The next morning, I woke up to someone beating on my door. I pulled the blankets over my head and groaned.
"Sleep." I snarled at the door.
"Come on, Rose. You're not exempt from training this morning." Dimitri called.
"Five more minutes, mom." I called. It was then the door opened, and closed behind him. I then heard the lock turn, and automatically he had my attention. With each step he took closer to the bed, the tension got thicker, and since I couldn't see him, I had no idea what was going to happen. I felt his weight hit my bed, and his arms wrap around me above the blankets.
"Come on, Roza… get up."
"No, let's just stay here." I whispered. He reached up, and pulled the blankets away from my head, smirking at me.
"Was this all a part of your plan to get me up here?" He asked, accusingly. I giggled.
"No, Dimitri… I don't spend my days plotting how to get you in bed." I watched as his face turned pink, and smirked. I reached up and touched his face, before leaning up and pressing my lips to his. He only kissed back for a second, before pulling away.
"This is a bad idea. I better get back downstairs. You've got five minutes to get ready." He said. I reached up, and brought his mouth back down to mine, kissing him as persuasively as possible.
"Five minutes?" I asked, innocently when he pulled away. He growled.
"Ten minutes, starting now." He snapped playfully, getting up out of my bed, pulling my blankets with him to keep me from laying back down. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed I was wearing nothing but a sports bra and a pair of boy shorts.
"See something you like?" I asked, teasingly. He narrowed his eyes at me.
"I have to go, before neither of us leaves this room. Ten minutes, Hathaway." He said. I nodded.
"You got it comrade." I said, winking at him before he closed the door. I rolled out of bed, and slipped on a pair of sweat pants, rolling them up to my knees, and grabbed a tank top out of one of my duffle bags, and slipped it on. I fixed my hair into a pony tail, and gave myself a once over in the mirror. I went into the bathroom, and brushed my teeth, before heading downstairs. I grabbed a bottle of water, and headed out to the track to find Dimitri stretching. When I approached him, he looked up at me disapprovingly.
"I hope you're not going to make it a habit of being late again." He said.
"With the wake-up call I got this morning, I just might." I teased. He narrowed his eyes at me. He was serious now. "I'm kidding, comrade. I'm not going to be late. It was a onetime deal." I promised. He nodded.
"Good, now stretch so we can get started. It's been awhile for you." He said.
"For you too." I said. He shrugged. I stretched for a few minutes, before standing.
"You ready for this?" He asked.
"When have I ever not been ready?" I asked. The moment the words were out of my mouth, he tried to kick my legs out from under me, but I jumped over them, perching myself on the far side of the mat in attack mode, ready to go. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Ahh, I underestimated you, Ms. Hathaway." He said. I narrowed my eyes.
"Let's go Belikov." I snapped, before lunging at him. We exchanged blows for awhile. I was having a hard time keeping up, although I'd never tell him that. You could tell I hadn't trained in awhile, and now I was getting aggravated that I'd lost so much progress. I kept him a bay, but that was only because I was fast. If it wasn't for my speed, I would have been taken down long ago. Finally, I got tired and faked one way and went straight for his chest. Right when my hand would have hit him, he grabbed my arm, twisting it and bringing me to my knees. It all happened so quick, I didn't have time to retaliate. When he tried to take me the rest of the way down, I threw my feet out, kicking him hard. He stumbled back, but then threw himself at me, with his hands over my heart. Shit. He sat up, and smiled.
"Nice to see you haven't lost any stamina since you've been gone." He said. I smirked.
"Yeah, I think you've done a pretty good job of keeping that up, comrade." I teased. He narrowed his eyes at me, but couldn't help but laugh.
"I was being serious." He said, shaking his head at me.
"So was I." I said, giggling. He rolled his eyes and stood up, offering me a hand. I stood and got a drink of water. As I watched him, my mind drifted back to the hotel room, and our day in the woods. How perfect both of those moments had been. God, I missed them already.
"Want to go again, or try something different?" He asked. He shattered my thought process, bringing me back to planet earth.
"I'm sorry, what?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"What were you thinking about?"
"You." I answered simply. He sighed.
"You're distracting me, Roza."
"Maybe those are my intentions." I teased. He growled.
"You're making this very difficult, Rose." He reprimanded me. I smirked at him, causing him to smile as well. I loved the effect I had on him. It made me feel amazing.
"I'm sorry, comrade. I'm focused now. What was the question?" I asked.
"Do you want to fight again, or try something else?" He asked.
"I could think-." I cut myself off. "Focused…Right, sorry. Let's do something else." He nodded and brought one of the staking dummies forward, handing me a stake.
"You remember how to do this?"
"I think I can figure it out." I told him. He nodded.
"Then go ahead. I'll just sit over here and watch." He motioned for me to begin. He sat down on the sidewalk, and watched. I gripped the stake in my hand, and started in on the dummy, driving my stake through the center of its chest where the heart would have been. I stepped away.
"Not deep enough. Try again." He said. I turned around and narrowed my eyes at him, before pulling it out, and trying again. This time, I put more force behind it, causing it to go in deeper. I turned to him. He nodded in approval.
"That one was good. Try again."
"How many times are you going to make me do this?" I asked. He shrugged.
"However many I feel is necessary." He said, smiling at me. I growled and yanked the stake out, doing it again. I had some trouble a couple times, because Dimitri kept giving me situations that forced me to do it with one arm, or walking instead of getting a running start, or staking it from the back. The last time, when I was about to go in for the last staking, he got up and walked over towards me, standing behind me. He ran his hand down my arm gently, causing goosebumps to rise. He moved my hand up higher on the stake, and nodded. He traced his hand back up my body, before placing his hands on my waist, and turning me slightly. It was now I knew what he was trying to do. Bastard.
"Your right side is stronger. Bring your power from this side." He breathed, his breath tickling my neck. I was almost panting now. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to do this now. Damn him. Damn him and his fuckin' distractions. I took a deep breath and did exactly what he said, driving the stake through the dummies heart. I turned around and looked at him, smirking.
"Nice try." I muttered, pulling the stake out and pointing it at him. I took a step closer, causing him to put his hands up in surrender.
"I was just trying to help." He assured me. I nodded, taking a few steps closer. He backed away, smiling innocently. I lowered the stake and grinned at him.
"I thoroughly believe you are too sexy for you own good." I muttered. He chuckled.
"Thank you?"
"It was a compliment." I assured him. We trained a little more, sparring some and then fighting once more. I helped him clean up the mats and dummies, aching to be with him as long as possible since I knew I was alone tonight. When we finally got everything put up, he sighed.
"Can I ask you something?" He murmured. I looked up at the sound of his voice.
"Yeah?" I had a feeling I'd regret it.
"If I wouldn't have come after you, would you have honestly stayed away?" He asked. Woah, bipolar moment. I just stared at him. I thought about lying, but decided against it. He'd be able to tell anyway.
"I like to think that I wouldn't have been able to stay away from you, but I know I would have. If you wouldn't have come after me, yes. I wouldn't have ever seen you again, I'm sure." I told him. He just nodded, but looked extremely unhappy about it. I placed my hand on his arm.
"Only because you made me understand that this wasn't something I could just give up on. I love you too much for that. All I could focus on was the pain, while I was gone, but when you showed up… I knew that this was real. Please, don't be upset." He smiled at me, this obviously making him happy.
"I'm not upset." He touched my face. "Thank you for being honest with me."
"I've never been anything but honest with you." I said, simply. He nodded.
"And I thank you for that." We walked inside, going our separate ways. I made myself a sandwich and sat down in the kitchen. I'd just finished it, and stood up when the novices started exiting the gym. Glenn of course was the first one to spot me. Here we go again.
"Look whose back." Glenn said.
"Yeah, I'm sure you were so unhappy when I disappeared." I said.
"Well, you kind of have a knack for disappearing… don't you?" He asked, smartly.
"You're treading on thin ice, Glenn. You know what happens when we do this, and it never ends well for you." I said, simply.
"Yeah, well you've been gone and out of commission for awhile… so I'm pretty sure I could take you now." He said. I snorted.
"It's good to know you've got a sense of humor, Glenn. Too bad that won't save you when the strigoi are ripping your heart out of your chest… or snacking on your moroi." I watched him go from snarky to angry in a split second. I'd hit a soft spot.
"You don't know anything, Hathaway."
"I've been out in the world, Glenn. I've seen a lot more than you have, so I'd wager I know A LOT more than you do. Now, why don't you go on about your merry little day like a good boy?" I said, trying to get him off my back. I was so sick of this kid, and he just didn't seem to get it.
"Let's just hope what happened with Landon doesn't happen with Lissa." He muttered, before starting to walk away.
"Fuck you, Glenn. I feel bad for the moroi you're assigned to, because they'll be dead within the first month." I growled.
"Yeah, I'm sure the princess will be safe in your hands. Since you're both fucking crazy psychopaths." I lost it, and started towards him, when Dimitri exited his room, stepping in front of me.
"Glenn… get to your room…Now." Dimitri snarled. His eyes were on me though. "Rose, outside."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Did you hear what he-." He cut me off.
"Outside." He repeated. I turned and walked out the backdoor, slamming it hard behind me. I didn't bother worrying about what Dimitri was going to say to Glenn. I didn't care. I was seething. He'd only seen Lissa's darkness, and a lot of what he'd seen of me was darkness as well. I swung hard and hit the side of the estate, the bones in my hand protesting as it connected.
"Can't even behave for a full day, can you?" I heard. I looked up to find Eddie walking towards me.
"Now's not the time to play with me, Castille."
"Awe, come on Rose." He said, shaking his head. "I'm just teasing. You know you do have a knack for getting into trouble."
"Why are you out here? What do you want?" I demanded.
"Just curious as to why you up and disappeared." He said. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
"Dimitri already told you. You being out here on my back isn't exactly making me want to stay." I snapped at him. He narrowed his eyes.
"I feel like I'm missing a major part of the story. Am I?" He asked. I growled at him.
"What is it you want from me?" I demanded.
"The truth, because I sincerely feel like I'm being lied to, and I don't like it. I'm second in command here, and I want to know what's really going on."
"I'm a fucking psychopath, Eddie. I have darkness eating me from the inside out. That's enough to drive me to extremes. My best friend, Landon… he's dead because of me. Lissa is at the academy without me. I have to stay here, in a place where everyone fucking hates me. Tell me that wouldn't drive you up the walls, Castille. I had to get out. Dimitri talked me into coming back and giving it another try, but you out here in my back is kind of making me wish I hadn't come back." I snarled. He just stared at me for a second before turning when the door opened.
"Eddie, what are you doing?" Dimitri asked. He looked concerned when I turned to look at him.
"Just chatting with Hathaway. I'll leave you to take care of her now." He said. Eddie nodded at me once. "Rose." He turned and walked back inside, slamming the door behind him. Once he was gone, I was panting, on the verge of losing my mind. He's onto us. SHIT!
"What just happened out here? Hey… Rose…" He tried to wrap his arms around me, but right now, I didn't need to be restrained. I pulled out of his embrace, and put my hands up in surrender.
"Just… don't touch me right now." I said.
"Rose… are you alright?" He asked.
"No… I'm not fucking alright. I want to kill something." I snarled at him.
"It's the darkness." He murmured softly, taking a step towards me.
"It isn't. This is me."
"Of course you'd say that." He muttered.
"Can you just leave me alone?" I snapped, looking away from him. God, I just wanted to fucking run. Why the hell did I let him drag me back here?
"No, I'm not." I groaned and walked away from him, knowing he'd follow. Damn him. "What did Eddie say to you?" That snapped me to attention.
"He's onto us." I whispered.
"WHAT?" He demanded. I watched as his resolve shattered.
"He knows there's something going on here. He knows he's being lied to. He was questioning why I left, and why you came after me." I explained. My anger was slowly decreasing as I became more and more concerned.
"Shit." He muttered. I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't ever heard Dimitri cuss in English. It was kind of sexy.
"What are we going to do?" I asked, seriously.
"We're going to do what we do best."
"Lie." We both said together, nodding. I sighed. His expression was unreadable. It made me worry that he was rethinking things. What if… what if he didn't get bored with me, but just got tired of hiding, of the lies and gave up?
"Ever wish you would have put a stop to us before we got in too deep?" I asked him. His face drained of all color then, as his eyes met mine with a serious intensity.
"I regret a lot of things, Roza… but being with you… it isn't one of them." He offered me his hand, and when I took it, he pulled me into his arms and held me. I knew he couldn't really kiss me, but he made due with pressing a kiss to the top of my head. His answer squelched all of my fears immediately.
"I love you." I whispered.
"As I love you, Roza."