Argh, sorry! My excuse for not updating is that VA is not currently the fandom occupying my brain the majority of the time. Still there, but being overshadowed by Bones and Castle, since both of the season premiers are here. So many proposals! Dimitri, you need to up your game a bit (hint hint ;P) But seriously, the teaser clips from Castle have been killing me. From the promo pics, I'm pretty sure I know what she's going to say, but you never know with those two!.. Rick & Booth, get out of my head- wrong fandom! Even worse, you're stealing Dimitri's thunder! Grr. Anyway, just a couple of days to wait until we can see the episode online, then hopefully these pre-wedding jitters will go away! (And how sad does that sound? I need to get out more. And stop watching Caskett videos on YouTube -.-)

Rose: Just shut up and get on with the story already!

Dimitri: And don't forget the disclaimer.

Me: Sorry I've been neglecting you guys. Dimitri, feel free to pull an Adrian and stalk my dreams tonight ;)

Rose and Dimitri: -_-

Me: Okay okay! Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead, not me.

DPOV

As Roza walked away to go and talk to Eddie, I stood up and turned to Mia. I spoke quietly.
"I need to talk to Lissa. Do you know where she is?"

"Oh, she's just in the tent with Christian. You may want to knock first, but I think you should be safe." She replied with a smirk.

I walked over to our tent, pausing at the doorway, listening. I didn't hear anything, so I went inside.

Lissa and Christian were sat on beanbags in the open middle section of the tent, watching something on her laptop. They both looked up as I came in.
"Hey, Dimitri. Where's Rose?" Lissa asked.

"She's sorting something out for Eddie. A banana song or something?"

Christian nodded in comprehension, with a look that seemed to say 'good luck with that.'

"Lissa, could I talk to you for a minute? I won't keep you long."
She looked a little surprised, but stood up came with me anyway. I led her out of the tent and into the surrounding pine trees, out of earshot of anyone else, especially Roza.

"What's this about, Dimitri?" She asked curiously.

I took a deep breath before replying; "I'm going to propose to Rose. Tonight." Anything else I was about to say was cut off by Lissa's squeal of surprise, and her jumping up and throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, relieved that Lissa seemed happy about this.

She released me after a few moments, and it looked like she was about to explode with excitement.
"Wow Dimitri I am so happy for you, that you found each other and that you love Rose as much as she loves you. It's so obvious to anyone but especially to me cuz I can see how your auras light up around each other and they match so perfectly. You're so good for her you've taught her so much and made her a better person and I used to worry about her and guys but I don't have to now because you've got each other and I'm so glad that she chose you because you're a great person and so I'm glad that you're one of my friends and I can't wait to plan the wedding!"

I blinked, shocked. She had said all that so fast that I'd had a hard time hearing all of it, and she hadn't taken a breath through the whole thing. She looked slightly winded now, so I took the opportunity to speak before the next crazy speech.

"Thank you, Lissa. I wanted to check with you first, to make sure you were okay with it. Do you think Rose is ready?" I asked.

She gave me a 'look'. "Dimitri, she'd been ready for this since the day she met you. In the realest way possible, you are soul mates. Don't worry so much."

I smiled, glad that Roza had such a great friend, friends, really, that I had inherited from her.
"So, I know my sisters have had perfect proposals/weddings picked out since the age of about 11, just in case they ever do meet someone who wants to stay with them. Rose must have told you hers. I already have an idea, but I want this to be perfect for her."

Lissa thought for a moment, before answering. "She never went into that much detail about it; she never expected it to happen. But I do know that she wouldn't want other people around, in some beautiful place, not like in a restaurant." She laughed. "And she would always shout abuse at guys on TV that did things like get it announced at a baseball game, or put the ring in the dessert, though I think that's because she was scared of accidentally eating it."

I laughed as well. That sounded like Rose.
"So personal, romantic and don't do anything stupid with the ring, right?" I checked.

"Perfect. You know her better than anyone, Dimitri, including me. Plus, I specifically remember her saying that it wasn't the place or time that mattered to her, but the person, so you'll do fine."

I was relieved. "I'm going to need to get away to sort this out, so can you keep her distracted, without making it too obvious? It's good that the bond is gone."

She grinned evilly, well, as evil as Lissa could look.
"Only if you tell me your plan, because I know you have one. Oh, and show me the ring."

I pulled the small box out of my pocket, where I had been keeping it since we left Court. I didn't want Roza stumbling across it and ruining the surprise.

Lissa gushed over the ring, telling me over and over how beautiful it was. It wasn't as elaborate as the one Christian had got her, but she was the Queen after all, so money wasn't exactly an issue. Also, if Roza was going to be fighting in this, it had to be suitably resilient against getting smashed into a Strigoi's face, and not end up hurting Roza.

After I told her my plan for later, she looked at me the way she looked at baby animals- a look I did not get from many people, excluding my Roza. She hugged me again, before telling me that she would keep Rose distracted so I could go and get ready for later.

Talking to Lissa had taken a little longer than expected, so I was worried that Roza would be finished helping Eddie and had noticed I was gone. However, as I got closer to Eddie's tent, I could hear them arguing about something I didn't really understand, so instead of trying to get involved I sat down with a western and waited for them to finish.

About 20 minutes later, Roza came out of Eddie's tent, smiling triumphantly. I guessed she had won the argument, which didn't surprise me at all.

By now it was 5pm, so I had leave to set up what I needed for later. As Roza spotted me and came over, she was intercepted by Lissa.
"Rose! Mia's got that new film we wanted to watch, she's putting it on now!"

Rose glanced back at me, it was clear she didn't really want to go watch the film.
"Pleeease Rose" Lissa begged. I stepped in.

"Go on, Roza. You don't want to keep Mia waiting too long. I'll see you later." I didn't want her to go, either, but I had to keep her out of the way.

As soon as she was safely inside the tent, I left the campsite in order to find the perfect place to propose to Roza tonight.

RPOV

Once the film had finished, I lay back on Mia's camp bed, having spent the last 2 hours laughing my ass off. I was glad that I had watched the film, it really had been hilarious.

It was still bright outside, but we were not that far away from sunset. When we got outside, we saw the guys all sitting round the fire, laughing about something. They looked up as we went over.

I sat on Dimitri's lap for a little while talking and just generally annoying the guys. When the conversation turned to something I wasn't interested in, I turned to Dimitri, thinking I'd much rather be alone with him. He seemed to have the same idea.
"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked me quietly.

I nodded. "Where to?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "We could... go for a walk through the forest and get away from this lot?" He asked hopefully. I loved this man.

"Sounds perfect." I replied. I stood up and stretched. "Looks like you guys are gonna have to spend the rest of the evening without my wit and charm. We're going somewhere we won't have to listen to your constant wise-cracks." I aimed this at Christian and Adrian, who snorted.

"Coming from you, Rose? Unbelievable. But by all means go, in fact, don't come back." Christian retorted.

"I'll miss you too." I said whilst doing my best impression of his sardonic smirk, before leading Dimitri away from them and towards our own tent. Just as we left, I saw Lissa give him a knowing glance. I dismissed it; I had more important things to think about. Like, finally, a night alone with Dimitri.

We went into our tent, Dimitri grabbed a rucksack from by the door, and I pulled on my coat. He was already in his duster, of course.

Once I was ready, he took my hand, lacing our fingers together. We walked through the pine trees in silence, until we could no longer hear the shouts and laughter coming from the campground. We were surrounded by nothing but birdcalls and the rustling of leaves overhead, and an amber evening light shone through the trees. I looked up at Dimitri, and saw that he was already staring at me.

I momentarily forgot how to breathe. The light was shining from behind him, backlighting his soft hair so it appeared a few shades lighter than usual. A few strands rested against his cheeks, and a smile softened his features so he looked completely relaxed and happy, an expression he only got when it was just me and him. His eyes were dark, focused intently on me, holding a look of wonder that was sure to be reflected on my face. He was beautiful; I swear there was no one on this planet as amazing as him. The forest around us, the mountains in the distance and the clear sky paled until the entire world was dark except for him, and I didn't even care.

And that was just on the outside. Inside, he was even more beautiful, if that was possible. He was everything I had ever wanted, but never thought I would have, and so much more. He truly was perfect, and he was mine.

I wrapped my arms around Dimitri's neck and stood up on my toes to reach him. His hands came up to my waist and he leaned his head down to meet me half way. As we kissed I was hit by a tidal wave of emotions, and I would happily stay submerged forever, as Dimitri's lips were all I needed to survive.
His arms tightened around my waist and lifted me up off the ground, and I tightened my arms around his neck to hold myself up.

When we finally broke apart for breath, I realised that at some time I had wrapped my legs around his waist, anchoring myself to him. He gently trailed the backs of his fingers from my temple, down my cheek and to my lips, letting them rest there. I turned my head slightly, and kissed his knuckles.
"So beautiful." He whispered, and I reached up and held his hand where it rested on my cheek.

DPOV

As we walked, hand in hand, I couldn't help but steal glances at Roza, but she was facing forward, taking in the views of the forest around her. I had already been this way earlier, and nothing could compare to the beauty of my Roza.

Before long, she turned to see me already looking at her. Her breath caught, and she stared up at me with wonder.

I lost all conscious thought as I looked at her. In front of me stood an angel, and she was mine.
Her normally dark brown, almost black hair was lighter and the ever-shifting light danced through it, tinting it red. It framed her face, before cascading down her back and over her shoulders in loose silky curls that I loved to run my fingers through.

Roza's tanned skin glowed, and I wanted to reach out and touch it, but I couldn't risk breaking this spell.
Her eyelashes cast long, delicate shadows over her smooth cheeks, and beneath them her eyes looked almost like dark amber as the sun lit them.

She was the most beautiful thing on the Earth, and it made my chest hurt just to look at her sometimes, but it was the sweetest ache. I never wanted to look away.
I loved her so much, and almost asked her to marry me right then, but forced myself to wait. If I tried now, I would be incapable of coherent speech, and I would make this perfect for her.

When she put her arms around me and her fingers brushed the back of my neck, heat radiated from those points and spread throughout my body, and I pulled her close, never wanting to let go.

See, Dimitri didn't want to get left out of the proposey-boat :P I'll be back with what happens just as soon as I see what Beckett says, and Booth kick's Pelant's ass and asks Bones the same question!

Review and get to escape to the woods with Dimitri. How can you resist that?!