Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.
CHAPTER 11
RPOV
I watched Dimitri as he slept. It brought a smile to my face seeing him like this, so peaceful. Smiling, I brushed a strand of hair out of his face and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before moving to the edge of the bed.
"Where are you going?" His fingers wrapped around my wrist and I turned back around. He pulled at my arm and I scooted back onto the bed. He opened his eyes and looked at me. "You can't just leave."
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, do I need to ask your permission now to leave the bed?"
He nodded and pulled me closer, burying his face in my neck as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I like waking up next to you in the morning," he murmured, kissing my neck.
"Me too," I said, still smiling.
He looked up at me and pressed his lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me on top of him. Our lips met once again in a heated kiss.
"I take my words back," Dimitri said when he pulled away. "I love waking up next to you."
I giggled and he moved his lips against mine again. He tangled one of his hands in my hair and his other hand rested on my waist as our lips continued to move in sync.
"I could get used to this. Waking up like this every day," Dimitri said between kisses. His hands moved down to my hips and then he squeezed my butt. "Yeah, I could definitely get used to this."
I smacked his chest playfully. He grinned and captured my lips with his. His hands moved back up and under my shirt. I grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands out of my shirt, and tsked.
"No, no," I said teasingly. "I want breakfast first."
He pouted and I laughed, pecking his lips. I got up and went to the kitchen, Dimitri following behind me.
"Do you know yet when you're going home?" Dimitri asked as we ate our breakfast. "Not that I want you gone," he added quickly, taking my hand in his.
"I actually wanted to stay a little longer," I said, biting my lip. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not," he said smiling. "You can stay as long as you want. But you've got to tell your mom, though."
I nodded. "I will."
It was silent for a while until Dimitri spoke again. "Aren't you curious as to why your father left?" he asked, hesitant. "Don't you want to know the truth?"
"I don't know," I mumbled. "I'm not sure if I want to know the truth. And who says he'll tell the truth? Maybe he'll just tell me lies. I've been lied to for eighteen years so why would they tell the truth now?"
"Roza," he said, squeezing my hand gently. "Don't think like that. Your mom is very sorry. She told me she had no other choice."
"Did she explain why?" I asked him sharply.
He shook his head. "No, she didn't."
I sighed and pushed my plate away. "I don't want to talk about this."
"Okay, I'm sorry I brought it up," Dimitri responded.
"It's fine," I mumbled. I crossed my arms and looked away. I needed some distraction from my parents and I needed it now. I didn't want to think about them, not now. "Hey, doesn't the mailman come in today? I'll go downstairs and see if there's something for you," I said, already getting up.
"Roza-"
"I'll be right back," I said, walking out of his apartment. As I walked down the stairs, I realized I was still in my shorts and sleep shirt. Damn. I hoped I wouldn't come across any neighbors. I pulled out a few letters of Dimitri's mailbox and made my way back upstairs. I turned around the corner and was suddenly face to face with Emma.
"Hi," she said, giving me a small smile.
"Hey," I said flatly.
I started walking again, but she stopped me, grabbing my wrist. I looked at her, raising my eyebrows, and she quickly let go.
"I… I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry," she said, biting her lip. "I didn't know Dimitri had a girlfriend. If I'd known, I wouldn't have asked him out for coffee. I didn't want to cause any trouble." She smiled sheepishly.
"It's fine. Like you said, you didn't know," I said, waving it away. But now that she did know, I hoped for her she wouldn't try it again.
She let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess I'll see you around," she said.
I nodded and gave her a small smile before going back inside Dimitri's apartment. As soon as I entered, Dimitri rushed toward me and held my face in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Roza," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just…you're going to have to talk to them someday. But I understand if you're not ready yet to talk about it so I won't ask about it anymore."
"Calm down, comrade," I said, half laughing. "I'm not upset. I just didn't feel like talking about it."
"But I kept pushing you to talk about it-"
"It's fine, Dimitri. Really. You are right, I'm going to have to talk to them about it someday, but not today." I pecked his lips. "Okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
I gave him another quick kiss and then handed him his mail. I left Dimitri in the kitchen and went to get ready. I couldn't walk around all day in my PJs.
"What would you like to do today?" Dimitri asked.
I thought about it for a second. "Can we go to the mall?" I asked, hopeful. "I feel like shopping."
He groaned. "Really?"
I pouted. "Please, comrade."
Another groan. "Fine."
I leaped up from the couch and hugged him. "Yes! Thank you!"
He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. I could feel him smile against my neck. "You're lucky I'm so madly in love with you," he murmured. "Otherwise I might have given a different answer." I grinned and kissed him. "And I really can't deny you anything when you're looking at me like that," he added, his eyes twinkling.
"You're the best boyfriend ever," I said. I pressed a kiss to his cheek and then took his hand. "Let's go!"
The rest of the day Dimitri followed me around from store to store without complaining. He even carried my bags and waited patiently as I tried on different outfits. He wasn't good at giving his opinion, though. He kept telling me I looked beautiful, no matter what I was wearing. That wasn't really helping me when I was trying to decide what to buy and what not.
After shopping, I was starved so we went to the food court. I was excited and happy after buying lots of new stuff, but that excitement dimmed when we saw a familiar face. A face I'd rather not see again for the rest of my life.
"Well, well, look who it is," Tasha sneered, resting her hands on her hips. "The teacher and the school's biggest slut."
Dimitri's jaw clenched and he looked like he wanted to murder her. He'd told me a while ago about Tasha's visit. Apparently she'd had suspicions about us and that's why she'd tried to break into my locker. I wasn't really surprised she'd do something like that and I was definitely not surprised she would react so childish now she knew the truth about us. I'd never liked her.
"Let's go, Dimitri," I simply said.
But it was like he didn't hear me. He stared Tasha down as she smirked at him. "Do not call Rose that," he said at last, his voice cold. "I don't care what you say about me, but leave Rose out of it, or I swear I'll-"
"Dimitri, let's go," I said, tugging his arm. "She's not worth it."
Tasha's smirk grew wider. "She's already bossing you around, isn't she?"
I wanted to punch her in her face, but I had to remind myself we were in public. I had to behave.
"Come on, comrade," I murmured.
Finally, he looked away from Tasha. His eyes found mine. "You don't deserve this," he murmured in a low voice so only I could hear. "She can't treat you like this."
"It's not like we can do anything about it. At least, not here," I responded. "Besides, I don't care. She's just jealous and trying to get to you."
He sighed. "Fine. Let's go. I don't want to see her anymore."
Smiling, I kissed his cheek. I glared at Tasha as we passed her, taking Dimitri's hand in mine and lacing our fingers together, making sure she saw it.
"I wonder, Rose," she called after me, "did you sleep with the principal, too, so he wouldn't tell your little secret and fire Dimitri ?"
Dimitri froze. Slowly, he turned around. An outraged look crossed his face as he strode back to Tasha. I rushed after him.
"Don't, Dimitri!" I hissed, grabbing his arm. "We're in public!"
He glanced at me and nodded. Then he turned to Tasha again and said, "I don't even recognize you anymore, Tasha. You used to be better than this. Okay, you had your bad sides, but everyone has their bad sides. You had your good qualities, too. But now…" He shook his head. "Now there isn't anything I can say about you that is good. The way you act when you can't have what you want… Really, it's pathetic. Please do yourself and the rest of the world a favor and stop."
Her smirk dropped and she crossed her arms, glaring at him. The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable, though.
"Let's go, Roza," Dimitri said sighing.
He wrapped his free arm around my waist and pulled me along with him. This time Tasha didn't call after us. I let out a deep breath and Dimitri rubbed my back.
"I'm sorry she said that," he murmured, pulling me closer and kissing my temple. "There's definitely something wrong with her."
"Don't worry about it," I said, mustering up a smile. "She's a bitch. What else should we expect from her?"
"Good point," he admitted, smiling reluctantly. "You still want to go to the food court?"
I nodded and slowly, my excitement returned. There was a long waiting line for the McDonalds so Dimitri told me to take a seat and wait for him until he returned with our food. I drummed my fingers on the table as I waited for my burger and fries. Finally, after half an hour of agony, Dimitri returned. I snatched the food out of his hands and started to stuff fries into my mouth.
"You're welcome, by the way," Dimitri said, raising an eyebrow, as he sat down next to me.
"Thank you, comrade," I said sweetly.
He just smiled and took a sip of his soda. We ate in silence. My portion was gone in less than five minutes and after giving Dimitri a pleading look, I got a few of his chicken nuggets and the last of his fries. When I was finished, I leaned back in the chair and took a huge gulp of my soda.
"You ready?" Dimitri asked.
We got up and left the mall.
"Oh God, I think I ate too much," I moaned as we drove back home.
"You think?" Dimitri said, arching his eyebrow.
I elbowed him and muttered, "Shut up, comrade."
He glanced briefly at me, clearly amused, before returning his attention to the road. When we got to his apartment, I plumped down on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the night while Dimitri put my new clothes away.
"I think you're going to need another suitcase," he said. He pulled my legs up so he could sit down next to me and let my legs fall back onto his lap. "You bought a lot today."
"It would've been a lot more if I'd had Lissa with me instead of you," I responded. "You wouldn't have space in your closet or your drawers anymore. So consider yourself lucky."
He smiled and bent forward to kiss me. "You okay?" he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Sure," I said shrugging. "I'm a little bit tired, though."
"I thought after what Tasha had said…" he started hesitantly.
"Don't worry," I said, waving it away. "The food cheered me up."
Dimitri chuckled. "Of course it did."
"And you," I said, winking.
Smiling, he leaned in for another kiss. "I know the circumstances aren't great, but I'm so glad you're here," he murmured.
I smiled up at him. "I'm glad to be here."
DPOV
The days passed very quickly and there wasn't a day I didn't enjoy Roza being here with me, waking up next to her every morning. But all good things come to an end, I guess. After almost an entire week, she had decided she'd go back tomorrow to confront her parents. I should've been happy she wanted to work things out with them, but I wasn't. To be honest, I didn't want her to leave. I wanted her to stay for a couple more days or maybe a couple more weeks or – what was I thinking? I was moving forward too fast.
I couldn't help but wonder, though, what it'd be like to live with Roza, to wake up next to her every day for the rest of our lives. But would she want that too? Even though she loved me, I didn't know if she was ready for the next step. And if she was, I didn't think Janine was ready for her to take the next step. But then again, Roza had told me many times how much she loved being here with me. I groaned inwardly. Why was I even thinking about this? I really needed to distract myself from this topic.
Just then, Rose walked into the bedroom, grinning. She jumped onto the bed and crawled over to me. "Hey, comrade," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck.
I smiled. "Hey, Roza."
Still grinning, she climbed on top of me and leaned in to kiss me. I tossed my western novel aside – it's not like I had been focusing on the book anyway tonight with all my thoughts about Roza living with me – and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her flush against me. Oh God, the feeling of her body pressed against mine like this… I wish those two weeks of 'no psychical activities' would hurry up. I could barely contain myself when Roza was kissing me like this. When she finally pulled away, we were both breathless.
"What was that for?" I asked when I'd caught my breath.
"I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here," she said smiling.
"You're more than welcome," I said, stealing another kiss from her.
She rested her head on my chest and looked up at me. "I've got something else to say to you, too," she mumbled, slowly tracing circles on my chest with her finger.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Ya lyublyu tebya."
I stared at her, wide-eyed. I hadn't known what to expect, but I certainly hadn't expected her to tell me she loved me in my native language. This just made me love her even more – if that was possible.
"What?" she said hesitantly when I didn't say anything. A small frown formed on her face. "Did I pronounce it the wrong way? Or did I-"
"No, no, you didn't pronounce it the wrong way," I said quickly, cupping her face in my hands. "It was…perfect."
She smiled proudly. "Really?"
I chuckled. "Yes, milaya. Where did you learn that?"
"The internet," she said, shrugging. "I figured I should learn some Russian since I have this superhot Russian boyfriend."
"You don't have to do that," I said smiling, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"But I want to," she said softly. "I was thinking about taking a class in college."
"You'd really do that?" I asked, surprised.
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I think it'd be pretty cool."
She lay back against the pillow, but kept her arm over my chest. Smiling, I moved closer and kissed her. "Ya lyublyu tebya, milaya," I murmured against her lips.
"It sounds way more sexy when it comes from your mouth," she said, a huge grin on her face.
I chuckled and gave her another quick kiss. We lay in silence for a while and I contemplated on bringing up the subject I'd been thinking about all night. It couldn't hurt to ask her what she thought about it, right?
"Something the matter, comrade?" Roza asked, snapping me from my reverie.
"No, why?" I asked.
"You're frowning," she responded.
"Oh. Well, I was thinking…" I started playing with a strand of her hair. "I loved you staying here with me and I hate to see you go, but I know you have to. But I was wondering…when everything is settled down with your parents, would you…" I hesitated and she gave me a questioning look. Taking a deep breath, I blurted out, "Would you like to move in with me?"
She stared at me, a shocked expression on her face, and I immediately knew I'd asked the wrong question. I should've known, though. She wasn't ready. What the hell had I been thinking?
"Dimitri…" she started.
"No, it's fine, Roza," I said quickly, not wanting to hear her rejection. "I shouldn't have asked. It was a stupid idea." I lay on my back and looked at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact.
"No, wait, Dimitri," she said, tugging at my arm. I reluctantly turned around to look at her. "I love being with you, Dimitri. I really do. I love it here, but…I'm afraid it's going to take a while before everything's settled down with my parents and then I'll have to go to college. I won't be here anymore as much. I don't think now is the right time for…"
"I know, Roza," I said. "It's not the right time at all. I should've waited." I sighed and shook my head. "I'm sorry."
"No, I am sorry. I wish I could give you a different answer," she whispered.
"It's fine, Roza," I mumbled. "Don't worry about it."
I gave her a quick kiss before flicking out the lights and wrapping my arms around her waist. I pulled her close to me and buried my face in her hair, wishing I could erase the last ten minutes of my life.
Poor Dimitri! Do you think it's too soon for the next step? Is Rose right to wait or should she move in with him? Next chapter Rose will be back home to hear Abe's explanation for his absence.
Have a nice day/evening! :)
