A/N: Someone asked me a very good question...about Chapter 19/20...why did Rose send everyone inside? Well honestly, I forgot to put a reason mostly because I forgot the actual reason. So here it is.

To begin with, when Aaron came he was focused on Rose, calling her out and pointing the gun at her, so Rose could tell it didn't have to do with anyone else. The reason she had Mason and Eddie as her back-up instead of Dimitri is because they were friends when Lissa broke up with Aaron so they knew what happened the first time (if you want me to do a flashback about that leave me a review). Also, if anything did happen and he made to the house she wanted someone strong enough to take him out. Lastly, everyone else wasn't around when Aaron was in the picture, Adrian and Jill and Viktoria came in after the engagement, while Sydney came in after Christian did, and even though Mia was around when Aaron was, they weren't on good terms (which is also why Mia was the one that hit Aaron. I hope that makes sense because most of the time what makes sense in my head sounds really bad once I say/type it...

So for the sake of the story, I'm changing the geography of Montana, I think. But keep in mind the story is AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Vampire Academy

"You know you're gonna fry in that black shirt with the sun out," I casually told Dimitri without moving. I was currently laying down on a towel on the back, with my eyes closed and covered by my sunglasses, enjoying the summer heat and ocean breeze. He was next to me "ready his western" in a black t-shirt red swim trunks, opposite my coral bikini and white halter top and jean cutoff shorts. In all honesty, I'm surprised he's not wearing his duster. I heard him shuffling next to me before I felt the sun go away, chill passing over me, my eyes flying open and coming in contact with Dimitri's smiling face.

"Yea and your face will freeze into that frown if you don't get up and enjoy the water," he replied before he got up and took his shirt off, throwing it over his shoulder, and conveniently over my face. With a frown I flung it off me, only to be momentarily paralyzed with lust as I saw his retreating form dive into the water. When he resurfaced, he was glistening from the sun reflecting off the water droplets on his beautiful, chiseled face and silk hair I loved entangling my hands in. Biting my lips to keep from moaning, I trailed down his neck and down to chest that looked like two flat stones, and his washboard abs, with water running down leaving a trail. Slowly, I sat up to admire the view, especially when he turned around to dive back in, his back muscles rippling with each of his movements.

Quickly, I undressed and slowly made my way to the water, ignoring it's frigidness was it came up shore, when I saw he was about to turn around I quickly dove into the water, going in the same direction he was turning. When I broke into the surface, I was behind him, he was probably looking around trying to find me. I stood up in the water, lucky that I hadn't gone so deep that I couldn't touch the bottom, and jumped onto Dimitri's back, taking him by surprise. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, giggling at the fact I took him off guard.

"Caught ya," I said playfully.

"So you have," he responded, amusement in his voice. "I thought you didn't want to come in."

"I don't remember every saying that. I just said I wanted to enjoy the sun and get a tan. Plus, someone had to protect from these predatorial women."

"Oh, so you only came in to mark your territory."

"Basically," I said nonchalantly. I let out a squeal of surprise when he tugged my legs and spun me around so we were facing each other.

"I feel so used, Roza," he told me with mock hurt.

"Whatcha gonna do about it, Comrade?"

"Punish you." His eyes held a teasing glint before he grabbed my waist and unwrapped me from him as he threw me into the deeper part of the water, but not too deep to get taken by the current.

"Dimitri!" I shouted before a wave hit my back, inevitably taking me under again. When I resurfaced I saw Dimitri bent over laughing. While I'll admit, it brought a smile to see him so carefree and laughing, I was still pissed he threw me in. So I retaliated.

"Really, Roza? You're splashing me?" he asked with humor, when I bombarded him.

"Yes," I pouted. "You're to heavy for me to push in."

"You did not call me heavy," he remarked before sending waves of splashes my way. We then got into a full on splashing war, getting closer and closer together, and stopping when a wave came our way. We either rode the wave, went under it, or just stood our ground, before continuing out battle. So it didn't surprise me much when he all of the sudden wrapped his arms around me, pulling me flush against his body, and fell into the wave that was approaching us, taking both us into the water. When he didn't pull us back up immediately, I opened my eyes in time to see him move towards me before his lips pressed mine, engaging us into a mildly long and intensely passionate kiss.

When we came out of the water, we were both breathless, but in each others arms.

"I'm hungry," I announced when my breathing went back to normal. I felt, as well as heard, him chuckle at my statement.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked before pulling me away a bit to look at me. "Do you want to head back to our spot?" I nodded my head. So hand in hand we got out of the ocean and walked back to our spot on the beach.

"WHAT TIME IS IT?!" I asked him appalled.

"Almost 2," he repeated calmly.

"That means we've been in the water for...almost 4 hours!"

"Yup," he replied simply. "Didn't feel like it was that long did it?" I shook my head. "See time flies when you're having fun. And it gets your mind off things. Doesn't it?"

"Yea, it does," I admitted. Neither of us said anything until I asked a question that had been pestering me for a while. "How did you even know to take me here?"

"I remember you told me once how much you love the beach even though you never get a chance to come here since it's so far from home. So I thought what better way to forget everything then to actually leave it behind and come out here for the day."

"Wow, I didn't think you actually listen to my rambles," I muttered to myself. "I know today's not over yet, but just being here, you don't know how much it means to me."

"I'm glad. Now I have an idea to keep your mind off things."

"Which is?" My mind going back to the wedding reception, part of me wanting to pick up where it ended.

"You have a lot of emotion pent up, correct?" I nodded. "Well, a good way to get rid of it to help with moving on, is running. I know there's a trail that starts where we parked the car, so before it gets late, how about we go on the trail and I'll race you to the end, where we can probably watch the sun set? What do you say?"

"Good luck catching me," I said, jumping up and in the direction of the parking lot, hearing Dimitri chuckle in the distance.

"Oh my, oh my god," I breathed out in between heavy pants as I stopped at the end of the trail, hunched over with hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. "What is this?"

"Hunching over doesn't help you breathe," Dimitri coached as he came up behind me. Immediately, I stood straight up and put my hands behind my head. "And this is a table with food on it and an excellent view of the sunset."

"I can see that," I replied dryly. "I mean -"

"I thought you'd be hungry after the run, so I made sure dinner was here for when we made it. Now would you like to take a seat," he said as he pulled a chair out for me.

Once we were both seated he poured both of us a glass of sparkling apple cider and took off the lids on our plates. For dinner he brought…"Pepperoni pizza?" I asked. "How did you manage to bring fresh pizza if you've been with me the whole day?"

"Ivan set everything up as we came on our run," he replied casually as he picked up one of his slices and bit into it. I shook my head with a smile before taking a bite of my own slice, a comfortable silence falling over us as we enjoyed the meal, occasionally interrupted by my moaning…the pizza was that good. Halfway through we started talking about little things like work and the classes I'd be taking in few weeks.

Once we finished the food, we moved out chairs to the front of the table and put them side by side so we'd sit next to each out while we watched the sunset. Since I didn't like the sitting position, I shifted so I was resting my head on Dimitri's lap, the back of my head against his chest, and my legs folded in on my chair, Dimitri's hand resting on my upper thigh.

"Thank you," I quietly said once we were settled

"For what?" he asked, looking down at me, genuinely confused.

"For today. For not being pushy. For being there for me. For letting me have time to cope, I guess. I mean yea sometimes you'd ask if I wanted to talk or suggested I just let everything out, but once I'd say no you'd back off and you wouldn't bring it up," I began. "I know you think I haven't dealt with things correctly, and I haven't given myself the proper time to grieve, but it's not because I'm in denial or anything. It's because all I feel is guilt and loss and I don't know how to deal with that. I don't want to deal with that. At least alone. And just having you there has been enough to not drown in guilt. I didn't know how to talk about it with you. I mean, you were already letting me stay with you, it seemed like it'd be too much."

"Roza, listen to me," he said, cupping my cheek in his head and lifting my head so I'd look at him. "It would have never been too much. I can't say I understand what you're going through. I don't even want imagine what sort of mess I'd be if I ever lost Ivan or one of my sister or my mother or you, but I know what you feel like with being overwhelmed with guilt. But, honestly, this, today, me not being pushy and whatnot, it's all Ivan. Well it was my idea to come here, but he's the one who told me I should take your mind off things rather than pressure you to open up."

"Remind me to thank him, than. But still, thank you for today."

"I listen to everything you, Roza," he whispered before capturing my lips with a soft kiss that ended too soon. "Rose, did I ever tell you about my father." I thought about it for a moment before telling him no. "Well, he's dead. But when I found out, I didn't feel sad. I felt guilty and a little bit of peace. My father, he wasn't exactly father of the year. And right before he died I did something I probably shouldn't have, but felt I had to." He went on to tell me about his father's abusive nature and how he would usually take it out on his mother and sisters. It wasn't until he was thirteen that he stood up to him. His dad was hitting his mother and he stopped him and beat him up before kicking him out of the house. A week later his mother got a call saying he died from kidney failure. "I didn't feel sad or remorse, I felt this calm and tranquility that finally my family could live freely and not walking on eggshells. I felt guilt that I had to resort to beating my father and that I hadn't stood up to him sooner, or stepped in when he was hitting my mother. I felt like if I had done something sooner that maybe, just maybe he could have changed and things would have gone differently."

"Oh, Dimitri, nothing you could have done would have changed him."

"I know, but as a teenager you can't help but wonder what if."

A silence passed over us as the sky started to change from blue to purple/pink, signaling the close approach of sunset.

"He was in love with me," I blurted, breaking the silence.

"Who?" Dimitri asked, thrown off.

"Mason. Ever since high school. He told me when we all took a trip for winter break, when Lissa and Christian were just starting out. I told him I didn't feel the same, that I loved him like a best friend, like a brother, but that never stopped him from trying. Every time we went out he would be my date, except for the rare occasion either of us already had one. We fell into this weird relationship where we were together but weren't since we were always the ones in the group that wasn't in a relationship. That was until you came along. Then he started bringing Meredith, but everyone knew he just brought her cus we all went to school together and they were in the same platoon or whatever their group is called," I said calmly, before I finally let out what's been killing me for the past week. "That…that night, when w-we both dove for the gun, he nudged hi-himself in front of m-me, h-he made sure that in case anything went wrong I'd c-come out fi-fine. You want to know why I can't bring myself to tell Lissa? It's because I can't tell her without feeling like it's my fault. Because it is. I know it doesn't make sense but I can't explain why, but it is. And to tell Lissa that Mason died, means accepting that he's dead because of me. And I can't have anyone else tell her because I'm her best friend and I have to tell her. I know she'll be mad, but but i-"

"Hey, shh. Calm down," Dimitri said soothingly, wiping the tears I didn't feel fall. "It's not your fault because nothing you did or could have done would have changed how he felt for you and it wouldn't have stopped him from getting in the line of fire. He's a soldier, it's part of who he is to sacrifice himself for a loved one. Honestly, if I had been in his shoes I would have done the same. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control of. You can't keep bringing yourself down because of it. You just have to move on, live life day by day enjoying the little things and finding the beauties in life. You have to remember that he gave his life so you could live yours and he would have done it in vain if you shut yourself off and let the guilt take control of you."

I chuckled, causing the tears in my eyes to cascade down. "Since when did you become a zen master professing such life lessons?"

"Since you needed someone to save you from yourself," he responded gently.

"So you wanna play with magic, boy you should know what you're falling for. Baby do you dare to do this, cus I'm coming at you like a dark horse," I sang on the car ride back home. After Dimitri and I had the small heart to heart at dinner, we cleaned up and walked back to the car, hand in hand, taking a quick detour to walk down the shore, the water lapping over our feet. Now he was driving and I was DJ playing some new music.

"You really like to sing, don't you?" he asked, slightly astonshied, as he gave me a side glance look, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Yup, always have. And sometimes, if I'm in a good mood I'll rap," I announced before rapping along with the song. "Damn I think I love her, shorty so bad and I don't curr. Her love is like a drug I was trying to hit it and quite it but lil' mama so dope I messed around got addicted." When I finished, slightly breathless, we both laughed and I went back to humming along.

"Why do you like it?" he asked suddenly, not looking away from the road.

"I dunno," I replied, actually thinking about it. "It's not like I sing along every song I hear and know the lyrics to. It's just when I'm in a good...like really good, like just had the best amazing date at the beach with my even more amazing boyfriend good...I sing. Or, if the song relates to me, I sing along with it like it's me saying them to someone."

"Really like when?" Instead of answering him with an example, I showed him since the song that had been playing was a perfect example.

"Sometimes I'm scared, I suppose, if you ever let me go," I began softly, like Lady Gaga did, before picking the beat up. The whole time looking Dimitri in the eyes, hoping the lyrics tell him the message I've been unable to say. "I would fall apart if you break my heart." I trailed off as I gauged his reaction from my window, the dark sky turning into a mirror. His face broke into a big smile as his eyes stayed on the road, I felt a smile forming on mine.

I guess that was the thing about us, we didn't really need words to share how we feel. I mean look at today, everything he's done because he cares about me and wants to help me get better. Suddenly, I felt a hand engulf mine - a bigger, stronger, coarser, warm hand - and it gave me a gentle squeeze. I looked over at Dimitri and gave him a big, bright smile, turning my hand over in his and squeezing it back.

"I guess singing is a way for me to express what I can't say with words," I said softly.

"Some things don't need to be said with words, Roza," he countered.

"BROWNIES!" I screamed excitedly once he opened the door and the chocolatey scent hit me. I turned around and jumped onto Dimitri, planting a big kiss on his lips. The kiss picked up as one hand rested on my lower back the other hand on my neck and he walked me into the apartment. The kissing picked up, getting more hot and passionate, as we made our way past the living room and Dimitri set me down on the kitchen counter. After what felt like a blissful hour, Dimitri pulled away, a smile on his face as both of us drew in ragged breathes. He reached for something behind me and then brought a slice of the brownie to my lips, which I open hungrily and bite into the moist, warm desert, a soft moan eliciting my lips. "Mmm my god, Comrade, that's amazing."

"I'm glad you liked it," he said before capturing my lips in a soft kiss. "I'm also glad you're feeling better."

"Me too," I admitted softly as I moved my hand from his neck to his shoulders, the other caressing his face. "I'm sorry about how I've been acting this past week, and thank you for breaking me out of my little jail cell. I just wish I could repay you."

He broke into a big grin. "Seeing you smiling and laughing is enough repayment," he said before giving me a quick kiss. "But I can think of something you could do."

"Oh?"

"Remember the wedding reception? You said you never start something you can't finish. Now would be a good time to finish what you started."

I laughed at the memory, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Now would be a good time, however, I never thought you'd be one for sex in the kitchen."

"I'm not," he said gruffly as he picked me up once again and took me to his room, laying me down softly on his bed.

**BEGIN M SCENE...VERY M SCENE...if you don't want to read it skip ahead**

Once he placed me down, his lips came down on mine and gave me a soft, sensual kiss as his hands trailed down my body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake, until he got to my shorts. He pulled away slowly and looked down at me with his big, brown eyes warm with concern.

"Are you sure?" I nodded my head, bringing my head up to meet his, smiling when I felt him unbutton and unzip my shorts, slowly taking them off. Intertwining my fingers in his silky hair, the kiss deepened as he brushed my bottom lip with his tongue, asking for entrance. I opened my lips as I unbuttoned his jeans and slowly took them off with my feet. He broke away from my lips but started making a trail of blazing kisses down to my collarbone before moving to my pantie line and planting light kisses on my stomach, pausing on my belly button and teasing me w his tongue, my shirt moving further up with him. I raise my arms so that he can take it off, leaving me in my black bra and panties. He hovered over me for a moment, slowly exhaling, as he took all of me in.

"See something you like?" I asked seductively, giving him my man-eater smile. He grinned back at me mischievously before taking his shirt off, giving me a full view of his washboard abs. I ran my fingers delicately down his chest and stomach, biting my lip to stop myself from moaning, but I heard him let out a deep groan before laying me back down and pressing his lips to my neck, right below my ear. While his lip was leaving a mark on my neck, his hands trailed down to my breast, where his thumbs teased my nipples through my bra, the sensation igniting something lower. Much lower. After moaning against his ear and arching my back up against him, I felt him unhook my bra and fling to the side of the room. He lightly grazed his lips down my body before latching onto one of my breast, teasing it by flicking it with his tongue. I dug my head deeper into the pillow, letting out a deep moan. After playing with it for a while, he switched over to the other breast, giving it the same treatment. Then he moved lower, his lips barely touching my skin, but leaving a blazing sensation behind, until he got to my pantie and slowly took them off, throwing them behind him as he came back up to kiss me.

I pulled away as I brought my hand down to the them of his boxers, and I looked up at him while biting my lip, hoping he'd get a the message. He quipped his eyebrow and I nodded, knowing my eyes matched his, both filled with lust and need. Quickly, he discarded his boxer, his throbbing member popping out. He positioned himself at my entrance, and his tip had barely gone in before he pulled out and looked at me, worry and disappointment in his eyes.

"I don't have a condom," he announced quietly, groaning at his unpreparedness.

I chuckled and responded, "I'm on birth control, have been for a few years."

"Why?" he asked skeptically. We never did have the "I'm a virgin" talk.

"Doctor's orders," I replied simply before looking down below his waist and back up into his eyes. "Any more questions or can we keep going?" He grinned at me before pressing his lips against mine as he lowered himself into me. I broke the kiss when a sharp gasp left my lips when he fully entered me. He quickly froze and asked if I was ok. I nodded my head, admitting it was my first time so I just needed to adjust. He nodded his head and started to slowly penetrate, being gentle as ever. The pain left as quickly as it came, and soon I began to moan every time he came back inside. Slowly, he began to pick up the pace, still being gentle. Once we got a rhythm going, there was no stopping. One of his hands played with one of my breast, while one of my hands wound itself in his hair. I could feel myself slowly build up down there, but right before I got there I pulled back and flipped us around so I was on top. I didn't miss the glimmer in his eyes at the sight of me straddling him. Slowly, I guided his member inside me, both of us moaning at the feeling of him entering my tight pussy. I began riding him at an even pace that was pleasurable for both of us, but soon he took over, his hands clasping at my hips and pulling me forward as his knees came up and he began thrusting at a fast pace. At this point I was right on the edge, I jest needed a little more. I felt my whole body tighten in anticipation, and so did he.

"Just hold on a little longer," he breathed, picking up the pace more, causing me to fall forward, putting out my hands on either side of his head to hold myself up.

"Don't stop, I'm so close," I gasped out in between moans and short breathes. Right as I was about to his my breaking point, one of his hands wrapped around the back of my neck and brought me down to engage in the hottest kiss I've ever had and he thrust into me harder. I couldn't hold on any longer and soon my walls broke and I felt myself come at the same time he did, leaving both of us breathless. I collapsed next to him, pulling him out of me, and he immediately wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close so my head was resting on his chest, our legs intertwined. The only sound being made was our uneven breathes.

**END M SCENE...you may continue**

We lay like that for a while, until the heat made from what we just did left us and I shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. Dimitri broke our embrace to bend over and pull the sheets over us, wrapping me in his arms once we were covered. He soon began playing with my hair, winding stands in his finger or just running his fingers through it.

"Roza," he said, exhaustion evident in his voice.

"Yea," I mumbled, trying hard not to let sleep get the best of me.

"I know this probably isn't the best time or place to say this, and I probably should have done this sooner. Like at the wedding, or at the beach," he began to say, no doubt the start of what could turn into an endless ramble.

"Dimitri, you're rambling," I verbally noted.

"Right, well," he said before tiling my head up so I was looking into his big, warm, bottomless brown eyes. "I love you, Roza. I've been in love with you for a while. And, well I wanted to tell you before sleeping with with you, but really I just needed to tell you before you left for school."

Did he just way what I think he said? So maybe after sex isn't the best time to make that kind of confession, but he said it, right? He said what I thought he'd never say, erasing each and every one of my fears. He loves me, meaning my feelings are reciprocated.

My face broke out into a big grin at the revelation and I leaned up and planted a big kiss on him, my hair falling over us, creating a little curtain for the outside world. When I pulled away, we were both grinning like idiots to each other.

"Well, your timing sucks, Belikov, but there's nothing I can do about ti now," I said, the humor evident in my voice. "But what's you said is already out there, so I guess there's only one thing I can do."

"Which is?" he asked when I didn't continue.

"I love you too, Comrade," I admitted before planting another kiss and then snuggling into his arms, falling into the deepest and best sleep I've had in a while.

A/N: Ok so before you kill me...yes I may have sped up her depression break, but I really wanted to get to the confessions...and love making...and I know the confession was semi-sucky timing (I mean yes after sex isn't probably the best time) buuuuuuuut it just fit, like they said without really thinking about it because they didn't know what else to say..nonetheless...I just really needed to get all this out there before the next milestone happens.

Sorry!

Leave me a review and tell me what songs you think Rose serendaded to Dimitri :) also tell me what you thought of the ending scene (ALL of it).

I hope you guys liked it :) have a good week.

I have some bad news...I'm not done with the next chapter yet (actually I just barely started) and I might be away from my laptop for a few days, so just a heads up, if I don't post the next chapter on Sunday it's because I don't have my laptop...BUT DON'T WORRY! School starts on the 21st and I'll need my laptop for that so I'll post soon I SWEAR!