Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or anything surrounding it (but I do own this plot :D)

DPOV

Suffice to say, I very much needed to punch something.

"You seem a little shocked Dimka, still adjusting then?" The high-pitched, nasal-whine teased over the phone. My facial expression must have been murderous because Ivan poked his concerned head into my peripheral vision.

You okay? He mouthed and I shook my head marginally but the point was made.

"Yes, sorry, I am still a little bit shocked that I managed to keep my position." I said as formally as I could, which was difficult considering the current situation.

She let out a sickly laugh that made me visibly wince. Ivan grimaced and took the seat opposite me again. "Of course you won! You were the best." She exclaimed. "Oh but you should have seen your face when I walked in; it was brilliant! I bet you didn't expect little old me, did you?"

"No." I said flatly and Ivan offered me his beer.

"Well isn't this great! We are now working together – this is going to be so much fun!" she giggled and I had to hold back a growl. "Oh, sorry my nephew is trying to contact me. It's probably about his bitch of a fiancée; it is so hard to pretend to like her, she is just awful. Urgh, sorry to cut this short, I'll speak to you soon Dimka. Bye!" she sang and pulled the phone from my ear and all but crushed in my hand.

A deadly silence melted into the room before I spoke through the purgatory.

"Ivan."

"Yeah D." he replied timidly.

"I. Need. To. Hit. Something." I said very, very slowly.

"That was exhilarating!" Ivan jumped beside me, pumped from spending the past two hours essentially hitting things. Last night's conversation with Tasha had made me unbelievably pissed. There were no words to describe the level of 'pissed off' I had been. Ivan said that there should have been a new scale invented just for how fucking pissed off I was! He had also originally suggested going back to Vlad's to take my mind off things but we both decided that would be a bad idea considering what had happened last time…

And so, we came to the gym. Since I was proudly going off my old life style, I had turned to Google in search of new activity. Unfortunately, Google was only too proud to promote alternatives in drinking and drugs or, in a somewhat ironic turn of events, suggested that I try online dating. No, thank you.

It was actually my neighbour that gave me the idea of the gym. After leaving Ivan in peace, I wandered home and bumped into Mark inspecting the dent on the wall where I had shoved Aleksei's head. He saw me and gave me a firm nod. Our relationship wasn't as friendly as it was cold so I decided that it should change.

We had a nice conversation until Oskana politely asked for her husband back. He had told me he went to the gym to cool off when he was annoyed so I called up Ivan and said I had found a new activity.

Turns out, it was a good idea.

"Yeah, it was." I agreed feeling a light smile creep its way on my face.

"Why didn't we think this sooner!?" Ivan posed looking around the gym. "It is fun, distracting and full of fit women." He said, smiling at a blonde one in particular. I rolled my eyes. Some things will never change. I shook my head at my best friend who just shot his hands up in surrender. "What, we don't all have a Rose…" he said slyly and I smacked him over the head.

"Not funny." I said icily which made him laugh.

"On the contrary my friend, I think we shall have to agree to disagree." He said whilst rubbing his head. "You know, this is basically our old life without the threat of death by overdose, cancer, liver disease, gangs, dealers, psychopathic women, psychopathic women's boyfriends, psychopathic women's husbands…" and so the list went on. I rolled my eyes again as Ivan ticked each point off with his fingers.

"Ooff." I grunted and something smashed into my chest, causing me to stumble backward. Ivan immediately shut up and went to the side of the fallen girl who had crashed into me at quite a force. "Rose?" I said as she looked up at me in shock.

"Dimitri?" she gasped. My eye widened as I took in her distraught features.

"This is Rose?" Ivan said grinning and I gave him a look that told him to 'shut-up' and – granted – he did, but the smile remained firm in place.

"Are you okay?" I asked offering her my hand. She took it and I felt the rush leak through me again. Keep it together, Belikov.

"No." She said sadly and tears ran their way down her face. Without thinking about the consequences, I pulled her to my chest and wrapped my arms around her small frame. She sank into the hug quickly and snaked her gentle arms around my waist. I knew my heart-rate was sky-high but I could not care less. I gently ran my hand along her silky long hair which was evidently more beautiful to touch than to look at. Cut it out!

I pulled back a little but still kept my arms around her. My breathing was laboured but I could easily blame that on the fact I had spent two hours beating the shit out of a punch bag. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly and she looked intently in my eyes.

"Not here." She responded after a while, breaking my gaze and looking around the gym where some people had begun to stare. I nodded and eased my way out of her embrace, taking her hand in my own and guiding her to the door. She tossed the towel back to the intrigued receptionist and followed me into the car park.

Her eyes widened a little when she saw my Jag but I more concerned about her than my car – despite how much I really liked my Jag – so I tugged her toward to passenger seat.

"Dude!?" Ivan said raising his arms.

I scowled a little. "Get in the back, Ivan."

"Mhmm." He hummed, raising his eyebrows, and slumped into the backseat. I sighed and ran round to the driver seat.

"Sorry." Rose murmured to Ivan but he just smiled.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was just teasing him." He said smacking my back. She bit back a laugh and I smiled a little.

"Where do you want to go? Back home?" I asked and she snapped her head round.

"No! Not my home!" she said panicked which caused my concern to peak. "Sorry, I just…" she trailed off and I saw Ivan incline his head towards Rose in the rear-view mirror. I knew what he was asking me to do but I wasn't sure how Rose would feel about that. Thankfully, I didn't have to ask. "C-could I come to yours?" she asked timidly and Ivan was nodded violently in the back.

"Of course." I said before I remembered. "Wait Ive, is Aleksei still there?" There was no way I was taking my Roza anywhere near that animal.

"No, I think he had some 'meeting' to go to." He said in inverted quotations. I snorted and turned back to Rose.

"Of course you can come." She smiled and relaxed a little in her seat. A comfortable silence filled the car as I joined the main road. I tried to keep my attention on the road but it was quite difficult with her sitting right next to me. I saw an amused Ivan in the back and scowled at him before returning my gaze to the road.

"I don't think we have been introduced properly." Ivan unexpectedly blurted out causing me to swerve a little. "I'm Ivan Zeklos, Dimitri's bestest friend in the whole wide world." he grinned and I rolled my eyes.

Rose, on the other hand, found this amusing and flashed him a traditional Rose Hathaway smirk which made my heart skip a beat. "I'm Rose Hathaway, the bestest person Dimitri knows." She winked at me and I felt a shudder trickle down my back.

Ivan outright laughed. "Ha! Oh, D, I like her." Rose beamed at me and I allowed a full smile to consume my whole face and, sitting here with both Ivan and Rose, I felt like I belonged. I knew there was going to be a hard talk coming but in that moment I was happy to sit and watch her stunning face in the morning sun as she continued to converse with my best friend. I didn't need alcohol or any other form of material recreation. I was free and it was because of her. Thank you Roza.