I dressed for bed in a rush to get under the warm covers. As our evening was drawing to a close the power went out because of the incoming snowstorm. Therefore, my apartment was freezing! Dimitri was already in bed after getting a few other blankets out and putting them on the bed. He was reading his book when I climbed over him, settling into the blankets. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around me, pull me close so he could kiss my head.

I snuggle closer to him to absorb his body heat and stuck my socked toes against his leg. I hated socks with a passion but that's just how cold it was. Being curled up like this while he read was like seeing a glimpse of how things were before he was turned, and I sighed happily.

I looked up at him as I thought over what Tasha said, and I contemplated voicing my thoughts to him.

"Dimitri?"

He hummed quietly as he turned the page of his book, still reading but prompting me to continue.

"What happened after I left the other night?"

His eyes stopped scanning the pages and he looked down at me, running the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip. He marked the spot he was reading and put the book down on the table, giving me his attention.

"Adrian came by almost immediately after you left," he said, confirming my suspicion. I nodded and waited for him to continue. Dimitri took a calming breath and kissed my forehead before speaking again.

"I was angry that night. Angry at the council, angry at the situation I was in, but wasn't angry at you. I need you to know that. Unfortunately, you were just on the receiving end when I finally snapped. Adrian and I fought for a bit after he told me I needed to smarten up because he had run into you on your way out. I told him that it wasn't any of his business," Dimitri explain. "He had the balls to punch me in the mouth, you know. Just came up and suck punched me. I didn't even see it coming."

"He then went on and told me how you were keeping everything that was happening bottled up and that you had a really rough time while I was…away. He said that the only time you seemed to be yourself was when you were on your way out to try and find me or when you were doing the research with Lissa and your dad," Dimitri added on after I stifled my laughter at the idea of Adrian punching Dimitri.

Dimitri rolled his eyes at my failed cover for my mirth before becoming serious again. "I waited up for you after he left, I figured you'd only be gone for an hour or two at the most. But when four hours went by, I started to worry that you weren't going to come back. That I had pushed you too far from my reach."

I sat up and wrapped my arms around him and tucked my face into his neck, melting against him as he pulled me into his lap and hugged me just as tight.

"I was starting to feel like me being around was making everything worse. I was starting to feel like I was suffocating you," I admitted but I could feel him shaking his head.

"No, Roza. You didn't make it worse. If anything, I needed you even if it didn't appear that way. Even when I didn't know I needed you."

I nodded against his skin and sighed, relieved to have one of my fears resolved. But some of the words that he said still lingered in the back of my mind. I sat up and placed my hands on his chest, running my fingertips over the soft cotton.

"Do you really feel like my promise was empty?"

Regret flashed clearly across his face and he sat up, cupping my cheeks as he shook his head. "No, you promised that you would free me. And you did better than that. I said a lot of hurtful things that I didn't mean, and I won't able to apologize enough for that," he pledged kissing the tip of my nose. I nodded and gave him a small smile so he'd know that I accepted his apology. He laid down and pulled me down on top of him, his hand winding into my hair.

"I'm going to crush you," I said going to move but his arms tightened around me.

"No you aren't."

I rolled my eyes and made myself comfortable on him while his fingers ran through my hair. I tucked my head against his neck as I laid there peacefully, breathing in time with Dimitri's rising chest.

Warm. I was too warm.

I wiggled out of the warm embrace only to be blasted with the cold. I immediately rolled back into the heat that cocooned me and snuggle in, clinging to the cotton that brushed against my naked skin.

Wait. Naked?

I cracked an eye open to find that I wiggled out of both my shirt and pants last night only to wrap myself around Dimitri. Not that he seemed bothered by it, he was still asleep with his hand tucked under his head and a soft snore escaping his lips. I carefully made myself comfortable as I curled against his side, sticking a foot out from under the blanket to cool myself down without being blasted with cold air again.

I was clear that the storm was still going by the sound of the wind and I tried to look out the window but there was snow caked to the side that I could see. I turned my attention back to Dimitri as he started to move, rolling towards me, and then rolling me with him. When he stopped moving he was practically on top of me, his head resting in the crevice of my neck, his hand finding purchase on my chest.

I chuckled to myself and wrapped my arms around him the best I could, turning my head to kiss his hair. He stirred a little but stilled after with a sigh passing his lips, pulling me closer to him. I smile despite feeling like I was starting to burn up, enjoying the moment of stillness and completeness.

My fingers played with his hair as I laid there quietly, thinking about the time before the hardships we went through. I thought about the first time I realized I was crushing on my mentor, and how my heart ran ramped in my chest the first time he opened up to me about his father, and how I felt when he tucked the constantly out of place curl behind my ear. I smiled remembering the conversation we had on the roof of the ski lodge and I replayed the small moments over in my head, like watching our own love story come to life.

I wouldn't change anything. Because it made us who we were.

Lips pressed against my neck and I was brought out of my musing. "What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm?"

Dimitri kissed my neck again before rolling, dragging me with him. "You sighed heavily. What were you thinking about?"

I smiled up at him and pressed myself flush against him, intertwining my legs with him. "I was thinking about the Academy. About how we got to where we are. I used to daydream about you a lot when I thought my feelings were one-sided. But now thinking back, I should have seen the signs that you wanted me too much earlier," I said running my fingers over his cheek. Dimitri hummed in the back of his throat as he cuddled me, his lips brushing over my forehead.

"I was gone before I even realized it," he said giving me a tender kiss. His hands roamed over my sides before he pulled away, his eyebrows knitting together.

"I could have sworn that you were wearing clothes when we went to bed," he said and I chuckled, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling him closer to me.

"I did, but I must have taken them off in my sleep."

Dimitri raised his brow at me as a flicker of lust-filled his eyes. I ran my fingers over his neck as I pulled him in for another kiss, moaning quickly when his hand came to my hip and gripped it tightly. His tongue ran along my bottom lip and I opened my mouth eagerly, rubbing my tongue against his. I hooked a leg around his as he rolled me onto my back, his forearm rested above my head as the other hand gripped the back of my thigh, holding me tight against him.

My fingers trailed down his chest to the edge of his shirt and I toyed with it, hinting at what I wanted by subtly enough that if he didn't want it to continue it wouldn't. Dimitri sat up and pulled his shirt over his head before connecting his lips with mine again, his lips becoming hungrier against mine. His teeth caught my bottom lip as I pulled away to breathe and I whimpered excitedly. I could feel his arouse pressed against my core and I rocked against him without a thought. The growl at escaped him made me shudder and his lips moved to my neck, nipping and sucking at my sick as he went down.

I arched my back up to his as his lips ghosted over my collarbone and my breasts, licking and sucking gently before blowing on the now wet skin, making my nipples pucker in excitement. Dimitri raised his head and met my gaze, his dark eyes burning with love and lust. His eyes held mine as he dipped his head back down to take a nipple between his lips, sucking before biting down gently. The moan that came from my lips was embarrassingly loud and I brought my hands down to lace into his hair, but his hands took mine and stopped me, pinning them together beside me instead.

Dimitri switched sides, giving equal treatment to my other breast as I panted, rocking up against him as I squirmed in his grip. His laugh vibrated against my skin as he kissed his way back up my body, letting go of my hands as his slipped beneath the covers. His hands brushed against my hips before he pulled his sweat pants down, kicking them to the end of the bed to be tangled up with my clothes. He rolled so he was between my legs and ran one hand up my leg, from ankle to thigh, his fingers caressed my skin lovingly.

I met his gaze again and smiled at him but was searching his eyes for any reason he may not want to continue, but when he brought his lips down to mine again it was clear that he wanted this as much as I did, to feel connected like this again.

I was wet and I knew that he knew too when he rocked his length against my sodden core, the gruntled moan passing from his lips into my mouth. I slid my hands up his body and tangled my fingers into his hair as he slowly pushed into me. The sigh he made when he was fully seated in me made my heart flutter and I hooked my leg around his again while my arms wrapped around his neck as I moved slowly with him.

Usually, when we made love our pace was faster but this time we took our time, taking every second to reacquaint our bodies and souls. When he wasn't kissing my lips or had his face pressed against my neck he was starring into my eyes, telling me everything he could bring himself to say.

"I love you," I whispered as I pressed my lips against his neck.

"I love you too."

We were both nearing our releases and I pushed against him, rolling us so I was settled on top, my hands coming to rest on his chest as the blanket pooled around my hips. The blistering cold nipped at my skin but I didn't care, it was welcoming against my blistering hot skin. I smirked down at him as I rolled my hips against his, watching his eyes roll back as a quiet moan passed his lips. I shivered as his hands crept up my waist, brushing against my breasts and shoulders before coming back down to my hips.

I continued to move my hips against his as I leaned down and kissed him, one of his hands coming up to tangle in my hair and hold me close to him, tugging on my locks as he reached his climax, and I followed almost as quickly, moaning his name against his lips.

Our orgasms had paced but we remained in our embrace, pulling the blanket back up around us as we rolled to lay on our sides, fingers carefully tracing each other's skin as our breathing returned to normal. I traced the pale scar laying over his heart when his fingers wrapped around mine, making my eyes flick up to his. He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed each finger tenderly.

"So beautiful," he whispered against my fingers, bringing them up to rest against his cheek, cupping my hand. I smiled softly and stroked his cheek with my thumb, leaning in to kiss him. He sighed happily and wrapped an arm around my waist, nipping at my ear playfully as his hand ghosted the dip of my waist, tickling me. I shrieked and squirmed but he held me tight against him, his laugh vibrating against the walls of our room. I giggled quietly as he tucked my against his chest, his fingers running up my spine.

"Much better Christmas than last year," Dimitri said so quietly that he could have just been saying it to himself. I nodded against his chest and kissed the warm skin beneath my cheek. The stillness and quietness in the air made our breathing sound so much louder when a hissing noise broke the almost silence.

The hot water tank. I sat up a bit and smirked at DImitir when the realization crossed his features too.

"The hot water must be on the emergency generator," I said, momentarily dreaming about being under the hot spray.

"Which one of us is going to brave the cold to check if there is hot water first?"

Realistically, it was cold in here, not quite freezing temperature but close. Dimitri smirked at me before gripping me tight against him and pulling us both out of the warm bed and into the cold. I shrieked and clung to him as we walked to the bathroom, his chuckle ringing in my ear.

I raised my brows at him, thinking that I was hallucinating his request.

"You want to go to the gym?" I repeated back, wrapping my mind around it. Dimitri nodded as he pulled a t-shirt over his head before pulling on a pair of sweatpants. I slid out of bed and did the same, pulling on a bra and shirt, stumbling around to find a pair of pants. Dimitri smirked and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. I fumbled around to get ready and joined him in the bathroom, brushing quickly.

We headed over to the gym hand in hand when I remember that this was prime time for the gym. I didn't know how he would handle that, but we were about to find out. Dimitri opened the door for me and I smiled up at him, stretching up on my toes to kiss his cheek in passing. I quickly got went to the change and met Dimitri back and stood in front of him.

"Ready?" I asked. Dimitri took a deep breath and nodded. I strode in ahead of him, catching Eddie's eye coincidentally and frowned before nodding in understanding. I turned as Dimitri walked in too and I could feel the tension in the room change. The room went from being loud to dead quiet aside from the music.

"Spar after warm-up?" Dimitri asked quietly, his eyes surveying the room. I nodded my head and started on my warm-up, eager to get to my favourite part of training. Dimitri did well to ignore the stares and those whose eyes lingered too long, I glared at them until it made them uncomfortable. One guy even got a smack in the back of the head from Eddie when he wouldn't take the hint.

Now that our warmups were done, I excitedly dragged Dimitri to the mats set out for sparring. I gave him a cheeky smile as we got on the matt and I faced him, taking a defensive position. I could hear the other Guardians whispering to each other over Dimitri making an appearance here, but I paid no mind to them. This was about Dimitri getting back into a normal routine.

Sparring with Dimitri had always be cathartic and I could see small bits of weight falling from his shoulders the longer we spar. Dimitri's fist came down over my chest, resting over my heart. My chest rose rapidly with my laboured breath and I gave him a shaky smirk as my head thumped down on the matt. Dimitri's breath was heavy like mine and he rolled off of me, resting beside me on the matt.

"You…really…made me…work…for that one," Dimitri panted as his hand intertwined with mine. I chuckled and nodded my head as I tried to control my breathing.

"I couldn't just give it to you," I replied as a person loomed over us, extending their hands. I squinted to see and smirked to find Eddie standing above me. Dimitri and I both extended hands and pulled ourselves up, starting to stretch our warm muscles.

"I haven't seen two people spar like that in a long time," Eddie said, handing me a water bottle.

"I haven't sparred with anyone like that in a long time. I feel a little out of practice," I joked giving Dimitri a tender look. Dimitri rolled his eyes and wiped his face with the towel from his bag when one of the watching Guardians approached.

"Mind if I have a go? I could use a bit of practice," he said to Dimitri, gesturing to the mat. I smirked behind my water bottle and tilted my head for Eddie to come to stand with me. We walked to the side of the gym and leaned against the wall, watching the two men spar.

It was good to watch Dimitri back in the gym, back around other Guardians. Some seemed to be a little apprehensive around him still, but a few would come up to him, making casual conversation or discuss training techniques. Three other Guardians offered to spar, one of them being the only other female Guardian at court right now. She was taller than me for sure but almost stalky.

She put up a hell of a fight though, but Dimitri was still a God and "staked" her. I could tell that he was starting to tire of the sparring, and judging by the time the shifts were going to change. I stretched my shoulders as Dimitri spoke to the woman, Dani Goldstein, giving her pointers on where she could improve. It made me smile to take his input to heart and it seemed like she was a recent graduate. Ok, maybe not as recent as me, but still younger than Dimitri. I sipped my water as he wandered over, leaning down to kiss me chastely.

"So, how do you feel?" I asked.

"Better. I really needed this," he said, stroking the back of his fingers over my cheek. I leaned into his touch and sighed softly. I'm glad that he feels better because it makes me feel better too.

I munched on my coffee cake and appraised Dimitri with his eyes closed. I relaxed and visualized his energy and was pleased to find that the cloud of guilt was all but gone. In its place, bright colours of happiness and content. I shut off access as his eyes opened and smirked at me. I guess he could feel me poking around. Dimitri's eyes looked over my shoulder and I turned to find Mom and Dad approaching.

"Hi!" I said standing up to hug my parents. Mom hugged me back quickly before Dad took her place, kissing the top of my head when he pulled away.

"Do you mind if I steal your young man?" Dad asked loudly, looking at Dimitri pointedly.

Dimitri nodded and stood up, offering his chair to Mom before swiping his coffee off the table. I watched the two of them wander to a table a few feet away. They were far enough that I couldn't hear their conversation.

"Do you want anything?" I asked Mom. She nodded and I got up to order her a coffee before joining her again. Mom sipped her coffee while eyeing me and I frowned.

"What?"

Mom set her cup down on the table before taking a deep breath.

"I meant to have this conversation earlier, but between having to back to Nepal and Dimitri being turned, and then restored, there was never a good time. I want to discuss your relationship with Dimitri," Mom said bluntly. I groaned and covered my face with my hands, slouching down in my seat.

"MOM!"

"I just want to know some things. Like when it started for instance. Your father and I asked Belikov before he went to Lehigh with the Princess, but I never got a chance to hear your side of the story."

"And you're choosing here to ask?" I implored after pulling my hands away from my face. Mom shrugged and sipped her coffee. Leave it Mom to make it more uncomfortable.

"It started shortly before graduation," I said offhandedly as I took another bite of my cake. Mom laced her hands together and set them on the table, her lips pursed slightly as she waited for me to continue.

"When exactly?"

I rolled my eyes and looked over to where Dimitri and Dad were sitting, hoping that one of them might save me from this conversation. But of course, they were invested in their own conversation.

"What did Dimitri tell you?" I retorted.

Mom raised a brow. "After your birthday."

I nodded my head in agreement before drinking the last of my hot chocolate.

"When were you two sexually active?"

I choked on my drink and shook my head. "Mom! That's private!"

"When a twenty-four-year-old is dating my eighteen-year-old, it makes you question," Mom said but I shot her a look.

"That is between me and Dimitri, Mom. I'm not giving up any more information about that," I said shortly, putting an end to the topic. Mom raised a brow before smirking at me.

"You really are my daughter. Your grandmother did the same thing to me about your father, and my response was the same as yours," she said with a smirk. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her, noticing her jerk her head at Dimitri and Dad. They came over to the table moments later, Dimitri slipping his arm around my shoulder.

"Good talk?" Dad asked, a subtly smirk on his lips, almost as if he knew exactly he what was being discussed.

I stuck my tongue out at him but leaned against Dimitri, resting my head against his shoulder.

"So, how about we have your family over sometime this week and we can do a big family dinner? What do you say?" Dad asks Dimitri, stirring the conversation into neutral territory.

Hello Hello! Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

This baby of mine is coming to an end! Only a few more chapters left now!

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