Thank you for the reviews. I'm sorry it took so long to update. I was going to do it last week, but something's up with Fanfiction. It wouldn't allow me to upload my chapter because "the format isn't right". It's strange because I've been using the same format for years. No idea what's going on, but I found another way to upload it, Thank God. Anyway here's the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 25

DPOV – AUGUST 6, 2015

It was a little past midnight and Vika still hadn't come downstairs. Neither had Rose. I figured they were still talking. But how much longer was it going to take?

Blowing out a breath, I sat on the couch, anxious. Why did Vika have to interrupt us just when there was finally something happening? It had taken all of me to leave Rose's side so she and my sister could talk. What the hell were they talking about anyway? Why was it taking so long? I hoped Rose hadn't changed her mind.

"My, my, this is a first."

I looked up and saw Sonya standing a few feet away from me, a smirk on her face.

"It seems like you're actually going to sleep on the couch tonight."

I sighed. "Sonya, not now please."

"What?" she asked, playing stupid.

I glared at her. "You know what. I think you've caused enough trouble for one night so please give it a rest."

She frowned. "Don't be mad at me, Dimka."

"Why not? You embarrassed Rose."

"I didn't embarrass her. I just asked her a simple question."

I snorted. "It wasn't any of your business."

She looked at me, hurt. "I'm your sister. She's taking advantage of you and I wanted to look out for you."

"I can take care of myself," I told her.

She shrugged. "Fine then. I apologize."

She started to turn away.

"Rose isn't taking advantage of me."

Sonya stopped. Slowly, she turned back around, a questioning look on her face.

"She isn't," I vowed.

She sighed. "Well, you know her better than I do."

"I know you don't like Rose," I said. She started to protest and I shook my head at her. "Please, don't think I haven't noticed."

She shut her mouth and crossed her arms.

"Just try to be nice to her, okay?" I pleaded. "I love this girl and I want it to work out with her. Please don't make it harder than it already is."

"Has she told you she loves you?" Sonya asked.

I hesitated. "Not with those words, no."

She pursed her lips. "Then how do you know she's not using you?"

"I just know, okay? We have a lot of history," I said.

"She has a lot of history with Adrian, too," Sonya countered. "Your best friend."

I scowled at her and she held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine," she said. "I'll trust you on this one."

"So you're going to be nice to her from now on?" I asked.

"I can't make any promises, but…" She gave me a tiny smile. "I'll try."

I was relieved. "Thanks, Sonya."

She just nodded, then started to leave. "Good night, Dimka."

I wanted to follow her upstairs and see if Rose and Vika were still talking, but I stayed put. Rose would surely come looking for me after Vika had left. Right?

Another hour passed and I was sure I would never fall asleep on the couch while I was this anxious, but eventually I did. The sunlight streaming through the windows woke me up in the morning. I sat up and blinked a couple of times, confused as to where I was, but then I remembered I'd fallen asleep on the couch.

Why hadn't Rose come looking for me?

"Hi."

Startled, I looked up and saw Rose leaning against the far wall with two coffee mugs in her hands. She smiled and walked over to me. Putting the mugs down on the coffee table, she sat down on the floor next to me.

"Hi," I said, still a little confused.

"When I came downstairs last night, you were already asleep. It was very late and I didn't want to wake you up."

I looked down at the blanket in my lap. "You gave me this?"

She nodded, smirking. "I didn't want you to get cold."

I frowned. "I wish you'd woken me up."

Her gaze was unwavering. "Me too."

I sat up straighter, swallowing past the lump in my throat, and she smiled again. Breaking her gaze away from mine, she handed me one of the coffee mugs.

"Careful. It's hot."

"So how long have you been standing here?" I asked curiously, taking a sip of coffee. It was indeed hot.

Her smile widened as she picked up her own mug. "Quite a while." Clearing her throat, she changed the subject. "Dimitri, about last night…"

My heart almost stopped. Oh no. She changed her mind. I dreaded to hear her next words.

"I meant what I said," she told me, sincerity clear in her eyes. "Every word of it."

I was surprised. And so, so relieved. She wants us to be more than friends.

"Roza…" It was all I managed to get out. She'd rendered me speechless.

Rose bit her lip, hesitating. Suddenly, she leaned up and pressed her lips against mine. Even though I was caught off guard, I responded to her kiss immediately. I wanted to pull her closer to me, but I was holding that damn coffee mug.

At last, Rose pulled away and leaned back. She licked her lips and smiled playfully. "You taste like coffee. I like it."

Oh, the things she was doing to me…

"Roza," I said, my voice low and playful.

She giggled. I didn't hear that sound coming from her lips very often. I had to admit I liked it.

I smiled broadly, feeling very, very happy.

Rose set down her mug again. "Can I join you?"

"Sure," I said, once again surprised.

She got up and I scooted over so she could sit down next to me. She crawled under the blanket and leaned her head against my shoulder, sighing.

"This is nice," Rose murmured.

I hesitated for a moment, but wrapped my arm around her anyway. She didn't seem to mind. "It is."

Very nice.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. My heart was still beating like crazy. I could hardly believe that this was really happening.

"Do you have to work today?" Rose asked, breaking the silence.

"I guess I could reschedule," I said slowly.

She shook her head. "No, you should go. You already took time off for me when I arrived here."

"I don't mind," I said quickly.

"Your clients will," Rose countered.

I sighed. "I guess you're right. I should probably go." I looked down at her. "But just so you know, I'd rather spend all my time with you."

Rose smiled widely. "I know." Her smile turned into a pout. "I'll miss you."

I grinned, feeling very pleased with myself. I really liked this change. I started to lean in to kiss her, but then I heard someone shuffling into the room. I glanced up and noticed my grandmother peering at us. Her eyes met mine and she gave me a knowing look before turning towards the kitchen.

I cleared my throat and looked back at Rose. "I should get ready. I'll see you later, right?" I added, hopeful.

She gave me a meaningful smile. "Of course, comrade."

Reluctantly, I headed upstairs to get ready for work. Half of the time I didn't know what I was doing because I was daydreaming about Roza, about her kissing me… When I came back downstairs, she was having breakfast with my grandmother, who eyed me carefully when I entered. Then she smiled.

"Have a nice day," she said in Russian. Glancing at Rose, she added, "Though I'm pretty sure it already started out nice."

Rose glanced at us, a confused look on her face. "Why did she look at me like that? Did she say something about me?"

"No," I said quickly.

Rose looked at my grandmother again, who was trying to hide her smile. "Just when I thought she was starting to like me," she muttered, frowning.

"She didn't say anything about you," I told her. "She was just wishing me a nice day at work."

Rose looked relieved. "Oh. Okay."

I kissed my grandmother on the cheek. "Alright, I'm leaving. See you later."

"You're not going to eat?" Rose asked.

I glanced down at my wristwatch and started to leave. "I don't have the time."

"You've got to eat something," Rose called after me.

"See you later, Roza!" I called back when I was at the front door.

Just when I'd reached my car, Rose walked outside with a lunch bag in her hands. "Here," she said, handing it to me. "You can't work without some food in your stomach."

I smiled softly. "Thanks, Roza."

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed the corner of my mouth. "Have a nice day at work, comrade."

I bit the inside of my cheek, refraining myself from telling her how much I loved her. I didn't want to ruin a perfect morning. She smiled before retreating to the house. Letting out a sigh, I opened the car door and climbed inside with great reluctance, wishing I could stay and make this perfect morning into a perfect day with Roza.

RPOV – AUGUST 6, 2015

I felt kind of sad when Dimitri had left for work. But I was feeling happy at the same time because of what happened last night…and this morning. Very happy.

I sat back down at the kitchen table to finish my breakfast. When I looked at Yeva, she was smiling to herself. I wondered why. She was acting strange this morning. I wanted to ask about it, but it wouldn't get me anywhere since she couldn't speak English.

Suddenly, I heard my name. I looked up again at Yeva. She was talking to me.

"Roza," she said, followed by a string of words I couldn't understand.

"You know I don't understand Russian" I answered

She grinned. I had the feeling she was laughing at me.

"Oh, you think that's funny?"

Yeva shrugged.

I crossed my arms. "Never mind."

Another smile crossed her face as she shook her head lightly. Again, she started talking to me in Russian. I had no idea if she finally liked me enough to talk to me, even if I wasn't able to respond, or if she was doing it to frustrate me. If that was the case, she was doing a terrific job. Finally, Yeva got up from her seat and shuffled out of the kitchen.

"I don't know if you realize this, but I still haven't learned Russian in the past five minutes," I called after her.

Yeva turned to look at me and laughed. Did she think I was being funny or was she laughing at me again?

"Okay, I'm going to pretend you're laughing because you think I'm hilarious," I told her as she stepped out onto the deck and shut the glass door behind her.

I finished my breakfast and started to clear the table when Olena walked in. She approached me hesitantly, an uncertain look on her face.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," she responded. "How are you feeling?"

I gave her a smile. "I'm fine."

She arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said reassuringly.

Olena looked doubtful. "Last night must've been…hard on you."

I shrugged. "I'm kind of relieved. Now I don't have anything to hide anymore."

Olena nodded. "I guess that's true. Still… I'd like to apologize for Sonya's behavior. She had no right to-"

"You don't have to apologize, Olena," I cut her off gently. "What happened last night isn't your fault. It's mine. If I hadn't dropped my ring, there wouldn't have been a problem."

"Sonya was already arguing with you before that happened," Olena stated.

I sighed. "I know. But it's okay. I get it. She's protective of her brother. That doesn't make her a bad person."

Olena smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I hope Dimka will be as forgiving as you."

"Of course he will. She's his sister."

"Yes, but in hurting you Sonya has also hurt Dimka. I'm sure that wasn't her intention, but she did."

I didn't really know what to say to that so all I said was, "It'll be alright, Olena. Don't worry."

She nodded. "Where is he anyway?" she asked, changing the subject.

"He left for work about twenty minutes ago," I answered.

"Oh. Right." She sighed, shaking her head. "Always working."

"Mama, if we want to be able to come back here every year, he has to work a lot," a new voice said. The voice belonged to Viktoria. She smiled as she entered the kitchen and sat down next to her mother. "Good morning." She glanced up at a serious looking Olena. "That was a joke, Mama. You're supposed to laugh."

Olena cracked a smile. "Good morning, Vika. Did you sleep well?"

She shrugged, suppressing a yawn. "Could be better," she answered before glancing at me and giving me a tiny smile. "How are you, Rose?"

I returned her smile. "I feel a lot better now, thank you."

Last night, I'd told her the whole story of what was going on between me and Dimitri – and what had been going on when I'd still been with Adrian. Like she'd promised, she hadn't judged me. At first, I thought she was going to hate me because of what I'd put her brother through, but she didn't. Somehow, she understood, for which I was so, so grateful.

I let the two of them have breakfast and went upstairs to the bathroom to shower. On my way, I ran into another Belikov family member – it was the one I'd wanted to avoid today.

Sonya's lips were pursed and her arms were crossed as she looked at me. I mimicked her pose, determined not to be intimidated by her any longer.

"Hi," she said at last.

"Hi," I responded.

"I wanted to…" She cut herself off, hesitating. Sighing, she tried again. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I was out of line. I'm sorry." I was stunned to hear an apology coming from her lips. I think the surprise was clear on my face because she said, "That's probably not what you expected to hear, huh? Anyway…that's why I'm here. To apologize." She paused. "I had no right to judge you because I don't really know you that well. You have to understand, though, I was just trying to protect my brother. And I guess I should apologize for my behavior towards you in general. I've been mean to you since we met and that was…well, it wasn't fair. Like I said, I don't know you so I had no reason to act like that towards you."

I recovered from the shock and answered, "I accept your apology." She looked relieved at that. "And I understand that you wanted to protect your brother. It only proves how much you love him."

She nodded. "I just want him to be happy, Rose. And I know you can make him happy, but I also know that you are capable of breaking his heart. So please don't do that. Please don't hurt him."

"I won't," I vowed. "You have no reason to trust anything I say, but I'm telling you the truth. I won't hurt Dimitri."

Sonya nodded again. "Okay. I'll take your word for it."

I smiled, glad that our little feud seemed to be over. "Good."

That was it for this chapter. My exams are starting soon so the next chapter will be posted afterwards, which is probably next weekend. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Have a nice day/evening! :)