Thank you very much for the reviews! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 37

DPOV

The following days I was in a foul mood. I tried to hide my feelings at school and pretended everything was fine when I was with Rose's friends. I could see Rose was worried about me, though. I kept reassuring her that I was fine, but if I was being honest with myself I knew that wasn't true.

When my sisters came by for dinner last night, Mama dropped the bomb on them. There'd been a lot of crying, which had made me feel even worse about the whole situation. So far my father hadn't contacted Mama yet and Vika hadn't heard from him either – at least not since that last time. I couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. I just prayed he wouldn't show up at the house when I was in school or working. I'd actually wanted to quit my job so I could be more at home, but Mama practically forbade me to do that.

Aside from that, I was anxious that my father might hurt Roza. I asked her to keep an eye out and let me know if she felt like she was being watched. Because I was so concerned about her safety, I went to her parents as well and told them my father was back and that he knew about Rose's existence. Rose wasn't very pleased with that, as I'd expected. But what else could I have done?

"Dimka, are you okay?"

Startled, I looked up when Viktoria knocked on my bedroom door and walked inside.

"I'm fine," I responded, my voice a little curt. I'd been on edge all week, waiting for my father to appear again, but so far he'd stayed away. What is he up to?

Viktoria sat down next to me on the bed and looked at me with sympathy. "No, you're not fine. I can tell."

"They why are you asking?"

She shrugged. "Because it's nice when someone asks you once in a while how you're doing."

"Well, how are you doing?" I asked, looking at her.

She gave me a small smile. "Same as you, I guess." She paused for a moment. "I keep waiting for him to show up, but he doesn't. I wonder if he's playing a game with us."

I snorted. "Probably."

"Rose called," Viktoria said after a few moments of silence. "Are you avoiding her?"

I frowned. "No."

"Then why haven't I seen her around the house all week?" Viktoria asked.

"I've been working."

"Yeah, but not all the time. She's usually here when you've got time to spare. Or you go over to her place." When I didn't respond, she continued, "You two used to hang out all the time. And even if you had to work, you'd still see each other whenever you could. But now you're sitting here at home, brooding."

"I still see her at school," I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me. "What's this all about?" I asked, a little annoyed. "Why do you care?"

"Well, you're my brother and she's my friend," Viktoria responded. "I just want to check if you two are doing okay."

"We're fine," I said gruffly.

"Then why aren't you with her right now?" Viktoria pushed. "Mama's noticed as well that there's something going on between the two of you."

"There's nothing going on," I insisted.

"Then why did Rose ask me how you were doing?" Viktoria said, crossing her arms. "You see her at school every day. You talk to her. She shouldn't have to ask me that question."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't you have something better to do, Vika?"

She grinned. "As a matter of fact, no."

I rolled my eyes.

"You're pushing Rose away," Vika said when I stayed silent. "And I know why you're doing it, but I don't think that's a smart idea. You don't want to lose her, do you?"

I really didn't want to have this conversation with my sister. I started to get up and grabbed my duster. "I've got to go to work," I muttered, not looking at her. "I'll see you later, Vika."

RPOV

"How come you're hanging out with me on a Saturday afternoon?" Lissa asked as we walked into Starbucks. We needed a break from all the shopping we'd done today. "Is Dimitri working?"

"No, he's at home," I answered. She looked at me as if there was something wrong with me. "What? Can't I go shopping with my best friend?"

She smiled. "Of course, but I figured that you'd be spending time with your boyfriend, seeing as he's not working today." When I didn't say anything, she asked cautiously, "Is there trouble in paradise?"

I faked a smile. "No. Why would there be?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. You two are awfully quiet these days – and that says a lot, considering Dimitri is always quiet."

"Trust me, we're fine," I said as I pretended to study the menu.

In truth, I didn't know if we were fine. Dimitri had said he needed to spend more time with his family with everything going on and I understood that. I was being a supportive girlfriend. But now I barely got to see him anymore – I barely even heard him anymore outside of school! I kind of had the feeling that he was avoiding me and I didn't know why. I kept pondering if I'd said something wrong. He didn't seem mad at me, though. He was just…very quiet and maybe a little distant. At first, I blamed it on the situation with his dad, but now I was not so sure anymore.

Dimitri nor the rest of his family had heard from the man since that night after his work. That was a week ago. I knew Dimitri was worried that his father might confront me, but so far nothing had happened. Or maybe something did happen and Dimitri never told me about it because he was so busy avoiding me. While he still sat with me during lunch at school, he didn't say much. Our friends had noticed something was off, like Lissa just remarked.

I just wish he would tell me what was going on in his mind so I could help him. But instead, he was pushing me away. I'd had to ask Viktoria how he was doing because he never gives me an honest answer. But his sister didn't seem to know much more. I wondered how long this was going to continue. I really missed him and I wanted nothing more than things to go back to normal. I had to admit that I was a little hurt that he wouldn't trust in me, but he should know by now that I would always be there for him. Even if he wasn't my boyfriend, he was still my best friend. Had he forgotten about that?

"Rose, it's your turn to order," Lissa said, snapping me out of my reverie. She nudged me forward. "Go on."

When we walked out of Starbucks with our coffees, I was lost in thought again. My mind was so far off that I bumped into someone, nearly spilling my coffee. I apologized to the man, but he waved my apology away with a smile.

"Wait up," he said when I started to leave. "You dropped something."

I noted an accent. It sounded kind of familiar. The man stooped down to the ground and picked up one of my bags. I was a little bit mortified because it was a bag from Victoria's Secret. I'd bought new lingerie, hoping that one of these days Dimitri and I could have some time for ourselves – of course he would have to want to see me first for that to happen.

"Uh, thanks," I said, snatching it out of his hands. I hoped he didn't look at the contents because this was already embarrassing enough.

He smiled. "Have a good day, Miss."

Quickly, I turned around and walked back to Lissa in a hurry. I understood why I was feeling horrified, but I didn't understand why Lissa had the same look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Her eyes widened a little as she looked at me. "Oh my God, Rose. Why didn't you tell me Dimitri's father is back in town?"

I looked at her in confusion. Where did this even come from? How did she even know? Dimitri and I never told anyone. "Uh, I don't understand what's going on right now."

"That man you bumped into," Lissa said. "That was Kazimir."

I was still confused. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

She pulled me to her side and hissed, "That's Dimitri's father!"

"Fuck," I muttered, looking over my shoulder. But he'd already disappeared. "Are you shitting me right now, Liss? Cause it's not funny!"

"I mean it," Lissa said, her eyes still wide. "That was Dimitri's father."

"Oh my God," I whispered, my heart hammering in my chest. Had me bumping into him a coincidence or had I been followed? Was Dimitri right after all? "Oh my God. I need to call Dimitri."

"Why? What's going on?" Lissa asked, her voice edged with worry.

I didn't respond. Instead, I reached for my phone in my purse and dialed Dimitri's number. He didn't pick up, which shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Goddammit," I cursed. If he thought he was protecting me by ignoring me, then he was wrong. "I can't reach him."

"Calm down, Rose," Lissa said. She ushered me over to a bench. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure if I should."

"Why? What's happening? Since when is Dimitri's father back?"

She fired question after question. Questions I couldn't answer. But I really needed to talk to someone about this and if Dimitri wouldn't, then who should I turn to?

"You have to swear you won't tell anyone," I said firmly.

Lissa nodded. "I swear."

As I told her, she was very very quiet. She looked genuinely worried – not just for me, but also for Dimitri and his family.

"What a creep," Lissa exclaimed when I finished. "I mean, if Dimitri's right and he's been watching you…" A look of disgust crossed her face. "Then this wasn't just a coincidence."

I shivered involuntarily. "And he's seen my new Victoria's Secret lingerie. I'm so not going to wear that." I sighed. What a waste of money. "I guess I'll give it to Mom. I hope it fits her."

"Don't worry about the freaking lingerie. Worry about your life instead," Lissa reprimanded.

I looked at her as if she was crazy. "He's not going to kill me. Jeez, Lissa." I paused. "He's just trying to provoke Dimitri, but if he thinks that's going to provoke him then he's wrong."

"What makes you say that?"

I looked away. "Never mind."

"Rose…" Lissa hesitated. "Has he been avoiding you?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Maybe…yes…I mean, kind of." Finally, I looked at her. "I get that he wants to be with his family now, but I feel like he's shutting me out. He probably thinks he's protecting me, but he isn't." I hated that there were tears in my eyes. "This isn't the way."

Lissa looked at me with sympathy, which made me want to cry even more. "I'm sorry, Rose. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"It's okay, Liss," I answered, giving her a faint smile. "It'll be alright. Eventually."

She clasped my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "I really hope so, Rose, because you and Dimitri are great together. I'd hate to see something like this tear you apart."

I arched an eyebrow at her. "You're really starting to like Dimitri, huh?"

She smiled reluctantly. "I have to admit that he's not so bad. And you definitely bring out the best in him. Look how social he's become!" she added with a laugh. When I didn't smile, she nudged my shoulder with hers. "Hey, lighten up. You're both going to be alright." She paused. "You two… It just fits, you know?"

"Like Christian and you?"

She laughed again. "Yeah, I guess like Christian and me."

I let out a sigh. "Well, I should probably go over to Dimitri's house. If he isn't going to answer my calls, I'll have to tell him in person."

I parted with Lissa and drove over to Dimitri's. When I rang the bell, Olena answered the door. She welcomed me with a smile and ushered me inside. But when I asked if Dimitri was home, she just shook her head and told me he went to work. I'd had no idea he had to work tonight. I hated that I felt annoyed by that. Not wanting to worry Olena with our troubles, I left and made my way to his work instead. If I showed up there, he would have to face me. It wasn't exactly the way I wanted things to go down, but Dimitri didn't leave me much of a choice.

When I walked inside the restaurant, I pushed through the line in front of me. The hostess called after me, telling me I should wait my turn, but I ignored her and walked straight over to the bar where Dimitri was standing. He was talking with a blond-haired woman. They were really engrossed in their conversation because neither of them reacted until I cleared my throat loudly and exclaimed, "Hey Dimitri, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Dimitri looked at me in surprise. "Rose, what are you doing here?" Glancing around, he added, "I'm at work."

"Obviously." I felt his colleague staring at me so I glared back at her. She looked indignant, as if I'd ruined some private little moment. "I didn't come all this way to be send away, though." I made it sound like it took up a lot of time to get here while it was barely a five minute drive to my house from here. When Dimitri didn't look like he was going to move from his spot behind the bar, I added, "It's rather important."

"It's okay," the woman said. "You can take your break now."

"Thanks, Galina," he responded, to which she gave him a sweet smile.

I wasn't the kind to get jealous, but the way she was looking at my boyfriend right now… I was so angry by now I might slap her. She looked like she was in her late twenties so she didn't even have any business looking at Dimitri like that. That was just gross. I refrained from saying something about it as we stepped outside the restaurant. I kind of felt sorry for Dimitri because it was freakishly cold outside and he was only wearing a shirt. It didn't seem to bother him, though.

"So," I said, crossing my arms, "thanks for returning my call."

He looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"I'm not even surprised anymore," I muttered, more to myself than him.

"Why are you here, Rose?" he asked. "You can't just come here while I'm at work…"

"Well, my options to see you are limited these days!" I snapped. Damn. I hadn't wanted to get angry at him. But apparently I was more pissed than I'd thought.

Dimitri looked taken aback. "Roza, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," I exclaimed, ignoring the fact that he'd called me Roza. It just seemed like such a long time ago since I'd heard the endearment coming from his lips. "Guess who I ran into today?"

He looked confused. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't know. You would have known if you'd picked up your damn phone." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "Well, it was your father."

His eyes widened in shock. "M-my father? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I didn't know it was him, but Lissa recognized him," I answered.

Dimitri's face hardened. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing much. I bumped into him, but I have a feeling that it wasn't an accident," I told him. "I thought you should know."

He nodded. "Thanks for telling me."

He started to turn away, back to the restaurant.

"Hey! Is that all you have to say?" I exclaimed, furious.

He turned back to me. "I've got to go back inside now, Rose. We'll talk more tomorrow. I have the day off."

"Will we?" I asked. "Because you haven't been very talkative these days."

"Of course we'll talk, Roza." He glanced to the restaurant, then back at me. He looked torn. "Look, I wish we could talk right now, but I can't… Galina is alone behind the bar and-"

"Yeah, of course, she's more important than your girlfriend. My bad."

As soon as the words slipped out of my mouth, I wanted to curse myself for being so jealous and petty. Instead, I bit the inside of my cheek and tried not to cry. I must've looked pathetic anyhow because Dimitri took a step back towards me and kissed my forehead quickly.

"I promise we'll talk tomorrow, Roza."

I let out a sigh as I watched him retreat back to the restaurant. When he'd disappeared inside, I turned around and walked back to my car, wondering why I was still trying.

There you go. I hope you liked it even though Rose and Dimitri are going through a rough patch right now (don't hate me, lol). Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts on this chapter! Have a nice day/evening! :)