Dimitri tossed and turned all night, I guess so did I. Well, I didn't really sleep. I felt so bad for upsetting him the way I did. I understand what he is going through, after all, we both were the undead and then not again. The only difference is, he has a family that cares deeply about him. I had Lissa, but that is in no way the same, and she only cared about herself. I'm sure he will eventually forgive what I did. I didn't mean any harm by it, I just wanted to lessen the worry on both sides. I slipped out of bed while he was still sleeping. I was going to need a hell of a lot of coffee to get through today... I made two cups of coffee, one normal, and one with three shots of coffee. Guess which is mine... LOL.
I quietly took Dimitri's coffee into the bedroom and placed it down on the bedside table. "Thanks." He spoke as I placed it down, giving me a hell of a fright. Man, I thought he was still sleeping. I smiled as I went to walk away, but he reached out and grabbed my arm. I just barely managed to not spill my coffee everywhere. I placed my coffee beside his, so I wouldn't spill it. He didn't say anything, he just pulled the blankets back and made me lie down in front of him. He pulled the blankets over us and just wrapped me in the biggest embrace. He was so warm, and smelled amazing. We laid like that for a few minutes before he finally spoke. "I'm sorry Roza, so, so sorry. I know your intensions were good, and I totally overreacted. I can't stay mad at you, I slept terribly last night, I'm truly sorry." He spoke softly against the back of my neck, sending tingles down my spine.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone there behind your back, it was wrong for me to think it was okay." He gently squeezed me, letting me feel all of his love. I still feel terrible, but better now that he found it in himself to forgive me. We stayed like that for a while, then I remembered the coffees. "Oh shit, the coffee!" I exclaimed as I sat up, causing him to just chuckle. I grabbed a cup and passed it to him, he took a sip and then coughed a little. "Wow, that is really strong!" Oops. "Oh, that's my one." I laughed as I gave him the other cup. "Yeah, I didn't sleep last night. Strong coffees only for me today." He just shook his head at me. We stayed in bed while we drank the coffees then decided to get up. We let the pups out into the backyard to go to the toilet and run around.
"Today, I am going to surprise you." Dimitri said, as we were sitting on the couch in a warm sunny spot. The sun was at the perfect spot to shine right into the lounge and onto our spot on the couch, it was so warm, almost too warm! "Oh, is that right?" I asked as I turned to look at him, he just nodded. "Can I ask what the surprise is?" I said as I cuddled up to him. "We're going back to my families house." He said simply. I sat up to look at him, I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. "Seriously?" I asked, scanning his features for a change, but he just nodded. "Are you sure you're ready?" I asked, nervously. He sighed.
"You managed the courage to go see them, with them having no idea who you are. As uncomfortable as we are around people still, you still went. You faced my family when I was too scared too, with all the scrutiny and questions as to why they haven't seen or heard from me for ages. You were still brave enough to do it, your bravery has given me the courage I need to face my fear and face my family. Besides, my mum would've loved you, I just have to take you back to see her again." He said with such a kind smile, much like his mums smile. "I am curious about how she took the news of our being together. She will be just waiting to chastise me for not telling her sooner, I'm sure." To that I just awkwardly laughed. "What?" Dimitri asked, bemused. "Oh, well I didn't tell her we were together. I was talking about you and then she said how much of a great friend I was to you... so I just kind of went with it." I couldn't look at him when I said that, but he just laughed again.
"What if she thinks I'm like too young for you or something, and that's why she just presumed that I'm your friend? I didn't want to give her a bad impression of me." I felt stupid but justified. "I'm sure she wouldn't think anything of us being together. Honestly, she probably figured it out but didn't want to put you on the spot." Mhmm, I hope he is right. She liked me yesterday, I don't want to ruin that. "I'll tell you what. When we go there today, we won't say anything about the matter. We'll just see if she says anything about it." I just nodded along with what he was saying, I felt a little weird about it all but I'll go along with it anyway. We decided to head off after we had breakfast, the closer the time got, the more nervous Dimitri got. When we were finally ready to go, Dimitri just froze at the front door. "Maybe this was a bad idea..." He said as he started to step back away from the door. "Too late now, the pups are all excited to go in the car again. Can't disappoint them." I laughed as I pushed him out the door.
Shockingly he let me drive there this time. I guess he was too nervous to drive. "Wait, should we be taking the pups with us, they'll have to stay in the car." Another excuse to turn around. "Your mum let Serafima come inside yesterday. I left them alone briefly when I took your call, when I went back inside Serafima was very much enjoying some pats from your mum." Dimitri was shocked by this information. The drive there was pretty silent, the nerve levels were mega high. "Who was all there yesterday?" He asked when we were mere minutes away. "Just your mum, well, I think it was just her. I didn't see anyone else." And then... we arrived. I swear Dimitri actually stopped breathing momentarily. "You'll be fine. I promise." I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Then we got out of the car. Serafima remembered where we were, Alexei was intrigued by the happenings.
We didn't even make it halfway up the path before Olena threw the door open and ran outside. I guess she heard the car, again. She went straight to Dimitri and threw her arms around him. "Oh my darling boy has finally come home." She was balling her eyes out as she hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry it's been so long." I'm pretty sure he was crying a little bit too. I was just awkwardly standing off to the side while they had their little reunion. When the moment finally passed and she stepped back to look at him, she realised I was there. "Oh, Rose. It's lovely to see you again!" She gave me a brief hug before turning her gaze back to her boy. "Oh look at you. You are looking so well! Please, come in, come sit down." She hurried back inside. Serafima happily followed her in, Alexei waited for us. We all went inside and Olena shut the door, then joined us in the lounge.
We sat with her for ages and talked. No one else was home at the time. They were all at school or work or somewhere else. "Would either of you like a drink of something?" Olena slipped in between conversation. "Oh, I am dying for a coffee, if that's alright?" I spoke first. "Of course dear, I'll go make one now, Dimitri?" She turned to look at him. "Oh yes, I'll have one too, thanks. I'll come help you in a minute." He said with a smile. "Lovely, I'll flick the jug on then I must run upstairs for a minute." And so she did, after she went upstairs Dimitri turned to look at me. "Thank you for pushing me to do this." He smiled at me as he looked lovingly into my eyes. He leaned forward and kissed me and stopped when we heard Olena coming back down the stairs. "Right, I'll be back with the drinks." He said as he stood up and disappeared with Olena. I just sat there and played with the pups.
Dimitri POV
I walked into the kitchen with mum, I figured I should make Rose's coffee since she's having strong ones today. Where I was standing in the kitchen I could just see Rose, she was smiling as she played with the pups. I got caught up in watching her, causing mum to touch my arm to snap me out of it. "It's so nice having you visit again." She smiled at me. "It's good to be back. It would've been sooner but a lot has happened recently. I glanced at Rose again, unintentionally. "She's a lovely person." Mum said as she noticed the direction of my gaze again. I turned to look at her as I answered, only to notice she was holding a ring. "I don't know if you are actually together, but regardless I wanted to give you this. It's been passed down through the family, obviously I never had a use for it. I know you both care deeply about each other, it's extremely noticeable when you look at one another. She makes you happy, and you make her happy." I was right, mum had cottoned on to us. "She does make me very, very happy." I was smiling as I spoke, glancing at Rose again. "I really love her mum."
Rose POV
I could smell the coffee before I seen it, I was damn near drawling when Dimitri handed it to me. "That is a very strong coffee my dear, don't go making a habit of drinking them that way." Olena spoke with a little amusement. "Oh, I ah..." She caught me out and made me nervous. "I just didn't really sleep last night..." I awkwardly laughed. She just smirked at me. "Oh really, you're not sick or anything are you dear?" She had a look of concern and bemusement on her face. "Oh no, nothing like that. Just adjusting to the time change. My body clock is all out of whack." I smiled back, she just nodded with understanding. "Where are the two of you staying while you're here? We've got spare beds. Your room is still there darling." She said as she looked at Dimitri. "Oh, we couldn't impose. We're planning on staying for a little while, we've rented a place nearing the outskirts of Omsk." Dimitri answered for the two of us. I was caught up on the old Dimitri room.
"Oh, I totally have to see your old room!" I laughed, interrupting their conversation. This amused Olena as well. "Go on up dear, last door on the left." She chuckled as she pointed at the stairs. Dimitri went to say something, but I was already gone and up the stairs. In the excitement, both pups ran after me.
Dimitri POV
"It would be nice to stay, but honestly, we couldn't impose." I continued. "It wouldn't be imposing! We all miss you greatly, and they're all going to love Rose." You'll have to be in separate rooms if you don't want to tell everyone about you's being an item." She teased, I just shook my head as I laughed. "We weren't trying to hide it, she just felt awkward and out of place when she stopped by yesterday. I didn't even know she was here, I thought she was shopping at a mall. You called her my friend so she just ran with it." I could hear the pups running around up the stairs and laughed to myself. "So you admit it then! You are together!" Mum got really excited. "Yes." I laughed. "We have been together for a wee while now. She makes me so damn happy. I get that there's a bit of scrutiny because she's a bit younger than me, but I couldn't imagine being with anyone else, ever. She's my life." Mum looked so content at that moment. "I'm so happy for the both of you." She said quietly as she stood up, she kissed me on the cheek then headed off to the kitchen. I heard Rose cracking up laughing so I went upstairs to see what she was up to.
Rose POV
Man, this room is just so Dimitri!! I couldn't believe I was in his childhood room. He was just exposed entirely. There was a bookshelf full of those old western novels he loved so much. These ones were like super old. The pups were running round like crazy because this room smelled like Dimitri. Then I found a picture of a younger Dimitri and cracked up laughing. He is so handsome! I was too caught up in the picture that I didn't notice him come into the room. He managed to get right behind me and scoop me up off my feet, causing me to scream and laugh all at once. "What are you up to?" He said loudly in a funny voice. He managed to spin me so I was facing him as he placed me standing on the bed. "Oh, just looking at this adorable younger Dimitri!" I giggled as I showed him. "Oh, I see how it is." He laughed. His hands were resting on my hips as he spoke. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself immensely." He said with a grin as he leaned forward and kissed me. Right at that moment his mum walked in to make sure I was okay, I guess she heard the scream.
I noticed her mid-kiss and awkwardly pulled away from him. I could feel my cheeks blush a bright, bright red, as I quickly climbed down off the bed. "Oh, ah..." I was fumbling for words, Dimitri just laughed at me as he put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "It's fine, she knows." He chuckled as he kissed the top of my head. Well, that was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I still felt awkward as hell, his mum just caught us pretty much making out and I just met her!! "I've put some snacks out down stairs, if you're hungry." Olena spoke with a bemused tone. "You're amazing! I'm so hungry right now." I said quietly, then slipped passed her out of the room and basically ran down stairs. I could hear them both laughing as I made my way down the stairs.
Dimitri POV
Oh poor Rose. She feels so awkward here, another reason I don't want to stay here. It's not fair on her, she feels so out of place. Mum and I laughed as she ran down stairs, because she was running to the food, and because she was just so awkward. "She likes food, she'll fit in well here." She smiled at me. "How serious are you two?" She asked as she sat on the edge of my old bed. "Well, I took the ring from you, didn't I?" I smirked as I sat down beside her. "Oh my darling boy, I'm so proud of who you've become!" She leaned against my shoulder after she said that. At that moment I remembered everything that happened, everything that I did. And I know deep down that she shouldn't be proud of me, but I couldn't tell her the truth. It would destroy her. We made our way downstairs to find Rose sitting at the table with a small plate of food. I just laughed as I walked up and placed about four extra items on her plate, then I kissed her on the top of her head before I sat down beside her.
Rose POV
I just sat down and grabbed a couple of things to eat, I didn't want to take too much. Of course when Dimitri seen how much food I had grabbed, he laughed and gave me more. "You don't have to be polite and only take a little bit. There is always heaps of food here, just dig in." He said kindly as he sat beside me. Olena joined us as well, she looked amused. "I like your appetite." She smiled as she looked at my plate. We chatted while we ate, then for ages after that. She kept bringing up that we should stay here, I think Dimitri was saying no because of me... So I felt really bad. When Olena stepped away to take some dishes to the kitchen I asked him about it. "You want to stay here, don't you? You're just saying no because of me." I stated more than asked.
"Yes, I would like to stay here, and I'm not saying no just because of you. My family can be pretty intense, and I know it will be difficult for not just you, but myself as well. I still feel so guilty for everything that I've done, and I feel terrible that they still think so highly of me. I also don't want to put them in danger, when we start hunting Strigoi again, if they find here, I'd hate for anything bad to happen to them." Wow, now I feel like I was being kind of selfish... At that moment Olena returned and the conversation ended. We had been here for so many hours now, time was just flying by. Then someone opened the front door. "Hey mum, there's a strange car outside." We turned to look at who was speaking then a glass bottle smashed on the floor as screams filled the room. "Dimka!" A young girl came flying across the room, throwing her arms around Dimitri.
"I can't believe you are here! Oh my god!" She was still squealing, then calmed down a little when she stopped hugging him. "Wow, look how much you have grown up Viktoria." He said with a big smile. Ah, Viktoria. The littlest sister. He'd mentioned her a couple of times before. she was a couple of years younger than me. She was all happy one second, then she punched him in the arm causing Serafima and Alexei to growl. "You are useless, we haven't heard from you in so long!" She said angrily, then became wary at the growl. "Sidet." I ordered. Then she noticed me... "Who are you?" Her voice wasn't very kind when she said that. "Viktoria, this is my girlfriend Rose." Dimitri said as he put his arm around me, her eyes just went wide. "Seriously? She looks like she's my age." Viktoria scoffed. This annoyed Dimitri, and Olena. "Viktoria, that is no way to treat a guest in this house." Olena said, very disapprovingly. Viktoria just shrugged it off and sat across the table from Dimitri.
"So, where have you been! I can't even remember the last time I seen you." And just like that, it was like she didn't notice I was there again. "I was in the states, you know that. Rose graduated earlier than the rest of her year, so we decided to travel here to see everyone." He's pretty smooth, I'll give him that. "Why did you finish early? Oh, you'll have a promise mark!" She suddenly got excited. "She graduated early because she well surpassed everyone else in her year. You heard about that school that got attacked?" Viktoria nodded, then started to put the pieces together. "You were there?" She almost squealed. I slowly nodded. "We both were. We were the first ones to learn of the attack." Her excitement got me a little excited, for the minute the good memories of that day floated around in my mind. "Oh my god, did you kill any of the strigoi?" She kept getting more and more amped up.
"She did." Dimitri piped up. "She killed many, so many she got a Zvezda mark." Dimitri boasted. "We both did." Viktoria looked like her skin was going to turn inside out. "Oh my god! Can I see?" She asked eagerly. I just nervously looked at Dimitri, we weren't ready to tell them our venture of strigoi hunting just yet. "Another day, maybe." He said, to which she became very disappointed. "Viktoria, don't be so nosey." Olena butted in. Her sadness made her quieten down after that. Before long everyone else returned home. They all reacted the same way Viktoria had. So I have now met Karolina, she has two kids, Paul who is 10 and Zoya who is 6 months. There was also Yeva, Dimitri's grandmother and his other younger sister Sonya. She is two years younger than Dimitri. Karolina is one year older than him. I don't think have ever talked so much in my life. The instant they asked who I was, Dimitri introduced me as his amazing girlfriend, which... is still kind of weird to hear.
Before we knew it, it was dinner time and we got roped in to staying. The pups gained so much attention from everyone, it was like they were drunk from it. They behaved so well, which made me happy. Paul was excited that he could get them to sit speaking Russian. By the time we ate dinner and dessert and talked some more, it was getting really late. The little kids had gone to bed hours ago. "Just stay the night you two, better than you driving all the way back now." Olena was basically pleading for us to stay. "The room is up there, not being used. It would be so lovely if you could stay." I felt bad saying no, and so did Dimitri. So... We ended up staying the night. Olena offered the use of the shower and anything else we may have wanted, and she gave us a towel each.
I decided to have a shower, it's been a long day. Dimitri went and got in bed while I had a quick shower. I'd assumed everyone else was already in bed when I was done, so I just walked back to the room in my towel. The hall was mostly dark, except for a light hue coming from the nightlights plugged in along the hall. I was nearly back at the room when I got such a fright I swore very loudly. "Oh my god! You have so many, how, like oh my god!!" I knew that squeal all too well... Viktoria. "Holy fucking shit!" I exclaimed loudly, causing bodies to come to the hall. "What is going on, is everyone okay?" Olena asked, voice full of concern. Even Dimitri came into the hall, just wearing pants. 🤤 "Yeah I'm fine, just got a fright." I said, apologetically. "How can you have so many?" Viktoria asked again. Then a look of realisation came across her face.
"What are you going on about Viktoria?" Olena asked, frustrated. By now Dimitri was by my side, hand on my lower back. I was still just in a towel... "She has so many molnija marks, it's crazy!" Viktoria's voice was high pitched and excited. Oh dammit, I'd tied my hair up because it's wet, that and my being in a towel would be exposing most if not all of the marks. Well, lucky for Dimitri, they haven't seen he has just as much. All the expectant looking eyes ate away at me. I sighed as I prepared myself to turn around. And when I did, everyone just gasped. Even Sonya and Karolina were now in the hall.
Rose's neck: (they keep going down)
(feel free to take a guess at how many molnija marks there are 😉 otherwise you can just comment and ask if you're curious ❤️)
"Oh my goodness!" Olena exclaimed. "You two, you're the dhampirs we've been hearing about! The ones going around hunting the strigoi!" Viktoria cried out. Well, she figured it out I guess... She made Dimitri turn around as well. And they all had the same reaction, lots of gasps. Dimitri's neck looks just like mine, except he is a man (obviously) and much, much more musclely. "I'm right, aren't I?" Viktoria asked yet again. "You two are them. The Okhotniki s volkami. The great fighters!" Wow, that's what they're calling us? "What does that mean?" I asked, confused. "The Hunters with wolves." Dimitri said quietly. Huh, that's kinda neat. "If I tell you that we are them, can I please go to bed?" I was almost begging, I felt very awkward and exposed like this. Viktoria frantically nodded. I sighed. "Yes, we are the ohk... Whatever you said." She was so happy that she was right. They all went on to ask more questions, but Dimitri just held his hand up.
With that, they let us retreat to the room. Where I just chucked on an old t-shirt that was in Dimitri's old dresser. "Mhmm, very sexy." Dimitri said quietly as he watched me walk towards the bed. "Sorry that just happened, I didn't think anyone was up. I didn't think I'd get seen, and that they'd see the marks either..." I was frustrated and embarrassed. "It's fine. It doesn't matter, I'm sure it would have come out eventually." He said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me into bed. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, his scent enveloping me and making me feel at home. "Maybe now they'll be more understanding as to why we can't stay here." Dimitri said, thoughtfully. "Hmm, maybe." I said as I snuggled up to his chest. He then tilted my head back so that he could kiss me. The kisses quickly got more intense and passionate. We probably shouldn't have done what we did in his families home... In his childhood room. 😉