Sorry for the wait guys.

while i was away i got tonsillitis and was very sick when i came home.

Hope this chapter makes up for the wait!!

Enjoyy!

Chapter 16

DPOV

It was still early when I woke up. I took in Rose's sleeping form and I swear I could feel warmth spread through me at the possibility of keeping her next to me forever. She was smiling in her sleep, and I was a bit smug to know I had a bit to do in her happiness. That I could make this amazing person happy, well it did wonders for my ego. Rose usually sleeps a bit later than me so I figure I can get her breakfast and still be back before she wakes up.

I pull on some cloths and hurry out, not wanting her to wake up before I get back. I walked briskly out the door, considering the most romantic way to propose when I hear "I thought you were going to try to be discreet, Belikov" snarled at me. I look up to find Janine Hathaway coming out of her suite. Crap.

"I am being discreet, Guardian Hathaway." I inform her.

"Doesn't look that way to me. If it was only your future at stake her, I would not be able to care less, but if you mess up my daughters career I will make sure you are unrecognizable to even her." she warns me. I suppress a smile at her threat. I knew she loved Rose more than she likes people to know.

"I would never jeopardize her in anyway Janine. I love her completely. And I guess it's a good thing I ran into you here, because I wanted to talk to you anyway. I want you to know that I love your daughter with every fiber of my being, I love everything about her. There is no one in this world who could make me happier, and I like to think I make her happy too. Janine, I would like to ask your permission to marry Rose." I saw her face drop and didn't even have time to move before her fist snaked out and punched me square in the nose. I heard a crunch and felt pain explode through my face. I get out a muffled "ow" before she has me on the ground with her knee on my chest.

"Marry her? You want to marry her? What would that mean for your lives? Guardians don't get married, they serve Moroi, maybe have flings, but that's it! How could you train your whole life for something, then just turn your back on it? How could you ask her to do the same thing?" She was flinging questions at me so fast I couldn't answer. Each question came with a considerably hard poke in the chest. Finally when she stopped talking long enough I broke in.

"We aren't turning our back on the Moroi, She will still be guarding Lissa, I will be reassigned. I could never ask her to stop doing what she loves, protecting Lissa is her life, and I could never take that away from her, because I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don't want this to be a fling I want it to be a lasting and loving relationship. I want to be with her every morning when I wake up, and every night when I go to sleep. I want to make her happy for the rest of my life, and more than anything I want everyone else to know that she is mine, and I am hers, forever." I finish on a whisper. I can hardly feel my broken nose anymore, or the black eye I'm sure is beginning to show. I watch Janine's eyes become distant and wonder what she is thinking, after sometime her eyes refocus on me.

"If this is going to work, you won't be able to tell anyone until Graduation. It would be better if you waited to propose until graduation, but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen" I give her a sheepish look, she was right. "She may be turning 18 next week, but she is still your student. There are going to be a lot of people with something to say about this when you two go public" she warns me. I know she is telling the truth. I can only imagine what will be said about us, but as long as it doesn't bother my Roza, it doesn't bother me.

"I understand, but how they feel is no concern of mine. Only opinion I care about is hers, and at this moment, yours." I inform her.

"I really should kick your ass for this Belikov, but I understand that sometimes you just fall in love, and there isn't anything you can do about it. I really hope you two are happy together." She turns to leave, and I swear I can see tears in her eyes "Oh and Belikov" She stops and turns towards me "if you hurt her, intentionally or unintentionally, I will destroy you." With that she continues out of the building. I stare after her in shock. Did Janine just give me permission to marry Rose? Am I still sleeping? If my face didn't hurt so much I would think I was, but this was to painful to be a dream. I get to keep Rose, Forever!

I walk over to Lissa's room in a daze, still half convinced I dreamed the whole confrontation with Janine. I knock on the door and pray she is awake. When she opens the door she is in a bathrobe but doesn't look like she was asleep. As she takes in my appearance she gasps. "What happened to you? Come in" she gives me a concerned look as she ushers me into her room.

"I had a run in with Janine Hathaway," I inform her " I came to ask you to heal me before I see Rose. I would rather her not know that her mother broke my nose" I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. I was about to make a joke about it when I hear a bang from the closet. I look at the closet, then at the princess, then at the closet again. She is blushing when I look back towards her. She gets up and walks to the closet.

"Christian you can come out now, it's only Dimitri" She tells the closet. Christian Ozera comes out of the closet in his pajama bottoms and gives me a semi embarrassed smile. I was very close to asking him how it felt to finally come out of the closet, but I resisted, realizing Rose was defiantly rubbing off on me . Instead I shook my head at both of them and chuckled.

"Nice face Belikov" Ozera points out. Lissa smacks his arm.

"Be nice, he had a run in with Guardian Hathaway" she informs him. I watch the smile spread across his face.

"What did you do to piss her off that badly?" Christian wonders. I hesitate but figure Rose will tell Lissa anyway.

"I asked to marry Rose" I tell them. Both of their jaw's drop at the same time, and their faces take on a similar look of shock.

"Married, your getting married?!" Lissa asks, I can tell she is getting excited. Christian finally came out of his shocked silence when Lissa started jumping up and down and squealing.

"Lissa, please calm down. Rose is right next door. I was hoping she wouldn't wake up before I got back!" I tell her. Christian just smiles.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones changing up room assignments" I curse myself. So much for discretion. I ignore Christians comment and turn to the Princess.

"Please, can you fix my face, I really need to get back" I all but beg her. She just smiles and reaches out and touches my cheek. I feel instant relief. I smile at the Princess. "Thank you Princess, I'm not sure how I would have explained that one to Rose" She just smiles back and shakes her head.

"It's nothing. I mean your practically family now!!" she throws her arms around me and pulls me close. Family. Hmm. I like the sound of that. I miss my family so much. Having one here would be wonderful. I smile at the Princess, and nod at Ozera. As much as I would like to I can't ignore him, he is going to be my new charge. After a few more minutes I excuse myself, I have to go get my Roza breakfast!

I run towards the closest diner and order all kinds of breakfast food, because one can never be sure of what Rose is in the mood for. When the food is ready I grab the bags and head back towards guest housing. I stop in front of Rose's door and take a deep breath. Today is going to be the day. I smile to myself and push the door open.

RPOV

Lissa's excitement wakes me up. I look into her head but she has blocked me. Hmm, odd. I don't think much of it and roll over to snuggle with Dimitri, but I find myself alone in my bed. Where the hell did he go so early? It's still light outside. Maybe he woke up early and went to get some training in. I lay back on my pillows and think over how dramatically my life has changed this year. It seems like forever ago that Lissa and I were out on our own, living how we wanted, not worrying about anything. I think over everything that's happened to me. Victor, Dimitri, Mason, Adrian, Mia, Lissa's darkness, Jesse and Ralph, My mother, Tasha. It's hard to fathom that so much could happen in such a short time. I don't know how I would have dealt with it without Lissa, Dimitri and yes even Christian.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there when the door opened. It was Dimitri, laden with bags of what I could smell was breakfast! He knew me so well. I was starving. I jump out of bed and run to him. He has barely enough time to put the bags on the table before I fling myself into his arms.

"I missed you. I don't like waking up without you" I inform him. He smiles

"I don't like waking up without you either Roza. I went to get you breakfast, I thought I could make it back before you woke up. I'm sorry." I just smile and shake my head at him. Silly man.

"I love you" I tell him, I feel as if I can never remind him enough.

"And I love you, my beautiful Roza." My knees go week at the look in his eyes. If I wasn't in his arms, I would likely be in a puddle on the floor! "Now, it's time for breakfast, then I was hoping we could go for a walk, there are some very important things I would like to talk to you about" He tells me ominously.

"I don't like the sound of that. Are they bad things?" I question him.

"No" he says with a mischievous smile "I think you are going to like out talk quite a bit, I know I am!"

So am i forgiven?
I hope so!
I will have the next Chapter up ASAP.
Oh and for those of you who care, i had an amazing trip, India is an beautiful country, and i met so many wonderful people. :)
Thanks for your patience!!