AN: Takes place after Frostbite/in the beginning of Shadow Kissed; this doesn't change the VA storyline too much, it's just feels more like a deleted scene. Has some Rose POV and some Dimitri POV. It's a bit long for a one shot, but here goes nothing.

Rose's having trouble sleeping after Spokane and the only one that can help her is Dimitri.

RPOV

I felt his hands on my body, his breath on my skin. I felt the softness and warmth of his lips as he trailed kisses down my neck. I felt real joy. Call me sappy but this was kinda blissful. And I wanted more. He was so beautiful in the candle light. He stared at me with his gorgeous blue eye as he told again that he loved me.

Wait…

Dimitri's eyes aren't blue..

Oh no!

This wasn't me! I got sucked into Lissa's head again! Of course I would be. I always got sucked into her head when her emotions were running wild. Any emotion - fear, happiness, sadness, not to mention my personal favorite, when she was getting busy with her boyfriend. Like now.

Great. Now they were taking their clothes off… I have to get out of here before they…

AH!

And that was it. I was back in my own head, in my own bed. Feeling really lousy. How come she got to be with the guy she was in love with, but I wasn't even allowed to admit my feeling for Dimitri out loud? Oh, I know why. Because they come first. Because I'm a Dhampir and she's a Moroi. But she's my Moroi.

In truth I was partly mad because this was the first time I slept for more the 2 straight hours without waking up screaming since we got back from Spokane. We'd been back for about a week. And all I dreamt about was Mason. And how he died. I missed him. He was one of my best friends and now he's gone.

I tried to go to sleep again but I felt like I couldn't breathe. I just laid there and closed my eyes willing sleep to come to me, but it didn't. Each time I close my eyes I kept seeing him die over and over.

I'd had enough. I needed air. Stupidly, I put on slippers and a flimsy robe, instead of some boots and my coat. The fact that under the robe all I had on was a long sleep shirt didn't help matters when I snuck out of my dorm into a cold January day in Montana. To make matters worse it started snowing. I was still warm from inside so the snow immediately thawed on me. But I didn't care, I wanted the cold air to clear my mind. After a few minutes I was wet and freezing.

Just before I decided to go in I saw a ghost. Or at least I hoped it was a ghost and not me loosing my mind as Mason materialized before me.

Needless to say I was shocked. Sure, we knew about vampires, heck I am half vampire. But we all knew ghosts weren't real, so you can imagine how I felt seeing him.

He was really sad. Then again he should be sad. He should be mad at me, after all I let him die. I don't know how long I stood there frozen looking at the empty space where he dissolved, but by the time I was able to move again I was completely soaked and crying my eyes out.

I thought about going back to my dorm but I just couldn't be alone. And I knew that there would be no sleep for me for a very long time. I thought about going to the infirmary but I was too cold to walk all the way there. Instead, going to the only place I could think of to seek real comfort, I went around to the back of the building to the guardian wing an snuck into Dimitri's room.

I didn't think it was possible but he was even more beautiful when he was asleep. He seemed so peaceful. I envied that.

Either I was in extreme ninja stealth mode or he was really, really tired because he didn't wake up when I entered his room, which wasn't like him at all.

I lightly tapped his shoulder and he went on full alert.

"Rose, what's wrong? Is it the princess?". That made me angry.

"I know it's your job but you don't have to think about her first every time", I answered. My answer was a little more venomous than I had intended. After all, last time I was in his room the princess had been kidnapped. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation.

"Ok", he said, sitting up. "Are you alright?". And I just couldn't speak. I looked in his eyes and there was real concern. I started crying again. That's when he noticed that I was soaking wet and freezing.

"What happened to you?" he asked as he sat me on his bed. I couldn't answer, the cold was really setting in.

I was so out of it that I didn't even notice that he left till he came back with a few things in his hands. He knelt in front of me and started drying my hair with the towel. That's when I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. Why would he have been? I'd just woken him up. I was not too out of it silently admire his perfectly chiseled form. He really did take my breath away.

He took off my slippers and robe.

"Your cloths are completely drenched. You need to take them off before you get hypothermia". I just nodded and lifted my arms above my head. I didn't mind him seeing me like this. It wouldn't be the first time. There was the night of Victor's lust charm, not that we had a choice back then. I could see the wavering in his eyes as he proceeded to take my shirt off, his fingertips just grazed my the sides of my body as he grabbed the hem of my shirt. Good thing I was already shivering from the cold. He quickly wrap me with the towel, rubbed circle in my back to warm me up.

When I was mostly dry he pulled one of his shirts over my head and I pushed my hands threw the sleeves. I liked wearing his shirt, it smelled like him. He even put a pair of his socks on my feet and rubbed them a little just to get the blood flowing.

I slowly stopped shivering and felt I owed him some kind of explanation.

"I had a bad dream and needed some air", I started.

"So you thought it was a good idea to put on fuzzy slippers and a robe and sneak outside in the middle of a snow storm?" he asked as he sat beside me and started rubbing circle in my back again.

"It wasn't a storm, just some light snow. Besides I just needed to clear my head. I can't sleep. I haven't slept a full night since…" I didn't need to finish, he already knew. He wrapped his hand around my shoulder. "Can I please stay here tonight? Please?"

He didn't answer at first, he just kept looking me in the eyes. He wouldn't be able to send me away, right? "Please? I just can't be alone tonight, every time I close my eyes he's there ". It was barely a whisper. And that broke him. He just nodded.

We got under the covers, I laid my head on his chest while he held me.

I hated that I needed to be taken care of, but I loved it when he took care of me. And recently he was taking care of me more and more.

For the first time in weeks I felt peaceful and I fell asleep shortly after.

I woke up feeling well rested for the first time in a long time. I wondered why that was when the events of last night came rushing back. I was in Dimitri's bed. He was still holding me. I guess my breathing must have changed because he knew I woke up.

"Sleeping beauty awakes. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. That was the best sleep I've had in ages. How long have you been up?"

"A while", He said.

"Why didn't you get up?" I asked.

"I didn't want to disturb you. You were sleeping so peacefully. You deserved to rest after everything that's happened lately."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Late. Almost lunch" he said.

"What?! I missed training and morning classes! Not that I mind missing classes but people are going to be looking for me…"

"Don't worry, I took care of it. I sent word to all your teachers that you didn't feel well this morning during training and I sent you to you dorm to rest. I also got a message to the princess that you're resting and that you'd see her at dinner."

"Wow, Comrade. You took care of everything. So I have the entire day off?"

"Yes. And", he smiled wildly, "I called in a favor and had my shifts changed so I don't have a shift until after dinner". That rare smile of his did wonders to me.

"How did you manage all that, Comrade?" I asked. The fact that he was basically saying that he had arranged for us to spend the day together playing hooky did not escape me.

"Well, while you were sleeping like the dead I made some calls", he said. "You know even my alarm clock didn't wake you up. I now understand how you're late to morning practice nearly every day".

I was in awe of my Russian god. He knew me so well. Getting to spend the day with was just what I needed.

"So what's for breakfast?", my stomach was already growling.

He chuckled, "I have some energy bars and some yogurt in the fridge."

"No doughnuts, huh?"

"No doughnuts. Sorry".

We ate pretty much in silence, except for him telling me not to get crumbs in his bed, which of course made me laugh thus getting more crumbs in his bed.

It was a small breakfast but it would hold us over till lunch.

He asked me if I wanted to talk about last night. I was hesitant so he just encouraged me to start talking about the dream that woke me up. That "dream" was the reason I was hesitant to discuss last night in the first place! Well, that and the ghost. I knew he was going to keep bugging me about it till I told him. Might as well get it over with. "It wasn't technically a dream, I was sucked into Lissa's head again. I thought I was dreaming until i realized that… I wasn't".

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really." I answered. He just glared at me. The look on his face said Oh, Come on, just spit it out.

"Lissa was with Christian."

"So?"

"She was with him".

"Oh".

"Yeah. 'Oh' is right. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, when I'm in her head, I see what she sees and feel what she feels as though it's happening to me. As much as Chris and I have been getting along lately I really did NOT want to have sex with him", I made a disgusted face. "Anyway, like I said, at first I thought I was dreaming until I saw a pair of blue eyes staring at me. Let's just say I barely go out of there in time". I wonder if you loose your virginity in Spirit, does it still count?

He grinned and asked "You don't dream about blue eyed Morios?" I could tell where he was going with this.

I laughed nervously and answered "No, I dream about a brown eyed Dhampir". I blushed a little and he looked away.

"What happened after you woke up?"

"They has sex". I joked, but they really did.

"What happened to you, Rose, after you woke up?".

I got a little sad remembering. "The same thing that happens every night. I close my eyes and relive Spokane again and again, so I went out for some air."

"But why didn't you go back inside when it started snowing?"

"I thought I saw Mason and I froze… Literally and figuratively".

"Rose, what happened to Mason was not your fault. It was his decisions that cost him his life." His chocolate brown eyes bore into mine as he was trying to convey his point. I just nodded and he lightly kissed my forehead.

"So… What are we doing for lunch?" I asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

Dimitri went to the cafeteria and got us some Take away lunch-boxes. He surprised me with a chocolate doughnut. He even swung by my dorm room to get me a change of clothes. After we finished eating lunch we decided to watch a movie on his laptop. The only movie that wasn't a western was "Dirty Dancing", so that's what we watched. He said he hadn't seen it since he was a little kid. I wondered how true that was.

When I asked him why in the world he would have it on his computer he just said the academy give him a used computer and it was already on it.

I giggled and said "I bet you just like the part where Patric Swayze says 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner'". That earned me a smile from him.

When the movie was ending Dimitri suddenly said to me "You know I grew up with 2 older sisters." I nodded and he continued. "They loved this movie so much, they made me dance with them all the time. I probably still remember how to do the dance".

I laughed and challenged him to prove it. He looked around the room and said there wasn't enough space so we agreed to try the dance first thing tomorrow morning during practice. It was so funny trying to picture a mini-Russian God dancing like Jonny Castle.

I was getting sleepy and Dimitri suggested a nap. We got back into bed and I laid my head on his chest again while he wrapped his arms around me. I fell asleep instantly.

DPOV

"Mmm". I heard someone next to me and remembered that Roza was still sleeping in my arms.

"Mmm" she said again. "Dimitri…" she stirred.

I was slowly waking up and it took me several moments to realize what was happening.

She was dreaming. My Roza was dreaming about me. While she was sleeping she pressed closer to me and tightened her grip on me so there was no room between us and we were touching all up and down our bodies. She had her thigh in a highly personal area of mine and she was rubbing up against me.

I had been a guardian for almost 6 years and the only times I wished this wasn't my life was after I'd met this beautiful, strong, amazing woman in my arms.

I knew I needed to stop her and wake her up though I don't know if I'd be strong enough to stop her once she was awake and she continued what she was dreaming about.

"Roza" I whispered. She stirred, nuzzling her nose in the crook of my neck. I should probably try to get up but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Roza" I said louder. "Wake up" I said as I tried to gently get myself out from under her. As I rose she rose as well. I guess she wasn't yet awake because she snaked her hand around my neck and pulled me in. When our lips met it was like heaven. This must be what kissing an angel is like, I thought to myself. This was so wrong, I was taking advantage of her. I was seven years older than her, I was her mentor, she was grieving a fallen friend, and yet I couldn't stop myself from kissing her back. The things this woman did to me. When the kiss deepened I somehow found my strength to push her back slightly.

"Dimitri? Am I dreaming?" she asked in a whisper, ever so innocently. I shook my head, so she leaned in to kiss me again.

"Roza, we should stop" was all I could say to her in between kisses. I didn't want to stop. I never want to stop kissing her. I'd give anything to be able to wake up next to her every day for the rest of my life, how ever long or short it may be.

And then the alarm I set for us to get to dinner on time went off and it was like a cold bucket of ice water was dumped on us. We got up quickly, got dressed and left for dinner. She sat with her friends.

We didn't talk about it and as difficult as it was we just pretended that it never happened. When others were around I pretended that she wasn't the love of my life. That she was just another student, but that was the farthest thing from the truth. My life would forever be changed by this beautiful creature and I'd never get to have her, I'd never get to tell her how truly in love with her I was. How all the time that we spent together was amazing and agonizing at the same time because while she was right there within my grasp she'd never be mine.

The next day at our morning practice I was wondering if Roza would bring up the dance from Dirty Dancing. But after running and weight training I figured she'd let it go. As I was setting up the mats for our sparring session Roza pulled out her iPod and started playing "Time of my life". I froze and turned around to look at her. She was giggling and said "You basically asked for it, you did say 'challenge accepted'…".

She was practically giddy. What else could I do? I walked up to her, took her in my arms and started dirty dancing with her. "Try to keep up with me" I told her with a mischievous smile.

RPOV

I was amazed, he really did know the dance! Luckily I was a good dancer and Lissa and I watched the movie about a thousand times while we were away from the academy so I was able to keep up pretty well.

I was nervous about the lift… Baby and Jonny didn't make it look easy so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to pull it off, but I trusted him to catch me and not to let me fall, and I trusted myself to ask Lissa to fix me in case he didn't. Oh well, here goes nothing.

And we did it! It was amazing. I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror and it looked perfect. And then Dimitri was putting me back on my feet and singing "Time of my Life" to me just like Jonny Castle. I don't think I'd ever been so turned on in my life. The song ended and the dance was over but we didn't pull away from each other, we just stared into each other's eyes while still swaying. I don't know how long we stood there like that but we pulled away from each other when we started to hear voices outside the gym.

We stepped back from each other just before other students had started to enter the gym. Dimitri told me to go hit the showers and he'd excuse me from Stan's class because there was no way I'd make it on time.

I showered and changed and wondered if he know how much I was in love with him.

DPOV

The next 2 days were uneventful. Rose and I trained as usual and my shifts went by without any incidents. Everything was back to normal, or as normal as can be expected until I got back to my room after a long evening shift and found Roza sleeping in my bed. I gently nudged her, she must have just dozed off because she woke up instantly.

"Hi." she said.

"Hi" I said back.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep", her eyes were pleading.

"You can stay tonight but this has got to stop". I regretted it instantly.

Her eyes glistened with tears threatening to spill over, God I hated it when she cried. "I know, I promise this is the last time".

"Alright, make some room then", I said while changing into my sleep clothes (which was basically just my shorts).

I got in bed with her again and held her in my arms inhaling her scent. I was actually thankful for her nightmare because it brought her back to my bed. I quickly squashed that thought and regretted it ever entering my mind - Roza was suffering and I was reaping the benefits. I'm such a cad, but I loved having her in my arms, and I loved waking up with her and I knew that at least when she's with me she's safe and happy (or at least not devastated), for now anyway.

I kissed her forehead and drifted off to sleep.

Another week passed. Rose seemed fine during our training. She didn't look like she wasn't getting enough sleep so I figured her nightmares has stopped. That is until she came to my room again pleading with to let her stay in my bed. She knew there wasn't a thing that I could deny her when she pleaded with me like that.

So again I let her stay, partly because I wanted to take care of her and make her feel better and partly because I was selfish and loved having her here with me.

Again she said it was the last time.

While we were lying in bed, as I was stroking her hair, I asked her what happened.

"You seemed like you were doing good for the past week. Did your nightmares stop and come back tonight?"

"I can't seem to sleep without you, Comrade".

"You slept without me for the past week, Roza".

She lifted her head to look me in the eye and sheepishly said "I have a confession". This can't be good, was all I thought.

She continued "I kinda sorta stole one of your shirts last time I was here and have been sleeping in for the past week. It has your smell, it relaxes me, it helps me fall asleep quickly and I don't wake up screaming drenched in cold sweat. It's kind of like having you there with me. But yesterday I accidentally washed it and it doesn't smell like you anymore. I tried to sleep without it, but the nightmares came back. So you see, I can't sleep without you".

This was so wrong. She needed to get past this but I was becoming her crutch. Granted it has only been a couple of weeks since Spokane. And Roza is the strongest person I know. Instead of doing the right thing and telling her that, I did the stupid thing and indulged her saying "You can take another one of my shirts." After a moment I added "But you have to bring me back the other shirt, it's not like I have an endless supply." I grinned at her. She chuckled and rested her head back on my chest, her arm around my waist.

Who was I kidding? I slept much better with her I'm my arms. Maybe I should take one of her shirts as well, I smiled to myself. Shortly after we fell asleep.