A/N: Hey there! I've written a new story that started with a cracked conversation between me and my good friend Maddy. Basically, we were airing our grievances that Rose continuously jumped from one relationship to the other and never had that well-deserved hoe phase that comes in between. This and the fact that no one really had time to process their trauma and fully heal before coupling up. All leading to this story called Coffee Dates, a combination of companionship, healing, fun flirty flings, and ultimately OTP. The structure will be glimpses into their lives through specific moments - rather than a fully fleshed plot. Still a good amount of detail here but it allowed me to get through this quickly. In other words, this story is already finished! I will be posting once a week to give me time to make any final edits except for the first three which I will put up all today so you can get a sense of what the story will be like. Starting with our Intro below. I hope you enjoy :)
Intro
During Last Sacrifice, Rose and Dimitri reconnected—but as friends rather than lovers. While out on their mission, Rose was able to help Dimitri begin to come back to himself and process what he had been through. He was grateful for her compassion and resilience and when they returned to court he decided to seek out professional help to continue his growth.
Eventually, Rose came to the conclusion that her relationship with Adrian was unhealthy and they were really using each other to fill emotional gaps that they just weren't suited for. Rose ended things and needing some time to cope, Adrian left court for a while.
After things settled, Dimitri and Rose began to fall into their Guardian roles. While they were technically Royal Guardians to Lissa and Christian, they were still responsible for taking on rotations across the grounds while their charges were in the safety of Court's wards. With their schedules packed, they rarely saw each other outside of a professional setting.
One day, Dimitri wandered by the cafe where he'd had the unfortunate interaction several months back with the legion of Guardians attempting to arrest Rose. He went to talk to the shop owner and apologize for the way he'd acted in their establishment. He offered to pay for any damage he had caused, but the owner refused. So Dimitri offered instead to come to the shop any day he could with hopes his patronage would one day make up for the expenses. When Rose heard about this, she insisted she join him at least once a week. After all, the fight did start with her and if anything it would give them a chance to catch up, something she'd regrettably not had much time for. Dimitri agreed, and thus that's how the weekly coffee dates began.
At first, there was an adjustment period. Rose was finding herself at court, in more than one way, and she wasn't entirely sure how much she should share. Dimitri and she were friends now. He had told her in the church he had moved on and she believed him. But there was still the awkward stage of figuring out how to talk to a mentor turned lover turned enemy turned ex-boyfriend. There were times they frustrated each other. Dimitri's closed-off attitude causing Rose to lash out. Rose's pushiness causing him to leave. But eventually, things became more natural and the two felt comfortable being open with each other again, just like they had on the road. Dimitri and Rose were close once more, not as mentor and mentee, not as co-workers, but as friends.
