Hello my lovely readers! Many things have happened in my life lately and unfortunately they are not all good ones. :( But anyway, as I have really missed writing this story and suddenly, when I sat down to start the next chapter ideas were flowing through my head, I knew that it was time to give you all a new chappy.

So, here it is now and I really hope you will enjoy it. But be warned, it might take a few more chapters (probably until the end of the whole story) before another lemony chapter will appear, so please don't hit me! :)

Chapter 20

Nothing much had happened for the rest of the train ride besides Vikki giving us side glances and sly grins. It wouldn't be helpful for me to kill that disruptive sister of my boyfriend and getting away with it, or?

The closer to school we got, the more agitated I became. I wasn't nervous per say, but it got me a little edgy not to know who the other students would react to the turn of events. Alexia had been quite popular in this school and as nobody had known that she had fooled them into thinking that she was with Dimitri (it still hurt me to think about this!), I could only imagine what her friends reactions might be like. Nothing I couldn't cope with but as this school had somewhat grown on me, I wasn't so really sure what to expect and how to react if the need should arise. And it would, I was absolutely certain of that.

I avoided Dimitri's gaze purposely as I knew he would see that I wasn't as relaxed as I tried to appear on the outside. He was too good in reading me so there was no way to fool him.

When the train pulled into the station, we quietly grabbed our stuff, pulled on our thick jackets and left the train soon after. As we weren't' the only one's arriving by train, the school had sent a bus to pick us up as it was too far to walk to the school anyway. And with such highly piled snow on the streets, there was no way to pull the baggage all the way at all.

After we had put our bags into the trunk of the bus, I hurried to catch a seat besides Vik, leaving Dimitri to sit in another row. The scowl on his face showed me that he wasn't understanding my antics at all and it confused him to no end. But he didn't say anything s he passed by, me trying to avoid his gaze. I know I was acting childish and it wasn't like me at all, but I couldn't get myself to face up my fears and just get it over with.

And I knew also that Dimitri would soon find a way to get me separated from everyone else to confront me. He was just that good which absolutely wasn't in my favour right now.

The bus ride was bumpy and filled with chat. Vik had gotten past her I-know-what-you-did-and-I-will-annoy-you-with-it-endlessly-phase and chatted with me. Our courses would change slightly this semester and there would only be few classes which we would have to attend together. I still was stuck with learning Russian with her and Dimitri every day in the library, but Olena had already told me proudly, that my Russian was getting better and better. From time to time she had acted as if she had forgotten all English vocabulary and only had answered to me when I had phrased my sentences in Russian. Which had been annoying at first, but after some days I realised that I had become more adapted to use this language. And when Dimitri would whisper something in Russian to me in the heat of passion, it would turn me on to now end.

When the bus reached the gates of the school ground, the lively chatter had somewhat lessened and when he stopped, everybody got up from their seats quietly.

Hello school we are back!, I though sarcastically.

Hurrying up to get my stuff and to get out of Dimitri's way, I shot up from my seat and moved towards the trunk. Pulling out my suitcase, I dashed for a quick exit to our room, but no such luck. Dimitri was just standing behind me when I turned away from the bus, his face making it clear that he was done shitting around. He wanted to have answers and he wanted them soon.

So I gave in and waited patiently for him to get his stuff and together we walked towards the building where all the dormitories were located in. When we reached the space where interactions of male and female students were allowed, we out down our bags and took a seat at the comfortable couch. As the main part of the student body has not yet arrived or was up at their dormitories to sort their stuff out, we had the room to ourselves.

Before the quietness could engulf us completely, Dimitri put his arms around my shoulder and pulled me towards him tenderly. "What's up, Roza?" he asked, his voice calm but curious. His brown eyes watched me carefully as to not miss a beat.

"I don't really understand it myself," I whispered quietly, still fighting the urge to spill out everything to him. But I also knew that fighting it was a vain attempt as Dimitri could ready me like a book meanwhile. He just knew me too well by now as to not catch up at my mood.

He still watched me carefully before asking hesitantly: "Has it anything to do with me?"

"No!", I nearly shouted, afraid that he would get the wrong idea. "No, it has nothing to do with you. Well, not directly that is." I knew that there was no way to avoid this topic and so I tried to explain it as best as I could to him. "I'm just a little uncomfortable when thinking about the reactions of the other students when they learn about us." Catching my breath after I had gotten this out without breathing, I looked into his eyes, willing him to understand what exactly I was talking about.

And clever as my sexy boyfriend was, he understood immediately. "You mean when they find out that you and I are together now and Alexa will not come to school anymore?"

Nodding my conformation, I thought at just how silly this sounded when he said it. It really was not me to be afraid about something as unimportant as what others would think about me, but now that I was in love with the most looked-after boy in the entire school, I suddenly was to lose what had taken so long to grow. "This sounds so ridiculously childish but I can't help it." I admitted as an afterthought.

"Rose," Dimitri said, pulling me even closer to his body comfortingly. "What do you think will happen? They are all grown up and though they might be Alexa's friends, they know when to accept a change." His soft lips tenderly wandered over my face before coming to a halt on my lips. The kiss was nowhere near as passionately as the usual kisses we had shared, but it was reassuring and calmed me down. Relaxing into the comfort of his body, I smiled up at him happily after we had broken apart.

"That's what I love you for, Dimitri," I whispered as I rested my hand against his cheek. Keeping body contact always calmed me down and Dimitri had learned this fact quickly.

Keeping me wrapped up in his embrace, we waited until we heard the first students arrive. In order to not start the rumour now, we let go of each other and made our way up to our respective dormitories. I didn't let Dimitri see just how hard it was for me to leave. Over the past few days I had gron more and more dependent on him and it still left me uncertain, what would change now in our relationship as we were back to school.

When I reached the dorm I shared with Vik, I saw that she had already started to unpack her stuff and I was thankful, that she had given us this short amount of time by ourselves. No words were needed as she gave me a smile that said everything. Grinning back I quickly followed her lead and put my clothes from my suitcase into my drawers.

"You two are okay?" Vic asked, somewhat hesitantly. She had finished unpacking a few minutes ago and was now sitting on her bed, waiting for me to finish up as well.

Turning around, my shirts still neatly folded in my hand; I gave her a curious glance. Her hands were fidgeting in her lap and I knew for sure, that something was up with her. "What's the matter?" I asked her, sitting down beside her on the bed, my shirts still in my hands.

"I'm just … just not really sure what it is with you two now." Vik said.

"We are good now," I said, settling a hand reassuringly on her arm to stop her fidgeting. "We have sorted out our problems and are together now."

A short nod was all I got from her. I had the feeling that I still hadn't come down to the real problem.

"Vic," I said, this time turning her around to face me, my voice stern. "What is the matter? You still can tell me everything, you know that. Right?"

She seemed unsure on how to continue, but I stayed quiet to let her figure it out by herself. When she spoke, the insecurity was still audible in the tremble of her voice but it also had become stronger. "I just would have liked it when you would have told me", she said. "I wouldn't want to hear the news from someone else instead of from my brother or best friend directly."

Oh, now I saw the problem and it hit me. During the ups and downs of the past days I had totally forgotten about how Vik had been treated by girls who had been interested in Dimitri before and I really could smack myself over the head for being such a bad friend. I had promised her not to act the same way and now I had just done that.

"I'm sorry," I cried out, letting the sweaters drop to the floor to fling my arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Vik." When I felt her arms returning my hug I felt the relieve wash through me. "I'm such a bad friend."

The shake of her slender frame was the first sign before she pulled away again and grinned in my face. "No, you're just so totally over the mountain in love-land that you have forgotten about me."

Returning her grin, I gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, before easing back. "So, what do you wanna know?" We aware girls after all and girls shared secrets about relationships and boys in general. Only the juicy details, I would leave out as I was sure, Vik really had no interest in that. Understandable as Dimitri was her brother after all.

"So, you're going stable now?" she wanted to know.

Shrugging my shoulders, I answered honestly. "I love him and he loves me, so I guess you could say that. Though we haven't spoken about it yet. But we will eventually."

"What will you do as soon as this leaks out?", Vik was worried which made me smile inwardly. She really was a fantastic friend and helped a lot out just like Lissa would have.

"I don't know. That's what I had been talking to Dimitri about earlier. He said to take it with the head held high." I knew immediately that Vik felt for me as she could imagine the toll it would take on me when I will have to face the nasty comments. And as sure as the Amen in church these remarks and comments would come as soon as the news would leak out.

"I know for sure that something along these lines will come. There are too many friends of Alexa in this school as for this not to happen", she admitted. "And I'm afraid that even those who have their eyes on Dimitri will try to build up a drift between you two."

This time it was my turn to give her a sullen nod, having heard from her the suspicions I had been afraid of. Only that Vik had voiced them out, something I still had been too afraid to do in front of Dimitri. Not that I think he wouldn't trust me, but I felt as if I would voice my concerns they would come true in the end. Maybe it was better to live in blissful ignorance?

"But whatever happens, Rose, I'm here for you."

Hugging her again tightly, I whispered softly in her ear. "I know." Then I went to pick up my clothes which still lay astray on the floor and put them into the drawer where they belonged.

I knew that I would have to face the rumours soon and though Vik had offered her help, I knew that this would be a battle; I would have to fight on my own. Dimitri loved me and I loved him and I wasn't willing to lose him to any other girl in this school.

If they would come at me they would get to know the true bitchy Rose Hathaway, so beware!

Yeah, so what will happen? o.O'

Let me know how you've liked it and I will now go back to write the next chapter.

See you all!

Lilian85