Heyyyy guys! Just as promised, here I am with the extra update.

HonestPassion13, they will have some more time and things get better and brighter this chapter. And oh, there's that llama thing happening ;)

Dear Guest, I am trying to keep my updating consistent, even though I don't succeed all the time. But you guys are patient with me. And I am staying safe, as much as I possibly can. But I think I might go insane someday, sitting imside for so long. But don't mind that, I have my writing. Now tell me, please, what made you think Rose is pregnant? Is there something that I have written that made you think that? I'm really curious

Dear other Guest, that is really a funny thing. It's fun to think of your cat acting like a squirrel. Does it collect nuts and all too? Or are there other things replacing the nuts?

GojGoj, there is no offence taken. I have always thought of feedback to be the best way of improving myself and my writing and that's why I like this site so much and all the reviews I get. I have just felt the need to write these moments between them, in these two chapters, because I mostly wanted the occasion to bring up Dimitri's past, and by some other things happening, to make their bond stronger, and well, it has gotten a little longer than I intended and it may have seemed like I was dragging it out, but I believe that thibgs are getting comoensating and all in all, I'm okay with it. But don't worry, the action will be right back in the next chapter

Tika86, I hope I updated just in time for you to read this chapter after work. I don't know about you, but for me now it is past midnight, so... Anyway. Things are getting a little more fun and playful in this chapter.

If you'd like, I'm dropping here the song I was thinking of as I was writing the last scene in the kitchen :) Paul Anka - Put your head on my shoulder

Enjoy, and until Sunday I hope, lots of love!


...his head is on my shoulder

DPOV

Later on, we sit down on the carpet in the living room, our back rested against the sofa. The drapes are pulled aside so we're both sitting into the full light of the day and we drink hot chocolate, sharing chocolate chips cookies, that, to my utter happiness, she asked for.

Her head on my shoulder, she lifts it at one point, and looking at me with those eyes again, she gets playing with my hair, passing her fingers through it. I guess she enjoys doing this as much as I enjoy doing it with hers.

She smiles at me.

"What?"

"Thank you, comrade."

"You don't have to thank me for anything."

"Oh, but I do." she comes closer and kisses my cheek. "I do. I know I do. For everything."

Reaching for the last cookie, I hand it to her.

"You're sure you don't want it?"

"Nah, too much sugar for me for today."

"Oh, sure, I forgot. You care about that stuff."

I do. And on a usual day, I wouldn't have let her eat so many sweets, I care too much about her health, but it's a different situation now. Whatever it is, sweet or not, at least she's eating. And I am glad it is happening.

Taking the last sip from her mug, she smiles at me once more.

"Your mother was right when she came up with the hot chocolate thing. It does make things better."

Putting the mug aside, she takes my hand in hers.

"But do you know what else makes everything better?"

"What?"

"You." she lays her head on my shoulder and her fingers play with mine. "With you next to me, I know that everything will be fine. Thank you. For everything. You make everything right in my world. Always. And I am very thankful for having you. You… either you want to admit it or not, you are my guardian angel, in some way, Dimitri. You have taken so much care of me and not even these days, and oh, I was such a pain in the ass," she says laughing lightly. "How did you even stand me?"

"Come on. You are not that bad."

"Oh, really? Not that bad? Have you ever met me? I'm loud, and I'm annoying, and I'm acting crazy almost all the time, and I have been crying half of the time we've been together, and I've pushed all your buttons, and… fuck, I'm… I'm like a brat."

"So?"

Getting a little away from me, she watches me with her hands on her hips.

"Are you the same man who has been around me for the past couple of weeks, or what did you do with that Dimitri?"

"It's still me."

"So?"

"I love you just the way you are. Loud, and jolly, and laughing, and annoying, and sad, and crying, and a smartypants, and all the things in between. You're my brat. You're my girl."

Biting her lip, her eyes fill with tears. "You're sweet, Dimitri." coming and sitting on my lap, she rests her forehead on mine. "So, so sweet."

Walking my palms up her thighs, I get a hold of her hips, and moving my legs under her, I pull her closer to me, her body rested against mine.

"I'm not that sweet."

She giggles. "Don't you worry. I told you I'll keep your secret. Your bad-boyishness is safe with me."

I laugh and nuzzle her hair a little.

We sit embraced some more in silence, the only sounds I hear being her little sighs and the way she breathes, steadily and deeply, the little puffs of air tickling my neck each time she exhales.

"It's so peaceful here. I don't think I am used to it anymore. After so many days of chaos… I don't know… It feels weird to be this still, this silent."

"Well, you will have to get used to it again because this is how things are going to be from now on. Quiet. Peaceful. Safe. I will make sure of it."

"I know you will."


Spending the rest of the day on the same carpet in the living room, lying on our backs and holding hands while watching the ceiling-

Well, she was mostly watching the ceiling, trying to find any little weird pattern in the cracks and bumps in the plaster. I was busy with getting a muscle pain in my eyes from how I was sneakily trying to watch her with the corner of my eye, but it was all worth it. I caught a couple of smiles blooming on her lips when she finally found any pattern, just before her hand would squeeze on mine excited and she'd show it to me.

Anyway. Now that the night has come, it's time for us to be lazy in bed.

I must say that I have come to enjoy these periods of stillness, of peace that we have. I haven't had any in a while and it feels good to just… be. With her.

But for whatever reason, Rose keeps on turning around in bed, fidgeting, sighing, pulling onto the blanket and getting it tightly around her body, moving her hair from one side to another, then to the other side, pushing the blanket away and lying still for just a second, sighing some more, putting her head under the pillow, growling a little, moving her head back over the pillow, sighing again and again, her breathing getting heavier.

What's wrong?

I was on my way to ask her that, but this time, as she turns again to face me, she stops mid-sigh when she sees I am awake too.

RPOV

Of course I woke him up. Not even a dead person would have been indifferent to my moving and the sounds I've made.

"Sorry, comrade."

"Don't worry. Is it another bad dream keeping you awake?" I shake my head. Not tonight. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I just can't sleep, that's all. Don't worry too much."

"Why is that? What happened?"

"You'll laugh if I tell you."

"You know I won't." he never does.

"It's a storm outside." it just started minutes ago.

"Okay. What about it?"

"I am a little afraid of big storms like these. Those sounds, they make it seem like there will be something bad going to happen. Like the world would be ending sometime soon."

Smiling warmly, he pulls me closer to him and holds me in his embrace.

"If there would be something to happen, I will be here to protect you."

I laugh a little. "You are just fueling my idiotic fear. You and I both know nothing could happen."

"Oh, but it would," he says, his voice grave.

"What?" hearing him so serious, a little panic creeps in my mind.

"The ceiling might get full of water and it might fall on us."

"We're not on the last floor."

"True that. But a bolt of lightning could hit something and it could catch on fire. The whole building might burn to ashes.."

"That pouring rain outside would definitely put it out before it even started."

"Again, true. Then, what are you afraid of?" oh, so this is where he was trying to get me in the first place.

"It's not that I'm afraid of something, to be honest. It's not nature I fear, even though sometimes the thunders sound really grotesque. It's more like…" I sigh. "It's more about what a storm like this reminds me of."

"Which is?" I sigh again, thinking if I can talk about this again, remember that night again. I've never talked about this. "Does it have something to do with Mason?"

How can he guess things like this so easily? I'm nothing but an open book in front of him. And I love it that he knows me so well. Hell, sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself.

I nod and his first response is to hold me a little tighter, like knowing I'll need it. He always does. And now, this gesture of his makes my eyes fill with tears. Will there ever be a time when I won't react like this when it comes to him?

"I see. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I understand, love."

"No, I just... "

In fact, I like talking to him about this. He somehow makes me be at peace with it. He helps me put my thoughts in order. He… he really understands. He's not saying it just for the sake of it, I feel it. I wonder how come he understands me so well, what happened.

"The night after his funeral… there was a storm. A horrible one. It was so loud and the rain was pouring and the wind was blowing so hard. I could hear the drops banging so hard against my window. And it was that… he was gone… my parents were back home dealing with something… and I… I couldn't bear to remain in town. It was a little too much for me. So I ran away. I made the stupid decision of going back to my apartment, far away from that place. So, later the night, I was by myself in my room. And the storm that started was just so bad. And I was feeling so alone…" I end with a little whine and I bury my face into his chest. "Sorry… I just…"

"Shh, it's alright. You won't be alone from now on."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise. Whether it is a storm, whether it is anything else."

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Don't you worry about that," he says before trying to suppress a yawn. "I'm glad you did, love."

"You know, your accent is always stronger at night." or it could be because he is tired as he's mostly awake, watching me, rather than sleeping? Of course it is.

He smiles. "I find it rather annoying."

"Why? Some girls find accents attractive." all those girls getting their knees weak when hearing a pretty boy having a British accent aren't enough proof to that?

"Do you?"

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it," I try to make it seem like I haven't spent countless minutes thinking about it and how good and sexy the words sound rolling out of his mouth.

I pretend I consider things for a second. "Tell me something."

"What?"

"I don't know. Whatever you want. I just want to assess if I find accents attractive. Tell me…" I smile. "Tell me you love me." I could never get tired of him saying these words.

And he tells me, full accent on, and he goes as far as to add some more Russian words.

I smile like an idiot. Like that, it sounded even more perfect, if that was possible, the sleepiness in his voice making everything sound a hundred times better.

"Yeah, it sounds nice. So nice," I say and can't contain the dreaminess from my voice. I'd listen to him all my life. "I love your accent."

"Good to know, love. I'll remember this," he sounds like he's going to use this little thing against me someday. "Now, to sleep with you." I frown a little. "I'll be here to hold you, so don't worry."

"Oh, Dimitri, you're a sweetheart." he chuckles a little. "What? You don't like it that I called you that? Shouldn't I-"

"No. It's fine, love. I think I like it."


DPOV

"I'm hungry."

"At this hour? In the middle of the night?"

"Mhm. Like really, really hungry. Watching that movie with a lot of food in it wasn't a great idea. And we didn't even get to finish it. Can you imagine how it would have been then? I think I'll go have a snack."

She wants to get out of bed, but I have to stop her.

"What?"

"We have a problem, love."

"Which is?"

"We have no food left."

"Oh, crap. Really?"

"I was planning to take you grocery shopping tomorrow." I was, in fact, looking for the opportunity to get her out of the house for once in a long time. "I didn't think you'd get hungry at this hour."

"I see. Comrade, are you tired? Sleepy? Like, right now?"

"To be honest, no." her face lights up with a smile at my answer. She has an idea. "What's passing through that beautiful mind of yours, huh?"

"We could… go grocery shopping now? Could we? I mean, it's night and it's empty outside and all… what do you say about that?"

"Go get dressed."

Her eyes get glowing with happiness. "Really? We're going?"

How can I say no when I see her like this? "Of course we're going."


"But I like this kind," she pouts when I shake my head no at her choice of cereal. "Corn Flakes are boring," she whines when she sees me taking a pack of those.

"Love, the ones you chose have like five spoons of sugar for a spoon of cereals."

"That's bullshit. That's not even possible."

"You know what I meant."

"Like, you exaggerated for the dramatic effect?"

"Yes."

"Nah, dramatic or not, I'm still taking these," she says taking the colorful box off the shelve, a daring smile playing on her lips.

"No, you're not."

"Watch me."

She brings the box of cereals over the cart, looking at me, teasing me, thinking if she should let it fall.

"Roza… I mean it." no, I don't. I just like playing this game.

Bending over the cart between us, I try to snatch the box from her, but squealing, she pulls it back and runs a little away from me.

"I'm taking them, comrade and there's nothing you can do about that," she says amused.

"Don't you rely on that," I threaten back.

"Oh, really? And what are you going to do about it?"

She keeps on playing with me, for her own sake, still keeping a safe distance from me. Because so help me God, if I'd be close enough to her, I'd pick her up and do her against these shelves. Stop it, you won't! But it's driving me mad when she gets this playful. I love it.

"See? You won't do anything," she says full of herself.

"We'll see about that, love. That box will never get inside this cart."

"Fine. It's fine with me."

She complies with my threat and carries the box through the entire store as we continue our groceries, holding it in her embrace, like it would be the most precious thing she owns at this moment.

And we spend the next half an hour with her asking "Can we get this too?" with that puppy eyes attitude, and me agreeing to everything she wants. If this makes her happy now, so be it. We will buy a bunch of unhealthy stuff.

At one point, she remembers she wants something and rushes to that rayon, saying that she'll be "Back in a jiff.", of course, still not letting go of the cereal box. She's a determined one, I'll give this to her.

But she doesn't come back in a jiff, so I get moving along the rayons, looking for her.

It takes us a few minutes to find each other. It seems that I was looking for her and she was doing the same, as I left my place.

I see her first through some empty shelves as she's passing the rayons close to the one I am on now, looking left and right, her eyes searching for me. I stop where I am and wait for her to finally reach this rayon.

When she gets at the end of the rows of shelves, her eyes land on me and she smiles widely and childishly and she starts hopping excited, heading my way, those cereals accompanying each hop of hers, making sounds each time she jumps up and down.

She is better now, at this very moment. I see it in her eyes. I'm not implying it all went away, I'm still expecting some little relapses, but at least she has a more positive view on this for now. We're taking it one day at a time. And this day was mostly good.

"Where did you disappear?" she scolds me when she gets close enough.

"Just went looking for you."

"Oh, comrade. I told you I'd come back quickly."

"But I've started missing you," I pretend to whine, which makes her laugh. "You said you'd come back fast and you didn't," I keep onto the same affected tone.

"Yeah," she lifts on her tippy toes to kiss my cheek. "Sorry 'bout that. It took me a little longer to find what I was looking for."

"What did you get?"

"These." she shows me two ice creams that she kept into the pocket of her hoodie until now.

I can't stifle my laugh. "Peaches, huh?"

She shrugs as she puts them in the cart. "I wanted to see what's the deal with it."

I hope one day she'll see what's the real deal with it. As I said, the homemade one doesn't compare to these. And after all, all I need to do is to take her to Russia. It shouldn't be that hard.

"Is there anything else you want?"

"I don't think so," she says examining the full cart. "We can go if you took what you wanted too. I can't wait any longer to eat these," she ends with shaking the cereal box in front of my eyes, teasing again.

At the checkout, as the bored cashier is scanning our products moving very slow, I make myself busy with looking at her, just as she is busy with looking through a little brochure about some io products, and what I see, oh, it makes me smile like an idiot.

Mismatched colorful socks visible through the too short pyjama pants that she insisted on buying just because she loved the kitten pattern on them. My hoodie put over my T-shirt to keep her warm. Oh, and for the smell, of course. The sleeves are too long for her, but she didn't bother to pull them up or roll them, so she's now holding that brochure through the material of the hoodie, struggling a little not to drop it. There are still two little wrinkles on her cheek from the sleep. Her eyes are still a little cloudy, but a little amused about whatever she is reading and alert enough and focused as her teeth are picking on her lip in the process. Her hair is disheveled and I like it so much like this. I'm glad that she didn't bother to brush it or decided to put it up. And of course, the box of cereals is still held against her chest. How can you not love her? She's so colorful, so-

"Hey, you." she ends my reverie by poking my chest with her index. "Whatcha starin' at?"

"At you. You're beautiful."

She giggles and it's high pitched, and heartfelt, and loud, and spontaneous, that sound warming me whole.

"Am not. You've lost your mind? I look like a hobo."

"Like a very beautiful hobo."

Getting closer to her, I kiss her forehead as she laughs once more.

And being so close to her, why not take advantage of this?

I snatch the cereal box from her.

Her eyes widen and her jaw drops. "You little traitor. You distracted me. You don't play fair at all."

"I never said I am."

She pouts a little. "Give it back, please."

"After I pay for it, love."

She smiles. "So you're letting me take it?"

"Of course I am."

"What about my sugar coma?"

"I'll make sure you don't put yourself in one, love."

Dragging me a little down by my arm, she kisses my cheek. "You're the best."


When the morning comes, I wake up first and turn to one side, meeting her face, still asleep. I'm glad that despite the storm that kept on going last night, she managed to fall asleep after we got home from our little midnight trip.

Bringing my hand up, I move a strand of hair off her face. And I don't know if it's because she felt me, or maybe because she is having a nice dream, I am hoping for the latter, but she smiles a little in her sleep.

I spend a minute longer watching her. Theses past days, only in her sleep she was so serene, so calm, so happy. I wish for that smile to never leave her lips in the next days.

When I finally stop staring and get out of the bed, she sensed that.

"Where you're going?" she asks bothered as she's covering her eyes with her palm as they get adapted to the light in the room.

I bend to give her a good morning kiss. "I'm going to make breakfast."

"You're hungry?"

"No. But I thought you might be."

"I am not. I still have my belly full from last night."

It would be strange if she didn't. On our ride back here, she ate her ice cream, a pack of biscuits, some cereals, and to be honest, I quite lost track of the other things she's eaten. But it was a lot.

"So come back to bed, please," she says sleepy, getting a little up, reaching for my hand and pulling me down.

I slip back in bed and she wraps herself around me.

After a minute in which she plays with her fingers on my cheek, she sighs.

"Comrade?"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"No."

"Not even a little bit?"

"Not at all."

"You, know what? You should."

"And why would I?"

"Because I fucked up. A lot of times these days."

I laugh a little. She won't give up on this easily.

"You did nothing wrong. But I wish you would have spoken to me earlier, love. Maybe we could have done something about it earlier."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that. About anything. Haven't I told you to stop apologizing for everything you do?"

"You did, but-"

"But nothing. I am not mad at you, for anything. Now tell me something. How do you feel?"

"I guess I'm okay... -ish? I'm better than yesterday. Talking about it… it made me feel better. I wish… I wish I've done it earlier. But it's not because I didn't trust you, Dimitri, I just-"

"I know. It's hard to talk about things at times."

She nods, smiling at me. "You're so understanding." how could I not? I've been there a thousand times and I'm still in that position, even to this day.

"Now tell me, how is it on the outside?"

"That's better too. But… can we take this off?" she brings the pink cast in front of my eyes. "It's bothering me."

"We'll have to ask Lissa first."

"Can't you decide? You are a pretty good nurse, comrade," she teases me again with this.

My hand resting on her hip, I move it down and pinch on her ass.

"Hey!" she squeals and gets up on her elbow, staring at me with eyes squinted, but her smile is giving her away.

I walk my fingers over the same spot, soothing it, and a few seconds later, she smiles wider and comes closer to my face, kissing me.

"I might have another idea, love."

"About what?"

"About your cast."

"Which is?"

"We could go to a doctor to take it off, to take a look at it."

I wouldn't want to bother Lissa with this too. Plus, we're pretty far from her too. I wouldn't make her come around only for this. And like this, I could get Rose out of the house too, during the day. I am sure I could make up a reason for a walk too. It will do her good, to get some air.


Getting out of the bathroom after a shower, the only thing I can see is the TV running. Rose said she wanted to watch the rest of the movie we didn't get to finish last night, but she is not here.

"Rose?"

No answer.

"Rose?" I ask louder as I'm heading out of the room.

The house is very quiet.

So where is she?

Not in the living room either.

So the kitchen it is.

Getting in there, I see her leaned against the counter, the handset of the landline in her hands, beeping as she's staring at it.

"Love?"

Snapping her head up, she gets a little scared and rushed to put the handset back.

"I um…"

"What were you doing here? What happened?"

"Nothing," she says, her voice on the brink of cracking.

Getting closer to her, she watches me distressed as she's biting her lip, trying to stop those tears in her eyes from falling.

"Are you okay?"

She shakes her head, and breaking in tears, she plants her face into my chest.

I start soothing her hair and try to calm her sobbing.

"I'm a coward."

"I'm not following, love. What's wrong? Why do you say that?"

"I can't even tell anyone what I've done."

"Who did you want to tell?"

"I wanted to… it's stupid. So, so stupid."

"I don't think so. Tell me."

Lifting, she tries to get a hold of her tears.

"I wanted to confess. To… get scolded… punished… jailed… something. I wanted to make things right. I wanted… I wanted to turn myself in. But I can't do that. I can't come out and say out loud what I've done. I'm a fucking coward."

"Oh, love. I'm sorry."

"Why the hell are you the one apologizing?!" she gets so, so mad all of a sudden. "You didn't do anything! I should be the one apologizing, but you keep on telling me I don't have what to apologize for. But I do. I'm the one who should apologize to you because I am treating you like this. Look at me, Dimitri, I'm yelling at you, goddamnit. And I'm sorry." taking a deep breath in, she calms her voice and walks her fingers along my cheek. "I'm doing this and all you do is help me and love me even though I'm a terrible person, and I- I did it! I did, not you. I killed him. I..." her shoulders start shaking harder. "I'm the one who killed him. I deserve to be punished."

"More than you are already punishing yourself?"

"Yes," she says crumbling in my arms. "I deserve so much worse."

"No."

"Yes, I do."

"No."

After playing this game of yes and no for a couple more minutes, she finally stops crying and contradicting me too.

"Tell me one thing."

"What?"

"How do I live with it? How…"

My hand under her chin, I tilt her head.

"I have no special recipe. Not even after so many… you know."

"Do you still feel guilty about…"

"Yes. Sometimes I still do. Sometimes I forget about it. It just… goes away with time. Sometimes it comes back. You learn to live with it. Just give yourself time, love. It's been just a week. Nothing goes away in a couple of days. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"How can I not when-"

"I know, I know. And I know it must be hard for you now. But trust me. Turning yourself in wouldn't make it better. Any prison on this earth can't make it better. Any punishment either. You need to make peace with it here." I pass my fingers through her hair. "And especially here." I move my palm over her heart. "And it takes time, okay?" she nods, more tears forming in her eyes.

"And how- how do I do it?"

"You take it one day at a time."

"What if I can't?"

"I know you can." opening her mouth to protest, I stop her. "And when you feel like you can't, I'll be here."

Wrapping her arms on me, she squeezes me so, so tight.

"Thank you, Dimitri. You… oh, God, you keep me sane."

The same as you do, love. The same as you do for me.


"That doctor didn't know what he was talking about," she says annoyed as she closes the passenger door and crosses her arms, not before putting her seat belt on.

"I think he did. He was old enough to know what he was talking about."

"But I'm tired of this cast. It's itching me and I can't scratch."

"I can scratch you if you want, love."

Turning her head, she looks at me, eyes squinted.

"Don't push it, comrade, I'm already upset. It's been two weeks already. I'm wearing this shit for two weeks. I believe he could have taken it off, but that little bastard didn't want to."

"Is that what your medical expertise telling you?" she squints her eyes even harder, but she can't contain her smile. "When did you get your diploma, huh?"

"At the same time you got your nursing one, comrade," she replies smiling. Good one. She won this.

"Think about this, love. This time next week, we'll be doing some exercises for your fingers, to regain their flexibility. And this week will pass so fast. I am sure we can come up with something to get busy with." as we did this past week. We've filled our days with little things done together, to keep ourselves busy.

"Fine, fine. I like how that sounds. But if he doesn't get this off next week, I am doing it and I won't give a damn," she gives the verdict, determined and still puffing a little from the previous angriness.

I can't help it but laugh. "Come here, my feisty one." I bend towards her and smiling, she does the same, coming to kiss me. "What do you say if we-"

My proposition gets interrupted by my phone ringing. Checking it, I see it's Ivan calling me.

"Be fast," I answer right away. "I was in the middle of something."

"Something hot?"

"That's why you called me for? I think you could live your sex life by yourself, don't you think that?"

"Ouch, someone bites. And who says I am not?"

"I honestly do not want to hear about in which rooms you're leaving your briefs."

"Why not? You're afraid I might be having more fun than you do?"

I doubt it.

Turning my head, I look at Rose. She smiles at me, giving me the confirmation once again. Yeah, I doubt it.

Taking Rose's hand in mine and bringing it to my lips to kiss her knuckles, I get back to my conversation.

"Will you tell me already the reason you called?"

"It depends. Are you up for a drive?"

"I'm already in the car."

"Wow, brother. Kinky. In a car? In the middle of the day? Who would have-"

"Cut the crap already or I'll kick your ass the first time I see you. I've taken Rose to a doctor check-up for her cast."

"To Lissa?" he tries so hard to contain the eagerness in his voice, but I've known him since forever.

"No. She's too far. I didn't want to bother her."

"Oh, I see."

"But why don't you-"

"Yeah, so now I'll tell you the reason I called," he cuts me short and I let it pass. It's a sensitive subject for him. "I've found something."

"Did you find anything about him?"

"It depends on which him you're talking about."

"Don't dilly-dally. Tell me already."

"I have good news."

"You do?" so this cannot be about Haynes. He only brings bad news.

"Aha. I found that little trouble maker you asked me to look for. That so nice colleague of Rose shipped the dog to a shelter the first second she had the chance."

"Wow. Thank you." honestly, I didn't think he'd be able to find Ash. "I owe you one."

"Oho, you owe me plenty."

"Yeah, yeah, good thing I have you to always remind me of that. Now tell me, where is the shelter? And what about the other thing I asked you about concerning him? Did you find any pet shops that sell the exact same thing?"

"It took me a lot to find that shit. Do you know how hard it was?"

"But did you?"

"You bet I did. You know I'm the best. And to your luck, the shop is on your way."

As soon as he tells me, I end the call, and Rose gets curious about it.

"Was that your brother?"

"Aham," I respond fast and pull her to me, eager to finish what I started before being interrupted.

Kissing me, she gets a hold of my cheeks and when we stop for a little, she chuckles.

"Oh, comrade. You didn't forget where we left, huh?"

"Of course I didn't." I kiss her once more.

"Dimitri, did he…" she starts asking me, distress already showing on her features.

I hate it that we have to spend our days wondering when this bastard will finally do something. I want to put it past us already.

"No. It wasn't about Haynes, don't worry about that." for now, at least.

"Oh. I see."

"Really, don't you worry, it was about a good thing."

"What good thing?"

"Would you be okay with waiting about two hours to find out?"

"It depends." she gets smiling. "Will it be worth it?"

"Definitely. You'll love it."

Considering things for a second, she nods. "Deal."


RPOV

Two hours into this drive, we finally stop.

"So, you've brought me here to do what?"

"Well, technically, we're not there yet."

"And what you're waiting for?" two hours on the road have been more than enough for me. I want to know now what he wants to show me or whatever. I've waited long enough.

"Always so impatient, love. Come on, get out."

I do that before he gets to reach my side, and when he does, I watch him eagerly, questioning.

"Now close your eyes."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Fine. But you show me now."

"Sure. In a minute or two."

Putting his palms over my eyes too, just to be sure I don't cheat, he guides me somewhere, being careful with each step I take.

"Okay, love, we're here," he says taking his hands off my eyes. "You can open your eyes."

Listening to his instructions, I open my eyes and all I see is a rundown building that has a banner saying "ANIMAL SHELTER".

"What are we doing here, comrade?" I guess he is having an idea and I don't think I like it, despite his good intentions.

"What do you think we can do in here?"

"Look, Dimitri, I appreciate the gesture, but I can't… I don't want to replace Ash." God knows what Anna has done to him, but I still can't give up on him.

"Come on, let's just get inside and take a look. No pressure. I heard that they have some cute puppies."

"Comrade…"

"Please? For me?"

"What about your allergy?"

"I'll live. It's only for five minutes. And I'll take a pill," he assures me, and does that, swallowing it in front of my eyes, without any water.

"Okay," I give in. "We can get inside. But I'm not going to fall in love with another puppy, no matter how cute they are. I am not… I won't… I'm not getting another puppy." I'm not giving up on my fried.

"I have absolutely no expectations, love."

"Good."

Going inside, there are not many people around the building. Hell, seeing how happy the carer is, I guess we're the only ones visiting this shelter in weeks.

She takes us to see the animals, speaking a lot and excitedly and her eyes are begging us to adopt at least one little creature. And I wish I could. But there's only Ash that I can think of. I wonder where he is.

Getting inside the room with cages, all the dogs start fumbling and barking, but one of them is by far the loudest. Its barking overtopping all the others, from what this woman told us, its cage is in the back of the room.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what has gotten into it. Until now, ever since we received it last week, it didn't make a sound. Poor puppy, it was so sad. Maybe he likes you two. Go take a look at it, please," she says to us before leaving us there to look at the dogs.

My eyes scanning the cages fast, I see cuteness in all kinds of forms. But there is one cuteness I would recognize anywhere in this world.

"Ash!" my little troublemaker.

The loudest in the room. I didn't recognize his barking through all this noise, but his cute face, oh, that I could never mistaken.

Before breaking in tears, I turn and look at Dimitri.

"You knew he was here." smiling, he nods. Therefore the insisting to get inside and take a look. "You've found him. Oh, Dimitri, when did you even have the time to do this?"

I get to my knees on the floor and slip my hands through the bars of the cage so that I could give my little friend a good rub between his ears. As I do this, I search too for any things that might seem off about him. But despite being a little too dirty, my boy is just fine.

"I didn't personally take care of it, but I asked Ivan to look for him. He's good at finding stuff."

"Oh, please, thank him from the bottom of my heart. I thought I lost him. Yes, I did, buddy. But I'm here now. I… We're taking him home?"

"Of course we are, love. Why do you think I brought you here?"

"You heard that, buddy? We're taking you home."

Dimitri crouches too and brings his hand through the bars of the cage, letting Ash sniff it. After a few seconds, he starts nudging his nose on his palm, letting Dimitri pet him, and seeing them like this, I smile.

"He likes you, comrade."

"You think so?"

"I know he does."

"You know, Rose, why don't you say "Thank you" to Ivan personally? You know, you could talk to-"

"Oh!" I forget about Ash for a second as I remember the talk I had with Dimitri when we switched places. "My parents. How could I forget about them?"

"It's understandable. You-"

"No. I am a horrible daughter."

"I wouldn't go that far, love. After all, you've dealt with stuff and anyway, they know you're quite busy. And they know you're safe. Ivan is keeping them updated."

"Oh, Dimitri, you two are the very best, I don't know what I'd do without you. But I'll have to call them. I hope they won't get mad at me. First thing when we get back home, I'll call them."


On our way back, I decided it would be better for Dimitri's health if I'd sit on the backseat with Ash, even though he insisted it wasn't such a big deal. But I've seen that his eyes got watery despite taking that pill, and he was scratching his nose a lot too. He has done too much for me already, I can't let him suffer some more.

But we don't go straight home. We make one more stop along our way. He stopped in front of a mall.

"What do we do here too?"

"We go to buy something."

"What?"

"You'll see."

Walking inside the mall, we get inside a pet shop.

"Oh, of course, you have thought about everything. Ash needs food. But why this exact place? Couldn't we find one closer to home?"

"Because this place has something special."

"Like?"

"You'll see when I find it. You go search for Ash's food and I'll be right back."

He does nothing special as I choose treats for Ash because yes, curious as hell as I always am, I watched where he went. It's not like it's very hard to keep an eye on him anyway. He's the tallest man in the shop. And all he did was to pass from one stack of shelves to another, then came back to me.

"So? Now you'll tell me? Why is this place special?"

DPOV

"Because it has…" getting it out of my pocket, I show her the little llama that I took off a shelf full of toys. "...this."

Recognizing it, she smiles so warmly. "I can't believe you did this too for me."

"Well, considering that we had to leave Miss Pickle behind in the train, and even though I know that nothing could replace it, well, I thought we could replace it. Or if you want-"

"No, that's perfect." she laughs a little and comes hugging me. "You're amazing, Dimitri. Simply amazing. You… you think about so many little things. You remember them all and..." passing her fingers through my hair, she gives me a peck. "And I love you for that. Thank you for this."

"Don't mention it, love." anything to see her happy.


Getting back inside the car, she already starts playing with Ash, introducing him to Miss Pickle 2.0., and giving him all kinds of treats. And who could have guessed it? He likes snacks just as much as she does. No wonder they get along so well.

"But we can't keep him for too long, can't we?" I hear her ask me just before I rev the engine.

So she guessed it.

I turn in my seat and look at her, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. But yes, we can't keep him. Not for now, love. I'm still not sure if we-" are safe enough to have Ash too, I'd like to say, but she doesn't let me say it all.

"I understand. It makes sense. Plus, there's your allergy and everything that's happening. I get it. I'm glad that we, at least, found him. But what can we do about him?"

"Do you think that your parents would like to have him? There, in their new house?" I wonder if they're still busy moving in. But considering how many things they had to replace from their last house...

"Oh, you're kidding? They'd love to. Each time I brought Ash to their house they were going bananas trying to get his attention. But how-"

"I will ask Ivan to come and pick up Ash and take him to them. Would that be okay?" us driving there would take us too long and I am not taking this risk.

"Yeah, sure. That would be…" she sighs, then smiles, trying to make it seem like it is not affecting her at all to have to give up on Ash so soon. "It would be amazing. When is he-"

"Not today. Some other day." I'll give them some time together.

"But you-"

"I won't die a day or two. I have my pills and I'll be careful."

Leaning forward, she caresses my cheek and kisses me, a smile on her lips as she pulls away.

"How come you're so amazing?"

"You know, one day, with you praising me like this, it might get to my head."

She laughs. "Sometimes, I think it already did, comrade. But I love you just like that." she kisses me again. "Thank you."


Getting back to our temporary home, after speaking for about an hour with her parents and leaving me to feed and befriend this little beast (I'm kidding, Ash is quite a nice dog to have around; I didn't think it would be so well trained either), the first thing Rose wants to do is to give Ash a proper cleaning, and I can't agree more. I don't know what he has been through these past weeks, but that dog deserves a warm bath.

Filling the bathtub with water and dog shampoo, we get rid of a lot of clothes before starting to wash and scrub everything off Ash's fur.

And just like all the dogs do, Ash gets playful, and barks, and shakes the water off him a couple of times, wetting us from head to toe, and splashes, and wiggles his tail happily, and most importantly, he makes Rose really happy. I swear that ever since we got him back, she keeps on smiling.

Now, as Rose wants to deal with the dirt on Ash's tail, he keeps on wiggling and she can't get a hold of it and it wets her even more.

"Oh, dummy, you never stay put," she scolds him and he barks in response. "What? I'm telling the truth."

I just sit here, half wet myself after trying to bring my contribution to this bath, and watch them, smiling. I like how they're interacting, how well they understand each other.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" oh, she is speaking to me.

"No, love. I just find you two funny." I've always done, ever since I was listening to their conversations. Or should I say monologues?

"Ah, always a sweetheart," she says leaning closer to me and after she gets some of the wet hair out of my face, she kisses me.

Ash barks and with his paw, he taps Rose's shoulder.

"Someone's jealous, I guess."

"Oh, I see," she says laughing. "He just likes having all the attention in the room."

Like understanding perfectly her last words, now that he got back her attention, Ash sits now calm and put.

"Oh, so now you're a god boy huh? Now you behave, huh? You're such a player, yes you are," she scratches him behind his ears. "You deserve a little treat." Ash barks excitedly. "Yeah, I know you'd like that. I'll go get-"

"No, stay here. I'll go."

"Yeah, sure. You're anyway doing a better job than I am. Somehow, some of your clothes are still dry."

"Thanks, comrade." wanting to get up, she stops me by pulling me back down. "But hey, where's my treat?"

"Won't he get upset?" I point my head towards Ash, which is watching us observant.

Laughing a little, she puts her arms around my neck. "He'll get over it." and she presses her lips against mine.

Coming back with Ash's precious treat, I stop in the doorway, a smile creeping on my lips at this sight in front of me.

Rose is talking to Ash as she's wiping its fur and I don't think I should stop this little moment they have.

"And be nice around Dimitri, okay?" Ash barks. "Yeah, buddy, Dimitri. You like Dimitri?" he barks again.

Well, I like this dog too. I think I could get used to him around the house.

"I like him too." she bends and gets closer to his floppy ears. "I love him," she whispers. "So, so much. So I mean it, buddy, be nice around him and keep your paws off, or else, I will get very upset with you. He took some pills only so that I could have you back for a little while, okay? So don't make him regret it."

And call me crazy, but Ash nods at her, taking this role of behaving nicely very seriously. And in contrast with their seriousness, I smile so, so wide. These two are adorable together.

"And when Ivan comes to take you, be nice to him too. He's the one who has found you, so that's how I got you back. And know that when you leave, I'll miss you, buddy. I missed you all this time and I'm sorry I had to leave you with that bad, bad woman. But now, you'll go be with my parents. You like them a lot, don't you?" she chuckles as he starts wiggling his tail excited. "Of course you do. Just promise me you won't let my mother turn you fat. Or too fat. If so, I'll find myself obliged to put you on a diet." at this, Ash growls, being very displeased, and laughing, she embraces him. "I'll miss you a lot." he whines and licks her face. "I know, buddy. But for now, it's better this way. And now, let's go see what's taking Dimitri so long to get you that treat."

She gives Ash one last rub, ruffling his fur, and gets up, turning around.

Her eyes landing on me, they widen as her cheeks turn red.

"You heard that."

I nod and she starts walking towards me, Ash does too, but after he takes the treat from my hand, he goes to mind his business, leaving us alone in here.

Rose reaching me, I put my arms around her and pull her closer.

"Do you mind if I did?"

"No. I was just wondering when you'll want to check me into the nuthouse."

I laugh. "Oh, I think I'll need to gather more proof to do that, love."

Smiling, she raises an eyebrow. "You do, huh?"

"Yes."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"You see, I've heard that crazy people…" I bend so that my lips could reach her ear. "...are incredibly good kissers."

Biting her lip, she chuckles. "Oh, but this means that you're the crazy one, comrade."


RPOV

Two days later, as the sun sets, we wait for Ivan outside, sitting on the stairs in front of the apartment building, letting Ash enjoy all the bushes around here and make friends with all the other dogs being walked by their owners.

I'm not sad. I know I'm doing this for Ash. For now, he is better where he's going. Until things get better. After this, we'll see what happens.

When a car pulls up in front of us, I get up on an instant, not being able to contain my excitement.

I don't even let Ivan close the car's door after he got out, I just wrap my arms around him and hold him tight, thanking him for everything he has done for me.

What I love most is that he doesn't hesitate at all to hug me back, just as tight.

Finally, both of us pulling away, he smiles and ruffles my hair.

"Don't mention it, kiddo." hearing him, I laugh a little as my eyes travel to Dimitri, who came close to us. "What?"

"You sound just like him." I hug him once more. "You're both so good. No wonder you two are brothers. I'd like to meet the woman who has raised such fine men someday."

"Sure, kiddo, we'll make it happen. Mama would be soooo glad to meet you," Ivan says looking at Dmitri smiling, and I sense a tease between them.

Not asking any of the questions forming in my mind, I look at Dimitri and see the scolding glare in his eyes.

But before I let them speak about whatever matter they want, I get a hold of Dimitri's arm and pull him down to me.

"Comrade, be nice."

"I sure will, love," he answers, his lips kissing my cheek.

But I don't think I want to be Ivan right now.

I get away from them and call Ash to me.

Carrying Miss Pickle between his teeth, he comes to me, tail wagging happily.

I crouch and give him some belly scratches, where he likes it most. I hope that these will be enough for him until I'll see him again.

"Buddy, get up. I want to talk something with you." ears lifted and alert, he gets back onto his paws. "Do you remember what we talked about during your bath? I um.." my eyes fill with tears at this another goodbye. With a whine, he comes resting his head on my shoulder, his wet nose nudging on my cheek. "I'm fine, buddy. I really am. And so will you. Mom and Dad will take good care of you. You… you just know I love you and I'll come for you. I promise."

With a bark, he gets licking my face, and wanting to get away from his drooling face, all I manage to do is to fall back on my ass.

"Ash, buddy, slow down."

But my position only gave him the opportunity to love me some more and to play too.

"Comrade! A little help, please?"

And thank God that my knight in a leather coat has come to save me, otherwise I would have gotten a lot dirtier and a lot more drool would have been on my face.

Mending what can be mended about my look, we go introduce Ash to Ivan. The chemistry between them is immediate. Of course, the treats Ivan had in his pocket helped a lot too. I swear that Ash would befriend anyone that carries a treat.

With that, they go. They leave. And I stay behind, with Dimitri holding me in his arms.

And I know I shouldn't be this emotional, I know this is not me saying goodbye for forever, but I can't stop some tears from gathering in my eyes.

"You know this is not permanent, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but…" tilting my head, I look at him, and instead of continuing my thought, I laugh a little.

"What?"

"If I wouldn't have known you're allergic to Ash, I'd say you're crying because of his leaving, just as I am." after all, his eyes are teary too.

He laughs a little too. "I'm not crying, love." yeah, I know. I'm the one mostly doing that. But I am sometimes wondering what would get him that point. "But I'll miss him too."

"You will?"

"Mhm. I think I like him."

These past days have been better than I thought. Dimitri kept his distance when his medicine was starting to lose its effect, but at times, he didn't say no to a round of playing with Ash and I. And God, what we had.

"He likes you too, comrade."


DPOV

The smell of breakfast rouses me from my slumber.

Wait. There is breakfast being made in this apartment and for once in three weeks, I'm not the one making it? I mean, Rose cooked a lot too these past two weeks since she started feeling better, but in the mornings, she usually slept in and I wasn't too often bringing myself to wake her up early.

Is that bacon I smell? Scrambled eggs?

The spot next to me is empty so this means… my Roza is making breakfast.

Listening more carefully, I hear some noise, but it's not pans or porcelain, or cutlery clacking, or anything like that.

It's… Is she... Singing?

I get up to my feet in an instant and rush out of the room. I can't miss this.

Stopping into the doorway of the kitchen, I see her.

She is dressed only in the T-shirt she was wearing last night, that white T-shirt of mine I absolutely adore seeing her wear, and I get to see those damned legs of hers, the warm tone of her bare skin.

And as she is moving her hands up and down, cutting something maybe, indeed, she is humming. It sounds so sweet.

I don't move from my spot. I want to hear more of this song. I love this humming of hers, the happy song she's singing. She seems so joyful. I would give anything to wake up every single morning to this, to finding her so happy. I could get used to it.

Half a minute later, she stops cutting. Lifting on her tippy toes, she reaches her hand up, opening the door of the cupboard in front of her, and the T-shirt is lifting a lot, giving me a wonderful view of the dark green panties she's wearing and the perfect rounding of her cheeks and hips.

When she took what she needed from the cupboard, a big bowl, she sets it on the counter, and gets back to chopping, changing the song to a slower one.

But oh, the hem of the T-shirt has remained lifted on one side, keeping on revealing much more than I think I am capable of seeing at this moment. I still need to keep my hands off, so I focus my eyes on the steady movement of her hands, even though it's quite hard to stick to that. She is the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on.

And soon, I give into that temptation.

Without making any noise, I get behind her and wrap my arms around her middle. Bending a little, I rest my head next to hers, kissing her neck.

Her whole body tenses as she gasps lightly, her fingers clenching around the handle of the knife.

I don't want to have spoiled this moment by scaring her, but I couldn't help it to just sit there and watch.

"It's just me, Roza."

In the next second, she sighs and relaxes completely, letting the knife rest on the counter and placing her palms over mine.

"You scared me." bad move. Maybe she even thought I was some kind of intruder.

"Sorry, love."

"It's fine. It's just that I didn't hear you coming in here."

"Well, you were pretty busy humming."

"Oh. You heard that."

"I did. And I loved it."

She finally turns her head and looks at me surprised, even blushing a little.

"You did?"

"Mhm. It sounded so sweet."

"No, it didn't."

"Hey. You don't get to decide what I like and what I don't. If I said I like it, I like it."

She smiles wider and blushing a little harder, she turns her head away and goes back to cutting strawberries. Interesting. She's preparing something healthy. I did not expect this.

"So, what are you doing up so early?"

"I am trying to make breakfast. Or at least something close to that. I couldn't think of something more than bacon and scrambled eggs and a fruit salad. Oh, and I'm making cupcakes."

"The cupcakes would be enough. You know I like these," I say and take a strawberry from the cutting board and eat it.

"Hey. I was going to use that for my cupcakes," she says bothered and turns around in my arms. The way she looks at me is supposed to be fierce, but I see her being amused.

"So, what were you singing here?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just a thing passing through my mind, nothing important."

Trying to get away from my stare, slipping out from my embrace, she goes to the fridge and takes out the cupcake mixture and starts putting it into the molds. I bet they would turn out to be delicious.

Going again behind her, I put my arms back around her hips, kissing her neck a couple more times, thanks to the fact that her hair is put up into a bun.

She sighs a little annoyed as some mixture gets on her finger. When she wants to reach towards a napkin, I get a hold of her hand and bring it up to my mouth, licking the mix off her skin.

"It's delicious, love. Why won't you consider doing it on a larger scale? I bet you'd be a great baker."

"Nah, comrade. I am only trying to get you fat."

"Then you might succeed one day with this plan."

"I will surely do, with your six-pack and all," she says and we both laugh.

The cupcakes put into the oven, she goes back to cutting the fruits.

And of course, I can't help it but want to "help" her. Today, more than other days, it's impossible for me to keep my hands off, even though I'm trying so, so bad.

RPOV

"Hey…" I scold him once more as he slides his palms across my hips once more, his fingers lifting my T-shirt just enough for them to slide over the material of my panties. "You're being distracting." and arousing me so, so much, goddamnit. He started moving his hands down starting from under my breasts. And I'm feeling everything so intensely in this second.

"Fine, love, I'll stop," he says conceited, and if he wouldn't have been playing this teasing game with me for the past five minutes, mistakenly touching me everywhere while trying to help me, I would have felt sorry for him. But I am not. I've been the one tortured here.

And he keeps his word. For now, at least. He just sits there, with his head rested on my shoulder and his arms wrapped around my middle, for the first time ever since he entered this kitchen, his hands behaving.

"Why did you stop singing, love?"

I chuckle. "Um, because I don't want to do any noise pollution?"

He chuckles too, his breath tickling my neck and I instinctively tighten my shoulders, bringing them a little up and I giggle a little when he walks his lips across my neck, tickling me some more.

"Come on, love. Do it again."

"No. I am terrible at singing."

"No, you're not. Remember that I have heard you so many times before and I don't think that." oh, I keep on forgetting about the little stalking phase he was obliged to pass through.

I turn my head and throw him a look of 'I know better.'.

"Trust me, I am terrible. You haven't heard plenty of my singing yet."

Poor Ash has been the only audience I had in a while, and he didn't enjoy it much, my little diva shows.

"Come on," he insists. "I want to hear more of that. Your humming is so sweet."

"You think so?" no one has ever told me this.

"I do think so. And it was nice to wake up on it too."

"Oh my God, was I doing it that loud?"

He smiles. "No. I just woke up and heard you and I had to come here to hear you better. So come on, do it again. Sing a little, Roza."

"I don't know, comrade…"

"I want to hear you sing," he whines, sounding like a kid, the botherness in his voice making me chuckle.

"Fine, fine."

I focus my attention on cutting the last pieces of fruit, and I start humming again, but not as loud as before, and I hum the first thing that comes to my mind.

He starts rocking me left and right slowly, as he's walking the tip of his nose across my cheek, his lips kissing my cheek from time to time.

It feels so, so good. Just like, for even a second, everything is perfect and back to normal and I can even dare to think of a life where we do this every single day. Where we will be this happy all the time. I hope we have that.

He comes with his lips closer to my ear and whispers to me the words of the song I'm singing.

Oh, I remember this one!

It's the song that was playing on my parents' wedding anniversary. I was ten, and I loved how they danced on it. And what can I say? It works with this little moment we have here too. It's so… romantic. And after all, his head is on my shoulder.

DPOV

I look at her, still humming and blushing, and biting her lip, and smiling a little from time to time. And I look, and look, and look, thanking God I can be so close to her, and I would have done it forever if she wouldn't have spoken to me.

"Huh?"

"I asked you why are you looking at me like that?" she says, the redness in her cheeks getting more intense than earlier.

"Does there have to be a reason?"

"I don't know. I guess so."

"It doesn't." I bring my hand up and put some of her hair behind her ear, the urge to touch her being too big to resist, again. "Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

She chuckles, obviously amused, but I don't laugh in response. So her expression gets serious as she turns around, her body never leaving my arms.

"Wait. You are not joking." I shake my head. "Yes, of course you can kiss me, comrade. You don't need to ask permission for that."

"I didn't mean it in that way, love. I…"

Oh, good God, I want her so, so badly now. I've wanted it ever since I first stepped into the kitchen.

She tilts her head, a little confused.

My fingers rounding on the curves of her hips, I pull her closer to me, so that she could feel the hardness with which I want her, to feel the way my body aches for hers.

Her response is enough of a confirmation that she knows what I meant. She exhales slowly and licks her lips.

But I still tell her. "I don't want only to kiss you, Roza. But if you-"

"Shh, don't speak," she says and brings her hands up on my cheeks, pulling me to her. "I'm fine. You just kiss me. And more."

She brings her lips over mine, and she tastes like coffee and I guess some chocolate too and it makes her lips so sweet, and I just want to kiss her until I have no air left to breathe.

Pulling away, she chuckles shyly, and she tries to run away, but I catch her hand and pull her back, but I don't trap her back in between me and the counter.

"Hey, I wasn't done," I say, botherness filling my voice. And indeed, I am bothered. Because as I said, I wasn't done with it. I won't be done with it for a while. If it would be after me, I would never be done with it. I can never get enough of her.

She chuckles once more. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. What was that? Just a couple of seconds? Disappointing, love."

She shrugs and frees her hand from mine, another chuckle threatening to escape her lips. Oh, so we're playing, huh?

"And what are you going to do about that?"

I take a step closer to her, moving slowly, and she does the same, only that she takes that step away from me.

"Oh, Roza. I am going to finish it." Here, or in bed or wherever she wants it.

Chuckling, she gets running, and rushes out of the kitchen.

And I go after her.

RPOV

Getting inside the living room, I get behind the sofa, knowing I won't have the chance to reach the bedroom in time.

And I was right because he comes in here too, his lips turned into a playful smile, and he's so ready to catch me. But I am ready to run away too.

Moving slow, he comes in front of the sofa. Oh, he's going to play with me. If he wanted to get a hold of me, he would have lounged over the sofa and he would have been done with it. But we're playing. So let's play.

I try to dodge him a couple of times as I think of a way to be faster than him and get away from here, and when he decides to come around the sofa and be done with it, I don't bother to run around it too. I jump over the backseat, and luckily landing on my feet on the other side, I get running into the bedroom, where I hide behind the door.

Trying to keep my breathing steady, I wait.

He doesn't hurry. He knows where to find me after all.

When he gets inside the room, he doesn't bother to look where I'm hiding. He just heads towards the middle of the room, his back turned to me.

And why not take advantage of this?

Getting a little momentum, I jump on his back.

"Gotcha!"

"I should have guessed it," he says laughing.

Bending a little, he brings an arm behind him and over my middle, getting a hold of me, dragging me down and somehow managing to bring me in front of him, despite my struggling and squealing and trying to get away.

Taking some steps while holding me after I've given up on trying to get away, he lays me in bed on my back.

"Did I… hurt you... somehow?"

I shake my head no. "I'm just a little tired, comrade," I say still panting from our little chasing game and our air wrestling.

His hands moving up slowly on my neck, he gets one on my cheek, letting the other slide to the back of my head, through my hair, and he tilts my head as he lightly walks his lips over mine.

"It was… worth… the chase…" he says between kisses all over my face and small pants. "So… worth it… love..."

His palms beside my head, he rests his body in between my legs and I part them some more, making space for him, his weight feeling so familiar on me.

His tongue playing with mine, he starts walking his palm across my body, beginning at my knee, climbing slowly on my outer thigh, sliding it under my T-shirt, and reaching all the way up, cupping my breast.

Feeling him hold me in such way, firm, but at the same time gentle as his thumb is walking past my peak, making it pointy with anticipation and desire, I sigh in his mouth.

"Is this okay, love?" he stops his kiss, just to make sure. He's so sweet.

"Yes, yes it is. I want you to…" gulping and probably blushing a little, I let my hand slide down on his body, walking it past his bare chest. I reach the hem of his pants and I drag them a little down, from one side.

Smiling playful, he gest kissing me again.

But everything gets interrupted by a call. And no one calls on that phone, except Ivan.

With a "Sorry" in his eyes, he gives me a little peck and gets up.

Watching his face as he responds and listens to what he is being told, I know that that call won't bring us any good. This was it. Just three weeks of having a quiet life. Three weeks of rest, of normality. Everything is about to get fucked up again.

He doesn't say much, he mostly listens to what he's being told, so I have no idea what it is about. But he doesn't like what he's hearing. And I guess that neither will I. This call is definitely about Xavier.

Ending the call, he comes back in bed, sitting down next to me.

Sighing, he puts an arm around me and pulls me closer.

"What happened?"

"Xavier is selling the flash."

"To whom?"

"To a man willing to pay him all the money he wants. They'll be meeting in a day or two. It's all set."

"And… what can we do about this?"

"Take it back."

"How?"

"I'll come up with an idea."

"If I can help, with anything, tell me. I want to help."

Nodding, he kisses my temple. "I know you do. But now, love, I think you should hurry to the kitchen."

"Why?"

"I think your cupcakes will burn if you leave them in the oven for longer."

"Oh! Shit! You're right!" I was too busy smelling him to feel the faint burning smell coming from the kitchen.

Slipping out of his embrace, I rush to the oven and I was about to forget to put my mittens on before opening the oven. I so do not need other burns on my body. The one on my hip is doing so much better thanks to the magical stuff Lissa has given Dimitri and I am not willing to experience that kind of pain anytime soon. And I've just gotten rid of my cast. I don't want my fingers bandaged again.

The cupcakes saved just in time, I let them cool on the counter and go back to our room. I don't feel like cupcakes anymore anyway, with news like that.

I find him still in bed, but lying down and staring at the ceiling, his face sombre from whatever is passing through his head.

Mounting on his thighs, I look him in the eyes and try a smile.

"What's passing through your mind? Tell me your plan." I know he already has one.

"I'll need you to do something for me," he says sighing.

"Sure. Whatever you need. Tell me what to do."

Getting to a sitting position too, still holding me on him, he tells me his plan. And the more he speaks, the more my jaw drops.

"So? What do you say about that, love?"

"Wait. You want me to what?"

"What I've just said."

"Dimitri, sweetheart, are you out of your mind?"


And have you seen that? I've left one thing unfinished *wink*. Poor Ivan that interrupt it unknowingly :)