A/N

Hey guys! All I can possibly say is thank you so, so much for your amazing response to this story! I love you all! :D Special thanks to my guest reviewers, you guys are so kind and I wish I could pm with some of you! But since I can't I just want you all to know that I read everything you have to say!

Mitrioselove, thanks, doll! I know I say it all the time, but I really do appreciate your work on not just this story but Summer Romance as well! I have no idea how you always pull it off week after week, while writing amazing chapters of your own, betaing for other people and living life out of FanFiction, but I love you for it! Guys, read her stories if you haven't already! Seriously, read fairy tales aren't real. It's got one hell of a plot and one hell of a writer! So does Assassins ;)

While we're on the subject of stories you need to read, check out downfall by RosemarieWriter96. It's a new story because she's a new writer, but it is really good and it's updated regularly. She's also a great writer ;) I think it deserves a read, leave her some reviews! Leave me some as well, please. :D

Vampire Academy doesn't belong to me, but Summer Romance does, check it out if you wanna!

In The Rain.

Chapter 21.

Dimitri reread the text displayed on the screen a few times unable to believe what he was seeing. Things like these just did not seem possible, why the hell would she text him anyway? Shouldn't she be texting Adrian? Even knowing that, he could not stop the panic that gripped him. Was something wrong? Why had she done this?

Indecision lashed at him like the razor sharp whip of a slave master. What should he do? What could he do? Some rational part of his brain reminded him that he had a boss to report to and the fact that it was the boss's daughter who had sent the message, put him more on edge.. Dimitri again read the content of said message still unable to believe what he was seeing.

It wasn't anything too specific, just her saying that she had gone out on a run and wasn't sure if she would make it back. That, and an apology for everything she'd put him through. Dimitri didn't know which part of the message startled him most. This had been the last thing he was expecting. Nevertheless, by the time he thought of Rose's parents and the fact that he'd vowed that he was not going to be nice to her; he'd already cleared the back door of the gym and was running through the path. No matter what his worry for her won out.

Screw it, he could, and would, deal with the consequences of his actions and pick up the pieces of his broken heart later. Ok, so he was being a little dramatic, but there was no such thing as too careful when Rose was involved, and he knew that better than anyone else. So no, he didn't think that he was being dramatic in the least. If anything, he was just taking precautions. She would not have sent the message if she had not meant it.

She didn't say in her message where she was, but he was willing to bet anything that she'd taken that path. He too sometimes ran there when the stress of work became too much. But he hadn't even gotten half way when the hair on the back of his neck prickled alerting him to the presence of someone else. Unfortunately, there was only so much he could see because of the tree blocking his view. He was sure that this person was female though. Her steps were too light to be any male, but still gender really did not matter. Paranoid because of everything that had been drilled into him lately, he reached for the gun secured on his belt and flicked the safety off. The sound was deafening in the silence, and it was enough to alert his company of his presence.

Rose could practically hear the blood rushing in her ears. Her heart pounded violently in her chest and she knew the adrenalin coursing through her was the only reason she'd made it this far. The sound of the safety being flipped off a gun sent an icy blast of fear straight into the pit of her belly. Someone was out here, and she couldn't even defend herself, she was surprised she even had made it this far.

Yes, she was a trained guardian, but she was also exhausted and in serious need of some water or any non-poisonous liquid. So no, she wasn't naïve enough to think that she could take anyone in a fight right then. She could usually hold her own quite well, but this time she knew she was going to be screwed. She needed to get out of here and back to the guardian building right now. Her fingers flexed over her own gun and she grabbed it just for safety purposes. Though her fingers fumbled with the device.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice asked. No doubt the one with the gun, she thought. Wait, she knew that voice. She relaxed her grip on the gun and took a few tentative steps forward. No longer blocked by the tree, the person standing before her was like an angel sent to rescue her.

"Dimitri?" She asked rather than said. It was more than clear that Dimitri was standing before her, but she could not believe that he'd actually come. Wait, how did he know- oh no, she suddenly had a very good idea as to how he knew. What the hell had her message even said. Again she noticed how everything was morphing together.

"Roza?" The nickname slipped from his lips naturally as he stepped forward and grabbed her hands. Rose's world suddenly spun and it had nothing to do with Dimitri's aftershave flooding her senses.

"Roza? Hey you ok?" Rose leant against Dimitri for support and he wasted no time scooping her up into his arms.

She fisted her fingers into his shirt and then she must have passed out because the next time she opened her eyes she was laying on a mat in the gym and Dimitri was hovering over her concern shining in his brown eyes. Everything was hazy, and she at first had no idea why she was here. But then it all came crashing, she had been so fucking stupid.

"You had enough self-torture for one day?" He asked. Rose nodded without realizing it still feeling a bit woozy. "Here," Dimitri said. "Drink this; it'll make you feel better." Rose nearly cried with relief when she saw what he was holding, a large Gatorade. She obviously had not been thinking in that moment, because she lunged forward and threw her arms around Dimitri.

His initial reaction was to tense up, but as his surprise faded he relaxed and slowly wrapped his arms around her. Dimitri had no words to describe the overwhelming sense of relief that flooded him nor was he ready for the sense of familiarity of how she fit so perfectly against him. It was as it always was between them, as though no time had passed. But the slight sunlight from outside somehow fell on Rose's neck revealing the necklace and engagement ring dangling from it. That was just the push Dimitri needed. He inhaled her familiar sweet vanilla scent and then he pulled away ignoring how he suddenly felt empty without her resting in his arms.

"Come on, drink up." He said, again holding out the Gatorade to her. Rose ignored how she actually felt the loss of his body and took the icy drink from him. He watched her as she drank no doubt making sure she hadn't hurt herself while she'd been out there.

She inhaled the familiar scent of his aftershave and was a bit surprised when her stomach rolled and nausea suddenly bubbled up within her. What the hell, she thought. Because she couldn't find a logical reason for her sudden upset stomach, she chocked it up to her drinking the Gatorade too fast. She had learned about shit like this, and even yelled at the recruits for drinking too fast.

"Dimitri?" Rose asked stopping Dimitri dead in his tracks. He'd been about to turn and go into his office, but he turned around and pinned her to the spot with his gaze. A brown eyebrow shot up in question and Rose blinked before answering.

"I- Thanks for coming to get me." She said looking him straight in his eyes and instantly getting lost in the never ending pools of chocolate. A small smile played at his lips before he nodded.

"Any time Roza, as long as you don't make it a habit." His tone was somewhat teasing, but Rose could make out a hint of earnestness in his eyes. She let herself enjoy the moment while she could. The next time they saw each other they would probably just be nice to each other for Lissa once more. Lissa, Rose really needed to go talk to her. Now that she felt calmer she was able to see what an ass she'd been to the girl and Lissa had only been trying to help.

"I don't suppose you know if Lissa's still here?" Dimitri stopped again hand on the knob and looked at her over his shoulder. Rose didn't even know why she was asking him, was it because she was so pathetic that she needed to stand here and make useless conversation? Of course Lissa still had to be in the building, she knew better than to leave without a guardian, but then again she might take the chance with Christian. Dimitri grinned cheekily.

"Oh, she's still here." Something about the way he said that had Rose snapping to attention, but before she could ask any more Dimitri opened the door, waved and locked gazes with her for just a second before he disappeared inside closing the door behind him.

Seeing no other choice, Rose sighed and turned back in the direction of the gym and shower. She needed to at least get cleaned up before seeing Lissa or she would have some more very serious questions to answer. One of which would no doubt be why she looked as though she had a run in with nature.

Dimitri smiled like an idiot once he'd closed the door behind him. He sat down in his chair uncharacteristically spinning around in a few circles before settling down. Geez he felt like a child on a sugar high and he had no idea why. Well, he did have a few ideas, but it wasn't as though anything special had happened between him and Rose. Unless he counted the hug, of course. Damn maybe having her so close to him hadn't been such a good idea, because it had obviously short circuited his brain.

But one thing was for sure though. A few minutes with Rose had brought a feeling of peaceful calm that he had not felt in; well he wasn't sure how long. It was nice. And it was definitely comforting to not feel as though his head was about to explode. Suddenly, getting through the pile of papers on his desk didn't seem like such an impossible challenge anymore. If anything, he had no idea why he was not done with filling them out already. All he had to do was sign his signature... So with the vision of a smiling Rose filtering through his brain, he did just that.

Rose smiled to herself as she towelled off and changed into a pair of blood red shorts and a clingy white V-neck shirt that showed off a hint of cleavage. She was calmer than she had been in a while and that was all because of a certain Russian. She knew it shouldn't be that way, but there was nothing she could do about it. She'd accepted that fact a long time ago. As if wearing shorts in the middle of winter and spring wasn't bad enough, she grabbed her favourite cherry lip gloss and put some on. Lord knew that it had been a while since she'd even bothered with wearing it.

Once she was done, she put on a bit of eyeshadow and mascara before going outside and sitting on the back steps where she bent over and towel dried her hair. The sun was hardly as hot as it would be in summer or even spring, but still the golden rays felt good on her exposed arms and legs. She really had missed it. Her mind was slowly letting go of what she had done, but she still rode the high of being around Dimitri gave her.

Her moment of basking in the sun's rays was short lived though as she suddenly felt someone's gaze burning her back. She sat up and flipped her hair back from her face before turning around. A guy who'd recently graduated from novice to guardian stood behind her staring as though she was a piece of meat at a meat market. The thought made her sick, and she had no idea why he would do this. Yes, her shorts were small, but they showed nothing.

Rose knew he saw her watching him, but still he continued to stare. She hadn't been his teacher, but she'd seen him before and knew that guardian Stan Alto had taught him. That recognition gave her a brilliant idea. He was not going to keep doing this, it was beyond rude.

"I'm sorry Mr. Drake," Rose said sweetly. The hard glare she was shooting at the young man contrasted her tone though. "Is this what guardian Alto has been teaching you? That it's ok to perv on your superior's?" The man reared back as though she'd physically punched him.

"Excuse me?" He asked. Rose stood and ran her fingers through her recently brushed tresses as she watched him. "He's taught me very well and I wasn't perving on you. Besides guardian Hathaway, you are not my superior, I'm a guardian now remember?"

"Oh that's right," She said stepping closer. "You've been given the guardian status. So then why the hell are you staring at my breasts? My eyes are up here guardian Drakes, and I've been a guardian for much longer than you have thus I am your superior." He looked sheepish and backed up a few steps. But Rose wasn't having it. She took a step forward for every one he took back. He soon realized that she wasn't going to give up and just stood still. Rose smiled.

"Wise choice. Now because it seems as though you didn't learn this in any of your classes, I'm going to tell you right now, and I am only going to say it once. It is very rude to stare at women as though they are meat. So the next time I catch you staring at any woman like that, it will be more than your pride that's hurt, got it?"

"Y-Yes, guardian Hathaway." Rose nodded and walked back into the changing room swaying her hips just a little as she walked. She might have come off as bossy just now, but from what she'd been hearing about him he was turning out like Ralph and Jesse and while the rich folk might be able to get away with it for a little while, it was unacceptable for a guardian.

She set the towel on the heating pad and then she turned and walked in the direction of Lissa's office. She'd prolonged not seeing her for far too long. But the moment she set foot in the winding corridors she stopped and stared. It was as though the entire building was buzzing with excitement. She took the time to look around and felt the need to stop someone.

"What's going on?" She asked one of the new guardians. The moment the girl turned around, Rose froze. This was the girl she'd seen Dimitri with at the Dragomir's New year's eve party. The girl who Rose thought was related to him or something of the sort. Recognition flashed in the girl's familiar brown eyes as well, and Rose flinched. Dimitri had obviously told her about what she'd done judging from the look of confusion and slight anger in her eyes.

"I don't know. I think they're about to cut a cake or they have video evidence of something." Rose nodded remembering that it was Valentine's day. Her father usually bought a cake which they cut when all the staff was present. If they'd found some sort of video evidence though, that was a whole new ball game.

"Hey I know it's none of my business, but who are you to Dimitri?" The girl spun around pinning Rose to the spot with her eyes, much like how Dimitri had earlier, except this time the brown eyes were now soft or caring.. When she spoke her voice was low, her accent thicker than Dimitri's.

"I'm Viktoria. Dimitri is my brother. And what you're doing to him is just not cool." She flashed a small smile at Rose and Rose was stunned by how much she looked like Dimitri in that moment. Then the fact Viktoria actually admitted to knowing what Rose had done set in and Rose grimaced.

"Hey it's really none of my business Roza, but I know my brother and he wouldn't have a fling with someone else's girlfriend if he didn't have good reason. I don't agree with how many times you've led him on, but I don't have the kind of love you seem to have with your fiancé, so I'm not going to pretend to know what it's like."

Rose studied Viktoria and wasn't the slightest bit shocked to see honesty shining in her eyes. This girl was a Belikov, and she was learning rather quickly that all of these Belikovs had a way of reading people. They were good people who were true to who they were. The fact that Dimitri had come to get her today and now his sister's admission was proof of that. Rose grinned in earnest and shook the hand Viktoria held out to her.

"It's great to meet you Viktoria, and I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to change." Viktoria smiled a cheeky smile before speaking.

"It's great to meet you too, and no one is perfect, what's great is that you have accepted your mistakes and you're learning from them and trying to change." Rose wasn't so sure if she was actually learning from her mistakes, but she didn't say that. Instead she just smiled back and together the girls turned and followed the other guardians to the tech lab.

Jill was stationed in her usual spot in front of a computer and standing next to her was: Abe, Janine, Lissa, Christian and Dimitri. Rose pulled Viktoria over to the group. Dimitri caught her eye for a second a bright smile on his face. Rose nearly fell over at the pure beauty of it. She was a bit confused as to why he was smiling at her, but then she followed his eyes to her and Viktoria's joined hands and understanding dawned.

"What's going on?" Rose asked her mother. Janine shot her a grim smile.

"We're going to stick the cake, and Jill found some disturbing video footage from the camera that was set up outside Michelle Aldridge's house."

"Oh no, this can't be good." Rose said her mother and Viktoria nodded.

A/N

Oh no! What on earth is happening here? I wonder what was so disturbing in this new video footage? Any ideas? Have they finally found their murderer or murderers? You guys enjoyed that bit of Romitri? :P

Let me know what you thought! And maybe we'll start seeing more Romitri moments when they're actually nice to each other! Oh wouldn't that be a dream come true?

Review lovelies and Dimitri/Adrian will come rescue you ;)

XXX

Roza