Hello again, everyone! Thanks for letting me take a little break :) I feel like it's time to begin the sequel to "Couples Therapy". It's taken me a little while to work out the plot, but I finally have it done and am ready to continue the story. I hope you enjoy!

Dimitri and I lay in his bed, wrapped up in the covers. Our naked skin was pressed together. It felt so right just laying here with him, post-sex. In the back of my mind, I thought, how could it get any better than this?

He bent his head down, planting a kiss on my lips. "I love you so much, Roza. I'm so glad that we can finally be together, out in the open."

"Me, too," I murmured, inhaling deeply. Dimitri's natural scent was so mesmerizing. "I wish we could just lay here forever."

He chuckled for a moment before looking into my eyes. A sudden flame began in his, hunger taking over his expression. He wrapped his arms tighter around me, pulling me even closer. He rubbed his cheek along mine, bringing his lips to my ear. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready for round two."

A shiver went through me. I hadn't been thinking about it, but my body obviously had. My response was to dig my nails into his back, leaving red trails down it. We both moaned as we slid our bodies against each other. Dimitri suddenly picked me up and turned, placing me back down as he slid on top of me.

"Are you ready?" he whispered.

I looked up at him, confused. "What about a condom?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about that now. We'll get to that part later."

His words caused the warmth between my legs to grow, sliding up to the bottom of my belly. No longer able to find my voice, I nodded.

With a look of passion that could rival Don Juan de Marco's, he came down, our bodies becoming one…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

My eyes sprang open. I was in bed, but it was my own. My alarm clock was going crazy, demanding I get up. I groaned as I hit a button to make it be quiet. I could still feel the yearning I'd felt in my dream, a yearning that I knew couldn't be satisfied. Groggily, I brought my legs over the side of my bed and stretched.

I felt sticky all over from sweating. Apparently, the heat hadn't stayed inside my body. My throat was dry and on fire, my head feeling as if it would blow up at any moment from the pressure. As I tried to stand, I found my legs were unable to hold me up, feeling like jelly. I put my head in my hands, wishing that it hadn't been a dream.

There was a knock at my door. "Rose, are you awake? It's time to get ready for school."

"Yes, mom," I replied, my nose sounding stuffed up. I gasped at the realization that I was crying. I hadn't even realized the tears running down my cheeks. How had things come to this? It was like Dimitri and I were right back where we started… No, that wasn't right. We were even more restricted than when we started, our relationship practically nonexistent. Sometimes I wondered if he even cared about me at all anymore.

I got up and went to my bathroom, taking care of my basic needs. I looked in the mirror as I washed my hands, noticing that my hair was sticking up in all directions. I had two options that would tame that bed-head: put it up in a sloppy ponytail, or take a shower. I opted for the latter.

I was in and out in ten minutes. I still pulled my hair into a ponytail, just in case, once I'd pulled my jeans and white t-shirt on. I was ready for school.

I had a quick breakfast – waffles – before meeting my best friend Lissa outside on the sidewalk. My parents were a lot more lax with me now that Rebecka and her minions were behind bars outside of the state, but they still wanted me to take precautions in case one of them hadn't been caught.

"Rose, you look like hell. Are you alright?" Lissa asked as I approached.

I rolled my eyes. "Way to make me feel better. I had a nightmare last night. I'll be fine." Well, nightmare isn't what I'd call the dream, but waking up had been a nightmare.

"Sorry," she mumbled. She took the hint that I didn't want to talk about it and changed the subject. "I talked to Mr. Walters and he said you could work the lights for the talent show without being in it as punishment. I hope that helps a little."

I nodded. "Yeah, it does."

It was Friday morning. Yesterday, I'd gotten in trouble for taking Ms. Amos's cell phone and flushing it down a toilet in the girls' bathroom. How they'd decided it was me without any proof, I'll never know. Anyway, it was worth it. I got back at that crazy bitch and all I had to do was help the team organizing the talent show.

Lissa and I didn't chat much as we walked to school. Well, Lissa talked and I listened. I wasn't really up to much conversation. I guess she got the hint. "How are you and…you-know-who doing?" she asked.

"Horribly," I sighed, shaking my head. "I just don't know how much longer we can keep this up. It's only been a month, but this is killing me! The worst part is that I don't even know how he's taking it. We barely get to see each other, so when we do, all we talk about is how much we miss each other. I love him and I'm not giving up on us…but I'm starting to wonder where we have to draw the line."

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I wish there was more I could do to help, but you know your dad would fry the both of us if he found out. Speaking of, is he at all suspicious that there's something going on?"

I shook my head. We were almost at the school doors now. "If he is, he isn't showing it, which is the scariest part. I would have no idea if he was suspicious or not. He's sneaky like that."

She nodded, knowing exactly what I meant. Lissa had been sleeping over at my house since we were in kindergarten. Of course she knew my dad. "Let's talk about this later, though. There are ears everywhere."

I laughed. "You sound so…paranoid."

Lissa looked me straight in the eyes as we walked into the school. Her face was grim. "I am paranoid, Rose. I don't see how you can be so laidback after everything that's happened to you…"

"You're right," I admitted, coming up on a corner to the main hallway. "It's just… Like I've said before, I don't want to live my life in fear. I can't. And, believe me, that's saying something. It would be totally easy to tell the school that I can't go outside because – oomph!"

I'd turned the corner, not really watching where I was going and ran straight into someone. I dropped my book bag, its contents spilling to the floor. As I dropped down to pick them up, I said, "Oh, I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alr – "

I stopped, looking up and up and up into the dark brown eyes of the man I loved. Dimitri. He gave me quick smile – one that reached his eyes – before bending down to help me gather my things. "It's quite alright, Miss Hathaway. But do try to pay attention to where you're headed next time."

"Belikov." I snorted. "Watching out for you is the least of my worries. Actually, isn't it your job to look out for me?"

His eyes lit up, but he maintained his composure. "I believe it's my job to watch out for you academically and psychologically. Where you're physically moving is of no concern to me." He glared at me, but I knew it was all just for show.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I know you love basking in my presence and all, but I have somewhere to be."

I strung my book bag across my shoulder and left without another word.

[A/N: Okay, so instead of writing BREAK here, from now on I will be writing the first three words of the sentence after a time break in all caps. Look below for an example]

IT WASN'T UNTIL lunch that anything really interesting happened that day. Dimitri and I could no longer have our appointments – my dad requested that our sessions end – so I had nothing but lessons to focus on. Lunch had been going on like normal: students all in their regular groups, talking amongst themselves and eating. Although our town wasn't big, the high school had a good amount of students in it, so the sound in the room was nearly deafening. The only reason why we could hear each other was because we were used to blocking it out.

But when a new kid was walked into the cafeteria by one of the staff members, all the talking ceased. It was a guy, about average height, with brown hair and light eyes. He was wearing standard clothing – a t-shirt and jeans – but he was also wearing a letterman jacket from another school. Even from across the room, I could tell he was handsome.

I took my attention off of him while everyone was still awed by his presence, looking around the room. By the looks on everyone's faces, the game had already begun.

For as long as I could remember, every time a new kid arrived at our school, the cliques would all compete to get them to join their group. The order that it went in usually depended on what the new person looked like or how they acted. If you were confident and dressed well, the preps tried to pull you in. If you were shy or, well, unattractive, you usually had to approach a group to become one of them.

All of the talking started up again at the same time.

"Wonder who he is," Mia mumbled before eating a piece of cantaloupe.

A sudden urge welled up inside me. You'd think that after everything I'd gone through, I would just want some peace and quiet, but I wanted just the opposite. I was starved for some action, especially after getting used to all the training Dimitri had had me doing. It was hardly likely that I would get that type of action any time soon, but I could make things a little spicier in other ways.

I stood up, leaning down to my friends. "You wanna find out?"

"Oh no," Lissa groaned. "What are you planning on doing, Rose?"

I wriggled my eyebrows – badly – and gave them a mischievous smile before walking off. I heard conversations dropping off as people noticed me making my way toward the new guy. Camille stood up when she saw me, but she didn't go anywhere. She looked like she couldn't make up her mind on whether or not to try and get to him before I did.

I was looking straight at the new kid as I closed in on him, taking in his features. Yes, he was definitely someone Camille would want to get her claws in. It looked like I would be able to kill two birds with one stone. Camille had made arrangements to stay with her aunt in town until she graduated while her parents moved. As soon as she'd found out she was staying in town for good, she turned right back into the bitch she always was. I was going to meet the new guy first and piss her off.

"Hello," I said, smiling when I made it to him. "I'm Rose Hathaway. I thought I'd come introduce myself to you."

He smiled back, putting out his hand for me to shake it. "I'm Nick Mansle. It's…" He looked me up and down. "…a pleasure to meet you."

Ah, maybe I could kill three birds with one stone. If I were to seem interested in this guy in front of all these people, it might get back to my dad. I shook his hand and turned on my charm. "Oh, you have no idea. You wanna come sit with me and my friends?"

"Sure." He shrugged before following me to the table.

I made a motion to Lissa, telling her to move over. She looked confused for only a moment before shooing Christian over and taking his seat. I sat down and patted the seat next to me. As Nick sat down, I began introducing everyone.

"Everyone," I began after I'd introduced my group of friends, "this is Nick Mansle."

From there, everyone began bombarding him with questions. Where did he come from? Why had he moved here? Was he staying indefinitely? Question after question. He never seemed frustrated, though, and answered every single one of them with a smile.

"What do you think of the town? Or have you had any time to actually look around?" I asked, touching his forearm.

He looked down at my arm and then up at me, smiling. "I haven't had a chance to go anywhere other than here. I just got to my new house this morning. I was supposed to get here yesterday, but my parents let me spend all day yesterday with my friends and travel here through the night. Luckily, the school hadn't gotten my schedule together by this morning, so I got to get a little sleep before starting today."

"Do you have anyone to show you around town?" Eddie asked, genuinely interested.

Nick shrugged. "Not really, but I'm pretty good at finding things myself."

Eddie and Mia looked at each other the same time Lissa and Christian looked to each other. "I'm guessing you guys have plans after school?" I asked.

"Well, we have to stay after school to finish a project that's due tomorrow," Mia explained.

Christian nodded. "Yeah, Liss and I have to interview a few people in town for a survey we have to do after school. Sorry."

Mia turned to me. "What about you, Rose? You don't have anything going on after school, do you?"

Lissa and I exchanged glances for a quick second. I certainly did have something planned for after school today. I didn't think anyone had seen anything, but Nick was looking at me with a strange expression. "I actually do have something planned after school. Doctor's appointment. It's mandatory."

I was lying. I did have mandatory doctor's appointments after everything I'd been through – my doctors wanted to make sure everything was still alright – but those were over with. I'd had my last appointment the week before. Thankfully, the bell rang, keeping my friends from thinking about it too much.

Nick, however, didn't believe me. It was obvious by the look on my face. He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he said, "It's not a big deal. Like I said, I can get around on my own. Thanks for the offers, though. I'll see you guys later."

I realized that I hadn't even thought about looking at his schedule to see if we had any classes together. I guessed I'd just have to wait and see if I saw him in any of my classes. I walked to my next class, not giving Nick another thought.

IT TURNED OUT that I didn't have any afternoon classes with Nick, but that wasn't what I was thinking about as I put my things in my locker. I was nearly shaking from the adrenaline that was running through my system. I had a mission ahead of me – that was how I had to think about it – and I couldn't afford to mess up.

When I made it to the entrance to the school, I could barely focus on what any of my friends were saying. Mia and Eddie left, signaling for me to start the mission. I took a slow, deep breath to calm myself, trying to keep Christian from seeing.

"Liss, you want to come with me to the bathroom really quick?" I asked.

She shrugged as if she didn't care, as if we were doing something perfectly normal. On the outside, it definitely looked that way. Girls went to the bathroom in groups all the time. But this wasn't as black-and-white as it seemed.

Lissa turned to Christian and said, "We won't be long. Be right back."

We talked about homework and school as we walked to the bathroom. We'd gone over this conversation so many times that it was almost as if reading a script. One of the reasons we'd even thought this out was because we had to go right by Ms. Amos's classroom and there was no guarantee she wouldn't be listening to us.

When we got in the bathroom, I closed the door behind us, staying there. Lissa went forward to check underneath all the stalls and make sure no one else was here. When she didn't see any feet, she examined every stall again on the way back, opening each door. She nodded to me when she was absolutely sure we were alone.

"Alright," I mumbled, locking the door. "Did you get it?"

She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out two slips of paper. "Got it. It really wasn't hard, but you still owe me."

"I know," I whispered, opening the first paper to read it. It was a small post-it with an address on it. I didn't recognize the street name, but I'd find it. Opening up the second paper, I found what I'd been after for two weeks now. It was a note from my English teacher, saying that she wanted to take a select few students on a couple of trips to Carroll college's library for research on a paper. I looked back up to Lissa. "Thank you so much!"

I leaped forward and wrapped my arms around her. I felt her laugh as she embraced me as well. "Like I said, it wasn't all that hard, but you're welcome. Now, we gotta go. I really do have a survey to do. Oh, and because I can't say this when we get out there, have fun tonight. I hope everything works out."

I sighed, butterflies erupting in my stomach. "I hope so, too."

After saying my goodbyes to Lissa and Christian, I headed off to my house. For the past month, my dad had been staying at home. He was friends with his boss and wound up explaining what had happened to me to him, effectively getting time off with pay. Today was the first day he was going back to work. Because he'd been paid less than usual last month, he had to work overtime this month to make up for the loss. He would be gone for two weeks at the least.

This was one of the things Lissa and I couldn't have possibly planned out: whether or not my mom would be home. We'd thought about giving my mom the paper today to sign and then starting the plan the next day because that was more realistic, but I just couldn't wait any longer.

The lights were on in the house, signaling that she was indeed home. I went inside and called out to her. After a couple of seconds, I heard her footsteps as she walked down the stairs in the dining room. I made it to the room just as she was stepping off the last step. "How was your day, sweetheart?" she asked.

I shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "It was normal. Oh, except we got a new kid. Nick Mansle."

"Really?" my mother asked, surprised. "What is he like?"

"There's not really much I can tell you. He moved here from Wisconsin. His parents apparently wanted a change of scenery, so they bought the library and plan on opening it back up," I explained.

My mom smiled. "That's a fantastic idea! Oh, how I have missed the library…"

Mom had worked in the public library when she went to school as a part-time job. She'd wanted me to do the same all the way through high school, but it shut down when I was in eighth grade. I'd actually liked the idea of being a librarian. My mom had introduced me to reading books and I loved the smell of newly printed paper. Stocking books and helping people find the right genre they'd like to read would have been interesting.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. And speaking of libraries, my English teacher gave me this permission slip to sign. I know, it's sudden. I'm sorry about that. It's not mandatory; I can choose whether or not I want to go. That's part of the reason it took me so long to get this to you. I want to go. Can you sign this please?"

I'd handed the permission slip over to my mom and she looked it over. She shrugged and, without a word, she stuck out her hand for a pen.

When she was done, she handed it back to me while yawning. Looking at the paper made my heart flutter in my chest. It had worked! Telling me to let her know when I was leaving, my mom announced that she would be taking a nap upstairs. I barely heard her as I began thinking about that night.

"THANK YOU SO much for doing this, Andre," I said as I slid into the passenger's seat of Lissa's big brother's car.

"It's not a problem. You're not going far. Besides, you're paying me. I'm not going to pass up easy money," Andre laughed.

We spoke little as he drove through town. The address was just outside of the city limits. Although I'd spent a lot of time around Andre because of Lissa, we didn't have much in common, so we didn't talk much. I was also too preoccupied with my thoughts to keep an actual conversation going.

It didn't take long to get to the address on the paper. It was a medium-sized white house with maroon shutters and trim. The yard was small, with a few trees scattered around it. A small row of flowers lined the front of the porch, giving the place a splash of color.

I thanked Andre for the ride before hopping out. I quickly walked down the path to the front door, hoping no one I knew would see me.

"Well," I sighed once I'd made it to the door, "here we go." I lifted up my hand to knock, but the door swung open before I could. Strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me inside, shutting the door quickly. The next thing I knew, I was up against the wall and Dimitri's lips were crushed against mine.

"I…have missed…you so…much," he said between kisses.

I couldn't help the smile on my lips as we kissed. This felt so good! I was on cloud nine, my body heating up in response to his touch. Unfortunately, my mind decided to override my body – the first time it had ever done that when with Dimitri.

I slid to the side since I couldn't step back, putting my hands out in front of me. "Wait, wait, wait. Before we do anything else, we need to talk. That is the reason we're here, comrade."

But as I looked up into his beautiful, deep brown eyes, I started to lose my will. He was wearing his hair down, the bottom of it gently touching his shoulders. He had on jeans and a black V-neck shirt. Man, did he look sexy.

Dimitri immediately pulled back to look at me. I could see that he wanted to continue with the kissing – that wasn't a bad idea – but it was obvious that he knew I was right. He took a deep breath and nodded. "I know. I'm sorry, I just haven't been with you in so long. You have no idea how hard it is, Roza."

"Oh, believe me, I know." I looked around the place. "So…where should we go to talk?"

We were in Dimitri's mother's – Olena – house. They'd gone to visit other family for the week and Dimitri was given a key so he could water the plants while they were gone. "To my room."

"Your room?" I asked as he began leading me through the living room and down a hallway.

He chuckled as he opened the first door to the right. "Our family is very close. My mother wanted to make sure I had a room I could come home to if I needed it. I've stayed here once or twice when the whole family gets together, but that's about it."

I looked around the room. It was plain white, with one window, a bed, and a desk. "Yeah, I can tell."

"Now," he began, sitting on the bed and patting the spot next to him. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

I didn't know where to begin. There were so many things on my mind, but I knew one of them took priority over the next. Sitting down next to him and interlocking our fingers, I whispered, "How are we going to do this?"

I thought that he might not know what I meant, but of course he would. My Dimitri had a way of knowing exactly what I meant, even when I hadn't said a word at all. It was one of the reasons I knew we had to stick it out. I was convinced we were made for each other.

"It isn't going to be easy, but we'll manage it. You only have a few more months until you turn eighteen and only a few more after that until you graduate. After that…we can do whatever we want." He took my hands in his and placed them on his leg, giving me a smile.

My eyes were glued to our hands. There were so many thoughts running through my head that I couldn't make sense of them. Will we be able to maintain a relationship when we have to hide it all the time? When will we see each other? What if Ms. Amos or my dad finds out?

"Roza?"

I looked up to his face, my heart stuttering as I did. Before another thought could cross my mind, I leaned over, lifting my face to his.

Suddenly, my whole world was on fire. Every time his lips moved on mine, it felt as if I would explode. Oh, and it was nothing compared to what his hands on my body did. Every brush sent bolts of electricity into me, effectively shutting off my brain. I decided that that was a good thing; if I were to use my brain, I would stop this.

"I love you," I whispered, in between kisses. "I love you so much."

As quickly as the heat had engulfed me, it spit me back out. My eyes snapped open as I wondered where he'd gone.

"I…" Dimitri now sat a foot away from me on the bed, staring at the ground. "I don't know what to say."

I sat back up, confused. "Wait. What just happened?"

When he looked back up at me, his eyes were glistening, but I couldn't tell if he was sad or angry. "I know that tone of voice, Rose." I felt the heat of a blush working its way to my cheeks. When Dimitri saw that, he grabbed me and held me in his arms. "Don't do this. Please. We'll find a way to work everything out."

"I don't know, Dimitri." Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. "It seems like everything is standing in our way."

He grabbed my chin and brought my face up to look at him. "I know. But...you're worth going through all of it."

That did it. The tears fell onto my cheeks as I began to sob. The last few weeks had been nothing but miserable for me, but I hadn't shed a single tear. Everything that had been stored up came crashing down and I could do nothing but let Dimitri hold me.

And he did. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but Dimitri never said a word. He just held me in his arms, stroked my hair, and let me cry. When I finally felt a little better, I pulled out of his arms and said, "Well…that's not the way I wanted this weekend to start."

I'd hoped that would lighten the mood, but Dimitri stayed serious. "Rose, I already lost you once. Don't make me lose you again."

"You won't," I whispered, taking his face in my hand. "I promise."

And that was when we had the most incredible make-up sex to date.

There we go! Hope you guys enjoyed it. Again, sorry about the wait. I don't know if I'll be able to update every day, but I will try my best. I did see the official motion poster for Blood Sisters and it is amazing! Now they need to give us a trailer! Let me know how you liked this chapter in the reviews!