AN: Hi pals!

This chapter takes place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. I had wanted it to take place sometime during VA, but it didn't work out since I wanted certain scenes to already have taken place, but then the timing would be wrong for Lissa's character and blah blah blah. But it doesn't matter because now this takes place after Vampire Academy and all is well. Enjoy:)

Disclaimer: If you are grossed out by menstrual cycles, then you might want to sit this chapter out. I mean, i don't go into graphic detail, but Rose is on her period in this chapter so... things in relation to that will be mentioned. Sorry. Also, I apologize for the title. I'm trash at coming up with those.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.

Women Troubles: Rose POV

"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men."

While I have the inclination and experience to agree whole-heartedly with Joseph Conrad on this one, I would like to add something to the end of his quote.

"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men...and menstrual cycles."

Now, I understand that some women luck out and have "light" periods: minimal-to-no cramps, mild bleeding, no mood swings or cravings, and the whole thing might only last 2 or 3 days.

This is not true in my case, my friends.

In fact, if you look at what I just said and then think the exact opposite, that's my life for a whole week every month.

Please don't take this complaining as some secret desire to be a man – I happen to like smelling good and having all of my wits about me – but sometimes being a woman just...sucks. Like a lot.

I also am well aware of all of the medicinal remedies that I could possibly be taking, like Midol and birth control, or even just a simple asprin or tylenal. But here, at the esteemed St. Vladimir's Academy, we are not allowed drugs or medication unless they are prescribed or "absolutely necessary." (Yes, I have tried to argue that they are necessary, but to no avail).

Why, you may ask, am I explaining all of this?

Well, today has been a rough day…

"Ugh! I can't do it!"

"Yes, you can."

"That's easy for you to say! 60% of your classes don't involve physical strain!"

Lissa rolled her eyes at me from across the breakfast table and smirked knowingly. "Rose, you only have two classes that 'involve physical strain.'"

I crossed my arms defensively, her logical retorts weren't helping my already irritable mood. "Well yeah, but I also have my extra training with Dimitri the Russian jailer."

"Haven't heard you call him that in a while, you must be really ticked. Anyway, didn't he cancel this morning's session because Alberta had a job for him in town?"

"Yes," I mumbled.

"And won't he be gone the rest of the day, therefore, your end of the day session will be canceled too?"

"Yes," I growled. "Geez, who's side are you on, Lissa? The point is that I don't want to do life today, mandatory, physically straining activities or not!"

She just laughed which made me grumble some "not nice" words, and that only made her laugh harder. "I'm getting another doughnut," I murmured, rising from the table.

"Hey Rose, can you get me a," - I shot Eddie a death glare that would've made even a Strigoi back down - "Um. Sorry. Never mind. Sorry." Wise choice.

I made my way over to the breakfast line with my heart – and stomach – set on a chocolate covered cream stick doughnut. In fact, I was pretty sure that if I didn't get one, then I would die and then the world would implode and then the universe would collapse and then time itself would cease to exist. I wanted that freaking doughnut really freaking bad.

Upon making it to the front of the line, I saw that there was only one more left. I quickly snatched it up and shoved half of it into my mouth. Instant gratification. I decided not to go back to the table and instead went outside. I just needed to be away from people for a little longer before I had to spend a whole school day with them. Even Lissa was getting on my nerves with her positivity and rational thinking. Sadly, though, I was never really alone. Not with the bond always keeping me company. I swear, if she tried pumping her happiness into me, I would find the thing she held most dear and destroy it. I'd probably buy her a new one of whatever it was, but definitely not until after my monthly-reminder-that-I-wasn't-pregnant was over.

What was with that anyway? The point of a period was to prepare you for giving birth. That's fine and all, but in order to give birth one had to first have sex. And my sex life was nonexistent. Very much still a virgin, folks. So...um...Universe...WHY DID I HAVE A PERIOD? No birthing was going to be happening anytime soon. Give this womanly curse to the people who actually had the potential to be cooking a bun in the oven i.e. not me.

Because of my bitter, yet totally reasonable thoughts, I failed to notice that the end of the walkway was approaching rather quickly.

Yes. I tripped.

Did I fall? You bet.

Now, this was no ordinary fall. Oh no. That would be too easy. Too kind of mother nature. No, this fall was directly into a ginormous puddle of freezing, muddy, gross smelling water.

I resurfaced, sputtering and spitting to get the disgusting water out of my mouth. You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me. I just sat there for a moment, unsure of how to handle this situation right now. My emotionally unstable mind had already hit its breaking point and it wasn't even 8 pm yet. Logically, I knew that all I had to do was get up, go inside, and take a shower, but my traitorous body was on the brink of tears. That's right. Rose Hathaway was about to start crying because she fell into a puddle. Stupid hormones.

To make matters worse, at that moment, two of the senior novices walked by.

Miles and Anthony. Fanfreakingtastic.

"What do we have here?" asked Miles redundantly. "A Rose in water."

Anthony laughed in the way that only best friends laugh when the other person tells a really, really stupid joke, thus making the joke seem funny and worth wasting oxygen on. When it wasn't.

I scowled at them both. "Walk away. And leave me alone," I growled.

"Oooo This Rose has thorns," Anthony remarked. Cue the stupid-joke-laugh from Miles.

"Like I've never heard that one before," I said, my annoyance growing to exponential heights. I was ready to rip these two morons' heads off.

"Come on, Rose. You didn't have to go through all of this to get wet for me," - Anthony came and crouched by the puddle, whispering the rest - "I'd gladly get you there on my own."

I crinkled my nose in disgust. I needed to get away from these idiots before I did something that I wouldn't regret, but I'd definitely get in trouble for. Without responding to his lewd comment, I got up and began to walk away.

"Are you going to go change out of those clothes now?" Miles asked as I passed him. "Can I help?"

I whipped back around, fully prepared to only tell him off with a few choice words, but then I briefly glanced behind him and saw the other half of my beautiful doughnut floating in the puddle of mud water. That was a last straw.

Anthony had joined Miles again so they were both standing in front of me, looking up and down my clinging clothes appreciatively. Good. For once I was glad that my body was distracting. As long as they were looking at my chest and stomach, they wouldn't see the fist flying towards their faces.

Anthony, being the closest to my dominant hand, went down first. I punched him right in the eye, hard. While Anthony writhed and yelled on the ground, I turned my fury on Miles who put his arms up in order to protect his face, assuming I'd use the same tactic to assault him as I did his friend. Poor guy. I brought my knee up between his legs, and he went down quicker than Anthony. And since he was crouched in an unbalanced fetal position near the puddle, and since I felt like it, I pushed him in.

Brushing my hands off from the filth, I strode away. My mood was surprisingly better. This altercation had totally been called for.

"That was uncalled for, Rose."

I was in the head guardian's office, sitting in an uncomfortable chair across from Alberta Petrov, and she did not look happy. While I wouldn't put it past Miles and Anthony, they weren't the ones that ratted me out. A teacher had stumbled upon their still horizontal bodies soon after I'd left. In fact, it was so soon that she'd actually seen me walking away from the scene. This is what I get for trying to take the high road first. Should've just clocked them both the second Anthony started getting creepy.

"I feel like that depends on your perspective," I said diplomatically.

Alberta sighed and massaged her temples. "Just...tell my why you thought it was necessary to attack Novices Deem and Cole."

"'Attack' is a fairly extreme word for the situation, don't you think?"

"What would you call it, then?" she asked. "Anthony has a black eye and a slight concussion, and Miles is in a lot of pain."

I was unable to hold back a smile at which Alberta gave me a chastising look, knowing I was enjoying this all too much. "I'd call it defending my honor. Those boys were being...well, boys. Disgusting and inappropriate."

She sighed again, this time with more sympathy. "Look, Rose. You are a beautiful young woman and that's nothing to hide or be ashamed of, but the fact is that your looks draw some unwanted attention. Now, I know you know this, and I know you've had to deal with it over the past few years – which truly makes me upset – but you can't assault every lust and testosterone filled boy that looks your way. We have rules here."

What Alberta didn't realize, and what I didn't mind keeping to myself, was that I wouldn't have punched them on any other day. Of course I knew that my body was a head turner, and I'd pretty much gotten used to the stares or the occasional suggestive comment. The problem was that Miles and Anthony happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and on the wrong day. If I hadn't been on my period, or if I hadn't fallen in that puddle, or even if I hadn't seen the second half of my doughnut, then I probably wouldn't have hit them.

So instead of explaining all of this, I just said, "I understand."

And that was the end of that. Well, a full school day of detention was the end of that. So while Miles and Anthony went to class sporting a bruised face and a bruised...you know, I went to a secluded room where I was "to stay for the remainder of the school day."

At first I was ticked that I was being punished and Miles and Anthony were off the hook, but then I found that I liked this punishment. An isolated room away from people (except the monitor, but she stayed silent behind her desk so I hardly noticed her). That was exactly what I needed. Peace.

But then I started to grow uncomfortable, and the punishment was suddenly less appealing. Sitting in the hard chair was making me sore, and cramps had me biting my lip and gripping the desk every 10 minutes or so. I could tell the monitor was getting annoyed with me since I asked to go to the bathroom pretty much every hour. I couldn't wait to get out of here, and take a hot shower, and then finally just go to bed.

When I heard the final bell ring, signaling the end of the school day, I didn't even wait for the monitor to tell me I was dismissed. I just got up and speed walked out of there (running wasn't a preferred option right now).

I was halfway to my dorm, following the call of my bed, when I turned a corner and ran right into a well muscled and fantastic smelling brick wall. Nope. Just Dimitri.

Wait! Dimitri? What was he doing here?

"Dimitri, what are you doing here?" I asked, repeating my thoughts and taking a step back in the process – his aftershave was making me way too heady and his attractiveness just needed to go away for a week because my extra hormones were going crazy!

He smiled lightly (Ugh! Just stop, Dimitri!). "The errand that Alberta sent me on didn't take as long as we'd expected so I came back early."

"Well, now that you're back I'm sure you want to go get some rest. I'll leave you to it."

I started to walk past him, but he caught my arm. "Not so fast, Rose. I don't need to rest right now. It's not even close to sunrise."

He let go of my arm and I started backing away again. "You've just spent the whole day doing...whatever it is you were doing. Exhaustion will hit you any minute now, trust me."

"Rose, stop." He was using his serious mentor voice now. "I am uncanceling your end of the day practice. I expect to see you in the gym in 10 minutes."

"But -"

He held up a silencing hand. "Ten minutes." Then he walked away.

"Urrrrgggghhhh!" I cried out in frustration, kicking the wall (which then made me cry out in pain). I just couldn't win today, could I?

Back in my dorm room, I began to get ready for practice with Dimitri instead of getting ready for bed. My bed's cry for me was louder than ever as I donned my workout clothes, wincing as I pulled my sports bra on over my sensitive breasts. I promised my mattress a reunion soon and then I left.

When I arrived, Dimitri was already in the gym waiting for me (like always). Upon my entrance, he looked up from what appeared to be a small packet of papers. I forced out a smile as I set my bag down and then began stretching.

"So… you've had a busy morning," he said. Oh no. Here we go. The papers he'd been looking at must've been incident reports. "Want to talk about it?"

"Listen, Comrade. I have enough of those reports," - I pointed to the papers in his hands - "in my permanent record to know that you pretty much know everything you need to know: Novice Rose Hathaway punched Novice Anthony Cole in the face, leaving him with a minor concussion and bruising around his left cheek and eye. Novice Rose Hathaway kneed Novice Miles Deem in the gentiles and then proceeded to push him into a puddle."

He furrowed his brows. "You pushed him into a puddle?"

Oops. Apparently they left that part out. Maybe the teacher that found them assumed he just fell in after having his male pride damaged. "Um, no," I said, recovering nicely… not.

He shook his head in a way that said it didn't matter. "I didn't ask if you wanted to talk about it in order to get a retelling of the story. I want to know what happened with you. I want to know if you're okay. You wouldn't do this without a reason."

I wanted to cry at the way he was showing such concern for me and trusting that I had a good reason for my behavior. Even Alberta had brushed it off as me simply overreacting to brash commentary, but Dimitri knew me better than that.

Unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood to talk about the real reason I went haywire. Especially not with him. So I forced my excess emotions down and feigned a joking attitude.

"What other reason would I need besides the fact that it's Miles and Anthony? If any two people ever needed a fist to the face or a knee to the groin, it's those two," I said smiling (and not totally disagreeing with myself).

"Rose -"

"Shouldn't we get started?"

He was aware of what I was doing, and there was no way that he was convinced that I'd acted out simply because I wanted to, but we'd already wasted enough time on this and he knew he'd get no where with me when I was being like this. So we moved on and got started.

Only 5 minutes in and I was already regretting my decision not to talk about what had happened earlier. At least then I'd be sitting down and relaxing, not running as fast as humanly possible on a track of death.

Dimitri finally stopped us when we reached 3 miles, and while he was preoccupied with writing down my time, which was around 2 minutes slower than usual, I used the opportunity to hug my breasts to me in an attempt to apologize for the pain I'd just put them through.

Back inside the gym, Dimitri put me on the bench press. Yes! I could do this! My arms had absolutely nothing to do with my current issues. If I was lucky, he would keep me on arm equipment for the rest of practice. This, however, was unlikely.

I laid back on the bench and began pumping the 85 pounds up and down over my head at a steady rhythm while Dimitri stood behind me, counting my breaths and spot checking.

After about 30 reps my arms were getting pretty tired, but I was still going strong. And I would've done more, but just then, as I was about to start my 31st rep, a particularly strong cramp hit me like a tidal wave. I cried out and my body reacted automatically by curling into a fetal position. My arms, already shaky from the workout, were unable to push the weight anymore so the bar rested on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

"Rose!" Dimitri jumped into action, quickly lifting the bar back to its stand and then rounding the bench to face me. "Rose, what just happened?"

"Nothing," I said as I struggled into a sitting position, pushing his hands away when he tried to help me. "I'm fine. I just couldn't do anymore."

He raised an eyebrow. "You've done a lot more than 30 in the past."

"Guess I'm just having an off day." Ain't that the truth.

"Rose -"

"I said I was fine!" I snapped.

His face morphed into a hardness that I knew meant I'd gone too far. "Rose, I know we have grown to be comfortable around one another, but that being said, I am still your instructor and you are not permitted to interrupt me. That is the second time today you have spoken over me when I had something to say to you."

I looked down. Yes, Dimitri and I had a past – a very brief one, but still – but he was ultimately (and only) my mentor. I had to check myself and treat him with respect. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He sighed and when I looked up again his face had softened. "Rose, please say what's wrong. I normally wouldn't push you into telling me, but whatever it is is obviously hurting you and interfering with your training. I need to be aware of any physical limitations you're having. Also… you're worrying me."

Looking at his earnest expression, I knew he was right. Being my mentor, he had to know my physical capabilities. And while I knew that what was happening to me right now was just a natural part of womanhood, his mind could be flying to any number of severe infirmities. If our roles were reversed – not that Dimitri would ever get a period (wow, weird thought) – I'd want to know what was going on because I loved him and would want to help in any way I could. Of course, I wasn't sure if Dimitri still reciprocated the feelings I had for him, but ultimately, with Dimitri, that didn't matter. He had too good a heart. He would be concerned whether he loved me or not – which was sweet, but really frustrating when one was trying to determine if he did in fact still harbor feelings.

With my decision made, I nodded and looked at him levelly. He gave me a reassuring nod back and took one of my hands. I almost laughed at how dramatic this whole scene was becoming. He probably really did think I was about to tell him about some kind of life threatening condition. I'd put his worries to rest soon enough, but first… I was gonna have a little fun.

"Well," I started, displaying a mildly distraught expression. "It's something I've been dealing with for about 4 years now."

I paused and he gently squeezed my hand in support, making the nerves in my hand light up. Yep, I was gonna milk this for all its got. Maybe I'd even get a hand on the shoulder or even better yet, a hug. Sigh. It's so sad how desperate I've gotten for even the most innocent of touches. Such is the life of one depraved.

"At first it wasn't that bad. It would show up sporadically and with little consequences." Another pause for dramatic effect. "But then came the pain."

I looked away as if I were trying to compose myself, and he moved one of his hands to my shoulder, rubbing soft circles into my collar bone with his thumb. Victory!

"It's okay, Rose," he reassured me.

Okay, I couldn't do it anymore. Dimitri probably thought I had something truly serious like Sandovsky's Syndrome by now – which would be horrible not only because I'd die soon, but also because I'd mean I had something in common with Victor Dashkov, whom I hate.

I looked him in the eyes again and told him what was wrong. "I got my period."

He blinked.

Then blinked again.

"What?"

"I got my period. I'm menstruating. I'm having women troubles. I'm riding the crimson wave. I have blood flowing out of my -"

"I got it!" he quickly interrupted.

I smirked.

"So... on the track..."

"I was really sore."

"Just now on the bench press..."

"Really bad cramp."

"And earlier with Miles and Anthony..."

"I'd already been in a mood when I fell into a puddle with half a doughnut in my hand. Miles and Anthony found me and started laying their 'charms' on thick," - his face darkened as he caught my meaning, - "and it annoyed me. I was ready to walk past them without any violence, but then Miles said one last thing that made me turn around. That's when I saw my poor uneaten half of a doughnut in the puddle, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I lost it."

When I finished, he was silent for a moment, and then he started chuckling. Actually chuckling! Which soon turned into a full blown laugh. All the while, I just sat there, unsure as to what was so funny.

He composed himself a few moments later, yet continued to smile as if he couldn't help it. "So," he said. "you sent two boys to Dr. Olendzki because of a... doughnut."

My mouth dropped open. "Are… are you actually laughing at me?!"

He was still smiling that gorgeous, heart-stopping smile, but right now I wanted to smack it off of his face.

"You have to admit, Rose, that that's a pretty trivial reason for doing anything, let alone kneeing the… male anatomy."

I narrowed my eyes. Having three sisters obviously hadn't taught him a thing about what you do and don't say to a female during her time of the month.

"First of all, I don't need to admit anything! Second of all, countries have gone to war over doughnuts, so show a little respect. Third, it wasn't just the ruined doughnut that made me snap. It was a snowball effect. A collection of things. And finally, never laugh at a girl or her reasons for why she does what she does when she is on her period, ever."

He held his hands up in surrender. "Noted. Anything else I should know?"

That you smell amazing and I really, really want to press my cheek to your neck so I can just breathe you forever.

"Nope. But thank you for listening and, you know, taking the time to care."

At that, his amused smile softened to a warm one. "Of course, Roza. Any time," he whispered.

We sat in that moment for a little longer, just smiling at each other, but then he realized that his hands were still holding my hand and shoulder, and that seemed to make professionalism come crashing back. He removed his hands and I shivered, feeling the loss of heat.

"So," I said, trying to break this now awkward moment. "No practice for the next week?"

He snorted. "Nice try. I'll talk to the doctor today to see what we can do about that prescribed medication rule. That should help."

I had no doubt that Dimitri would be able to talk the good doctor down. He had a way of saying things that made you want to do whatever he said just to get his approval. Or maybe that was just me. I couldn't help it if I was biased.

"We are done with practice for today, Rose. The exhaustion from doing that errand has finally caught up with me."

Oh My Gosh! He was quoting me to be cute! Could he get any more sexy?! I just wanted to rip his shirt off and -

Gah! Stupid hormones.

AN: Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you thought in a review!

So did we make it through without being totally grossed out? Personally, I wish more authors (when working with a female protagonist) would mention this part of a girl's life. It's fairly significant. I'm not saying I hope this starts popping up everywhere. It would probably get annoying to see after a while, but I read a lot of books with female protagonists and I've only ever read one that mentioned the leading lady going through this natural thing.

I also hope it didn't get too serious between Rose and Dimitri for you. I started writing this with the hopes that it would be light and funny, but then it kind of got serious when Rose talked about trusting Dimitri and then, of course, there's the whole: "We pretty much saw each other naked, but have to pretend that that never happened and that we don't have feelings for each other." And that creates problems in dividing the line between friendship and mentorship. BUT I tried to lighten it up a little after that. Sorry if it was too serious. I'll try to make my next Romitri one-shot fluffy.

Thank you again for reading! I hope you have marvelous day!