"No. Absolutely not!"

"Oh, yellow is not that bad of a colour."

"It is when you have tan skin as I do!"

Lissa groaned and put the fluffy, tole daffodil yellow dress back on the rack. Finding Lissa a dress was easy. She's tall and slim with the perfect milk-white completion. She zeroed in on a drop sleeve periwinkle dress at the first store we went into. The jeweling at the top of the dress was stunning but the price tag wasn't stunning. My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw how much it cost.

I wandered through the racks and flipped through dresses, not overly excited by any of them. But I didn't want to go to the stupid dance anyway. Dad stopped me on my way out and wished me luck with the Princess and asked if he wanted Mom and him to go along. I shook my head, stating that I didn't want to make a huge deal out of the trip and went with just Lissa, Dimitri and Guardian Hassel.

I came to a stop and sighed at one of the dresses. Not my style or colour by any means, but it called out to me. I pulled it off the rack and held it out in front of me. It was a simple v-neck dress with spaghetti straps that tied at the lower back in a criss-cross style. The champagne colour with the lace and beaded overlay was stunning.

"You're trying it on!" Lissa squawked from her stop across the aisle. I chuckled and carried it with me while she added a few more dresses to her pile for me to try on. There were puffy dresses in bright colours and black dresses too. I was holding firm on not buying a black dress and wandered through the store, looking to see if there are any other dresses that piqued my interest.

I didn't find anything else, so I headed to the change room and pointed to Lissa when speaking to the attendant. The older woman nodded her head excitedly and scurried off to grab a pair of heels for me to wear while trying the dresses on. I slipped into the change room when she came back and started trying dresses on, vetoing some of them instantly when I saw how hideous they looked. They were styles that would suit Lissa's model-like figure, not my curved one.

I stepped out in a navy blue long sleeved dress and stood for Lissa to view, but I wasn't sold on the dress. Nor the price tag. I didn't want Lissa paying for my dress either. I tried on a few more that she gushed over, but I didn't love them.

I finally pulled on the dress I picked out and poked my head out to get her to tie the back, only to find Dimitri right outside the door.

"Sorry, Lissa had to go to the washroom, Hassel took her. Need help?"

I nodded and turned around, holding the front of the dress against my chest while Dimitri tied the silk laces. The heat from his fingers made the bare skin of my back prickle. I smoothed the dress out over my legs when he finished. Champagne wasn't my colour, it never was, but it did wonders against my tanned skin.

"Oh wow. That's your dress," I heard Lissa say as she came around the corner, her hands coming up to her face. I smirked and turned to look at a different angle and agreed with her. It was my dress and I loved how it made my slightly muscular back still look feminine. I lifted my hair up to see how it looked and decided that if I got this dress it would look better with my hair up.

I smiled and looked down to look at the tag, only to frown. I had a budget and this dress was five times the price. I chewed on the inside of my mouth and shook my head before turning into the change room and rifling through the remainder of dresses that were in my budget. I came across one that was slate gray with gold lines on it, almost geometric and slipped it on. It didn't feel as great as the last dress, but it was ok looking. I stepped out and waited for Lissa's assessment. Lissa liked it but not as much as the last one.

"I think I like this one better," I stated, trying to force more enthusiasm in my voice than I felt. I quickly went back to the change room but Dimitri stopped me before going in.

"Get changed and give me your wallet. I'll go up with Lissa and get all of this paid for," he said. I nodded and grabbed my wallet, handing it to him. I gave with a small smile that he returned before closing the door behind him. I changed out of the dress and handed him the dresses, pulling out the grey one for him to take to the counter.

I took my time putting my clothes off, trying to prevent my hair from getting frizzy before heading out to the counter. Lissa and Dimitri were standing at the entrance, Dimitri holding two black dress bags. I reached out to take mine but Dimitri moved it out of reach and raised his brow. I rolled my eyes as Lissa looped her arm through mine and dragged me to the next store. Shoes.

If there was something worse than dress shopping with Lissa, it was shopping for shoes.

I let her drag me through the store and I landed on a pair of nude strappy heels on clearance and Lissa found hers surprisingly fast. I took my wallet back from Dimitri and paid for my shoes before begging Lissa to let us go eat.

I sat at the table and played with my fries while Lissa talked a mile a minute about accessories and what kind of flower she wants Christian to make her corsage out of to match her dress. Her pick at the moment was lilies.

"What kind do you want?"

"What?"

Lissa smiled as she daintily wiped her lips with her napkin. "Your corsage? Just because you don't want to go with anyone doesn't mean you're not getting one. I'll buy you one," Lissa said flicking through photos on her phone. I shook my head and leaned over to look at the pictures, stopping her when she came across one with calla lilies and orchids. It was simple but pretty.

"If you could find colours to match my dress, I think that one would be pretty," I said, a little happier about the choice of dress. It would look pretty with the gold and grey. Lissa squealed in excitement before capturing a screen picture and saving it to her album on her phone. I pulled out my wallet out to see how much I had left, hoping there would be enough for a soft pretzel at the stand.

"What is it?" Lissa asked as she looked up at my face.

I chewed on my lip as I counted the bills in my pocket. There is no way I should have had that much left in my wallet. Not after paying for the dress and shoes. I knew that both were on clearance, but I had more than I should have left. Maybe I just counted wrong before I left the academy this morning.

I rolled out of the way as his fist came down to the matt. I used my legs to wrap around his shoulders and used that to flip him over, slamming my fist down over his chest.

"You know, you're kind of scary Rose."

I chuckled and got up off him, extending my hand out. "I told you Eddie. You owed me; this is how I want to claim my payment."

"By kicking my ass?"

"By having a partner that's not Dimitri. It is too easy to beat him, I know his moves too well. I needed a fresh target to catch," I shrugged wiping my face with my towel. Eddie shook his head before pushing himself off the matt. I tossed him a water bottle and uncapped mine, taking a swig from it as Eddie glared at me.

"Hey, it's good practice for you too."

I had him there. The more one on one practice we got before trials was important. We needed to be ready for the practical's.

"So. I have a question for you," Eddie started off, toying with the bottle in his hands.

I snorted a laugh, "No. I'm not letting you win next time. You gotta earn it fair and square."

"No. It's not about sparring. It's about prom."

I capped my bottle and bent down to stretch, working harder on my left leg because it started to cramp up. "Ok, shoot."

Eddie followed suit and started to stretch out and I could practically hear him thinking over his questions. I let him take him time, but I had an inkling as to what he wanted to ask.

"I know that you don't have a date and I don't either," Eddie said as he stretched his calves. I snickered and sat down, stretching my legs out in front of me, reaching my arms out and folding myself to lay my stomach on my legs.

"And?"

Eddie glared at me slightly before I started to crack up. "Eddie? Are you asking me to be your date?"

"Yes, obviously."

I laughed and shook my head. "Why would you ask me?"

"Because. Don't let this go to your head but you are the prettiest girl in our year and I can guarantee that if you don't go with someone you'll never hear the end of it. Plus, if you go with me, I'm not expecting anything at the end of the night. You're also my best friend, and I'd rather go with you than anyone else."

I thought it over and he was right. If I showed up alone it would be like a beacon for all the lousy Moroi. Eddie wouldn't be a perv with me and I would have a good time with him there.

"Ok."

Eddie snapped his head up from where he was stretching. "Yeah?"

I tossed my towel at him and laughed. "Yeah, I'll go with you. It'll be fun to go with my best friend."

Eddie smirked and stood up as he continued to stretch. "Awesome. I already asked Belikov if he was cool with it."

My laughter shocked both of us as I climbed to my feet. He seriously asked Dimitri if he could take me to prom? I voiced the question to him and he nodded with a smirk.

"I wanted to make sure he was cool with it. I know that if he were able to, he'd go with you to make you happy, and he said he didn't mind if it was me that you went with. I just had to promise I'd let him have a few dances at some point."

I shrugged and packed my stuff back into my back. "We have a few more weeks until we have to worry about that anyways. I'll see you at dinner. I need a shower, badly," I said lifting my bag up.

"Yes, you do," Eddie laughed and ducked out of the way in time for my water bottle to sail past where his head would have been.

I massaged my scalp under the hot stream and breathed deeply, letting the hot water open my airways and fill my senses with the smell of my shampoo. I needed a mental minute. Between training with Dimitri, my extra time with Eddie, and practice with Dad, I was starting to feel burnt out again, and I'll be damned if I let it get the best of me again. Lissa had been using more Spirit lately and I was starting to feel antsy from that. It was like no matter where I turned there was something that needed my attention. Plus, the last time I had be able to steal a kiss from Dimitri was before the shopping trip and that was three weeks ago. That was too long in my books.

I rubbed myself down with the towel and dressed in jeans and a sweater, ditching the light jacket I brought and made my way to the edge of campus, towards one of the small cabins that littered the back of campus. Dimitri was going to be on shift for a few more hours and I just needed some time alone to process my thoughts and let my head get back to where it needed to be.

I picked the lock on the door and entered quickly, closing the door behind me and latching it again. I rested against the door and let out a deep breath before venturing into the cabin. I ignored the fireplace because there was no way I was ever going to get a proper fire going and crawled onto the bed. I rearranged the pillows around me and got comfortable, closing my eyes and relaxing my mind and body.

I laid there breathing slowly and deeply as I felt my body melt into the mattress. It felt so good to release all the pent up tension in my body. Some of it was from school, some from training, some from not being able to be intimate with Dimitri, and some was Lissa's nighttime activities leaking through the bond. I started to feel weightless and I smiled to myself.

This must be what it feels like to be in complete Zen.

I stayed like that until the door opened but hearing them speak was like it was coming down a long tunnel.

"Kiz, you need to stop."

Stop? Why would I stop? I was so relaxed.

"Rosemarie."

I ignored the voices calling out to me as I drifted further into relaxation only to snap my eyes open when a hand gently rested on my arm. I looking directly into my mom's eyes. It was strange though, she wasn't crouched down at bed level, she was standing up at full height. I looked to around and quickly solved my confusion. Everything was off the ground, including me. And it all came crashing down with that realization.

I was surprised that the legs of the bed didn't snap off when it hit the ground like the legs to one of the chairs. The momentum flung me off the bed and I rolled on the floor, coming to a stop at Dad's feet by the door.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, looking up at him from the floor. He leaned down and helped me to my feet before looking me over for cuts. It was sweet really that he did that, but I was a big girl. Plus I didn't hurt.

"It looks like your tapped into your full potential. You used to do things like this when you were sleeping. We had to bolt your bed to the floor when you were younger."

I pulled away and looked at the chaos the room turned into. Furniture was broken all over the place, the legs of the table cracked, the chars broken, nick knacks scattered everywhere.

"How did you know where I was?"

"I could feel you," Dad replied as he turned the table upright. I furrowed my brows before remembering that he had said, that when I was little it would feel like a tsunami pulling back from shore. I wrapped my arms around my waist and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

"I didn't hurt you, I mean mentally, right?"

Dad stopped putting things back into place and turned to look at me with a soft expression. "No, Kiz. You didn't hurt me, it just felt like a tugging in my mind. I was more concerned about your own safety."

I nodded and helped Mom clean up the cabin before straightening the covers on the bed. It didn't take us long to put everything right and we left, hiking back to campus. I kept my arms wrapped around myself, slightly for comfort also because I was thoroughly exhausted now.

I was happy to find that Lissa was already asleep as I unlocked my door, praising whatever deity was up there looking out for me. At least tonight I wouldn't have to see her amours activities. My head wasn't on the pillow long before I was asleep.

I remember hating running. I remember loathing every step he made me take, but now I love it. I love the feeling of the wind in my hair and the crisp feeling in my lungs. I loved the slight burn in my legs and the freeing feeling it gave me.

I could hear Dimitri catching up with me and I smiled while taking in a deep breath, pumping my legs to try and beat my time.

"Are you going to do laps all morning, or do you want to spar?"

I chuckled and slowed my pace and turned to look at him, stretching my arms.

"Of course I want to spar!"

Dimitri directed us towards the field because the gym was full of Novices trying to get last minute training in. I set my bag down and stretched my legs before getting into a defensive stance and we started to circle each other. I knew what he was going to do before he even moved and had my move planned out.

I leapt to the side and threw a kick to his lower back, but he spun around and gripped my leg, pulling it towards him roughly. I stumbled and wrapped my hands around his shoulder, bringing my other leg between us and kicking him away. I tumbled to the ground and rolled, but Dimitri was fast and I sometimes forgot just how fast. He was on me in a split second, kneeling over me and trying to pin me down. He got me where I wanted him and pinned me down with his hips, his hands clamping over my wrists and holding them about my head.

Dimitri had a cocky smirk on his face and I narrowed my eyes at him before rocking my hips up against his, aiming to rub against him. The smirk left his face as his eyes darkened and he put more of his weight against me. I smirked at him as he switched both of my hands into one of his as the free hand trailed down my arms. I let him fall right into my trap as his head dipped down to my neck, I pulled my legs out from under him and wrapped them over his, rocking up and flipping him.

The flip startled him and I wrenched my hands free and slammed my fist down over his chest.

"You didn't say dead. I win."

Dimitri had a blank look on his face before he cracked up in laughter, his whole body vibrating because he was laughing so hard. I sat up on him and laughed as well, smiling down at him as I rested my hands on his stomach.

"Really?" he asked as he leaned up on his elbows. I smiled and leaned forward, pressing my lips against his softly. I deepened the kiss as his hand came up to my face, cupping my neck and pulling me closer.

"We," kiss "should probably" kiss, "head back soon. Class starts soon."

Dimitri hummed against my lips as he sat up completely, but didn't pull away from me. "I know, but wait a few more minutes." I sighed happily and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pulled myself flush to him, raising up on my knees to be at a better height with him. His hands slid down to my hips and squeezed the flesh gently before traveling lower, squeezing my butt firmly. My lips parted in a gasp but that was all the invitation he needed for his tongue to slip between my lips. I twisted my fingers into his hair and held myself to him and shivered as his hands slid up my waist, his fingers twisting around the edges of my shirt and pulled it up. I pulled away long enough to pull it off my head and returned my mouth to his hungerly

The sound of something snapping pulled us away from each other and onto our feet. I spun around looking for the source but there was nobody there. I looked to Dimitri but his mask was firmly in place. I snatched my shirt off the grass and pulled it on quickly while looking around again. We got careless and it could have ended horribly if someone had seen us.

Dimitri ran his hand over his hair and took a sharp breath before picking up both of our bags, handing mine to me. I took it and licked my lips before shouldering it, giving him a tentative look. He rarely kept his Guardian mask up with me, but his was still firmly in place. He started walking towards campus and I jogged to catch up with him, coming to walk quickly beside him.

"We cannot do that again," he said quietly and I nodded in agreeance. It was too public to kiss out here.

"I know. We just need to be more careful," I said but he stopped and turned to me. He was completely devoid of emotion.

"No, we can't do that again. Rose, we could have been caught. Your father already thinks there is something going on between us, and we keep slipping up."

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "What exactly are you saying, Comrade?"

Dimitri crossed his arms too and for a moment I saw a fraction of emotion in his eyes, and it wasn't something I wanted to see right now.

"I know I said that we wouldn't go back to pretending nothing was there, but we need to be extra careful now. Maybe we need to..."

"Go back to pretending there is nothing between us," I said, completing his train of thought. Two steps forward, three steps back.

Dimitri frowned and stepped towards me, his hand reaching out and cupping my cheek. I looked up and saw the struggle in his eyes and I was sure that it was clear in mine.

"I don't want this, but we can't get caught, Roza. We both know this," Dimitri said gently, but I could hear it in his voice. Having to go backwards hurt him just as much as it hurt me.

"Only for a few weeks?"

Dimitri nodded, "Only for a few weeks."

I nodded and sighed, feeling disheartened. This is so not what I wanted to deal with.

I know, shitty ending but I promise to make up for it in the coming chapters. Please let me know what you think so far!:)

Big thanks to TheLittleSubmissive for editing!