I woke up far too comfortable. I knew something was definitely wrong with that, since last thing I remembered, I was sprawled out on the forest floor. I slowly opened my eyes, afraid of my surroundings.

"Roza?" I heard. My eyes flew open, and found Dimitri's worried face.

"Comrade?" I mumbled. He squeezed my hand tight in his and pulled it to his mouth, kissing it over and over again.

"I was worried. You took a pretty hard hit… I thought I'd lost you." He said. I shook my head, and winced at the pain that caused.

"I'm not going down that easily. I've took some pretty hard hits to the head before. I'll just add that one to the list." I muttered. He stood up, and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face into my collar bone.

"You are never allowed to scare me like that ever again… you understand me?" I rolled my eyes, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm okay, Dimitri." I murmured. He just nodded, but continued to hold me. When he finally did release me, I turned and looked around. "Where are we?"

"St. Vladimir's infirmary." He informed me. I quickly sat up, wincing at the pain but I didn't care.

"Lissa… where is she?" I demanded. He pushed me back down gently, before smiling.

"She went to her room to change. She stayed overnight with you." He informed me.

"She healed me, didn't she?"

"She did." He said. I sighed and nodded.

"Should have known." I muttered.

"I have something to tell you, so I guess I should probably tell you now." He took a deep breath and looked away before continuing. "Since you're here anyway and you've only got a week left at the estate, if you want to stay here now… you can. You don't have to come back. It's your choice." I stared at him, not sure what I was supposed to say. I could stay here with Lissa now, instead of having to go back to the estate and deal with everything there. I didn't have to be away from her anymore. You'll be leaving him behind. I shook my head.

"I want to go back."

"You don't have to do that, Roza. You can stay here with her. I'll understand. The last week at the estate will be pointless for you. I can have your things sent over, and you'll be done with that place." He said. I shook my head.

"I'm not ready to be done with it yet. I have a week left with you… give me that, please." I said. He met my gaze for a second, before finally nodded.

"Okay." He whispered. A few moments later, Lissa walked in and I watched as her face lit up as she saw I was awake. She ran forward, throwing herself onto my bed and wrapping her arms around me.

"God, I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried. You were out for almost a whole day. Damn it, Rose… don't you ever scare me like that again." She said, as she crawled down from my bed. Dimitri had backed up slightly, giving Lissa and I some space, and probably not wanting her to suspect anything. Regardless, I hated that he'd moved away. I liked him close. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to take on a strigoi like that alone, Rose. Are you insane? You saw what happened to Landon, and you-." I cut her off by throwing up a hand. My body groaned at the movement, but it didn't matter.

"The strigoi…. Did you kill him?" My eyes were on Dimitri now. I had to know if Landon had been avenged. Dimitri looked down, and shook his head.

"No… I didn't. He got away." He murmured. I sat up straight in my bed, my body was on fire but I didn't care.

"WHAT? You let him get away? How could you even-." He cut me off.

"You were hurt. I couldn't just leave you. What if a strigoi would have gotten ahold of you and took you the same way they did Landon. Then what?" He asked me. His voice had risen, so I knew he was frustrated with me, but I wouldn't stop.

"I wouldn't have cared. Landon needed to be avenged and I couldn't even do that and neither could you." I paused for a second before the realization hit me. "Damn it, I just keep failing him." My hands were clenched into fists now, and I was angry. I could feel the darkness ready to start bubbling out of me. Dimitri must have noticed it.

"Princess, you may want to step outside." He told her. Her eyes never left me. I reached up and pulled all the monitors off my chest and the IV out of my arm, not caring that I was bleeding now. I needed out of here.

"No… Stay. I'll go." I said, fumbling my way out of bed. I expected to stumble and fall to the floor when I stood up, but I didn't. The darkness had numbed the pain and turned it into anger. I started towards the door.

"Rose, don't." Dimitri started. I heard him start to follow me, but I turned around, causing him to stop.

"All I wanted was to avenge him. That fucking thing took my only friend at the estate away from me. I just wanted him to pay for what he'd done, and neither of us could do that Dimitri. Why? Because we are weak. All this training you've put me through, what good has it done?" I paused to take a breathe. "Cause if that'd have been Lissa out there in that forest, she'd be gone too." I shook my head and walked out before I could lose any more of my sanity there in front of Lissa. Dimitri didn't follow me, which caught me off guard. I walked to the cabin nestled in the woods out in front of the academy where the Guardians used to live, and keep watch for strigoi. When I reached it, I expected the door to be locked, but it wasn't. I peeked my head inside before walking in, closing the door behind me. The cabin was small. It was really nothing but a bed in a large room with a bathroom. I walked over to the bed, and sat down, placing my face in my hands. Landon was dead because of that strigoi. I'd made it my goal to kill him, and I couldn't. Dimitri couldn't even do it. No… Dimitri hadn't let him go because he couldn't kill him. He let him go because of me. His love for me… it got in the way of his duty and that was to kill the strigoi. He didn't do that. I just shook my head. I didn't know what to do. Maybe it would be better if I just stayed her. A clean break. Going back to the estate would only be that much harder for me to leave him. I sighed, and kicked the small table in the corner, causing a vase to fall over and hit the ground, shattering. I ignored it. I wasn't just how long I'd been pacing before the door opened, and Dimitri stepped inside, closing it behind him.

"Roza…" He murmured, softly. He was testing to see if I was calm.

"I'm fine." I told him. He took a couple steps forward, and then slowly approached me. He took my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him.

"You… You are not weak. Sometimes things come at times when it's just too much for us to handle. That strigoi was proof of that. You are strong. You took numerous strigoi down. You were tired. You'd had a long day as it was. It was not your fault." He said. He looked down, and took a deep breath. "As for me, you're right. I should have killed him. I was worried about you. Another strigoi could have grabbed you and dragged you off, and you could have ended up just like Landon. Can you even imagine what that would have done to Lissa?"

"Or to you." I whispered. His face went somber, as he stared at me.

"Yes, or to me. I couldn't take that chance. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't kill him. I'm sorry I couldn't avenge Landon like I wanted too. You came first." He murmured. I just stared at him, not sure what I was supposed to say to that.

"Okay." I whispered. I pulled away from him, and walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Rose, you should really just stay here. I can have your things shipped to you. You don't have to go back. I know the memories there can't be healthy for you. Maybe staying here is good for you." He said, walking over and kneeling down in front of me.

"Leaving you right now… isn't good for me." I told him. He stared up at me for a few moments before he looked away.

"Leaving you at all isn't going to be good for me." He informed me. I nodded, and ran a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and sighed, before looking back up at me.

"I know. We'll survive, though. We always survive." I told him. I wasn't really sure if I could believe that myself or not, but it sounded good. It sounded strong, and he needed someone to be strong for him. He was always being strong for me, protecting me when I needed it. It was my turn now. Dimitri stood up, and before I knew it, I was on my back on the bed, and his mouth was on mine. I was caught off guard, but I gave into it. I didn't get chances like this often. The kiss was rough, but sweet and everything I needed in that moment. When he pulled away to breathe, he stared down into my eyes for a moment.

"I want you."

"We can't… not here." I murmured. The look in his eyes went from lusty to pleading. He needed this. I could see it.

"Please, Roza." He begged.

"What if someone-?"

"No one comes out here. I told Lissa I'd find you and bring you back to her when you calmed down." He said. He had this all planned out. "Please…" I couldn't deny him anymore. I reached up and pulled his face back down to mine, and that was all the answer her needed. He moved me up onto the bed, crawling over top of me. Just like that, clothes started falling off left and we fell right into our own little world. In that moment, nothing else existed but me and him. I wished it could be like that forever, but we knew our time was coming to an end, and neither of us really knew how to handle it. I knew I had to hold onto every little moment I had with him. Every kiss, every touch, every glance, everything we had… I was going to have to part ways with it really soon. I wasn't sure for how long. A month, a year, maybe even a couple of years, I'd have to be without him…. But right now, he was here… in my arms… so I had to hold onto that for as long as I could.

A/N: It's been waaaaayyyy to long. Sorry guys, life caught up to me for awhile, and I just really didn't have any desire to write. I got bored of it, but hey... I'M BACK. :) Forgive me?