He was standing a few feet away from us, talking amiably with Tasha. They hadn't seen us yet, and I wasn't sure if I wanted them too. I felt the same rush I always did whenever Dimitri was anywhere near me. My pulse sped up and my mind started to wander. Seeing Tasha with him always snapped me out of my Dimitri-induced daze.

I didn't even bother to ignore the angry feeling this time. I let it wash over me, and I felt a sick sort of joy in my heart as I did what I did next. Praying that Dimitri would look up, I pulled Mason closer to me and kissed him hotly. Our lips crashed together and at first Mason seemed taken aback. Neither of our two kisses had held passion on a level anywhere close to this one. Where our previous kisses were gentle, this one was hard and demanding. Soon, Mason was kissing me back just as hard. His cute demeanor was slowly disappearing and I found it kind of sexy to watch. Or at least I would have had I not been so fully focused on Dimitri.

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted our make out session. Mason ignored it and kept kissing me. The sound came again, and we reluctantly parted. I hid my triumphant grin as I noticed that the person who had interrupted was none other than Dimitri himself.

"Rose." The love of my life growled.

"Yes?" I asked sweetly.

Mason stood nervously behind me, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was handsome in his own right, but next to Dimitri, he seemed like a kid. Right now, he looked like a little kid expecting to be punished for something he did wrong.

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Dimitri said to Mason. He wasn't growling anymore and he seemed to have regained control, but I felt my spirits rise. I had succeeded in making him jealous. He really did care. "Rose and I need to talk." His eyes met mine. The hard and unyielding look I had come to dread was hidden in their depths.

"We don't need to talk about anything, Comrade." I told him insolently. "And if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk right now. I'm kind of busy." I motioned from me to Mason and back again. Unable to resist temptation, I added, "Or did you not see that?"

Dimitri gritted his teeth. "I saw it Rose."

Mason looked from me to Dimitri confusedly. He sensed that something was going on beneath the surface of our conversation, but he had no idea what was really happening. "Um, that's fine." Mason said. "Rose and I can always pick up where we started later." He frowned as he realized that this was probably not the best thing to tell a teacher, especially one as intimidating as Dimitri.

Dimitri's intimidating glare was out in full force as he said, "I'm sure you will. Now Rose, if you don't mind?"

Despite our relationship, Dimitri was still my instructor. And he was using that to his advantage right now as he led me down the hallway. I followed him down the hall like a puppy that was about to be punished. Since my room was the closest place we could talk privately, that was where he led me.

While we were walking, my mind was in overdrive. What did Dimitri want to say? Did he still feel the same way about me that I felt about him? Was he going to go with Tasha? My good mood sank as I thought this over. Before I kissed Mason, Dimitri was talking to Tasha. They could have been talking about anything. But what was important enough to Dimitri to interrupt our kiss? The only answer that came to mind was his decision to leave with Tasha or stay with me. My stomach sank and I began to feel sick.

Oblivious to my discomfort, Dimitri took a seat on my bed and patted the area beside him. "Come here, Roza." He said. The hardness that was in his tone earlier had faded, but there was still a hint of it left. I sat down beside him and looked up at him. His six foot seven frame took up most of the space on the bed, leaving me close beside him. I studied him longingly. For all I knew this may be the last time I could look at him like this. A piece of his dark hair fell from its tie, and I had the strong urge to tuck it behind his ear. Before I could move, his hand had lifted to do exactly that.

"What do you want, Dimitri?" I asked sullenly. I was sure that any minute, he was going to tell me that he and Tasha were madly in love and he had accepted the chance to be her guardian and live with her and have little dhamphir babies. I had the sudden urge to throw up.

Dimitri met my eyes and I was thrown off as I realized that there was nothing but love in his gaze. "Oh, Roza." He sighed. "I want to know what is going on with you."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Playing dumb was easier than admitting that I had used Mason to make him jealous. And it was a heck of a lot easier than admitting that I was deeply in love with him and that the very thought of him leaving left a hole in my heart.

"You know exactly what I mean, Rose." He told me. "You keep picking fights with me, you cried yourself to sleep the other day, I see you with a different boy every day, and you've been avoiding me for the past week." He reached across the bed and placed his hand gently on top of mine. "I just want to know what's wrong. Is that too much to ask?"

I looked down at his hand, which was resting comfortingly on top of mine. As much as I wanted to hate Dimitri, I couldn't. I couldn't stay mad at him. As I prepared myself for him to leave, I realized just how many good times we had together.

"I'm here to help." Dimitri told me. His voice was light and relaxed – rare for him.

"You know what would really help?" I asked, not meeting his eyes.

"Hmm?"

"If you turned off this crap music and put on something that came out after the Berlin Wall went down."

Dimitri laughed. "Your worst class is history, yet somehow you know everything about Eastern Europe."
"Hey, I gotta have material for my jokes, Comrade."

Still smiling, he turned the radio dial.

And before I had ever even realized that we were meant to be together:

"Everyone else thinks I'm totally irresponsible."

"With the way you worry more about Lissa than yourself…" he shook his head. "No. You understand your responsibilities better than guardians twice your age. You'll do what you have to to succeed.

I thought about that. "I don't know if I can do everything I have to do."

He did that cool one-eyebrow thing.

"I don't want to cut my hair." I explained.

He looked puzzled. "You don't have to cut your hair. It's not required."

"All the other guardian women do." They show off their tattoos."

Unexpectedly, he released my hands and leaned forward. Slowly, he reached out and held a lock of my hair, twisting it around one finger thoughtfully. I froze and for a moment, there was nothing going on in the world except him touching my hair. He let my hair go, looking a little surprised – and embarrassed – at what he'd done.

"Don't cut it," he said gruffly.

Somehow, I remembered how to talk again. "But no one'll see my tattoos if I don't."

He moved toward the doorway, a smile playing over his lips. "Wear it up."

"Rose?" Dimitri asked again.

"It's not important, Comrade." I told him nonchalantly, pushing all of my pent up feelings back where they belonged; deep down inside. "And more importantly, it's none of your business."

"I've told you before, Rose." Dimitri's mentor side was showing through. "You're my student. Anything concerning you is my business; it's my right to know."

"Just like interrupting my kiss with Mason was your right?" I demanded. If he wanted to give up on what we had, then that was fine. It would definitely hurt, but I could deal. What I couldn't deal with was the way he was so freaking perfect. It was starting to wear on my nerves.

"I only did that because…"

"Because of what?" I demanded. "Because you were jealous? Because you wanted to–"

"Don't antagonize me, Rose." Dimitri cut me off. I could tell by his tone that he was starting to get worked up.

"I'm not antagonizing you!" Maybe it was the darkness I took from Lissa, maybe it was all of my pent up emotions, but whatever it was, I could no longer hold back the flood of words. "Just because you're perfect doesn't mean everyone else has to be!"

"I am not perfect." Dimitri snapped. "And no one said you had to be either."

"Really? Because you could have fooled me. 'Violence is never the answer, Rose.' 'You should learn how to forgive your mother. She cares about you.' 'It's the time of the year for forgiveness.'" I was yelling now, but I couldn't find the will to stop. "Everything you say is some sort of insult. You tell me I'm childish, that I need to grow up. You cancel our lessons to avoid me, and then expect everything to be normal. All you care about anymore is Tasha! You don't care about me!"

"So that's what this is about." Dimitri's voice lowered and he regained control. "You think I don't care about you?"

I snorted. "Not nearly as much as you care about Tasha."

"You're doing it again." Dimitri observed his voice under control once again.

"Doing what?" I sighed loudly.

He eyed me calmly before responding. "Picking fights, trying to tell me what I'm feeling, acting childish. Take your pick."

"I am not childish." I said vehemently.

"And I do care about you."

My heart was racing, and I closed my eyes for a minute. I took a deep breath to calm down, trying not to say something I would regret. I loved Dimitri. No matter what he said, no matter what he did. I loved him. And now, hearing him tell me that he cared about me after I had yelled at him, I felt it more strongly than ever.

"I know." I said softly once I had gotten my breath back. "But you never show it."

"That doesn't mean it's not there," he said gently. The hardness left his eyes and they were kind once again. "I really do care about you, Rose."

Did he care enough to let Tasha go? "If you say so." I said wearily. I was getting tired of arguing with Dimitri. Physical fighting with Dimitri was invigorating. Verbal fighting, however, sucked.

"Rose," Dimitri's voice was deepening with what was beginning to sound like annoyance. "No matter what you think, I care about you. More than you know."

"Oh yeah?" I demanded. "Well then prove it."

Dimitri sighed. He leaned forward and some of his dark hair fell from its confines. "How do you want me to prove that I care about you?"

"It's simple." I told him. "Kiss me." I could tell with one look in his eyes that he wasn't going to do it. He was going to refuse. "What are you afraid of, Comrade?" I teased. "It's just one tiny little kiss."

"Rose." His voice was a warning.

As usual, I ignored it. "Come on, Dimitri. What are you waiting for?" I baited him. I knew him well enough to know that he would eventually get fed up with my taunts and break down. He only had control for so long before his hold on it broke.

"Rose." He growled again. "Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't tempt a desperate man?"

"But it's fun." I replied, a grin spreading slowly across my face.

I leaned forward tauntingly, my hair swinging over my shoulders as my face neared Dimitri's. He looked as gorgeous as ever. In short, he was the epitome of everything that was hot. His dark eyes were filled with some unknown emotion, and his face was a mix of indecision and want. He still wanted me. He still loved me. His body language told me that, even if his mouth kept silent.

Confident now in my abilities, I leaned forward until our lips touched. I kissed Dimitri. Without a second's thought, he responded. He pulled me closer until I was practically on top of him. His hands tangled into my hair as mine played across his back.

This was bliss. It didn't have the angry intensity of our kiss in the workout room, but it held a whole different level of passion. Dimitri had been resisting for so long that when he finally let go, the passion came out like a flood. Mason's kisses in no way compared to what I experienced every time I kissed Dimitri.

This time, I was the one who broke it. Shifting in his lap until I was comfortable, I leaned into his strong embrace. "I missed this." I said softly.

"I missed you." Dimitri replied. "It's been a long time since the two of us have been in the same room without arguing."

"That's not entirely my fault, Comrade." I whispered into his ear. "But if it makes you happy, I'll take the blame."

"We're both at fault." Dimitri told me. His arms tightened around me and he lifted one hand to twine a piece of my hair around it. Somehow a smile found its way to my lips. Dimitri had always loved my hair. He was the reason I kept it long instead of cutting it short like other female guardians.

"Do you think things will ever go back to the way they were?" I asked. The way things used to be. Dimitri and I used to get along. We used to ignore the romantic tension. But that was before Tasha.

"Do you want them to?" Dimitri's gentle voice was soothing. He rubbed circles on my back with his strong, calloused hands.

I smiled up at him. "Not if it means I get to kiss you again."

"I think that could be arranged." Dimitri smiled back. Rare was the time when I received a full smile from Dimitri. Most of the time all I received were half smiles, and I had to work to earn those.

Dimitri lowered his face to mine for another kiss and I sighed contentedly. We still had our issues. We still had to deal with Tasha, Mason, and the rest of the world. But right now, I was content to let the world fade away as Dimitri held me in his arms.