I am so, so sorry I've made you wait this long. I am a horrible human being. I give you permission to send me hate mail.

Here's the final installment for this story. Thanks for being so patient and understanding!

Rose POV

In the end, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how or why it happened. All that matters is that it did.

I loved my baby.

But that doesn't change anything.

I still lost him.

"Rose," Dimitri calls from the other side of the bathroom door. "You're going to be late for your own graduation."

I roll my eyes. He has so much faith in me. "I'll be right out," I shout back.

I give myself a quick onceover in the mirror. All I see is Rose Hathaway the Guardian. That's all anyone ever sees: the façade.

But it doesn't matter.

I'm a Guardian. The façade is all that counts.

It's what gets us through the days of torture, killing, and bloodshed thrust upon us for the sake of surviving.

It isn't easy and it isn't ideal. But it's life.

They come first.

I take a deep breath and open the door. He's standing there casually in the doorway dressed in his guardian black and signature duster. "You know, comrade," I tease, "it's going to be like 100 degrees out. Forget about getting mauled by a strigoi, you're going to die of heatstroke. I'm surprised you haven't already."

He cracks a smile and laughs. That's a sound I haven't heard in months. "Guardian secret," he replies.

I try to raise my eyebrow, just like he always does… and like always, I fail. "Well you know, I'm going to officially be a guardian in less than four hours. Don't you think you can tell me these secrets of yours, oh mighty guardian?"

His smile turns into a full out grin. "Nyet, Roza. But good try." I push past him to get into my almost empty dorm room, not that it was ever really full to begin with. I grab my blazer, the one that is fitted for me specifically, and slip it on. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." I head for the door, but Dimitri reaches out for me and pulls me close to him. "Can I help you?"

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I look up into his brown eyes and find the same pain I see in mine. "I think you know the answer to that, comrade," I whisper back. He nods once in reply. "How are you?"

"I'm-" He pauses trying to find the right words. "I could be better."

"Dimitri, I-"

"Rose," he gently places his hands on my face, "it wasn't your fault."

I put my hands on top of his. "I know." He raises his eyebrow towards me. "It doesn't make it hurt any less."

"Rose-"

"It's supposed to hurt, Dimitri. With time it'll hurt less, but it will always hurt."

He hesitates before speaking again. This can't be good. "I think we should go to couple counseling."

"Excuse me?" I ask bewildered. "Did you seriously just suggest-"

He cuts me off. "Yes, I did. Think about it, Roza. We can get through this together. Counseling can help us."

He's being serious. I can't believe he's being serious. "There is multiple things wrong with that."

"Like what exactly?"

I cross my arms in front of myself. "Like the fact you're with Tasha."

"I'm not… how could you ever think I'd be with Tasha?"

"Because she's perfect!" I drop my arms and turn around. I can't have him see me like this. I can already feel the stupid tears in my eyes. "She's everything I'm not. She gorgeous, smart, and she can give you what I can't. She can give you a family."

"Look at me, Rose." I don't move. He sighs and forcibly turns me back around. "You are all of those things. You're so beautiful it hurts me. You're intelligent, lethal, and a smart ass." I don't want to laugh, but I do. There's just something about Dimitri swearing that's hilarious. He takes my laughter as a good sign and he starts to smile. "You, Rosemarie Hathaway, own my heart. You and no one else."

I backup a little. If I don't I might do something stupid like hug him. "Then why did you leave?"

His smile vanishes. "I love you, Rose." Those words. That's the first time he's ever said those words. "I have never felt this way about anyone before. I was scared so I ran."

"You're not afraid of anything."

"I'm afraid of you, Rose. You made me feel things I never thought I'd feel."

"That doesn't explain why you ran away."

"You were destined to be with the Princess," he explains. "I wouldn't have thrown myself in front of her. I'd throw myself in front of you."

I shake my head. "No. You would have thrown yourself in front of her because they come first."

"I can't promise I would have. That's why I left. Tasha… I thought I could be her guardian. She knew I didn't feel that way about her. I thought it would be a fresh start for both of us, but I was wrong." He takes a step closer to me, and gently tips my chin up. His eyes meet mine and I can feel his sincerity. "I will never forgive myself for leaving and not being there for you."

"Dimitri-"

"But I hope that one day you can forgive me."

"I already have." I feel his arms wrap around me, pulling me even closer to him. "But we still can't go to couples counseling. Unless you want to explain to everyone how you impregnated your underage student."

"It'll be worth it if it helps you, Roza. Counseling will help."

I feel my resolve melting away. He's right. Then again, he's Dimitri. He's usually right. "Fine."

He kisses the top of my head. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Whatever you say, comrade." I reluctantly pull away from his arms and drag him to the door. "Come on, we're both late for graduation."

"Congrats, Liss!" I yell as soon as the Moroi ceremony is over and I find my best friend.

She throws her arms around me. "We did it, Rose! We're finally done with the vampire academy!"

I go into shock. "Do my ears deceive me? Did Lissa Dragomir just use the 'v' word?"

"Oh, don't look so surprised," she rolls her eyes.

"Does this mean we can high five now?"

"Don't push it, Rose," she teases. I see her eyes scan the crowd, probably looking for Christian.

"Hey, uh, Liss?" Her eyes come back to me within seconds.

"Yeah?"
"Can we go somewhere and talk for a few minutes?"

She grabs my hand. With a cheesy smile she says, "Of course, Guardian Hathaway," and drags me away from the crowd of people. "What's up?"

"About what happened-"

Lissa cuts me off. "No. You don't have to apologize. It's me who should be sorry. You were going through all of this alone and all I cared about was a stupid dance. Can you ever forgive me?"

I smile at my best friend. "I should have told you, Liss, when I first found out I was pregnant. But I was shocked and scared and then," I take a deep breath, "then it was too late."
"Rose!" Lissa once again hugs me. "It's okay. I understand why you didn't tell me. Everything's going to be okay!"

She lets go of me after a few more moments and we wander back to the crowd. "There you guys are!" exclaims Adrian. "We've been looking everywhere for you, Little D. Where have you been hiding her, Liss?" I roll my eyes as he wraps his arm around me. "You know you love me."

Lissa sends me a weird look. "Remove your arm before I remove it for you, Adrian," I politely ask. For once he actually listens to me.

"I'll leave you two," Lissa starts, "lovebirds alone. I'm gonna go find Christian."

"Liss, no!" She raises her eyebrow towards me. Am I seriously the only one who can't do that? "Don't leave me alone with him!"

She gives us another disbelieving look. "Whatever you say, Rose." She gives me a devious grin before she leans towards Adrian and whispers, "Don't worry, Adrian, she's just in denial."

"Don't help him!"

"Don't help who?" my knight in shining armor asks as he joins the group.

"Adrian's hitting on Rose," explains Lissa. "It's adorable."

Dimitri frowns. He kind of reminds me like a lost puppy. It's kind of cute. "Don't look so sad, comrade," I tell him. He looks at me, but his look doesn't change. "You know you're the only man I want hitting on me."

His frown magically turns into a grin. "Good."

I roll my eyes and grab his hand for the first time in public. It feels scandalous, which it is. But who cares?

I hear her voice in my head almost instantly. "You guys are together?" I give her a nod. "Since when?"

I reply, "For a while, Lissa." Everyone looks between us confused, but they're kind of used to us being weird.

"OH MY GOD! Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrug. "It was kind of illegal."

"That's never stopped you before."

"This was kind of worse than the time I accidently got the entire chess club drunk."

"I still don't understand how you did that."

"Your point is, Princess?"

"My point is – wait! Is he your baby daddy?" I cringe at the term. "I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," I tell her. Dimitri squeezes my hand and I smile a little.

"You're both dhampir. How is that possible?" I shrug.

She goes quiet for a few seconds. "You done?"

"Yes," she declares out loud. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Princess," Dimitri says just as Adrian tells her, "You're not sorry."

She sticks her tongue out at him and we all laugh. Christian walks over, gently throws his arm around Lissa and asks, "What did I miss?" His girlfriend kisses him and then assures him he's missed nothing important. "You know, Rose, I'm shocked and slightly scared that they'd unleash you upon the world."

"Ditto, sparky," I reply. "But congratulations."

He comes over and gives me a hug. "I'm proud of you, Rose."

"I wish I could say the same Christian, but…" He grins at me and it's kind of infectious. "I'm proud of you, too."

"Look at this!" a new voice exclaims. No. Not her. Anyone but her. "The gang together for one last time."

Kill me. Please. Anyone. I'm begging you.

"Tasha!" Lissa screams. "You're here!"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss my nephew's graduation for the world!" She walks towards Christian and gives him a hug. "I'm so proud of you! Of both of you!" Next she hugs Lissa. "Rose," she says flatly as she looks me up and down, "it's nice to see you." Bitch. Her tone of voice changes yet again when she sees Dimitri. "Dimitri! Long time no see!"

He gives her an acknowledging nod. "Tasha."

She frowns and bluntly stares at me.

Awkward.

"What's, uh, going on?" Christian asks.

"I thought I'd seen something out of the corner of my eye," Tasha explains, "but it was nothing."

"Tasha, stop," Dimitri voices. "You're almost thirty years old. Stop behaving like a sixteen year old."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dimka."

"Something is going on," Christian states, "and now someone is going to tell me what the hell it is."

"It's nothing," I reply. "Let's just forget it."

"No," she counters as she stares daggers towards me. "He should know that his skank of a friend stole my guardian from me."

Dimitri comes to my rescue to defend my honor. "That is uncalled for."

"Wait, Rose and Dimitri are a thing?" Christian inquires. "I don't know how you could put up with her, man."

"Dimka, we could have been happy," she whines. "All you had to do was forget about that tramp! It was going fine until the bitch started calling. Deleting her messages was easy compared to keeping her from calling again. Five minutes on the phone with her and you were ready to ditch everything I have worked so hard for!"

I don't think I've ever seen Dimitri this upset before. "You were the reason I didn't get her messages?"

"I can give you so much more than that whore!"

"Do you know how much damage you've caused?"

"I love you! We could have spent our lives together and you threw it away for a teenage slut!"

"I never want to see you again, Tasha," Dimitri snarls.

"But- but- but-"she stammers. "I'm at my nephew's graduation. I can't just leave!"

"Yes you can," Christian expresses. "Rose is family and if you hate her that much then I don't want you here."

I can't let him throw away his aunt for me. "Christian," I tell him, "you don't have to do this."

He smiles towards me and responds, "But I do." Looking back at his aunt he continues, "Go." She tries to plead, but he ignores her. We all do. "Now."

Surprisingly, she does.

What the hell just happened?

"So…" Adrian awkwardly begins, "who wants some vodka?" Everyone, including my Russian lover, raises their hand. We all look at him and he just shrugs.

"I'm not your instructor anymore," he says, "and it's been a long day for all of us. You just graduated. Let's celebrate."

Lissa sends me another weird look before telling us to meet her in Adrian's room. My three friends walk away leaving Dimitri and I alone in the dwindling crowd. I look up and meet his eyes. In that moment the world froze and it was just us.

In that moment I knew we'd be okay.

"What are you smiling about, Roza?" He asks as he pulls me closer to him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I tease.

He raises his eyebrow, but he doesn't ask. "Your friends are waiting for us."

"They can wait a few more seconds, can't they?" I lean forward and give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Mmm." His arms wrap around my body, pulling me against his body. "I suppose they can wait a little longer."

"Good." His lips meet mine and everything else is forgotten. Eventually we pull apart, both of us grinning like crazy. "Come on comrade, let's go start the beginning of the rest of our lives."

He laughs. "You make it sound like a bad thing."

"It can't be bad if you're in it."

"You say that now. You could get bored of me after a few years or so."

"Shut up and let me be romantic, will ya?"

He laughs again. He should really do that more. It sounds amazing. "Okay, Roza. Whatever you say"

I giggle, roll my eyes, and take his hand. We walk together into the sunrise and into the beginning of the rest of our lives.

Just kidding. I'm not that cheesy.

Okay, fine. Yes I am.

The End