No one spoke.
Abe glanced around, brows drawn together. He pushed his hands into his pockets, appearing relaxed when he was far from it. "I better get some answers."
"Nathan was antagonising Dimitri, sir," Mason explained. He always had a fear of my father. "He was saying stuff, and then the fight started."
Abe tilted his head, "And who threw the first punch?"
"Dad, this isn't Dimitri's fault," I pleaded, hoping to convince him to let it go.
"Were you here to see that?"
I faltered. My eyes dropped to my feet.
He cleared his throat. "One last time. Who threw the first punch?"
"I did, sir."
I slowly turned to look up at Dimitri; his jaw clenched as he held my father's eyes. Abe took a step toward us. "You started a fight at my home?"
Dimitri gave a curt nod. "I apologise for the disturbance I caused."
I tried to catch Dimitri's eyes, wondering what Nathan had said that would make him start a fight. I never thought Dimitri would live up to the gossip that went around the campus about him starting fights.
"Pavel, take Dimitri to my office and find someone to clean up Nathan before his mother sees him. Otherwise, we would never hear the end of it," My father ordered, waving his hand as if it were trivial.
I clutched Dimitri's arm, looking at my father in alarm, "It's not his fault," I defended again.
Abe's eyebrows raised, "He admitted he started the fight, that sounds like it is."
"Dad–"
"It's okay, Rose," Dimitri soothed me, hand covering mine, gently prying my fingers off his sleeve. "I'm sorry for ruining the party." He gave me an apologetic smile, walking away when Pavel inclined his head back towards the house.
It wasn't fair. I turned on my father, "You're letting Nathan off and putting all the blame on Dimitri?"
"I'm going to talk to him and decide what to do from there," Abe placated. He rested a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.
I watched with mouth agape as my father walked off. This could not be happening. I didn't know if my father would call the police or ask Dimitri to leave. My stomach twisted into knots at the notion that I had caused trouble for Dimitri by inviting him here.
A deep chuckle and footsteps made me spin back to find Nathan walking towards me, a pleased grin on his face. "That would teach him for thinking he could aim above his standing," he claimed, laughing again. "You don't need to outsource cheap foreign labour to find a man to please you, Rose."
With a snarl, I balled my fist and struck Nathan in the nose, watching him fall to his back with satisfaction. "Stay the fuck away from me, Nathan!" I pointed at Mason and Eddie, "You two come with me. You're going to tell me what happened."
"He was saying stuff about you, and Dimitri got pissed," Mason explained with a shrug.
I waited a moment, waving my hand when he didn't say more. "What did he say?"
He pulled back, "I'm not repeating it."
"I'm going to beat your ass, Ashford," I warned. We were waiting outside my father's office, the doors closed. I paced, praying that I wasn't about to see police come marching down the hall; granted, Abe would prefer to meet them at the gate so there was no commotion.
It had already been almost ten minutes, and I was about to start banging on the door when it opened to reveal Dimitri. He was startled, face a bit pale; when our eyes met, he gave me a hesitant smile. "Rose," he breathed, "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?" I demanded, "What are you doing? Is he kicking you out?" I marched past him and into the study, slamming my hands on my father's desk and staring him down. "You are not kicking out my date, old man!"
Abe leaned back in his leather chair, tenting his fingers over his lap, "I'm not doing anything, kiz."
My eyes narrowed. "Bullshit."
"Really, Rose, it's okay," Dimitri promised. "We just talked."
"Take Dimitri and clean him up. Pavel will be up with a new suit. I expect to see you both cleaned up and ready for the ceremony in twenty minutes," Abe told me as he stood from his desk, buttoning his suit jacket and patting down his scarf. "Remember what I said," he directed at Dimitri.
I itched to ask but was also worried that Abe might change his mind, so I took Dimitri's hand and dragged him out of the office. I didn't pay attention to who we passed, unashamed as I led him to my room again.
Peering back at him, I noticed the small bruise under his bloody lip, dirt and grass marks covered his suit, and the seam on his right shoulder ripped. I took him into my bathroom and told him to sit on the lip of the bathtub.
"I have disinfectant in the cupboard," I told him and turned to search for it and a cotton bud. I had a habit of getting into fights in high school or injuring myself when hanging out with Mason and Eddie, so I always kept a stock of first aid in my room to hide it from my mother.
I exclaimed when I found it, pulling the bottle out and grabbing a washcloth to clean his face first. Dimitri sat still as I worked, wincing occasionally.
"I'm sorry about all this. I never thought Nathan would take it this far," I apologised.
Dimitri shook his head, "It's not your fault."
Once I removed all the dirt and dried blood, I used a cotton bud to gently apply the disinfectant, whispering apologies as I went. I tossed the cotton bud away when I was finished, studying Dimitri as he examined his hands. "What did he say that made you feel the need to defend me?"
His eyes flicked to mine then back to his hands. "Does it matter?"
"It does to me," I replied and crossed my arms. "Is defending people with your fists something you do often?"
There was always an aura of power with Dimitri; something that told me he could hold his own. And watching him fight, I knew that was true. It was part of what scared people off.
"Is that why you beat up that guy at the party? Were you defending someone?"
Dimitri paused. Slowly, his eyes met mine, a fire in them. "I don't like people that treat others without respect." He thumbed at his lip, gingerly touching the cut, "I didn't like what he was saying about you, so I put him in his place."
A knock at the door stopped me from responding. I opened the door, relieved it was only Pavel. Without a word, he passed a hanger, a suit on it covered in a plastic bag. I had no idea where my father was keeping suits big enough to fit Dimitri and I wasn't going to question it. I walked back into the bathroom and hung it on the hook, smoothing it down as I thought.
"You don't have to hang around. You know that, right?" I peered over my shoulder to hold his eyes, "All the questions and the shit with Nathan, I would understand if you wanted to get out of here. I won't blame you."
An eyebrow arched. Dimitri climbed to his feet, taking a step closer, making me tilt my head. "I'm not going anywhere, Roza," he promised, low tone husky, just above a whisper. It made my stomach do flips and made my toes curl.
I swallowed, dropping my eyes. A nervous energy overtook my body, making me blush, ducking my head so my hair would cover it from view. "Okay. I'll let you get dressed," I excused myself, backing out of the bathroom and closing the door.
Lissa's words from earlier played in my head as I collapsed on my bed, catching my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were still flushed, eyes wide with the realisation that she may have been right.
I really liked Dimitri.
I dragged my fingers through my hair, sighing dramatically as we stood to the side, waiting for our turn. The guy running the ceremony was taking his sweet time going about and tying each couple's wrists. I caught myself before I started tapping my foot.
"Relax, Rose," Dimitri whispered, hands in the pocket of the black suit pants he had borrowed. The jacket was too tight, so Dimitri was just in the white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up on his forearms and the top buttons were undone to expose his neck. Every time I looked, I would lick my lips and think about kissing the skin.
I forced my eyes away, crossing my arms. "I just want to get this over with, and then I can drink a glass of wine and we can leave." And then we go back to just talking to each other in passing. It was getting harder to tell myself that.
"You really don't like this," he chuckled.
"No," I hissed, "it's stupid and a waste of time. And all a lie. I don't give a fuck about what a candle says."
Dimitri shrugged, eyes on Lissa and Christian, their hands fastened with a blue candle held between them. "It could be nice having a soulmate."
I watched Lissa take a deep breath, holding it as she waited for the candle to light. She and Christian met in the library, fighting over a book before he offered to let her read it on a date. It took a while to get her family on board with her dating him, but eventually, they came around.
After their first date, Lissa said she knew Christian was her soulmate, and they were about to find out.
I peered at Dimitri from the corner of my eye—I doubt he felt that about me.
There was a collective gasp when their candle lit—the flame strong. It was similar to Mason's and Eddie's—their souls clearly resonated. The look on Lissa's face, her happiness and affection, made me jealous.
I looked away. "I don't think so."
It was our turn next. My palm was sweating when I extended it to Dimitri, feeling the roughness of his skin against mine when we clasped hands. The silk wrap was tied securely, and the blue candle was placed between our palms.
There was no reason to be nervous.
I knew it wasn't going to light. And yet, I felt jittery.
Dimitri caught my eye, a sad smile on his face. "It's okay, Rose."
I couldn't understand why he sounded so disappointed. I couldn't ask. My body went rigid as a wave of energy went through me; every hair stood on end. My heart was in my throat and my stomach dropped to my feet.
Our eyes met; the colour in Dimitri's eyes shined, amber highlights illuminated by the fire between us.
The candle wick was burning.
Our soulmate candle lit.
The flame was brighter than Lissa's and Christian's. Brighter than any candle I had seen. My jaw dropped in shock, and a similar look was on his face.
Dimitri was my soulmate.
Fuck.
I do have plans for continuing this one, just may be a slow upload.
I hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think 3
