I watched as he walked towards the SUV waiting at the academies gates, in the pouring down rain. I ran after him, trying to stop him. After everything we've been through, I wasn't about to let him go this easily. When I was about six feet away from him, I called after him.

"Dimitri." He stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't turn around, and he didn't speak. He just froze. He stood there for a second, almost as if he were debating on whether to keep walking or not. He took a deep breath, and turned around to look at me.

"What?" He asked. When I met his eyes, I could tell his guardian mask was on. He was using it to block out any emotions he might show me. My hair and clothes were dripping wet, and tears were streaming down my face, although you couldn't tell it for the rain.

"What… what are you doing?" I asked. He met my eyes with a deep intensity before speaking.

"I'm leaving, Rose. I'm going to guard Tasha." He said. The words had no emotion behind them, but his guardian mask was slipping from his face ever so slightly.

"No… I mean… Why? I don't understand." I said.

"You… you were right, Rose. You said it was a once in a life time shot, and I should do what makes me happy, and this is it. I want to guard Tasha." He said. He was lying. No.. he was lying. He'd said that I was the one that made him happy. I made him feel at peace. He didn't want her. He wanted me.

"Your lying." I forced. He shook his head at me.

"I'm not. I want to guard Tasha. This is what makes me happy. I want to be with her." He said, his words thick with an emotion I couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"No… You don't want her. You want me… remember? You told me that I was the one that made you happy, and you found peace with me. You said I was the one you wanted, the one you cared about. You don't want her Dimitri, and you know it." I said.

"I did care about you, but I see now that there…there can never be anything between us." He said. I flinched at his words. They were like daggers to my heart. I would have actually preferred the daggers than this.

"After everything we've been through, your just going to walk away? Just going to leave me here like this?" I demanded.

"This is what I want. I thought you'd be happy for me, Rose." He said. I squinted through the rain, trying to decipher the emotion on his face. I couldn't tell for the rain, but it almost looked like he was crying too.

"I… I don't want you to leave, Dimitri." I said, my words thick. "You're my mentor. You're supposed to be here to help me through the rest of my senior year, and your supposed to help me guard Lissa." He shook his head at me.

"You'll do just fine on your own. Plus, they'll find you a new mentor. A better one even, and they'll also find Liss a new guardian." He said.

"But they wont be you. And you know good and damn well that there isn't a better guardian out there than you." I snapped. He smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was forced.

"They'll figure it out." He said. I shook my head.

"I'm asking you… please, don't leave." I said.

"This is what I want, Rose." He said. Something dark and angry was starting to raise its head inside of me.

"No. Its not. Your lying, Dimitri. You know I've always been able to tell when you were. You don't want to leave, and you know it." I said. He shook his head at me.

"Rose, please… Just let it go. Its done. I'm leaving." He said. I just stared at him. His face was twisting into another mask, but he was having a hard time holding it. I could see pain, and heartache flow through his features.

"Fine… You know what.. You go. Okay? I don't care anymore. I'm done with this bullshit. I'll finish my senior year and I'll become the best damn guardian there is, and I'm going to do it without your help. You'll regret leaving. I swear on it. You'll regret this. I love you dammit. I've always loved you, but obviously… that wasn't good enough for you. I'd be willing to give up everything for you… you know? My guardianship, Lissa, all of it… Just to be with you, but that isn't what you want. If Tasha is what you want then go. Have a nice life, Dimitri because I'll damn sure be enjoying mine without you." I snapped. I took a deep breath and looked deep into his eyes, forcing as much hate into the glare that I could conjure up, and forced as much venom that I could find in my body as I spat the next words.

"Good-bye Guardian Belikov." I snapped. I turned my back, and walked away, leaving him there, staring after me in the rain. I felt his eyes remain on my back as I walked away, but then I heard a door shut, and looked back to see the SUV's taillights disappear through the gates and down the road.

I sat at the desk in my room, staring down at my laptop. I was supposed to be writing a paper, but it wasn't coming along that well. He'd been gone for an entire week, and It seemed like an entire year. I already missed him. I missed his voice, his scent, everything about him. I sat there, thinking over everything that had been said that night, thinking of how much I regretted some of the things I said. I was upset and angry and didn't mean half of the things I said. I felt horrible about them now, and knowing I'd never get the chance to take them back made it ten times worse. I really hoped and prayed I'd get the chance to take back some of the things I said. I tried to focus on the task at hand. The paper that was due to Stan by tomorrow, but probably wouldn't get there on time. I sighed and laid my head down on the desk. I was so tired. I hadn't really slept in an entire week. Before I knew it, gravity started increasing on my eyelids, and I slowly fell asleep.

I woke up to an obnoxiously loud knocking. I sat up, and yawned. I got up and walked over to the door and opened it to find Adrian Ivashkov.

"Hello Little Dhampir." He said. I sighed.

"Hi Adrian." I said.

"You seem so delighted to see me." He said, his voice full of mock enthusiasm. I cracked a half-assed smile.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I was asleep, and I'm supposed to be writing a paper, and I just… I don't know." I finally said. He wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me too him.

"Rose, I don't mean to be rude, because you know I think you're the most beautiful thing in this world, but you look like-" I cut him off, not needing him to finish.

"Hell?" I tried. He nodded a little.

"I know. I've got to much on my mind, I haven't really slept in a week, I'm being bombarded with school work, I don't have practices anymore to take away the stress, and I'm just totally losing my mind." I said. He frowned.

"I'm sorry honey. I wish I knew a way to make it better. I would say I'd let you beat up on me to relive the stress, but I like my pretty face too much." He said. I chuckled a little bit.

"Stop trying to cheer me up." I said. He smiled.

"Why? Is it working?" He asked. I sighed.

"No." I said. He shook his head at me.

"Why don't you go write your paper, and I'll hunt you down some dinner." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"What are you going to get me?" I asked.

"Chinese?" He asked. I smiled.

"Very well. Go hunt." I encouraged. He nodded, and disappeared to go get me dinner. I sat down at my computer, and started typing up my paper, getting half-way through it before he came back. He unloaded a bag of Chinese food on my desk and smiled.

"Our dinner, ma'am." He said. I smiled.

"Thanks Adrian. As weird as it may sound coming from me, I guess I'm glad you're here." He chuckled.

"Don't try and fool yourself little dhampir. You love it when I'm around." He said. I rolled my eyes. I finished eating, and threw everything away. Adrian talked to me, while I finished my paper, keeping my mind off things I didn't want to think about. The only bad part was, it was now curfew, and I was about to be all alone. He hugged me, and then disappeared out the door. I sighed, and went to get a shower. As I looked in the mirror, after I got out, I noticed that a deep haunted look was in my eyes, like a huge chunk of me was missing. I knew who and what it was. I was missing Dimitri. He had became such a huge part of my life. It was also a piece of my heart missing, which he'd taken along with him when he disappeared. I sighed and walked out of the bathroom, crawling into bed. I closed my eyes, hoping and praying sleep would come quickly tonight, but it didn't. When I closed my eyes, all I saw was him. I was gazing into those deep, seductive chocolate brown eyes. The one's I wanted to stare into for the rest of my life. Finally, I was able to fall into a dreamless sleep, but not without tears spilling out of my eyes first.