A week went by, and training got intense. Dimitri informed me, that before I left I'd have a final exam, kind of like the Field Experience or trials back at the academy. I'd be fighting one of the other mentors, to see how good I'd become. If they deemed me worthy, then I was good to go. If they said I wasn't, I'd be assigned a Mentor when I got back to St. Vladimirs. The thought of having a mentor besides Dimitri made me shudder. I hated to even think about it. As far as our relationship went, we'd kept it under wraps pretty well. Eddie was still sneaking around, looking for something; anything to give away what was really going on. Of course, he didn't find anything. After training on Friday, Dimitri and I sat on the sidewalk.

"Do you know who I'm going to be fighting next week?" I asked.

"Yes, I do." He muttered, grudgingly. That's when I knew. Eddie.

"Son-of-a-bitch. Why Eddie?" I demanded.

"He's who you fought when you first arrived, so he's who you'll fight when you leave. That's the way it's always worked here."

"And you can't change it?" I asked. He shook his head and sighed.

"Changing it now will make it look suspicious."

"I guess it would." I muttered. I turned to look at Dimitri. "I can't promise I won't hurt him."

"Hurt him… it'll do him good. Smug son-of-a-bitch that he is." I chuckled, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. I hated it when he did that.

"What?"

"It's strange hearing you cuss in English. Normally when you swear, you do it in Russian." I informed him. He shrugged.

"I guess I do, huh? You're rubbing off on me, Roza." He said.

"I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing." I admitted. He smiled.

"Me either." He said. I laughed. We fell silent for a few moments, before I spoke.

"Two weeks." I finally murmured. I hit me harder and harder every day.

"I've already told you, Roza… I don't want to talk about it now." He said, standing up. I stood up as well, glaring at him.

"When would you like to talk about it then, Dimitri? Because we don't have that much time now." I snapped. Amazing how our mood plummeted in a matter of seconds. Regardless, we had to discuss this. We couldn't beat around this bush forever, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Now isn't the right time, nor place."

"What are you going to do? Wait till the day before I leave?" I demanded. He shook his head.

"Roza, please drop it." He said.

"I won't until you tell me what you're planning. I know you're keeping it from me because you know I'm going to tell you no."

"That's exactly why." He said.

"What the hell are you going to do?" I demanded. He shook his head.

"Tell me, or when I leave, I'll go back to Adrian. I won't go back to St. Vladimirs."

"You wouldn't dare." He snapped.

"Try me. I did it once… think I won't do it again." I threatened. He narrowed his eyes at me, and ran a hand through his hair.

"You are impossible." He said.

"Don't try and change the subject. What are you planning?" I demanded.

"I've put in my notice with court, and have called St. Vladimirs. When you leave, I'm going with you." He told me. I stared at him, not sure I'd heard right. Did he just… he's coming with me? God, I'd been so afraid I was going to have to leave him, and that I'd never see him again, and now I'd get to see him every day, just like I did here. It couldn't get more perfect than that… but that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I knew what I had to do.

"No." I said. He looked surprised.

"What?" I shook my head, and ran a hand through my hair.

"You can't go to St. Vladimirs. You can't leave this place behind… Dimitri, you've worked so hard to get here, to get all of this… and you're just going to throw that all away… I can't ask you to do that."

"We've already been over this. I'm willing to give this all up for you." He said.

"But I'm not willing to let you. You can't do this. Call them back, and tell them you've changed you mind." I said. He shook his head.

"No."

"What do you mean, no. God damn it, Dimitri. You're not giving all this up for me." I snapped at him. I was angry now.

"Why can't you just except that I'd do anything and everything to stay with you, forever?" He asked.

"And what about when I graduate? Gonna quit that job too? Move to wherever Lissa and I go?" I asked. He looked away and nodded. "You sound like a love sick teenager, Dimitri. You're being irrational. You're not going to St. Vladimirs."

"I can't just let you go with the chance I'll never see you again." He told me.

"That was a chance we took when we made the decision to be together. You knew that it would come to this as well as I did."

"And I knew what I'd have to do, what I'd have to give up. I came to terms with that a long time ago. I don't think you realize how much you mean to me, how much I'd be willing to give up for you." He said. I knew this was going to be difficult, making him see sense, but I didn't think it'd be this difficult.

"Tell me something… If I had to choose between being with you or guarding Lissa… would you honestly let me give her up? Would you honestly let me leave her behind to be with you?" I asked.

"God, no." He said, immediately. I nodded.

"Now think about how hard you've worked to get here, to acquire all of this. Do you honestly think I'd let you give all of this up for me? Dimitri, I want you with me more than anything in the world, but I can't ask you to leave this behind. Plus, who's going to run the place if you leave? Eddie? Those poor kids wouldn't have a hope in hell of surviving a strigoi attack." This got a chuckle out of him, but he still wasn't happy.

"Roza…" He murmured.

"Promise me… promise me you won't do this. I'll never forgive myself if you give all this up for me." I told him.

"Why do you do this to me?" He demanded.

"Because this is right. You're already risking so much by just being with me. I can't ask you to leave this behind too. This is what you've worked hardest for. You need to keep working hard for it. Just promise me you'll call them back and tell them you've changed your mind. Please." I begged. He stared at me for the longest time, before he looked away.

"Fine."

"You'll call them?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'll call them this evening." He informed me. I sighed in relief. I wanted to kiss him, but I knew there was a great possibility we were being watched. Instead, I gazed up at him with all the love I could conjure up.

"I don't think you understand even half of what you mean to me."

"I was just thinking the same thing." He admitted. I smiled.

"I love you."

"I miss you." He said. I realized what it was he was talking about. It had been a week since we'd slept together, had sex, or really had any intimate contact. It had been driving us both mad, even though neither of us would admit it. Every night I tossed and turned in bed, wishing he'd show up at my door, but he never did. I knew we couldn't take that risk.

"I know." I breathed. I stood up, and sighed. "It really isn't fair."

"And when you leave… it'll be-." I cut him off with a shake of his head.

"I don't want to talk about that."

"Remember, this was your decision. You can always change your mind." He said, looking at me all too persuasively.

"I know what you're doing… and no." I said, simply. He was driving me insane. Damn him.

"Roza, I really wish you'd reconsider. Are you really ready to give all this up? Not see me for a year… maybe longer." I winced at his words. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew I'd have to deal with the fact I wouldn't see him for long periods of time, but I was willing to deal with that, just to call him mine.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I accepted that long ago. I'm not reconsidering anything. You're going to stay here, and I'm going back to St. Vladimirs." I told him. He just nodded.

"If that's the way you want it."

"Will you stop that? I'm doing what's best for you, whether you want to believe that or not. If you went to St. Vladimirs with me, don't you think that'd be a little suspicious? Don't you think Eddie or the other guardians would suspect something? That you were leaving and going to work at the school your novice attends? These guys aren't as dumb as they look." I snapped, standing up and running a hand through my hair.

"What proof would they have of anything?" He asked me.

"None, but then we'd have St. Vladimirs administration breathing down our necks, and what good would that do us? We'd be as locked up there as we are here." I told him. "We can do this, Dimitri. I know we can. You have to believe that."

"I do… I just don't know how long I can go without seeing you."

"You'll be at St. Vladimirs for Field Experience and for Trial's. I'll see you then."

"That's two months from now." He said, shaking his head. "I can't wait that long."

"You can. You'll learn it's not that difficult. You're only saying this now because I'm here every day." I said.

"You're wrong. You were gone for a day and a half and I couldn't stand it. That's why I came after you." He informed me.

"That was because I left because of you. You were upset about me leaving you. This time, I'm leaving because I have too, not because I want too. If I could stay here with you forever… I would." I told him. He sighed, and remained silent for a few moments before nodding.

"You're right… I'm sorry. We can do this. We're strong." He said.

"We're survivors. We'll survive this."

"What about after you graduate?" He asked.

"I'll be eighteen before then, and I can come and go as I please. I might even ask for a job here, so I can work on my days off with Lissa." I said, smirking at him. His eyes lit up at the thought.

"You have no idea how bad I want to kiss you, right now. I hate that we're being watched."

"I know." I breathed, closing my eyes. "I need to go inside now." I admitted, before turning around and walking away. I knew if I stayed out here with him any longer, I'd throw myself at him. I went inside and upstairs, avoiding contact with any of the novices or guardians. I sat in my room, trying to keep myself busy. I checked on Lissa, worked on some things for St. Vladimirs, and sat around. It was late when I finally gave up. I couldn't stand it anymore. I'll take the damn risk. I put on a large t-shirt and quietly made my way downstairs. I checked the house to make sure there was no one around before knocking quietly on Dimitri's door. The moment he opened it, I threw myself at him and into his arms, bringing his mouth to mine. I kicked the door closed behind me, locking it. He locked his arms around my waist, pressing me hard against his body. We kissed each other hungrily, like we were starving. I was starving for him. It had been too long. A week. It'd been a week. How the hell was I going to stand a month? A year? Maybe longer? He moved me over to his bed, never removing his lips from mine. God, I missed this.

"So much about risking getting caught." He whispered against my throat. I shook my head.

"Less talking, more kissing." I mumbled, pulling his mouth back to mine. I felt his chuckle as he trailed his hand down my body to the back of my knee, hitching my leg around his waist. I moaned against his mouth. I laid my hands on his bare chest, tracing the plains of the muscles there. He was too sexy to be real and he was mine. ALL MINE.

"You're mine, alright… Never forget that." I whispered, when we pulled away to breath.

"Yours… always." That's when clothes started coming off, my large t-shirt, my shorts, his sleep pants. We were on the brink, to the point of no return when I heard footsteps in the kitchen. Dimitri and I both froze immediately.

"Shit." I whispered. He shook his head and put a finger to his lips. We both listened hard until we heard the footsteps travel back upstairs. We'd both been holding our breath, because when the sound faded, we both breathed a sigh of relief. I giggled as I stared up at him. "Talk about a buzz kill." I muttered. He shook his head.

"Nope, I'm still pretty high off you." He whispered, before his mouth was back on mine, and we continued right where he'd left off.

When it was over, I laid against his chest, trying to catch my breath.

"God, I've missed you." I muttered, running a hand through his hair. I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

"I've missed you too, Roza." He said. He nuzzled his face in my hair and took a deep breath. "You smell delicious." I felt myself flush, as I buried my face into his chest.

"Thanks." I whispered. He chuckled.

"You better get back upstairs. If someone comes down and catches you-." He shuddered. I nodded and climbed off him, gathering my clothes off the floor. When I was dressed, I kissed him hard one last time.

"Maybe that will hold us over for awhile." I whispered, as I fixed my hair.

"Maybe." He said, winking at me. I grinned and opened his door, slipping out and closing it behind me. The moment I turned around, I jumped. There I was staring into a face that I didn't want to see. Glenn.

Shit.