Hi everybody! I have had this idea floating around my head for ages and it is now demanding to be written! I think it will be a 2-shot, but as readers of 'The Dreaded Age' know, I'm not very good at guessing story lengths! It would also work as a one-shot depending on what people think.
I also have written this story in the third person, it's my very first time writing a story like this! I just wanted to be able to express all the characters feelings without having to do 'pov' chapters. Let me know if you hate it. I've tried my best!
There will be a lemon in the next chapter, hence the M rating.
This story is based on the song 'Don't go' by Rae Morris, I highly recommend you have a listen to it!
Enjoy.
Part 1
Rose was tired. Tired of her responsibilities, tired of her job, tired of her life. This tended to happen every few months when there was a lull at court and it never lasted more than a few days, she was incredibly thankful for the life she had. She and Dimitri became Lissa's guardians when she graduated from the academy. The first year had been hard, adjusting not only to real-life but to a new guarding partner, but it was working now, 5 years down the line.
At least that was what she told herself when things seemed hard.
Rose was snapped out of her thoughts when movement flitted into her side-vision. She was guarding Lissa at some royal meeting along with numerous other guardians and it appeared the meeting was coming to a close. Thankfully, they were leaving court after this meeting to go back to the country house they lived in when not needed at court.
The moroi chairing the meeting, some old man with a wiry silver moustache, stood up and started gathering up his papers into an expensive-looking brown leather satchel.
"I think we're all done here, if anyone fancies a drink, I'll be going down to the bar in this building".
Lissa smiled and politely declined but Rose could feel her rolling disgust from within the bond.
The rest of the moroi stood up and started slowly filtering out of the room, chatting amongst themselves as they left. It showed Lissa's stress that she wasn't making an effort to play the part of the princess.
As soon as everyone left the room Rose slumped into the chair next to Lissa.
"That was a tough one huh?"
Lissa nodded, her head heavy and full of the momentous tasks she was trying, and failing, to achieve.
"Hey, forget it all for now. We've got the whole weekend until the next meeting and, I've got a surprise for you".
Rose gently squeezed Lissa's wrist, providing the warmth and comfort she needed. She turned her face and smiled up at Rose, as much as she could anyway.
"What is it?"
"Oh, well..." teased Rose, pulling out the secret. She was going to make her wait, but seeing the exhaustion in her best-friends eyes put her into mother hen mode. She knew this news would cheer her up.
"Well, you know that you have to have 5 guardians when we leave the court, even though the house is guarded..."
Lissa nodded. She personally felt it was a waste of guardians when her house was warded, but Dimitri and Rose always over-powered her.
"I arranged for an extra guardian to come!" Rose squealed. Her excitement was contagious and Lissa couldn't stop a smile forming, despite her confusion.
"Why do we need another?"
"Because we are having a girls night. Well, Christian will be there too, but he's basically a girl too". Rose had a huge grin plastered on her face and mischief in her eyes now that her secret had been revealed.
Lissa reached out and squeezed Rose's hand.
"You really are the best friend a girl could ask for," she said quietly, overcome with love.
"Best friend, kick-ass protector, wing-woman, arm candy, the list goes on".
Rose stood up, eyes glinting.
"Come on then princess, Dimitri will be waiting".
Rose was right, and by the time they made it to the garage, Dimitri was already in a started car.
Whilst they were at court, they took it in turns guarding because Lissa only needed one guardian. Off the court, they pair-guarded, with additional reinforcements far-guarding.
Rose had guarded the last 24-hour shift at court, and as soon as they hit the wards of the house, she would be off duty. Free to be a girl having fun.
"Hey Dimitri," she said as she slid into the passenger seat upfront. They always travelled like this, both of them preferring to be upfront to scout for danger. Lissa sat in the back with guardians on either side of her. Christian often travelled in a separate car with his own guardian.
Dimitri nodded to her, waited until Lissa was bucked in, and then drove towards the guardian head-quarters to pick up the two guardians that would be travelling with them. The one replacing Rose would be travelling with Christian because of the lack of seats.
They were quickly on the road, moving at exactly the speed limit towards the weekend house. The radio was playing quiet pop songs (Lissa always got to choose), and before long soft sighs filled the car as Lissa fell asleep.
"So you are changing over at the boundary?" Dimitri asked Rose, breaking the silence of the car. His words weren't sharp, but they were clearly professional. Just how they had always been since Victor had been arrested.
Rose nodded.
"It's more for her than me, I think she needs the time to let her hair down. She's having a hard time of it at the moment".
Dimitri didn't speak for a moment.
"You are a good friend". His words were warmer than the last, similar to the way he would give her tips or advice when she was training or fresh on the job. "I think this will be good for you too".
"Ughhh," she groaned. "I can't remember the last time I actually went out!"
Rose could see a small smirk appear on Dimitri's face.
"I can," he said. "It was that guardian night out a few years ago. The messy one".
"Oh yeah", she sighed.
They both smiled slightly, a comfortable silence falling between them as memories of the night fell through their minds.
"You must have apologised to me a million times that night," he chuckled.
"Hey, I threw up on your shoes, I needed to apologise a million times!" she exclaimed, making them both laugh.
"Imagine what would have happened if Lissa didn't demand we went to collect you," he teased.
"Oh I know what would have happened," Rose groaned, making them both laugh again.
She liked working with him, he liked working with her. They were good friends now and they were always able to keep each other company. Previous... feelings... were long forgotten.
The car ride past quickly, and soon Dimitri turned onto the long drive that led up to the house. Rose turned around to wake the sleeping Lissa. They were safely within the wards now.
"Liss, we're here," she said, gently squeezing the sleeping girl's knee. Lissa opened groggy eyes, wincing at the light that was appearing. The journey took about 2 hours, and so the sun was just starting to come up.
"I hope you had a good power nap ready for tonight," Rose teased, turning back around.
Lissa groaned.
The bags were quickly unloaded and Rose handed off to the replacement guardian. She knew of his reputation (good) and she had to admit he was attractive. After chatting with him, she turned away and shot Dimitri a wink, earning a humour filled eye-roll.
"Right Liss," Rose said as she walked into the living room with the last of the bags. "The first thing on the schedule is to get dressed up".
Lissa started to protest but Rose quickly held her hands up.
"I am making this as authentic as possible," she said, striding over to her best-friend and pulling her up off the sofa. "We are getting dressed up as if we were going out to the club. Together. Just like we used to do".
Lissa couldn't help but smile, and let out a girly shriek as Rose pulled her off towards the bedrooms.
Dimitri heard the shriek as he walked through the living room with a box of food for the weekend and shook his head, chuckling. He'd meant what he'd said to Rose in the car, he could tell that she needed some time off. She was becoming strung up to tightly with stress that he worried the smallest of things would set her off.
He moved into the kitchen, setting down the box on the polished white marble counter, and started unpacking everything. The house was well stocked as they stopped there often, but they always needed to bring fresh things.
Rose had asked him to cook tonight (he cooked most nights Christian didn't, Rose's cooking was still god-awful) and he was going to make some simple tomato pasta. He presumed the girls would need plenty of carbs to line their stomachs for girls night.
Hearing yet more shrieks from upstairs, he let his mind wander.
"Rose!" Lissa shrieked as she unpacked her suitcase, seeing that her friend had re-packed, choosing only slutty party outfits. She had some comfortable clothing that lived in the house, but still.
"You like?" Rose said mischievously, wrapping herself around the door frame as she came into the room. "I thought your choices were a little tame for girls night". The wicked grin on her face was infectious.
"So which one are you going to choose?" she asked, coming closer and picking out the options. One was a very short silver dress that clung and left little to the imagination, then an emerald green option that had long sleeves but practically revealed all of her chest, and then there was a black velvet dress, equally as tiny as it's companions. Lissa sighed.
"What are you wearing?"
She would choose when she saw Rose's outfit.
"Oh, just you wait," cackled Rose as she dashed out of Lissa's room, returning seconds later clutching a champagne coloured mass of sequins. She held it over her body for Lissa to see.
"And where is the skirt? Or bodice for that matter..." Lissa gasped, making Rose cackle even louder.
"You like?" she sang, twirling, holding out the dress as she span around.
"I guess it will have to be the silver then," Lissa sighed dramatically. Secretly, she loved that dress and never got to wear it. Stood next to Rose in gold they would seem like quite the pair. She suddenly felt quite excited to be dressing up and Rose picked up on it through the bond.
"I knew you would want to," she said in a know-it-all voice. Rose threw her dress on Lissa's bed and strode over to her dressing table.
"Hair first," she announced. "Dimitri's cooking now and I don't want to ruin my make-up my eating."
Lissa nodded, secretly glad that Dimitri was cooking and not Rose.
"What are you gonna do with your hair?" she asked.
"I'm gonna actually wear it down for once!"
Lissa thought that was a bit boring, but she didn't understand the feeling of wanting to just wear your hair natural. Rose always had to tie it up in tight buns for guarding, when Lissa could just wear hers loose and do something fancy with it when she wanted to. It was a luxury Rose didn't have.
Once the food was ready, Dimitri piled up one bowl (Rose was famous for her low alcohol tolerance as well as appetite) and set off up the stairs to deliver the food. As he padded up the stairs he could hear chatting and laughter and it filled his heart. Rose was a great friend, perhaps his best friend, and he knew she had given up a lot in her life for Lissa, for her position. He admired her but occasionally found himself sad over the things their society had made her give up. Tonight though, she could pretend none of that existed.
He gently pushed open the door to find the two girls with their heads flung backwards, howling with laughter.
"Dimitri!" Lissa exclaimed, pulling herself back together and standing up to take the trays from him. "Thanks for cooking!"
"No bother," Dimitri said, looking at Rose as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I wouldn't want us to all have to risk Rose's cooking".
"Hey!" she shouted. "I've gotten better!"
"Sure you have," said Lissa, patting her on the shoulder in mock agreement.
Rose put on a huge frown but I could tell it was a good-natured one.
"What time do you want the...ah... drinks?" Dimitri asked Rose, cautious not to reveal the secret.
"We'll eat this and probably be down in an hour if that works?" Rose replied, not taking her eyes from the cheesy goodness in front of her face.
Dimitri nodded and headed off downstairs. He wouldn't normally cook and things, but tonight was different. Rose had asked him to help make things special for Lissa, he couldn't refuse. He would have normally retreated with a good book or movie (being near guard meant he could just live in the house and maintain communication with outside guardians).
Once the girls had eaten (Rose had actually been defeated by her portion), they started to get ready, deciding to do each other's makeup for fun. Rose knew that Lissa was a lot better than her, but supposed it didn't matter since no-one would be seeing them apart from Christian, Dimitri and a few other guardians. She did Lissa's first, taking care to apply plenty of warm bronzer and silver-hued eyeshadows to bring out the pale moroi features Lissa wore so well. Paired with the hair and pink lipstick, she actually looked good. Really good.
Rose complained the whole time Lissa did her makeup because it took so long, but once she looked in the mirror, it was all worth it. Lissa had contoured her face, using gold's to highlight her exotic features but to also match the dress. Perhaps the best thing about the look though, was how minimalist Lissa had gone. She had eyeshadow and contour and lashes, but that was it. No foundation or eyeliner, and just a simple gloss on her lips. It seemed to bring out her natural beauty, and when Rose looked at her face it almost made her mouth drop open. She knew she was pretty, but not this pretty!
Lissa looked at the look and felt pale next to Rose's beauty.
Rose felt overdone and gaudy next to Lissa.
The girls shrugged into their dresses, admiring them in the tall mirror.
"Ready?" Rose asked as she slipped into her heels, wondering how long she would manage to keep them on her feet.
"I'm not sure what I'm ready for, but yep!"
Lissa squeezed her friend's hand.
"Thanks for this Rose".
Rose smiled and squeezed her hand back before gently pulling her downstairs.
As they walked into the living room Lissa was immediately blown away by all the thought Rose had put into this. Christian was stood there in a shirt (God only knows how Rose managed to get that to happen) and even Dimitri was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, holding 2 rather fancy looking cocktails.
"You delivered!" Squealed Rose as ran (or at least tried in heals) to Dimitri, taking the two drinks from him and handing one to Lissa.
They both drank deeply, before looking at each other and bursting into laughter.
Christian gave Dimitri a look that seemed to say 'God help us'.
"Okay, okay," said Rose, moving closer to Lissa. Before we get too carried away, we are going to start the night with a good game of cards". She rummaged into a bag that had been set down on a chair and pulled out a pack. Placing them on the dining table in the next room, she shouted through.
"We're starting in here. Your welcome to join Dimitri".
Dimitri didn't know what to think. Technically, only near-guard was needed on duty, and Rose's replacement was still somewhere in the house. He also thought the night seemed rather fun, and he secretly loved it when Rose was in wild moods, things often ended up being wild and unpredictable. On the other hand, he didn't like the idea of letting down his guard when they were away from court.
Eventually, after lots of mental deliberation, he decided that a few drinks and games wouldn't hurt and that he would leave the festivities after a while.
The card games and drinks flowed, the girl's antics getting louder and sillier by the game, and Dimitri found himself enjoying the company. He was often alone when Tasha wasn't around, and it was nice to see Rose enjoying herself for once. She seemed loose and carefree.
"Oh yeah," screeched Rose as she won the round. "Beat that, losers!"
"I did, the last three games," Christian reminded her. She flipped him off.
"I wanna dance!" moaned Lissa. Rose looked comically as if all her Christmas's had come at once.
"Princess's word goes," she sang, jabbing a finger into Christians chest just as he opened his mouth to complain, and she shot up out of her chair, almost running to the speakers in the living room.
Lissa let out a whoop and followed, spilling her drink in the process.
Dimitri figured this was his time to leave.
"I'm going to check the security team outside and then head upstairs," he told Christian, knowing that if he told either of the girls they would kick up a fuss about him going.
Christian gave him a nod, an eye roll directed at the loud music in the next room, and headed off towards the girls.
He really wasn't in the mood for this, but even he could tell how much both of them needed this night, and so he would play along. Who knows, after a while (and more drinks) he may even enjoy himself. Running a hand through his thick, black hair, he moved to sit down on the sofa to watch.
"Oh no you don't", Lissa said, catching Christians hand just before he sat down. "If you sit now, I'll never get you up again. Dance with me!"
Lissa was starting to enjoy herself more and more as the evening went on, and as per when she drank, was in serious danger of becoming soppy. She pulled Christian to her, putting his hands on her waist, and they began dancing to the beat together.
Had Rose been sober, she would have probably been annoyed, but she was most definitely sober. Suddenly, a figure trying desperately to sneak past caught her eye.
"And where do you think you're going?" she called, running to block his way upstairs.
"I'm going to bed Rose. I'm still on duty and it's late. I want to be up early in the morning now that we're out of the court wards."
His words made sense, but they were not what she wanted to hear.
"Come on Comrade, just a few dances and then I'll let you go..." she whined.
He stiffened. She had not called him that for a very long time. She didn't even realise.
Not waiting for an answer, Rose grabbed his hand and pulled him back to where Lissa and Christian were dancing, even more seductively now.
She grabbed a beer from the pack on the pack on the sofa, cracked it, and handed it to Dimitri, before getting one of her own.
"Let your hair down, have fun, live life", she cried, swaying to the music with her arms up in the air.
Dimitri couldn't help but look at her long, dark waves flowing down her back, swaying as she was dancing. Her dress hugged her figure deliciously, however tiny it was.
No.
He didn't often get caught by her beauty like he was now, but whenever he did it served as a stark reminder of what they had lost 6 years ago when they agreed to keep things professional, to put Lissa first.
As he sipped his beer, he found himself getting more and more into the music. Lissa and Christian were basically all over each other now, and so he and Rose were just focusing on the music, ignoring them.
"Hey, guys," a breathless Lissa shouted over the music. "Christian and I are gonna head to bed. You guys keep partying though..."
Rose didn't need the bond to see the desire within her friend. The bond was mute now anyway, at least she wouldn't have to experience the activities they would be getting up to tonight.
"Sure, sure, off you rabbits go," she laughed, reaching for another can of beer. She was feeling a little unsteady on her feet now, so she slung off her heels and resumed dancing.
To the outsider, they may have thought that Christian and Lissa leaving would make things awkward, but the friendship between Rose and Dimitri was so strong that they didn't care. Dimitri was getting more and more into the dancing, into the music, and so was Rose.
As they drank more beer, their dancing got closer, the both of them taking it in turns to do stupid moves that made the other laugh. After yet another can, Rose decided that it was a good idea to dance on the sofa. She clambered up, but as soon as she started dancing she fell, hurtling towards the floor at a terrible angle.
But she didn't hit the floor.
Dimitri caught her, and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her towards him so that she was stood on her tiptoes mere inches from his lips. Her lips were parted in shock, plump and glossy, her hair tousled. He couldn't help but run his hand through some escaped locks next to her cheek. It was just as soft as he remembered.
Rose smiled widely and rested her hands on his hips, drawing him even closer to him, and began swaying to the beat again.
He knew this was wrong, knew in his very core that he shouldn't be doing it, but he rested his hands on hers. Pushed his hips against hers.
They rocked together to the beat, both of them enjoying the feel of the other too much. Rose tipped her head up to look at his face, the face she knew better than her own. He looked down into her eyes, the eyes that meant home.
Neither of them wanted to speak in case they broke the magic. The magic that was holding them together, pushing away logic and reason for want and fantasy. For dreams and possibilities.
As Rose stared up at his face she saw all of the tiny features that she loved so much, that she had carefully trained herself to ignore. The way she could tell what he was feeling from the way his mouth was set, no matter how much he tried to hide it. The small wrinkles on his forehead that told of the time they had known each other. The tiny scar below his jawline where training had gotten a little intense, but most of all, his eyes.
The deep pools of dark brown that called out to her soul.
The eyes that provided comfort, security, protection, safety, friendship, humour and... love. However much she tried to deny it, however many other people she had been involved with, it was always him, however impossible it was. And it was impossible, she reminded herself. If only her body agreed.
She felt his hands shift from hers onto her lower back, splaying out as it he was trying to touch as much of her as he could.
Dimitri was trying hard to keep his warring emotions in check. He couldn't help but stare at the goddess that was in his arms, swaying against him. The smell of her was intoxicating, winding its way up through his nose and deep into his heart. He wanted to bottle up this feeling for the nights that were hard, the nights he wished she was with him.
However wrong he knew it was, he wanted to touch as much of her as he could, have her as close as he could, because he knew that he probably wouldn't, no, shouldn't get the chance again. This was wrong. Somehow, that thought didn't seem very important.
Rose shifted in his arms, pulling him from his thoughts as she splayed her hands against his hard stomach.
"We shouldn't," he whispered, more to himself than her. His words were swallowed up into the music, but she heard. Heard and ignored.
Wrapping her arms around his warm neck, she inched even closer to him, still swaying to the music, and let out a small breath she didn't even realise she'd been holding. This is where she wanted to be forever. Encapsulated in his warmth.
Letting out a small groan, Dimitri moved his hands from their safe place on her back and started slowly moving them up and down, feeling a flash of electricity run through his whole body when he hit the bare skin of her back. She felt it too.
He wanted nothing more than to bring his lips against hers, to get lost in the feeling of her, to throw caution to the wind and confirm his love after keeping it contained for so long. They'd come close 4 years ago, but never this close. And it had hurt even then. He knew now that this hurt would be greater. Unbearable. Yet, despite the fear of the pain he would face, he couldn't help himself. Couldn't help but lean down and join their lips, lips that should have never been apart in the first place.
Rose knew he was going to do it seconds before he decided, she could just read him that well. She parted her lips eagerly, ready for the joining of their souls through the kiss. As he pressed against her she felt a flush of heat run through her body, but rather than leaving, it stopped in her heart. It stopped there and grew to the point of pain. She knew it was this that would hurt tomorrow when her heart was empty once more. Empty after being filled with such an all-encapsulating feeling of love that she felt she could die. It was quite possible that once this love left, once her responsibilities tore it away, her heart would collapse in on its self after being filled so full. It was quite possible that the loss of this love would kill her. He was worth it. Being with his for just one night, one night of being able to touch him, to kiss him wherever he wanted, to moan his name without consequences, was worth it.
Running her hands into Dimitri's hair, tugging it loose, Rose gently pushed open his lips with her tongue. She wanted more, needed more. She needed him inside her, the feeling of complete unity as their bodies joined, as their souls joined, however wrong she knew it was.
Dimitri let out a low growl as Rose's tongue touched his, sending sparks through his nerves, and it only fueled her fire. She wanted more of those noises, wanted to make him growl her name so hard the house shook. She wanted to make him moan so loud he woke the Gods.
He pulled away, keeping them mere millimetres apart. They were both breathing heavily and had swollen lips and racing hearts.
"We can't," he whispered. The music didn't exist to them anymore.
"I know," she echoed, but both of them felt otherwise. They felt incapable of denying their bodies, their hearts. Incapable of looking away, moving away.
Dimitri shocked himself by making the first move, and crashed his lips down back onto hers, tearing the paper-thin boundary they had spent years building up. He tore down all the hard work, prepared to face the pain and heartache and consequences that would come for the chance to be with this dark-haired goddess in front of him, even if it was just one night. One night for a lifetime of pain. For Roza, it would be worth it. Hearing her moan into his mouth only pushed him on and he deepened the kiss, pulling her body flush against his.
There was no going back now. Even if they had wanted to, the built-up tension and lust from six years of denying each other were overpowering their brains. At this moment, clasped together in the sun-lit living room of Lissa's house, they were inseparable. Two souls had become one, so in sync with each other that they knew what the other was going to do before they did it. The sunlight that bathed them made the world seem shimmery and bright as if they were on another planet where responsibilities and duties didn't exist. Where nothing existed but each other and the love that they shared. The love that was their very downfall. They burned together, burning for each other and the love they shared but burning for what could have been. Burning for the future they would never have.