a/n: Hey, guys! I just want to say thank you for all of the reviews for last chapter. I haven't had a chance to respond yet because it's raining hard here, and that really messes with my internet connection. As soon as I post this, I will start responding! If you don't get a reply tonight, it's because my connection is on the brink again. :( My apologies.

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"Well, hello there, stranger," Lissa greeted Rose as she walked into the apartment.

"Hey," Rose said glumly as she sat down on the couch next to her friend.

Lissa laughed. "You don't sound like someone who's going away with her boy toy for the weekend."

"That's because I'm not," Rose muttered.

"Why not?" Lissa asked.

"Because we are about to experience our very first Nor'easter," Rose announced.

"What is a Nor'easter?" Lissa asked

"It's what they call the snowstorm that's going to kick Maine's ass."

"Well, I don't see the problem," Lissa said in amusement. "Hot chocolate…cuddling in bed…that's right up your alley, Rose. It's what Christian and I will be doing."

"Thanks for the visual," Rose said dryly.

"Welcome!"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"He still telling you he loves you?" Lissa asked.

Rose nodded. "And playing with my hair when we watch television. And holding my hand while he reads his book…but no sex. It's quite nauseating, really."

Lissa grinned. "I think you secretly like it."

"Oh, please," Rose said exaggeratedly.

"I know you, Rose," Lissa insisted. "If you were feeling smothered, you wouldn't be spending every single night with him."

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate psychology majors?" Rose mumbled.

"I'm not even through Psyche 101 yet. I just have common sense. And I know you," Lissa repeated.

"Well them maybe you could tell me how I can make it through the rest of this week sleeping with my boyfriend, but not really sleeping with him," Rose suggested.

"Is it really that hard for you to lie in bed next to a guy and close your eyes?" Lissa asked in disbelief.

"It is if he hadn't worn me out first," Rose answered.

Lissa tilted her head to the side and studied her friend.

"What?" Rose asked after a minute.

"I'm trying to decide if you're just a slut, or if you're a nympho," she replied.

Rose grinned shamelessly. "Can't I be both?"

"OK…changing the subject. Our flight leaves at noon next Wednesday," Lissa reminded her.

Rose sighed. "I really hope my parents don't come home for Thanksgiving."

"They never have before," Lissa said wryly.

"I know…but it's just my luck they'd come home this year while I'm in a semi-functional relationship—and by that, I mean that Dimitri is the functional one—and give me a complex."

"Don't let them!" Lissa exclaimed. "Rose, you don't even have to see them. You can tell them you're staying on campus."

"That's true," Rose agreed. "I mean—lying to my parents always does seem to be the best route."

Lissa nodded. "This way we can get the whole gang together. You know no one else's parents are going to be in town, either. It'll be like a mini-reunion."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh, goodie."

"You love our friends!"

"Lissa—all of our guy friends, at one time or another, have tried to get me into bed," Rose reminded her.

"That never bothered you before."

"Yes, well…now that I know I have issues, I have a huge problem with it. I mean…is that why I want to have sex with Dimitri all the time? Because that's what guys have always wanted from me?"

"Well," Lissa said. "You did say he was hung."

Rose gasped, then picked up a pillow and hurled it at her friend.

"So…my flight leaves next Wednesday at noon," Rose said conversationally as she looked up from her text book.

"Your flight?" Dimitri asked in surprise as he lifted his eyes to hers.

Rose nodded. "I'm going home for Thanksgiving," she told him.

"Oh," he said. "I guess I assumed you'd be spending the holiday here."

"No," Rose said as she stood up from the kitchen table and grabbed a bottled water from the refrigerator. "Most of our friends are going to be home, so Liss, Christian and I decided we'd fly back to see them."

Dimitri nodded slowly.

"Is…that…OK?" Rose asked as she sat back down across from him. It weirded her out that she felt like she needed to ask his permission.

"Yeah," he answered. "Of course it is. You don't need to ask me if you can go home for break."

"But…" Rose took a deep breath. "I feel like it's not OK. Your mouth is saying one thing, but your face is saying another."

"Is that guy going to be there?" Dimitri finally asked.

"Wha…Adrian?" Rose returned in surprise.

"Yes. Adrian," Dimitri said sharply. "Is he going to be there?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "Probably with his girlfriend."

"Probably or definitely?" he pressed.

"I don't know. I didn't ask him," she informed him in a bristling tone. "In fact, I haven't even talked to him since the morning you saw him leave, Dimitri."

"Then how do you know he's going to be there?"

"Because Christian talks to him a lot," she said. "And he…happened to…relay the information to me."

"I don't like the way he looks at you," Dimitri muttered.

"Well…have you seen the way I look at him?" she asked. "Because there's nothing 'lusty' about it. Adrian is just a friend, Dimitri."

When he didn't say anything, Rose stood up, walked over to Dimitri, and sat down in his lap. She lifted a hand to the back of his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair. "You could come home with me," she suggested softly.

He grabbed her arm and pushed it away. "No, I can't Roza," he bit out. "I'm still your teacher."

"The only ones who know that are Lissa and Christian," she reminded him.

"Yeah, and I'm not happy that I've put them in that position," he barked. "I'm supposed to be an authority figure."

Rose stood up from his lap and tried to force down her anger. "I feel like there's nothing I can say right now to reason with you," she said accusingly.

"Yeah? Welcome to my world," he said scathingly.

Rose stood there for a moment unblinking before she walked over and closed her textbook, then placed it in her bag. "I'm going to bed," she announced.

"Good night," Dimitri said.

It was a few hours before Dimitri finally came to bed. She heard the rustle of his clothes as he shed them, and the mattress shifted as he slipped into bed beside her. "Are you awake?" he whispered.

"Yes," she answered as she rolled over onto her back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just…I hate that you make me jealous."

"I'm sorry," Rose responded. "I don't mean to." She knew that if she could just find the words and tell him she loved him, too, that it would make him more secure in their relationship, but she couldn't bring herself to say them yet.

"That's not what I meant," he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm not blaming you. I mean I hate that I get jealous so easily when it comes to you, Roza."

"You don't need to be jealous, Dimitri," she assured him. "I'm with you because this is where I want to be."

"I know that," he said.

She lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "Of course…if you wanted to remind me that I'm yours, I'd be OK with that," she said as she slid her knee between his thighs.

"Do I need to remind you that you're mine?" he asked fervently. The moonlight illuminated the room enough so she could see his eyes darken.

"No," she said quickly. "Every part of me knows that. Trust me."

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Then there's no need to remind you," he said as he rolled away from her. "Good night, Roza."