A/N: Thank you for the lovely follows/favorites/reviews! As always, you guys keep me going and writing recreationally like this gives me a little something to look forward to lately so thank you for the love! This one is also two parts but the chapters run a little long. Hope you enjoy!
Apologies for grammar/spelling
Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns all things Vampire Academy of course. I'm only responsible for the plot, which, by the way, is again a little steamy towards the end so here's the warning if you want to skip!
Seven Years: Part 1
Summary: After seven years apart, Rose and Dimitri cross paths.
Dimitri was ready to call it a night.
Two glasses of the finest Vodka - outside of Russian anyway - was his limit. The other guardians in the bar were just getting started, too keyed up for the battle ahead to turn in so early.
He used to be that way, filled with so much adrenaline before an upcoming strigoi raid to sleep without finding ways to burn off the energy the night before. He'd go out with some of the other guardians, bar hopping, downing enough drinks to silence the possibility that the next raid would be his last before falling into bed with anyone who was willing to let him distract himself from his worries. In order to prevent any drama, he was careful with whom he slept with, mindful that they were as discreet and private as he was. Usually they were human women that he knew he'd never see again or female guardians who didn't have any more expectations than he did from a one stand.
Tonight, though, he was feeling even more particular. He didn't want just anyone, just a meaningless night that he'd forget about the next day. There was only one woman he ever really wanted and he couldn't believe she was still tangled in his thoughts after all these years. He wanted to avoid that lonely feeling of emptiness afterward so this time, he planned on going to bed alone.
"Another round?" the bartender asked, bottle at the ready.
Dimitri shook his head as he stood, tossing a few bills down. "I'm good thanks."
"What if I buy? Would you stay?" A familiar voice said from behind him. Dimitri stilled, incredulous that it might really be who he thought it was, before turning around.
"Rose," he breathed in disbelief.
"The one and only," she smiled, tossing her hair back. "How ya been, Comrade?"
Dimitri was too stunned. That she was truly here, standing in front of him when he had just been thinking about her, calling him Comrade, he couldn't answer her at first. He searched for signs that she was still mad at him, any indicators that she was upset or hurt from their last few encounters back at the academy but he found none. She looked the same as when they'd first met though almost seven years have passed since then. The only difference being that her school uniform had been replaced with jeans and a form fitting sweater, a silver stake and knife were sheathed at her waist, and her hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail. With the exception of her confident smile, there wasn't a hint of the former student he used to mentor back at the academy.
Dimitri worked to clear his throat, finally answering her. "I've been okay. You?"
She shrugged, her lips tilted in a wry smile. "Alive."
The most common answer among guardians when asked how they're doing. It was the best way to sum it up, the only way to say that, unlike so many others, despite everything they'd seen, how many times they'd encountered death, no matter how terrible they all felt, at least they were alive.
He nodded in understanding. He didn't like to think about the things she might have encountered over the years. He hated that he could see through her mask that she carried the weighted sadness that all guardians in the field developed over the years. He only hoped he'd done his part in preparing her enough.
"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked, approaching Rose.
Dimitri noticed the way the moroi bartender looked her over, taking note of her beauty the same way the other men in the bar had, and a wave of protectiveness overcame him. Rose glanced back at Dimitri, her eyes widening at how close he suddenly stood to her, and smiled.
"What do you say, Comrade? Stay and have a drink with me?"
Dimitri hesitated. Not because he didn't want to but because he didn't trust himself to share a drink with the one person he felt a genuine connection with that stirred up feelings he wasn't ready to face. Though they were both adults now, a part of him didn't feel right about it. He didn't want to drink with Rose and risk turning their mentor/student relationship into something more. Basically, it came down to whether he trusted himself to have a single drink with Rose and walk away.
She grinned triumphantly when he finally answered. "One more drink couldn't hurt."
One drink quickly turned into two.
And then three.
And then five.
After the seventh, Dimitri lost count. He was't drunk though. Neither of them were thanks to the high tolerance towards alcohol that came with being a dhampir. He was at that sweet spot between blissful numbness and warm comfort.
Instead of sitting back at the bar, they ended up in a corner table in the back, the flow of conversation awkward and stilted at first, as most conversations were with people who hadn't seen each other in years, but once the alcohol kicked in and loosened them up, neither of them could stop talking, often speaking over one another and finishing each other's sentences the way they used to.
Somewhere between the third and fifth drink, Dimitri remembered why, despite being her mentor and seven years older than her at the time, he'd been so drawn to Rose back at the academy. For one thing, she was easy to talk to. They caught each other up on where they'd been and what they'd seen in the years since they'd last seen each other, discussing how they'd both been summoned to take part in the strigoi raid tomorrow. It was like barely any time had passed between them with how easily they fell into conversation, talking about everything under than sun.
He impressed by how much she had matured from the brash, haughty young woman he'd first met at the academy. She wasn't the stubborn girl he'd left behind without a second glance - though she did occupy many of his thoughts over the years. She still carried the same confidence but she didn't base her decisions solely on instinct anymore. She thought about her actions and considered the consequences of her choices. Dimitri felt both pride and admiration for her, being so young but holding herself together despite some of the death and loss she'd faced over the years. He knew many dhampirs who burned out when faced with even half of what Rose had experience. He chided himself for thinking of her only as his student even with so many years between them. They were equals now, peers who shared the same deep understanding of what it meant to be a guardian and all of the consequences that came with the role.
They didn't only dwell on all the bad they'd seen. They focused mostly on the good. He'd forgotten how easily she made him smile and laugh when they were days when he worried he was no longer able to. He remembered how good it felt to open up, even if it was just a little, barely skimming the surface of his thoughts; how much of a relief it was to share worries and fears with someone who not only understood but with whom he had a connection with. She was no longer his student or just his equal as a guardian. She was his friend and, in those few hours they sat in the bar just talking, for the first time in a long time, Dimitri suddenly didn't feel so alone.
"I still can't believe you're guarding Christian Ozera," Rose was saying as they wandered out of the bar, through the center of town.
The bar had just closed so the streets of The Royal Court weren't as empty as they would have been any other night but it was still quiet as they ambled back toward guest housing. Many of the others were going off in search of a second round of drinks since the strigoi raid wasn't until late tomorrow during the daylight hours. Rose and Dimitri seemed to be the only two heading to turn in for the night.
"He was a nightmare back at the academy."
"He's changed since then, grown up," Dimitri told her. "Much like you have."
She smiled under his praise, her cheeks red from the cold, the liquor coursing through her body, or his words, he wasn't sure. "True, but I didn't set textbooks on fire in the middle of class just for the hell of it. Though, admittedly, I wanted to," she added making Dimitri laugh. He remembered her hatred for all things schoolwork fondly. "It's hard to believe he's this up and coming political activist in society, fighting for the plight of moroi and dhampirs."
Dimitri couldn't believe it himself sometimes but he was grateful that he'd ended up with Christian as his charge. He was given more of a sense of freedom he doubted he would have been allowed with any other moroi.
"It must be you," Rose said suddenly, voice thoughtful.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you turned me around, took me under your wing when I was the bitchiest delinquent to have ever lived and now I get to guard Liss. You're assigned Christian Ozera, a kid who once set Mr. Nagy's toupee on fire, and now there's talk about electing him onto the moroi council. I think it's you and all your zen lessons," she said teasingly, bumping him with her shoulder. That simple brush of contact, even through the layers of clothing, Dimitri could feel the tingle right down to his bones. "When you're too old to guard anymore, you should consider running a home for delinquent youths. Maybe charge money. You'd make a killing."
They both knew that guardians rarely lived long enough to even think about retirement, but still he played along.
"If I'm too old to guard anymore, I doubt I'd be physically capable to defend myself against a bunch of wayward youths. Besides, you think I want to spend my final years around a houseful of Rose Hathaways and Christian Ozeras? No way. If I survive long enough as a guardian to retire, just put me out of misery."
Dimitri took pleasure in the fact that he made Rose laugh, unable to look away from the way her eyes crinkled at the sides and her brilliant smile flashed.
"Oh, come on, Comrade. I'll even come and visit you. You can share your zen words of wisdom during the day and at night we can have hot chocolate - made with two packets of course -, watch old westerns, and listen to the worst 80s music in existence."
They both laughed but Dimitri also took note of the fact that she'd remembered such small, trivial details about him. He thought about it for a moment, what it might be like if they retired together, no longer tied down by their guardian duties. The possibility conjured up images of being cooped up together in a faraway cabin with nothing but each other to stave off the heat. Dimitri quickly shook the thoughts away, ashamed that they were even in his mind. Things between them have been nothing but friendly and appropriate and he wanted to keep it that way.
A comfortable silence settled between them as they both looked ahead at a couple walking in front of them, unable to take more than a few steps without stopping to wrap their arms around each other and kiss.
"Are we ever going to talk about it?" Rose said suddenly. For a moment, Dimitri considered playing dumb but in doing so, he would be hurting her. He didn't want to hurt her, not again. The opposite, in fact. And Rose wasn't stupid. She was as much of an adult as he was so avoiding the one topic they've been skirting around all night wasn't going to cut it anymore. They were going to have to face the tension between them like adults.
"I was your teacher, Rose."
That had been only one of the millions of reasons keeping them apart, but one of the most important ones.
She tightened her coat around her, wrapping her arms around herself, as though bracing for the conversation ahead.
"I should have never put myself in any position with you other than as your mentor. It wasn't-"
"Don't say it," she urged softly. They had stopped walking by now and were facing each other but she couldn't even look him in the eye. "Don't say it wasn't appropriate or that it was wrong. It wasn't like that and you know it."
There it was. Some of the fierce, fiery stubbornness Dimitri was familiar with. Her entire face seemed to light up with her pent up rage. He watched and waited as she took a moment to calm herself down with a few slow breaths before she spoke again. He didn't want to say anything by upsetting her further.
"You felt it too...didn't you?" she added, almost skeptical that the connections between them was something she'd imagined. "It wasn't just me. I know it wasn't," she said with more confidence, almost defiant that he'd try and argue otherwise.
He couldn't lie to her and he didn't want to. After all, this might be their last night to air this out in the open and make it right.
"I felt it too. It wasn't just you," Dimitri finally said. The tension in her shoulders relaxed in relief. He wondered, then, how often she thought about it, about them and the memories they shared. He had hoped that by going their separate ways at the academy and putting some distance between them that eventually she'd forget and move on but it seemed like she hadn't let go of him anymore than he had her. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved.
Rose's relief quickly morphed into a volatile concoction of hurt, anger, and sadness.
"Then how could you just leave like that! How could you leave me like that!" she shouted stepping back from him, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "Do you know how much that hurt? To just wake up and find out you were gone, that you asked for a new assignment and left without so much as a wave goodbye!"
"I had to!" he shouted back, neither of them caring about the few passersby that were staring at them. "If I had stayed, I wouldn't have been able to stay away from you-"
"I never wanted you too! I wanted you to stay and be with me. We could have figured it out but instead you just left!"
"I left to give you a chance. I'm seven years older than you which might not mean much now but was a hell of a difference then. I was in a position of authority. Even if you kissed me first, I shouldn't have kissed you back."
A/N: Part 2 posted soon!
