Drabble:108
POV:Third Person

The third Saturday of every month, the dhampir novices of St. Vlad would all pile into one of the ground-floor lounges and have a movie-marathon. They'd fetch pillows and blankets from their bedrooms, and food from the cafeteria or dorm kitchenettes and assemble into the lounge at 10 pm. Then, they'd plop down on the floor and watch movies (selected by prior voting) and gossip and crack jokes till they fell asleep or until the breakfast hour. After breakfast, most would head over to bed, some would hang out and others would make their way to the church.

It was a tradition and over time, some guardians also began joining them for the movie-nights, for security reasons-yeah right. This February was no exception. Rose, clutching a blanket in one hand and a packet of chips in the other, followed Shane and Eddie into the lounge, laughing at some stupid joke that Eddie had spouted. However, upon crossing the threshold, her laughter died. Rose froze in place, rooted to the spot while her companions started hunting for some floor-space.
Dimitri was here….chatting with Zach and Emil, all three sitting at the foot of a sofa, which Celeste had claimed as her bed for the night. The other three were regulars for movie-nights and had even participated in rap-battles with the novices a few times in the past, but Dimitri…he'd never come before, no matter how Rose had teased that it would improve his social equity. Perhaps noticing her stare, Dimitri momentarily glanced at her, before looking again and sending her a small, wry smile. Rose's mouth shifted of its own accord and she found herself beaming at him, silently appraising him in his slacks and T-shirt. They stared at one another, tension building, till someone bumped Rose form behind, breaking the spell.
She realized where they were, who they were and why it would be a terrible idea to stride forward and ensconce herself in Dimitri's lap. Averting her eyes, she began searching for a spot to sit, preferably far away from her mentor, so she'd be able to watch the movies without hyperventilating, but most of the floor was already occupied. Not only had Rose come-as usual-late to the gathering, the time she'd been ogling her mentor, a lot more people had trickled in and taken up floor-space.

Hearing Eddie shout her name, she looked for the blonde only to find him waving vigorously at her, and-get this-standing in the only available space in the room, the space between the guardians' sofa and the left wall.
Great, just great, she thought as she made her way to him, plastering a fake smile on her face. The one night she wanted to stay clear of Dimitri-so as to not act on her undisclosed desires-she had to be near him. Really, God? Nice sense of humor!

As she made to sit on Eddie's other side, intending to use him as a body-shield, Zach stopped her and offered her his place against the sofa, so that the lady would not be inconvenienced. It was, undoubtedly a gentlemanly gesture, but taking the seat would bring Rose directly beside the object of her fantasies, whose eyes she could feel were fixed on her. Of all the time for chivalry to rear its head, thought Rose trying to dissuade him, but Zach remained adamant, not budging till Rose took the assigned space, sinking down beside Dimitri and wrapping her blanket around her.

Zach cheerfully settled beside Eddie-against the wall-and the two began talking about training. On the other side of Rose, the remaining three guardians were bantering easily and soon included her. That's how she found that Dimitri hadn't come here of his own volition, but because of a deal he'd struck with Alberta previously, which required him to spend at least one social evening every ten weeks. Rose wasted no time in joining Celeste and Emil to tease Dimitri, and she started to think that maybe things would be just okay for the night.
That was before the lights were dimmed, and a hush fell across the room.
As the movie began, Rose became hyperaware of Dimitri sitting by her side and blood pounded in her veins. She affixed her eyes onto the projector-screen, seeing absolutely nothing, but becoming enveloped by the smell of Dimitri's aftershave and the body heat radiating off his body. When she glanced at his profile, he was studiously watching the movie screen, oblivious to her scrutiny, but something about his soft lips and chiseled jaw entranced her. The impulse to touch him almost overwhelmed her, only intensifying when he shifted slightly towards her as the movie went on. She had to remind her that they were in a public space, sitting uncomfortably close together, two people majorly-scandalously-attracted to one another, so she could not-absolutely not-touch him.
This was gonna be a long, long night….

Thanks for reading this drabble.
And also thank you for your understanding and condolences, it really meant a lot. Really.
Cheers!