I thought I was going to dread taking English Literature, and I hated that it was one of the only electives that was remotely normal. I was fortunate to score the only spot in the lecture hall that was a two seater, and my heated glare was enough to keep people at bay from taking my other seat.

That was, until he showed up. He met my glare with an amused expression and politely asked if he could sit with me, claiming that it was the only place in the hall with enough leg room for him to sit comfortably. I appraised his height for a moment before nodding, tucking my legs in so he could step in.

"Thank you," he said quietly. I detected an accent that I couldn't place, but nodded and gave him a tight smile.

"No problem."

He sat down and opened the beaten and used leather bag and pulled out his supplies, setting them on the small tablet.

"I'm Dimitri," he said, extending his hand to me.

I chuckled and shook it firmly. "Rose."

Dimitri smiled and nodded his head before turning his attention to the lecturer at the front of the room. I leaned back in my chair, crossing my legs and getting into a comfortable position. In the process, banging my foot against one of Dimitri's shins.

"Shit! Sorry," I whispered. Dimitri's eyes flicked over to mine and shook it off, the corner of his lips quirking up.

And that was the start of a beautiful lecture hall friendship.

Over the weeks, I started to chat his ear off in hushed tones, telling him all about my friends, my boyfriend, my parents, and my major. Dimitri didn't answer or respond much but would occasionally make comments. One time he even offered up that his family still lived in Russia, but that his sister Viktoria was studying in the states as well. It was clear that he was quiet, but there was something about him that made me feel safe enough to talk to him about anything.

Well, almost anything.

I winced as I adjusted in my seat, the bruise on my tailbone throbbing violently. With my hood pulled up and my sleeves pulled all the way down, I tried to retreat into myself and become invisible.

I tried my best to cover the blue and red hue around my eye with makeup, but my skin was so tender that it was nearly impossible.

I could hear footsteps moving closer to me and I carefully tucked my legs in so that Dimitri could get to his seat. He seemed preoccupied as he sat down, his eyes trained on his cell phone. He looked up and said his greeting before getting his things together and sitting down beside me. I cleared my throat and greeted him as well,before becoming silent again.

An hour of class had gone by when Dimitri spoke.

"You're very quiet today."

"Figured you would probably be getting tired of hearing me talk all the time," I said off-handedly, but I could hear the undertone of bitterness in my voice.

"Just because I don't say much, doesn't mean I don't like hearing what you have to say," Dimitri said with a slight laugh a moment later, leaning in his seat to try and look at me. I tried to move in a way that he wouldn't be able to see the side of my face, but I pushed back on my tailbone in the process and whimpered.

"Rose?"

Dimitri leaned towards me and I couldn't move back in time. His intake of breath was as loud as a gunshot to me.

Dimitri turned his body and full attention towards me, gently pulling the edge of the hood away so he could properly look at my eye.

"What happened?"

My eyes welled up with tears and I tried to blink them back, but a few slipped out.

"I really don't want to talk about it," I whispered. Dimitri sighed and kept his eyes on me, patiently waiting.

"Was it your boyfriend?"

I didn't answer him verbally, but my eyes moved up to him. It was confirmation enough for him.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," I whispered pathetically. Dimitri looked at me for a few seconds before sitting back in his chair.

During our break in class, Dimitri left abruptly, leaving his supplies behind but taking his bag. I stayed in my seat and closed my eyes, resting in the quiet peace. Maybe ten minutes later Dimitri was back, sitting down beside me and opening his bag on his lap. He pulled out a few bottles and lotions.

"Take these," Dimitri said, pouring two pills into my hand and handing me his water bottle. I looked down and took them, swallowing them down. He then uncapped a tube of lotion and set it on the tablet. He then put a little bit of sanitizer on his hand and then picked up the lotion again. He squirted a bit out onto his index finger and gestured for me to take the hood down. I sighed, knowing he wouldn't leave it alone, and did what he wanted, turning carefully in my seat to face him.

Dimitri slowly reached out and, with great tenderness, dabbed the lotion directly to the bruise under my eyes.

"Close your eyes," he said.

I did and took a slow breath as he applied it closer to my eyelid, his fingers rough to touch but gentle with application.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Arnica," Dimitri replied quietly, "it's used for bruises and inflammation. It works really well."

I nodded and winced. He withdrew his hand and dug around in his bag again. Something cracked and I flinched when something cold pressed against my face. I placed my hand on top of his and opened my eyes, giving him a shameful smile.

"What happened, Rose?" Dimitri asked again.

"I've known for a while that my boyfriend Jesse had been cheating on me. I just didn't have anywhere to go when I found out. I finally was able to get my own place last week, so when I confronted him about it last night, it ended in a huge fight. His family is all about public appearance and I threatened to tell everyone about how long he had been cheated and with how many different women. He snapped," I explained.

"I knew that Jesse could have a hot temper, but he had never been this violent towards me until last night. First it was a hit to the face and when I fought back, he pushed me down into the stairs."

Dimitri's jaw tightened and ticked as he listened, his nose flaring slightly.

I looked down to my lap and sighed deeply. God what a mess.

"Is that why you're wincing so much?

I nodded my head. Dimitri pulled his hand away from my face and capped the arnica lotion. Dimitri leaned down and tucked the tube into my backpack, giving me a gentle smile when he looked up.

"You can keep that one. I have more at home," Dimitri said as other students started to fill the room again. I whispered my thanks and pulled my hood back up, getting comfortable in my chair again. The lecturer started up again and I could see Dimitri looking at me out of the corner of his eye a few times. I met his gaze at one point and gave him a reassuring smile, which he returned. I looked back to the front of the room when gentle warmth settled on my hand resting on the tablet.

My eyes flicked down to find Dimitri's hand over mine, squeezing it gently before he removed his hand.

The arnica lotion Dimitri gave me was a godsend. I had never known something to help speed the healing along, and I was thankful. I ended up having to block Jesse's number because Jesse kept calling me trying to apologize. But I wasn't having it. I didn't want to hear his apology.

Dimitri checked in on me every day, either in person or in a text. It was nice to have someone know and check in without fearing anyone judging.

I waited patiently before class for Dimitri to show up, a thank-you coffee waiting for him. I sipped my hot chocolate as I watched my classmates filter in. Finally, Dimitri came in with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He smiled at me as he climbed the steps and slipped in beside me.

"Morning," he said as he sank down in his seat.

"Morning," I said, setting his cup on the table. He looked down at the cup and smiled fondly, looking up at me with a full smile on his face.

"What's this for?"

"A thank you for taking care of me, for being there for me," I said. Dimitri pulled his hand out of his pocket and lifted the cup to his lips. I followed the action with my eyes and was surprised to find his knuckles cracked and bruised.

"Oh God, what happened to your hand?!"

Dimitri shook his head as he sipped. "Went a little too hard on a heavy weight bag last night. It's nothing."

I regarded him curiously, but let it go, sipping the warm chocolate concoction in my cup. Today's lecture was pretty good, actually keeping my interest until my phone buzzed violently against my desk. It happened so many times that it was becoming distracting.

I opened the lock screen to find multiple messages from my best friends Lissa and Mia, one from Jesse's mother and one from my new roommate, Sydney.

Lissa: IDK if you heard yet, but someone beat the shit out of Jesse last night. He's in the hospital.

Mia: Looks like Karma bit that asshole in the ass! Sucks it wasn't me!

I furrowed my brows and leaned forward in my seat, reading the texts from Jesse's mother and Sydney.

"Is everything okay?" Dimitri asked, noticing my furrowed brows and tense posture.

"Um yeah," I said clearing my throat and putting my phone away, "Someone jumped my ex last night. He's in the hospital."

Dimitri made a noise in the back of his throat and reached out again, resting his hand on mine. I looked over at him and gave him a tight lipped smile, feeling slightly conflicted. I felt bad that Jesse's mother was as upset as she was, but I felt guilty that I agreed with Mia.

"Maybe that will be enough to make him never lay his hands on another person," Dimitri said softly. I shrugged and sighed quietly, sinking back into my seat. Who could have hurt Jesse that bad? I mean, Jesse was lean, but he wasn't weak.

I shrugged my bag higher on my shoulder as I trudged through the snow. Exams were almost over. Thank God! The only one left was my English one and I was very confident, thanks to Dimitri.

After going into class the day after my incident with Jesse, Dimitri and I had gotten closer and even hung out a handful of times outside of class. Mostly just casual, but a few times we found ourselves closer than was strictly necessary, or Dimitri would make flirtatious banter with me. The last few days, we even studied together for our exam.

"Rose!"

I stopped and turned, finding the last person I wanted to see.

"What do you want?" I asked, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

Jesse jogged to catch up with me, pulling his backpack off his shoulder.

"I found this behind the dresser at the apartment. I figured you'd want it back," Jesse said, pulling out a sealed plastic bag. I took a slow intake of breath as I took it from his, fingering the silver chain through the back.

"My nazar," I said happily. One of the only gifts I had from my dad. I had only met him a few times because of his line of work. Mom explained to me when I was sixteen that Dad worked within the government, as a mole of sorts. Dad was cunning and charming, easy to talk to, and could have you spilling your deepest darkest secrets to him within seconds.

He gave this to me on my eighteenth birthday, because even though he was a badass, he was a superstitious bastard.

"Thanks," I said, pulling the chain out of the bag and fastening it around my neck. Jesse nodded and tucked his hands into his pockets.

I nodded but didn't say anything, just waited to see if he would say anything, but he didn't.

"Did they find out who did it? Were you injured bad?"

Jesse shook his head. "No, I didn't get a good look at him either. But the bastard was huge. I mean built like a house and taller than anyone I've ever seen. And not really, I had a black eye, concussion, and some bruising. But other than that, I'm fine."

I nodded again. "Look, I have an exam."

"Right, right. Anyways, I just wanted to give that back to you."

I pressed my lips together and headed towards the lecture hall, jogging to get there quicker. I managed to get there with a few minutes to spare and hurried up to my seat. I smiled at Dimitri as I shrugged my coat off, sitting down and bumping my shoulder against his.

"Hi."

"Hey Roza," Dimitri said softly, tucking his paperback into his backpack. The nickname was something Dimitri gave me shortly after my incident with Jesse, and I loved hearing it. It made my heart flutter a little bit each time. I looked over my notes quickly and toyed with the chain around my neck, happy to have it back. Yes, Jesse was a douchebag, but at least he had the kindness to return my prized possession.

"What's that?"

"It was my dad's, I lost it a few months back. Jesse found it behind the dresser, I guess, and brought it to me a few minutes ago. It's one of the only things I have of my dad's," I said, smiling as I held the chain up higher so that Dimitri could look at the blue eye-like pendant.

"It's beautiful," Dimitri said, putting his fingers under the pendant so he could look at it better.

"Did he say anything to you? Did he hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No, he didn't say anything. I asked him if they found the guy that roughed him up, but he said that he didn't really see him. Just that he was really tall and big," I said as I bent over to pull my stuff out of my bag. I sat up and pulled my hair into a bun on the top of my head, watching the lecturer hand out our exams.

"Good luck, Comrade," I said quietly, smiling at him as I flipped my paper over.

Part 1 of 2!:) I had this idea floating around and thought I would share with you all!:)

Big, big thank you to HonestPassion13 for editing and helping me with the summary!

Let me know what you think!:)