Rose POV

Dimitri sat down on the ground next to me without saying a word, which didn't really contributed to my growing anxiety. After the dance, I completely forgot to meet him again, as crazy as that sounds. The rush and excitement had been the only things in my mind and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty, I did forget the boy I was in love with after all.

He didn't seem to hold it against me, though.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come back to talk to you..." I whisper, looking at my feet.

"It's okay, I understand." He replies, with a reassuring smile.

But what if he doesn't understand? What if he thinks I didn't want to talk to him anymore? I can't let him think that.

"I just forgot, truly! I was so caught up on the dance and the rush that - "

"You forgot everything else." He quietly interrupts.

My eyes widen with surprise and I look at him, really look at him. I'm astounded that he genuinely gets me, unlike most people. Any other person would think I was rude and would probably be offended at my lack of consideration.

Sensing my shock, he grins.

"Like I said, I understand."

A jolt of connection floats through me and I don't remember ever being happier than I am in this second.

"I watched you, dancing, I mean. You were amazing."

No matter how warm his words make me feel, he can't possibly feel the way I feel towards him, so I decide to laugh it off. I hate letting people see me hurt or affected by them in any way, it makes me feel weak and I've learned that I can't ever let someone see my weaknesses, it will only give them more power over me. Power to hurt me even more. So, despite my feelings for him, I can't let my guard down or he might crush me.

And I've been crushed enough times already.

"You're only saying that to be polite, per usual. Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings, you've probably seen way better dancers than me."

"No, never. And I'm not being polite either. Rose, watching you dance was one of the most captivating things I've ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off you."

The seriousness and fierceness of Dimitri's statement leaves me with no other choice but to believe him. I look for an answer but I come up with nothing, my mind is blank.

What do I say to that?

Time to take a page from the Rose Hathaway manual guide.

"I take it you like it, then?" I tease.

"Very much." His grin is also teasing, making me blush.

We continue to talk like this for hours and it feels so natural and... easy. We tease each other again and again, but we also talk about serious subjects like family.

That's a touchy one. For both of us.

"All I have is my mom, at least as far as I know."

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen your dad around." He says.

"That's because he never was. When he found out my mother was pregnant, he bailed and left her and me. I've never met him and I can't really talk to dear old mom about him, it ends badly." I grimace, recalling all the times I wondered and questioned her about my biological father and his whereabouts, when I was younger.

While growing up, all the kids at school had two parents and it made me feel out of place, as if there was something wrong with me. I just wanted to be normal and have a normal, happy family.

My wishes didn't come true , obviously, and the only answer I got to my questions were a couple of black, purplish marks all over my small body.

Dimitri noticed the shift in my behavior and he took my hand, lacing our fingers together and rubbing circles on my skin with his thumb.

"What happened? After you asked her?" Something is his eyes told me he already knew what I was about to say.

"Sometimes, she would hit me. Never in the face, she didn't want to draw any attention, especially not Mark's. Janine Hathaway is a very practical person, always making sure that any marks, scars or bruises were covered up. Other times... Well, it was worse so, eventually, I stopped asking."

He lifts my hand to his lips, dropping a soft kiss there. My heart raced wildly, but I didn't want him to pity me.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He says, never letting go of my hand.

"It's fine, it's in the past. I just don't want you to think differently about me because of it."

"You think I pity you?" His expression is of disbelief.

No answer from me. I'm afraid he does because I'm not some wallflower that needs people to pity her. I don't want to be seen as a victim or something of the sort. But then, I'm also afraid that, if I answer honestly. he'll think I have him in such low consideration.

"Rose?"

Nope, not answering, Comrade!

Dimitri takes a deep breath, apparently exasperated and I realize I must be acting like a child. Precisely on the night I'm trying to make him see me in another way.

Keep up the good work, Rosemarie! You're doing just great!

I start to worry about my own personal mental health due to the fact that, besides talking to myself, I used my full name, but before I can come to any conclusions, strong yet gentle hands place a few strands of hair behind my ears.

Then, one of those hands tilts my chin up to meet those brown eyes that I'm so infatuated with.

"Answer me?" He questions in a low tone.

But it's not a question at all, it's a demand. A demand I can't ignore due to the simple, inexplicable, inescapable fact that I'm overwhelmed with his eyes, his mouth, his lips, his hands, his touch, his everything.

Dimitri's whole self overwhelms me, but I decide to not duel in that right now. Or else I might end up kissing him and that would be too soon.

And maybe unwanted?

"Yes."

Neither of us breaks eye contact, although it takes a massive effort from my part to keep my eyes away from his lips.

His brow furrows and he drops his hands.

The warmth I felt seconds ago is immediately gone, like his hands.

Dimitri stands up, then strips off his duster, revealinga white t-shirt underneath.

"Well, you're wrong. Can you come over here, please?" His voice is pleading.

I oblige him and stand up as well, confused as to what he's doing.

"What are you doing?" I decide to inquire.

"Showing you that there's a difference between pity and compassion."

With that not soenlightening statement he grabbed the edges of his t-shirt, pulled the item over his head and dropped it to the ground, landing right on top of his duster.

My jaw dropped.

And despite what you may be thinking, it wasn't only because of the sight in front of me, although that would be jaw dropping too.

My stunned reaction was due to the vision of several white marks with different sizes, covering Dimitri's torso, chest, upper arms and if I had to take a guess, his back as well.

As if reading my mind, he turned his back to me, allowing me to see the worst and biggest of his marks.

Scars.

Dimitri was covered in scars.

Not the hideous kind you see in movies, though. They had healed nicely and now they were just little white lines covering his body. Except the ones on his back, those weren't so little, their length wasapproximately the same as my hand.

I reached up, running my fingers softly through his back, tracing each and every mark. I could easily guess how'd they gotten there.

"Belt?" I guess.

"Yeah." His voice comes out raspier than usual.

Goosebumps raise on his skin and Dimitri turns to face me. I look up at him, rumors flashing in my mind.

"I heard shouting in their house last night."

"I could swear I saw his father's knuckles all bloody."

"He doesn't talk much about his father, no one on that bunch does."

Dimitri just stood there, while the wheels turned in my head and all the dots started to connect. Within seconds, a light goes off in my mind and I'm pretty sure I know exactly what happened.

"You've heard the rumors, haven't you?"

"I-I... Yes, I have. But- but I never thought much about it. I thought- I thought it was only people with nothing better to do spreading gossip." I struggle to say.

"Well, yes they were. But some of it it's true." He says, dryly.

"Your father, he... Was he the one who...?" I trail off.

The thought of someone hurting Dimitri sickens me. And his father no less. We're really more alike than we know.

He nods, his face twisting with hurt and anger as he probably remembers one of the times his piece of shit father hit him.

"He used to beat all of us, my mother, my sisters and me. It came to a point where he broke my mom's ribs kicking her and I couldn't take it anymore... so I hit him back. He was surprised." He chuckles, but it isn't that warm, happy laugh I love. It's dark. "I guess he didn't think his own son could knock him to the ground, because he left for good that same day."

I lace our fingers together, squeesing his hand to try to show him how sorry I am for everything he and his family had to go through because of that monster.

Dimitri squeezes back.

"So you see, it isn't pity I feel for you, it's - "

I interrupt him, because I finally understood.

"Compassion."

And it is. I had no idea that Dimitri had also been beaten by his parent, but I did now and it didn't change the way I saw him. He was still the strongest (and most beautiful) person I know.

Dimitri crouches down, picking up his t-shirt and putting it on.

And I don't realize I'm staring until he says:

"Do you think they're ugly?"

"Uh, what?" Could this be more embaressing? I can't even say one word naturally.

"My scars, you were staring." Dimitri gazes at me,apprehensively.

How could I ever find his scars ugly? Is he crazy? I decide to ask him just that.

"Are you crazy? How could I think they're ugly?" He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off, wrapping my arms around him.

"They aren't ugly, they're beautiful because they make you who you are." I whisper in his ear.

I hear his sharp intake of air at my declaration before he wrapps his arms around me and pulls me closer. He buries his face in my hair and somehow I know he's smiling.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere!" Someone shouts and we quickly pull away from each other, as we're interrupted.

But not by just anyone, I realize.

Adrian freaking Ivashkov.

A/N: I hope you like this chapter. Leave a review if you'd like, it would help me know what you guys think of my story :)

If you catch any mistakes, please let me know and I'll correct them.