Move in day was a bitch and a half.

After spending what seemed like an hour circling our apartment-style student housing complex trying to get a parking spot relatively close to where we needed to unload, waiting for our turn to use the elevators along with all the other tenants and their families, I was ready to be done.

"That's it, I'm taking the stairs." I muttered, picking up my load of boxes, my patience finally wearing out.

"You have the apartment number, right?" Lissa asked, looking back at the two other guardians in our detail. Queen Tatiana wasn't taking any chances with our safety during the chaos that is move in day.

"Yep. I'll go up and clear the apartment and radio back with an all clear."

This earned a slight nod from the male guardian who was dressed to look like he could be one of our fathers –complete with the 'Proud Lehigh Dad' sweatshirt and everything.

After making sure that the stairwell was empty and camera-less (a security oversight we would need to fix), I held the boxes as though they weighed nothing and ran up the stairs in a decidedly inhuman pace.

The sooner we got all of our stuff up to our apartment, the sooner this day would be over.

Our apartment was on the third floor near the floor's fire escape. I gingerly set my boxes down and unlocked the door without making a sound.

I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to clear our apartment.

I opened and shut the door scanning our place for the first time. Straight ahead of the entryway was a rather large living room/dining room area that flowed seamlessly into the kitchen. The kitchen itself was pretty impressive: all new appliances, ample counter space with an island that had barstools on one side for seating.

I silently crept through the apartment, checking both Lissa and I's bedrooms, closet spaces, and our shared bathroom before placing a finger to my earpiece turning on my end of the com.

"All clear."

"Copy." The male guardian responded, whispering as to not be heard by the humans around him, "Entering the elevator now."

They'd be up here soon. Good. This day couldn't be over soon enough. I had just placed my boxes in my room, when I walked out into the living room and saw a door that I hadn't seen during my initial sweep.

Silently cursing myself, I crept over to the door, curious as to what it was. Another closet? Did we have a second bathroom?

I opened the door and peered in.

It was a third bedroom.

I frowned.

A third bedroom made no sense.

I walked back into the living room just as Lissa and the two guardians came in lugging various boxes and luggage.

"Liss, did you know we have a third bedroom?" I asked.

Her look of confusion matched mine as she set her suitcase down, "Three bedrooms?"

"Right." Said the male Guardian, "Three bedrooms. One for each of you and one for Guardian Belikov."

I felt as though I had been punched in the gut.

"Excuse me?" I asked, my eyebrows shooting up in shock, "Dimitri is living in this apartment? With us?"

I turned to Lissa, pleading with her through my eyes.

'I swear I didn't know.' She shot through the bond.

"There has to be some kind of mistake." She said diplomatically, "Dimitri is supposed to be in the apartment across the hall."

"Queen Tatiana thought it best that both of your Guardians share your apartment." The female Guardian stated. She was in faded jeans and a generic tank top cardigan combo complete with a set of pearls around her neck – a stand in for our 'mom.'

Queen Tatiana? Of course. Living with my estranged ex would put quite the damper on my relationship with Adrian.

"She didn't want to take any chances. Lehigh is safe, but it is not nearly as warded as Court. Both Guardians should live with the Princess so that she is always covered when one is off duty."

"Understood." I muttered, grabbing the box that was marked "Kitchen Stuff" and headed to the kitchen.

"We'll go get the rest of your things if you want to stay up here and unpack." The male guardian said to Lissa.

"Thank you, that's a very kind offer." She replied, smiling sweetly. Too sweetly.

I waited all of two seconds after the two Guardians left before turning to Lissa, "Seriously? Seriously?"

Lissa held up her hands, "I'll write to Tatiana about this. Surly this can be fixed."

I rolled my eyes as I started unloading the dishes from the kitchen box, "Don't waste your time. Tatiana knew exactly what she was doing when she made this living arrangement."

Lissa frowned, "What do you mean?"

"She basically threw a wrench into my and Adrian's relationship and making my life that much more complicated while masking it as concern for your safety."

"But you and Dimitri have been doing so well recently! Besides, Queen Tatiana has other things to worry about than you and Adrian."

"No, she doesn't." I stated matter-of-factly as I started stacking the dishes in their respective cabinets, "She would love nothing more than if Adrian and I broke up and forcing me and Dimitri to live together is all too perfect. Yeah, things are less weird between Dimitri and I, but that doesn't mean I want to share a bathroom with him. Plus, I can only imagine how thrilled Adrian will be when I tell him the news."

"You make some fair points." Lissa said as she picked up her suitcases and started rolling them towards her room, "But I think if I just explain to the Queen—"

"I already tried."

I whirled around, nearly dropping a dish at the sound of Dimitri's voice. He stood in the doorway, holding the two packets of student welcome information that he went to go retrieve while Lissa and I moved in.

I tried not to think of how much of our conversation he had heard.

"There is no moving her from this living arrangement. We can make some apartment rules if that would make you feel better."

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a curt nod, unable to meet his eyes out of embarrassment.

"One: Bedrooms are off limits when the person isn't home and must always get permission to enter when the occupant is home." He offered.

I wanted to die.

"Agreed." Lissa said after taking one look at me and realizing that I wasn't going to be able to answer, "Two: We are responsible for keeping all common areas clean, picking up after ourselves, cleaning our own dirty dishes, etc."

"Agreed." Dimitri said, placing the packets down on the kitchen island, "Three: All guests must be approved by both myself and Rose. Until we can establish the security of this apartment, there should be no overnight guests."

Yep. Kill me now.

"Agreed." Lissa said reluctantly, I'm sure mourning the plans she had wanted to make with Christian for this weekend.

We stood there in silence for a moment, before Dimitri turned to me, "Rose? Any rules to add?"

"Shoes off at the door."

With that, I grabbed my duffle bag that one of the guardians had brought up on their previous trip and headed to unpack in my room.

After several minutes of silent unpacking, there was a soft knock on my door.

"Come in." I yelled, hoping that it was Lissa.

It wasn't.

"I don't like this situation any more than you do," Dimitri said, cautiously walking into my room, "But for Lissa's sake—"

"For Lissa's sake we'll get through it." I said, "That's what we do. Their needs come first."

Dimitri simply nodded in response.

"Just…don't forget to put the seat down okay? You're out numbered two to one here, so the toilet seat should always be left down."

A small smiled tugged on Dimitri's lips. We both knew how much I depended on humor during uncomfortable situations.

"Understood."

I offered him a weak smile as a small semblance of peace settled down around us.

"I heard that you got to pick your and the Princess's minor."

I nodded, putting a stack of folded tank tops into the open and waiting drawer of my dorm issued armoire.

"Criminology." He mused, "Very interesting selection."

I shrugged, "I figured it'd only help me be a better Guardian. Besides, there's a whole other legal side to it – criminal justice and all of that. Since Lissa will no doubt be very involved in Court politics for the rest of her life, I should at least try to understand the basics of the court system. That I and I figured the sociology part of it would be interesting to the both of us."

"I'm proud of you, Rose. You made an excellent selection."

I stared at him.

Despite our history, hearing those words – that he was proud of me – still made my heart swell.

"Thank you."

As quickly as that feeling came, a wave of apathy washed through me. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

Dimitri frowned, "What is it, Rose?"

"Nothing. I just feel…strange is all."

He took a careful step forward, "Strange how?"

"Strange like…I feel nothing when I know I should feel something." I shook my head again, "I don't know, I'm babbling. I think this whole move in experience is getting to me."

Dimitri looked at me like he didn't quite believe me, but nodded, "I'll leave you to it."

I nodded back and turned back to my duffle bag, taking out the rest of my clothes as Dimitri left my room and closed the door behind him.

This was going to be a long semester.