Okay guys, sorry I'm a bit late; I was watching Criminal Minds with my family when I should've been writing. Hee hee.
Anyway, much thanks to Strawberry Sweet Yume and Faithlove14 for following. You guys are awesome!
Many thanks must also go to my amazing reviewers;
AnimeLover in heaven, trust me dear, there wont be anything innocent about it. Hehehehe. No, I'm joking. Or am I?
To littlehanyan; glad you love it so much, I'm just trying to contribute and spread the love for this amazing pairing. No, poor Toris didn't deserve any of that. And they are all precious babies. Don't worry, everything will work out. Mostly. In the end.
PCheshire, I don't really see Dimitri impaling anyone in this day and age but as for the rest of your suggestion…well…read and find out. You know I love to make my reviewers happy.
To the Prussia-awesome with Gilbird-peeps on top DeathbladeMeister; YOU'RE BACK! I missed you! And as for your question, you're about to find out!
One last thanks must also go to the amazing Seth Kirkland-Jones who always makes me want to write this fic.
Enjoy guys, I don't own.
Chapter 8: The Days
Dimitri stared at Nickolas's door and sighed loudly. Well, not too loudly or Nickolas might start wondering why his female roommate sighed like a man. Nickolas had come to see the apartment with Dimitri and praised the apartment politely saying that he would be thrilled to stay for a day or two until things cleared up on his end.
Dimitri, desperately lonely (though there was no way he was admitting that to Roderich), had told Nickolas he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. It didn't look like things were going to clear up on Nickolas's end for a while so if Dimitri played his cards right he might just have found himself a roommate.
Be careful what you wish for huh? Thought Dimitri, trying to burn a hole through Nickolas's door with his eyes. It wasn't working.
Nickolas was on the phone, again, speaking German to someone on the other end so quietly Dimitri couldn't hear what they were saying.
It wasn't that Dimitri didn't want Nickolas to stay, he liked the quiet Bulgarian. Everything about Nickolas always seemed to cheer Dimitri up, which was weird because Nickolas wasn't exactly the cheerful type.
He just wished he'd get some kind of explanation to what the Hell was going on.
Nickolas's door opened and Dimitri jumped backwards, trying to make it look as though he hadn't been lurking in front of it the whole time and failing miserably.
Nickolas raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about it, "a friend of mine is coming over to drop off a couple of personal items from my old house, is that okay? I feel bad invading your house like this and bring another strange guy over; it must be making you uncomfortable."
Dimitri shook his head, "you aren't invading, I invited you in."
And it makes me less uncomfortable than you might believe, he thought, but didn't say. Dimitri was thinking but not saying a lot of things these days, it came with the territory.
"It's fine if your friend comes over," he said out loud.
Nickolas's usually blank face softened ever so slightly, "thank you Wihelmina." Dimitri had told him before to call 'her' Mina but the Bulgarian insisted on using 'her' full name.
Nickolas walked into the front room, Dimitri hurried to catch up. There were a couple of small boxes of Nickolas's things that his old neighbour had brought around. Nickolas picked up one and Dimitri grabbed the other.
"I'll help you unpack," 'she' offered.
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary; I won't be staying that long." Said Nickolas, he walked into the room he was using and set the box down by the bed before returning to the front room for his man-purse.
Satchel, Dimitri reminded himself. But it was a man-purse and they both knew it.
Nickolas reached for the satchel just as Dimitri moved to put the box in Nickolas's temporary room. Then he stumbled on his stupid, girly, high-heel and tripped, falling forwards.
Dimitri let out a not-very-manly (thankfully) yip of surprise and Nickolas turned at the noise. Dimitri fell right on top of him, sending them both crashing to the floor, along with the box.
"Ooh, I'm sorry, are you alright?" Asked Dimitri, Nickolas nodded wordlessly and the blond realized he was still hovering over his companion who was lying on his back on the floor.
How cliché, he thought. Elizabeta would be dying of laughter or a nosebleed if she could see them now.
Dimitri scrambled backwards and made to stand up when a noise stopped him.
Laughter.
But it wasn't him that was laughing and it certainly wasn't Nickolas either.
Both turned to the door and Dimitri glowered at the newcomer, leaning against the doorframe laughing, a bag clutched in one hand.
"Roderich, what are you doing in my house?"
Dimitri, only making a half-assed attempt to use his girl's voice, sat down at the kitchen table beside Roderich and across from Nickolas, cracking his coke can open with a sigh, "do you know everyone?" He grumbled at his Austrian friend.
"I was about to ask him the same question," said Nickolas, "and you. I can't believe you two know each other."
Earlier Dimitri had asked his Austrian friend –who was busy laughing at them- what he was doing at Dimitri's house, Roderich never came over without calling first unless it was urgent. And considering he was taking the time to laugh at Dimitri accidentally falling on top of Nickolas the blond was sure it couldn't be that urgent.
He was then to discover, to his absolute joy, that Roderich was the friend Nickolas had spoken of, the one who had warned him his mother's goons –or whatever- had found his house and was then coming over to Dimitri's to drop off some of Nickolas's stuff.
Roderich. Was. Nickolas's. Friend.
Close friend from the look of it, Dimitri thought, watching the two of them together, Nickolas seemed to light up the second Roderich had walked through the door. He'd seemed happy that the two of them knew each other, it was obvious that Nickolas adored Roderich.
But how much? And in what way? Thought Dimitri, watching them.
Roderich shrugged his shoulders lightly, "yes, Wihelmina and I have been friends for a few years now, we met five years ago, when her family was on a vacation to Austria." He left out the part where Dimitri's family had been at a social function for the high-up Austrian politicians and the Romanian royal family, for that, Dimitri was grateful.
Roderich turned to 'Wihelmina,' "and Nickolas and I met a year ago when I first bought a house in America."
Nickolas smiled slightly, "this isn't the first time Roderich's helped me with a bad situation."
Roderich smiled back and Dimitri felt slightly jealous, who of though, he wasn't quite sure. He shook the feeling off.
"So I can't go back to my place at all?" Asked Nickolas, changing the subject.
"I'm afraid not. Her men are everywhere, if you're so much as seen I'm afraid you'll be dragged onto a plane and brought back to Bulgaria by force." Roderich said honestly. They both looked as though someone had died.
Dimitri wanted to ask questions –like if Roderich was getting his life mixed up with Nickolas's- but he didn't. Both brunets seemed uncomfortable discussing this in front of him so Dimitri decided to take a walk. He wanted to know, sure. But he wanted Nickolas to tell him when the time was right.
And it's not like I have any right to bitch about them keeping secrets, I don't know what's up with Nickolas but I'm sure my secret's just as bad-or worse. And now I'm asking Roderich to lie to a friend for me.
He got up from his chair, "well you guys talk serious, I'm going to go get some more milk, there's nothing worse than being out of milk you know." He flashed his brightest, girlish smile.
Nickolas looked apologetic, "this is your house, you don't have to leave. We're just discussing some of my mother's more…overbearing tendencies. That's all."
Dimitri waved him off, "nah, its fine! You guys are getting a bit serious for me! I'll be back in twenty minutes, half an hour, tops." He darted out the door.
Wow, and I thought my mother was bad. At least she's not like his. Dimitri thought, walking down a nearby street, kicking a rock. Though a little voice in my head called 'common sense' tells me that's not all of it. Hmm, I'll have to find out someday. He reached the rock and kicked it again.
"N-no, let go of me. Please," A shaky voice interrupted Dimitri's thoughts. He peered down a banal, dingy ally to find four men, all older and broader than he was, dragging a young blond woman of around Dimitri's age down the ally, away from the general public. The stopped and one of them pushed the woman up against the wall.
"C'mon baby, we just wanna have a little fun, that's all," one of them said. If the situation wasn't so serious Dimitri would've rolled his eyes. How stereotypical could you get?
Instead of rolling his eyes he started down the alley at a run, if he had his phone on him he'd call the police. But he'd left it at home. The odds aren't exactly in my favour and I'm not exactly dressed for this but come on! What am I supposed to do, let her get raped in front of me?
All of a sudden the woman stopped whimpering and kneed the man directly in front of her in the groin. When he was doubled over and off balance she pushed him into one of his companions, sending them stumbling. She then broke through the semi-circle of men around her and took off in Dimitri's direction.
One of the other men grabbed her from behind; she screamed loudly for help and threw her body to the side. The man holding her stumbled, but unfortunately, so did she. By the time she righted herself the man was on his feet and grabbed her again. Dimitri caught a glimpse of her frightened green eyes before the man yanked her head to the side by her blonde hair.
"Damn bitch!" He snarled.
Dimitri reached them and grabbed the man's shoulder, when the guy turned around Dimitri punched him in the face. He released the woman; Dimitri caught her hand and pulled her behind him. "Call the police," he ordered. The woman pulled out her phone but fumbled with it, it fell to the ground and one of the men stepped on it, shattering it into pieces.
"You'll pay for that you damn blonde bitch," he snarled.
"…I doubt that," Dimitri replied when he realised that the man was actually talking to him, not the blonde woman behind him.
The men charged at him but Dimitri had learned self-defence and been trained in a hard school.
The first man he targeted was the man whose nose he had broken, the second the man the blonde had kneed in the groin. They were the two wounded ones, the ones less likely to put up a fight.
They didn't, he trounced them in seconds, and he then turned to the remaining three. One threw a punch at him, he ducked and grabbed the man, yanking him forwards and sticking out his leg. The man stumbled and Dimitri helped him fall, shoving him and kicking him in the back, hard, as he fell.
The next man tried to tackle him but Dimitri dodged to the side, he stuck out his leg again but it didn't work as well this time, the man stumbled but didn't lose his footing. He threw a wild punch, Dimitri ducked underneath it and hit him with an uppercut to the jaw and the man went down like a stone.
He turned to the remaining guy but found he had already been floored by the blonde woman who stopped him from rising with a well-aimed kick to the head.
"Are you alright?" 'Wihelmina' asked, 'she' quickly drew the woman away. Three more men were running down the alley towards them and Dimitri cursed, "how many of these guys are there?" He muttered.
He grabbed the woman's hand, "let's go!" He yelled in his girl's voice. They raced off down the street and didn't stop running until they reached Dimitri's apartment.
"Hey guys, little help here," he called as he let the blonde woman in, ushering her inside gently. She had her arms wrapped around herself and she was shaking, whether from fear or adrenaline or shock, Dimitri didn't know.
Roderich understood and acted immediately, he drew out his phone and called the police. He told them they had a woman who had just been assaulted and was going into shock, glancing at Dimitri briefly who nodded to confirm Roderich's guess.
Nickolas blinked, puzzled, "Bella Erkson?" He asked, confused. Dimitri led Bella to the couch and Nickolas snapped out of it, he pulled off his green coat and slung it around Bella's thin shoulders, before moving into the kitchen to make Bella a hot drink while Roderich went outside to wait for the cops.
"Wait, you guys know each other?" Questioned Dimitri, why does everybody I know know everybody else? He wondered.
Nickolas had moved into the kitchen and didn't hear him so he didn't answer. Bella however, nodded and gave a tremulous smile, "yeah. We met at my engagement party. He knows my fiancé."
She clutched Nickolas's coat tighter around her. "Thank you, for everything. Thank you so much. You saved my-" she broke off and shivered.
Dimitri's heart went out to her, he rubbed her arm reassuringly, "it's okay Bella. It's oaky now." He nodded at the phone, "the police are on their way but is there anyone I can call for you? Your fiancé, perhaps?"
Bella nodded, "he's at my house. He was waiting for me. He's expecting me back by now. We were supposed to go out and have a romantic evening together."
Dimitri gave her the phone and she dialled her home number, "hello sweetheart, I'm…" Bella began, her voice shook as she told the rest of what had happened to her but she ploughed on bravely.
"Yes. I'm fine now. Really. Okay. I'm at-" Bella glanced at Dimitri who gave her his address which she then gave to her fiancé, "okay. I love you too honey. Okay. Bye-bye." She hung up and smiled at Dimitri, calmer now. "Thank you," she said again. He grinned back at her.
Then the police came, Dimitri and Bella had just finished giving their statements when the door burst open again. "Bella!" A voice with a heavy Italian accent cried.
Two men shot through the door. The first was tall with brown eyes and Bella's blond hair, though his stuck upwards, defying gravity. He was wearing a long coat and a blue and white scarf. A smoking pipe was clutched in one hand.
The second was also wearing a long coat, his black and was shorter than the first with mahogany hair and green eyes. He had a long curl that stuck up on one side of his head and was the male who had yelled her name.
Bella looked reassured when she saw the first male, "big brother," she murmured, relieved. Her face then lit up when she saw the second one, "Lovino!" She yelled and threw herself into Dimitri's classmate's arms, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet as she buried her face in his shoulder and he buried his in her hair. Her brother, whose name was Lars, rested a comforting hand on his sister's back, giving a quiet, thankful, sigh.
"Shh, shh, shh," Lovino comforted as Bella began to cry, "don't cry amor, it's over. You'll be oaky now. I'm here, it's over."
Dimitri glanced at Nickolas and Roderich, murmuring quietly to each other, off to the side and then back to Bella and Lovino. At least this is over. He thought.
And cut! That was different. God, writing about Romano even thinking about being straight is weird. Yay! Belgium is okay! Yay!
Tell me what you think guys, you know I love hearing from you. Ta-ta for now! See you all next week!