Reality Bites - Wattys 2018 Shortlist

Chapter 38 - Next to Your Heart

I woke up feeling nervous. Today, well tonight actually, I'd be back at the Academy. Admittedly only for a few hours to meet with Kirova and pick up Christian, Eddie, Lissa, and Adrian for my birthday. But still. Abe seemed so convinced Mom's plan was going to work – and it had to because there wasn't really a backup.

Lissa, Adrian, and Alberta were going to return to the Academy just after dusk Thursday afternoon – back from Lissa's 'health trip.' We'd be arriving at 1 am on Friday morning, and the idea was that when we saw one another, Lissa would pretend she'd not seen me since I'd left on the field trip. It had been so frantic with the recall of Novices after the Strigoi attack, Alberta had managed to get her away without anyone asking too many questions. Adrian, the Queen's favorite nephew being with them had probably expedited that.

Dimitri was lying beside me, still asleep. He was smiling and looked relaxed. He said our return to the Academy wasn't bothering him, yet he'd taken me three times last night – a new record. It's amazing how every time we made love it was a little bit different. Sometimes playful, sometimes romantic, sometimes comforting and sometimes fucking. It's like whatever my mood, or his, Dimitri knew how to give me exactly what I needed. The third time last night had been so soothing. Lying beside him afterward, I'd felt safe and secure and just crazy in love.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, Dimitri opened his eyes.

"Good morning milaya," he said, his voice smooth and sexy. I would never get sick of waking up next to him. It's something I was going to miss at the Academy. It's only a couple of months, I kept reminding myself. We had the rest of our lives together to look forward to. And there would be some good things to look forward to at the Academy, too. I couldn't wait to see Jesse Zeklos' face when I returned with twenty or so Guardians, one of those being Dimitri. All the students had a very healthy respect for Guardian Belikov; and if he thought Dimitri was scary before when he was just my mentor, wait until he was my twenty-four seven Guardian. And he'd yet to meet my Mom! She was a world of scary in her own right.

Actually, that brought to mind something else. I had a prank I wanted to play on Christian and Eddie. I'd made Lissa and Adrian swear black and blue that they'd say nothing to them about Dimitri and I being lovers before I had a chance to. Lissa, always seeing the best in people, assumed I wanted to make a formal announcement and promised not to steal my thunder. Adrian, knowing me too well, realized I wanted to prank them and was all in. Now the only thing was to formulate a plan and convince Dimitri. The first aspect proved particularly challenging. I wanted to get them good, and I was struggling with an idea. Convincing Dimitri, on the other hand, was easy. He was all for it!

Eddie had an appreciation for Dimitri that bordered on hero-worship. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to play it, but I was going to make it epic. I had a reputation as a prankster to uphold!

Because we were going to be arriving at the academy at 1 am, we spent most of the day in bed resting so we'd be refreshed for the Moroi middle of the day. Dimitri read a Western; I listened to music. We made out. I briefly rose to wish Lissa, Adrian, and Alberta well as they headed to the airport a few hours ahead of us. Alberta was uncharacteristically affectionate.

"I'll do everything I can to make this work," she promised, giving me a huge cuddle. "Don't worry if I don't seem too excited when you get back. It's part of convincing Kirova."

Lissa and Adrian were fine. It was silly they had to fly in and back out a few hours later, but it helped maintain the illusion. Besides, Lissa desperately wanted to pack for my birthday weekend, and provided there was booze on the plane Adrian was happy enough. I still thanked them effusively. I was starting to get bored and thinking of mischief when there was a knock at our bedroom door. A Guardian was standing there with a large pile of clothing in his arms. Dimitri's Guardian outfits had arrived.