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

DPOV

The shrill sound awoke me in a start. I leapt from my pillow, my eyes wide and my breathing heavy. A thin band of sweat covered my body as it trembled at the sudden awakening. I let out a shaky sigh and ran my hands through my hair in an attempt to calm myself down – the shock of suddenly being ripped away from such an intense dream, to put it lightly, left in wake an almost painful aftermath. Rose had consumed my dreams a long while ago and she still continued to dwell, even more so since Christmas Eve. My sombre had become at the mercy of my Roza, but not in such a way that I felt enslaved. No, it was a bliss that I reveled in and only strengthened my affection for her. Oh, how I loved her.

The shrilling sound filled my ears again and I suddenly remembered why I had woken up. Grunting, I leaned over to the bedside table, pulling the wailing device to my ear.

"Da," I said rubbing my eyes to alleviate the sleep before I realised: wrong language.

"Dobroe utro, D," the voice at the other end chuckled and I resisted groaning again, "Kak pozhivaesh?"

"I couldn't be better," the sarcasm flooding through my accent and flowing off my tongue as easily as my native language did as I rubbed my eyes and tried to clear my head.

Another hearty chuckle rumbled across the line, "I can literally feel your disdain."

And another low growl left my lips and I repositioned to a more comfortable sitting arrangement, "What do you want, Ive?"

"Man, I had forgotten how grouchy you are in the mornings." My best friend commented. Involuntarily, I raised an eyebrow. Even though I could not see him, I knew he was grinning at the hypocrisy of that statement. On more occasions than I cared to remember, I'd walk into his apartment, calling out to my best friend as I opened the door after knocking thrice. His place, the usual dark solitude it always was, would be a habitat one would usually associate with a hibernating hedgehog. I'd plough on through, opening the curtains to the living room window and allowing the dim light of the morning sun to struggle through the complex of buildings that made up the Manhattan skyline. Ivan was on the fifth floor meaning there was a substantial height between him and the street lights below yet an equally significant blockage from the surrounding buildings that towered above him, further adding to his nest of hibernation.

And without fail, it would always be the same response: a groaned "Sup D" from where he emerged from his bedroom, scratching the top of his head so his fingers became lost in the messy blonde peaks. His eyes, barely open and his walk withheld something of the zombie disposition as he lumbered over to the cupboard to find alcoholic alleviation or, of late, the newly purchased coffee machine since his former substance had been banned pending his recovery.

The thought made me smile a little but I was still too tired to be happy about it, "What's got you so cheery at..." I leaned over to see what the time was. What I was not expected was what I had found... "3:30!?" My voice squeaked both unflatteringly and uncontrollably, "What the bloody hell are you doing up at this time!?"

A nervous laugh echoed over the phone and I scowled despite the fact he could not see me, "It's a long story..."

My scowl deepened, "Please do tell: I literally have all night."

He brushed off my grumpiness and the nervous laugh returned before the clearing of his throat banished it away, "You know how I signed up for a history course? Yeah, well, we were set an essay on why the British Labour party won the election in 1945 and I needed a bit of help so I may have, slightly, called Samantha last night and we may have, slightly, been talking all the way through the night..."

I frowned, "Ive, where is this going...?"

"Well, she may have, slightly..." He mumbled something incoherently.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that."

"She asked me out, D!" he all but yelled and I had to remove my phone from my ear to save my eardrums from a violent death. "She asked me out and I have no idea what to do. You gotta help me."

I grimaced and rubbed my ear soothingly before the full weight of what was happening dawned on me. "Ivan, are you telling me that you woke me up – at half three in the bloody morning – to get advice on your love-life?"

There was a pause. "Maybe."

"For Pete's sake! What are you? A teenage girl!?" I exclaimed.

"Hey," he protested, "this is a major life event here and I thought you'd want to be part of it."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and really just tried to process what was going on, "Couldn't this wait until it was vaguely light outside?"

"No, she literally just texted me this now and I can't not respond – we have been talking all night." He reiterated getting a little panicked.

I sighed and flopped back onto my pillow, "Well, do you want to go out with her." I asked realising that there was no way to go about this with all my male dignity intact.

"Well, yeah."

"Then what the fuck are you doing calling me up!" I cried in disbelief.

"I didn't know if it was the right thing to do – you're the one with the girlfriend, buddy. Not me." He reminded and I craned my neck back.

"You are unbelievable."

A yelp was heard from the other end, "Ah, she texted me again. D, I need to answer her!"

I rolled over and buried my face into the pillow, careful to keep the phone by my ear, "Ive, just say yes."

"How!" he cried.

I lifted my face out of the pillow. "Easy, see that keyboard? Find the letters 'y', 'e' and 's' and type them in."

There was a slight silence and I frown grew on my face. "Okay, now what?"

The frown deepened before I realised he was serious, "Hit send..." I said and there was another pause before I heard a ping over the line.

"She replied!" he exclaimed and I shook my head in disbelief over the situation. I was pretty sure I was dreaming. "She said: 'what do you mean?'. D, what do I say!?"

I fell back into the pillow, "Ivan, if you are going to ask me to write every one of your texts from now on, there will be an issue."

"Okay, I've said: 'yes, I would like to go out with you'." He informed me.

"Congratulations." I grumbled.

"Man, you are really grumpy." Ivan commented and I sighed in reply.

"I know, I'm sorry, but it is half three in the morning." I pointed out.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean t- D, she texted back!" he interrupted himself and the line went silent as he read the newly received message. "I have a date!" he exclaimed gleefully and, in spite of my fatigue and grumpiness, I laughed. He was genuinely so excited, it was a little adorable. "Thanks, mate."

"My pleasure, Ive." I said, the illuminated red numbers reading 03:36 caught my gaze as I sank back into the satin sheets that covered my bed.

"Now then, what shall I wear?"

I bolted upright, "You've got to be kidding me, Ive."

A hearty chuckle told me I was right and I allowed my shoulders and the rest of my tensed upper body to relax, "Nah, just messing with you. Can't have my lil' Mozart all tried and cranky for his beloved flower, can we?"

I rolled my eyes, "Goodbye, Ivan."

"Haha, farewell, D. Let's hope you cheer up." And with that, the line went dead. I tossed my phone away from me and allowed myself to collapse on my back. Dawn was still very far off so the room was laced in darkness. Shaking my head humorously, I could not help but smile. Taking this opportunity, if a little unwanted, to reflect I had realised just how far I had come. Just how much I had changed. And now Ivan was too. Granted, he medically was banned from any of his former activities but it was doing him a lot of good, even if the complaining was driving me insane.

And it was at that moment that I realised what an idiot I was being. Keeping Rose in the dark about the past I was too ashamed to mention – about Tasha and every other girl I took to bed – was a bigger mistake than those girls were. Sure, I don't expect that she would be thrilled to hear about past endeavours but I had no right to keep this from her.

Upon arriving at a conclusion, I reached towards my bedside table to find no phone. Remembering that it now lay on the floor, I pushed myself up before I fully registered the fact that it was twenty-five to four in the morning. I doubted Rose would appreciate my calling her up. Laughing at myself, I flopped back, closed my eyes and succumbed to a dreamless abyss, fully confident in what I was going to do.

I felt that I had only just closed my eyes when my phone started whining again. I scrunched up my face so that my visibility was reduced to no more than two tine slits but it was enough to see the 03:36 had changed to 07:10. What was with today? I groaned and reached for my phone and when I could not find it, I remembered that I had tossed it aimlessly. Scrambling to pick it up, I answered in the same grumpy tone as before.

"Oh, Dimitri, hello. Sorry to wake you."

I perked up, surprise mixed with confusion. "Alberta? Is everything okay?"

"No, no, everything is fine. I was just calling you to tell you that there is an issue with one of the contractors and Mr Dashkov wants Ms Ozera and you in the office today. I know you are supposed to be helping your friend, but would it be okay...?" I could hear the nervousness in her words.

I recalled Ivan and I's pre-dawn discussion. "I think he'll be fine." I said flatly and I could hear her sigh.

"Oh, thank God." She muttered and I chuckled.

"When do you want me there?" I asked, pulling off the sheets and pulling on a pair of trousers, buckling the belt one-handed.

"How fast can you get here?"

I smirked and bid her farewell before tugging on a shirt, neatening up my hair and pulling on my duster before walking out my apartment. I arrived at the office within fifteen minutes of my conversation with Alberta. I saw her rapidly typing away at her screen, glancing up as she did. Her frantic eyes found mine and she gestured me over.

"They are waiting for us." She told me, holding a missive file of recently printed pages. I grimaced at the thought of seeing Tasha again since my decision of telling Rose the truth, but I swallowed my discontent and my face fell back into my old mask.

Viktor sat at the head of the table, with Tasha to his side. He regarded me with his usual shallow gaze whilst Tasha smiled suggestively. I bit the inside of my cheek and sat next to Alberta, opposite Tasha.

"Welcome back, Dimitri, though I can't say the circumstances are particularly gleeful." Viktor said.

I frowned, giving him my full attention. "What's going on?"

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Well..." and then he proceeded to explain the extent of the developing 'bump in the road'. The contractor company we had assigned – the one that had been so intently researched by Viktor's assistant, Avery – turned out to be phoney: a con. Naturally, this cost Avery her job but recent evidence had discovered that Avery was part of the con; in truth, she was working for our companies biggest competitor – the Strigoi. This was exactly their style of sabotage: it bought them time and made Moroi Enterprises look unprofessional. Whilst they usually weren't too problematic, this was particularly irritating. Even Tasha was completely focused on what Viktor was saying and I could see a passion building in her eyes.

At least I now knew she actually cared about the job.

And so, I spent the next eight hours all but glued to my chair. With Alberta running back and forth to print, file and call whilst Tasha, Viktor and I interviewed and arranged very quick meetings with various other contractors as we tried to fix this mess.

I could not help but feel inadequate. This was not the first time our company had suffered and not the first time we had missed something but this was entirely avoidable. We had left Avery to her own devices and if I had done even the slightest bit of research alongside Avery's deception, this would never have happened. Half an hour of my life and instead I was stuck in a glass prison frantically rummaging through everything I had done for the past few months. And that wasn't even the worst part. No, the worst, most ironically humiliating part was that Nathan Ivashkov would have never allowed this to happen. He was notorious and it was one of the reasons he was such a favoured and brilliant employee. It was how he became so great – he was relentless in his enquiry, checking every detail over and over. Perfectionist was not a good enough label for him.

Hence my inadequacy.

The familiar tune of self-loathing began leak through and it was an effort to push it away. The day concluded and we had managed to scrape back a lot of what we had lost. Thankfully, the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been and we had gotten a new contractor by half past five. An hour later, we were packing up.

"Oh, I need a cup of tea." Alberta, for once losing her professional aura, sighed and collapsed into a black office chair. I smiled over to her and signed off the last of the paperwork for the new contractors.

"Urgh, how can you drink that stuff!? It is grim." Tasha offered her opinion on the subject matter. Alberta slowly glared over at Tasha as though she had said something blasphemous. I bit back my laughter which got me the glare too.

"I wouldn't mind a cup myself, actually." Viktor spoke up, rising from his chair, buttoning his blazer and nodding towards Alberta. "Care to join me, Ms. Petrov? Leave these unenlightened individuals to their deprived lives." He flashed me a devious grin and I slowly raised my eyebrow. He chuckled and Alberta smiled, rising, repositioning her skirt and falling back to her professional state.

"Certainly, sir." She nodded in my direction and I raised my hand discreetly to wave her goodbye.

"Jolly good. I trust you both will be okay packing up and leaving on your own." A statement, not a question, addressed to myself and Tasha, who had stopped writing and sat twiddling her pen between her thumb and forefinger.

"Yes, sir." I replied for the both of us.

"And Dimitri, you are still on holiday." He said pointedly before he and Alberta left moments later, leaving me with Tasha.

I rolled my eyes and returned to my file folding. "So, Dimka," I had stopped flinching at the nickname but it still made me a little queasy. Nonetheless, I had decided it would probably be best to try and get on with her, all things considered. I mean, it couldn't be that hard. "Tough day, huh?"

"Very." I responded, closing the file and shoving it into my bag. "I am struggling to still believe it. I mean, I don't think anyone suspected Avery."

"I know!" Tasha exclaimed, "What a bitch." I smiled a little and pushed myself from my seat.

"I'll see you, well, next year it will be." I jested and her smiled faltered a little at my attempt to put up a few more walls. I smiled and slipped on my duster, before making to leave the office.

"Dimitri," I was slightly taken back by the use of my proper name and I turned to Tasha, "I was actually wondering if I could have a lift. I got a taxi into work this morning and I don't really want to pay for another." She said, batting her eyelashes a little. I inwardly groaned but my conscious had turned me into a real gentleman lately and, in spite of my dislike, what was the worst that could happen?

"Sure, where are you going?" Tasha literally lit up and I already started regret this.

"I'm going to see my nephew. He works at some lowlife pub – it's local, I can direct you." She waved her words off and began to gather her things. I opened the door for her and we walked towards the elevator with Alberta giving me an alarmed look. I shook my head and she scowled before I left her gaze and went into the elevator.

"You know, I have never been in a Jag before." Tasha commented as I opened the front seat door.

"Oh?" I replied politely.

"No, I've been in a Ferrari and a Porsche and Maserati," she paused, "and a Lamborghini, but never a Jag." I pursed my lips and sat down into my car, turning on the engine and sliding into gear. Tasha trailed her finger along the door's interiors before turning back to me. "Not bad."

"Thanks." I nodded and she smiled. "So where are you wanting dropped off?" I asked, pulling out of the car park.

"Oh, it is small pub. Pathetic really. I have been trying to get my nephew out of that shithole for ages but he is so stubborn. The Shadow Kiss Inn?" My head jolted up. "Yeah, I thought you wouldn't know it – it is below us." I could feel as slight anger begin to boil within me and I gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to control it. How could she think that she was above anyone? How shallow do you have to be?

Instead of making my inner interrogation known, I just smiled. "I know it." I shrugged which surprised her but not quite as much as what I said next: "My girlfriend works there." It sort of slipped out before I could stop it but, honestly, I didn't mind. I should have done this long ago but it is better to regret what you have done rather than what you have not. And I think I have quite enough regret for one lifetime.

"Yo-you're girlfriend?" She stumbled.

"Yes, my girlfriend." I said frowning.

"I thought you were single..."

"I was until recently." I said thinking about my Roza. Even sitting next to Tasha, I found happiness with her being: her fire, her love, everything.

"Is it serious?" I was broken from my daydream by another question.

I smiled again. "I hope so."

"What's her name?" Her voice was broken and high pitched. Perhaps I had been a littler cruel?

"Rose." I said, pushing aside my musings.

Tasha's jaw dropped. "Rose!? As in, Rose Hathaway!?"

"Yes..." I said coyly, not expecting the reaction I got.

Her look turned to disbelief, "That little whore." My Jag swerved and I struggled to regain control after hearing that particular utterance.

"Excuse me!?" I all but spat disgustedly.

Tasha, however, was a cross between pity and incredulity, "Rose Hathaway is possibly the biggest slut I have ever had the misfortune to meet. She and her little friend have corrupted my nephew into staying in that ridiculous hellhole and now appears to have manipulated you too. Trust me on this one: you are better off without that thing."

The car came to a screeching halt. The Inn's entrance was a few good metres away but rage and anger had me locked in a frozen sate. "Get out."

Tasha seemed more shocked than before. "I'm sorr-"

"Get out." I cut her off looking away. Any remnants of my polite nature were now being solely directed in keeping me from slapping that woman. I am not my father. I am not my father. The chanting distracted me enough, but the adrenaline and rage continued to pulse round my beating vessels and slowly consumed every part of me.

Tasha continued to stare at me for a while longer before I heard the car door open, "Dimitri, I care for you. Rose just goes from one meaningless fling to another – she will break your heart. Cheap, poor people don't love, they just scavenge for money."

That did it.

Any control I once had was gone. Only two people in the whole world could make me lose control – one was Rose in love, the other Tasha in anger. She slowly closed the door and I could feel the smirk on her face. That only evoked me to jump out the car and march round the bonnet until I was within feet of her.

"How dare you." I hissed and she lashed around to meet my furious glare, "How dare you decide and dictate how other people should live their lives. You don't know a thing about me, or Rose, or indeed anyone bar yourself on this planet. So don't you dare try and convince me you do."

Tasha's ice blue eyes grew colder as they darted from side to side in their sockets as she took a step forward. "Don't tell me that you've fallen in love with her!?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed but in no sense of glee, "I am in love with her! Not that it is any of your business, but if you'd kindly like to back off and leave me to live my life as I chose."

Tasha looked disgusted. "She is fifthly and cheep."

"Don't you dare call her that." I growled.

"What can she offer you!?" She exclaimed throwing her arms in the air.

"Everything." I responded immediately.

"She is worth nothing." She spat.

"She is worth more than you could possibly imagine." I defended again with my passionate anger growing with every word.

"She cannot love you like me, Dimka." I hadn't noticed her approach but I as sure as hell noticed her mouth on mine. My whole body rejected the idea that it was happening and I tried to pull away but was trapped between her and my car. Before I could push her away, there was a gasp and Tasha pulled back herself to look at the interruption. My eyes widened.

Well, who else was it going to be?

Wee note on the Russian:
Da (Да) - Yes
Dobroe utro (Доброе утро) - Good morning
Kak pozhivaesh (Как поживаешь) - How are you

x