Dimitri and Rose had fallen into a familiar schedule in their lives. Rose and Immanuil had moved in with Dimitri in his apartment, and the two dhampir cared for the baby all the time. He was about three months old now, and he was fussy a lot of the time. That didn't stop Dimitri from doting on his son every second of the day. It always made Rose smile when she walked into the room and saw Dimitri holding Immanuil and speaking softly to him in Russian.

Immanuil still hadn't met his grandparents, and neither Rose nor Dimitri had seen Janine since that day she walked off. Rose had seen Abe around, but tried to avoid him. She wasn't ready for him to be back in her life yet.

Dimitri still hadn't resumed guarding Alissa because of his injuries. He could almost walk on his own now, but he wasn't quite in perfect condition. Lisa's, Christian, and Adrian came to visit often, as self proclaimed aunts and uncles to Immanuil, and a lot of the time they brought gifts for the boy.

Nobody knew how the Strigoi had gotten into court, and nobody knew the logistics of Rose being back. Not everyone even knew she was back. Rose wanted to keep it that way for a while. She and Dimitri stayed in the apartment most of the time to avoid drama.

Rose had just gotten out of a shower and was watching Dimitri play with Immanuil. It was more like Dimitri watching Immanuil roll around. She grinned and then silently moved into the kitchen. Picking up her phone, she saw a text from Lissa.

She frowned, sending a text back. Less then 30 seconds passed, and she heard another ping. Sighing, she put her phone down. Lissa could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Hey," she said, entering the room she had just been in. Dimitri looked up at her through the hair covering his face and gave her an easy smile.

"Roza," he greeted in response, his hand on Immanuil's tiny back. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Lissa will be here in five," she told him and he shrugged.

"Lissa will be watching Immanuil so we can go out," Rose finished. Dimitri's eyebrows creased.

"Are you sure?" He asked, concerned. She was grateful that he was worried about her feelings of people knowing she was alive.

"I don't have much of a choice. Lissa's decision was pretty final," she joked. Dimitri raised an eyebrow. She let out a breath. "No, I'm not sure, but it will be good to get out and let people see me. There's a lot of rumors circulating about us, and most of them are true."

Dimitri nodded, and heaved himself up off of the floor, grabbing Immanuil and swinging him into the air before putting him on his hip. He stumbled a little, and Rose hurried over so he could lean on her. He looked at her gratefully.

Lissa arrived moments later and instantly took Immanuil from his father's arms.

"How's my sweet baby boy?!?" She cooed at him. Rose rolled her eyes at Dimitri and he chuckled silently.

"He's actually mine, Liss, but thanks," Rose corrected.

Lissa was busy flinging Immanuil into the air, watching him giggle.

"Sorry, Rose, he's mine today," Lissa smiled at Rose. She crossed her arms.

"I had to give birth to that thing; I don't want to hear it."

"Fine, you win," Lissa said graciously. "Now are you two going or what?"

"Princess, are you sure this is a good idea?" Dimitri stepped in. "People still have no idea if Rose is back or not, or what's going on between us."

"And they won't until you do something about that and change their minds," Lissa pointed out.

"We're leaving, calm down," Rose grabbed Dimitri's hand while he grabbed a crutch"and then regretfully looked away from Immanuil. She still hated leaving him, because she always wanted to know he was safe.

"Lissa, don't kill my son," she threatened as Dimitri and she walked out of the door. Lissa just waved back happily.

Rose gripped Dimitri's hand as they walked through the halls of the apartment complex.

"Roza, relax," Dimitri told her. "Immanuil's safe with Lissa, and I'm here in case anything goes wrong."

"I'm just worried what people will think of us. What they'll think of you," Rose said honestly as they walked into the sun.

Dimitri smiled. "Nothing anyone would think of me would make me regret anything that's happened to us."

"Yes But—"

"Roza. Calm."

She took a deep breath, and Dimitri squeezed her hand supportively while he hobbled along.

"I know how you feel about leaving Immanuil at home," he said eventually. "I hate leaving him. He seems like he's not real most days, and I feel like he might disappear if I let him out of my sight."

Rose looked at him curiously. "Really?"

"It's just something I never really considered happening to me. I think I subconsciously always wanted it, but knew I couldn't have it. After I turned Tasha down, I just accepted the fact that I loved you and that was more important than my want of a child. But you somehow made a miracle happen. And now I love you both so, so much."

Rose felt her eyes crinkle as she smiled. Dimitri was so sweet. Then she thought of something they had never discussed. "How did...how did you react when you thought I was dead?"

"Poorly," he admitted. "I wasn't in a good mental state of mind any of the days you were gone. I hardly have the humility to say I cried most of the time. I threw things. I said terrible things to myself. I blamed myself for your death. Your funeral was terrible, I just didn't want to believe you were actually..."

"Actually dead?" Rose's heart constricted as she heard Dimitri's side of the story. She had to go through everything, but at least she knew that Dimitri was alive. He had no idea where she was or if she was even alive, and he could only assume the worse. Of both of them, apparently.

"Dimitri, I'm sorry," she whispered. She didn't know exactly what she was apologizing for. For leaving him to begin with? For not coming back right away? Neither of which she could have controlled, but she felt the need to say sorry for something.

He chuckled darkly. "Roza, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. None of it was your fault. It wasn't mine either, and I realize that now. I acted upon my own crashing emotions and feelings, and I'm just glad we're together again now."

"Me too," Rose told him, and he looked pleased.

"Hey, Belikov!" They both turned. It was a guardian Rose had never met.

"Guardian Croft," Dimitri greeted. "Head of guardians at court," he added in an undertone to Rose. She nodded, understanding he was important.

"And who is this?" Croft asked pleasantly. "It's good to see you up again, Belikov. We were worried that Strigoi had knocked you too hard."

"He almost did. I had memory loss for a while. Thankfully it came back, but I may never be fully back in action. It's hard to know. And this is Rose Hathaway."

Guardian Croft's eyebrows shot up. "Hathaway? It's true then. I heard rumors you were alive."

Rose rolled her eyes before thinking. "The queen didn't say anything?"

Croft studied her. "Confidentiality issues, probably. So how are you alive?"

"Confidentiality issues. Can't tell you," Rose snapped. She didn't really like this guy. Dimitri put a hand on her shoulder to restrain her from any near future bad decisions.

Croft looked from Dimitri's hand to Rose, and she could tell the rumor about her being alive wasn't the only one he had heard.

"Yes," Dimitri and she said at the same time. They looked at each other and Rose was tempted to say jinx but didn't think it was the time.

"Belikov...you and her...?" Croft looked uncomfortable. Dimitri nodded. No more needed to be said. Croft had connected the dots.

"And when...did this happen?"

"Right before I left," Rose jumped in. "We fell in love very quickly and we waited until after I was eighteen to actually..."

Dimitri gripped his hand tighter on Rose's arm and she quieted. Maybe that was a bit too much information. And maybe not the whole truth.

"I see," Croft said suspiciously. "Well...you two have a good day. Belikov, I hope to see you in action soon. Hathaway..."

Rose braced herself for anything he might say.

"Thank you for your service to the queen," he said respectfully, before heading off in the direction of the palace.

Dimitri and Rose exchanged glances.

"That was odd," Dimitri commented. Rose nodded.

"He cut that conversation really short after we confirmed we were a couple," she agreed. "Do you think he believed us?"

"I don't know, Roza. But for our sake I hope he does."

xXxXx

Dun dun dunnnn. Here's the beginning of PART TWO of "Out There"! Did you hate it? Love it? (Doubt it) REVIEW EITHER WAY! We hit over 100 reviews which made me ecstatic! What do you think is gonna happen next? Something exciting? Who knows? ;)