Hey! Thank you for making time to read this story and thank you for the reviews! Most people thought it's Adrian or Mason at the door so I guess you're going to be a little disappointed when you read who's at the door. I hope you enjoy this chapter, anyway.

Btw, did anyone hear about the official VA cast? What are your thoughts? Do you like the cast? I really wanted Odette Annable to be Rose and Ben Barnes to be Dimitri, but yeah... I was upset and mad at first when I saw who the cast was, but I looked the actors up and now I'm okay with the cast. I think Zoey Deutch will be a great Rose and Danila Kozlovskiy looks pretty good, too. He's a Russian so I guess he'll make a good Dimitri. I heard he's a great actor. I don't know how to feel about Lucy Fry as Lissa, though.

But anyway, here's the next chapter.

CHAPTER 4

RPOV

"So you made any friends yet since my departure?" I asked Christian Ozera.

He smirked. "Sure. Everyone loves me here. Isn't that right, Dimitri?"

Dimitri grinned. "Yeah, you're probably the most popular guy in town."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha! He could never be popular."

There was nobody here who really liked Christian. I thought that was too bad, because he was fun to hang out with. Sometimes. Not always, though. And it was kind of Christian's own fault that no one liked him. He was snarky, sarcastic, rude and he liked to set things on fire. Or, well, he used to like that when he was a kid. Growing up, he learned setting things on fire wasn't some kind of hobby you could practice. He was my age and we'd met in school. He'd always been a loner there and I'd felt sorry for him so I became friends with him. It hadn't been easy, though. Because of his personality – and mine, because let's face it, I'm not easy either – we'd hated each other's guts at first, but at long last we became friends. I'd introduced Christian to Dimitri later on and they became friends, too. Now I suddenly wondered if Christian was the reason why Dimitri and Tasha had become so close over the last few years. Dimitri probably hung out with Christian a lot when I hadn't been around and maybe that's why he'd started talking to Tasha.

"If that's true, then it's because of you," Christian retorted.

"Me? But I am popular," I said grinning.

He rolled his eyes. "Dream on."

"You're just jealous because you're not as cool as me."

He sighed. "Oh, Rosie, how much I've missed you."

I punched him in the arm. "Don't call me that."

He just grinned. We went back to the kitchen and sat down to talk.

"Dude, you should check your phone because Tasha called you three times this morning," Christian suddenly said to Dimitri. "She's pretty mad."

Dimitri's eyes widened and he cursed in Russian as he ran to his bedroom. I had no idea what he had said. When we were younger, I'd begged Dimitri almost every day to teach me how to swear in Russian, but he'd refused every time. He'd probably refuse again if I'd ask him now.

"Do they fight a lot?" I asked Christian.

He shrugged. "Not so much. It's just… my sister isn't easy and she gets upset really fast. Especially with him. He does pretty much everything she wants him to do so she won't get angry at him."

I frowned. "Doesn't he say anything about it? I mean, it's not fair if Tasha takes it all out on him, right?"

The Dimitri I knew would say something back and he would definitely not let himself be pushed around.

Christian shrugged. "Tasha is not nice company when she's angry. It's better if you just do as she says."

"Weird," I mumbled. I didn't understand why Dimitri would put up with that. I knew for a fact he didn't like to be commanded – unless it was by me of course. I used to do it all the time and then he would do all the things I wanted him to do with a smile. But if someone else bossed him around… No way that he would listen. Maybe he'd changed.

"She wasn't happy when he told her yesterday that he wasn't going to go with her to the party," Christian continued. "You should've seen her face when she came home."

I frowned. "What party? Was there a party last night?"

"Some birthday party of a friend of hers," Christian answered. "I understand why Dimitri didn't want to go, though. I mean, he doesn't know any of her friends and what was he going to do there anyway? Chat along with all those women?" Sighing, he shook his head. "Honestly, I don't even get why he dates her."

"Wow, you're very supportive of their relationship," I said, kind of surprised by his admission.

Christian gave me a small smile. "You know I've always thought that Dimitri was meant to be with you."

I looked down at my hands and sighed. "Yeah, well…that's not going to happen." I cleared my throat and looked back at Christian. "So why didn't Dimitri want to go with Tasha to the party?"

"Tasha told me it was because of you," Christian said slowly.

"Because of me?" I repeated. Wow. That surprised me even more. "Why?"

Christian shrugged. "Don't ask me. According to Tasha he said to her he wanted to spend time with you because it had been so long since he'd seen you."

Really? Could I be the reason why he had wanted to stay home? It made my heart flutter thinking that Dimitri had rather stayed with me than go with Tasha to the party.

"But I think…" Christian paused and frowned slightly. I was curious about what he wanted to say. He clearly took his time to formulate his next words and I almost snapped at him to hurry up when he finally continued, "I think he still has feelings for you."

My heart started pounding faster. How would Christian now that? He couldn't have known that Dimitri and I had loved each other, because we'd only admitted it to each other right before I'd left. Unless Dimitri had told him, which would surprise me since he was a very private person, Christian didn't know anything about it.

"What? That's ridiculous," I said. "Why do you think that?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You kidding me, Rose? You were always with Dimitri. You two were inseparable. I saw how he was around you. I saw that he loved you. And I knew that you felt the same way about him, too, but you were both too stubborn to admit it. And when you left…" He shook his head. "You should've seen Dimitri. He was crushed. The only thing that kept him going was knowing that he'd hear your voice again on the phone when he would come home from school. And then one day…you stopped calling. You stopped writing him." Tears had formed in my eyes and I had to bite my lip to keep them from spilling. Christian looked at me, his face grave. "You broke his heart, Rose. And until this very day he never understood why. And neither do I, really," he added. "It took him a long time to recover. When he finally started to get happy again, he started dating my sister. But even though he was dating her, he never forgot about you. I'm pretty sure that now you're back, he's confused about his feelings. And I know that you still love him. That's why you came back, right?"

I looked at my hands again. I wasn't going to deny any of it. He was right. I still loved him and I came back for him. As for the other things... I didn't know if Dimitri still loved me. Probably not if he was going to marry someone else. No matter what I felt for him, he deserved to be happy with someone else. After everything I'd put him through – and it was a lot – he deserved to be happy. It broke my heart to hear Christian tell me how sad Dimitri had been when I'd stopped calling him. Now he was finally happy again and I was here to wreck it all again for him.

A tear rolled down my cheek. "Aren't you angry with me for making him confused? I mean, he's going to marry your sister…"

"No, I'm not angry," Christian answered. "I never thought that Tasha was the right girl for him and I've said that to him. He didn't believe me, of course, and said that he was happy with her. Whether it is because of you or not, he's going to realize she's not the right person for him sooner or later. I just hope he'll realize it before the wedding…before he breaks my sister's heart too much."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Christian."

"It's not your fault, Rose." He gave me a small smile. It faded quickly and his face grew serious again. "But I am curious, though… Why did you stop calling him?"

I bit my lip. "I can't talk about this, Christian."

He nodded. "I understand, but I think you should tell Dimitri the truth. He deserves at least that much."

"I know," I whispered.

It was quiet for a while until a door was slammed shut. Dimitri came rushing in and took his wallet and keys. "I have to go to Tasha," he said. "Will you be okay, Rose?"

"Yes, I'll be fine," I said, forcing a smile. "I've got Christian to keep me company."

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

"Have fun," I said.

He snorted and muttered something I didn't understand. But from the sound of it, he wasn't too happy. Were there problems between him and Tasha? When the front door closed, Christian turned to me and gave me a knowing look. It told me that there were indeed problems between Dimitri and his fiancée.

DPOV

Tasha was mad. And not just a little bit. She'd already been cranky when I'd told her yesterday that I would rather stay home with Rose so I could talk to her. And now that I had missed her three phone calls, she was pissed. She thought I was ignoring her because Rose was here. That was not true. I'd just forgotten my phone in my room, which is why I hadn't heard her calls.

I was on my way now to Tasha to calm her down and tell her I wasn't ignoring her. I'd tried to tell her that over the phone, but she'd been ranting over and over again over the fact that I hadn't called her back, even after she'd called me three times. It took me some time to finally get her to calm down and explain to her that I'd forgotten my phone in my room. Of course, she didn't want to listen to me. But then again, when did she ever want to listen to me?

"You aren't cheating on me, are you?" she asked, her eyes flashing with anger.

"No!" I exclaimed. This was only getting worse and I was getting angry at her for thinking I would cheat on her. Or maybe I was just getting angry at myself because I'd almost kissed Rose before Christian had interrupted us and then Tasha would be right about me cheating on her. Don't think about that now. "I wouldn't do that, Tasha! Why would you think that?"

"Because it's Rose we're talking about," she snapped.

I crossed my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean! She used to flirt with guys all the time and they loved it."

"That's not true!" I said. Rose had flirted with guys, yeah, but only the ones she'd truly liked. Tasha made it sound like she flirted with every guy she met. "And what does it matter if she does? She's just a friend and she knows we're engaged. She would never try anything with me, if that's what you're getting at."

"Are you really that naive?" Tasha yelled. "She's going to try to steal you away from me!"

I looked at her, incredulous. "Please tell me this is a joke."

"I'm not kidding, Dimka," she said. I narrowed my eyes. I didn't like it when she called me that. I hated that nickname. Unfortunately, she always called me Dimka. "Before she left, you were always with her," she continued. "Always. It was like she tried really hard to keep you away from…other people."

Rose had never tried to keep me away from talking to other people – or talking to her. I was sure that was what she'd wanted to say before she quickly changed it to 'other people'. In truth, I had never wanted to talk to anyone except Rose. I'd never needed anyone else in my life but Rose.

But still, Tasha was trying to blame this on Rose. She was accusing Rose of things she hadn't done. I went along with a lot of things Tasha said or told me to do, but this… Hearing her talk about Rose like this. No, this I couldn't accept.

"Rose didn't do that," I said calmly, even though I was mad. "If I didn't talk to anyone else but her, then it's because I didn't want to. Not because Rose told me not to."

She pursed her lips and didn't say anything. I knew she was still mad and normally I would do anything to fix it, but now I was mad at her, too.

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. "I have to go to work. I'll talk to you later. When you're calmed down and realize how ridiculous this is."

I turned around and left. I got in my car and slammed the door shut, cursing loudly. I tried to calm down as I drove toward the dojo. I was running late for work because of this argument. I arrived just in time for the first client.

I'd started working at the dojo when I'd graduated high school. I had intended to work here only during the summer to save some money, but during that summer a girl had been brutally murdered in this area and a lot of people suddenly had wanted to learn how to defend themselves. They'd asked me to work here permanently and I'd accepted.

As I was going through the motions with the client, my thoughts wandered to what Tasha had said. I couldn't believe she'd think I'd cheat on her with Rose. But then again… I almost had. This morning I had wanted to kiss Rose and I would have if Christian hadn't interrupted us. I didn't know if I was happy he had or not. I didn't know how to feel about it. Would she have kissed me back?

I really wanted to know the answer to that question, but I would never find out unless I really did kiss her. But I couldn't do that. I was engaged. I couldn't kiss Rose. Why was I even thinking about that? It was wrong. I couldn't think about another woman when I was in a relationship with Tasha. But it's Roza. In all these years you've always thought about her. You've always loved her. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. No, I didn't love her anymore. I got over her two years ago. I loved Tasha now.

When I got home from work, I was surprised to see Tasha sitting on the doorstep. Whenever we had a fight, I was the one who had to make an effort to make it right. She sprang up and ran to me as I got out of the car.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out as she flung her arms around me. "I don't trust Rose, but if you do…then it's fine by me. I believe you if you tell me that nothing's going on between you two."

Wow. This surprised me even more. Tasha had never apologized to me before. It was always the other way around, even when I hadn't done anything wrong.

"Are we okay? You're not mad at me, are you?" she asked.

Actually I was mad at her. But I guess it was better to let it go. She'd come here to apologize – something that was rare for her – so it was best to accept her apology. "Yes, we are okay," I said softly.

She smiled and pecked me on the lips. She turned and pulled me toward the door. We went inside and made our way to the living room.

"Hey, comrade! Would you like to-" Rose fell silent when she saw Tasha. "Oh – hi, Tasha."

Tasha gave her a smile, but I could see it was a fake one. If Rose noticed, she didn't show it. I didn't understand why Tasha was so hostile toward Rose. I thought she believed me there was nothing going on? Then why did she have to be so unfriendly to Rose?

Rose cleared her throat. "Well, I better go back to my room."

"You don't have to leave," I started, but Tasha nudged me.

"No, it's fine," Rose said smiling. "I don't want to interrupt anything. I'll see you in the morning."

"Have you had dinner yet?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, comrade. I grabbed a bite with Christian." After that she disappeared to the guestroom.

I turned to Tasha. "What was that for?"

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

I glared at her. "You know what I mean! You should be nicer to her. She's done nothing wrong."

"Fine. I'll be nicer," she grumbled.

I arched an eyebrow. "Do you mean it?"

Tasha sighed. "Yes, but you have to understand, Dimka… It's hard for me to see her here in your home. I mean, she's always been a good friend of yours…"

"I thought you just said that you believed me when I said she's just a friend? Or was it a lie?"

"No," she said quickly. "Of course not."

"You don't have to be jealous, Tasha. There's no reason to feel that way."

"Okay. Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's fine," I said, waving it away.

Tasha stayed for dinner and after that we watched a movie. I wasn't really paying attention. My mind had wandered to Rose once again. I wondered what she had wanted to say before she'd noticed Tasha beside me.

The rest of the evening Rose stayed in her room. I'd asked her if she wanted to join us, but she'd declined. Again, I wondered what was going on with her. When I asked her this morning if she was okay, she insisted she was fine. I knew she was lying, because why would she cry if she was alright? She told me she trusted me, but apparently not enough to tell me the truth. Had this three years apart changed our relationship so much? Yes. Of course it had. Right before she'd left, we'd confessed our feelings for each other and now…now I was engaged to another woman. Back then I would have never thought I would be with any other woman than Roza. I'd thought that when she'd return, I would be with her. I'd often dreamed about how it would be if we were together. And I had to admit that sometimes I still thought about how my life would be if I was with Roza instead of Tasha. I'd always thought that if I was going to marry someone, it would be Roza. But that was until she'd shattered my heart in pieces.

"Dimka!"

I blinked and looked down at Tasha. "Wh-what?" I asked.

She frowned. "I've been calling your name for the past two minutes. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," I lied smoothly. "I'm just tired, I guess."

"Well, the movie ended five minutes ago. Have you seen the ending?"

"No, but that's fine." I didn't really care about the movie.

"Are you okay?" Tasha asked. "You look tense."

"I'm fine," I answered. "Like I said, I'm just tired."

Slowly, a smile crept onto her face. "You want me to help you relax?"

She leaned toward me and her lips pressed against mine. Her hands moved down and under my shirt. I knew where she was going with this and I was absolutely not in the mood. Besides, Rose was here. I couldn't have sex with Tasha when she was here.

I pulled away from the kiss. "Tasha, I-"

She didn't let me finish and kissed me again. Her hands tugged at the hem of my shirt and she tried to pull it over my head.

"Tasha, I don't think it's a good idea to have sex here," I said.

"Oh, right! Rose could come in," she said in understanding. "We can go to your bedroom, then."

I sighed. "I don't think-"

It had no use. Her lips pressed against mine again and slowly, she pushed me down on the couch. Oh, what the hell. I was in my own house and Rose was probably not going to come out of her room anyway. We kept kissing and kissing, but her kisses didn't do anything to me. I didn't feel anything. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but at this moment I couldn't help but compare her kisses to the ones I'd had with Rose. Her kisses were nothing like the kisses I'd shared with Rose when I'd made love to her three years ago. I didn't feel a spark when Tasha's lips touched mine. Instead I felt…nothing. Was that normal? Rose didn't even need to kiss me to cause that spark between us. Wait – why was I thinking about Rose when I was kissing Tasha? Damn it. I really needed to stop doing that.

But I couldn't help it. Everything I did reminded me of Rose, of how it was better with Rose. I'd had sex with Tasha a lot of times, but it had never felt as good, as right as with Roza. What was wrong with me? Why did I keep thinking about what I'd had and what I could have had with Roza? I'd lost her a long time ago and I would never get her back. Why was I still living in the past? Maybe my mother was right when she said that now Rose was back that might stir up old feelings or maybe…maybe they'd never left.

"Tasha, stop," I said, pushing her away.

"What? Why?" she asked pouting.

I thought it was cute when Roza pouted, but not when Tasha did it. Now you're doing it again. You're comparing Tasha again to Rose.

"I…can't right now," I said. "I'm tired."

"Too tired to have some fun with me?" she said, smiling seductively.

I tried not to make a face. "Yes. I didn't sleep very well last night and I would really like to just go to bed. To sleep," I added.

She sighed. "Okay. I'll let you sleep then."

"Thanks," I said. I moved away from her as fast as I could. For some reason I didn't want her to touch me right now. "I have to get up early so maybe it's better if you just go home. Otherwise I'll probably wake you up and I know you don't like that."

She smiled. "You know me so well."

I forced a smile. "I know."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then. Make sure you sleep well tonight so we can continue this tomorrow," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I will," I said, already trying to make up another excuse for tomorrow night.

"Good night, Dimka." She kissed me and I couldn't find it in me to respond to the kiss. What the hell was wrong with me? "I love you."

"You too."

I couldn't even tell her anymore that I loved her. I should do some serious thinking tomorrow about my relationship with her if I even couldn't tell her those three simple words.

She finally left and I sighed in relief. I went to the bathroom and took a quick, cold shower. I really needed to figure out what I wanted. Rose had only been here for two days and I was already confused about my feelings for her. I was even starting to doubt if I truly loved Tasha.

I walked toward my bedroom and then I heard it again. I stopped at Roza's door and listened carefully, hoping that I hadn't heard it right. But I had. She was crying. Again. I put my hand on the door and contemplated on going in, demanding what was wrong with her. I didn't care if she was going to start throwing things at me. I just wanted to know what was wrong with her. I wanted to hold and comfort her. Tell her that everything was going to be okay.

But I quickly dismissed the thought. I should give her time. Maybe she'd come to me eventually and tell me what was wrong. I really hoped so, because it killed me not being able to help her. All I wanted was for her to be happy. Sighing, I turned away from the door and went to my bedroom.

So, how was this chapter? I hope you weren't too disappointed when it was Christian who showed up. I just wanted him in this story because I love him (but not as much as Dimitri of course!).

Please leave me a review :)