Rose

Rose paused with her hand on the doorknob briefly.

She rested her head against the cool door.

"Dimitri?" she asked as if she couldn't believe he was really there.

I can't believe he's here.

"Rose, open the door," Dimitri said calmly.

She didn't know why she was so hesitant about opening the door. Was it fear of Adrian? Fear of everything that might happen if she opened the door? Just fear itself?

She wanted to, more than anything. The sound of Adrian's voice in her head made her squeeze the door's knob a bit tighter, wanting nothing more than to throw it open. She worried that if she squeezed the knob any tighter it might come off in her hand and then she wouldn't have to worry about whether or not it was a good idea to open the door for Dimitri.

She flinched, reliving the hits she'd taken from Adrian and the pain he'd inflicted on her; she imagined the hits he'd give her if he found out she'd opened the door, to Dimitri of all people.

"I need to see that you're alright," he added a moment later when she still didn't say anything.

Simultaneously her heart squeezed, her stomach dropped, and her head started to throb. She was more surprised by her reaction to Dimitri's being here than by his words. For some reason she was use to the distant, sometimes isolating way Dimitri treated everyone. The only person he used his kinder voice on was his patients.

I must have really sunk low for him to treat me like a patient, she thought dryly wishing she had the energy to laugh outright.

Or maybe I'm really that special to him, she couldn't help thinking. She remembered the night at the pier when he'd been open and honest with her…and she'd turned him down…for Adrian. She wished more than anything that she could take that night back.

It was the first real night Dimitri had given Rose any sign that he had feelings, and more than that, feelings for her and she'd turned him away.

She had no reason to turn him away.

He told her he cared for her, he wanted to protect her, and most notably, he was nothing like Adrian.

He was just…Dimitri…and that was what mattered most.

Now here was her chance to let him in, literally and figuratively, and she was hesitating…

"I'm not leaving here until you open the door."

He sounded like he meant it.

She exhaled slowly.

I shouldn't be afraid of him, I shouldn't be afraid of him.

She unlocked the door.

Opening the door, seeing with her own eyes that it really was the tall, long haired, brown eyed, man with a slightly Russian accent that she'd wanted very much for a long time now, she was relieved.

She could feel her body relax a bit, some of the tension and anxiety disappearing.

Dimitri's eyes darkened a bit and his jaw clenched tightly.

Rose, for a moment, forgot about the dark circles around her eyes, the paleness of her skin and the light redness of her face from crying.

"Hi." It was all she could seem to manage although it seemed so out of the ordinary and unnecessary. Her voice didn't sound like her own, spoken aloud, willingly, for the first time in a long time. She leaned against the edge of the door looking Dimitri over. He looked relatively great compared to her.

She could smell the faintest hint of alcohol rolling off of him though. It wasn't important now.

All that matters is that he's here.

Dimitri, after looking her over a few times running his eyes over her body and at a loss for words, stepped forward, gently reaching out to hold onto her arms.

He waited, as if to see how she would react, before moving a bit closer. He moved a bit of hair out of her face running his long hands on either side of her face. Rose remembered appreciating how soft and cool Dimitri's doctor's hands were. She was grateful for how soft and warm they were now.

She couldn't wait any longer.

She leaped into his arms crashing into his chest so hard she could feel the buttons of his button down shirt pressed into her chest. His long arms wrapped almost as tightly around her slender frame as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I can't believe you're here," she said her words muffled into the shoulder of his shirt. He held her at a distance to get a good look at her. He caressed the side of her face with the most recent of bruises. She spent a lot of her days imagining, daydreaming about being rescued by Dimitri and flinching under his touch but it didn't happen.

She relished in it.

"I can't believe this happened."

"You and me both," she said softly.

He placed his hands on either side of her face again muttering a promise that he'd never take moments like this for granted anymore. He'd use every opportunity and chance he had just to hold Rose.

"I'm not letting you go anytime soon. I hope you know that," he said after kissing the top of her head.

She laughed against his chest looking up at him. "You mean the next time I profess my growing love to you, you're not just going to sleep with me and then leave a few moments later?" she giggled.

"I think our nights together were longer than a few moments," he joked dryly. "But really, Rose," he said more seriously now. "I'm done pretending that it's okay that we're not together."

Briefly Rose worried that this was more of the alcohol talking than Dimitri but, remembering the night on the pier and the fact that he was here, assured her fears.

Without waiting for her to response, he wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her off of the ground a bit to kiss her. He didn't seem to be worried, anymore about being gentle with her but Rose figured that it was the alcohol affecting his usual doctor gentleness. It felt like eternity when they pulled apart and Rose could almost swear the world was tilting a bit.

She flinched, when he set her down, from not being wrapped in his embrace any longer, away from his warmth, and because her entire body was sore from the more recent hits she'd taken from Adrian.

Dimitri noticed her pained expression and his face turned apologetic.

"I'm sorr-" he started to say, when Rose stopped him with a quick kiss on the lips.

"Don't ever apologizing for holding me like that ever again," she told him firmly. "In fact, next time I push you away after kissing me like you did at the pier, push me over the railing," she joked dryly.

She wanted and wished for nothing more than to savor this newfound relationship, in every touch and kiss and embrace but now wasn't the perfect moment.

"Where is he?" Dimitri asked barging into the condo.

Rose had only ever seen Dimitri angry a few times before. Those times paled in comparison to how angry he looked now.

"H-he's not here."

Dimitri searched, pushing each door open until he seemed sure that Adrian wasn't there.

After his quicker search he walked toward Rose, holding her arms gently and staring down at her as if contemplating something. He seemed unsure of what to do, if it was best to just take Rose and leave or to wait for Adrian to come home.

Rose didn't give things a second thought.

"Let's just go, Dimitri," she pleaded.

It seemed so easy now, saying that she would leave this nightmare and never come back. It only seems easy because Dimitri is here, she thought.

His jaw clenched. She could imagine how tempting it was, to wait and let Adrian come home and find the much taller Dimitri in the living room. She was tempted to let it happen but her fear of things getting more out of hand than they already were, her eagerness to go away with Dimitri, won over her temptation.

"Please, for me. I need to get out of here." She knew that would work on him.

It had worked once before in Rose's life.

Rose stood at the front of the crowd of mourners. She felt guilty for not crying but she couldn't help not crying. She'd cried a lot the past week and now she just wanted to forget.

She looked at all of the people around her. The adults and even most of the kids, some of them her classmates, others were distant relatives and kids she played with in the old neighborhood, were much taller than her, crying.

She was going to miss them. She almost wished she didn't have to move away to a new house, to Lissa's house but she knew for sure she didn't want to go back to her own house. Thinking of Lissa, she turned toward her cousin who stood next to her crying, holding her hand firmly.

"Lissa, let's go."

Lissa looked away from the coffin being lowered a few feet in front of them toward Rose surprised. "What?" She whispered, her voice squeaking.

"I don't want to be here any more," Rose whispered looking around to make sure no one heard her.

Lissa's surprised and uncertain face softened to one of sympathy. She still hesitated a moment glancing back at her mom who was standing behind the girls holding her husband, Eric's, hand both of them staring blankly at the coffin that was closer to being in the ground now.

"Please, Lissa. For me. I need to get out of here," Rose begged.

A moment later the girls managed to walk slowly away from the crowd of mourners going unnoticed until they started running across the green, dewy grass of the cemetery away from the mourners, Rose's Aunt Rhea calling after them.

Remembering where she was and forgetting about the past for a moment, Rose focused on Dimitri again.

His muscles unclenched and he relaxed a bit. He nodded slightly, reluctantly.

She grabbed her biggest bag, pulled on a pair of jeans and sandals.

"Adrian's going to be pissed when he sees I'm not here," she mumbled to her self.

Dimitri, hearing her, stepped toward her, holding her in a hug and said, "Don't worry about him anymore. I'll take care of everything."

A/N: The loving response always amazes me! I'm glad some of you enjoyed the flashback. It was necessary to fill in a few important plots of the story but no more really long false-hope chapters that turn out to be flashbacks (I couldn't help adding one little flashback in this chapter though. Like I said, each flashback reveals more of the story). Hope you liked the chapter! (By the way, I read a review that gave a bit of a comment about my rambling sentences. I appreciate the (taken) advice and I'll try to fix it in the rest of this story's chapters! :D)