SUMMARY: Set in Frostbite. Mason's pov.
WORDCOUNT: ~850

Written for 100moods. Prompt: amused.

THE LIFE OF A SNOWFLAKE
by Leni

Gotta admit. Eddie's snowball had caught me cold.

Yeah, yeah. Awful pun, I know. That's the kind of thing that being with Rose Hathaway does to a guy's sharp wit. It just fizzles away and all I want to do is to make her smile.

She would punch me if I said it aloud, but her smile was too sweet to keep it hidden. Don't get me wrong. Rose smiled often, especially when she was among friends, or when she'd just scored a good hit in front of our trainer. Or when she called him 'Stan' behind his back, as if any other student at St. Vladimir's would dare bandy about an official guardian's first name without their express permission.

One of these days, she'd slip in Guardian Alto's face, and wouldn't that be interesting?

Knowing Rose, she'd throw a hell of a defense, up to and including that Guardian Belikov didn't seem to mind. I often wondered if she noticed how many times his name slipped out, while the rest of us were stuck gazing at him in awe even after all his months at the school.

That was different, of course. They actually got along, for one, and Rose didn't get along with a lot of people – as last semester's showdown with Mia Rinaldi had proved. Any other guy would have fretted about it, and even Eddie had pointed out how Belikov seemed to turn up whenever Rose was in trouble, but I knew better. It was common knowledge that Belikov had shot down a number of both dhampir and Moroi girls on his first month on campus, but I'd actually seen it happen – or eavesdropped, rather. Not my fault that Julia had chosen to ambush him in the library while I was still there! He'd been kind but cold, if that made sense, and unyielding on the matter of being uninterested in high school girls. The man was a god, sure – a steel-hearted one.

Which meant that Rose was safe as houses around him, no matter that they spent all that time together focusing on getting her caught up with the rest of the class – both before andafter class. I'd pitied Rose for a while there, at the beginning, but she'd been quick to show everybody what was what. Yet another proof of how awesome she was. Deep down, I knew that if I – or anyone else – missed two years of instruction, I'd be lost in our year's level. But not Rose, oh no. She sucked it up, and under Belikov's tutelage, she'd made a steady rise to the top of the class.

She was one of us again.

Down to sneaking around for an impromptu snowball fight.

"Eat dirt, Eddie!" she yelled suddenly, wiping out her cheek. One of his shots managed to get her when she was pelting another of the guys.

Eddie whooped. "You'll have to catch me first, Hathaway!"

I grinned. It wasn't only friendship that made me sure that Eddie was one of the few who might escape unscathed from that challenge.

Of course, I wasn't counting on Rose recruiting help. Two years ago – and even two months ago, when she'd just returned to the school – she would have gone after Eddie on her own.

But now she turned to me. "You with me?"

Technically, I was on Eddie's team. But he had hit me first.

I smirked back at her. "Sure thing." Eddie would get it. In real life, best friends got trumped by soon-to-be girlfriends all the time – especially when 'soon' looked out to be sooner than expected. The signs were there, heck, even her best friend approved, and it wasn't easy to impress a Dragomir. I still remembered being a sophomore, watching as the older students vied for a chance to be her brother's guardian, or at least catch his notice.

Rose had chosen me, even if the words weren't out yet. Sure, I'd messed things up when I'd gotten mad about her meeting Adrian Ivashkov. And 'mad' it was – how could I have bought into Mia's lies? That girl was a snake.

But after the last couple of hours, I was sure that only minimal groveling was required to get Rose's forgiveness.

What else could a guy ask for?

"Lead the way, babe."

Rose beamed at that, and just like that, I was speechless and thankful for dhampir reflexes when another missile zoomed by me. That was what I'd meant with hidden smiles. Because Rose Hathaway was as good-humored and fun-loving as they came, but sometimes… Sometimes the greatness of her managed to strike everyone smart enough to notice.

And when she smiled like that, with true affection and mirth… Well. I was a goner.

She would crack up if I ever told her, but to me, she was a goddess. The true and original deity of St. Vladimir's.

I still couldn't believe that by the end of this trip, she would be my girl.

"Ready, Mason?"

I knew I answered more than her one question when I said, "For you, always."

The End
06/12/12