It was the last day with the Belikov's. It was bittersweet. While I was happy that I could go back and train regularly in the gym with Dimitri and see all my friends, it was sad to leave Dimitri's family, as well as the fact that we were going to have to go back to hiding our relationship. Our flight back on Abe's plane was scheduled for noon, so we only had about two hours left before we left. "Comrade, do you know where my red socks are?" I called out. Dimitri bent down and looked under the bed.

"Here they are." He tossed them to me and I put them in my suitcase.

"How are you feeling? About leaving." I asked as I continued to pack away my things.

"Well, I don't really want to go back. However, I'm glad we got the chance to come and visit and for my family to meet you." I smiled.

"Yeah, I'm really glad I got to meet them."

The goodbye after our brunch was hard. No one out right cried but there were many teary eyes. Olena made us promise that we would call and skype as often as possible, which we happily agreed to. We drove away from Dimitri's home. Both wishing that we would get the chance to visit them again in the near future. On the plane, I made sure to put up my mental blocks, but unlike last time where I was asleep most of the time, this ride I wasn't. There was something different about being on the ground with no wards, and being in the air. It took much more effort to keep my mental walls up. I groaned as I felt a headache coming on.

"What is it Rose?" Dimitri set his book down to give me his full attention.

"Nothing."

"Are you getting a headache?"

"No."

"You know I can tell when you're lying." I groaned again but this time it was due to the fact that Dimitri made it impossible to keep anything from him.

"Fine, I have a headache."

"Mark said that's not good…" He trailed off, most likely trying to come up with a plan to help me. But there was nothing we could really do, all I could do was try to keep my mental walls up to make sure my head didn't get any worse. I told Dimitri just that. Throughout the plane ride I would catch Dimitri looking over at me with concern in his eyes, but I couldn't do anything to ease his worries, because while my head didn't get worse, it didn't get better either. When we landed, it felt like a weight was lifted from me.

"Oh thank god…" I mumbled to myself.

"All better?" I looked over at my concerned boyfriend. I kissed him lightly in reassurance.

"All better. Except for the fact that we're back in St. Hell and have to hide our relationship."

"Yeah, I don't like that much either. But we can do it, only a couple more months." He squeezed my hand and kissed me softly before we got off the plane, both going our own ways. We had gotten back in the moroi night, so I went straight to bed. Wanting it to be morning already so I could train with Dimitri.

When I arrived to the gym the next morning Dimitri was already there, patiently waiting for me while he read his western book. "Morning Comrade, are we going through with the regular plan?"

"Morning, and yes we are." We got up and made our way to the tracks. It felt nice to get out and run again. We had back in Russia, but not everyday and not on a track. We didn't have to think here, we just ran around in circles side by side. After our training we left the gym. Dimitri going to do his shift around the academy while I got ready for classes. It was nice eating breakfast with my friends again. I didn't realize just how much I missed then until I got back. Lissa, Christian and I were walking to our next class when I heard someone call out my name.

"Hey Hathaway!" I turned around to see Jesse walking closer towards me. "I missed seeing your nice ass around here." I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Shut it Jesse." I turned around to leave but he grabbed my arm, forcing me to face him again.

"I heard you went off to some other county, to a blood whore community. That true? Because if so I'm not surprised one bit. However I'm a little shocked that you didn't take Lissa with you. We all know how much she loves drinking from you after those two years' you guys were away." I shoved him away from me and turned to Christian and Lissa. I knew that if Jesse didn't shut up about Lissa now he wouldn't have do deal with only me, but Christian as well.

"Leave, I can handle him." I could see they didn't want to but eventually they did, most likely off to go find a teacher. I turned back to Jesse. "I'd watch what I say if I were you."

"Oh yeah? What are you goanna do about the things I have to say? Because I can think of a few ideas." I pushed him away from me.

"I swear I'm about two seconds from beating the shit out of you. Now beat it."

"No." He quickly grabbed my neck but before he could do anything else I kicked him hard in the shin. He crumpled down to the ground in pain.

"You fucking bitch! You're going to pay for that!"

"Oh shut it!" Before I turned around he grabbed my ankle and pulled me to the ground. I fell on my knees but quickly got up and kicked him in the ribs. "I'd be more carful if I were you. Next time I won't go so easy." I walked away, I knew if I didn't leave now then I was going to put him in a lot more pain than he already was. I walked around the corner of the school to where there was an entrance, just as I reached the door I heard someone call my name. But unlike last time the mans voice had a Russian accent.

"Rose, what are you doing out here? Classes have already started." I turned around and I saw him look over my body, including my scrapped and bloody knees.

"Oh you know, taking an extra long stroll before class."

"You're hurt. What happened?"

"Nothing." He narrowed his eyes at me and then looked around to see if anyone were around. We were alone.

"Follow me." I remained silent but did as he said. He led me to his room. Everyone was in class so the hallways were empty. He opened his door and motioned to the bed. "Sit." I sat on the edge and watched him as he walked to his bathroom, pulling out a first aid kit from the john. He set to work cleaning out my scrap and bandaging it properly. "Now, what happened Rose?"

"Jesse happened." He looked up at me to continue. "I was walking to class when he stopped me. He… well, he said some things. About me, about Lissa. After he grabbed me I-" Dimitri cut me off.

"He grabbed you?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"My neck." He shook his head in anger. He muttered some things in Russian. While I didn't know what he was saying I did know that they weren't kind words. "But I took care of it."

"What about your knees? Why are the bleeding?"

"Well, after I kicked him and he fell I tried to leave, but he grabbed my ankle making me fall and scrap my knees. But then I kicked him again. So, it's all good now."

"No, I can't believe he would even think to touch you. I'm going to report him and-"

"No, you won't."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because, I just beat up a royal moroi. If you go into the office demanding that he get punished for grabbing me and calling me a blood whore, then it will be pretty clear to everyone that you're more than just my mentor." He nodded his head but I could tell he was still upset.

"When did you get so reasonable?"

"I have no idea, I think you're rubbing off on me." I at him. "And seriously, don't worry about Jesse, I'll be pretty surprised if he doesn't have a couple broken ribs."

"Well he should have more than that." I squeezed Dimitri's hand.

"It's over with. If he's smart, then he won't bother me again."

"But if he does, come to me, you got that?"

"On one condition."

"What?"

"No matter what happens, you react like a teacher, not my boyfriend. We can't have you getting fired and I expelled when I'm so close to graduating just because you beat up some asshole who happened to insult me."

"Of course." He kissed me gently before we both stood. "I'll write you a late slip for you next class. Please, try and stay out on any more fights." I winked.

"No promises Comrade."

How did you like this chapter? I'm running out of ideas for this story. If you have any let me know!