Title: let me hold you (let me chase away the shadows)
Fandom/Pairing: Vampire Academy/Romitri
Prompt:Â âhow long has it been?â
Rose wasnât sure what exactly woke her, but she did so with such a sense of wrong clanging through her that she had reached for her stake before her eyes had even fully opened. She turned over, sheets twisting around her legs and yanked the stake out from under her pillow, but there was no threat in the room. In fact there was no one else in the room at all.
The stake slipped, discarded, from her hand and Rose touched the empty sheets beside her, noting with a frown how cold they were. Wherever Dimitri had gone, heâd left a long time ago.
The time on Roseâs phone told her it was the middle of the human day, something that made her groan as she pushed herself upright and padded over to the window. But when she twitched aside the black-out curtains it was to find the courtyard the apartment overlooked unsurprisingly deserted.
Yawning a little, Rose shuffled out of the bedroom and down the short hallway that took her to the rest of the tiny apartment. But Dimitri was nowhere to be found in the shared kitchen and living area. Worry starting to prick at her a little, Rose made her way back into the bedroom, sticking her head into the bathroom and finding it empty and dark.
The last vestiges of sleep drained away and she approached the chest of drawers, finding some leggings and a soft-tshirt to change into. Then, swiping her keys off the kitchen island on her way past, Rose headed down to the buildingâs underground garage. She was unsurprised when she got there and found Dimitrâs car already gone and when she slipped behind the wheel she found she already knew where to go.
The dhampir housing had purposefully been built near the guardian headquarters, a large building that housed both administration and training facilities, but with winter coming it was too cold to walk. Even managing to stay indoors, Rose found herself shivering a little as she stepped out of her car and headed for the elevators that would take her up to the gym.
With the irregular hours that most guardians worked, part of a constantly revolving schedule, it was a little more surprising that the gym was also empty. Well, empty save for one tall figure throwing punches at a bag strung up on the other side of the large space.
Rose stepped between the quiet machines, used to there being at least a couple other guardians working out no matter what time it was. And even though he had to sense her approach, Dimitri didnât stop until Rose stepped behind the bag, putting her hands up to brace it for him to hit again. But he didnât throw the punch, as if unable to bear striking towards her, and when he slowly lifted his head, Rose caught sight of the haunted look in his eyes.
Rose leaned forward on the punching bag, gazing at Dimitri even as he looked away to fiddle with the strapping around his hands.
âHow long has it been?â she asked quietly.
Dimitriâs eyes flashed upwards with surprise at the question, clearly having expected her to say something else, but he didnât answer, merely lifting one shoulder in half a shrug.
âMonths,â she guessed, her voice still pitched low. âGotta be months, right?â
It was hard to keep track when it was the absence of something that you were counting. But still Rose would have to guess that it had been months since either of them had had a nightmare so bad that it chased them out of bed.
âSomething like that,â Dimitri murmured. He finally left his strapping alone and raised his fists again slightly, silently asking Rose to step away. When she didnât, his eyes turned pleading, and she complied with a little sigh.
âDo you want to talk about it?â she asked, knowing it had to be bad if he was this antsy about hurting her.
âNot really,â he muttered, and finally slammed a fist into the rough surface of the punching bag.
Rose narrowed her eyes slightly, mind ticking over. âThen letâs spar.â
The refusal was already on his lips as he turned to face her, but he stopped short when he took in her stance; the narrowed eyes, the spread feet, hands on her hips, there was a challenge in how she looked at him.
âYouâve already gotten me out of bed,â she continued, voice edging toward a taunt. âMight as well make it worth my while.â
Go on, her words didnât say. Either it was a bad enough dream that you need to talk to me about it, or not so bad that you canât spar with me.
âAlright,â Dimitri said finally, a stiffness to the words. But Rose ignored it and just smiled, inclining her head to one of the matted areas.
They faced off against one another, the silence heavy with everything going unsaid, broken only by their breathing. Neither made the first move, and Rose suspected that Dimitri would stand there all night before he did. So she supposed it would have to be up to her.
Giving no indication that she was about to, Rose lunged forward striking out with a blow to Dimitriâs side. His attempt to fend off the attack bordered on half-hearted and left him exposed to the kick Rose aimed at his other side. He stumbled back with a grunt and something of a spark appeared in his eyes even as he shook his head and backed away.
They continued like that for a while, Rose striking out while Dimitri didnât go anywhere further than hold her at bay. She blew out a frustrated breath as the sparring session wore on; if he wasnât going to talk about what he was feeling then her plan had been to work him up enough to expend those feelings physically. But it wasnât working out like she thought it would.
âCome on, Comrade,â she said, her breath hitching. âI thought we said you were going to make it worth my while.â
That spark glimmered in Dimitriâs eyes once again and there was a little more bite to his movements next time they clashed. Rose narrowly avoided the knee that almost slammed into her ribs and she found herself grinning as she whirled away.
âThatâs more like it,â she breathed, darting forward to shove against his shoulder right as she hooked a foot around his ankle to bring him to the ground. What she wasnât expecting was for him to keep a tight hold of her, twisting them so she landed beneath him. The breath left her in a whoosh and Dimitri used the momentary distraction to grab her wrists and pin them beside her head.
They laid there for a moment, plastered up against one another, both breathing heavily as they stared into one anotherâs eyes. Then Dimitri seemed to realise the position they were in because his eyes widened a little and he jerked backwards, instantly releasing her.
But Rose was just as fast, using her freed hands to grab a hold of his shirt, keeping him close. Reminding him that she trusted him to hold her down like this, that she trusted him completely.
âHey,â she breathed, as his eyes, wide and a little wild, darted around. She stroked a hand down the side of his face and they finally settled on her. âIâm right here, right here, okay? And you donât have to talk about it if you donât want to, but you do have to remember that Iâm here and I trust you.â
Dimitriâs breathing was still too fast but he managed to nod, and slowly, slowly, lowered his face to the hollow of her throat. She shifted her hand to thread through his hair, while the other rubbed soothing circles on his back. A moment later she felt the warmth of his tears against her skin and let out a deep exhale of breath. And she knew that no matter how long it might take and how many steps back they had to concede in the process, they were going to be alright, as long as they were together.
