A/N:at the end...

20 End of a bad, bad day

Who knew it was so easy to talk from behind the comfort of a shower curtain. Thankfully Olena never brought up anything more about what had happened earlier at my mother's house but she did manage to steer the conversation to her son.

"I knew the instant something had happened between you two." She said with a smile in her voice. "He came home in such a bad mood that Friday night... he was – not happy."

"I still don't really know what made him pull away so quickly." I said quietly. "One minute he was showing me a defence move, the next we... Did he say anything to you?"

"Hmm, I think that's something for the two of you to discuss."

"Chicken..." I said laughing slightly.

"Maybe, but ever since that night, he just got worse day by day. Normally daily workouts help him focus but every morning he'd come home and his mood was worse than when he left. Dimitri has always been a more – solitary person, he's never needed anyone else's company; until he met you."

Solitary...? I'd say more, stoic, but I decided to let that comment go; instead I answered the first part of her statement, something she'd brought up before. "You said that before, about him still doing training every morning, but he didn't do it with me, where did he go?"

"I have no idea."

I didn't believe her...Did she realise that I could hear her smiling?

After finally showering and getting dressed with Olena's help, she opened the bathroom door and ushered me outside. Before leaving the bathroom though, she asked if I was staying the night, I quickly realised just how much I didn't want to leave. As much as I love Liss and her family, I knew I'd have to relive today all over again and I was too tired and drained to do that again. I just had no desire to leave this house or the people in it. I said I'd just play it by ear, after all... tomorrow was another day.

I walked into the hall and turned to the right to see Dimitri sitting on the top step of the staircase. When he heard the door open, he turned around to see me; his eyes met mine before glancing down and briefly taking in my new attire. He stood up smiling and held his hand out to me, which I gladly accepted.

"Sorry about before." I said indicating towards the bathroom.

"Don't be," he said as he pulled me into his arms. "I was glad to be there for you. You know I always will be right?" When I didn't answer straight away, he let out a sigh and clenched his jaw as he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "I guess I have a lot of work to do to build you trust in me again, hey."

I wanted to say no and say that everything was fine but it wasn't. I didn't know that he'd always be there for me, not now anyway. I know he'd said that he loved me, but twenty four hours ago I was under the assumption that he was with someone else, an assumption that he let me believe. I thought I'd been delusional ever since I met him, a delusional teenager with an unrequited crush. If he'd asked me if I trusted him a few weeks ago, my answer would have been very different and without hesitation. I looked down to the cream patterned carpet at our feet and took a deep breath. Dimitri's fingers came under my chin and slowly brought my face up to look at him.

"You'll never know how sorry I am for making you doubt me. It's the worst thing I have ever done."

"I still don't understand why you felt you had to distance yourself from me Dimitri. I know what you said, but it doesn't make any sense to me."

"I know and I will tell you, it's up to you when. I can either tell you now or after dinner, whatever you decide, I will tell you everything." I wasn't all that hungry really and if our 'talk' upset me I thought it was best to be done on an empty stomach, so I opted for before dinner.

"We'll just be outside Mama." He said as we walked hand in hand through the kitchen towards the back door. Olena gave me an encouraging smile as she nodded her head, she knew... He led me over to the wooden bench seat that we'd sat in once before; the time he'd taken me here after the 'tree incident' and we ate Chinese...

It was early in the evening by now and after the day I'd had, I was not only physically exhausted but mentally too, another reason I just wanted to get this done now instead of later on; I didn't know how much longer I could stay awake. Dimitri sat on the edge of the bench and leant forward, putting his elbows on his knees. He looked out into the back yard, not really looking at anything in particular and took a deep breath.

"I grew up in a very different world to you Roza," he started, "...a lot I've already told you about, but coming here to America was quite the culture shock at first. I had just turned seventeen and everyone was nice to me when I first arrived, not something I was used to and I found myself... waiting for the 'real them' to show, after all, people couldn't be that genuinely nice, right? After a while I managed to find those types of people, the type that I was used to back home. To make a long story short, I got into some trouble and that's when Mama came down heavy; made me realise what I was doing and where my actions were leading me. I straightened myself out before I did any real damage, I threw myself into study and graduated with honours and resumed my fight training. That coupled with the training I had done in Russia, I soon found myself in the protection business. The company I worked for sent me out to guard a Russian businessman Boris Zuklov; I was the only Russian in the company so it made sense. Within a few days he offered me a permanent position, but it meant going back to Russia. I didn't know what to say at first; it meant leaving my family but the more I thought about it, the more it made me think of home and how much I missed it, so I accepted. Within two weeks, I found myself back in Russia and it was wonderful." A wistful smile appeared as the memory of his return went through his mind. "The man I worked for was a very... complex man. He was good, loving to his family, loyal to his friends but there was another side to him, one I didn't find out about until it was too late. Roughly six weeks after returning home, he reassigned me to his daughter, Ivana. He said that it calmed him to know that I would keep her safe."

I had watched his face as he recounted his story, different emotions passing through his eyes... His expression and voice faltered at the mention of Ivana's name...

"We grew close; we were only about a year apart in age. Soon our closeness became... more. I resisted my feelings at first, knowing it was my responsibility to keep her safe but I thought I could be both her protector and her... lover. I'd taken it upon myself to do a bit of training with her; made her to run, taught her some self defence... she was not a fighter. Because I was with Ivana most of the time, I wasn't aware of everything going on with her father and his business dealings but one day he called me into his office; I could see he was anxious and without giving me any real details, he told me that he'd had a deal go bad the week before and was now being threatened. He showed me a letter he'd received the day before that implied in no uncertain terms, that no-one he knew would be safe. Letters such as these in Russia meant only one thing, a price had been put on his head... and that of his family."

At this he dropped his head into his hands and scrubbed furiously at his eyes. I could see that reliving this was hard for him so I reached out and rubbed my hand up and down his back in what I hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Ignoring my demands for tighter security, the family went about life as though nothing was wrong. A gathering that had been planned before the bad deal and letter was still going ahead; it was a gathering of associates essential in Boris's line of business apparently. Because of this gathering, Ivana, her mother, her sisters and some friends all had to get dresses. We organised a trip into the capital for two days time where some top Russian designers had been lined up. It was a mammoth undertaking and I had tried to get the designers to come to the safety of the house instead but all the women wanted to leave the grounds. That Wednesday, we were in the offices of one of Russia's leading designers.

"We were at the third designer, Ivana's favourite actually, all the dresses had been chosen and ordered and we were about to take the ladies home but they were so excited to be in the capital and wanted to see more of it. I made a call to Boris and he said that it was okay; I had my reservations but... I did it anyway. I liked to see Ivana happy and she was having a great day. I didn't want to upset her, to see her stop smiling... she laughed so much that day. We'd been walking for about an hour when Ivana and one of her friends got separated from the group; my attention was diverted to Ivana's little sister at the time. When I noticed them missing I immediately went after them. By the time I found her friend there was nothing I could do, she was already gone. A note had been left on her body as to where I could find them; the people who had her were the ones after her father."

Oh God... I knew what was coming...

"I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen so there was only one option left; I had to fight. Ten against one are not good odds, even for me. I knew this going in and I knew that I was likely not going to see another day but if it meant Ivana's safety... then it would be worth it. Surprisingly I got to the one holding her and yelled for her to run like I'd shown her, but she didn't... she wouldn't leave me. I was soon overpowered, beaten to the edge of consciousness and then they killed Ivana in front of me."

Tears fell as he went quiet... I didn't know what to say, what could I say? As I wrapped my arm around him, he continued.

"I was left alive to give Boris a message. I let my feelings for her cloud my judgement and that ended up costing Ivana her life." Dimitri took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes before looking back to me. "I know the situation between us is different, but at the time... when I knew that I was in love with you, the differences didn't matter. All I could think of was having my judgement clouded again and you would be the one to pay the price."

My heart broke for the pain that he'd been put through, physically, mentally and emotionally, I didn't even try to stop the tears falling.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered as I reached up and cupped a hand against his cheek.

"No..." he said as he pulled me across his lap. "I'm the one that's sorry. For letting my fear push me into doing something I shouldn't have done. I knew you were confused at training and it killed me to see the hurt in your eyes at the diner that day; I hated it, but the fear of you being hurt because of me..." He shook his head slightly as he looked down and clenched his jaw.

"And that's why you pulled away from me?"

"Yes. As I said, I know this is a different situation but at training, that Friday night, it really hit me just how strong my feeling were for you and the memories of my past that flashed through my mind in that second terrified me. I couldn't take the chance that someone else I loved could get hurt and I thought that I could protect you better by being the friend you needed but..." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "When I admitted to myself how much I loved you, it scared me. I thought it would be easier to walk away and see you safe than take things further and lose you because I put you in danger somehow. In the end, stepping back actually put you in more danger, and that's something that I'll never forgive myself for, as well as the pain I caused you; abandoning you when you needed me the most."

"Then don't do it again." I said, my voice cracking with emotion.

"Never." He reached up with both hands and cupped my face. He leant forward, his lips barely touching mine in a soft, gentle kiss. "Never..." he whispered as he brought his lips back to me a little harder. My skin prickled and my heart rate skyrocketed as I felt his lips open against mine. Then the tip of his tongue touched me, igniting that initial spark of desire. When it brushed along my bottom lip, mine came out to meet it... that's when things really stepped up a notch. Within an instant, we were almost trying to devour each other. One of his hands meshed into my hair, pulling me into him further, his other hand went straight down to grab onto my ass cheek. Mini me was squealing and jumping up and down on the spot while ripping her clothes off.

On some level, I felt the pain in my shoulder but it didn't stop me from flinging my arms around his neck. Without breaking the kiss, I somehow lifted myself from where I was sitting and repositioned myself so that I was now straddling his lap. Dimitri obviously agreed with my new position as he pulled me in closer to him with the hand on my butt.

Oh God... I could feel him, all of him... My body felt on fire!

"Ungh..." Oh crap! I think that just came out of me...

His hand that had been kneading mercilessly into my ass cheek moved up under my shirt and the instant his hand touched my skin, I shuddered. Somewhere in my consciousness I heard a sound, but every one of my senses was directed firmly on the man under me...

"Ahem...hello... excuse me..."

Yup... definitely sounds not made by me or Dimitri...

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I whispered as we pulled apart.

Dimitri dropped his head to my shoulder and started laughing softly. Unfortunately, I was the one facing the house and when I looked up, I saw Olena standing at the back door smiling at me. I could only hope that we were in enough darkness that she couldn't see the burning taking place on my cheeks.

"Sorry to interrupt..." Yeah sure... "...but dinner is ready."

"Okay Mama." Dimitri said aloud. "...we'll be there shortly."

She rolled her eyes as she turned back into the house mumbling 'yeah right'... I was so embarrassed and so friggin turned on.

"She did that on purpose didn't she?" I said.

"More than likely," he said looking into my eyes. "...and I would say that she had Babushka standing behind her cheering her on."

"Oh God..." I moaned and dropped my head to his shoulder. "Is cockblocking a downloadable app when you have kids or something?"

His laugh was loud and free and I suddenly felt better than I had for more than a week.

"I really missed you. Come here..." Dimitri said as he brought my lips back to his. Neither of us able to oppress the moans of pleasure at finally being together like this.

"If we take too long, your mother is going to come back out here." I said against his lips after coming up for air.

"I know, but I can't really go inside just at the moment."

"Why?" I asked innocently. I was confused when all I got in reply was a raised eyebrow, but he soon let me in on the secret after he raised his hips upwards. "Oh..." I said with a snicker.

"Mmm, somehow I don't think my current state is something that is appropriate for the dinner table, especially with my grandmother present."

"I think you could be right about that... although..." I felt my face heat up as Mini me put an obscene thought into my mind.

"Although what?" Even though he was smiling, his voice was weary... with good reason I might add.

"Nothing..." I said barely holding in the giggle that was desperate to get out.

"I'm going to regret this; I know it but... please, by all means continue..."

"Well, as far as I see it, you have two options right now. We can either sit out here for God knows how long and wait for your 'situation' to alleviate itself or... we could alleviate your situation... together."

Oh, sit the fuck down Mini me... get back into your corner...

His face showed no change what-so-ever, but holy shit... his eyes just got a hell of a lot hotter, and Hello...! Mini Dimitri just cast his vote...

"Oh... God..." he mumbled as he shut his eyes. "You just had to give me that option didn't you?"

It was so good to finally see Dimitri squirm. I couldn't believe I just said that... When he opened his eyes I could see what he wanted to do; now I just had to see if he'd actually do it.

"You have no idea how much I want you right at this moment Roza, I want nothing more than to show you just how much I love you, but here is not the time nor the place; you understand don't you?"

No... yes...

"Yeah, I do..." I grumbled, "...but that doesn't mean I have to like it." I said with a smirk.

"There's no need to rush Love, I'm not going anywhere and I know there will be many more opportunities in the future for you to make that offer again and I'm pretty sure I'll take you up on it." My insides flipped at the thought of being with Dimitri that way.

"I'll hold you to that... literally." and then I did something I never thought I'd be brave enough to do... I slid one hand down between us and went to grab him, causing his eyes to nearly pop out of his head.

"Careful for your hands Roza." He said holding the wrist that was between us. "Hmm, I've unleashed a monster, haven't I?"

"Maybe, it's just... I've had no desire to be this way with anyone before you. I've always thought that I'd know when that 'special someone' came into my life. I loved Mason, in my own way and maybe if things hadn't been screwed to hell and we'd gotten to know one another more, over time it may have grown into something more... I'll never know. But what I do know is that what I felt for him was the love of friendship. You are that 'special someone' I've always dreamed of... I have no reservations."

The resulting grin that stretched across his face was in two words... panty melting... as if I wasn't hot enough down there without the added smile, so I brought my fingers up and grabbed either side of his mouth.

"Don't go using that on me," I groaned, "...otherwise we'll never make it inside."

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." he said giggling under his breath.

Yeah right...

=x=

Dinner was a wonderful distraction but my cheek was throbbing so much that it was giving me a headache and it only took about five minutes into the meal before my hands were so stiff that Dimitri offered to cut the rest of my meat for me; had it been anyone else to offer, I probably would have fried their ass with my now perfected death stare but I was still in too good a mood from his declarations this afternoon and our extremely hot make out session in the back yard. It didn't take long before I could hardly keep my eyes open, even though I was in so much pain.

After dinner, Olena got Dimitri to take me upstairs to his room. I quickly rang Liss and let her know that I was staying at Dimitri's house; I could tell that she really wanted me to come home and I wanted to, but I was just too exhausted to even move.

"So are you coming home in the morning?" She asked.

"Um, maybe closer to lunch time I think, Dimitri wants me to get my cheekbone x-rayed... even though his mother said that she didn't think anything was broken."

"Do you want me to come with you?" I smiled slightly when I heard little bit of hope in her voice.

"Yeah, I'd love that Liss, do you mind?"

"Of course I don't stupid."

"Do you want us to come pick you up on our way?"

"Um... no, that's alright. I actually have a lunch appointment to get to, so I'll just meet you there."

"An appointment? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah... nothing major. So, what happened with your mother after we left? I thought she was going to explode when she found you and Dimitri... kissing." I was well aware of her changing the subject but I was just too tired to pick her up on it.

"It's a long story Liss, do you mind if I tell you all about it tomorrow? I'm about to pass out."

"Yeah okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah... Hey Liss, is everything okay? You've been really quiet lately; I haven't overstayed my welcome have I?"

"No, no... not at all Rose. You're my sister; you could never outstay your welcome. I just have a lot on my mind, nothing for you to worry about. I'll see you in the morning, what time?"

Dimitri told me that we'd be at the hospital by 8am, so after we made plans on where to meet up, I hung up the phone.

"Here are your pain killers." Dimitri said handing me the little blue pills. I smiled and popped them into my mouth. "Have a good sleep Roza." Now that everything seemed to be out in the open with us, he seems to be taking every opportunity to kiss me.

"Ah Dimitri..." I said as he walked to the door. "Do you have something that can I sleep in?"

"Oh... um..." He stood motionless as he thought about it and then he walked over to his drawers. "It'll be a bit big on you, but it'll be comfortable." He said handing me one of his shirts. It was a thin V-neck Kiss concert shirt, old and well loved and when he saw my expression, he clarified for me. "I just can't seem to make myself throw it out..."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you in the morning." With that he bent down and softly pressed his lips to mine before walking out of the room. I took a deep breath and went to unbutton the skirt I had on but the pain killers hadn't kicked in yet... shit! I knew that I wasn't going to get this accomplished without assistance, Mini me knew who she wanted to help and it wasn't any of the females living in the house... She sat on her lounge chair wiggling her eyebrows at me with a shit eating grin plastered on her face...

"Dimitri..." I yelled before I could chicken out... Damn you Mini me... I didn't know if he'd already gone downstairs but before I could take a step to the door, it opened.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Not really... Um, the pain killers haven't kicked in yet, I can't use my hands."

Realisation didn't take long to register on his face. His eyes closed softly for a second or two, just long enough for his tongue to dart out and wet his lips, but when they opened, they were completely unguarded. I could see everything he was thinking, and I'm pretty sure his thoughts mirrored Mini me's.

Without another word he walked through the door and closed it behind him. My hearing may have been largely impaired because of the rushing of blood in my eardrums and the thumping of my heart in my chest but I still heard the click of the lock...

Yes... Mini me said with a rather unladylike fist thump.

I was so drowned in the heat of his eyes; I didn't even notice him moving towards me. When he stopped a foot in front of me, his eyes scanned my face. I could see how much my battered appearance affected him, but before I could say anything to him, he bent down and kissed me... a hands in the hair, tongues tasting, leg hitching, heart thumping type of kiss... Oh God!

"You'll be the death of me Roza." He said resting his forehead against mine while running his hands down my arms and leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. He took his shirt out of my hand and let it drop to the floor, before holding them gently and lifting them up to his lips. "Turn around." He really needed to stop using that soft, bedroom voice or I was going to end up a puddle on the floor at his feet and all that would be left is Mini me in all of her unharnessed, see-through negligee, hussiness... Then we'd both be well and truly fu... ah, well... maybe that's not a bad idea after all!

When I didn't move, he smirked and took my shoulders in his hands. Gently, he turned me to face the curtained window; my back now facing him. I hadn't thought it possible for my heart rate to get any faster; I was wrong. I shuddered as his fingers ghosted down my arms again, I felt him move closer behind me... He was so close, the heat from his body warmed my back and his scent was chasing away the lethargy I'd been feeling up to this point. My eyes closed as I felt his fingers at the hem of the shirt I was now wearing. I sort of jumped a bit when he touched the skin of my hips and I let out a short gust of air I'd been holding in... Yup! Here comes Mini me...

Embarrassingly, I squirmed as he slowly lifted my t-shirt upwards. I was pretty certain he was going as slow as he was just to tease me... maybe...

"Lift your arms." God I love it when he's bossy. I thought with a grin. I did what he said but flinched in pain when I tried to bring my arms up completely. I had a bit of trouble before when I had a shower but with care and a bit of help, I got undressed and redressed eventually. I heard a sound something akin to a growl from behind me and knew he could now see all the other bruises. First he pulled my arms from the short sleeves and then he stretched the neck and lifted it away without it touching my sore face. Oddly enough, I didn't feel weird or exposed standing here in a skirt and bra.

"Do you want to leave this on?" he asked slipping a finger under the strap on my right shoulder.

"No..." I said as I turned my head slightly to where his hand was to look at him from the corner of my eye. Without a word, he bent down and kissed my sore, bruised shoulder. I probably could have changed on my own faster than this, even with my beat up hands, but man... this was so much better. My eyes closed again as he gathered my hair and pushed it over my left shoulder. I smiled as I heard him take a breath and swallow heavily behind me, I was glad that I wasn't the only one affected by what he was doing...

I dropped my head slightly as I felt the clasp release at my back and my skin prickled as he pushed the straps from my shoulders. I was having a little trouble keeping my breathing at a somewhat normal pace... okay, maybe not normal, but it was as close to it as I could get. I didn't know what he was going to do next so when he bent down, I was taken by surprise but all he was doing was picking up his shirt from the floor. Still from behind, he lifted it over my head and it easily fell around my neck. Mini me huffed and crossed her arms across her chest before flopping down onto her lounge in disappointment.

"Arm..." he said softly. I gingerly pushed my right arm through the sleeve and then the left. I snickered as his shirt fell almost to my knees, it was huge but I was extremely happy when I was enveloped in his scent. It seemed to have an effect on Mini me too and I was in agreeance with her about never taking the shirt off again.

"Turn around Roza." He said in that voice... This time I moved on my own. I gasped a bit when he went down to one knee in front of me. I kept my eyes glued to his as he reached out and ran his hands up the outsides of my legs, not stopping as they slipped under the hem of my/his shirt. I felt the button of the skirt pop open and then heard each tooth of the zip click before he guided the heavy material down my legs. Mini me was smiling again...

"Lift." He said as one hand came around the back of my knee. One by one I lifted my feet out of the skirt while holding onto his shoulders. I didn't really need help balancing but holy hell... I had Dimitri on his knees in front of me; taking off my skirt... well maybe I did need help balancing. With grace not normally seen in a man of his height, Dimitri stood back up in front of me, skirt in hand and eyes blazing.

I think I'm officially a pile of goo...

"See something you like Comrade?" I said after watching his eyes take in the image of me in his shirt... and nothing else; the smile on his face was classic and very male.

"Very much so," he said honestly, "...and please stop calling me that." He glanced down once more before taking a deep breath.

"But I like it..." I remember saying the same thing to him by the lake a few weeks ago; he had a similar expression on his face then too...

"I like some of the other names you've given me better."

And I bet I know which one is at the top of the list.

"Hmm..." I said looking upwards and chewing on my lip. "Other names? Let me think, there was... Russian jailer, warden and sir if memory serves, maybe a few mongrels and asses thrown in for good measure when the situation called for it... You'd prefer them to 'Comrade'?" He never said anything; his eyes just narrowed. "No...? Huh! I must be forgetting one. What could I be forgetting?"

He closed the distance between us shaking his head and then he bent down. Without touching me anywhere else, he ran the tip of his nose up the side of my neck and nudged the lobe of my ear before taking it into his mouth...

Oh!

Mini me was running around my head, arms flailing around her head as she screamed... 'What's my name, what's my name?'... I can't blame her really, I forgot to breathe.

"Breathe Roza." He said before pressing his lips to the spot just behind my ear.

Goo... that's your name stupid...

"I think I should let you get some sleep." He said as he pulled away with a knowing smirk on his face, like that was going to happen now that he'd completely woken me up. "Come on..." he said as he leant around me and started to pull down the bed covers. I got in and smiled; if I thought his t-shirt smelt good, it had nothing compared to his bed... I was officially in heaven.

"Where are you sleeping?" I asked once the ability to speak returned, I felt bad for kicking him out of his bed. He sat down beside me and picked up the ends of my hair in his fingers.

"I'll be down on the lounge if you need me for anything." So far away... "I love you Roza."

"I love you too Comrade, and thank you – for everything." He gave me one more kiss before walking out of the room. I don't know how long I laid there before finally succumbing to sleep but it was pitch black when I woke up next.

"NO!..." I yelled as I sat up in the bed panting. It only took a few seconds for my eyes to become accustomed to the dark, that's then I noticed movement at the end of the bed. I was disorientated about where I was, my breathing was rapid because of the nightmare I'd just had and seeing something move in the dark scared the absolute shit out of me... I screamed like a banshee...

"Roza! It's me... "

"Dimitri? Holy shit..." I said panting.

"I'm sorry love." He said as he walked closer.

"What are you doing here?"

"You've been dreaming for a while but I wasn't sure if I should wake you; I was hoping that it would end soon, are you alright?" He asked as he wiped an errant tear from my cheek.

"No..." I whispered. "Hold me."

He gave a quick nod and climbed into the bed beside me, enveloping me in his massive embrace. I felt so safe here.

I don't know how much longer I slept for, but when I woke up next, the sun was shining and I was still wrapped safely in Dimitri's arms. Of course he knew the instant I resurfaced.

"Good morning sunshine..." he said with a kiss to the top of my head.

"Sunshine... I think you have me confused with someone else."

He pulled back a little and looked down at me with one eyebrow raised and let out a gasp. "Oh... you're right. I'm sorry; I thought you were my other girlfriend..."

GIRLFRIEND!... All I could do was stare at him with bug eyes. Somewhere in my brain it occurred to me that I should have been alarmed with a more concerning word in that sentence like... 'other', but all Mini me and I heard was 'girlfriend'...

"Girlfriend?" I said in shock.

"If you'll have me." He said with a tentative smile. "I know I have a lot to make up for Roza and I know I've already told you that I love you, but... Will you be my girlfriend?"

Wake the fuck up Mini me; get up off the floor...

"Yes..." I breathed. I was rewarded with a smile that made my heart thump before he started to lean down for a kiss, but I stopped him with a hand against my lips. "No, morning breath..."

=x=

"See, I told you nothing was broken." I said to Dimitri.

"I know, but I feel better knowing that for a fact. Plus, we had to get those photo's taken and it was better it was done here."

Apparently after I'd first gone to sleep last night, Dimitri had gone downstairs and called Detective Morris, telling her about all the bruising on my body from the fight with Jesse. She wanted to come over and get photos then and there but relented when he told her that I was asleep and he was taking me to the hospital for X-rays the next morning. I was a little pissed when he first told me that she wanted photos taken but between his reasoning that they'd ensure Jesse got what was coming to him and Lissa's puppy dog eyes, I relented.

"So what's this appointment that so important Liss?" I asked as we walked out towards the hospital car park.

"Um... just with dad – about college." She looked nervous, something that Liss almost never was.

"Weren't you talking to him about that last week?"

"Ah yeah, we just have differing opinions that's all, I'll work it all out soon."

"Why don't you take a year off like me, we could travel." I could tell that something else was going on here, something other than college problems. She was due to start college in just over five weeks, Liss was never this undecided about anything, especially about being a doctor.

"That would be good, but I think dad's right. If I delay, even for a year, it could seriously hurt my chances of getting into the college that I want." She was saying all the right things but I knew her too well; I knew she was hiding something.

"Liss, is there something else wrong? You haven't been yourself all week."

"No, nothing's wrong, I've just been stressed over a few things and then yesterday sort of... threw me a bit." I could certainly relate to that last part. "Listen, I really need to go, I'll see you back home in a few hours?"

"Yeah, drive carefully." I said as I hugged her goodbye. I knew in my bones that something wasn't right with her, but I couldn't force her to talk to me. As she drove out of her spot, Dimitri wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to his Jeep.

"She seems like she's hiding something." He commented.

"Yeah, I know..." At least it wasn't just me...

We called into Guardian Security so that Dimitri could tell my mother that he'd be taking the next couple of days off. I tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary but he wouldn't hear of it. My mother was unusually reserved yet accommodating when we got there, after that he took me to the local mall.

"Want a coffee before we start?"

"Start what?" I asked as I tried to figure out the cause of his grin.

"You want a coffee or not?" He asked as his grin stretched into a full out smile. I dreaded what he had in mind so I thought the coffee would give me a chance to find out what he was up to.

"Sure, lead the way master."

He chuckled as he shook his head and led me into Starbucks. As we walked in, my eyes panned across the room and landed on a sight I never thought I'd see.

"What the hell?" I said as I stopped where I stood.

"Rose?" I didn't take my eyes off the sight in front of me but nodded my head in that direction... "What...?"

"That's what I'd like to know, so much for having to meet her father."

Seeing Lissa sitting at the table with Nat was confusing enough, but seeing her hand in his was... shocking to say the least.

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the delay in updating. I haven't been well lately and have been waiting on a couple of operations. Well Saturday came and my body decided it wasn't going to wait anymore. On Sunday morning, I was taken in for emergency surgery... All good now though, a little sore and sorry for myself, but well on the mend. So I'm a little behind now because of all the drama, drama, drama... so please be patient for the next couple of chapters while I play catch up! :-)

Thank you so much for all of your reviews, I love how you've all grown to love this story as much as I have. I can't wait to get to the next one I have planned. A couple of you have already read the initial outline and 1/2 chapter and you've given me some great feed back. MaxieMoose, I can't wait to start working with you on this... (so if I make and Aussie boo-boos's, ya'll can blame her! hehehehe) I did the 'ya'll' thing alright didn't I? :-)

Anyway, thanks for reading... Sandy.