So! Second chapter's up, leave me a review!

I walk along the quiet street . It's about quarter to ten on a Wednesday morning and I'm feeling surprisingly…good today. My dark clouds and demons are there, just the same as ever, but today it feels like I can fight them. Like they've stayed the same and I've got stronger. The bell tinkled as I walked into the doctor's surgery, and then took the stairs to the third level of the building-the private counseling office I seemed to spend great amounts of time in. The receptionist, a dark haired woman four or five years older than me smiles, looking up from her paperwork. Her piercing blue eyes soften a little as she looks at me.

"Morning, Rose."

"Tasha," I counter, giving her a nod.

"You go on in. Dr. Belikov"-she shook her head ruefully-"Dimitri should be in any moment." I nodded, and let myself into the large office. On the frosted glass-and-oak door were words inscribed in silver lettering. Dr. Dimitri Belikov (PhD) Clinical Psychiatrist.

Tentatively, I swung the door open. Just like its owner, the room was neat, organized and handsome, with dark oak furniture, wide bay windows and matching oak bookshelves crammed with academic journals, classics and an overwhelming amount of space dedicated to western novels. Though I'd known Dimitri for eighteen months, his fascination with the Wild West was still unfathomable to me. Probably because he was so good at deflecting attention away from himself, putting others before him. His sheer selflessness was something I both admired and hated about him. In fact, looking around the room, I could see a lot more of him than he'd ever let on in person. The simple, masculine feel, pictures of European, probably eastern European, architecture. A few photos of him with an arm around a beautiful brown-haired girl-his sister Viktoria. A desk calendar with his careful, small writing, neatly planning everything out. The wrought iron clock on the wall ticking heavily. I frowned. He was late. I settled into the chair I'd frequented so many times, staring down at my well-worn dark denim jeans. A few minutes later the door handle turned and I glanced up to see the man himself.

"What is this, opposite day?" I couldn't help but kid. It was usually me who was running late. He gave me an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Rose. It's been crazy." I studied him. He wore dark workpants and a white shirt rolled halfway up his forearms, the top two buttons undone haphazardly, unusual for him, along with a dark blue tie. Yum. His dark brown hair was, as usual, in a ponytail at the name of his neck. IMHO, he had never looked better. I snickered.

"I thought maybe you were dead." He cocked an eyebrow.

"What?" I laughed.

"Well, my old shrink killed herself. Blamed me in the note." He shook his head tiredly, but a smile twitched on his lips.

"You've never even been to another shrink, Rose." He crinkled his brow. "Unless you count the one I referred you to eight months ago. Not that I believe you ever had a consultation with him. You lit on fire in the waiting room because you disliked him," he recounted, his eyes twinkling but his expression completely straight.

"He had a funny nose," I said in my own defense, then realized how stupid that sounded. He nodded, perfectly serious.

"Of course. Completely understandable. In future, when I refer you to a specialist, I will screen them for funny noses." Frustration boiled in me as I kicked his desk. Yep, we'd been in the same room for about ninety seconds and were already getting under each other's skin. I could tell I annoyed him, the slightest irritation was evident in his eyes.

"Ughh! You're so annoying. Anyway," I continued in a wounded voice," you could have just laughed at my joke, Doc."

"Would that have made you feel better?" He asked. I considered that.

"No, I would have known you were pitying me." He laughed.

"Exactly." I gritted my teeth.

"Anyways. Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to use that line for?" He gave me one of those half-hidden but sincere smiles-extremely rare but stunning.

"Since Stuart said it in the big bang theory last Wednesday?" He offered. Glaring at him as he tried to smother a grin, I got up and stalked to the door, to find it locked. I swung around, fuming. How had he locked the door? I'd watched him the whole time.

"Give me the key."

"No."

"Give me the freaking key, Belikov," I yelled, trying to kick the door. I knew that wouldn't work-after I kicked it down the first time, he had it reinforced with steel.

"No can do," He said, his calm voice slightly sardonic.

"I'm gonna sue your commie ass for harassment if you don't open it!" I yelled at him, and he gave me a lazy smile, leaning back a little in his chair.

"Go ahead. You've tried before. Twice last month. Three times in the last fortnight." He shrugged. "They dropped charges as I recommended you were too mentally unstable to stand trial. Might light someone on fire."

"Thanks for the confidence vote, doc," I muttered, searching for the key, and gave up. Dimitri, being Dimitri, was always a step ahead, and probably had it on him somewhere.

"So," I challenged. "Now you're locking me in, what's next? Padded Walls? Hell, what about a straightjacket?" I sniped. A wry smirk played upon his sexy-as-sin lips.

"You really shouldn't tempt me, Rose" I paused. Dimitri didn't make empty threats. Ever. If he actually did have a straightjacket lying around here, shit was about to hit the fan in a major way. I decided he probably didn't-if he did, he would have used it on me by now. Taking in my expression, he laughed.

"No, Rose, I don't. How many times have I told you, this isn't an asylum?" I snorted.

"Uh-huh. Explain the fact that I can't get out, huh? Short of kicking a door," I added, but it was an empty threat. He sighed.

"Sit down, you'll shatter your shins if you try," he told me. I crossed casually to the window.

"Would that kill me?" I asked, pointing at the drop. He tightened his jaw, stiffening as he always did when I made death threats he wasn't sure were empty, then eventually answered.

"Depends how you landed." I groaned.

"Have you ever given a straight answer in your life?" He looked at me solemnly.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes.

"Ha hardy ha-ha. Very funny, Dimitri."

"You're in a good mood today," he noted. I frowned.

"What makes you say that?" He was right, of course, but I wouldn't give that to him. He shrugged.

"I can just…tell. You look lighter. Less worried," He stated. I couldn't help a wry smile. That was Dimitri. There was no beating around the bush with this one.

"Yeah, I guess I've been feeling better for a while," I admitted. He nodded, his eyes seeming brighter, almost hopefully eager.

"I'm glad to hear it. So what do you want to talk about?" I wrinkled my eyebrows.

"You don't even watch the Big Bang Theory. How did you know that?" He rolled his eyes.

"Irrelevant." I pursed my lips.

"Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?" He frowned.

"Your family." I paused.

"Whoa. No way. We don't go there." He shrugged.

"Last time we went there, you smashed everything in my office."

"So you think it's a good idea to go back there?" I said disbelievingly. "I'm not sure I'm the one who's crazy here. "

"You aren't crazy," he said calmly. He paused to arch an eyebrow. "Clinically, anyways."

"Full of compliments, aren't you?" I muttered, and he smiled wickedly.

"I do try. Now, let's talk." I shook my head firmly.

"That's still a no go zone, comrade." He fixed me with a hard look.

"I'm not your friend, Rose. I'm simply here to help you." I barked out a short laugh.

"Yep, that sounds about right. All my life, those two things have been mutually exclusive." He sighed exasperatedly.

"You know I didn't mean it like that. I meant that no-go zones don't apply to me. If you refuse to face up to your problems, why are you here?"

"Because you know where I live, and if I don't come, you break in to my house and drag me out of bed." True story. Has happened on more than one occasion. His lips twisted in an irresistible smile capable of giving me butterflies like a teenage girl on her first date.

"Is that the only reason?" No, it's also kind of because you are the sexiest goddamn man I have seen in my entire life and the only thing that makes me get up every morning. But was I going to say that? Noo.

"I want to do this," I said quietly. "But I don't know how." He leant over his neat desk and rested his hand on top of mine, dark eyes staring in to mine. The shock of his touch nearly took my breath away, but I tried to control my wildly beating heart.

"Then let me help you, Roza," he said, equally quietly. For a second or two my heart stopped and all I was capable of thinking about was him, his hand, his warmth, his eyes. I knew that if I looked into them too long I'd become hypnotized. That voice, that face, if I wasn't careful, they could make me do anything they wanted. So I did what I always did. I caught myself before I had, for better or for worse, the chance to fall, and slammed shut that little weakness he'd opened up. He knew I wanted to beat this. And he was playing to that. I couldn't let him in. Because if I did, he'd just destroy me and then I'd be back at the beginning all over again. I could not go back there. I was now strong enough, smart enough, to be able to refuse to go back there. I sucked in a breath and stood up, slipping my hand away from his.

"Sorry comrade, gotta go," I stammered, and backed towards the door, stumbling over my feet as I went. He watched me leave without comment, I wasn't brave enough to meet the dark, intense eyes that could see much further into me than I was sure I liked. This conversation wasn't over, far from it. Though this visit hadn't ended with us shouting, it had ended with an argument. I had a feeling I'd won this battle, but was fast about to lose the war. But what terrified me most was the voice in the back of my head telling me that losing might not be such a bad thing.

Tell me what you thought! Constructive critisism always welcomed :)

Em xx