Rose couldn't help but smile the next morning at training, despite the ungodly hour. The night with Lissa had been just what the doctor ordered. They'd caught up on a truckload of gossip, shared confidences, had a good cry watching a chick flick then talked as they fell asleep.
While neither of them said it, they both knew they were coming to the end of an era. Rose was going to be eighteen in a few weeks. Within months school would be finished, and the next stage of their lives would begin; University for Lissa and guarding for Rose. They both now had significant others they were sharing their lives with, but amongst all the craziness it was nice to spend a bit of time together remembering when it had been just the two of them and all they'd been through together.
"You're looking happy this morning, milaya?" Dimitri said approvingly as they ran side by side along the running track. With a flush on her cheeks, her long dark hair up in a ponytail streaming out behind her, Dimitri honestly thought Rose Hathaway was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
"I am happy," she acknowledged. "It feels like everything is falling into place. Things are back to how they should be with Lissa, your allocation with Adrian means you can stay here until I graduate. Lissa and Christian are both for us guarding them when I finish, and I'm even feeling a bit better about my family. Don't get me wrong, I'm still upset, but Deirdre was right – I need to give them the chance to explain. Can you see if you can get this weekend off?"
"If that's what you want?"
"I do. I know it's going to hurt to talk about it all, but I want everything settled. I want to be able to lay that pain to rest. I need to let it go and move on."
The two of them went inside to continue their workout. Cardio, today. Both in a good mood, they went at it hard until they were both sweating, despite the chilly temperature.
"Come on, let's go back to the suite. You can shower there while I cook you breakfast," Dimitri tempted.
Rose grinned. "I like your shower," she said in a low, seductive voice causing an unconscious flush to grace her Russian God's cheeks.
"So I noticed," he laughed as they shouldered their bags and walked back to the guest accommodations.
Rose had a quick shower and went into Dimitri's room to change. His things still hadn't arrived from Minneapolis, so the room was completely bare other than the contents of his duffel bag. She'd just finished changing when Dimitri walked in, clad only in a towel, honestly looking like the sexiest man on the planet. Rose gave him an appreciative grin before sitting on the edge of the bed watching him intently.
"Do you intend to sit there and look at me as I get dressed?" he asked, a little perturbed.
"That's the plan, Comrade," she said, watching as he got out clean boxers, socks, pants and a top.
He quickly got changed, flushing a little as Rose silently observed him, her dark carnal gaze letting him know she very much liked what she saw.
"You'll be the death of me," he murmured as he quickly zipped up his pants, willing the blood rushing to his nether regions to disperse. As much as he'd love to spend the morning making love to Rose, he had breakfast to cook and a charge to wake!
Waking Adrian turned out to be easier said than done. After bashing several times on the door, without success, Dimitri entered the bedroom shaking the reticent Moroi awake. Using language that would make a sailor blush, Adrian finally opened his eyes, looking at his Russian cousin in bemusement.
"Come on Adrian. Time to get up. You have five minutes to shower while I make breakfast," Dimitri warned, picking up empty liquor bottles from the nightstand.
"You should have woken me earlier," Adrian grumbled, standing up to reveal black silk boxers on a surprisingly well-muscled frame. "It takes me five minutes just to do my hair! Ahh – hello little Dhampir – knew I'd get you into my bedroom one of these days" he teased, noticing Rose standing in the doorway.
Rose laughed, following Dimitri back to the kitchen watching as he cooked eggs, toast, and mushrooms for the three of them. Rose looked at the mushrooms suspiciously, declaring herself not a fan of vegetables. Dimitri didn't dare explain to Rose that mushrooms were actually a fungus; instead, he cooked them up in a little butter and laughed when she decided they were delicious, taking a second and then a third serve.
Adrian hadn't been lying when he said it took him five minutes to do his hair. Rose and Dimitri watched in amusement as he used one product then another to style it into artfully disheveled perfection. In fact, overall the amount of time he spent dressing and getting ready bordered on the embarrassing.
"What?" he said, catching Rose rolling her eyes at Dimitri as he gave himself a final inspection in the mirror. "I have standards to maintain!"
Breakfast done, the three of them walked across campus towards the cafeteria to meet up with the others. Dimitri would be taking Adrian, Lissa, and Christian to the feeders and then class, while Rose was going to meet Eddie and head to the Novice specific lessons.
"You're not eating?" Lissa asked, giving Rose a worried look. Rose's appetite was legendary, and after what happened, Lissa was keeping a much closer eye on Rose.
"Dimitri made eggs and mushrooms on toast for us at the unit," she explained. "I had three serves."
Lissa turned to Dimitri for confirmation, appeased by his confirming nod.
He cooks as well?! Lissa asked through the bond. Is there anything that man can't do?!
Rose laughed. Dimitri was quite a catch!
Watching their silent exchange with a small smile on his face, Dimitri then checked his watch.
"If you want to see the feeders before classes we need to leave now," he said in his rich beautifully accented voice.
Oh, Rose, you have it BAD! Lissa teased, noticing Rose bliss-out just at the sound of his voice. Christian, Lissa, and Adrian stood, collecting their bags.
"I'll meet you back here at lunch, milaya," Dimitri said softly, his eyes flicking to Rose lovingly.
"Sure thing, Comrade," she smiled, still hardly able to believe such a wonderful man was hers.
The morning went slowly. In Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques with Guardian Townsend, they had a theory lesson. Normally that wouldn't be too bad, but it was material Rose had covered months ago with Dimitri, so she was bored. Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection was also boring, but that was situation normal. Half the class was staring at the front with glazed, blank eyes, Rose included. But because Guardian Alto was still being nauseatingly nice, Rose didn't think she could repay his generosity by acting up.
All this inaction and good behavior was making Rose angsty. By the time she got to the third period, Weight Training and Conditioning, she was ready to hit something! Thankfully small groups were rotating their way between three drills; weights, boxing and staking. Finally some action! Rose tossed her bag amongst the pile of others at the side of the room and joined Eddie in the boxing group. After a few days off form, it felt good to stretch her muscles and assert her dominance within the group again.
"Ugh – that's going to hurt tomorrow," Eddie groaned as blow after blow found their way onto his unprotected areas. "Why do you have to be so god-damned lethal?"
"Mess with the best, die like the rest," Rose quipped, flicking her long dark ponytail back over her shoulder.
"Yeah yeah," Eddie said wearily. "Come on, let's see if you're better than me at staking, too."
The answer being a resounding yes, Rose was in fine spirits by the time she'd showered and changed for Senior Language Arts. She settled into a group with Eddie, Chelsea, and Owen to continue their project. Worth a quarter of the yearly grade, they'd been working on it for weeks. Eddie and Chelsea were sitting slightly to one side speaking softly. Looking down at her workbook, Rose schooled her face into bored indifference, pretending not to overhear when Eddie quietly asked Chelsea if she'd like to meet up in the common room that evening to hang out together. Her quick acceptance and radiant smile being precisely the response Eddie had hoped for.
"See – that wasn't so hard, was it?" Rose teased after the bell had rung and they were walking together to lunch.
"I guess not," Eddie said with a grin, looking over to where Chelsea and Meredith stood nearby talking excitedly together and looking back at him.
"Come on Romeo!" Rose laughed, pulling him by the arm down the corridor towards the cafeteria.
"Hey? Rose? You work out this morning?"
Rose spun around to see Jesse Zeklos reclining against the wall, flanked by his half-witted sidekicks Ralf and Jacob.
"I work out every morning Jesse," Rose said, turning away from him.
"With Guardian Belikov? I can imagine those workouts must be very… intense?"
"Yes," she replied in exasperation. "What of it?"
"Nothing. Just letting you know I'm free to work out with you anytime you want." He did inverted commas in the air when he said 'work out,' giving her a knowing look that was unsettling.
"Right, I'll keep that in mind," she said contemptuously, turning back to Eddie and walking away. She waited until they were around the corner before speaking to Eddie, "What the hell was that all about?"
"It's Jesse – probably nothing," Eddie said, but neither of them was convinced.
The two of them dumped their bags at their usual table, standing in line to get lunch. Spaghetti and meatballs today, which meant plenty of spaghetti, lots of sauce and one meatball, two if you were lucky. Not for the first time, Rose contemplated the poor standard of food at the Academy. It wasn't so bad for Moroi; most of their nutritional requirements came from blood. Sure they still needed to eat, but it wasn't like it was for Novices and guardians. The Dhampir genetic makeup, half human half Moroi, gave them super-fast metabolisms. Combined with their rigorous training schedules, the food at the Academy was enough to sustain, but it never had quite enough protein to satisfy. Looking down at her lunch, Rose thought how much better it would be with a huge side serve of steak.
Eddie and Rose were shoveling down their food when Adrian, Lissa, and Dimitri appeared. They said hello and got their lunches, coming to sit at the table. Dimitri consciously sat at the far end – as far away from Rose as possible. It would be nice to sit together, but the temptation to touch was just too much, so they sat apart. Not that either minded. Sitting at the same table was still something.
"How was practice?" Rose asked Adrian, noticing he looked a little tired and worn.
"It was ok, Ms. Carmack had some new ideas she wanted me to try," he said, picking at the unappetizing meal in front of him.
"It was cool," Lissa piped up. "He was trying to move things with his mind."
"Awesome!" Eddie said, his eyes wide in admiration. "Did it work?"
"Kind of. He set fire to the feather he was using, but it did move a bit first," Lissa said enthusiastically.
"That must have taken a lot of magic," Rose commented softly, giving Adrian a searching look. More than anyone, she knew the cost of using so much spirit. "You ok?"
"Nothing a bottle of Tennessee's finest won't cure," Adrian said mirthlessly, returning her gaze. She reached over and squeezed his hand; wordlessly letting him know she understood.
Dimitri caught the interaction between Rose and his cousin. Once, such an action would have left him fuming. But now things were settled between him and Rose, he recognized the action for what it was; one victim of darkness comforting another. Christian arrived not long after that, dumping a container into the middle of the table courtesy of his domestic science class.
"Blueberry muffins – hot from the oven," he announced proudly. They smelled amazing, so everyone took one, even Dimitri. They were delicious, so Rose and Eddie surprised no one when they each had a second, then a third. Those two were bottomless pits!
Standing as a group, they moved around the corner to the feeders, Lissa, Christian, and Adrian going straight in. Adrian looked much better after he'd fed, but Dimitri was still worried.
"Rose? I'm going to walk Adrian back to guest quarters. I'll meet up with you in Animal Behavior," Dimitri muttered so Adrian wouldn't hear him. It would wound Adrian's ego if he knew they thought he might need a bit of help.
"Good idea," Rose agreed, giving him a sweet smile before walking with Lissa, Christian, and Eddie to the fifth-period class they shared.
"Hey, Hathaway? Where's your friend? You know? The tall one? I thought you two were joined at the hip?" Jesse said maliciously as soon as they walked in.
What the hell? Lissa gasped through the bond. What does he know?!
"More like the lips," Ralf muttered just loud enough to be heard. A few of their group tittered, but Rose was relieved to see the rest of the class looked bored or confused. Giving Jesse her best withering look, Rose walked past taking her usual seat.
As soon as the teacher walked in, he announced a spot test, so the rest of the period was spent trying to recall the material she and Lissa had quickly covered last night before they'd moved onto gossip and the movie. Thankfully Rose actually liked Animal Behavior and Physiology, so most of it she was able to deduce from her independent reading. Looking over at Christian's furrowed brow, apparently not everyone was so lucky! Dimitri was standing near the front, having slipped in halfway through the test.
Turning in her paper at the front as the bell rang, Rose waved Lissa and Christian goodbye. They had Calculus together in sixth period, while Rose was off to Precalculus. After Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection, it was her most hated subject. It didn't help that Dimitri was great at math, so teased her lack of understanding.
Taking her usual seat, Rose was pleased to notice no one else looked like they wanted to be there, either. They were working independently today on worksheets – a feat Rose attempted, even though she knew she'd have to ask Lissa or Dimitri to explain it to her later. As she was sitting struggling with her formulas, she kept getting distracted by pinging from mobile phones. Thompson was a hard-ass when it came to using technology in class, so no one dared actually check their phone, but the repeated pings resounding from around the classroom indicated something was up.
They were three-quarters of the way through the lesson when Rose felt the telltale tickle of Lissa sending her a message through the bond.
Rose! I'm so sorry! The video of you and Dimitri in the gym is everywhere. Phones kept pinging all class, and when Camille looked there it was. Everyone's talking about it. I'll send you a copy.
The blood drained from Rose's face, and she looked toward Dimitri in sheer panic. This was their worst fear realized. Her hands were shaking as she quietly packed up her books, standing on quaking legs as she moved to the front.
"Mr. Johnson? I have an appointment with the guidance counselor now," she lied, noticing Dimitri watching her in consternation.
"That's fine, Novice Hathaway. Make sure you turn in your completed worksheet tomorrow."
Nodding Rose moved towards the door, giving Dimitri a pointed look to follow.
"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm as soon as they were alone in the corridor.
Rose looked up at him in remorse. This was going to cost Dimitri everything. His career. His good reputation. Even his livelihood. As she stood trying to put what had happened into words, her mind was catapulted back to the day they'd driven to the cabin.
'I hope I'm not going to regret this' he'd said. And now he was. Loving her was going to cost him everything.
"Lissa just sent a message through the bond. The video Tasha took is everywhere. Those pings in class were it being forwarded all around campus. Everyone knows, Comrade. Everyone's seen."