I am so sorry I haven't updated. All I can say is that I started school last week and Graduate School is much harder than undergraduate work so far. I already have a paper due!

Sorry this is shorter than normal. I will try to get more up tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and a special thanks to deliciouse and gracefish21 for emailing me and requesting that I update. Sorry again...hope everyone is still reading this.

I own nothing and nothing is beta'd.

Stop Being a Coward!

Chapter 16

Dimitri's head was pounding and his stomach was churning. He had just gone up to bed after a long night of drinking and talking to his mother's friends and neighbors. He really hadn't known anyone there and mostly kept to himself. The few friends he had made while in school were either moroi or guardians and he hadn't known hardly anyone else that went there from his own hometown so he wasn't surprised that he hadn't known many people.

He was okay with that. He hadn't drunk alcohol in years and now he remembered why. He had gotten drunk one time when he was just starting his freshman year at school. He and Ivan had gone to a party and against his better judgment; Dimitri had drunk quite a bit. He had gotten drunk and beat up one of the moroi guys that he walked in on drinking from a dhampir girl. He had almost killed the poor kid but fortunately had managed to only get banded from social gatherings for the rest of the year. It was a miracle that he hadn't been suspended or kicked out of school for good. Only his spotless record had prevented anything more from happening.

After that night, and the next morning where he had his head in the toilet for hours, he had changed his perspective on having a bit of fun here and there. He had lost control and almost killed a moroi student that he hadn't even known. He had vowed that from that day forward, he wouldn't drink or party and he hadn't. He had taken his guardian duty very seriously and had been the post child for good student since then, graduating at the top of his class.

That was probably where he started his anti-social behavior. Not that he wasn't friendly, he just wasn't as outgoing any longer since he knew his head needed to be on the job at all times. He couldn't and wouldn't afford to be any less that 100%. He had kept to that promise though and stayed a strong guardian.

His job had taken up all of his time until he met Rose. She had opened his eyes to entirely new world. She was strong and caring and the only woman he had ever known to take the guardian job as seriously as himself if not more so. She had taught him that it was okay to live and love while still being the job. He knew that they could make it work while both being guardians. That was why he couldn't guard Lissa or anyone that Rose was guardian because Rose would always be his first priority in any situation and even though she had his heart, he had to keep his head at work when he was working.

His reputation had proven again and again that he was an awesome guardian as he had been very well known for his strength and power. Now he was well known for being the Strigoi turned guardian again. If he had any hope of becoming a guardian again, he had to get his head on straight. He had allowed himself the brief respite of drinking and being normal the previous night. From this moment forward he knew he couldn't make that choice again.

He was shaken out of his drunken musing as Paul jumped into the bed and directly onto his chest. Dimitri groaned and looked at the clock. It was 4:35 in the morning and he had only been asleep for about two hours, just long enough for the booze to start wearing off and his body to feel the side effects. Maybe drinking had been a horrible idea after all.

"Uncle Dimka, you have to get up."

"Why? It's too early." Dimitri rolled over and stuck his head under the pillow. He hadn't been unable to get out of bed in the morning since he was a teenager and his mother had come into his room of a morning and pulled all the covers off of the bed and yelled at him. Once the seriousness of his job sank in though, he was always early to rise and had made himself get use to it.

"Babushka said you have to get up now. She needs you to do some things for her." Paul wined in a high-pitched voice of a boy who hadn't matured yet and Dimitri once again groaned. "When Rose was here, Babushka got her up really early too and she hardly complained."

Dimitri rolled over and set up, rubbing his eyes as he did. "Roza didn't complain?" That really did shock him. Rose could find something to complain about at all times. She rarely kept her temper or her childish thoughts to herself and if Yeva had gotten her up early in the morning with no warning and she hadn't complained much, then Dimitri was truly proud of her. Somehow between the time they had made love in the cabin to when he had turned back into a dhampir, Rose had grown up. He wasn't sure if it was the drama and pain she had gone through while going after him or just a result of her age but she truly had matured and he was excited to get to know her all over again as a friend and companion, not just as a student. This time they wouldn't have to hide their relationship from the world.

"Not much. But probably only because she didn't think Babushka could understand her anyway." Paul laughed. Dimitri began laughing too. He remembered Rose telling him about how Yeva had pretended she didn't understand English. That could have been good or bad depending on what she had said. "She was also woken up by Babushka kicking the end of the bed." Paul laughed again remembering how grumpy Rose was. She was polite though and didn't make too much of a fuss.

Dimitri sighed but figured if Rose could do it without such a bad attitude then he could too. It was funny how things had changed and she was the one who was working hard while he wanted to relax for at least a few more hours. He knew that his hangover had just begun as he was still partially drunk.

Dimitri brushed his teeth and pulled on clean clothing. He then went downstairs to see what his grandmother wanted so early in the morning.

His grandmother preferred to speak in Russian so that is how they had conversed since he had gotten back to his family's home. It was funny how he immediately fell back into the routine of speaking partial English and Russian at the same time to his family. He had been in the United States for the past five years and during that time he had rarely used his first language except when he was feeling emotional. Sometimes he didn't even realize he was doing it. The familiar tongue came back to him with no problems, almost as if he had never left at all. When he was Strigoi, he was surrounded by English speaking people even while in Russia so he hadn't even spoken it that often then except when he was talking to one of the human servants in Galina's home that didn't know English at all.

"What can I do for you Babushka? Shouldn't you be resting?"

Yeva kicked Dimitri's shin with her shiny beige shoes, causing him to jump a little with pain. Somehow, he had never seen that coming from his grandmother. "We are going to visit Mark and Oksana. It takes three hours to walk there and we are supposed to be at breakfast by eight. We have to get a move on."

"I have the car. We can leave in two hours and still make it in plenty of time." Dimitri pleaded, wanting to go back to sleep. He didn't know if getting back up in two hours would be any better but it sure would beat walking for three hours.

"What is this? You go to America and come back lazy and disrespectful?"

"I just thought that maybe driving would be better so you didn't have to walk as far."

"No, we are walking. Let's go." The little old woman began filling his arms with boxes that were sitting on the kitchen counter. The kitchen had miraculously transformed from the dirty area full of dishes and cups left over from the party to a spotless culinary area that any chef would be proud to call his own. Yeva then took off towards the doorway muttering something and leaving Dimitri and Paul watching her leave. The only words Dimitri caught were: worthy and Roza.

Dimitri sighed and took off after his grandmother. It was sure to be a long day.

Did that suck? Was it boring? I know not much happened but please stick with me. There is much more to come :)