Riley stared straight ahead; her expression was blank, though there were times when her brows would knit together, and she would move her mouth as if she was about to speak, then she would go back to staring blankly ahead. I shifted, twirling a lock of my hair around my finger and waited for her to process everything.

I jumped when Riley suddenly turned to face me. "Vampire?" she asked. "Like actual vampires? With the teeth and the flying–"

I pursed my lips, "They don't fly."

"–like Dracula-mind-controlling shit." She finished with a huff, eyes wide. "And you're one of them?"

I shifted again, "I mean technically, but I don't have the teeth or mind-control, though there are some that can." I gave more of a brief explanation of Moroi and dhampir; there was only so much I could tell her, considering I didn't even know much.

Riley's hand smacked my arm, "Have you ever wanted to drink my blood?"

"I don't drink blood," I argued. She leaned in closer to me.

"But if you did, would you?"

"No."

Riley laughed, "Yeah, right. I'm a snack!" She reclined back into the couch cushion, becoming pensive again.

I tapped my fingers on my leg, feeling more apprehensive the longer she was quiet. "You're taking this pretty well," I pointed out. She took it better than me at least; I had called Dimitri crazy and told him to get lost.

Her head rolled to the side to look at me, chewing on her bottom lip before she sighed. "I think that's because, weirdly, it makes sense." I raised my eyebrows at her, and she elaborated, "I've always lived in a shitty part of town. I've seen stuff over the years that never made sense, but you know, we ignore it. But now having a name put to it, it all kind of clicks."

"You don't think I'm crazy?" I pushed.

She shot me a look. "Rose, you are bat-shit crazy, but I know you wouldn't lie to me." Her expression became serious again, "I noticed after you took work off some shifty-looking people were showing up around the diner. I swear one night I saw their eyes glowing red."

My heart sank. "You have to be careful at night," I implored, holding her eyes so she knew how important it was to me. "Those people are the bad ones."

"Strigoi, right?"

I nodded and gripped her wrist tightly, "I don't want anything to happen to you. I–" My words caught in my throat, flashes of the woman dying in my arms. "I might not be there to save you."

Riley's eyes softened. Her fingers curled around mine and lifted them from her wrist; she squeezed them, "You've always tried to help everyone. I know you try to act like you don't give a shit, but you go out of your way to help people all the time." A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, eyes glazed over as she became lost in a memory. She looked up at me and brushed my hair back from my face, "You can try, but you can't save everyone. That's too much pressure to put on yourself, and expecting that will just burn you out."

I couldn't hold her eyes and looked at the window instead. The sun was up, the light peeking through the heavy curtains. I wondered if they were out looking for me or if they were too pissed off with me even to care.

"Do you regret finding out the truth?"

My eyes snapped back to hers, lost for words. "I don't know." I licked my lips, thinking over my answer. Sure there was a lot I still didn't know, especially about my parents, but there was so much more that I was grateful to have learned. I didn't regret the people I met, and now I had a place that felt like I did belong.

Dimitri flashed in my mind.

I'd never regret meeting him.

Finally, I shook my head, "No. I don't regret it. It's scary, and the secrets piss me off, but everything else makes it worth it."

"Do you want to turn your back on it all?"

I sighed. "I don't know." After tonight, I didn't know if I should be out there. What good could I do if I kept messing up?

Riley squeezed my fingers again, waiting until I met her eyes, "Whatever you choose to do, you'll always have me." She glanced across the room, "I need to sleep—or at least try to after all of that. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm going to pass out," I admitted, feeling the exhaustion hit. I was grateful for the subject change; it wasn't alright yet, but I felt less overwhelmed. Being able to tell someone about it all was like a weight lifted, and with my emotions calmed down, I realised I might have overreacted.

I never handled failing well, and the fact it cost a life hit me harder than I was ready for. I could understand what Dimitri was trying to tell me now—that maybe I shouldn't just give up.

Riley shouted good night from her room, closing the door after tossing me a shirt to change into. I was glad to finally be out of those clothes. What I was going to do next was still up in the air. Could I just go back to that world after tonight?

I pushed it from my mind and curled up on the couch with the pineapple throw blanket Riley kept on the back of her couch. Sleep pulled me under, my mind racing even as my dreams took over; what started as a replay of that woman dying morphed into the fields that surrounded my childhood home.

It felt off, an eerie quiet; not a single bird sound or the rustle of the wind. When I spun to look behind me, it was just the burnt remains of my house, though placed on top of it was the warehouse.

"Soon, you will come to me, Rosemarie."

A loud bang shocked me awake. I gasped so fast I felt like I was choking; I forgot where I was sleeping and fell off the couch to the carpeted floor.

There was a knocking again, and Riley cursed as she opened the door, "What the fuck—Oh, it's you."

"Is Rose here?"

I pushed myself up to peer over the couch, barely able to see Dimitri's shoulder from where I was, but I recognised his voice instantly. Riley was holding onto the door and leaning against the frame that he couldn't just push past her, and the door blocked his view of me. Her eyes darted over to me and an eyebrow raised.

I nodded after a moment.

A million things went through my mind, trying to think of why he was here. He almost sounded frantic; I could hear him shifting his weight on his feet as he waited for an answer.

Riley sized him up, then pushed the door open so I was visible. "Just so you know, I fixed her already. Don't break her again," she warned him, then turned and smiled at me, "I have to meet Sydney. You okay to lock up?"

It took me a moment to realise she was dressed. How late was it?

"You can take some of my clothes or whatever. Just remember to text me more often," Riley ordered with a stern look, and then grabbed her purse and slipped past Dimitri. And like that, I was left alone with Dimitri.

I had mentioned him to Riley earlier, even going into some of the more graphic details about our relationship. I hadn't even started to think what I was going to do about our relationship—or whatever it was we had.

Dimitri took a hesitant step forward; his shoulders visibly relaxed when I stood. His eyes flicked across my body before meeting my eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking another step closer.

I crossed my arms over my chest, "Yeah, I'm okay."

A sigh of relief blew out his mouth. "When you didn't come back—and then I went to your apartment, but you weren't there—I got worried." His eyes pinched, "I thought you left."

I dropped my eyes. "I just needed to get away for a while."

"Last night wasn't your fault. It's horrible, but it happens," he started, growing brave and walking around the couch to be before me. "We learn from it and do better."

"What if I can't do better? What if this is the best I have?" I counted. My doubts were not easily let go. I groaned and dragged my fingers through my hair, "I fucked up last night."

"Do you really believe that's the best you can do?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "Are you going to throw away any chance you have at improving?"

It was practically the same question Riley asked. I released a slow breath and lifted my eyes to his, "No. I don't want to feel like I did last night. I don't want another person dying in my arms."

Dimitri studied my face, a hint of hope in his tone, "Does that mean you'll come back?"

It was the easy choice to just turn my back on it all and pretend it didn't matter. But I didn't want to just take the easy choice. "Yeah, comrade. You haven't got rid of me yet."

A hint of a smile appeared on his face, the corners of his lips twitching. His hand hovered between us; as if he wanted to touch me but was unsure. But then dropped it back to his side. "We should go back soon, before the sunsets. "

I nodded and went into Riley's room, scouring her clothes for something to wear that I knew she wouldn't care about going missing. There was still a red tint on my skin, needing a shower to get rid of it all. I took one of her oversized hoodies I know she stole from an ex; it covered the worst of it, my palms covered by the sleeves.

When I walked back into the living room, I noticed Dimitri examining the pictures Riley had set up on her bookshelves, a bunch of the two of us. She didn't have any family either; part of the reason we got along so well, we became each other's family.

"Riley likes to celebrate the small moments a lot," I explained, startling him. Dimitri glanced at me and then back at the image in his hand; it was of both of us in our uniforms standing outside the diner. "She got me the job and made me pose with her for a picture. Paid a homeless guy five dollars to take it."

Dimitri hummed, returning the photo to the shelf. He pointed at another one of the two of us, "What's about this one?"

I made my way to him and looked at the photo. I was in a hoodie two sizes too big for me, glaring at the camera while Riley was flashing a large smile. "That's when I was seventeen and met Riley for the first time at a shelter. She told me that we were going to be best friends and took the photo."

His face became drawn, lips pulled down into a frown, "How long were you homeless?"

I shrugged, "Around four months. Riley was friends with a guy that managed to get me into a transitional house, and then she got me a job. She was right, though," I told him, looking at the photo with a smile, "we did become best friends. She became my only family."

Riley was there for me through it all.

"Your parents looked for you. For months, they searched half the country, had others looking around the other half," Dimitri revealed. "No one thought you would be living here."

A lump formed in my throat; no one told me much of what happened after the fire, and I had been too scared to ask. "How did they find me?"

Dimitri turned away from the photos, pacing back to the couch. "I found you."

"You found me?"

He put his hands into his pockets, giving me a nervous smile, "After a while, they asked me to look. I only searched for a couple of weeks when I saw you by chance in the city. You were on your way to work at the cafe and you ran into me. Called me a dick."

I snorted. "So that's how you guys found me? Because I wasn't watching where I was going." I couldn't even remember the day. The number of times I had to rush to that job because the manager was a bitch if you were even a minute late.

"We should get going. It's getting late," Dimitri changed the subject. I quickly gathered my things and shoved the bloody clothes into a plastic bag. I paused to write a note to Riley, thanking her for everything. Dimitri held the door open for me; his expression closed off. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes since I mentioned the shelter.

I didn't think about that time of my life often. Though, lately, it sat in the back of my mind about how long I struggled to just make it by while my parents knew exactly where I was.

I gave the apartment a once over before closing the door behind me.

The trip back to the school was awkward, I felt like there was something he wanted to say, and I kept thinking about what I wanted to do about us. It would be a lie to say I wasn't distracted by my thoughts of Dimitri last night; the feelings that were stirred in the storage room still made my heart flutter.

I had fallen hard for Dimitri. Just sitting beside him now, I felt better than before. He made me feel safe.

We were walking back to the school when I finally got the nerve to say something. "Look, Dimitri, about yesterday—in the storage room–" I didn't know what to say. Sorry for running off after having your dick in my mouth didn't sound like the right thing to say.

Dimitri halted, slowly turning to face me with a guarded expression. After a moment, his mask fell, and he let the hurt show on his face. "I know you are going through a lot right now, and I want to help you get through it, but I don't want to be used as just a distraction. I care about you, Roza, more than I've ever cared for anyone." His eyes found mine, a plea in them as he took a step towards me. "If there's a chance that you feel the same way, then I want to be with you."

My heart managed to both stop and beat faster at the same time. I licked my lips and opened my mouth; Dimitri leaned forward in anticipation. "I don't think I've felt like this about someone either," I admitted.

"So I was right? You did feel it too," Dimitri said more to himself than to me.

I felt a spike of guilt, "Yeah, I did."

He tilted his head in question, "Why did you deny it?"

I blew out a breath, throwing my hands up, and pointed towards the school that we could see at the end of the street. "Can you blame me? My world got completely turned upside down, and you started acting differently compared to before. I was pissed and thought it was all just a game to you."

Dimitri closed the distance between us and cupped my cheek with his hand. His touch was so tender that it shocked me at first, feeling his thumb softly brush my skin. "It was never a game for me, Roza."

The times we had been intimate it was fast and intense. We never did slow and tender. Yet, as Dimitri lowered his lips to mine, it was just as passionate. My toes curled, and my fingers tingled in excitement.

It was a soft brushing of lips; he didn't try to deepen it and it left me wanting more. It was barely anything, and yet I felt breathless when he pulled away. Dimitri didn't go far, only a few inches between us that I could still feel his warm breath fan my face. When he smiled, it was caring and full of so much affection that it made his eyes light up.

Dimitri leaned forward again and kissed my forehead before drawing back completely. "Think about what I said. If you decide you want to give us a go, I'm committed."

There were no words I could form, still running on the high of the kiss and his declaration. Dimitri didn't push any further, giving me a small smile and then gesturing for us to keep walking. The sun was barely in the sky, another hour and the first patrols would be sent out. It made me nervous as we got closer to the school.

What if they wanted to send me out tonight?

"You are going to stay put within these walls until I say so!" Alberta ordered, her tone harsh and expression hard. I had to bite my lip to stop the sigh of relief that wanted to escape—I didn't want to piss her off anymore than I already had.

I couldn't help but ask, "And how long will that be?"

"Until I know you can be out there and follow orders! I told you to stay with the group, but you didn't listen! And then, you decide to just run off?" Her brows were furrowed, nostrils flaring, "You could have been hurt. You could have died, Rose!"

I flushed with shame, dropping my eyes to the ground of the hallway. Alberta had found us almost instantly and started ripping into me. Dimitri stood to the side, looking ready to interrupt multiple times but also knowing it wasn't his place. The way they ran things here—Alberta was top dog. If she said you messed up, then you messed up.

I hated the fact I had let her down; the number of people I failed last night would weigh heavily on my shoulders. The face of the woman that died would always be seared into my memory—the first person I'd failed to save. I swallowed thickly, balling my hands up into fists as I replied, "I understand."

"Good," she huffed. It was silent for a moment, though I didn't dare move until she dismissed me, but rather than that, I was engulfed by her and held closely in a hug. "You can't just run off, Rose. We already lost you once; if I lost you again, your parents would kill me."

I snorted, returning the hug. "Luckily for you, Dimitri seems to be good at tracking me down."

Alberta pulled back and shot him a look, expression shifting in displeasure. "Yes, another one that has issues following orders. I'll discuss that with you later, Belikov. For now, get ready for your shift; we'll leave in three hours."

I eyed the two of them, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. Alberta squeezed my shoulder again before leaving us both with a firm warning to not mess up anymore. I waited until she had disappeared before I elbowed his stomach.

"What did you do?" I hissed.

Dimitri rubbed his stomach and gave me a look. "Nothing that matters right now."

I laughed, "Yeah, right. Just tell me."

He eyed me for a minute before sighing, "I may have defied an order when I left to find you."

It took a moment for the words to comprehend, blinking up at him as if waiting for him to yell joking and give me the real reason. "Wow," I started, placing my hands on my hips, "Look at you breaking the rules. Guess that stick isn't that far up–"

"Don't make me regret bringing you back," he interrupted me, eyes aimed at the ceiling in exasperation.

A smirk pulled at the corners of my mouth, "Oh, comrade. You'll never regret keeping me in your life." It was just a tease, falling back onto old habits from when we did talk every night for two weeks. Then Dimitri looked at me and returned the smirk, I felt like I was floating.

I had fallen hard and fast for this man, and there was no turning back from it now.

Going to start getting some cute Romitri moments :3

Let me know what you think. Are we all glad that Rose and Dimitri are finally going to get their shit together?

Keep an eye out for the next week or two, going to be posting some new things as part of the VA ficfest on Ao3!