Once again, I'm supposed to be in my room "studying" but my mom's at school and my dad's downstairs. XD

I had a feeling he knew I had been up to something and I quickly thought of something to tell him, without him somehow detecting my lie. I stuck to the truth as much as possible as he studied my face. Then, he reached for my arm and gingerly stretched it out. At first I didn't get it, but it soon occurred to me that there were bruises forming and some scrapes there as well. Shit.

Dimitri had a murderous look on his face as he studied me, clenching his jaw and unclenching it. Oh, boy, he was pissed off now. But what could I tell him? I mean, he—again—told me to stay in the house and not go back outside because of the Strigoi. Especially now that we were back on human time.

"Rose," I could tell he was having a hard time keeping his voice calm. "Would you care to explain how you got these bruises?"

I gulped and silently prayed that he wouldn't kill me…. "I guess I couldn't sleep," I answered truthfully,

His jaw stayed clenched. "That doesn't explain the bruising."

Oh, Promise, where are you? I sang in my head.

I heard her grumbling reply. Trying to stay out of everybody's way.

Well, I kind of need some help….

What did you do now?

Dimitri was still waiting for my answer. Obviously, since I was stalling, he knew what I was doing. His eyes flashed like never before and his control went out the window, his temper taking control.

"Rose"! He roared. "I specifically told you to stay inside, what don't you understand? You could've gotten yourself killed, even with a stake on you!" His eyes were still flashing angrily, but I knew him, so I could read the hidden emotion in them: He was scared. Dimitri was scared!

I froze, startled at what I had discovered, but covered it up, trying hard not to break under his scrutinizing glare. I looked away, feeling horrible for making him worry when he already had enough on his mind. I've done this so many times; it's not like he needed me to do it some more.

I needed to lie somehow, without him detecting it. Think, Rose, I thought to myself. I thought quickly, but came up with nothing, but something very lame I knew he wouldn't buy, but tried anyway.

"I just wanted some fresh air, that's it; I didn't go anywhere far, just stayed—"

I immediately shut up when I looked at his expression. Boy oh boy was he pissed off. I knew he was scared, but about what? It didn't make sense that….It hit me. He was scared, worried about my safety, someone he truly loved.

"You think that you can just go outside and expect nothing to come at you? Expect no one to hurt you?" he said harshly.

I cowered away from his fierce expression, his angry, flashing eyes. I felt frustrated for some reason I couldn't fathom. Angrily, I swiped at my eyes, which were starting to water from my emotions. Dimitri was still waiting for my answer, hard and stoic.

"No, I had my stake. I was fine," I muttered, not looking at him.

"You could've been killed out there, Roza. Always think twice before you do something," his voice was softer.

Roza. He called me Roza. I realized how long it'd been since he had called me that and felt my heart flutter at the sound of his accent wrapping around my Russian name. Not caring if he was still angry at me, I leaned my head so it rested on his chest and tucked my head under his chin like a little girl, seeking comfort.

His arms wound around me and pulled me to him as he lay back on the bed, not saying a word, fingers trailing around my face. I sighed in contentment and slowly felt my eyes close. Unsurprisingly, I managed to fall asleep and into one of Adrian's dreams. Well, he did promise he'd check back in a little while.

"Hey, little dhampir," he greeted me.

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again. Can't I just sleep?" I teased.

He smiled slightly, but faded when he saw me. I blinked, confused and looked down at myself. I was in the clothes I was currently wearing and blood stained some places; no wonder Dimitri had gotten so mad. The worst of the bruises were darkening around my skin where I had been kicked, punched, and rolled on the ground.

"What did you do?" he breathed.

I shrugged. "Some Strigoi tracked me down, but I fought them off," I said casually.

He shook his head, eyes wide. "Man, Belikov must be pissed."

I crossed my arms. "Stay out of my business and don't talk about Dimitri."

He held his hands up. "Sorry, just saying…Never mind." He saw the look on my face.

"Can I please go back to sleep now?"

"Wait, Rose, before you go….What do you plan on doing with Lissa? She's still here and since she won't give any answers or anything, the guardians are keeping a close watch on her, Tasha, and Christian. Rose, if you come back yourselves, you guys can save them….But I guess that would mean no more guardian for you guys, huh?"

I shook my head slowly. "I'll figure it out."

He studied me. "I sure hope so, because Lissa's doing you guys a favor and suffering for it…"

I didn't know what it was, but something about his words pushed me over the edge. "Shut up, Ivashkov! You don't think we're suffering here, trying to hold down the fort and decide on whether or not we should risk bringing the others here? You think we aren't trying hard enough? You're wrong! We are doing everything we can to fight off Dashkov and his bastard of a Strigoi!" I ranted.

He looked stunned. I didn't have time to mess around with him. I managed to pull myself out of his dream with some effort and returned to the comforting darkness of sleep. Yet, someone was shaking me, trying to get me awake.

"Roza, wake up. Roza," the Russian accent pleaded.

I stirred groggily and opened my eyes, meeting concerned brown ones. I stretched out and sat up carefully, eyes heavy, trying to brush through my tangled hair. Dimitri was still regarding me curiously.

"Are you alright?"

I lifted my shoulder, let it drop. "Sure."

I started to swing my legs out of bed when his hand was on my shoulder. "What happened? You seemed….mad."

I didn't answer for a moment, but he could already tell. "I'm going to kill him," he muttered.

"I don't know who he thinks he is, but all I know is that he thinks we're letting Lissa take all the crap while we're in paradise, happy, not caring," I scowled.

Dimitri didn't say anything for a while. "Rose….We do need to go back sometime. We can't live out here when they're constantly on the look for us."

I turned to him with a shocked expression, wondering what the hell he was suggesting. If we went back, we'd both fail and be stripped clean of our guardian titles, and we'd fail our duties to protect Lissa, as well as Tasha and Christian. But, right now, it looked like the only thing that would make sense.

Sorry, gotta go!