Hiiii guys! I'm back with the update :)

I'm planning some more bonding between these two in the next chapter, hope you'll stick around to see it!

And dear Guest, thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed my work so far and that you found it funny

Until next time, lots of love people! Have a nice end of the week!

CHAPTER 18 - To friendship

Rose's POV

The next day, Dimitri is the one to wake me up. At an illegally early hour, I might add. I barely manage to crawl out of bed. I didn't want to, but he kept knocking.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I thought… why not take a day off from Evette's lessons?"

Damn, I have such a bad influence on him, don't I? He suggests to me to not fulfill my duties? This is unheard of. Outrageous. And I love it.

"And do what?"

"What about that horse ride I promised you?" of course they have horses here too. After all, we're acting like it's the 1800s, right?

"I would really like to. But it has to be this early?"

"If you don't want anyone to see us, yes."

"Fine." at least it's worth it to get up so early, than to let Evette torture me any further. Besides, if she wants to scold me for missing class yesterday, she can do it tomorrow, for both of my strikes.

"Go get ready then."

He takes me to the stables, but Evette is here.

Little fucker.

"What is this?" I demand an explanation from him.

"You lied to me yesterday. Evette waited for you, and you skipped class. So I made sure you got here on time today."

"On time? You brought me here an hour earlier!"

"How else are you going to make up for the time you wasted yesterday?"

"Come on, it's the holidays, don't I deserve a day off?"

"The 28th doesn't count as a holiday. And today, the 29th doesn't either. So go have your lesson."

"Goddamned bastard," I say as I turn to enter the room where Evette will bore me to death for the next few hours. I can at least be thankful they're not making me sit in horse shit or something.

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to! And also hear that I will pay you back for this."

"I'll be around. You know, in case you want to run."

"Yeah, whatever." I bet he will take so much pleasure in hearing her scold me for every little thing.

We've finally gotten to the party etiquette and dancing. Yay, I can finally learn how to behave in public.

After she critiques my sports outfit and complains about how it would be better if I'd learn to dance in a dress, she starts bombarding me with all these rules, but I cannot pay attention to her. There's too much shit to take into account and I can't compute so many instructions at this hour.

A little annoyed with me, not that it would be anything new, she ditches that subject and thinks that if I start moving it will help. Only that she wants a partner for me. And since there is no one around, she calls Dimitri to fill that role.

Ha! Payback! If I have to waste my time with this, he will too!

"I know how to dance."

Yes, he does, unlike me. His poor shoes that night. If I accidentally stepped on them last time, I make it my mission to ruin them today.

"Thanks to me anyway." Wow, she taught him to dance? I am more than surprised to learn that she offers lessons to anyone who is not a Moroi. "So now, do what you learned. I'll take care of her."

Without anything to say against her, he gets close to me. Oh, I cannot wait to make him suffer.

"Remember," Evette begins her lesson. "You are at a social gathering, so the impression you make is everything. How you present your body is important. Now, Rose, listen: these are the basic rules of decency because we don't want anyone to think we're barbarians. Do not wiggle your shoulders, and do not shake your hips. Do not twist the body in any way. Do not flap the elbows, you're not trying to fly. Do not pump the arms. Do not hop or skip, you're not in a club, alright? Stand far enough from each other to allow free movement for graceful and comfortable dance. Now that this part is done, the dance. The man shall…" she waits for Dimitri's response. I pray I won't have a pop quiz at the end of this because I'll fail it.

"Rest his hand lightly against the woman's back, touching her with only the fingertips and wrist." how many times did she make him repeat that, I wonder?

"And?"

"My left hand and forearm should be held up in the air, parallel with my body, with the hand outstretched, holding the lady's hand in mine."

"Go ahead then."

He touches me so gently as he pulls me closer to him and I instantly forget about everything else. Who cares about my little revenge plan? My breath got harsher and I feel dizzy, thanks to his cologne. And don't get me started on the burning sensation of his fingers on my back, despite all these layers between our skins.

As Evette explains the steps to me, I cannot focus. He's too close! And it was one thing when we were alone, but now she is here, and I am so worried she would see something and interpret it the wrong way. Or, you know, interpret it the right way and expose me.

Despite my clumsiness and lack of awareness, he's acting nice to me, not saying anything when I keep on stepping on his shoes or fucking up the steps. He is understanding and calm compared to Evette, who has made us restart the dance about a thousand times now.

"Dimitri?"

"What?"

"I think I'm going to faint."

"What?"

I thought it was all in my head and that I was silly to feel this way just because I was near him, and I tried to push the feeling away, but it kept coming. And it got to be too much.

From my heads-up to me collapsing in his arms, it's just a matter of seconds.

The last thing I feel is his arms tightening around me.

When I regain consciousness, I find myself in Dimitri's arms. I longed to be in this position, to know how it feels, and I know it sounds wrong. It feels wrong to feel this good in his arms, but I do nothing to change my situation. I continue to pretend I'm out while the guilt of it eats away at me.

Lissa sees us and starts questioning him about what happened to me as she follows us to my room, I guess. Or it could be the doctor's office, I didn't open my eyes to see which way we were heading.

But I recognize the softness of my bed when he lies me down in it and arranges the covers over me.

"We should get the doctor."

They leave the room and I drift back into my slumber, my eyelids too heavy to try to lift them.

The next time I wake up, it's because I hear a harsh voice. Dimitri's. He's mad. Is he scolding me? Nah. I'm still asleep, he'd be wasting his breath.

I open my eyes and see that he is scolding Lissa. I need to focus a little to hear what he is telling her.

"She wasn't eating! And you knew it! Why didn't you tell anyone?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know for sure. She told me she was eating, but I suspected she wasn't. When we would go to the cafeteria she would tell me she had already eaten and the plates I saw in her room were always empty. I didn't want to get her in trouble over a hunch of mine."

"So is it better now that she's lying there-"

"Hey. Leave her alone. It's not her fault."

I try to get up, but I don't have enough energy to push my body up. Maybe the IV they hooked me up to didn't have enough time to do its job.

Lissa hurries over to help me get up, and Dimitri approaches my bed too, with arms crossed.

"What were you thinking?"

"I'm really tired. Could you please stop scolding us? I'd like to go to back sleep."

"The hell you are. You have to eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"Rose. This is not a game."

I sigh, knowing he will not let go of this. "Fine. I'll eat, I promise. But right now I just want to sleep. Besides, the IV will do for now, won't it?"

I see his jaw tighten as he ponders whether scolding me further would make things worse or not. It would. I don't know if I'm up for starting to yell, but I might try anyway.

He turns to Lissa. "Make sure she eats. All of it if possible, but I'll be happy if she eats some of it."

With that, he leaves, still obviously upset.

I get my share of scolding from Lissa too, and as she promised to him, she tries to make me eat. I refuse, even though it is my favorite. I have the feeling that if I take a bite, I'll throw up right away.

Leaving that for now, she changes her approach and tries to cheer me up.

"Ivan wrote you something. I found this letter when we brought you here."

I scoot myself down in bed and hope the blankets swallow me whole. I feel like shit.

"I don't think I have the strength to read that." I am just so tired. How could I not foresee I'd feel this way?

"I could do it for you." of course, her curiosity about us is as great as everyone else's.

"Sure. Go ahead."

It's an apology for not being present much, and he's asking me if we could have breakfast together the next day, since he'll be around.

By the time she finished reading, I had already closed my eyes and she had gotten the message.

I hear the door of my room open, and through half-opened eyes I see Dimitri come in and sit on the edge of the bed.

He looks calmer, at least, so I find it safe to open my eyes completely.

He doesn't scold me anymore, and for whatever reason, this feels even worse than if he did.

He takes my hand in his and checks the mark the IV left. It's bruised, but it will pass. The gentleness with which he moves brings me to the brink of tears.

"I screwed up, didn't I?"

"You scared a lot of people today, Rose."

"Did I?"

"You scared Evette. Lissa. Me. Isn't that enough?" what answer can I give him? He's right. I even heard the fright in his voice as I was going limp in his arms. "For how long haven't you been eating?"

"A couple of days," I mumble. He doesn't need to know an exact number.

"Why did you do that?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"You wanted to starve yourself to death? You told Ivan you'd rather die than-"

"It's not that."

"Then? You used it as a form of protest?"

"Protest my ass. I shouldn't eat anymore."

"Why?"

"Look at me, Dimitri."

"I am."

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Oh, come on! I'm fucking huge!"

Finally understanding, he smiles. But if he thinks I'm silly for thinking that, he's wrong.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone! Ivan's aunt and Evette and Cathleen and… they're right."

Evette made sure to comment on my hips three times the last time I saw her before today, and it doesn't take a genius to see that I don't fit the mold they're all used to. If I can't fight it, I should go with it, right? If I have to be their queen, I should at least resemble my people.

"They're not right."

The tears I managed to hold back earlier come back and I'm sure Dimitri can hear that in my voice.

"Ekaterina said Ivan would be embarrassed to be seen in public with me looking like this. And she's right."

From his pocket, he gets a pack of tissues and hands one to me, and he's nice enough to look away as I wipe my eyes.

"I think that's for him to decide, don't you?"

"I don't look like I should. I'm odd. I know I'm not skinny. I have a mirror, you know?"

"Why are you letting anyone put you down just because you're different? People come in all kinds of shapes, Rose. And just because you don't look like a typical Moroi woman, that doesn't make you any less beautiful than anyone else."

He goes on to say something about me training all my life and that it's normal for me to look the way I do and eat the way I do, but I didn't catch all his words about that, I was too stunned by what he said earlier.

"You… you think I'm… pretty?"

He smiles. "That's a small word to describe it. You're-" he presses his lips together and doesn't say it. "That shouldn't mean anything to you. Whatever people think, whatever I think, it shouldn't affect how you feel about yourself." my stomach growls, deciding to ruin the moment, and his face grows concerned. "You really don't want to eat anymore?"

"That was the plan, but… I guess I'd like something to eat."

"What would you like? Just name it."

"Maybe, some of that black bread of yours? I liked that thing back at the Zelkos' house."

Trust me, that's pure happiness I see on his face right now.

"I'll go fetch you some then," he says and leaves, not giving me the chance to change my mind.

Of course, Ivan has been informed about my little fuck up, and while together at breakfast in his family's suite, he keeps a strict eye on me, and at some point even takes it upon himself to put food on my plate.

I have the feeling this incident will not go away as easily as I hoped.

After that, he tells me he has to attend a meeting with the Council.

"Take me with you," I don't waste the chance to ask.

"What?" yeah, I know, controversial request.

"I want to… see. If I am to be the Queen, then I should know how these things work, right?" even though it will be mostly his job to preside over the meetings.

"This will make my father very angry."

"Oh, I see." So he came here too. And of course, why would such a loving son do something against his father's will?

He smiles. "Maybe everyone else in the Council too. Let's do it."

"For real?"

"Yeah. Come on. Let's go or we'll be late."

Everyone pins me with their eyes, watching me rather cautiously when Ivan brings me into the Council's room, but no one says anything. Not even my father. Not even the King. I guess they're all curious about what I might do. I am too, to be honest. But I hope I won't cause too much trouble and make Ivan regret his decision.

Dimitri is here too, replacing the usual representative of the guardians for whatever reason, and like everyone else, he is more than surprised to see me here. Still, when he looks at Ivan, he smiles, just a little. So, does this mean he agrees with this?

The meeting starts with a debriefing of the previous meeting, and they all pat each other on the back for the success that the Christmas trip turned out to be. When they're done with that, they start talking about some revolts that are rumored to be starting. They could have started with that, instead of kissing each other's asses, but what do I know? The thing is, some Morois don't want me to be Queen, thanks to the reputation I've made for myself, and they're threatening to get violent.

And what a moment I picked to join the meeting. They're all eyeing me hateful now, and I try to hide a little behind my father, where I had to take a seat because we're family, they say.

"We should do something about those riots. Calm the people down," the Badica's representative takes the attention off me.

"Put them all in jail or something. End this while it's still small," Aaron's father intervenes. Of course, what else could have he said?

"I agree. And if they fight back, then shut them up, if you know what I mean," Ivan's father gives the verdict and I am shocked to see some of the others nod.

They would act in such a way with their people without any regret?

"Such violence cannot be the answer," I find myself protesting. I get it that we're not too fond of democracy, but we're not tyrants either, aren't we?

"I beg your pardon? Since when are the non-representatives of the families allowed to speak here? I can understand you wanting to watch, but keep your mouth shut," the King tries to stop me, but I won't hear it.

"Or since no one seems to like me and my opinions, I think a better way of ending that problem of yours would be to throw me in the middle of them and let them kill me. That will certainly end their hatred for me and they'd be thankful to you for giving them the opportunity. Like that, you would get rid of two problems."

I look at the King hatefully and dare him to confront me further. He is the one responsible for this. Him, Zeklos, and my damned father.

"Unless you want to get out that door right in this very moment, shut up."

I seal my lips, hardly. But my tongue keeps on itching, especially when they move on to a new topic.

They bring up the large number of wounded Dhampirs thanks to the new Strigoi attacks that took place while we were living our best fucking lives in a resort (something I wasn't aware of until this very second), and they conclude there are not enough places to take them where they could be cared for. After all, those places they are in now aren't safe anymore, and they're hardly populated with uninjured people who could take care of the hurt ones.

When no one comes up with a solution, they switch the subject.

"So your only option is to let them die of fucking sepsis or get killed by other Strigoi who come to finish the job?" I open my mouth again, of course.

You can only imagine how much that enraged me. They didn't even think of sending supplies, which is the least their stupid heads could have thought of! I mean, it is a small commune that got attacked, but that doesn't make those people insignificant.

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" oh, Randall Ivashkov, I fucking despise you.

"Well, my King, I've been told I am quite slow to pick up on things and-" someone starts to interrupt me, but I lift my hand and stop him. "Do not speak over me. I have abstained well enough myself, and I let you finish your stupid lobby about the age limit for Guardians from earlier, so I suppose I am allowed to finish my idea. Because from what I remember, I am soon going to become more important than any of you around here, right?"

I feel my father's hand on my thigh, trying to make me stop by squeezing hard, but I push it away. If Ivan's aunt wanted me to be a ferocious bitch, then that's what I'm going to be. I'll be meaner than anyone in this room.

"Instead of having all these Royal asses here and entertaining them with parties for the big nothings they do, you could free the rooms and have the guardians brought here. Instead of organizing the New Year's Eve party and spending all that money on shiny things and booze, you could host them here and take care of them! Take care of the people who protect us and let us delve into the pleasures of life while they starve and endure cold nights and wounds from those monsters. You just want to let them die so that you can later complain about not having enough guardians? What for? So that you could push that awful law on them, that's it?"

"Dhampir-loving bitch," someone mutters, and I shoot up to my feet.

"Yes, maybe I am that! But it's way better than being an entitled piece of shit! What makes you more worthy than them? Your wealth? Your titles? Your magic? You're alive today thanks to their sacrifices. Those bills you're always flaunting around are drenched in their blood. Those good people, who put their trust in you, who hope you will offer them justice and a better life one day. And you want to let them die. You're already letting them rot in those fucking communes, like they're nothing more than baby makers and dead meat! And they still serve us without complaint. You bastards, we're no better than them!"

Nobody says a word. I don't sit around and wait for someone to open their mouth, I just walk away before they kick me out. I won't give them this satisfaction.

But my curiosity is big enough to make me stand by the door and listen.

A minute passes and the room is still silent. Ivan is the one to break it.

"She wasn't wrong. We need to take better care of our guardians."

That's when the room explodes in protests. Of course it did.

I knew the King would summon me to have me scolded, so I waited next to his office until the meeting was over. The least I can do is to spare Dimitri from looking for me.

As soon as I enter his office, he begins to threaten me.

"I don't know how you convinced Ivan to do that, but if you do it again, it will not end well for you. For either of you. And all that drama with I'll be your Queen… listen to me girl, I have enough power to stop it from happening. So don't you dare get cocky and forget your place."

I bow my head and shut up. That's what I'm supposed to do. But behind my back, I am fisting my hands so hard that blood spills. I want to talk back, but I know I cannot. Otherwise, things will get worse, and not only for me.

"Yes, my King. I apologize for my behavior. It will not happen again."

If he thinks I'm talking out of my ass, he doesn't say it out loud. He just smiles, which makes me wonder what punishment he has in mind for me.

"And since you were so adamant that we give up our rooms for those Dhampirs, I guess you'll be the happiest to give up yours."

So it happened? They agreed with my idea?

"Yes, Your Majesty. It would be my pleasure." and it really is.

Ivan's POV

Hearing that she has been summoned by the King, after I get my scolding from my father, I wait for her in the hallway. But I'm not the first one she meets when she emerges from there.

It is her father who intercepted her and when he leaves, she looks desolate, and I can only wonder what he told her.

"Was it bad?" I ask her when we're alone.

"Not really. I just let them walk all over me, no biggie." so she didn't talk back. I shouldn't say I'm happy about it, but I kind of am.

We walk away to a more private place and sit on a bench.

"I'm sorry, Rose."

"Don't be. I did it to myself, didn't I? I shouldn't have expected anything from them."

"I convinced them to do what you proposed."

"I know. And that's great. It's fucking great."

"You're not happy about it? I thought that's what you wanted." that's why I spoke over my father and insisted we do it.

"Of course I wanted it! But should I be happy? I mean, my idea wasn't good enough until you convinced them it was, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So? Why should I be happy? That my ideas don't matter, but when you say the same thing, it suddenly becomes great? Because unless you're a man you mean nothing to them?"

"Rose-"

"Then why am I to become Queen, huh? Only because you need me as a wife, for my pretty presence and silence and sitting in my place, right? You don't need me at your side for my ideas."

"But I do. I want you to make decisions too. This Court will be your home as well. You'll rule it too."

"Watch it with such declarations, Ivan. You have no idea who might be listening."

"I made sure to check we were alone before I said such an outrageous idea. Compared to you who shouted the truth in front of a bunch of idiots."

She smiles, but bitterly.

"I know I will only be your keychain, Ivan, no matter how progressive you want to be. I will mean nothing to them after I become Queen, just as I do now. And this injustice with the guardians… I am not helping anyone by being here. My big mouth can't help anyone. Not as long as they are inside that room. For the sake of power and money, they're knowingly killing them." her eyes fill with tears and she looks down. "I've always been useless to them. To my friends… They…"

"Rose…"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I'm sorry."

She gets up and wants to walk away, but I catch her hand and stop her.

"Please, don't run." where will we get to if she keeps doing this?

She doesn't try to get out of my grip, and that gives me the chance to see the four little cuts in her palm.

"Hey, what did you do?"

She snatches her hand back and hides behind her back.

"Nothing."

"Oh, you… Come. Let's take care of that, okay?"

She nods and lets me take her to her room, to get that cleaned up.

But as I wipe the smears of blood off her skin, I just cannot get one thing out of my mind.

"Rose, earlier you said… about your friends…"

"Yeah, I did."

"Would you talk to me about it?" she looks at me like she's about to run away again, so I try to calm her fear. "Let me be your friend, Rose. I may not be able to change anything about this situation we're in, but I can listen."

It takes her a minute to ponder things.

"I… I have a secret about the time before I met you. About who I was before… all this."

"I see. Look, you don't have to feel pressured to-"

"No. If we're in this together, I think it's fair that you know. I um… how much time do you have?"

"How much time you need. I'm not going anywhere."

She smiles, but her eyes are filled with tears. Tears I pretend not to see as I focus on putting some ointment on her palm.

"I've lived most my life as a guardian," she starts, and nothing could have prepared me for her telling me this.

Nor about the Strigoi attacks she had witnessed. Nor about her parents or what her biological parents have done to her.

"Oh, kiddo, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. And please don't pity me." She told me all this without shedding a tear. She's just so strong, so how could I feel that way about her? "I didn't tell you this so you would. I just… I guess I want you to understand why I get so fired up and… act stupid."

"I do. I understand. And I'll support you, I promise." we have the same purpose.

"What about your father?"

I shrug. "I'll find a way to deal with him. And maybe the things he doesn't know, won't hurt him." or rather they won't come around and hurt her. Or me.

She smiles. "I guess Dimitri was right about you."

"About what?"

"About you not wanting to be like him."

Of course I don't.

"I hope I can prove it to you and not let Dimitri vouch for me instead. And I'll start with this thing. I've already taken full responsibility for it, I'll be in charge of everything, so-"

"You did?"

"I didn't say it to brag, but… it was the right thing to do."

The way she looks at me lets me know that whatever the consequences, it will be worth it.

"Speaking about this thing… I kind of gave my room away. Do you think I could share yours for a while?" I start laughing. "Hey!" she punches my arm. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know. I just… I gave my room away too. I wanted to lead by example in there, so I hoped I could ask you the same thing."

She starts laughing too. "I see. So what do we do now? We camp out? Our asses will freeze."

"I'll find something, don't worry."

Our laughter dies down and for once, the silence between us feels right to me.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" oh, I guess I was staring a little.

"I'm sorry. I know this isn't the first time it has happened, but it's so different from our usual fighting, that I still need a minute."

"What for?"

"To get used to it."

She smiles. "I could get used to it."

"Yeah, me too."

And in a moment when my heart doesn't consult with my brain, I put my hand over hers on the bed.

She pulls hers away.

The next second, I'm on my feet.

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm a complete moron. I'm sorry. I'll… I'll go. I'm sorry."

I have never rushed out of a room so fast.

Idiot, idiot, idiot! I'm a fucking idiot! Now she will think I wanted to hit on her or god knows what else, trying to take advantage of her vulnerable position! God, she will pull away from me, I am sure of it. And just now, when we got so far! And it is all my fault. She trusted me and look what I've done! I need to find Dimitri and make him beat my ass up for the stupidity I've just done. And if he's going to tell me it's going to be alright, I'll be the one to kick his ass.

Rose's POV

When I said that Ivan wouldn't let go of the incident where I starved myself, I never thought he would take it this far. He said that for a while I need to be supervised when I eat, and yes, I can understand this concern of his, and I didn't protest too much about it. But he went a step further than that. He brought in Miss Yana, a sweet old Moroi lady who feeds me plenty of food, despite my refusals. She doesn't know much English, but it's enough for her to make me stuff my face. And I can't deny it, she's a great cook.

"Ma'am, please, no more. I'm really full. I'll burst soon."

She shakes her head as she pushes a plate of small pancakes in front of me.

"Prince Zeklos will be mad. You cannot leave empty. He gave me straight instructions. Feed you."

"But I've eaten like three breakfasts already." and I'm trying not to feel too awful about it.

"This is not breakfast. This is dessert. No meal without dessert, no?"

I laugh. She's right. That used to be my motto too.

When I'm ready to explode, she finally lets me out of the kitchen where I've been held hostage, and I go search for Ivan. I need to get to a compromise with him. If I keep eating like this he'll definitely be embarrassed to be seen with me in public.

But he has other things he wants to talk to me about. He found a solution to our problems. Two, actually, but he leaves the choice up to me. And between sharing a suite with his father, or a room with Dimitri, my choice is obvious.

I spend the rest of the day cleaning my room and making it welcoming for the guardians who will occupy it. Ivan comes by and helps me move my essential stuff into Dimitri's room, where we'll spend New Year's Eve, since we've both decided not to attend the big party that's being thrown. We know this could come back to bite us in the ass, but we're prepared to face the consequences of that. We want to make ourselves heard, after all.

As the day turns into night, there are no guardians around the building to party with, as they have all been sent to watch over the shitty party. Dimitri is not among them, because someone still has to keep an eye on me, so I have to rely on this too small group of people to keep me entertained.

I find out that around Dimitri, Ivan is just as boring. But it's not like I expected Ivan's behavior to rub off on Dimitri. Or, knowing what I know about his partying spirit, I guess that my future husband still feels weird after what happened yesterday, and despite his apologies today too, he doesn't want to try anything too bold.

But come on, they were planning to read something or watch TV for the rest of the night! How is that in any way celebratory? It's New Year's Eve, people!

It was only through sheer charm and wit that I convinced them to play with me. Literally. I snooped around all the common areas in the main building, found some board games, and got them to join me. Okay, maybe I did it by threatening to do something stupid, but in the end, they got to enjoy playing, so it was a win for everyone.

They taught me Russian draughts, we played some Jenga, we solved some murders and we sank each other's ships. The games were sprinkled with funny stories from when they were younger, mostly told by Ivan, and I shared some of mine too. Along the way, I got more than a glimpse of the dynamic between these two, and it just made me miss Mase so much.

I think I'm even jealous of their friendship, and the more I hear, Dimitri starts to look less like a boring man. Or maybe the younger Dimitri was like that. I don't know what happened in the meantime, though. I mean, the man rode a shopping cart while drunk and broke into the theater section of the college they were studying at, just to steal some props, on a dare. Of course, these were all Ivan's ideas, but he agreed to them, which is something. Nowadays, not even if he were held at gunpoint, I don't think he'd agree to do that.

When they were little, he always found the most ingenious places for hide and seek and Ivan always resorted to pretending he was hurt so that Dimitri would get out of his spot. Which he did, despite knowing his friend's strategy. Their favorite game to play was to imagine that they were pirates and they'd sneak into Anton's room, trying to steal some treasure.

The first time Ivan visited Dimitri's family, he was thrilled to help out with the house chores, as he had never done such a thing at his house. That time too, Dimitri's older sister and her friends dressed them up and made them get married to their dolls and I cry from laughing so hard, with that image in my head.

As they grew older, Dimitri would follow Ivan everywhere, even at college, where he took the same classes as him, just so that he could share the room with him at all times. He didn't care much about his academic outcome, but he was good at it and he often helped Ivan with his homework, to the detriment of his own grades. Still, he was a diligent student and the best when it came to organizing group projects. Ivan praises his friend for his sports achievements, as he encouraged him to join the college's football team. Of course, there were perks for him in this too, as he had reasons to take some girl to Dimitri's matches. And speaking of ladies, Dimitri didn't lack fangirls there. Ivan informs me that half the girls in their classes took up running just to see his ass or something during football training.

All in all, there was always the two of them, through thick and thin, I kind of feel like third-wheeling here, but they've been kind enough to accept me in their world and I'm grateful for that.

We wait for midnight to open the bottle of champagne that I stole during the party preparations, and celebrate. As it is a special occasion, the boys decide to indulge me and offer me a glass as we watch the fireworks from outside the building, despite the biting cold.

They taught me a strange tradition of theirs, as Russian people seem to take their New Year's wishes very seriously. We wrote our wishes on pieces of paper and when the clock struck midnight, we burned them. Nothing weird yet. But after that, we took some of the ash and put it in our champagne. You'd never catch me alive doing such a thing, but hey, if the tradition says so, here I am.

"Cheers!"

"За дружбу," Ivan states.

"What does that mean?"

"To friendship."

I smile. "To friendship!"

"To friendship," Dimitri adds.

We clink our glasses and drink.

But Dimitri keeps on eyeing the pomegranate I brought with me. They're not the only ones allowed to have traditions.

"What do you plan to do with that?"

"Smash it."

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am. That's my tradition." I always did it with my folks and never missed a year. This won't be my first.

I go to the entrance of the building and crack it on the asphalt.

"To better days, guys!"

We continued to have fun with those games, and our tongues got looser thanks to the little alcohol in the champagne.

It was all nice, until Ivan decided to spoil it all, because he needs to wake up early in the morning to leave. Again. It must be so annoying to always be on the go.

The sleeping arrangements have already been established: I take the bed, and they, being the gentlemen they are, will sleep on the floor, each of them taking a side of the bed.

"Thank you for today, guys. I haven't had such a nice New Year's Eve in a while," I say after Dimitri turns off the light.