Dimitri

Rose hadn't once let go of him.

On the ride to the clinic she hung onto his arm while he drove. The buzz he'd had from the alcohol made his blood boil even thinking about Adrian but he thought he'd be just as angry if he were completely sober.

He wished he hadn't drunk so much.

Everything he felt when he held Rose for the first time back at the condo was numbed a bit by the alcohol.

But if I hadn't of gone drinking, I probably wouldn't have found Rose, he thought.

Fate had a funny way of messing with him.

He wished he were completely sober that he could genuinely feel the softness of her skin, smell the shampoo in her hair, strawberry she always used. He knew for certain that Adrian didn't appreciate Rose's smaller barely noticeably traits. He felt angrier, thinking about Adrian, than affectionate now but he focused on Rose to keep himself calm.

Rose looked over her shoulder as they walked into the clinic.

"Are you okay?" he asked unlocking the door.

"Just got that feeling that someone was following us," she whispered.

Dimitri glanced back but reassured her fears when he saw no one was there.

He unlocked the door to his office and settled Rose on the examining table that Dimitri had occasionally used as a bed when he stayed late in the back of his office.

It was weird having someone he knew on the examining table.

"You have some pretty bad bruises but they should heal normally without leaving any lasting marks," he observed examining her arms and legs. "I'm afraid I can't say much about the mental scars."

"Nothing I haven't had to handle before," she laughed without any humor. Dimitri didn't ask her to elaborate. Now that he'd taken her away from Adrian, the only thing he wanted her to do was to try to forget for a while about any lasting marks she might have.

"Me either," he told her.

They shared a knowing look of complicated past but now was the time to let go, just for while. She smiled gently, content that she had someone to relate to. Ironically enough it was the one person who, for so long, pushed and pulled away from her and vice versa. They were together now though and that was all that mattered. It was funny. He'd met Rose almost half a year ago and now he couldn't imagine life without her.

"Are you up for an examination now? It's nothing you haven't seen me do to hundreds of other people before," he added in case she wasn't too eager to have another man's hands roaming over her body so soon.

Mentioning other patients, Dimitri remembered Rose's first day working with him and the young girl that he had patched up while Rose talked to her, trying to help.

"I used to fall a lot too."

The girl seemed intrigued.

"Really?"

Rose nodded.

"At school and at home. It usually happened when someone pushed me though."

"I was so embarrassed and hurt that I'd tell people I fell and I'd keep it to myself because I thought it was my fault that people didn't like me and wanted to hurt me."

Dimitri wondered if all of this had happened before. He was piecing things together a bit slowly tonight. He remembered the night of the pier too.

"I don't see how parents can hit their kids."

"They think it's a form of discipline."

"That's a lie they tell to make themselves feel better, to make it seem like they're doing nothing wrong."

Dimitri glanced over at her most likely wondering when and why the mood had shifted so quickly. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"I just understand, is all," she said simply.

She stared, spacing out at the floor of his office before answering. "It's better to do this sooner than later, isn't it?"

Dimitri nodded.

"You're…you have to document this?" She asked, dread clear I her voice.

Dimitri froze.

He'd been so intent on taking care of Adrian, and eventually Tasha, himself that he didn't give the legal system even a fleeting thought.

"Technically yes," he answered hesitantly. "It's better if I do. It'll make it easier to report this to the police if I document it."

"Why didn't you just take me to the police after we'd left the condo?"

Honest answer: he wanted Rose to himself, just for a few moments before police swarmed her with questions and took her away from him for who knows how long. Rose seemed to be able to read his expression enough that she understood. She smiled slightly and then sighed again.

Rose turned away from him, running her hands through her hair. She was anxious, Dimitri could tell, and he couldn't blame her.

He pulled a stool out and grabbed the formal paper work necessary. He didn't want to do this anymore than she did. He was curious though. He needed to know what happened.

"When did it start?" He thought it best to just get straight into things.

Rose sighed; messing with her hair on her head before telling the story of the first time Adrian hit her. And the more she went into the story the more Dimitri's muscled clenched, his blood boiled, his heart raced, the more he began wondering how all of this could've happened, if this could've been avoided, and if his good record as a doctor would help his first degree murder charge once he found the appropriate way to kill Adrian.

Rose went on, telling Dimitri everything, how often he hit her, how close it came to Adrian taking advantage of her until the story reached to where they were now.

"He left early this morning, as usual. I'm a little surprised you were able to get into the building."

"Why?"

"Because he usually has Stan outside. He's his sort of bodyguard, evil partner in crime," she explained. "He keeps an eye on me when Adrian's not there," she shuddered. "I guess we were just lucky," she mused.

Dimitri knew better than that. He didn't believe in luck because there was no such thing.

He decided to keep that much to himself though. For now anyway.

"It's over now, Rose," he promised. He reached forward, tilting her face up. She grabbed a hold of his wrist smiling slightly.

"Now for the more basic questions…" Dimitri glanced at the blank spaces on the formal paper work that asked for background history.

"Do we have to do that now? I think I've had enough story telling. Just for a little while."

Dimitri agreed, understanding. "It can wait 'til later."

He moved the stool away and set the paper work in his bag.

"Now for the examination," he announced standing.

Dimitri went to wash his hands. A light buzz of alcohol running through his system or not, Dimitri was a thorough and damn good doctor.

"Are you up for giving me an examination?" Rose asked as he dried his hands.

"What do you mean?"

" I mean…I tasted alcohol on your breath earlier. Not to mention you seem so angry that you're shaking," she noticed Dimitri's trembling form. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'm fine. I just shouldn't have drunk so much when I went out with Ivan."

Thinking of Ivan Dimitri remembered that he should probably call Ivan and Lissa to assure them that Rose was okay.

Lissa yelled so loudly through the phone when Dimitri gave Rose his phone to call that he thought it was on speaker.

"So glad you're okay! Where are you? We have to talk soon and Mia is freaking out and Ivan and his brother are threatening to go after Adrian with a bat and-" Lissa talk non-stop for a few minutes before Rose was able to cut in, telling her cousin that everything was alright and to tell the others that she was fine and safe with Dimitri for now.

"I think you should check my hearing. I think she blew my eardrum," Rose joked tapping her ear once she'd hung up.

"She just cares about you. They all do," Dimitri said chuckling.

"Lay back," he instructed her.

He was in full overprotective doctor mode now.

"Aren't you even going to take me out to dinner first?" Rose joked laying back. He was happy to see she was still a bit of her old self and Adrian hadn't done too much damage.

"I think we're past that," he returned.

He felt the vibrations of her laugh as he ran his hand along her skin to see how she'd react. He felt a bit guilty about not being gentle before and was sort of making up for it now.

"Does it hurt when I press down here?"

She shook her head slowly. He could see that everything was starting to really affect her now. Her eyes were soft and calm; she looked relaxed. He'd nearly forgotten how beautiful she truly was.

Dimitri realized, It's different, talking to her on the phone, only hearing her voice but not seeing her, having her small warm body in front of me or at least near me.

He moved his hands over and across her stomach. She only flinched once.

He noted that in the formal paper work before turning back to Rose.

"I'm going to need to see where it hurts," he told her.

"Always so eager to see me with my clothes off," she smiled sitting up.

Dimitri would've laughed but at that moment he realized that they were completely alone, there was no reason for them to be apart anymore.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she laughed nervously.

Dimitri shook his head trying to clear his thoughts… and to shake the wanting feeling building up inside him. "No reason."

"I want you too, you know," Rose stated confidently, reading Dimitri's mind.

Her directness is what's always attracted me to her in the first place, he laughed inwardly.

"I don't think now is the right time. I think you need to heal a little more. We have all the time in the world. We just have to be patient…and wait a while," he added, swallowing the dryness in his throat.

The ironic part was that as he was saying all of this, his hands hand found their way on either side of Rose's fully curved form, resting at her waist.

Rose smiled, rolling her eyes playfully, wrapping her arms familiarly around Dimitri's neck.

"We've waited long enough. I'm tired of waiting," she whispered reeling in Dimitri toward her. Her happy expression sobered into a more serious one. She exhaled brushing her lips over Dimitri's.

He really didn't think now was the right time for this to happen but he didn't care right now.

All he cared about was now was the softness of Rose's skin, how her body fit perfectly against his own, and she now how and where to touch him to get a reaction out of him. She trembled slightly but when Dimitri focused his eyes directly into her own, she relaxed, coming to the say realization that he did: for now, right now, it was only the two of them, no one else.

I promised that I wasn't going to waste any more time with Rose…and this is it…

A perfect moment.

"No more waiting."

A/N: I don't know if it was too soon for something like this to happen yet but here it is (All apart of the plot)! Hope the chapter was to your liking. Belated warning: I made Dimitri a bit of a softy in this chapter. I'll try and make up for it later. XD