OMYGOSH GUYS I HAVE THE GREATEST NEWS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I'm sure most of you are probably going to skip over this because you don't care. In which case, go ahead, read the story, I understand this is not a blog, but a story. For those of you who wish to know… If you remember, I said earlier that my Gma (grandma) has cancer, specifically type 4 lung cancer. Thankfully, at the time we found out, it was only on her right lung, and it hadn't spread anywhere. She's had 3 chemo sessions so far and she had a CT scan. Today, we got the results from the CT scan and it ends up the ginormous tumor sitting in her lung has shrunk half its size! I was crying tears of joy, with so much excitement.

All of you lovely readers have been so wonderful to me, giving me such amazing support, and today was just so great for me, I thought I'd do the honors of updating once again. I want you to know this chapter wasn't rushed, I was just delayed in posting ch. 13. I finished it a long time ago, just hadn't gotten the time to post it, and have been working on this chapter. I hope you all like my chapter and continue to go on this journey that I call my fanfiction.

Thank you all again for reading my story and being awesome people! Hope you are all having a wonderful summer so far.

Chapter 14: Day 2 Part 2

DPOV

My god that outfit.

As soon as she walked out, I knew I'd be in a bad mood. She knew that I was attracted to her, she was doing this on purpose.

It was nice to watch her interact with her friends, especially Lissa and Christian. Except I couldn't help the frown that came on my face every time they smiled at each other, every time he touched her, the arm around her shoulder. It irritated me to no end.

I thought it was nice of her to try and keep my included, or that she wanted me to be able to do what I wanted, but I loved being here with her. I loved to watch her, to see her smile, to see her laugh and that bounce in her step. I may not have seen it, but I felt the sadness she felt, and knew that some days she didn't have that bounce, that smile, that laugh. Her laugh echoed in my mind, making me smile.

When I saw the necklace, I knew it would look amazing on her. The price was pretty high, but… I couldn't help but think about having something I gave her sitting on her chest. It might be something possessive boiling in my stomach, I didn't want to admit it.

Nobody had noticed when I slipped back and went to buy the rose necklace.

When Dominika mentioned how she had never met, but knew my sister, it got me thinking more about my home.

I hadn't talked to them much besides a few texts, and I knew that Mama would want to skype soon. Maybe I can do it tomorrow night, while my Mama is awake. It would feel like a weight being lifted off my shoulders just to see her face, as well as the face of my sisters.

My mind soon drifted off to the comment made about Vika. I knew she had somewhat of a reputation, but it worried more than anything. I knew that some rumors weren't exactly nice, or encouraging, and with her recent late night adventures it made me start to doubt her. I loved her, but I also know what it's like to be tempted by late nights and party's while being a teenager.

I was thinking so hard I hadn't even realized we had made it to…. Well, I had no idea where we were. I had been so deep in my thoughts I hadn't bothered to pay attention to my surroundings and if for some reason we were stranded, I'd have no idea how to get back. Roza had gone off a main road and it seemed that there was an open field, barely a dirt road behind us. She pulled out a blanket from the trunk and laid it on the snow.

She zipped up her jacket, and it hugged her body in the perfect way, even if it was supposed to be a big winter coat. Her boots crunched in the snow as she set up the blanket. I looked out and all I could see was a good layer of snow. It almost reminded me of home, right before the harsh winters would come. Roza laid down in the middle of the blanket and Dominika and I sat on either side of her.

When she mentioned how this was a place for her to go when she needed her alone time, it made me a little happy to know that she shared it with me.

With us. I almost forgot that Dominika was there.

The stars were amazing. They were so bright, illuminated the sky next to the sun. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

I was honest when I said I hadn't sat to see everything like this in a very long time. Maybe in high school. Ivan and I used to sneak out in the middle of the night and climb up onto the roof of either one of our homes or to the highest cliff in our neighborhood. We would have snowball fights in the winter, wrestle in the grass during the summer, jump into piles of leaves. In the end we would be laying there, completely dirty and sweaty, looking up into the night sky and simply taking in everything there was to see.

I felt that amazing sensation now, looking up at these stars with Roza by my side. I glanced at her in the corner of my eye to see her smiling up into the sky. I looked back into the glowing sky and then slowly moved my gloved hand over hers. It was comforting more than anything, just to feel her next to me, to know she was real. I couldn't help but smile when she squeezed my hand back. As if she wanted to know I was there too.

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the ringing of a cellphone. Roza groaned before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone. "Yes?" She asked into the phone, sitting up and letting go of my hand beforehand so Dominika wouldn't notice. She sighed and took her phone away from her ear for a moment. "Hey, you guys can keep gazing while I talk. We are going to have to leave in like 10 minutes." Dominika and I nodded.

I laid back down, but for some reason, the stars no longer had the same glow that they did. I couldn't help but try to focus on Roza's conversation. "No… No… You know what, I'll be there in about 45 minutes…. Just shut… No!... I told you…" I didn't really understand it, but she seemed quite irritated and I almost felt bad.

Soon enough she hung up the phone and walked back towards us. "Ok, let's head back to my place." She said with a bitter tone and with that, she turned around to walk towards her Jeep. I grabbed the damp blanket and threw it in the trunk before getting into the front seat. The car was silent, a thick fog of tension filled the space between us. I didn't want to say anything, because I could also feel irritation rolling off Roza.

We made it back to her apartment without saying a word. Rose walked ahead of us into the lobby and as we waited for the elevator, her foot impatiently tapped. "Ugh, fuck it. You guys know what floor it is, I'm taking the stairs."

Dominika looked at her like she was crazy and I'm sure I had a similar face on. However, before I could say anything to protest, she threw her keys at me and was already gone, heading up the stairs.

The elevator came soon after that and Dominika and I entered. "What was with her?" She asked, more likely asking herself rather than me.

"I don't know."

"So, what is with you guys anyway?" She asked, our conversation going easily into Russian.

"What do you mean?"

"I know something is going on, and honestly, I don't really care. But, I really like Rose. I don't want you and her to have some kind of falling out. Mr. Belikov, you are a very smart person, and a very good teacher, however I think you may have found you weakness."

I didn't respond to her, not really sure how I could, or what exactly I should say.

When we reached Rose's floor, we walked down the hall and saw someone rush up the stairs. "Rose?" I heard Dominika ask.

Believe it or not, Roza came out from the stair case drenched in sweat, her jacket tied around her waist and her tight shirt clinging to her in a completely new way. "Hey, sorry about that, I needed to let off some fuel."

"Did you just run up all of those stairs?"

She nodded, "It's no big deal." I tossed her her keys as we reached the door. "The food should already be set up. Everyone is going to be here soon. I'm going to take a shower and change into pajamas, cause, you know, it's a slumber party. I'm going to set up some blankets and sleeping bags, too."

We got inside to see that the kitchen was completely overrun with food. There was a man who looked a bit older and had a goatee who was doing some of the finishing touches. "Well, Rose, I see you're home-"

"Hi Jean-Michelle, I'm taking a shower." Was all that she said before she ran into her room.

He looked to us and took off his gloves so he could shake our hands. "Well, hello. My name is Jean-Michelle. I'm a family friend and I own the catering business. I'm going to stay here for most of the night to make sure the food is stocked. I'll leave after you all finish dessert."

I nodded and shook his hand. "I'm the teacher, Dimitri Belikov."

"I'm Dominika."

"It's nice to meet Rose's friends." He paused. "Did she run up the stairs again?"

"She does this on a regular basis?!" Dominika explained.

"Mhm, only when either her mom or her dad call. Did she get a phone call?" I only nodded. He sighed. "Yah, the poor girl. She's never really gotten along with them. Her father just adores her though. Oh, sorry I'm rambling. You guys can go get ready. I need to finish up here."

We did so and went our separate ways into our rooms.

I laid on the bed for a little while before changing into warm pajama pants and a white T-shirt. I walked out to see that Dominika and Rose were already dressed and drinking something that looked like iced tea. Alberta was there as well.

"Dimitri! So nice to see you again. Thanks for keeping me updated, by the way. The other parents said they'd be here in a few minutes."

"No problem."

We chatted and every once in a while I would glance to my side to see Roza constantly talking with Jean-Michelle, staying close to the door. Every time there was a knock she made sure she was the first to get there and greet them like proper hosts. By 10 PM everyone had shown up, both Alberta and I had taken roll.

I was astonished by how fast Rose had set up her home. Her gigantic living room was so much more spacious with the couches pushed up against the walls. What looked like a sea of blankets and pillows were spread out from the end of the hall to the edge of her kitchen. Even the dining room table was nowhere to be found. I had barely heard anything while lying in my room so I had absolutely no idea how she did all of this so quickly. Despite how I know how lonely she feels; she was very social. She seemed to be one of those people who is generally nice to everyone, and that everyone likes, but no one really knows much about her.

Sure I knew she felt lonely and that she had a strained relationship with her parents, but besides that I don't believe I know much more.

I was talking with the parents to see how the kids were holding up.

"My god, Mr. Belikov, some of these houses are huge!" A teacher started to tell me. The school was a private academy, so it didn't surprise me much that most of these families were wealthy. "I mean, even this place. This is about the size of my house! And it's an apartment!"

I chuckled, not really interested in the conversation, but figured it was polite of me to go along. "Yes, you are right. This place is pretty spacious. I think it's good for the students though, gives them some space."

"Not too much space though." One interjected. "Don't worry Mr. Belikov, I'm making sure my son doesn't get into too much trouble." I nodded.

"I know all of you are worried about your child getting in trouble, but also know that they are teenagers and they are trying to make new friends. Keep an I on them, but this is supposed to be both educational and fun, so let them have some fun before they have to get back. You'll be surprised by how fast this week will go, and the next week will go even faster before we all have to head home." They nodded, although I know the one mom hadn't quite agreed with me, she knew it was respectful to simply nod her head in acknowledgement.

I decided talking with the parents was not really what I wanted to do anymore and I looked around to see Alberta chatting it up with Rose. I couldn't help the smile as I saw Rose in her long sleeve pajamas and her fluffy matching pajama pants.

Many people were yet to change into their pajamas, the parents included, and I wondered when that would happen. Before I could reach Rose, though, someone else called her name and she turned her head to look at Jean-Michelle. She nodded and then moved so she was standing on the couch that was pushed up against the wall. "Everyone! You are all here, and even though many of you have already grab some-that's right I'm looking at you Frank- dinner is now served. It's a buffet so have as much as you like. I had the list of food allergies sent to him before he made the food so there shouldn't be anything that someone will react to. There are both vegetarian and vegan options, each one has a little sign saying what they are." And then she got down so she could book it to the food.

We all got into a line and started making our way through the food, everyone sat on the floor to eat. This time, I knew I'd sit next to Rose, and it wouldn't be weird since Alberta seemed to be hanging close to Rose, too. When she saw me walking towards her, she smiled up at me. I looked around her to see that her friends Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Dominika, Alyosha, Nikolai, Katie, and Alberta were all sitting in a circle. The only spot open was between Albeta and Katie and I sat down into the mass of blankets. Nobody really said anything, but they acknowledged my presence, so I just started to listen in to the conversation.

"I'm telling you, Tarzan is Anna and Elsa's brother!" Lissa said.

"There's no way!" Alberta said back. "That doesn't make any sense."

"That's because you're not listening Mrs. Petrov." We all laughed at that. "When her parents crashed, they didn't die. They landed on an island, built a treehouse, and had a son. Then, they were attacked by a jaguar, doesn't that sound familiar?"

"But look at how advanced Jane is in Tarzan."

Lissa shook her head. "Exactly! Elsa was like, what, 16 or 17 when her parents supposedly died? That means it's about 20 years after her coronation that the Tarzan movie would have been made. Around that time, advancements were happening, like, super-fast!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what are you talking about?" I ask suddenly.

"Have you ever seen Frozen?"

"The Disney movie?"

"Yah, with Else and Anna." I knew I recognized the names.

"My nephew loves that movie."

"Oh, that's so cute. Ok well, the theory is that after their parents crashed their ship on the way to Rapunzels wedding, they landed on an island, built a tree house and had a son, and then they were killed my a jaguar, but the son lived. Does that sound familiar?" I gave her a blank stare and she sighed in exasperation making Rose and Christian laugh. "Haven't you ever seen Tarzan?!"

"The monkey man?"

She laughed, but threw her hands up in the air to put emphasis on her "Yes!"

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Thank you!" Alberta said, giving me a pat on the back. "See, the adults are all in agreement, I think we've settled this."

Lissa had more to say but Rose interjected. "Ok, so change of topic before Lissa goes batshit-sorry Alberta- I mean before she goes total crazy." Alberta had given her a look as she cursed which made Christian laugh pretty hard.

"Rosie will never know how to tame that tongue."

"At least it's better than your nasty mouth, Fire Crotch."

"It was one time-"

"Wait, what?" Dominika asked. "I must here this story."

"No, really-"

"Well, you see…" Rose started which made Christian groan. "Our freshman year we took Chem together, and sadly we were forced to be partners. So one day, we were dealing with how to see chemical reactions and what happens when you heat shi-stuff up and what not. So, I messed with him because, well, who wouldn't want to, and I poked his side because I knew he was ticklish. He was so not ready for that." She hadn't even finished the story and she was already laughing really hard to herself, which in turn made some others start to giggle. "He got so surprised he dropped some chemicals on his pants, and then he freaked out and accidentally dropped the match he was holding onto-hahahaha- onto his pants!" She was practically crying and others were laughing along. "It was so funny! His crotch was literally on fire!"

Christian just held his face in his hands and I could see the tint of pink on the tip of his ears and I couldn't help but chuckle as well. Alberta just shook her head; no doubt this isn't the first time she's heard this story.

More stories went around and so did more food and next was dessert. By the time the food was eaten, it was 1am. Jean-Michelle had stayed longer than he had told us and was no cleaning everything up. Rose left us to help him and now it seemed as if the mood changed around the group of friends.

"So, everyone knows their jobs, right?"

They all nodded and I just stared in confusion. Lissa looked at me with a very serious gaze, "Now you're an accomplice, too."

"I'm… not completely sure what's going on."

Alberta wrapped her arm around my shoulder and brought my face close to her. "We are throwing a surprise party tomorrow for Rose."

"A what?"

"A kind of Thank You/Happy Birthday."

"Yah, you know, Rose has done a lot for this whole program, I think it's only right we throw a thank you party. Plus, she normally spends her birthday alone since it's during winter break."

"Her birthday is during winter break?"

Lissa nodded. "Yah, but don't feel bad if she didn't tell you. She doesn't really tell many people about her birthday or really anything about herself."

I only nodded. "Ok, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Keep her distracted. She wants to take you guys ice skating, right? We already rented out the area and I'm going to pick up Dominika in the morning to have her help me set up. We need you to distract her until around 1 pm and then let her take you to the ice skating park. Besides that, we have everything covered."

Alberta nodded. "Yes, and I've already included all of the students so that they know what time to show up."

"I understand the birthday part, but why the Thank You. Is it just for letting the extra students stay at her home?"

Alberta nodded. "Yah, but she also did this sleep over, she's been planning most of the group events, on top of that she did Mason's memorial. She's been making sure that everyone is comfortable and I know that many students have called her in the middle of the night when they aren't sure what to do with their exchange student. She also gave some 'anonymous' donation to some families who were having a little bit of financial trouble before you guys came. She gave enough money so everyone would live comfortable with a new person in their home for a week. Eddie and Katie just don't have enough room in their homes so that's why Nikolai and Alyosha are staying here."

"Yah, and I know she didn't need to take me in, but since she was so close with Mason, I'm happy she did." Dominika said.

"I had no idea she did so much."

Alberta nodded. "Like Lissa said, Rose doesn't like to talk much about herself, but she does a lot for everyone."

I had no idea how much effort Rose put into this trip. "Oh." Alberta said, suddenly remembering something. "She's also the one who helped plan your itinerary for your week away. It was her idea to spend 3 days in California, 2 days in Hawaii and a 2 days in New York before you guys get back. It's a lot of traveling but she made sure that you guys would see the best stuff within your time limit." My eyes widened at the information.

I had not helped with the itinerary. I had gotten emails here and there with questions on what I approved and whatnot. I didn't pay much attention to them because I was told it would be taken care of. I had no idea Rose was doing this all herself. "She's… been keeping herself really busy since Mason's death."

Before I could say anything, Rose came back to where we were sitting. "So what are we talking about?"

"Oh, we are talking about the dance next Saturday."

"Really?" She asked, looking very skeptical, and Lissa did her best not to make it obvious that she was avoiding eye contact. Rose just rolled her eyes, though, and didn't push it anymore.

"Have you gotten a date?" Lissa asked Rose, trying to easily change the conversation.

I tensed, her eyes flicked to me, though only I noticed. "No. I mean, I really like the dress I got. But, I'm actually thinking about not going this year."

Lissa's eyes widened and everyone who were not of Russia seemed shocked. Even Christian showed a bit of astonishment. "You're telling me, Rose Hathaway, won't be going to the Winter Formal?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh c'mon, I'm not that famous for that dance."

Allen cut in this time. "You are the only one who would be going for all four years. And you always dominate the party." He looked to the us, those who had no idea what was going on. I was especially curious. "Rose has a reputation at our school. Always the life of the party, and if you could get her to winter formal than practically every other girl will chase after you for it, because if Rose approved, then you must have some magic love juice or something. It never lasts though. It's a mystery, like no one knows if any of them actually caught her heart before. Though, they all claim to." Christian was smirking, probably amused at the mystical and mysterious story telling voice that Allen used.

"Wait, didn't you go to Winter Formal freshman year with a girl?" Katie asked.

Rose started laughing. "No, that was Prom of Sophmore year." Katie nodded.

"Is there any dance you haven't gone to?" Lissa asked.

"Sadie Hawkins Freshman year."

"That's because I was out of town that weekend."

"It still counts."

"So, wait, you're saying that no one has asked you yet?"

Rose shrugged. "Nope, I haven't been asked. Besides, I'm going to Turkey the day after, I could easily just change my flight to leave the day before and just not go to the dance."

"No!" Lissa yelled, we were all slightly taken aback. With a very serious tone she continued, "Rose, this is our senior year, you are going, date or no date. It won't be the same without you!"

"I'll see."

"I can't believe no one has asked you. Does the male population in our school not realize that there are one two weeks left!?" Katie yelled. Rose just laughed it off. Katie pulled out her phone and started texting frantically.

"Katie what are you-" Katie held up her hand and pressed the send button. Suddenly, I could hear a few phones buzzing in the room. I looked around with wide eyes to see most of the people from Montana pulled out there phones and started reading a text which I believe was sent by Katie.

Eyes flew to us and someone yelled, "No one has asked Rose to the Winter Formal yet?"

Rose groaned. "We are not going to bore our guests with talk about my date!"

There were whispers going around, no doubt talking about Rose's date to this dance. I couldn't help but be irritated. They were all whispering about my Roza. I tried to keep my thoughts calm, not showing how much it bothered me. Roza glanced at me with a questioning stare, but I couldn't do much to appease it before a tall boy with blonde short hair walked over and bent down so he could hug Rose behind. She laughs, distracted. He whispers something in her ear which makes her laugh again. "I'll consider it." Which then made him laugh and then he sat there like that, hugging her and his chin resting on her shoulder.

No one seemed bothered by this and kept up the conversation. I looked to Alberta to see if she would say anything like this but when she made eye contact she waved it off. It was as if this kind of thing was normal. Again, the fact that I knew very little about Roza's daily life and what kind of a person she was, came to me. I couldn't help the grim expression I held. I tried my best to hold it back.

It was late, and some had already slipped into blankets or sleeping bags and were sound asleep. Others were on their phones or whispering with others so as to not wake anyone up. Rose was awake and washing dishes. Her friends were mostly asleep so I decided to go and help her. Silently, I slipped next to her and started to dry dishes and put them away. Finally, she broke the silent, whispering so others wouldn't hear. "You know, I like to play around, but it's never serious. And I've never… gone far with it, you know? I have this reputation, but honestly I don't really live up to it. I don't… I don't play around like that." I didn't say anything. She took the silence as a sign she should continue. "I don't really understand what's going on between us. But you can't keep giving guys looks like that, just because you want to. You're leaving in a few days. Do you want me to just not hang out with them and have fun just because we have… whatever the fuck we have?" I excused her language because honestly, this wasn't exactly a conversation that was appropriate for our social standings anyway.

I stayed silent, and she finished her dishes, seeming to be slightly irritated. She had every right to be, because she was right. There was no reason for me to be this way, it's not like I asked her to be my girlfriend, it's not like I expect anything to happen in the future. After this vacation, it's been decided that Dominika would be sending letters with her instead of me. She walked away, not even looking me. I sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter, knowing I messed up again, but not really knowing what I can do about it.

Well, I figured I would sleep in my room, and I walked off, not wanting to face anyone, because I was feeling so much self-loathing.

And without a single word to anyone, I secluded to my allotted room and fell asleep.

Hope you guys liked the chapter. Thank you all for your constant love and support on the story!