Hey dearest readers! One thing I have learnt from FF is that A/Ns are not my forte. Not only have I made spelling mistakes in both of my previous ones, I also forgot the disclaimer!
Once I am finished this little rant, I shall go back and fix those, but for now...
DISCLAIMER. For anyone who has not yet noticed, I am not the amazing Richelle Mead, I am but a mere Year 8 lawfully stealing her ideas.
And, of course, no update would be complete without a terrible excuse for why it took me so long to UD
*INSERT CRAPPY EXCUSE OF CHOICE*
Finally, MERRY almost CHRISTMAS and on with the show
Dimitri POV
I was eventually forced to accept that all my 'mindless wandering' had achieved was getting me wet. In fact, 'wet' was an understatement, I was frozen and soaked to the bone. Court could be a lovely place with idyllic weather, but not in winter, and especially not in the rainiest winter ever recorded. So for the second time in as many days, I trudged glumly towards John's apartment. And again, as I knocked on the door, I really hoped he was actually there.
Thankfully, this time the familiar face that greeted me was that of my oldest friend.
"Dimitri, buddy, how you doing?"
"Well thank you, is Rose here?" He smiled knowingly. Oops, I hadn't meant to be so forward about my curiosity. Oh well, he knew about my 'relationship' with Roza, if it could still be called that, and was supportive.
"She will be back soon; I sent her out so that I could talk to you. Now come help me set up the play area and let us talk about why you are back and what you want to accomplish." I rolled my eyes
"Yes, DAD!" I scoffed - he had 'caring yet condescending father' down pat, he had probably stopped asking for directions too, or maybe that was just a stereotype for men in general...
John led me to a room I hadn't seen yet, of course, I'd barely seen any of the apartment save the lounge room. This new room turned out to be amazing; the kind of room I would want for my children, if I ever had any. One of the walls was a mural of the sunny country side, so that even during our 'daytime', the sun would be shinning. The other walls were a soft, comforting cream colour and were lined with baby accessories such as a matching blue bookcase, crib and changing table. The carpet was incredibly soft, some might say 'as soft as a baby's bottom', and as thick as carpet came.
And right in the back corner sat possibly the most comfortable armchair that ever was. I knew this because it is an heirloom that used to adorn their lounge room in Baia. I had sat in the big, overstuffed chair many a time and, no matter how interesting or intelligent the conversation around me, it always sent me straight into a blissful slumber.
After two hours of hard labour, there was absolutely no way that even the most accident prone child could injure themselves. Then again, they also said that there was absolutely no way the Titanic would sink...
Anyway, the house was safe, and now John and I were talking about Rose.
"Well you should tell her! A bad reaction is better than never knowing!" John explained for a third time, just as I was about to reply, yet again, that it was no longer my place to do so, we heard the tell-tale sound of a door slamming, and we froze.
"Hey guys! I have food!"
Rose POV
"Hey guys! I have food." I called loudly, but was met with silence.
"I know you're here and I'm going to eat these pizzas single-handedly if you don't hurry up." Silence again.
I trudged towards the back of the house, wondering what on Earth they were up to. There I found Dimitri and John, both looking as though they had been caught committing a heinous crime. I couldn't be bothered working out what they had been doing or saying; I wasn't going to play Mum around two people far more mature than myself.
"We were just talking about what to do with Dimitri since he doesn't have anywhere to stay, and no current form of income." John covered badly; I really had to give these two lessons on lying. Still, I played along.
"Well he can stay with me and Adrian I guess, or here." I suggested, realising only after I said it that my ex and current boyfriend might not be quite so happy under one roof, and anyway, Adrian was currently staying on campus at college.
"Wait. You're dating Adrian!" Dimitri stated incredulously.
"Do you have a problem with that?" I think he was blushing, very out of character for Mr. Guardian Mask, I guess spending 6 months with a large family of women could affect anyone.
"No, no, of course not, I just misinterpreted something." He mumbled, I rolled my eyes, but on the inside I was smiling. Before I could unleash a witty comeback, John's phone rang.
"Hey Darling – What! I'll be there as soon as possible! Just hang on one second. I love you!" He screamed elatedly into the expensive looking mobile, practically jumping off the walls. Mood swing much?
"Alana's water just broke, and it's really early! I trust you two to look after the apartment while I'm gone! Dimitri, check when the next plane leaves directly from Court to Pittsburgh. Rose, speak to her encouragingly while I grab my bags!" He said, his voice becoming more distant near the end as he sprinted towards the master bedroom.
Dimitri pulled another expensive phone from his pocket – was I the only one with a normal phone – and logged on to the internet,
"Why does he want a flight to Pittsburgh?" I wondered aloud as Dimitri handed me John's phone with his spare hand, as John had haphazardly thrown it over his shoulder in the rush.
"I believe that is where Alana's sister lives," he replied distractedly, as I brought Alana's screaming voice towards my ear.
After a frantic half-hour of running around and lots of calming words on my behalf, John had boarded the right plane and Alana's family had been alerted that the birth was not happening in New York, as originally planned, but in the steel city. As we waved off the ascending aeroplane, knowing full well that he couldn't actually see us, an immense feeling of relief surrounded us both; the last hysterical 30 minutes had been worth it and he would make it to his wife in time for the birth.
While I felt relieved, I also felt rather tired, once the adrenaline had left my body. Too exhausted to mount my walls, I grabbed Dimitri's hand in an amicable fashion and pulled him through the swarm of bodies who threatened to separate us.
Back at John's apartment, I finally realised that I was probably going to be sharing it with Dimitri, at least until further notice. That didn't count as cheating right? Well, I'd hear from Adrian tonight in my dreams anyways.
Dimitri POV
As we re-entered John's sophisticated apartment, Rose seemed deep in thought. I couldn't believe that she was still holding my hand, it was like a dream and I prayed I would never wake up. It did however confuse me, within under two days I had wrongly assumed she was with Mike, found out she was officially dating Adrian and now, here I was holding her hand and moving in with her.
To distract myself and pull her from her reverie, I began making hot chocolates. As expected, when I had chocolate, Rose suddenly became very attentive, and I took this chance to initiate our first real conversation since I uttered those horrible, regretful words over half a year ago.
"So how are you?" Real original Dimitri, I chastised myself. Oh well, at least I could build on it.
"Well thanks; though I've been rather busy, what with Lissa's guardian assignments coming up."
"She hasn't been allotted personal guardians yet?"
"No, that won't happen until next month." And like that we fell back into our normal banter, focusing on life at Court, Lissa and any other comfortable, non-provocative subject.
"So, we have analysed my life over the last 6 months, but how have you been Dimitri?" Horrible, I've missed you more than you could possible imagine I answered, but that was the wrong answer, never to leave my thoughts.
"Oh I've been pretty good. I caught up with my family, I let them know about everything you did for me, and they insisted you call them as soon as possible." I announced light-heartedly, and yet something in Rose's expression suddenly changed.
Ignoring it, I suddenly became very interested in resurrecting the cold, greasy pizzas that had smelt so appetising just an hour before.
Well now you have read my chapter and you are back where you started - the A/N
For the next chapter I'm thinking about some Rose angst over Dimitri or Adrian, because I have already avoided that for as long as possible, but if you have anything you would like me to add, do share
MERRY XMAS! AND THANX FOR READING!
mParis