Adrian held the roses in his hands, and I felt my heart melt a little. He was dressed for our dinner date, and I was pretty sure that he had spent more time than me. He cleaned up nice. I on the other hand had hurriedly pulled on a dress and put my hair up to make it look as if I had spent more time, when in truth I had spent most of my time thinking about Dimitri, and now seeing Adrian made me feel angry at myself. He was there, always taking my crap, and never questioning what I did to him. Dimitri wasn't strogi any more, not even close. He was perfectly ok. The only problem was that he couldn't forgive himself enough to accept that I had forgiven him. He ran off, telling me that he no longer wanted me, and that we should both just move on with our lives. Giving him my heart hadn't been easy, especially since I don't usually show my emotions. But with Dimitri, I did, and I regretted it now. How could I be thinking about Dimitri, when Adrian stood in front of me, with roses in hand, trying to mend my broken heart. I should have spent more time getting ready, it had been months since Dimitri ran off, and Adrian was more than patient. I was always giving him signs that I loved him, and yet whenever we got too close, I had that small nagging voice in my head saying Dimitri still loved me.

As we got up to leave my small apartment, he gave me a small squeeze while giving me the roses. I thanked him, and he just gave a small nod of his head. We were leaving the apartment complex, when I saw Dimitri. Right there. Out in the open.

He walked straight towards me, and yanked my arm from Adrian's.

"I hate you Roza! Your with him right now, really! How could you leave me for him?"

I smelled alcohol

"Don't call me that! Your the one who left me remember! And him has a name, Adrian, and we were just leaving.", I said, looping my arm back with Adrian's.

"Your mine Roza!" He slurred at me, spitting in the process.

"No Dimitri, I am my own self. And last time I checked, we were done. Adrian and I have stuff to do now, so if you would please excuse me..."

I was cut off by him trying to grab my other arm, the one not looped with Adrian's.

"I had to Roza!"

Adrian went to defend me but I gave him a look that said 'let me handle this'.

"You didn't have to do anything. You left me, after everything we have been through, and now I want nothing to do with you."

Hearing myself say those words, surprised all three of us.

"Your so stupid Rose. Do you even realize what I have given up for you? I left because I had to. Not because I wanted to."

"Your drunk, and your not making sense." Adrian said pointedly.

"Wait, what do you mean by you didn't have a choice? Everyone has a choice, and you chose", I said emphasizing chose, "to leave me. Take the consequences." After that, I pulled Adrian into the waiting limo he had reserved for us, and we took of to our dinner date. When he looked in the car to me, and asked me whether I wanted to talk about it, I shook my head no, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. I wouldn't let this ruin our date, no matter how horrible I was feeling right now. I glanced out the window, to see Dimitri sitting with his head hanging, crying, and I cracked a little. Part of me wanted to jump out of the car, and run and comfort him. The other part remembered what he did to me, how he so easily left me, the pain he put me through. And then I glanced at Adrian, who was also looking out the window at Dimitri, and grabbed his hand. We didn't talk the car ride, but I knew what I was doing. I had been to cruel with him already, and I was pretty sure that he should hate me by now. Instead his fingers stroked my hand, and he gave me the space that I needed. I appreciated that so much, more than he would ever know. As my mind was reeling, I also thought about Dimitri's words. How he said he HAD to give me up and leave. How he said he sacrificed everything for me, and in that moment, I decided to find out later what exactly he meant by that.