The thing Rose didn't seem to understand was that nothing to do with her was a burden. Rising early to run in the freezing cold with her was no burden. Arguing with the headmaster of the school, carrying her to the nurse time and again... It was all a gift. Even this moment, as painful and confusing as it was, was a gift. Not too long ago, someone had told Dimitri he would lose what he valued most. It had never occurred to him that he might lose Rose's trust.
And until now, he'd never known how much he valued it. "Burden me. Please, Roza. Give me this... whatever this is. We can carry it together. Whatever you have to say, it doesn't change anything between us." And that was true, as far as it went. Dimitri couldn't fathom a single event in this or any other universe that would make him feel differently about her.
He knew she didn't tell him things, that she carried a weight on her shoulders she thought no one else could lift. She was so like him, and that drove him mad. There was a line tied from his heart to hers, and it was jumping, pulled taught on either side by both their wild emotions. Dimitri kept telling himself that he had to stay calm. He didn't think he was better than Rose, but he had more practice at keeping situations under control, and right now he had the feeling that if he broke, Rose might, too. So he tried to look like he could handle anything.