part i. 

headstronghathaway did not like for a starter, but she did call ’not it’, and thereby brutally forced me to do the thing. as if I need encouragement for cute family feels

Never had he noticed exactly how his younger sister’s laugh
sounded, or how his oldest squeezed his hand like it was a
lifeboat in the great, blue sea. And he couldn’t remember the
last time his mother had fussed over his nonexistent hunger,
or the last time his grandmother had participated in a conver-
sation solely by stating something cryptic, just to return to her
knitting the next second. All he knew was that he had missed
them, and he was more than happy to be back, if only for a
little while.

– & with Rose, no less. He had been somewhat surprised
by the familiarity between his female family members and
his girlfriend, however since he already knew that she had
stayed with them, before she had inevitably ended up in his
strigoi claws, he had let it go, and simply enjoyed it. Viktoria
especially seemed to have taken a shine to her, and she
listened just as eagerly to Rose as she did to her older
brother. Although, it was his legs she was leaning against.

“It is really nice to have you here,” the aforementioned sister
declared, possibly for the fifth time, with her eyes on Rose
and a smile on her lips. “Really nice.” Absentmindedly, it
would seem, her fingertips tapped against her older brother’s
knee. Dimitri had to bite back a protest; it tickled.

“I couldn’t have kept her away even if I tried,” he teased before
Rose had the time to reply. The comfortable atmosphere and
the warmth of his family’s smiles had melted all tension in his
body – even the one that seemed to follow him everywhere as
a consequence of being a guardian. A rare grin was sent to her.
It took up at least half of his face, yet it was as relaxed and easy
as the rest of him. “I’m sure you have discovered her stubborn
side by now.” From the corner, he could hear a humorless snort
from his grandmother. He decided not to address it. For now.