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Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 10

RPOV

In the distance, I heard a door close and then footsteps. I rolled onto my back and slowly opened my eyes. I squinted a few times until my eyes had adjusted to the morning light in the room. I rolled back onto my side and noticed Dimitri wasn't in bed anymore.

Sighing, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Wondering where Dimitri was, I got up and walked out of the bedroom. I stopped when I heard voices. I recognized Dimitri's, but I'd never heard the other voice before. It belonged to a woman.

I peeked around the corner and saw Dimitri standing in the door opening, in jeans and a loose T-shirt. I couldn't see the woman he was talking with because he was standing right in front of her.

"…wondering if you'd like to have that coffee now? You know, as a thank you for helping me out. Twice."

My eyes almost bugged out. What the hell did I just hear?

"Umm, no… I can't," Dimitri responded. He sounded a little uncomfortable.

The woman sounded disappointed when she said, "Why not?"

I was about to walk out from my hiding spot so I could tell her why he couldn't go, but then I decided to hear what Dimitri's answer would be. It better be a good answer.

"I have a girlfriend," he responded swiftly.

"Oh." It was silent for a few seconds. "Well, would she mind? It's just coffee."

Dimitri sighed. I recognized that sigh. It was his exasperated sigh. That meant he was annoyed. If I were her, I'd take the hint and leave.

"I don't think she'd appreciate it – which I can understand," he responded at last. "I wouldn't like it either if she'd go out with some guy from across the hall. Even if it's just for coffee."

"Maybe you're right," she said, though I could tell she was very reluctant to admit that. "It was just to thank you, though. I didn't mean anything with it…"

"I know," he said.

I decided it was time to leave my hiding spot. "Comrade?" I said, approaching them.

Dimitri stiffened when he heard my voice. I came to a stop next to him, studying the strange woman. Her brown hair framed her pretty face as she gave me a polite smile.

Dimitri cleared his throat. "Roza, this is Emma. The new neighbor," he said. Glancing at the woman, he said, "Emma, this is Rose, my girlfriend."

"It's nice to meet you, Rose," Emma said, sticking out her hand.

"You too," I said as I shook her hand. "Funny, though. Dimitri never mentioned he had a new neighbor."

I gave him a pointed look and he gulped, looking very nervous all of a sudden. I smirked. He probably thought I was mad – which I wasn't, even though I was a little annoyed. Not at him, but at Emma for asking him out for coffee. I knew she hadn't known he had a girlfriend, but still… What bugged me, too, was that he hadn't told me he had a new – and very attractive – neighbor. I knew he probably had a valid reason for not telling me or maybe he'd just forgotten about it because it meant so little to him that he had a new neighbor. And I knew I had nothing to worry about, because he would never cheat on me. I was sure of that.

"I kind of forgot about it," he mumbled.

Emma cleared her throat. "Well, I should go," she said. "Thank you for your help, Dimitri. I guess I'll see you around."

She turned around to her apartment and went back inside after giving Dimitri one last, lingering look. Yup. She definitely liked him. Dimitri closed the door and turned around to look at me.

"So, when were you going to tell me you have a new neighbor?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Dimitri looked really nervous. Poor guy. I should tell him I wasn't mad, but I wanted to make him sweat for a while.

"I'm sorry, Roza," he said. "I forgot all about it and well…it's not like it's important, right?"

"It is important when your new neighbor is a young, attractive woman," I said. "And definitely if she would like to have coffee with you."

"I wasn't going to do that," he said quickly. "I swear." Then he frowned. "Wait, did you hear everything?"

I nodded.

"Then why didn't you say something?"

"I was just curious what your response would be."

He arched an eyebrow, looking incredulous. "What? You thought I'd say yes?"

"No, of course not," I scoffed. "So what did you help her with?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Nothing much. When I met her, she was a little drunk and couldn't open her door," he responded. "She was using the wrong key."

"And she wants to buy you coffee for opening her door?" I said, a little surprised. Wasn't that a little desperate? I mean, buying coffee to thank someone for opening a door? That was just a lame excuse to ask someone out.

"No, I helped her with her closet, too," he said.

"Her closet?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she couldn't do it by herself. Her dad had helped her earlier, but he had to leave for work so she asked me, because she wanted to put her clothes and stuff away."

"Wait. Clothes?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "So you helped her with her wardrobe?"

"Umm, yeah," he said, not realizing what I was getting at.

"You were in her bedroom?" I said, outraged.

"Why'd you think that?" Dimitri said, his eyes wide.

"Oh come on, comrade! Everyone has their wardrobe in their bedroom." This woman was smarter than I'd thought. She was definitely interested in Dimitri and, of course, he was oblivious to it. He just thought she needed help and he gladly gave her that help. I bet she just asked him to help her to get a chance to talk to him…in her bedroom. "When did that happen?"

"Two days ago," he responded quickly. "Right before you called me." When he noticed the look on my face, he frowned. "Are you mad, Roza? I was just helping her out, that's all."

"Don't you realize she asked you to help her to get closer to you somehow? And because you helped her, you gave her a valid reason to ask you out for coffee. You might not think anything about that, but to her, that's a date."

"What? That's ridiculous. She said she didn't mean it like that. She just wants to make friends."

"Of course she said that," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Does it even matter? I told her no and she knows now I'm with you," Dimitri said.

"When it comes to women, you're such an idiot sometimes," I muttered as I stomped away toward the bedroom.

"Roza?" he said, following me.

I smacked the door shut behind me and locked it. I guess I'd make him sweat some more.

"Roza, don't be mad," he pleaded, at the other side of the door. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I just thought it wasn't important. Please open the door so we can talk about this."

I smiled. He really thought I was mad. A part of me wanted to open the door and just throw my arms around him to let him know I was not angry at him, but another part of me, the evil and stubborn part, wanted to wait and see what he'd do to try and make it up to me. Deep inside, I knew what I was doing was a little childish, but it was kind of fun to see Dimitri begging me for forgiveness while he had done nothing wrong. I just wish he'd told me sooner about Emma so I wouldn't have been so surprised by all this. I couldn't believe he was so oblivious, though. I mean, it was clear that Emma liked him.

After a few minutes, Dimitri grew quiet and I heard him slump down against the other side of the door. I slid down, too, and thought of how I was going to handle this situation with Emma. I didn't know if she would leave it at this or if she'd still try to pursue him, even though she now knew Dimitri was with me. I hoped she wouldn't, because she seemed nice enough.

While I sat here, waiting, he'd hopefully think about what I'd said and realize what Emma had really wanted to accomplish when she'd asked him to help her out with her closet.

DPOV

I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. I should've just told her about Emma. Now she was mad at me because I hadn't told her. She probably thought something was going on between us. I really needed to make this right. I needed to tell her Emma was just my new neighbor and nothing more. And if Roza was right and Emma liked me… well, that was too bad for her, then. To me, she was just the neighbor.

It frustrated me a little Roza doubted my feelings for her. Hadn't I told her so many times I loved her? But I could also understand where she was coming from. I would be upset, too, if I found out she'd been in some guy's bedroom, even if it was just to help him out with something. To be honest, I would be jealous as hell.

Sighing, I got up from the floor and went to sit on the couch. I would wait here and keep an eye on the door. She was going to have to come out of the bedroom sooner or later and I would wait right here until that moment came. Even if it took hours. Roza was very stubborn, so it was likely she would stay in there as long as possible. Hopefully she'd get hungry soon. Then she would have to leave the bedroom - at least, if she wanted to eat something.

I lay down on the couch so she wouldn't see me when she opened the door. She would think I'd given up and left and she wouldn't be on guard. That's exactly what I needed if I wanted to keep her from locking herself up in the bedroom again as soon as she saw me.

Finally, after an hour, the door opened and I heard Rose sneak into the kitchen. I made sure to be quiet as I got up from the couch and approached her. She rummaged through the fridge and when she found what she was looking for she turned around with a big smile on her face. Until she saw me.

"Roza," I said as I took a careful step towards her.

She threw the slice of black bread on the counter and made a mad dash for the bedroom door. I intercepted her and she let out a scream when I grabbed her waist and pulled her to the couch.

"Let me go!" she said as she struggled to break free.

"No, not until you've heard me out," I said, throwing her on the couch.

She leaped right back up, but I pinned her down, pressing my body against hers. She stopped struggling and looked at me expectantly. It surprised me she complied so easily. Normally she was more stubborn. I didn't realize I'd been staring at her in wonder until she said, "I'm waiting."

"Look, you're completely right. I know nothing about women-"

"Is this supposed to be an apology?" she interrupted me, raising her eyebrows.

"I wasn't finished yet," I said.

"Oh," she said. She crossed her arms and smiled sweetly. "Then please continue."

My jaw clenched. This woman drove me crazy sometimes, but God knew I loved her. "Like I said before, I don't know anything about women." I gave her a warning look to not interrupt me again. When she didn't, I continued, "But I know you and that's all that matters, right? You're the only one I want in my life. So why waste my time figuring out what other women's intentions are while I could use that time adoring you?" She swallowed, gazing up at me, and I smiled. "Besides, I don't really need to figure these things out, because I already got you to tell me what their intentions are," I said teasingly. My eyes dropped to her slightly parted lips and I kissed them softly. "I'm sorry, okay?" I murmured against her lips. "I didn't know she was just looking for a reason to ask me out when she asked me for help. I swear. Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," Rose said, giving me a small smile.

I let out a sigh of relief. "You aren't?"

Her smile grew wider. "No, I wasn't mad at you at all." I frowned and she started laughing when she saw the confused look on my face. "That was a lovely speech, though."

"Wait, wait," I said, pulling back slightly as I tried to understand what she was saying. "If you weren't mad at me, then why did you lock yourself up in the bedroom?"

"I just wanted to give you time to think everything through," she responded. "I wanted you to realize what Emma was hoping to get when she came here this morning." I stared at her, speechless, and she grinned. "I know you love me, comrade, and I know you'd never cheat on me. So you really don't have to worry about me being mad at you."

"Are you kidding me, Roza?" I exclaimed. "You just tortured me for over an hour and for what? For nothing?"

It was like she didn't even hear me. "Emma is a clever girl," she mused. "She asked your help and of course you helped her because, obviously, you're a nice guy. It was the perfect excuse to ask you out – without you even realizing that she was asking you out, because you thought she just wanted to thank you for helping you."

"Yes, yes, I got it," I said, impatient. I wanted her to shut up about Emma and just kiss her. "It was just a trick to get closer to me."

Rose smiled and patted my cheek. "I'm glad you realize that now."

"I can't believe you," I muttered, shaking my head. "You made me think you were mad at me! I thought I'd have to beg you to get out of that room, but now you're telling me you weren't mad at me at all!"

"It's only fair," she shot back. "You didn't tell me about her! That's what you get when you don't tell me you have a new hot neighbor!"

"Hmm, you might not be mad, but you're a little jealous, aren't you?" I teased.

"Do you want me to lock myself up in your room again?" she threatened, raising her eyebrows.

"No, no," I said quickly, tightening my arms around her to keep her in place. "You stay right here, okay?" I kissed her lips and was relieved when she responded to the kiss. "Can we drop this now?" I asked. "I don't feel like talking about it anymore. I just want to make out with you."

"Okay!" she said excitedly.

I grinned and kissed her passionately. "I just want to say one more thing, though," I mumbled, reluctantly tearing myself away from her. "Don't ever do this to me again, okay? It wasn't funny. I really thought you were mad."

She nodded. "I'm sorry. Next time I'll handle it like an adult," she said as a grin spread across her face.

I pulled her face to mine and pressed my lips eagerly against hers. "Let's just hope there won't be a next time."

There you go. I wanted the whole Emma thing out of the way so nobody wouldn't worry about her anymore. I tried to make it a bit funny, but I don't know... Anyway, no need to worry anymore that Dimitri might cheat on Rose ;)

There will be one more chapter before Rose returns to her mom. Who's curious about Abe's explanation? ;P

Have a nice day/evening! :)