A/N:

To anyone who followed and favorited, and especially everyone who reviewed - you guys are the best!

Seriously, every time something pops up in my inbox it just makes me so happy. I love that this story is sparking interest.

So again, thanks you!

Hope you like this one as well! (even though it's short)

Ciao

K

Rose waltzed into the kitchen in her workout gear.

"Just on time", Dimitri gulped the last of his coffee.

"Yeah", Eddie rolled his eyes, "She's only 10 minutes late".

"That makes me practically early", Rose answered with a wicked smile. "You ready to go?" she asked Dimitri.

After a few weeks at Lee, when everyone was getting accustomed to their new lifestyle, Rose, Dimitri and Eddie resumed their training regiment. Not that training had been neglected, but it wasn't as structured, and more often than not, they didn't have anyone to spar against. So the 3 guardians devised a schedule, taking turns working out with each other, in a manner that each of them got a work out session with the other twice a week, with the odd dhampir covering the shift. This made a total of 4 work out sessions a week, which was quite a handful considering Eddie and Rose's academic workload in addition to their guarding duties.

Today was Rose and Dimitri's workout. As usual, they started out with a run before moving on to sparring. The weather was still nice, so they decided to spar in a secluded part of the park near campus.

When they got to their makeshift sparring location, they stretched for a while.

Rose hissed. Dimitri immediately locked eyes with her. She answered his spoken question, "I ran on a rock and almost fell, but I think I pulled something in the process". Rose rubbed her hamstring.

"Let me see", Dimitri approached her.

"It's fine", she tried to back up, but Dimitri was already pulling her to him.

Dimitri knelt beside Rose, and took her leg in his hands. He moved his hands up and down her leg, looking for the exact point it hurt. Rose only moaned at the contact as Dimitri massaged her aching muscles. "Can you stretch it?", he asked and moved away from her.

Rose showed him the stretch she managed and hissed again. "It doesn't hurt when I walk and it didn't hurt that bad running", she supplied.

"Let's see if you can kick". Dimitri tested Rose's mobility, checking if she could use her injured leg to kick, checking if she could stand on her injured leg while kicking with the other. "Do you want to try sparring?"

Rose bit her lip. She wondered if he knew that she lived for their sparring sessions and that they were the best part other day. She nodded. "Only if you promise not to take it easy on me".

Dimitri smiled, "I never do".

"Good", Rose answered and attacked him.

They traded blows for a while, Dimitri never relenting, Rose to proud to back down. When Dimitri pinned and "staked" Rose she groaned at her defeat.

"Rose, despite your leg, you still tried to fight like you were at a hundred percent".

Rose rolled her eyes, "Please tell me, oh master of zen, how could I have beaten you?"

"This isn't a joke Roza", Dimitri still had Rose pinned to the grass. "If I was strigoi, you'd be dead right now".

The look in Dimitri's eyes and the gravity of his words made Rose take the situation a bit more seriously. "Okay, so what should I have done differently?" she asked sincerely.

"You need to know your limits. If you're injured you need to fight within those limitation and compensate for the lacking limb. More often than not when a guardian gets hurt while coming up against strigoi, they don't make it. As soon as a guardian is incapacitated in any way, it's all over".

"They teach us how to use a stake with both hands at the academy", Rose defended and tried to calm Dimitri, who suddenly seemed very tense.

He pressed his palm to Rose's cheek. He hadn't release her, but what was holding her in place now was the way he looked at her.

"It's not enough", Dimitri swallowed hard. He suddenly felt like he wasn't enough, like he hadn't taught her enough, "I couldn't bare it if anything happened to you. Every time I wake up, I'm relieved you made it back home safely". Dimitri couldn't stand the thought of a strigoi getting the better of Rose.

Rose was touched. Then her bravado got the better of her and she decided it was time to insert a joke. "I never knew you cared", she tried to brush off his remark while sounding sarcastic and witty, but it came out as surprised and true.

Dimitri shook his head and pressed his forehead to Rose's. "Yes you did", he whispered hoarsely.

Rose closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. Even after a 10 mile run, Dimitri smelled amazing. She took in his weight, as he was still pinning her, enjoying the feeling of warmth his body provided. She hadn't even noticed that her own hands were gripping Dimitri's waist and pulling him closer.

For a moment, they were alone in the word, nothing else mattered but him and her. Dimitri stared deeply into her eyes, his gaze never wavering. Soon he realized just how close they were. Somehow, in spite of their height difference, their bodies were touching all up and down their torsos, chest to chest, navel to navel, pelvis to pelvis. Dimitri had a thigh between Rose's legs, Rose had a leg practically wrapped around Dimitri from when she was trying to push him off before he "staked" her.

They were both completely entranced, only breaking out of it when a soccer ball almost hit Dimitri's head. It was getting later than they thought and the park was starting to fill with people.

"We should head back", Dimitri said but didn't move.

Rose nodded but also made no move.

It was only when the soccer ball's owner appeared looking for his ball that Dimitri and Rose finally broke apart. Dimitri reluctantly got to his feet followed by a just a reluctant Rose.
As fate would have it the owner of the ball was in fact the guy Lissa had convinced Rose to go out with. "Rose?"

Rose turned to her name being called. She muttered under breath but met him with a smile as he beamed at her.

"Hi! how are you?" he asked enthusiastically, trying his hardest to ignore Dimitri.

"I'm good", Rose answered.

Dimitri hovered a little too closely to Rose to be considered anything other than intimate. Not the she minded but she was sure they were giving off the wrong idea. Is it a wrong idea, though? a little voice in her head said to her. When soccer guy glanced at Dimitri, Rose had no choice but to introduce them.

"Dimitri this is James, James this is my roommate Dimitri. We were training".

James' smile turned sad as his face fell. "Well then, I'm sorry I interrupted". He jogged away, leaving Rose stunned.

"What was that about?" she wondered out loud.

Dimitri's smile was victorious and a little condescending as he stared after the young man that had parted with them. "His name is Danny".

"Shit". And that's exactly what Rose felt like. Shit.

They walked back slowly to the apartment with Rose on the morose side.

"How's your leg?" Dimitri asked quietly.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow", she answered.

"You should use the shower first", Dimitri said when they walked back into the apartment. "Otherwise you'll be late for class".

Rose nodded her thanks and disappeared to her room. She was desperately trying to forget everything that happened that morning. Pulling her hamstring, losing to Dimitri, their moment, and the encounter with James. Shit! Danny, Rose, his name is Danny, not that he'll ever speak to you again. There was that pesky inner voice again!. Rose let out a frustrated groan and shut off the water. She hoped nothing this complicated would happen next time she and Dimitri worked out together.

Rose didn't learn any new combat techniques that day. She was sure Dimitri was going to drill it into her sooner rather than later. But she did learn something very important. Keeping their distance was just as hard for Dimitri as it was for her…