiful.

"Try me," he said.

I decided to truncate the story. "My defenses are down when I sleep," I explained. "And, unfortunately, when Lissa…has good dreams, I have those dreams, too. But most of the time, I don't want to see those dreams." I nearly gagged remembering the most recent one.

We jogged a bit further. When we parted through a few trees, I saw our little cabin. I looked to Dimitri. He just nodded and we slowed to a walk in silence. He opened the door and let me in. Sitting down at the table, I watched him put a kettle on the stove and pull out a few hot chocolate packets.

"So to escape these…dreams," he said, unconvinced, "by getting up at a ridiculous hour to run when you should be sleeping and resting after waking up from a self-induced coma?" I heard the sarcasm, but ignored it.

"Pretty much sums it up." He turned around and leaned against the counter, looking at me with the most intense eyes.

"How do the dreams make you feel?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you, my psychiatrist? They make me feel uncomfortable enough to want to be sleep deprived." The water went off on the stove, distracting his attention for a moment. He took out two cups and put two packets in each one, mixing it with the water. He sat down across from me and slid me a cup.

His eyes studied me for a moment. "What aren't you telling me?" He asked.

Shit. "What do you mean?" I asked as innocently as possible. I blew on my cup.

"What exactly is it about these dreams that make you feel uncomfortable?"

Sighing, I asked, "I'm not getting out of here until I tell you, am I?" The outcome didn't look so good right now.

He cocked his head to the side. "That's entirely possible."

My head hit the table…several times. "You really don't want to know. You might regret ever being brought back if you knew the true horrors of being shadow kissed," I told him miserably. "Those stupid dreams of hers make me feel…I don't know. Empty might be the right word. She's always so happy and she feels complete. Then I get mad at her because all of those feelings are a reality to her and I'm stuck feeling these emotions that I can't have…if that makes any sense at all." I gave up on the diatribe and started drinking my hot chocolate.

Dimitri reached across the table and took my hand. "Are you okay?"

I smiled whole-heartedly. "I am now." He rubbed circles on my hand with his thumb, and I found it oddly comforting. I changed to a less intense topic. "So what happened after I passed out on you and my mother?"

A smile crept across his face. "It wasn't too bad. She did call me a couple of names, though." He shook his head in disbelief and looked at me. "I thought you developed that mouth of yours on your own. Turns out it was inherited." He chuckled.

I laughed. "What? Did she go all father like and say, 'you break your heart, I break your neck,' or did she did she whine and complain more about how I don't need this complication in my life?" She could go either way.

"Surprisingly, after I finally got the story out, she seemed pretty accepting of the whole thing. But that was after she got her words in." His laugh enchanted me.

"'Accept' my ass! She was probably skinning you alive in her head." He laughed.

He got up from his seat and walked around the table to me. He took both of my hands in his and looked straight into my eyes. "I promised your mother that I would love and protect you for the rest of my being, and I meant it."

The intensity of his words made me feel loved, whole, and complete. The feelings that I was missing when Lissa's night life invaded my dreams. I leaned forward, merely centimeters from his lips. I whispered, "I'm really glad you mean that, because I feel the same way." He closed the distance between our lips

Every feeling that I missed out on earlier this morning, returned to me ten-fold. We forgot about the hot chocolate and found an alternative way to warm up.