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Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 16

RPOV

I woke up with the biggest smile on my face. I usually wasn't a morning person, but today I felt like singing and dancing. All because of Dimitri.

My heart fluttered as I recalled last night's events. I couldn't believe I'd made out with him in the backseat of his car! I couldn't believe I'd made out with him, period.

I lay in my bed for another couple of minutes, daydreaming about Dimitri. At last, I decided to get up and take a shower. Dimitri had asked if he could see me again today and I wanted to look good for him.

After I'd dressed myself, I checked my phone and saw Christian's text, asking me if we could Skype. I hadn't talked to him since he'd left, except for the occasional text.

I greeted him enthusiastically, which caused him to raise his eyebrows in surprise. He knew I wasn't a morning person yet here I was all cheery and happy. He definitely noticed something was up, but I didn't tell him what happened with Dimitri because I didn't know how he would take it. Probably not well. After all, he thought Dimitri was still grieving over his aunt Tasha.

We'd agreed not to buy Christmas gifts for each other this year. Instead we'd bought ourselves concert tickets to our favorite band. It hadn't been cheap and that's why we'd decided the tickets would be our Christmas gift for each other. We would go see the band together in a couple of months and I could hardly wait for it.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"Who's that? You got a visitor?" Christian asked.

I looked up at the door. "Umm, I got to go," I said hastily. "Talk to you later, Chris."

Ignoring his protests, I quickly turned off my laptop before rushing to the door. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and smiled as I saw Dimitri standing in the hallway, holding a brown bag in his hand.

"Good morning, Roza," he said smiling. "I brought you breakfast."

"Good morning," I breathed and he leaned in to kiss my cheek. I stepped aside so he could enter. Peering at the brown bag, I asked, "What did you buy me?"

He held out the bag with a grin. "What do you think?"

"Donuts!" I exclaimed happily as I opened the bag.

Dimitri chuckled. "I already thought that would make you happy."

"You definitely know how to make a girl smile, comrade," I said, taking a bite of a chocolate glazed donut. I held out the bag to Dimitri, offering him a donut. We settled down on my bed, eating our donuts in silence.

"Do you have any plans today?" Dimitri asked when we finished our donuts.

I shook my head. "I'm free as a bird."

All my friends had gone home for the holidays. It seemed like I was the only one stuck here at school because my mother didn't want to see me for Christmas. Come to think of it, she hadn't even called. No way in hell was I calling first this time.

"You want to go out and do something?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be fun."

Dimitri smiled. "What would you like to do?"

I pondered his question. I guess we could go to town, but what were we going to do there? We'd already went shopping yesterday with the kids and I didn't think Dimitri was up for another shopping spree. Suddenly, an idea hit me.

"Would you like to go ice skating?" I asked eagerly. I loved ice skating. It had been a while and I knew Dimitri was into sports so hopefully that included ice skating.

His smile widened when he noticed my enthusiasm. "Sure. I don't care what we do. As long as I'm with you."

I blushed. He was so incredibly sweet! No wonder Tasha had wanted to marry him so badly.

Ice skating with Dimitri fun. I'd gone a couple of times with Christian, but he couldn't stay on his skates for two minutes without falling onto his butt. Luckily, Dimitri was not that clumsy on the ice. In fact, he was just as good as me. I always liked to race around the rink, but with Christian that hadn't been possible because he always kept falling over. With Dimitri, I had to do my best to keep up with him. Damn him and his long legs!

"Come on, Roza," Dimitri said grinning. "I thought you were going to beat me?"

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself to go faster. Finally, I managed to catch up with him. I stuck my tongue out at him, which made him laugh. I grinned and skated away from him.

I slowed down when I was on the opposite side of the rink, figuring he was far behind. But then strong arms wrapped around my waist and I let out a surprised scream. Several people looked over at us and I flushed bright red, embarrassed.

"Going somewhere, Roza?" Dimitri murmured in my ear.

"Oh my God! You scared me to death!" I exclaimed, turning around in his arms.

He chuckled and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine. "Have I told yet you how beautiful you look today?" he said when he pulled away. I smiled reluctantly and he kissed me again. Now that we were standing still on the ice, I started to shiver. "You wanna go and have some hot chocolate to warm up?"

I nodded. Taking my hand in his, we skated back to the side of the rink.

DPOV

I smiled as I watched Roza sleep on my shoulder. She'd fallen asleep during the movie and I hadn't had the heart to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. It was nearly midnight, though, so I figured I should bring her home.

"Roza," I murmured, caressing her cheek. "Wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me in confusion. "Is the movie over?" she asked, looking at the TV screen.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I think you missed half of it, though. You fell asleep."

Her eyes widened. "Really? I'm sorry."

I smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's okay. You were tired." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes again for a brief moment. "You want me to drive you home so you can get some rest?"

I'd love for her to stay here tonight so I could hold her in my arms all night, but I figured it might be too soon for that.

"Thank you for today. I had fun," Rose said as I parked my car at campus.

"Me too," I murmured. We'd spent the whole day together and it had been fantastic. I wished every day could be like today. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work tomorrow. "Can I take you out on a date tomorrow night?"

Rose smiled. "Sure. I'd love that." Then she suddenly frowned. "But it's Thursday tomorrow. Aren't you going to the gym with Ivan?"

"I can cancel," I said shrugging. She looked at me, unsure, and I took her hand in mine, kissing her knuckles softly. "I'd rather spend my time with you, Roza."

"Okay," she agreed.

I smiled. "Great. How about I pick you up at seven?"

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow night then."

My eyes flicked down to her lips. I wanted to kiss those soft lips so badly. As if she knew what I was thinking, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.

"Good night, comrade," she whispered before getting out of the car.

I watched her walk to the door with a big smile on my face. As I drove back home, I thought about where I could take Rose for our date.

The next day I called Ivan to cancel for tonight. He asked me why and I gave him a vague answer. Of course, he guessed what was going on.

"You're going to Rose, aren't you?" he said.

I sighed. "Yeah," I said, giving in. "We're going on a date."

"About time! Where are you taking her?"

"I don't know yet," I said.

"Just take her to dinner and go to the movies afterwards," Ivan said. "That's what I do on first dates."

I rolled my eyes. "I know. That's what everyone does. I want to do something different."

"Well, then I don't know."

I let out another sigh. "I'm going to browse the internet. See if I can find some inspiration there."

"Good luck," Ivan said. "And if you don't want to go to the movies, you should at least go do something with her that is going to get you laid," he added.

I didn't dignify that comment with a response. "Bye Ivan."

I searched the internet during my break and after half an hour I finally found something I could do with Rose tonight. Several sites had said that it was a unique and fun first date and that women liked it. Knowing Rose, I was pretty sure she would like it too. Smiling, I took my phone and texted her, telling her to dress casual but warm for tonight.

I glanced at the clock. Just a few more hours at work before I could go home and see Rose tonight. I couldn't wait.

RPOV

I waited impatiently for Dimitri to come and pick me up. I'd been restless all day, looking forward to tonight. I'd been wondering where he would take me to. I don't think it would be somewhere fancy since he texted me to dress casual.

At last, seven o'clock came around. There was a knock on my door and I jumped up from my bed, rushing to open the door.

"Good evening, Roza," Dimitri murmured, smiling. He was holding a bouquet in his hands. They were my favorite: Magnolias. "These are for you."

"Oh my God, Dimitri," I breathed. "These are gorgeous." He smiled and I leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

I put them in a vase and turned back to Dimitri. He held out his hand for me.

"You ready to go?" he asked. I nodded and he helped me slip on my coat. He took my hand in his as he led me out of my room. "You look beautiful tonight, Roza."

I blushed. I was wearing my beige sweaterdress and had decided to let my hair loose tonight. I knew Dimitri loved it when my hair was down. In the few make out sessions we'd had, he'd always tangled his hands in my hair, telling me how much he loved my long locks.

"Thank you," I murmured. Dimitri opened the car door for me like a gentleman. When we were on the road, I couldn't help but ask, "So, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see soon enough," he responded smiling.

"Aww, can't you tell me now?" I said in a whiny voice.

He laughed softly. "No, Roza. You'll have to wait until we get there."

I pouted. "Fine."

Lacing our fingers together, he lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles softly. "Patience, Roza," he said in a teasing voice.

I glared at him playfully and he smiled a breathtaking smile. After half an hour of driving, we finally arrived at our destiny. I'd had no idea where we were going and I hadn't recognized the road he'd taken, which had made me wonder even more where he was taking me to.

When he helped me out of the car and led me to a large building, a smile lit up my face. "Oh my God! You're taking me to the aquarium?!"

He nodded. "I know how much you love animals. And they say it's really beautiful here so…"

It was true. I loved animals. I'd always wanted a pet, but my mom hadn't allowed it. Now, at college, I couldn't keep a dog or cat either.

"I thought you'd like it," he said, eyeing me a little unsure.

I grinned. "I love it! I didn't even know there was an aquarium in the neighborhood!"

Dimitri smiled, clearly relieved. "Well, why don't we go inside then?"

The aquarium was amazing. It was really beautiful and so quiet since it was already evening. I especially loved watching the penguins and the dolphins. There weren't any shows tonight, but Dimitri promised we would come back with the kids one day for the dolphin shows.

When the aquarium was about to close, we walked back to the parking lot. As we walked, I pondered if students were allowed to keep a fish in their room. Normally, I didn't like fish, but there'd been clownfish in the aquarium and I had to admit they looked kind of cute. I wouldn't mind having one of those.

"You hungry?" Dimitri asked when we were back in the car. I nodded. "You want to go somewhere to have dinner?"

"Yeah sure."

"You can choose where we go," he said.

"Hmm. I wouldn't say no to some Chinese food," I said grinning. "Is that okay for you?"

He nodded. "Chinese it is," he said with a smile.

After dinner, we went for a walk around town. We walked in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company. At one point, I let go of his hand, pretending to search for something in my purse. I stopped and crouched down, gathering snow in my hands.

"Roza, are you alright?" Dimitri asked, finally turning around.

I quickly got up and, grinning, I smashed the snowball in his face. I giggled uncontrollably when I saw the perplexed look on his face as he wiped the snow away. Then, without warning, Dimitri grabbed some snow himself and threw it at me. Part of it hit me in the face, the other part ended up in my hair. I let out a scream as Dimitri gathered more snow and took a step toward me.

"Don't!" I said, backing up. I couldn't keep the grin off my face, though.

"You started it," Dimitri said, also grinning.

"Don't you dare, Dimitri!" I said. He didn't know I had another snowball hidden behind my back. I let him come closer and when he was one step away from me, I stuffed the snow down his duster.

"Roza," he growled.

Laughing, I ran off, but he was right behind me. His arms encircled me and we tumbled down together in the snow. I rolled onto my back, still laughing, and tried to push Dimitri off of me.

"No!" I screeched as I felt the ice cold snow sliding down my back. My dress was sodden, but right now I could care less. I was having too much fun.

Dimitri laughed and tried to shove more snow down my coat but I managed to wriggle out of his hold and smashed more snow in his face. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said in a teasing voice.

"No more," I said, still giggling. "Please."

"Alright, alright," he said chuckling. He loosened his grip on me and I relaxed against his chest. His lips pressed against my cheek and then he murmured, "I think we should get up. You're soaked. How about we go home? Then you can warm up."

I nodded and Dimitri helped me up. I was shivering now and he quickly put his arm around me, rubbing my arm with his hand. He drove me back to campus so I could get changed into dry clothes.

"What about you?" I asked. He must be cold, too. After all, he'd been lying in the snow too.

"Don't worry about me," he said smiling. "I'll be fine. Go get changed now."

I nodded and headed to the bathroom. I took a quick shower. The hot water felt good against my skin and I was reluctant to step out of the shower. When I returned, Dimitri was sitting on the chair at my desk. He got up and walked toward me.

"You had fun tonight?" he asked.

I nodded and smiled. "Yes. I loved it. Thank you, Dimitri."

He smiled too. "Does that mean I can take you out on another date?"

"Hmm. I don't know about that." His smile disappeared abruptly and he actually looked disappointed, not realizing I was just teasing him, and I grinned. "Of course you can take me out on another date, comrade!"

He narrowed his eyes at me playfully. "That wasn't funny, Roza."

"I know. Sorry. I could make you feel better?" I suggested, biting my lip.

"How?"

"Like this," I whispered. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his. His arms wrapped around me as he responded to the kiss. "Feeling better now?"

He grinned. "Lots." Leaning in, he gave me another quick kiss on the lips. "I almost forgot… My mother called earlier today and told me the kids wanted to stay there for New Year's. She asked if we wanted to come over too."

"We?" I asked, uncertain.

He smiled. "Yes. She likes you a lot. And she knows how I feel about you."

"She does?" I said, surprised.

"Yes, she figured it out somehow," he said, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "So…would you like to come with me?"

"Sure," I said smiling. "If it really isn't a problem for your family."

"It isn't," he said quickly. "And I'd really love it if you'd be there too."

"Alright then," I said happily. It's not like I had other plans. And what was better than to spend New Year's with Dimitri and his family? They were all amazing and so welcoming.

Dimitri's smile widened and he kissed me. "It's getting late. I should probably go home now," he murmured.

I was reluctant to let him go, but I knew he was right. "Good night," I said, pecking him on the lips.

"Night, Roza," he whispered, squeezing my hand gently before letting go. "I'll call you tomorrow."

I watched him leave and sank down on my bed, sighing happily, when the door closed behind him. I couldn't wait to see him tomorrow again. But maybe I wouldn't have to wait until tomorrow because I was pretty sure I would be dreaming about him tonight.

That was it for this chapter. What did you think about the date? You liked it? Disliked it? I didn't have much inspiration, but apparently girls like being taken to the aquarium as a date. I'd like it too so yeah... I figured that'd be a good date. :)

Have a nice weekend! :)