You guys are awesome. Thank you for your reviews and thoughts on the story so far! A big thank you to ClauIloveDimitriBelikov and RozaRocks! Your reviews have helped me a lot! Thank you :) bboop12: As of right now, no, Rose is not pregnant. It could happen sometime in the future, but I'm not planning on Rose getting pregnant. I just feel like the whole "Rose is pregnant" notion has been done in a lot of other FanFics, and it would just complicate my story. Thank you for your question! Sorry about not getting to your question from chapter 1. Also, guest from chapter 2: Hmm. Something like that. You'll have to keep reading to find out :) I made this chapter longer because of the awesome reviews you guys sent me!

"I'm home!" I yelled as I walked in my front door.

"Your mom's in the kitchen!" Dad yelled from upstairs.

I walked down the main hallway to the end of the hall, where the kitchen was. My mom was at the stove, taking what looked like meatloaf out of the oven. "Mmm. Smells good." I told her.

She set the meatloaf on the oven and looked at me, taking off the oven mitts. "And where were you?"

I mentally smacked myself on the forehead. "Oh, man. Mom, I'm sorry. Eddie asked me to come over after the viewing and I forgot to tell you."

She'd put the oven mitts up and was now getting down plates for the table. "That's alright. Go wash up and get ready for dinner."

That was weird. My mom would usually chew me out when I did stuff like that. I wondered if she'd heard the news about me and Camille and was just saving her voice for later so she could really chew me out. I decided I wouldn't bring it up unless my parents did and started walking to the stairs. My phone went off, signaling that I had a text.

You forgot your bag and books at the viewing. I have them. On my way to bring them to you. It was from Lissa.

I turned around. "Mom, it's cool if Lissa swings by, right?"

"Did you already tell her it's okay?" she replied, not looking away from the silverware she was taking out.

I gave her my best innocent expression. "Uh, maybe… Besides, I forgot my books and stuff at the school and I need them for my homework. She's bringing them to me."

She sighed. "Alright then, but only for a little bit."

I thanked her and ran upstairs to my bathroom. Once I'd fixed my hair – I pulled it up in a ponytail because it was pretty messy – and washed my hands, I went back downstairs. I heard my mom fussing in the kitchen.

Alright, I know this is weird, but we have two sets of stairs in my house. There's one set of stairs in the living room and another set in the dining room, which is connected to the kitchen. That's what made it so easy to hear people when they yelled from upstairs.

"Of course I made enough food for four people, but that isn't the issue. I'd wanted us to have a family dinner. That's why I told Rose that Lissa couldn't stay." my mom was saying to my dad.

I was going to ask her what she was talking about, but the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" I yelled, seeing as I was the closest one to the front door and it was probably Lissa. I opened the door, automatically assuming Lissa was behind it. "Hey, thanks for bringing my – "

I immediately stopped talking when I saw who was at the door. Dimitri.

I freaked out, stepping out – and making him step back in the process – and shutting the door behind me. "What are you doing here?"

He gave me a hard look. "What are you doing? Don't you think it's a little weird that you came out here instead inviting me in?"

"Oh, please, they probably think you're Lissa. We're fine." I waved him off.

"Your parents are expecting me."

Just then, the door opened behind us. "Mr. Belikov, I am so sorry. Rose isn't usually so rude." My mom gave me a quick look that told me I'd hear more about this later. "Please, come in."

I was stunned. I waited for my parents and Dimitri to go inside before going in myself. I pinched myself on the arm, hoping this was all a dream. Ouch. No such luck.

[BREAK]

Lissa showed up ten minutes later. I asked her to take my stuff up to my room, quickly filling her in on who was here for dinner. She did as I asked, but not before telling me that she wanted to hear every detail later on the phone.

I found out that Dimitri had called my dad while he was upstairs and asked if he could come over some time to talk to them about me. Dad invited him to dinner without thinking, which is why my mom was so upset earlier.

So far, we had – well, they had – talked about dinner and gotten to know each other a little bit. But all the pleasantries were over with when my mom asked, "So, Dimitri, how do you like working for the school?" To my dismay, Dimitri had given my mom and dad permission to call him by his first name.

He smiled at her. "I'm enjoying it a lot. Of course, I wish I wasn't meeting the students under these circumstances, but I like my job nonetheless." He put his fork down. "Actually, I'm here to talk about that, and Rose, of course."

Both of my parents turned to look at me. I knew that move. It meant that I was no longer needed in the room. "Alright, alright. I'm going to my room." I assured them, getting up from the table with my plate in my hand.

"Don't worry about those for tonight, Rose. I'll get them later." My dad told me. I almost dropped my plate. Now I knew that there was something serious going on. My parents had brought me up doing chores, but most of the time I just had to clean up after myself and we were fine. They did my laundry and cooked my food, so the least I could do was clean up my own messes. Hey, I can be reasonable at times.

I went up to my bedroom and opened up the text message from Lissa. I sat on my bed as I wrote her back and sent the text.

Liss! They sent me up to my room so they could talk… The old man even told me he'd clean up after me tonight! This is serious =/

I flipped on my TV, scrolling through the channels. Awkward. was on MTV, so I turned it on. It was the episode from Tuesday that I'd missed. I curled my feet underneath me, excited to forget about all the drama in my life and focus on the drama in Jenna Hamilton's life. It was short lived, though, once I got Lissa's reply.

Well, what are you doing?! Get out there and listen to what they're saying!

I typed a quick reply about how weird it was that she had thought of that and not me. I stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not I should turn off the TV before going outside. If I left it on, they might be able to hear it and still think I'm in my room, watching TV. But it might also give them a chance to hear when I opened the door because the TV would be louder. I sighed and hit the record button before turning it off. Jenna, you'll have to wait for now.

I opened the door as quietly as I could, making sure to only open it enough for me to get through. I silently thanked whoever was up there helping me when I shut the door and it didn't squeak. Now it was just a matter of getting to the dining room staircase without stepping on a creaky floorboard. I carefully selected the spots to step on, trying to be light as a leaf. Again, to my surprise, I managed to make my way across the hall without making any noise.

I stayed behind the wall next to the staircase and bent down, trying to hear the conversation going on downstairs.

"No, she hasn't had any problems communicating with me, but I still think it'd be best if we got some outside help." Dimitri was saying.

"I still don't understand. Why exactly are you suggesting this?" my mom asked.

There was a pause before Dimitri spoke again. "Well, it seems like Rose is taking Mason's death harder than any other student I've seen. I'm sure the school called you about the incident today?"

Shit. I thought. Thanks, Dimitri. Way to be a good comrade and rat me out.

"Incident?" That was my mom.

"We haven't heard anything from the school today." my dad answered.

Again, a pause. "I'd thought that Principal Fink told you after the viewing this afternoon."

"We weren't able to go. Janine had a dentist appointment and we weren't sure if they were going to put her under or not, so I had to drive her. What is this about an incident?"

"Maybe it'd be better if I just let the school call you, or Rose could tell you." Dimitri suggested.

But I knew my parents. They would eat him alive if he didn't tell them what happened. But, unlike me, my parents had a way of staying calm and talking people into things. Sure enough, my mom said, "Dimitri, we appreciate you coming here and being so concerned about Rose, but you have to understand that you just told us our daughter was involved in some sort of incident that we have no clue about. You can imagine how worried we are right now. Please, tell us what you know."

Dimitri cleared his throat. "Well, while Rose was in the hallway today, she overheard Camille Conta talking about Mason and Eddie…"

My mom groaned. "I hate that girl."

"Janine!" my dad chastised her.

"What? You know as well as I do that that girl has caused us nothing but grief. What did she do this time?"

Dimitri sounded like he was amused at their banter. "Camille implied that Mason's death wasn't an accident and, when Rose confronted her about it, she accused Rose of murdering Mason."

My mom gasped and my dad asked what I'd done in return.

"She hit Camille a couple of times. I talked the principal into letting her out of her original punishment as long as she talked to me. She'll have to go to detention three times next week." Dimitri answered.

I grimaced. Damn. I hated detention. It was usually really boring because all they had you do was copy the dictionary for two straight hours.

I listened to them talk about what had happened with Camille and the repercussions of what I'd done for a while. Thankfully, Dimitri left out the part about Fink wanting to expel me. I thought about going back to my room – the conversation was now boring since I already knew everything they were talking about – when my phone vibrated. I opened it to find a message from Lissa.

What's going on? I haven't heard back from you in a while. You didn't get caught, did you?

I quickly typed a message back to her, trying to be as quiet as possible.

No, I'm at the top of the dining room stairs, listening in. They're talking about what happened with Camille.

My legs were getting tired from crouching, but I didn't want to sit down and risk getting caught. Instead, I focused on their conversation, hoping it would distract me from the dull ache in my calves.

"Like I said, Rose is doing well in our sessions, but I do think that she would benefit from seeing someone else outside of school. I have many different therapists I can recommend to you…" Dimitri told my parents.

It took everything I had not to run down there and yell at him for being an idiot. I didn't want any outside help. I didn't need it.

"We'll talk to Rose about it before we make a decision, but thank you anyway for your recommendation." my dad said.

I could tell that the conversation was about to end by my dad's dismissive tone. I quickly snuck back into my room – again grateful that I didn't make any noise – and opened the window over my bed. I got a message from Lissa, but I couldn't check it right then. I made sure my door was locked before grabbing a handful of vines and climbing out my window.

My parents didn't know that I'd been sneaking out for years using the vines that grew on the side of our house. It hadn't been easy the first couple of times I attempted it, but I'd learned over time how to maneuver down them so I didn't make any noise. Luckily, there weren't any windows on this side of the house on the first floor.

I assumed that the Chrysler parked on the curb in front of my house was Dimitri's, so I snuck around the driver's side. I knew I couldn't try to sneak into the car right then because there was a red light flashing on the driver's side dashboard, indicating that the alarm was on. While I waited for Dimitri to come out, I opened my phone and checked the message from Lissa.

He ratted you out?! I thought things between a person and their counselor were supposed to stay between them… Is that all he wanted to talk to them about?

I told her that I agreed, it was ridiculous that he'd told my parents what happened with Camille, but also reminded her that they would've found out from the school anyway. I also told her that Dimitri had recommended I see a therapist outside of school. As I shut my phone, I saw the light from my living room escaping into the yard. I quickly ducked, not wanting to be spotted.

I couldn't hear what was being said, but my parents and Dimitri exchanged a few words before they shut the door and he started walking to down the path from my front door to the road. The only thing I had to hope for now was that my parents wanted to talk privately a little more before trying to talk to me.

As I'd expected, Dimitri came around the back of the car. As he did, I went around the front, trying not to make any noise. He unlocked the car before getting in and I silently opened the passenger's side back door just as he opened his door. I slid in the back, not caring about the noise the door would make when I closed it anymore. I'd accomplished what I needed, so I didn't need to be sneaky anymore.

"Shit!" Dimitri swore when I closed the door. He didn't even need to turn around to know it was me. "Rose, what the hell are you doing?"

"Why did you tell my parents I should see a therapist outside of school?" I asked.

He turned to look at me, but there was no surprise on his face as I'd expected. "I should have known you'd be listening. Look, now is not the time to discuss this. We'll talk Monday."

I knew by the tone of his voice that he'd meant for me to leave, but I wasn't going that easily. "Come on, comrade, now's the perfect time to talk about this. We're all alone, so we don't have to worry about eavesdroppers. Just tell me."

"Rose – "

"It's not like you can keep it a secret forever, so you might as well just tell me now and get it over with. You know I won't let it go until I get it out of you."

"Rose, can we please not do this – "

"I mean, I could keep this up all night. My parents might come looking for me and it'll be weird if they find me in here, with you, but I don't think it's anything I can't – "

"Rose!" Dimitri yelled. I quick talking instantly and sat back. I suddenly didn't think I could keep this up for five more minutes, let alone the rest of the night. Dimitri turned around and sighed when he saw my expression. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I have a headache and I just want to go home and go to bed."

I studied his face, trying to figure out if he was lying to me or not. I decided it didn't matter. If he wanted me to leave, I'd leave. But I wasn't going to let him think he'd hurt my feeling or anything before I did so. "Hey, you could have just said so. But first, give me your phone."

He shook his head, exasperated. "Why?"

"Just hand it over." I held my hand out expectantly. I was surprised when he did as I asked without any protests. I went to his contacts and scrolled down to the R's. "Hey, you didn't delete my number." That surprised me.

"Why would I delete it?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I figured you would since we're only supposed to have a professional relationship."

"We are." he answered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "That doesn't mean you can't text or call me when you need to talk."

I could definitely use that to my advantage. "Hmm. In that case, I want to talk tomorrow, so keep your phone on you."

He shrugged. I think he would have done or said anything to be done with this conversation at that point. "Okay, I'll leave it on. Can I leave now?"

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Sure thing, comrade. I'll see you later."

"Don't call me that."

I laughed, ignoring him as I stepped out of the car. Before I shut the door, I said, "Be careful…comrade." I barely saw his scowl before he drove away.

[BREAK]

"If anyone has anything they'd like to say about Mason, you're welcome to do so now." the pastor at Mason's funeral announced.

Even though this was my friend's funeral, I wasn't very religious, so I hadn't paid much attention to the service. Instead, I tried to think about all the wonderful times I'd had with Mason.

Lissa stood up and made her way to the front of the room. We'd all gotten together – Mia, Eddie, Lissa, Christian, and I – and agreed that Lissa should be the one to speak for all of us. She talked mostly about how Mason would never be forgotten by any of us, but occasionally brought up something about Mason that we all loved, like how he'd crack a joke at the most awkward times.

We weren't going to the burial – Mason was being buried 3 hours away in his family's cemetery – so we all decided to go A Piece of Italy, Mason's favorite pizza shop. But trouble found us before we could even leave the funeral home.

"You!"

My group of friends all turned around toward the voice to find an older woman walking toward us. She was pointing at Eddie. "You're the one who got my grandson killed! How dare you show your face here?!"

I stepped in front of Eddie, desperately wanting to protect him. "You must be Patty. Listen, Mason was Eddie's friend. He would never hurt him. It was an accident."

"Oh really?" she asked, glaring at me. "Then why was the gun that supposedly shot him facing the other direction when it went off? Answer that."

She was causing a scene. A lot of the people around us had stopped their conversations to see the spectacle. I realized that most people didn't know exactly how Mason had been shot – it was still private information since the cast was still ongoing – and this lady was just blabbing away the details with no regard to what others would think. I stepped closer to her, keeping my voice down. "You might want to think really hard about what you're going to say next because, believe me, I am not above punching an old woman."

Dimitri suddenly appeared beside us. I knew he'd been at the service, but hadn't seen him hanging around afterward. "Excuse me, Ma'am, but you might want to reconsider making those kinds of accusations. If what you're saying gets around and it isn't true, you could be irrevocably damaging an innocent young man's reputation."

"I don't care." she said, shooting Dimitri daggers. "I want my grandson's killer brought to justice."

"Then I would suggest you go to the police and talk to them about the investigation. If what you're saying isn't true, that's defamation of character and could get you into some serious trouble." Dimitri informed her, his voice as low as mine had been.

Patty took turns looking at each of us before shaking her head. "Everyone will know what you did. You just watch." With that, she walked away.

I turned to Dimitri. "Thanks. I was about two seconds away from going all Rocky on her ass."

He chuckled. "I figured you were. That's why I stepped in."

"Hey, you're going to leave your phone on today, right? Don't think I haven't forgotten about our talk. It's going to happen." I assured him.

"Rose, I don't know if that's such a good idea…"

I shook my head. "Don't give me any of that BS, comrade. Just keep your phone on you and I'll text you later."

I turned around to go back to my friends, but Dimitri stopped me. "Yes?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I'm really sorry. About Mason. About everything."

I heard the double meaning in his words. He wasn't just apologizing for what happened with Mason; he was also apologizing for everything that had happened between us. "There's no need to apologize." I told him. "None of it was your fault."

He nodded, but I could still see the concern in his eyes. "I'll see you later, then."

"Yes, you will. Later today." He groaned, but I ignored him. "Later."

[BREAK]

We were walking back to the school after stuffing ourselves with pizza – our way of saying a final goodbye to Mason – when I got a text message. My heart leaped in my chest, thinking it was Dimitri. Who else would be texting me? My parents still didn't know how to properly text so they avoided it altogether. All of my friends who usually texted me were with me, so it wouldn't make sense that they'd text me now – unless they were trying to mess with me.

I opened it with a big smile on my face. A smile that quickly vanished when I read the text.

Watch your back.

It was from a blocked number. I scowled. What a pansy, I thought, making me think of Mason and smile. I was still grieving for Mason, but I was trying my hardest to think of all the good memories I'd made with him instead of dwelling on the bad. Don't even have the courage to tell me who you are.

Lissa suddenly came up to me and looped her arm through mine. "What's wrong?"

"Ugh." I groaned. "Were you spying on my emotions again?"

Lissa gave me a sheepish smile. "A little?" She burst out laughing at the look on my face. I realized that this was probably how I made Dimitri feel all the time: frustrated. "C'mon, loosen up a little!"

I gave her an incredulous stare. "We just said our final goodbyes to our friend, Lissa. Forgive me if I'm not all unicorns and rainbows."

She looked at the ground, looking ashamed. "I know, I haven't forgotten. But we can't go around feeling sorry for ourselves all the time. Mason wouldn't want that."

I took a deep breath and held it, trying to get rid of my dark feelings. "I know. I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just stressful, you know?"

She nodded. "I understand. So is that the only thing that's got you feeling down?"

"No, I just got this weird text from a blocked number." I showed it to her. "Who do you think it is?"

"Hmm." Lissa thought about it for a moment. "I can only think of two people: Camille and Patty. Either way, though, I don't think you should pay too much attention to it. Whoever it is, they're probably just trying to scare you."

I smiled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll just delete it. So what are you and Christian doing for the rest of the day?"

Mia piped in on our conversation. "Yeah, what are you guys doing?"

Christian was the one who answered. "Lissa's dad had to go to Helena after the funeral for business and he took Andre with him, so we'll be spending the rest of the day holed up in her house." He wriggled his eyebrows, just in case we didn't get it.

Mia pretended to stick her finger down her throat and made a sound like she was throwing up. I laughed. "I agree; what she said."

We all laughed as we finally made it to the school's parking lot. "What about the rest of you? What are you doing for the rest of the day?" Lissa asked.

"Mia and I are planning on catching a movie." Eddie told us, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks. I figured those two would start dating soon. It might not have been official, but it would be. It was hard not to tell that those two were completely into each other.

"Guess that leaves you all by yourself, eh, Rose?" Christian asked, grinning like a little kid in a candy store.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Only because you guys can't handle my awesomeness 24/7." We all laughed. "Actually, I have an appointment with Dim-Mr. Belikov today."

They all looked at me, confused. "He does sessions outside of school?" Mia asked.

"I'm not sure. From what I can tell, no, but I'm a special case. He just can't stay away from me." I gave them a mischievous grin.

Eddie lightly punched me in the arm. "Yeah, you're special, alright, Hathaway."

"Seriously, though, why do you have an appointment with him on the weekend?" Lissa asked.

I thought about that, wondering how much I could reveal. I decided to take the road most travelled: the path of lying my ass off. "Well, after I smacked Camille around a little bit yesterday, Mr. Belikov came to my house to talk to my parents. He told them what happened and they asked him if he'd be willing to schedule some appointments for me on the weekend if they paid him."

"Heh." Christian laughed it off. "Leave it to the people who brought you into this world to be completely oblivious to you. If they paid attention, they'd know that you don't have any mental problems; that was just you being yourself."

Mia smacked his arm. "Getting real deep, there, huh? Decided to follow in Mr. Belikov's footsteps?"

My phone went off. I opened it, no longer paying attention to our conversation.

So what time should I be expecting you to call?

It was from Dimitri. A little glimmer of hope flashed through my heart. He'd sent me a text first! But what did that mean…?

"Guys, I gotta get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

They all nodded and I left, my stomach full of butterflies.

[BREAK]

"Liss, what happened?" I asked as I held my front door open for her. She looked horrible. Her skin was way too pale and she had bags under her eyes. She looked like she was exhausted just trying to stand.

"Can we go to your room?" she asked, shuffling in. "I feel awful."

I nodded, taking hold of her arm so she wouldn't fall down. I still had another hour before I needed to leave. Dimitri and I had decided that it would be best if we met somewhere public so as not to raise any suspicion. It wasn't like we were doing anything bad, but it would certainly look that way to other people if we went to his place. I told him about a couple of different places we could go, and we'd both agreed that the coffee shop on Elm and 2nd Street was the best spot.

Once we were in my room, Lissa sprawled out on my bed. "Christian and I had a fight. A bad one."

I sat down on the little spot of bed she wasn't laying on. "Why, what happened?"

"It was so stupid! We were in my bedroom and things were…heating up." I grimaced. "Save the commentary for later, Rose. Please." Seeing the pain in her eyes, I nodded. "Thank you. Anyway, like I said, we were getting close to having sex when my dad and brother came home. They weren't supposed to be home until midnight tonight, but dad's meeting was over sooner than he expected.

"Christian got mad and threw a fit. I understood where he was coming from – I was frustrated, too – but he was acting like a complete asshole. I tried to calm him down, tried to talk some sense into him, but he was too mad. I just spent the last hour trying to figure out what to say to calm him down based on his emotions, but nothing worked." she finished.

"Aw, Liss, I'm sorry. He'll come around by tomorrow, he always does." I assured her.

She nodded and yawned before saying, "I know. I just hate it when we fight. It always leaves me feeling empty. Hey, do you think I could stay the night tonight?"

"Uh, I'm not sure." I answered, honestly having no idea if she could or not. "I'll have to ask my mom. I'm meeting Dim-Mr. Belikov in an hour and I don't know how long we'll be so you might be by yourself for a bit."

Her gaze went to the floor and she looked totally defeated. "Then forget it. I don't feel like being by myself tonight. I'll just go crash Eddie and Mia's movie date."

I looked her up and down, genuinely concerned for her well-being. "Are you sure you don't just want to go home and get some rest?" I asked. Obviously all the energy she'd been using trying to get a reading on Christian had taken its toll.

"No, I'll be fine. It's only a couple more hours to bedtime anyway." She yawned again.

I sighed and held my hands out.

She shook her head. "No, Rose, I'm not taking energy from you this time. I'll be fine. Besides, you have to go meet Mr. Belikov and I'm pretty sure he won't be happy if you're falling asleep during your session."

"I'll cancel if I have to. Look at you; you're exhausted. I'd be surprised if you could even make it to the your house, let alone the movie theater. You don't have to take a lot if you don't want to, but at least take a little bit."

"That's the thing, though…" She sat up. "I can't control how much I take. It just sort of happens."

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. Just take it." When she looked like she was going to protest again, I took her hands. My guess is that she couldn't help herself once the energy was right there, because I automatically felt the tingling that always started at the top of my head. Heat flashed through me for a moment and then I let go, feeling drained.

Lissa groaned. "Why did you do that?"

I shrugged. "Because you needed it." I looked at the clock. "I gotta get ready to go now, but feel free to hang around if you want. My parents are having dinner and told me they wouldn't be home until late."

"Yeah, what's up with that? They haven't punished you at all for what happened with Camille yesterday. Do you think they're waiting to drop the gavel?" she asked.

Again, I had no answer, so I shrugged. "I don't know. I think they're being lenient on me after everything that happened with Mason. I also heard my mom saying she hated Camille, so that might have something to do with it."

Lissa laughed. "Even adults hate that girl." She stood up, looking way better than she had when she'd arrived. There were still bags under her eyes, but they weren't nearly as dark as they had been. "Well, I guess I'll go…"

"I'll text you later." I told her, getting up and going to my vanity. Lissa went to open my door, but stopped at the last second.

"Uh, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot." I said. I was trying to keep my mouth closed while I applied my mascara. It was impossible.

Lissa let go of the doorknob and stood behind me so that I could see her through my vanity mirror. "Earlier, when you were talking to Patty and Mr. Belikov stepped in… I felt something pass between you guys."

I put on my best confused face. I was pretty sure that what she'd felt was my attraction to and feelings for Dimitri, but I wasn't about to tell her that. She was my best friend and I wanted to share everything with her, but this secret was just too dangerous to tell. "Like what?"

"I don't know, but it wasn't the first time I felt it. It happened when you guys game back from Fink's office, too."

I suddenly remembered Lissa looking back and forth between Dimitri and I when we'd met her in Dimitri's waiting room. "Huh. That's weird."

"Yeah…" Lissa looked like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. "Well, I'm really going to head now. I'll see you later. And thanks for sharing your, um, energy with me."

I told her it was no problem and that I'd text her later. But, even as I told her this, I wondered if I should keep telling her things that happened between Dimitri and I. If she could already feel my emotions for him when we were together, I shouldn't be telling her things that might make her more suspicious.

My phone went off a few minutes after Lissa left.

You on your way?

Even though I was exhausted now that I'd helped Lissa out, I couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across my face. I quickly typed in a reply, letting him know I was, indeed, on my way and walked out the door.

[BREAK]

"Okay, wait. She made you do what?" I asked Dimitri, smiling.

He was sitting across from me at a small table in the corner of the coffee shop we'd agreed to meet at. His notepad was sitting in front of him, but he wasn't paying attention to it anymore. We'd started off the evening talking about our sessions, but the conversation quickly took a turn toward more personal things.

He laughed. I loved the way he looked right then, like he didn't have a care in the world. Kind of like he'd been over the summer. "Karolina made me dress up in dresses and marry her dolls just so I could play with her and her friends. They have tons of pictures."

I smiled. "Makes me wonder what you'd look like in a dress…"

"You're never going to find out." He laughed again. "Besides, where would you find a dress that would fit me?"

"We'll just have to measure you and get a tailor to make you a dress. You could pick out the design and everything!" It was my turn to laugh.

He shook his head, causing some of his hair to fall into his face. I desperately wanted to push that strand back behind his ear, wanted to feel the softness of his hair one more time. I was distracted by it, leaving a lull in the conversation. Things became awkward fast.

"I'm gonna go get another drink. You want one?" I asked, getting up. I must've gotten up a little too fast because stars flashed before my eyes and my knees started to wobble.

Dimitri reached out and steadied me. "I don't think that's a good idea. It's actually getting pretty late. You should head home." I looked up into his face. He said one thing, but his expression said another. I could tell he was having fun and didn't want to leave. In fact, he was still holding me in place, even though I was perfectly capable of standing on my own.

"But you still haven't told me why you want me to see a therapist." I made a face and he laughed.

Shaking his head, he murmured, "Alright, Roza. Sit down."

I was glad that he'd released me before he could feel the shiver go through my body. He hadn't called me by my nickname since we'd been at the Shore, and even then he only called me that when he was feeling particularly loving.

I sat down, knowing that he was right. I was going to have to leave soon. I was almost too tired to stand. Giving Lissa my energy earlier suddenly seemed like a bad idea. "So? Tell me."

"There are a few reasons why I want you to think about seeing someone outside of school. The first is that I think you would benefit from talking to someone who doesn't know you personally before your first session. That can complicate things." he explained.

Oh, boy, did I know about the complications of personally knowing your counselor. He was the one who had no idea.

"And the other reason I wanted you to see someone else is because…well, I know this is hard." He gestured between us. "Not just for you, but for me as well."

I thought about that for a moment. "But I thought you'd said that we were going to keep having our sessions, even if I did see a therapist?"

He nodded. "Even though this is hard, I think it's still helping you. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for you to have a friend who works in the office with all the trouble you get into." My heart sank at his use of the word "friend", but I did my best to hide it. Apparently, it worked. "That's right, I've seen your record."

I laughed. "Hey, most of the things I do, I do for the greater good."

"You have no idea what the 'greater good' is, do you?" He had a giant smile on his face now, showing teeth. "Dropping firecrackers in one of the toilets in the girls bathroom?"

"That one was just for fun."

"Setting free all the frogs that were going to be dissected in biology?"

"Those poor frogs were trapped! Wouldn't you want someone to release you if you were about to get your body cut open while you were still alive?"

He ignored my question. "Oh, and what about the dead rat you put in Ms. Lexington's desk?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't dead when I put it in there."

Dimitri laughed, sitting back as he did. "Rosemarie Hathaway, you are a piece of work."

I'd wanted to tell him that he hadn't seen anything yet, but a yawn prevented me from doing so.

"Look at you, you're about to fall out right here. I think it's time we called it a night." He grabbed his things and put them all back into his bag. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll just walk home."

"Are you sure? It's not a problem if you want a ride."

I shook my head, which really wasn't a good idea cause I was so sleepy. "My house isn't far from here. Thanks for the offer, though." I got up, grabbing my purse as I did.

"Rose?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Thanks for tonight. This was fun." Dimitri gave me a sweet smile, one that said that even if we couldn't be together, he was still fond of me.

I nodded and returned his smile. "It was."

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, but before even two minutes had gone by, he sent me a text.

Maybe we should do that again sometime…?

I smiled, thinking about teasing him like he was asking me out on a date, but decided against it. That would be too awkward. Instead, I started typing that that sounded nice, but I never got a chance to finish it.

I hadn't been paying attention to where I was going or any of my surroundings. Suddenly, big, muscular arms grabbed me, pulling me into the alley right next to me that I hadn't even noticed. I took in a deep breath to scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth before I could. I struggled against him – I knew it was a guy by the arms – and tried to make as much noise as I could, but it wasn't much.

My attacker rocked me backward and then threw me forward as hard as he could. I hit a wall, my head smacking against it and making stars dance before my eyes. If I'd thought I was dizzy in the coffee shop, I was sorely mistaken. I got on my hands and knees, desperately trying to find a way to get away from this guy, but he was blocking the only exit.

He came forward and kicked me in the stomach as hard as he could. I heard something snap and the wind got knocked out of me. I rolled over on my side, desperately trying to get air. I don't know how, but I suddenly realized that I still had my phone in my hand. I felt for the keys, praying that I was hitting the right buttons.

A hand made its way into my hair and twisted. It yanked upward, bringing my head with it.

"I told you to watch your back."

I was confused. I could see my attacker right in front of me and his hands were to his sides. My mind was fuzzy and I couldn't think straight. Something was nagging at the back of my mind, but I couldn't focus on it through the pain.

The hand in my hair yanked again, bringing me into an upright position.

"Hold her."

Again, something nagged at the back of my mind. I know that voice… But, again, I couldn't think through the pain, couldn't determine who's voice that was.

My first attacker came forward, going behind me. He held me up by getting a grip under my arms. My head drooped forward as I was no longer in control of my body.

"No, her head needs to be upright."

The man holding me up let go of my right arm, making me start to tip forward. Before I could fall, though, the hand that had been holding my right arm snaked into my hair just like my other attacker had done. He pulled my hair back, forcing my head up.

I was trying to see what was coming – trying to see anything – but it was too dark and there were so many stars in my vision.

Smack!

I heard the impact before I felt it. I had no idea what I'd just been hit with, but I knew it was hard. I was now on the ground. I tasted metal in my mouth right before I spit up blood. I couldn't move a muscle, not even my eyes. I'd never, ever been in this much pain before. It was all-consuming.

"I think that did it. Drag her over there, behind the dumpster. No one will find her for at least a couple days, and she'll be gone long before that."

My head spun as someone grabbed my ankles and pulled me along the ground. I found the strength to clench my left hand, even though I didn't know why I was. I was vaguely aware of the scrapes I was getting from being dragged across the rocky ground. Just when I thought I'd pass out – when I thought the pain would never end – I stopped moving.

I lay there, wanting to move, wanting to cry, but I couldn't do anything. I heard my attackers' footsteps as they walked back out to the road. They seemed to walk forever, but then I realized that I was no longer hearing their footsteps, but the sound of my own heart, trying to keep me alive.

With every heartbeat, I saw red, even when my eyes were closed. I wheezed with every shaky breath I took. At one point, I thought I was going to throw up, but it turned out to be just more blood. I knew then, without a doubt, that I was going to die if someone didn't find me fast. I tried, over and over again, to make a sound – any sound – but none came.

I opened my eyes. I couldn't see anything at first, but the longer I kept my eyes open, the clearer things became. I could vaguely make out the shape of my cell phone in front of my face. It was in my left hand. So that's what I'd been holding onto so hard when they dragged me back here.

With the last of my strength, I hit as many buttons as I could on my cell phone, hoping the message wasn't too jumbled up. As I hit the send button, I sent a prayer up to Heaven. Please, please let him know what I'm saying. Please.

I managed to hit another button on my phone and the screen came to life. The light was like an eighteen wheeler running my head over, it hurt so bad. When I finally managed to make out what the words said on the screen, I felt like my heart stopped beating. No such luck, though.

No signal.

I lay there for a few more moments, wondering if I would make it out of this alive. I tried to laugh, but it hurt. No. There was no way I'd get out of this one. This was where I was going to die, behind a dumpster.

Mason, I thought, don't worry. You won't be alone for long.

Surprisingly, I didn't pass out. Instead, I thought of Dimitri. Sweet, funny, amazing Dimitri. I was glad we'd got to spend one more night as friends. An involuntary whimper escaped my lips and I winced. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as the thought of never seeing Dimitri again.

What the fuck are you doing? I thought. You're just going to sit here and die? No. You get your ass up and make it to that road. I don't care if you have to crawl. Do what you have to do. Do it for Dimitri, for Lissa, for all your other friends and family. Get up and go!

The next…hell, I had no idea how long it was, but it hurt. I dragged my body across the ground, over and over again. The scrapes I'd gotten when they dragged me behind the dumpster had started to close – they weren't that deep – but I tore them back open as I struggled against the uneven floor. At that point, I could barely even feel the pain in the lower half of my body anymore. I knew that wasn't a good sign, but I didn't have time to think about it.

I was about ten feet from the road – still pretty well cloaked by the darkness of the alley – when I came across yet another obstacle. There was a small hill in front of me, followed by a dip in the concrete. I reached forward, doing my best to dig my nails into the dipped part of the concrete so that I could pull myself along easier. I'd almost made it over the hill when I heard a snap!

A gut-wrenching scream somehow made its way out of my body. I lay down with my face to the ground, willing the throbbing in my hand to stop. When I finally looked up, I started to cry. I'd broken my right index finger. How was I going to drag myself to the road with a broken finger?

No, don't give up! a voice that sounded surprisingly like Dimitri yelled in my head. Use your other hand!

I somehow managed to get my cell phone in my right hand. Groaning, I reached forward with my left hand, but when I tried to drag myself again, my arm went limp.

"I can't do it…" I cried, wincing as the words sent waves of pain throughout my body.

Ding!

I looked up at my cell phone. The screen was lit up. Message sent.

I caught a glimpse of the message I'd tried to send to Dimitri earlier behind the dumpster, the one that had finally just now sent.

Yeah, I'd like tHELP ALLEY HURT SOS SOS SOS

That was the last thing I saw before I was finally released from the pain.

So…? Tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! As always, thank you so much for reading my story and letting me know what you think.