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CHAPTER 38

RPOV

The next day, I waited anxiously by the phone for Dimitri's call. He'd said we'd talk today, but it was already midday and I still hadn't heard from him. Maybe he'd gotten home late and was still asleep. Maybe I was being pathetic again. Maybe I should go do something useful instead. No, you're not going to let him get away again so easily, a voice inside my head said. You're going to go over to his place and demand a decent conversation!

So that's what I did. I went over to his house and rang the doorbell, impatiently. After what seemed like forever, he finally opened the door.

"I'm here to have that talk now," I told him.

He nodded solemnly and stepped aside so I could come inside. It was very quiet inside the house and the deafening silence between us was only making me feel uncomfortable.

"Are you home alone?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mama and Vika are visiting Karolina," he responded.

I looked at him in surprise. "And you didn't want to go with them?"

"No. I wanted to see you," he answered, giving me a smile, although he kind of looked sad. "Cause we really do need to talk, Rose."

I was pleased to hear that. When neither of us moved, I said awkwardly, "Well, I'm here now. So let's talk."

Dimitri took my hand in his and led me to the living room. Seeing as we were alone, we might as well sit out here. He offered me something to drink, but I declined. I wasn't feeling thirsty. I just wanted to talk. But first I wanted to apologize.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about last night," I started, scooting closer to him on the couch. "You were right. I shouldn't have come to your work and I probably shouldn't have gotten mad at you, but to be honest…" I hesitated. "I was kind of getting desperate. I feel like you've been avoiding me and I don't know why… Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Roza, you didn't do anything wrong." He sighed. "It's me. I'm…" He looked down and took a deep breath before looking back up at me. "I have been avoiding you."

Even though I'd already known, I had to admit that hurt a little. I would've felt a lot better if he'd tried to deny it. I think.

My voice cracked a little as I asked, "Why?"

"You know why," he muttered.

"Because of your father?" I said, incredulous. "That's just stupid."

"Is it?" he retorted, his head snapping back up. "He's been following you around, Rose. He's been watching you. He even managed to talk to you yesterday, without you realizing who he was." I was about to respond, but he cut me off, "And I know, that's my fault. I should've been there for you."

"Nothing happened," I exclaimed.

"Something will happen if we're not careful," he said, his voice firm.

I looked at him angrily. "So you're just going to continue avoiding me until he leaves town? As if that's going to help matters!" When no response came from him, I added, my voice softer, "I thought we were in this together."

Dimitri looked away. "Rose…" His voice was barely above a whisper now. "As much as I want to protect you… I can't. I just can't be there for you all the time."

"I know that, and that's not what I want from you," I told him. "I just want you to talk to me. I just want you to be my boyfriend again."

He looked at me, hopeless. "I don't think I can. This is the only way I can protect you. If my father thinks I don't care enough about you he'll leave you alone."

"I don't understand. I've been nothing but supportive." A tear rolled down my cheek. "I don't deserve to be treated like this, Dimitri."

He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. "I know you don't deserve this, Roza." His voice broke. "I know. But…" He looked up at me, torn. "I have to let you go."

I let out a small gasp. "You're breaking up with me?"

There was a desperate look in his eyes. But then, suddenly, his face hardened with determination. "If that's what it takes for you to be safe… Then yes, I'm breaking up with you."

That's when I started crying.

"I'm sorry," he said.

But his voice was so distant and cold that it only made me cry harder. I hated myself for reacting like this, but I also never expected this outcome. I was shocked and hurt. But more than anything, I felt betrayed. When I managed to pull myself together, I looked back up at Dimitri.

"You're a coward, Dimitri," I said, pleased that my voice was calm and collected. He looked hurt at hearing my words. Good. I hope it hurts as much as you've hurt me.

Without another word, I shrugged on my coat and walked out, slamming the front door shut. Now that I was alone, I let my tears flow freely. I don't think I'd ever felt this hurt before in my life. Probably because I'd never loved someone so much as I loved Dimitri. And I hadn't just lost my boyfriend today; I'd lost my best friend as well.

DPOV

Letting go of Rose was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life. In the days that followed I wondered if I had made a mistake because my father still hadn't shown up. But deep down, I knew that I'd been right to break up with Rose. He'd already talked to her once – without her even realizing. If he found out I'd stopped seeing Rose, he would lose interest in her.

But ending my relationship with Rose had made things terribly awkward at school. I still saw her during History, and as if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, Christian still wanted me to sit with him and his friends during lunch. So that meant I was also sitting with Rose during lunch. Everyone knew about our breakup and there was a lot of tension in the air during lunchtime. Christian, however, tried to lighten the mood for everyone. It wasn't always a success, though. While Rose talked to her friends, she never spoke to me during lunch. She didn't even look at me. I felt terribly guilty for breaking her heart – and mine as well. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that this was the only way to keep her safe.

As if the breakup wasn't bad enough, Mama and Viktoria were upset with me that I'd broken things off with Rose. Well, Mama was upset. Viktoria was pissed. She called me a coward as well, though I had to admit that when Rose had said it, it hurt ten times more. I guess they were right.

Not having Rose in my life was affecting me more than I wanted to admit. I tried to act like I was fine, but in truth, I really wasn't. I was kind of falling apart without her. While avoiding her had been difficult, this was a hundred times worse. My heart ached for her. Sometimes, when I saw her in the hallway at school, I wished I could turn back time, but then I reminded myself that I'd done what was best for Rose. And now I had to live with that decision.

"Earth to Dimitri." I blinked when someone snapped their fingers in front of me. It was Galina. "Finally. You've been really distracted lately."

"I'm sorry," I said automatically, taking a step back when I noticed how close she was standing before me. I didn't like it. I also didn't like that I apparently was no longer a waiter but had become a bartender – especially these last couple of weeks. I didn't understand why, but I suspected Galina had something to do with that. I guess when you're the boss's daughter you can get pretty much anything done.

I wouldn't have minded it so much, considering the people didn't really like me anyway, but Galina always demanded my attention. It was getting so annoying that I'd rather have her ignore me like the rest of my colleagues.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, sounding a little bit irritated. "Aside from the absentmindedness, you've been so moody these past few days. Did you and your girlfriend break up or something?"

The look on my face told her enough, though she didn't look particularly sad for me. When I didn't respond, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Come on, Dimitri. No need to be upset. You'll find someone new – someone better – soon enough. Besides, she didn't seem all that nice. Remember when she stormed in here, demanding to talk to you? The nerve!"

I shrugged off her hand and clenched my jaw, trying my best not to respond to her jabs at Rose.

"Take it from me, Dimitri. You deserve better than that."

"I have to disagree," I answered with forced calmness.

Galina looked at me in confusion.

"If anyone deserves better then it's Rose," I elaborated. "She's the kindest and most generous girl I've ever met."

Now it was Galina who took a step back. Her voice turned cold as she said, "Well, if she's so perfect, then why did you guys break up in the first place?"

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't give her an honest answer so, wisely, I kept my mouth shut. I'd already said more than I should have.

I was relieved when my shift was finally over. When I walked outside, it was snowing. It was colder tonight than they'd predicted. The weather kind of matched my gloomy mood. I'd left my duster in the car so I hurried over. When I got inside, I pulled it on and turned on the heat.

Suddenly the door from the passenger seat opened and someone climbed in beside me. I was too caught off guard to react, but when I saw his face I shouldn't have been surprised. Actually, I'd been wondering about his whereabouts. It sure had taken him long to show up again.

"Get out of my car," I growled.

My father arched an eyebrow. "Your car? I can't remember you paid for it."

"That's not the point!" I snapped. "Get out!"

"Take it easy, son," he said jovially. "I'm just here to resume our talk."

I looked away from him. "We're done talking."

He grinned at me. "We've only just started. Now, let's take this car out for a spin. We don't want to attract too much attention."

"Why? You don't want anyone to know that you're back?" But I started the car anyway. As we drove out onto the street, I said, "If so, you're not doing a very good job at that. Maybe you shouldn't wander around in town so much."

"Oh, I see what this is about." His grin widened. "Your girlfriend told you she saw me? I didn't think you'd give her my description."

I hadn't, but I wasn't going to inform him that Lissa Dragomir had recognized him.

"She's a sweet girl," he commented, his voice slow. "Very sweet."

"Don't talk about Rose," I exclaimed, gripping the steering wheel hard.

"Did I hit a nerve?"

I glared at him. He was enjoying this way too much.

"No," I said, trying to keep my voice calm and steady. "I just don't want to talk about her."

"Why not?"

"Because she's not my girlfriend anymore," I responded.

My father looked surprised at that, but he recovered quickly. "Oh, really? How come?"

I shrugged. "I guess I've grown tired of her."

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, gauging his reaction. He was quiet at first, but then he started laughing loudly.

"Oh, Dimitri! You've always been a terrible liar!" he said after a few moments, still chuckling. "That's why you ended up in juvie."

"No, I ended up in juvie because of you and your lies," I spat, angry now. "You made it seem like I was the bad guy."

"Are you going to deny that you assaulted me?" He started laughing again. "What a joke."

Abruptly, I stopped the car and he shot forward in his seat. It startled him into silence for a moment. When he finally looked up at me, he gave me that cold smile of his.

"Did you honestly think you could convince me that you don't care about Rose?" he asked. "I already knew about the breakup before you told me." He scoffed. "You probably thought that if you'd break up with that poor girl I'd leave her alone."

I refused to look at him. I didn't want him to see that he was getting under my skin, that I was having a hard time to control my anger.

"Well, Dimitri, I think you've accomplished the opposite. In breaking up with her, you just showed me how much you really care about the girl."

I started to feel panicked. How had he known? Had he been watching me the whole time without me realizing it? How was this even possible? But the most prominent thought was, Did I break up with Rose for nothing? Had I really put her in more danger by breaking up with her? Had I given my father more reason to hurt her? I'd honestly never felt this stupid before in my life.

"Don't you dare hurt her." I couldn't keep the desperation out of my voice. "I don't care what you do with me, but leave her alone. She's done nothing to you."

"She made you happy," he retorted, his voice cold. "You don't deserve happiness. So I'm going to take that happiness away from you."

"I'm fucking miserable!" I exclaimed angrily. "If you've been watching me all this time, you should know that. You've already taken away my happiness."

His eyes glinted with resentment. "It's not enough. You took everything from me so I'm going to do the same to you."

"You wouldn't dare," I hissed. "You're going to get caught. If you hurt her, you'll go to prison."

"Unlike you, Dimitri, I'm a pretty good liar," he answered. "I can do whatever I want." He started to get out of the car. "Give my regards to your mother and sisters. I'll see you soon."

Quickly, he disappeared into the night. I started screaming and cursing whilst slamming my fists against the dashboard. My breathing was ragged when I finally managed to control myself again – and I wouldn't be surprised if my hands were bruised again tomorrow morning. But on the inside I was still raging. I realized I should be more careful because one of these days I was sure that I'd lose my temper around my father if he kept doing this to me, which would only result in me being sent back to juvie – or worse, prison.

And how was I going to protect those I loved, then?

Please don't kill me! :P I know this was a horrible chapter for our favorite couple, but it keeps things interesting, doesn't it? Even though it sucks that they broke up, I hope that you liked the chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! :)

P.S. I've begun my new internship this week and it's super busy. Aside from that, I'll soon have exams and all kinds of stupid assignments. So please don't be mad if I can't update every week. In a month, things will settle down again and I'll be able to update frequently, mabye twice a week, because then I'll have summer vacation. I'll do my best, however, to update every weekend.