One Year Later

"Ok, you have to make a move and soon! Rose is starting to freak out," Christian says as he barges into my apartment. I look up at him with a confused expression and Christian shakes his head, walking to the fridge and grabbing two beers before coming to sit down beside me.

He hands me one and twists the top off the other and takes a long swing from his bottle. "Lissa said that after her birthday Rose thought you would propose. That was almost a year ago," Christian details before rolling his eyes towards me.

I smirk and take a sip from my beer while propping my feet up on the coffee table. I know Rose would be expecting a proposal after her twentieth birthday, but I still want the element of surprise. I already have a plan for proposing to Rose, I just haven't had a chance to tell Christian in the last week. Christmas has been hectic and between working and spending time with Rose and her family, I haven't had a chance with Christian as my friend without her around.

I give him the layout of my idea for Thursday and Christian nods his head along while giving his input. "You know what the only downside of that is going to be?" Christian says and I grunt around my mouthful of beer. "Tasha is going to be at that party."

I snort a laugh and set the bottle down on the table. Tasha still occasionally makes her passes at me, or is blatantly rude to Rose in public, but she's behind me now. Nothing will stop my excitement for Thursday night, and there is very little she can do to ruin the night for Rose and me.

"So that is why you asked for me to mention to Lissa that we should give you both the night off and go with us two to the party," Christian muses as he mimics my position on the couch. I nod and roll my eyes at him.

"No, I just wanted to go to a party," I quip and Christian chokes on his beer, surprised by my sarcastic behaviour.

I fiddle with the cufflinks on my sleeve and pace back and forth in the foyer of Christian and Lissa's house. I forgot how much work goes into getting ready for a Court party. Christian finds my nervous actions comical because in all honesty I have no reason to be nervous. Rose knows there is a ring, she has seen the ring and flat out told me she loves it. I think I'm more nervous about screwing it up.

"Will you stop, you are going to wear a hole in the floor," Christian groans and I stop. I move to stand next to him against the wall, lifting my head up to look at the ceiling. "Not to sound weird or anything, but you clean up nice in a suit. If you weren't a Guardian you could probably make a living as a model," Christian adds, and I start to laugh at the ridiculousness of his comment. Rose has said similar things to me in the past.

Although, she usually says it to me when I'm undressing.

"Did you say that to make me feel better?"

"Well, it made you laugh."

I chuckle again and close my eyes as we wait for the girls to finish up. Christian taps my arm and I pull my head down to see the girls coming down the stairs, both of them dressed to the nines and looking beautiful.

"Awe look, Posie is playing dress-up," Christian jokes as he kisses Lissa's cheek. Rose shakes her head with an eye roll. Rose locks eyes with me and gives me shy smile, but I'm so dumbstruck about how she looks. She is absolutely stunning. Her long curls are pulled away from her face and cascade around her shoulder with silver earrings that hang from her ears and a simple silver necklace. Her dress is a black floor-length and strapless with a white lily cascading down the left side of her body. I step away from Lissa and Christian so they can have their moment and pull Rose into my embrace, pressing my lips to her firmly.

"You look breathtaking," I say against her lips and Rose hums in appreciation. She winds her arms around my neck and pulls me closer to her, her hips and chest flush with mine.

"You look hot, Comrade," Rose purrs and toys with the loose hair at the base of my neck. I growl and nip at her lip before pulling away and winking at Lissa over my shoulder. I turn to face Lissa and Christian, wrapping my arm around Rose's waist.

"Lissa, you look beautiful," I tell her with a smile. Lissa smiles and waves me off, but Lissa looks every much the Princess she is.

Rose nudges my side and rests her head against my arm. "Alright let's get this show on the road, I did not let Lissa poke and prod me for three hours for us to hang around the house. Let's go!"

"You don't mind if I cut in, do you?" Abe asks as the song comes to an end. Rose looks up at her father and then back to me with a smile. I kiss her hand and pass her over to Abe. "Not at all," I say and give them both a smile. Abe winks at me over Rose's head and gives me a smile, knowing that very shortly I will be proposing to his daughter. I make my way over to the table where Eddie is guarding and give him a nod.

"Eddie," I say standing beside him in a similar stance. I let my eyes wander around the room and take in the Moroi dancing and drinking without a care in the world, the Guardians along the walls invisible to them. A few Moroi women ogle at Eddie and I and whisper to each other while staring us down. I keep my eyes moving to try and lessen the uncomfortable feeling they give.

The women eventually move on and I look out at the dance floor where Rose and her father dance together with large smiles on their faces.

"Rose looks really pretty tonight," Eddie comments a few minutes later. I smile slightly at the tone of brotherly affection I hear from him. "Yes, she is," I say quietly. I put my hands in my pockets and finger the box that lies there. I look up at the time on Eddie's watch and notice that the time approaching. I have fifteen minutes.

"I'll see you in a bit," I say to Eddie and he turns his attention from the room to me and gives me a smile and a nod. "See you later, Belikov." I shake his hand and move onto the floor again, heading towards Rose but someone else steps in my way.

Tasha.

I stop in my stride and look at her, eyeballing the tumbler in her hand. "Lady Ozera," I say politely. Tasha scoffs at me and sips from her glass. "Lady Ozera? Seriously Dimka? C'mon, we're friends," Tasha slurs taking a step closer to me. I take a step back from her and keep my irritation at bay.

"We haven't been friends in almost three years," I state bluntly.

Tasha takes another step closer and places her hand on my arm, her pale fingers cold against my exposed skin by my wrist. I pull my arm away from her and give her a firm look. I never noticed how obsessive and exhausting Tasha was until I meant Rose and Tasha's ugly nature came out at full blast.

"Well, I wonder why that is," Tasha snarks, narrowing her eyes at me. I force myself to keep a professional ground, given that I am a guest at this party that is being thrown by Adrian. I shake my head and move to step around her but her hand flies out again and grabs me, her fingers wrapping around my arms in a vice grip.

"You aren't walking away from this Dimitri," Tasha says and I whip around to face her.

"I have nothing to say to you, Tasha. You threatened Rose and me on multiple occasions. You reported me to the Head Guardian! I could have lost my job - I could have been charged! You tried to spread rumours that Rose was cheating on me and ruin Eddie's reputation. I politely turned down your offer at St. Vlad's and you still haven't taken no as an answer," I hiss at her and yank my arm away from her.

"I wouldn't have let you go to jail," Tasha says pathetically, but I'm already aggravated. "You wouldn't have been able to stop them. You don't love me; you don't even know what real love is. What you feel is an obsession and nothing more."

I start to walk away from her, but she calls across the floor at me. "She will never make you happy!" I shake my head and go to find Rose, ignoring Tasha's shrill voice. I look down at my watch again and see that it is five minutes to midnight. I catch Christian's eye a few people away as he dances with Lissa and he gives me an encouraging smile.

"Mind if I steal Rose for a bit?" I interject as Abe is telling Rose a rather rambunctious story about a festival in Russian, making her laugh uncontrollably as she tries to steady herself while dancing. Rose stifles her laughter as she looks at me, her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink and turns back to her father, reaching up to kiss his cheek and gives him a quick hug.

I take her hand and direct her towards one of the doors leading to the balcony overlooking the back garden, taking my jacket off to cover her bare shoulders as we slip outside. I take a glance around to find nobody else is outside and when I turn around to close the door, I catch Adrian standing nearby speaking with a few Guardians and gives me a thumbs up.

Maybe he's the reason for that.

I turn back around to face Rose and find her leaning against the railing. "I always wondered where Adrian got the inspiration for the garden during our dream walks, I guess I know now," Rose says over her shoulder. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her tight to my body and press my lips to her shoulder.

I spin her around in my arms and kiss her, cupping her body in my hands and using the moment to pull myself together. "I love you, Roza," I whisper against her lip, making her shiver.

"I love you too," she says back. I pull away and look into her eyes and remember every moment in the last three years where I've felt at home here, with her.

I slip my hand into my pocket and pull the box out, keeping my hand behind my back so she can't see it. I can faintly hear Adrian announcing that the countdown is going to start, and I know that this is the exact moment I've been waiting for all night.

"Roza," I say softly with a smile and receive a larger one from her. Rose wraps her arms around my neck and rubs the tip of her nose. She hums at me as her eyes flutter open. I pull myself away from her enough that her arms slip from my neck and she furrows her brows at me, but they shoot up when I get down on one knee and take her hand in mine.

I can hear her breath hitch over the chanting in the background. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to that with you as my wife. Marry me, Roza?"

I barely get the words out as the final numbers are said and Rose pulls me up from my kneeling position and up against her, claiming my lips with hers as we ring in the New Year. I can hear the crackling and popping of the fireworks overhead, but I'm too caught up in the feeling of Rose's lips against mine.

"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" Rose mumbles against my lips. I lift Rose off her feet and spin her around, chuckling with her as her shoes fall off. I stop eventually and set her back down and take the ring out of the box, moving to place it on her left hand. She stops me sticks her right hand out instead.

I raise my eyebrows at her, and she giggles. "Baba mentioned that in places like Turkey and Russia you wear your ring on the right hand," she says. I never expected her to take on that tradition, but nonetheless it makes me happy and I slide the ring on her finger. I look down at the ring that I have spent my whole life looking at on her hand. A silver band with five small circular diamonds, the center one being slightly larger than the others.

It's not anything over the top, but it's beautiful, and it looks even more so on my Roza's hand.

"I love you so much. Happy New Year baby," I say and pull Rose back to me to kiss her passionately, cupping her face in my hands as her arms go around her waist.

"SHE SAID YES!" I hear Christian shout from the door and Rose pulls away from my lips with a laugh. I look over to find him, Lissa, Adrian, Mia, Eddie, and Abe standing in the doorway. But the person I was concerned about was Tasha, who is standing a few feet behind the group with a murderous expression on her face.

I chuckle as Rose and I bump into the table in the hall inside our front door, our lips not leaving each other's as we enter our apartment. We had mingled for a little bit after Rose said yes, and Abe informed her that he videotaped the whole thing and that Janine passed her wishes along from Nepal. But once we made our rounds and said goodbye to everyone, we could keep our hands off each other.

Not that we do any other time.

Rose pulls my tie from around my neck and drops it to the floor before starting work on the buttons of my shirt. I pull her hair out from its updo and run my hands through her silk tresses, holding her to me as I direct her towards the bedroom. Rose gets my shirt untucked and unbuttons by the time we reach the bed and I reach her around to unzip her dress.

Rose lets the fabric pool around her feet and pushes my shirt and jacket from my shoulders, humming in appreciation before pulling me back to her. I let her claim my mouth again as my hands wander to her bare breasts, tweaking and tugging on her plump nipples to the point of moaning. I walk Rose further back until her legs hit the bed and I gently push her back onto the mattress.

"You know, when you look at me like that it does things to me," Rose says, lifting her stiletto heel clad foot up in the air. Rose rests her foot against me, and I grab her ankle, bringing her leg up higher and pressing a kiss to the side of it. I let go of her foot and reach for her barely-there panties and pull them off, not breaking eye contact with her as I do so.

I run my hands over her skin and lean over her, kissing her chest and neck as I make my way to her lips. Rose twists her hands into my hair and wraps a leg around me, pulling me closer to her body. "You are wearing too much," she breathes as her warm mouth moves down my neck. I unravel her leg from around me and stand up, toeing out of my shoes and taking my pants off. I bend down to pull off my socks and kick my clothes to the side with hers.

A sound that is a mix between a moan and growl works its way up my throat as I look down at the woman on my bed, legs slightly separated while resting on her elbows, the glint in her lust-filled eyes taunting me. I grip her ankles and pull her closer to me as I sink to my knees at the foot of the bed.

I smirk at her before dipping my head down and flicking my tongue over her bundle of nerves before sucking it into my mouth, moaning at the taste of her. She is sweeter than anything I've ever tasted before and I will never get tired of her. Rose bucks her hips up in excitement and moans my name over and over. I stand up and bring myself into alignment with her and thrust into her, letting out a groan at the feeling of her around me.

Rose falls back into the mattress with a whimper and grips the blankets in her hands. I tilt my head back and let out a moan as I snap my hips against hers, my hands digging into her hips. I slide my hands down and pull her legs up against my chest, crossing one of her legs over the other and using them to get leverage to thrust against her. A scream of pleasure comes from Rose and she starts to thrash her head from side to side.

"Oh God, don't stop!"

I bite down on my lip as I start to buck uncontrollably as I feel Rose fall apart around me, hoping to hold our a bit longer to give her another orgasm, but I know that won't be able to. I moan her name as I let go of her legs and brace myself over her, finding purchase in the crook of her neck.

Rose rubs her face against the side of my head, her panting breath fanning over my ear. I press my lips to the side of her neck and pull myself up off her, but Rose wraps her arms around me and pulls me back down. I land on top of her with a grunt and Rose sighs happily. "I like it when you lay on me, it feels good."

"Roza, I don't want to crush you," I say but Rose just shrugs and squeezes me tighter. I shimmy out of her grasp long enough to pull out of her and move both of us up the bed before laying back down on her, taking some of my weight off of her.

I pull the blankets around us and wrap myself around her. "Happy New Year, Comrade," Rose whispers sleepily, the mix of our activities and the alcohol she had taking over. I watch until Rose is partly asleep before rolling both of us to the sides. I stroke her cheek tenderly and watch her eyes move under her eyelids.

"Happy New Year's indeed," I whisper to myself as I watch the love of my life sleep soundly beside me.

I hope you all enjoy that one as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I am the only one to edit this chapter. Sorry if there are errors.