Thank you for all of your reviews! To Dimka's Chick, who Ms. Amos is will be explained in this chapter if you don't remember her. She's had small parts in my story until now. IMPORTANT NOTE: I just wanted to let all of you know that you help when it comes to the plot of the story. If you want something to happen, tell me about it in a PM or a review. If you just have a suggestion, I would prefer you leave it in a review, but if you want to discuss something happening with me, I'd love to talk in a message. So just know that you have some say in what happens and I hope to hear from you guys :)

I woke up to the sound of banging on my door. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking at my alarm clock. Had I overslept? No, the clock said I didn't need to be up for another half hour. I thought back, trying to remember what time I'd gone to sleep.

That's when the rest of my grogginess went away and the events of last night came back to me. I resisted the urge to cry again and dragged myself out of bed. As I made my way to my door, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and went back to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with my vision.

I looked horrible. My hair was sticking up everywhere and my eyes were enormously puffy and bloodshot from all the crying I'd done last night. No wonder they were sore. But the worst part was the left side of my face, especially near my cheekbone. I had a bruise like I'd expected, a deep purple color. I tentatively touched the skin in that area and winced. It was very sensitive.

The banging on my door continued. I dragged myself away from the mirror and opened the door, terrified of what my mother would say when she saw me. I opened the door slightly. "Yes?" I asked, peeking through the crack.

"Rose, you need to come with me. Now." she said, turning around and walking off. She was still in her pajamas, which meant that this was serious. I immediately thought of Dimitri. Had he called my mom and told her what happened, angry with me? If he had…I didn't know what I would do.

There was a part of me that thought I'd been irrational last night, dismissing him too quickly when he tried to explain himself. In fact, that part thought I'd been one hundred percent irrational. I had just been attacked. The shock from that, coupled with the shock of seeing Dimitri with Ms. Amos, could have easily made me overreact.

I'd thought about this a lot last night, as I waited for sleep to take me from the pain. I'd get lost on a train of thought, thinking that I'd overreacted and that I needed to call Dimitri and make everything better again. My heart would swell and I'd see a faint glimmer of hope in the darkness.

But the truth was that every time I thought back to the moment when I saw him outside with her, holding her hand and looking down at her with those big, beautiful eyes… My heart would shrivel back down and that hope would disappear.

In my mind, there was nothing Dimitri could say that would make any of this better. I'd done a lot of thinking about things last night, a couple of them being the events of the past few days. I'd remembered hearing Ms. Amos in Dimitri's office, laughing. Then there was the woman's voice on the other end of line when I'd called Dimitri – whoever it was, they had to be close to him because they'd called him by a nickname. Finally, there was last night. No matter how badly I wanted to believe Dimitri when he said it wasn't what it looked like, I just couldn't. There was too much evidence to the contrary.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I shuffled down the hallway after my mom, who'd already disappeared down the stairs.

"Rose," my mom started, gesturing to the front door. "You need to come talk to the police." She looked over at me. "Oh my God, what happened to you?!"

I winced at the tone of her voice. "I'll tell you when I talk to them. Could you invite them into the kitchen? I need to eat something and get some caffeine." She was still looking at me, hand to her mouth, but nodded. I went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, figuring the cops would want some. I also thought it might persuade them to be more lenient with me for not going straight to them after my fight last night.

As my mom brought the two cops into the kitchen and invited them to have a seat at our table, I popped a few bagels in the toaster and grabbed a yogurt. I leaned against the kitchen sink, facing them. "Before you say anything, let me just say that I'm sorry I didn't report what happened last night right away. I was a little shaken up after everything. I hope you understand."

One of the cops nodded. He looked like he was in his late-twenties, early-thirties, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. The other cop sighed. He had caramel-colored skin that went well with his light brown eyes, as well as his brown hair. I thought he was around the same age as blondie.

"Miss Hathaway, we do understand that situations like these can be frightening. We're just here to make sure you're okay and to find out what exactly happened. I'm Officer Mahoney and this is my partner, Officer Blake." the one with the caramel-colored skin told me.

I nodded. "It's nice to meet you, even under the circumstances." What was happening to me? I was numb, saying what I thought was appropriate instead of what I'd normally say. Maybe I really was broken inside. "Would you like some coffee?"

When they told me they did, I got out the creamer and sugar, setting it in front of them. My mom was looking at me like I was a completely different person, which I guess was sort of true. I poured four cups of coffee, taking two to the table at a time. As Mahoney and Blake made up their coffees, I got my bagels and spread some cream cheese on them before sitting down at the table.

"Can I ask how you know what happened last night?" I asked.

Officer Blake replied, "We got a call early this morning from Eric Dragomir. He said his daughter told him that you'd been hurt in some sort of scuffle, most likely with the person who'd attacked you before. He was worried about you."

I'd always liked Lissa's dad. I wished he hadn't told the police about what happened before I even told my mom, but I was glad to know that he liked me enough to worry about me. "Oh, okay. So, why don't we just get to it?"

With that, I told them everything that had happened on the theater's second floor. They sat there and listened, never interrupting me. It wasn't until I finished that they asked me questions. Had I noticed anything about Ski Mask that stood out? "Well, it was definitely a man, as I told you before. He's about…five feet, ten inches tall. He had muscles, but they weren't huge. Other than that, I couldn't tell any difference between him and any other guy." I answered.

They asked me more questions, mostly if I was sure I was okay and didn't need to go to the hospital. I assured them that I was fine besides a couple of bumps and bruises. When they were done questioning me, they told me something I didn't know about last night.

"We don't want to get your hopes up, but we think we might have a lead on who did this to you." Officer Mahoney explained. "I know the owner of the theater, a man by the name of George Sinclair. I called him this morning and told him that there'd been an accident at his theater. I asked how something like that could happen on the top floor, where a lot of people could hear you.

"He explained to me that the top floor of the theater wasn't in working condition last night. Apparently, the projectors on the top floor were really old. When one of them broke, he decided to go ahead and buy all new projectors for each theater. He sold the two working ones and scrapped the other, so they couldn't play movies upstairs until the new projectors came in. So our perpetrator is either a frequent customer at the theater or someone who'd have access to that kind of information.

"We're going to be questioning the employees later today and we'll call you if anything comes up." Mahoney concluded.

I thanked them for checking up on me and letting me know about their new leads, walking them to the door as I did. I was looking forward to going back up to my room and sleeping for a while, but my mom pulled me into a hug as I shut the front door.

"Why didn't you tell me what happened last night?" she asked. "You should've woken me up."

I sighed, wrapping my arms around her. "I didn't want to worry you. I took care of myself, mom. Besides, I just wanted to come home and sleep after it happened."

"Of course!" she exclaimed, letting go of me. "Go back upstairs and get some sleep, honey. Your father will be home tonight, but I'll explain everything to him. Don't you worry about anything."

I did as she said, but not before checking my phone. Lissa had called me three times already and – to my surprise – Christian called me once. I didn't bother checking my voicemail. I was too tired. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

[BREAK]

I was nervous as my mom drove me to school the next morning. She'd wanted me to take the day off to rest, but I didn't want to be by myself anymore, wallowing in my own self-pity. The deal that let me walk to school by myself was now off, which didn't surprise me.

Last night, my dad hadn't "babied" me like my mom did, as he liked to put it. He made sure I was alright, gave me a kiss on the forehead, and let me do my own thing. It was one of the things that was so great about my dad; he didn't freak like my mom.

I was nervous about seeing my friends after the way I'd treated them. They'd all sent me messages, asking if I was okay. I sent back that I was fine, that I was sorry for being rude to them, and then turned my phone off. I was worried about what they might reply. I was also nervous about showing up to school with this huge bruise on my face. The color had deepened even more, to my shock. I hadn't thought it could get any more purple.

But I was most nervous about seeing Dimitri. I'd tried to get out of seeing him through my parents, but they told me they thought it was best if I continued with our sessions. They really liked Dimitri, which made what had happened between us that much worse. On top of it all, I couldn't even get out of my "self-defense class" after school.

"I'm so glad that you took a little self-defense," my mom had told me this morning while she made me breakfast. "If just that one class helped you, imagine how well you'll be able to defend yourself when the course is over."

I quickly swallowed the eggs I'd been chewing. "Uh, yeah, about that… Can I skip out on self-defense today? I'm just not feeling up to it."

"No, you can't." my dad said, walking in the kitchen with a newspaper in his hand. "You've been out of the hospital a week and you're already hurt again. Your mother's right. If just that once class helped you, you should take as many of them as you can, as soon as you can."

"But I –"

"No 'buts'." He gave me a pointed look from across the table. He unfolded the newspaper and started reading, so I couldn't see his face anymore. "You're strong, Rose. You can handle an hour long class."

So, not only did I have to go to my daily session with Dimitri, but I also had to ride with him to Helena and practice with him. I'd been thinking of an excuse to tell Dimitri so that I didn't have to go, but I hadn't come up with anything yet.

"Come home right after school to get changed." my mom told me as we made it to the school. "Wait in the house until Dimitri comes to pick you up. You're to come straight back home after class and grabbing something to eat."

I nodded and told her I'd do everything she said before saying goodbye and getting out of the car.

I spotted my friends at our usual table as soon as I walked into the cafeteria. I walked over to them, head held high as everyone started to stare at me. They all began whispering as soon as I'd passed them.

"Hey, guys." I sat down at the table. "Look, before you say anything –"

"We forgive you." Mia interrupted, shrugging. "When we thought about it yesterday, we realized that we shouldn't have pushed you like that. You were already traumatized. You didn't need us there making it worse."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Are you serious?"

Christian and Eddie shared a look. "Do you want us to be mad at you? Hold on." Christian cleared his throat. "Rose, how dare you yell at us after nearly getting beaten to death…again. There, you've been chastised. Can we please move on now?"

I frowned. "I'd hardly say I nearly got beaten to death again…"

Lissa smiled, looping her arm through mine. "And she's back. Good. Now, I'm hungry. Let's get some food."

I kept myself busy for most of the day. I paid extra attention to all my lessons, working hard on make-up work when they were over. I was so distracted that I completely forgot my session with Dimitri during fourth period. We'd been in class fifteen minutes when an office aid knocked on the door. As soon as I saw the yellow slip of paper in the aid's hand, I remembered my appointment with him.

I got up, grabbing my things, before the aid had even given my teacher the paper. The walk to Dimitri's office was quiet, giving me alone time with my thoughts. What would he do when I got there? Wrap me in a hug like he had when I'd first gotten attacked? Yell at me for slapping him? It turned out to be neither.

There was no one in his office with him when I got there, so I was immediately let in. He said nothing as I sat down in one of the chairs across from him, putting my stuff at my feet. I looked at him expectantly, but he didn't say a word. He just stared at me. It was agonizing, especially the silence. I'd rather he'd yelled at me than stay silent.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up. "Well, I think we're done here. I'll just be going now."

"No, I don't think so. Sit." That was definitely not a request, so I did as he said. He stared at me a moment more before getting down to business. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Here was my chance. He was giving me an opening to talk to him, to make things right. "I… I guess." was my brilliant reply.

"Okay, then. Tell me what happened." His voice was calm and completely indifferent. There was no anger, no sadness…no emotion at all in his face. It surprised me, but I didn't let it show.

I looked at the ground, taking a deep breath and thinking back to last night. "I went to the movies with my friends to see Star Trek. I didn't want to see it, but I wanted to spend some time with my friends after everything that's happened. You know, try to get things back to normal again. I'd started to fall asleep halfway through the movie, so I went upstairs to the bathroom, stretching my legs and trying to wake up.

"I saw him coming up the stairs when I came out. I ran back into the bathroom because I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to a theater before he got up there. I hid in a stall, but he found me. I was able to kick him when he got the door open and ran off while he was still on the ground. I ran into the nearest theater, screaming for someone to help me, but it turned out that the top floor theaters weren't open for business.

"I hit under some seats, but, again, he found me. He pulled me out by my hair and tried to keep me from screaming. I reached back and punched him, making him loosen his hold on my hair. I pulled away from him and got out of his grasp, but he pulled some of my hair out. I, uh…" I trailed off, not wanting to tell him about this next part, but he told me to go on. "I got away from him, but I turned around to face him. I don't really know why I did it; I just did."

I could tell that he wanted to tell me how stupid that had been, but he didn't say a word. I'd thought for sure that once I told him that part, I'd get a rise out of him. I should've been able to see something that told me he still cared about me, but there was nothing. I hadn't known there was anything left of my heart to break, but there was, and it had broken. I suddenly felt defeated. I didn't want to keep talking about this. I didn't want to talk about anything, especially with Dimitri.

I forged on, but this time my voice sounded…off. Like I was speaking in a monotone. "He punched me. I punched back, but missed. Then I punched with my right hand again, expecting him to dodge it. When he did, I punched with my left hand, but I didn't put any force into it. Instead, I put force into the kick that he hadn't noticed going right between his legs. He went down and I turned to run.

"He grabbed my ankle and I fell, face first, into the ground. I pulled my leg away from him, but he was trying to hold on to me. I kicked him as hard as I could, making him let go. I got up, ran away, and found my friends. You know the rest." I finished.

He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a knock at the door. He got up and answered it. I didn't know who was on the other side of the door because I kept my back to it. I was afraid that if I turned around, I'd see Ms. Amos.

"I'll be just a minute, Rose." I heard Dimitri say before the door closed.

I sighed, shutting my eyes and giving myself a mental pep talk. Keep calm, Rose. You can do this. It's going to be hard, and it's not really fair, but you can get through it as long as you keep your mind straight.

"Well, this is entertaining to watch."

I groaned, opening my eyes. "Mason, not now. I honestly can't deal with you at the moment."

He smiled, getting up and walking behind Dimitri's desk. "If you couldn't deal with me, I wouldn't be here. Besides, I'm having fun."

"Good to know someone is. You know this is hard on me, so why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he asked, trying to look innocent. "Watch you and your pedophile counselor –"

"Do not call him that." I hissed.

"Rose, who are you talking to?"

I turned around to see Dimitri standing there, the door closed behind him. I'd been so focused on Mason that I hadn't even heard the door open. "I was just…" I turned back to Mason, who was no longer there. Pansy, I thought. "Nothing. Doesn't matter."

Dimitri came to stand next to me, looking between me and the spot I'd just looked at, the spot where Mason had been. He frowned. "You were talking to…something. What was it?"

I didn't answer as he sat down in the chair next to me. No way was I going to tell my ex-boyfriend that I was crazy and seeing my dead friend everywhere. That would just further complicate things.

I jumped when Dimitri put his hand over mine. "Look, Rose… If you're seeing things that don't make sense…things that aren't there…I need to know so I can help you."

"I'm not seeing things." I replied, a little too quickly.

Dimitri sighed. "Have you ever heard of PTSD?" I shook my head. "It stands for post-traumatic stress disorder. People will sometimes suffer from this after going through something really traumatic, like you have. If you're seeing something, anything at all, that shouldn't be there, it's likely that you have PTSD. In order for us to treat it and get you better, you have to tell me what's going on."

I thought about this. Maybe he was right. I actually hoped he was right. If he was, that meant that I wasn't crazy or seeing ghosts. I was just…traumatized, I guess.

Don't do it, that sneaky, sinister voice whispered in the back of my mind. Think of everything he's done to you. He doesn't deserve to know your secrets!

I shook my head, willing the voice away. "I've been seeing Mason."

Dimitri nodded, thoughtful. "That's a start, and it actually makes a lot of sense. All of the stress you've been going through lately started with Mason's death. So what has he been doing?"

"Annoying the hell out of me." When I said that, Mason appeared behind Dimitri, lifting his hand to heart and pretending to be hurt. I scowled.

To my amazement, Dimitri actually chuckled. He quickly stopped, though, when he saw the look on my face. "Can you tell me when you first saw him?"

I shrugged. "Sure. It was right after practice Friday, when you dropped me off. I'd thought someone was following me, but it turned out to be Mason. I thought I was going crazy."

"And what did he say to you?"

"He said –" I'd automatically started to tell Dimitri everything, but stopped when I realized what I was about to say. Mason had talked to me about how he was there – sort of – and my relationship with Dimitri. I swallowed and started over. "He said that he was there because of me. That if I didn't want him there, he wouldn't…" I stopped, lost in thought.

Dimitri nodded. "That he wouldn't be there?" he supplied. I nodded. "Yes, it sounds like you do have some PTSD going on. What else have you two talked about?"

I shrugged. "Things."

"If you want me to help you get over this, you need to talk to me, Rose. The only way I can help you figure out why Mason is appearing to you is if we go through this together. Your mind has probably manifested Mason out of feelings or thoughts you've been having that you don't know how to deal with. So, tell me, what has he been talking to you about?"

Mason sat down on the chaise lounge next to Dimitri. He stuck his finger in his mouth and then started putting it near Dimitri's ear. "Hey, what are you doing? Cut it out!" I told him.

Dimitri followed my gaze next to him. "What is he doing?"

I didn't want to tell him, but I knew he was right. If I wanted to get over this, I would have to tell him about Mason. "He's trying to mess with you. I don't know why, but I don't think he likes you."

"Oh, you know why." Mason said, that annoying smirk back on his face. He came around and put his arm over me. "I just can't help myself. Your boy-toy over there is fun to mess with."

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, would you cut it out with the names? It's not funny."

I looked back over at Dimitri, who was staring at me, gaze thoughtful. "Could you tell me all the times Mason has appeared to you?"

"Sure. I already told you about after practice Friday. He showed up again when I was going up the stairs to the bathroom in the theater. And now he's here. Oh, and I think I heard him following me before practice on Friday, too." I looked at Mason, who winked at me. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was him."

Dimitri wrote some notes in my file, looking pensive. "And what have you two been talking about, again?"

I brushed my hair out of my eyes, but then thought better of it. I could probably hide my bruise better with my hair in my face. "Well, we talked about how I missed him, and why he was there. In the stairwell, he was trying to annoy me, talking about how I'd been the only one he'd cared for before he died."

"And what were you talking about while I was outside?"

This was what I'd been dreading and hoped I could get out of. "Well, we talked about…you and me."

Dimitri went completely still. It didn't even look like he was breathing. He was looking at his notes instead of me, so I couldn't even try to guess what he was thinking. He opened his mouth, closed it, and began writing something down.

I looked up at Mason, who was watching Dimitri closely. "You know, he might be smarter than I thought…"

I wanted to ask him why that was, but I knew Dimitri would hear me and want to know what was going on.

"Well," Dimitri began, finishing his notes and looking up at the clock. "I think that's enough for today."

"But we still have another twenty minutes…?"

He got up, going behind his desk. "Yes, but you've told me a lot and made good progress." He sat down in his big, leather chair. "I'll pick you up after school at your house."

I got up, grabbing my bag as I did. "Yeah, about that… I don't know if I can go."

"Unless you have some sort of emergency, you're going. Your dad already called me and told me you'd try to get out of class."

I nodded, hating the fact that the old man knew me so well. "Alright. I'll see you later, Dimitri. I mean, uh, Mr. Belikov."

"Rose…" Dimitri waited until I looked at him to continue. "Even after…everything that happened, we still have a relationship outside of school. We're still friends. You can call me by my first name."

That was nice and everything, but I wasn't sure if I wanted it that way. I didn't even know if I wanted to be friends with Dimitri. No, that was a lie. I knew I didn't want to be friends with Dimitri; I wanted to be so much more than that. I just didn't know how that was possible anymore.

[BREAK]

Because my mom was at work and my dad had a poker game with his friends that he didn't want to miss, they'd agreed to let me walk home as long as Lissa was with me. As soon as we'd said goodbye to everyone else, she took her chance to pounce on the question I knew she'd been dying to ask me all day.

"So? What happened with Dimitri!" she whispered.

It was weird, but when she asked me that, I realized that I'd been wanting to talk to someone about what happened with him really badly. But I also knew that I had to take my time when telling her and keep my cool. I didn't want to break down again.

"Well, he was worried about me, but I didn't really give him a chance to say much. I was really upset and I thought he was cheating on me…"

She grabbed my arm. "He wasn't? Are you guys okay?"

I shook my head, willing the tears not to come. "No, we aren't okay. I don't know if he was actually cheating on me or not because I never gave him the chance to explain. I basically yelled what had happened upstairs at him and flew out of his car. He chased me –"

"He chased you?! Wow. He must really – Wait." She stopped, making me look at her. "Rose, please tell me you let him catch you. Tell me you guys made up and now he's just worried because someone attacked you again, and that's why you guys aren't okay."

"No, that's not it." I grimaced. "He did catch me. Then he kissed me."

She gasped. "Outside? Where someone could see you?" When I nodded, she got a dreamy look on her face. "Oh my God, that sounds so romantic. He took the chance of getting caught just so he could try and keep you! Okay, tell me the rest."

I thought about what she'd just said. I'd been so wrapped up in myself that I hadn't thought of things that way, hadn't imagined the risk he'd taken just to get me to stay with him. Maybe it was best that we'd broken up. I hadn't been a very good girlfriend. "Well, I guess it would be romantic, if it weren't for me slapping him."

"You slapped him? Rose, that… That was incredibly stupid of you. It's probably the dumbest thing you've ever done." I stopped, looking at her with my mouth wide open. "Don't look at me like that. You know I'm right."

"How are you right? He cheated on me! Was I just supposed to forget about that and give in to him like a helpless damsel in distress?"

She sighed. "You just said a minute ago that you don't know if he was actually cheating on you or not. And I can tell you right now that he wasn't."

I grabbed her arms, making her face me. "How? Tell me right now, I need to know!"

"Not right now." she replied, shaking me off. "Wait until we get inside."

We were right outside my house. I unlocked the door and let us in, almost running up the stairs to my room. I put my book bag down next to my vanity and turned around to talk to Lissa, but she wasn't there. I went out into the hall.

Lissa was coming up the stairs. "You forgot to lock the door."

"I don't care about the door right now. We don't have a lot of time. Get in here and tell me what you know!" I hissed.

She took her time walking to my room. I groaned and went to my closet, taking out a loose, black shirt with the word "hot" on it in red and a pair of gray pants. She closed the door as I changed and sat on the bed.

"Rose, I know he wasn't cheating on you because I checked when we walked out of the theater. He didn't feel anything for Ms. Amos, except what most people feel when they deal with friends. Ms. Amos, on the other hand…" she trailed off.

"What?!" I asked, pulling on my pants. I started slipping my shoes on. "What about Ms. Amos?"

She fidgeted on the bed. "Ms. Amos does feel for him."

I sighed. "What do you mean, she 'does feel for him'?"

"I don't know. I mean, I do, but it's hard to explain. She really likes him, Rose. I couldn't tell how much exactly outside of the theater because I didn't get to feel her emotions for him that long. But I did do some snooping today when I was in her class. I went up to her desk and thanked her for getting Dimitri to give us a lift that night, checking in on her emotions when I did.

"What she felt when I brought him up… It was really intense, like she loved him. I don't know how her feelings for him could have grown that fast, but they did. Who knows? Maybe she's just one of those women who lets her crush totally overwhelm her. But, yeah, Dimitri didn't feel the same about her." she finished.

"I know, I know." I mumbled, sitting down next to her on the bed. "You told me that already."

Lissa laughed. "No, you don't know, Rose. I haven't told you what you need to know yet." She paused, clearly thinking that I was going to interrupt. When I gave her a look that told her to keep going, she did. "The reason why I didn't get to check out Ms. Amos's feelings that well was because someone else's feelings overwhelmed me. Dimitri's, when he saw you. It was like…I don't know, like a light came on inside of him. He really does love you.

"And when he saw your face… You remember that time I fell down my porch steps and hit my head on that rock?" she asked.

I did. It had been me, Lissa, Christian, and Eddie. Mia had gone shopping with her mom that afternoon. We decided to go to the ice cream shop and as we went outside, Lissa lost her footing and fell down the seven steps on her front porch. We all saw when her head smacked off that rock at the bottom. She'd worried me to death, but not nearly as bad as she'd worried Christian.

He jumped every single step to get down to her. He kneeled down next to her and put her head in his lap. Lissa's dad came outside when he heard the noise she made when she fell and he took over from there, but Christian had gotten in his way.

"Son, let me take her inside." Lissa's dad said to Christian, taking Lissa's arm to help her up.

Christian shook his head, putting his hand on Lissa's shoulder to keep her down. "No, she hit her head hard. If she stands up, it could hurt her. We need to call an ambulance to come get her."

"No, no. I'm alright, Christian." Lissa told him. "I have a headache and I'll probably have a bump on my head later, but I'm okay."

But Christian wouldn't listen. "You don't know that! You just took a hit to the head, you might not be able to tell how badly you're hurt."

In the end, we'd talked Christian into calming down. Lissa's dad took her to the hospital to get checked out, just in case, and she'd been fine.

"Yeah, I remember. Christian freaked out." I told her.

She nodded. "Yeah, he did. The emotion that ran through him when I fell was…amazing. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have someone who cared so much for me. I felt the same thing coming from Dimitri when he saw you like that. I know it took everything he had not to go to you."

Hearing that made me happy and sad at the same time. He wasn't cheating on me! I thought, my heart beginning to flutter. It stopped with my next thought. But I blew it…

"But…today was different." Lissa continued, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Before she could answer, I got a text. On my way. Be ready.

"Tell me quick. Dimitri's on his way to come get me."

She'd opened her mouth to start explaining, but closed it again. She tilted her head to the side, looking at me thoughtfully. "Dimitri's coming to get you?"

That's right. The fact that Dimitri took me to "self-defense classes" had slipped my mind when I'd told her about him and I the other night. Thinking back on it now, I must've just been so tired that I'd forgotten. We had just started practicing the day I told her about us. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that. My mom really can't take me to classes in the afternoon and the school won't do it, so Dimitri offered to take me. My mom has been paying him for it. And I'm not really taking self-defense classes. Don't say anything, we aren't running off to dates. He's rented a room and been training me himself."

She shook her head. "You really need to make things right with him."

"Yeah, I do." I whispered. But did he even want to be with me anymore? I had no idea. "But tell me about his feelings today before he gets here."

"He called me to his office today to talk about what happened at the theater. Get things from my perspective, you know? He did the same with Christian, Eddie, and Mia. But, anyway, when I tried to get a reading on him, it was hard. He's full of so many emotions. There was hurt and guilt, and when we talked about you, there was love and longing. There was mostly guilt, but I don't think it had anything to do with Ms. Amos. I think it was over your breakup." she explained.

I was going to ask her what she thought I should do with him, but there was a honk outside. I sighed. "He's here. Walk with me?"

She nodded and got up, grabbing her things and following me to the door. "Oh, yeah, I was going to ask you… Did he say anything about me slipping up on his name that night?"

"Yeah, he noticed. He's smart, Liss. He picks up on things no one else notices. He knew I'd told you."

She groaned as I opened the front door. "Was he mad?"

I was barely paying attention anymore. Dimitri wasn't in his car. He was leaning against the side of it, his arms crossed, making his muscles stick out. His long brown hair was down, blowing around his face in the wind. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt, both of which looked way too good on him. I was filled with longing as I looked at him. "Uh, we'll talk later." I told her.

"Okay." she agreed when she caught sight of Dimitri. She gave him a wave and he smiled at her before she began walking down the sidewalk.

I walked over to his car. He opened the passenger side door as I did. "Hey, comrade." I said before getting in the car. He didn't smile like he usually did. In fact, it was like he was ignoring me. Maybe I was right; maybe he didn't want to be with me after what I'd done. I didn't blame him. I'd treated him like crap.

He got in the driver's seat, starting the car and putting it in drive before speeding off. He didn't say a word as he did.

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," I told him, looking straight at him. I wouldn't look away this time. I had to be strong. "The way I acted the other night… It wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Rose. I understand." he replied, paying attention to the road. "You need to know that nothing happened between me and Ms. Amos. I don't feel that way about her."

"I know –"

He cut me off. "Wait, let me finish. The reason why I was with her that night was because she needed to talk. She said she was having a hard time getting over Mason's death. I told her she could come by my office after school, but she wanted to meet at her apartment. She told me to park at the theater's parking lot since it was right down the road and she didn't have the space in front of her complex for me to park.

"When we were done, she offered to walk me to my car. I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. What you saw…that was all her. She was thanking me for talking to her and helping her out. I guess by your reaction that you didn't see me pull my hand away from her." he finished.

I believed him, other than one tiny part. Well, it wasn't so much him I didn't believe as it was her. "Why did she need to talk to you about Mason? She barely knew him. She moved here right before he died."

Dimitri frowned, glancing at me. "Rose, Ms. Amos is Mason's aunt."

"What?" I asked. I'd been blind sighted. "How? She doesn't look anything like the rest of his family and, like I said, she just moved here. She's also got a different last name and she's not married." From all the time I'd spent with Mason, I knew his mom's maiden name was Lester. If she was Mason's dad's sister, she'd have the same last name: Ashford.

"Mason's grandparents, on his mom's side, adopted her when she was a teenager, but they let her keep her last name. She told me that her parents died when she was young and her name was all she had left of them. They're from here, but she moved when she graduated. She came back to teach a couple of months ago." he explained.

"Huh." I replied, baffled. "Mason told me he had an aunt, but I didn't know anything about her."

He nodded. "So, that's what happened. I just thought you should know."

I didn't know what to say. Would we get back together now? If we did, how? Did everything just go back to the way it was? I looked out my window, wishing I could take back everything I'd said and done to him Saturday night. A few minutes went by before Dimitri spoke again.

"Do you believe me?" he asked.

"Yeah. I believe you." I assured him, sounding nothing like myself.

He glanced at me, probably because of my tone of voice. I was confused and sad…but mostly I was angry at myself. He turned his attention back to the road and said, "Good."

[BREAK]

"Come on, Rose. You aren't even trying!" Dimitri told me, dodging my punch.

It was true. My heart really wasn't into practicing right now. We'd been doing this for twenty minutes, ever since we got to the gym. Dimitri had changed into sweats – how he found pants that were long enough for his legs, I didn't know – in the locker room before we came up here. It hadn't taken him a minute.

He wanted to spar today, instead of letting me punch gloves and try to kick him. I thought it was because I'd learned what he meant to teach me – I'd done the same thing to Ski Mask and it worked – but I also thought it might just be that he wanted to teach a variety of things.

He wouldn't hit me. Instead, when he got close enough, he'd just subdue me, like he did now.

When he dodged my blow, he moved to the side, grabbing my arm and pulling it, making me turn around. He twisted it up against my back. "See how easy it is for someone to subdue you?" he whispered in my ear. I had to stop myself from shivering. He was pressed up against my back and the contact felt, oh, so good. "You need to take this seriously."

I gulped, gaining control of my voice. "Okay."

We got back into the stance he'd taught me and went again. I still wasn't feeling it – mostly because of the feelings he'd just invoked in me – but I tried a little harder. I made a swipe at his face, just coming short, like I had this entire time.

"Faster, Rose. You can do it." Dimitri said, moving to the right. I moved to the left, staying in front of him. One of the first things he'd taught me when we got in here – after telling me how I should stand – was not to let my opponent see my back. Ever. I'd slipped up a couple of times and he got the jump on me, wrapping his arm around my neck and putting slight pressure on it. I knew not to do that again.

I tried to hit him again, but I missed. I stopped, putting my hands to my sides. "I can't do this, Dimitri. It's too hard. We should do something –"

I was going to say, "easier," but I never got to. Dimitri grabbed my shoulders and began walking forward, making me walk backwards as he did. I almost stumbled over my own feet, but he got me to the wall before I could. He let go of my shoulders, grabbing my hands. He pushed them up against the wall, next to my head. I was suddenly transported back in time.

"Anthony" leaned down and kissed my neck before making his way up to my ear, holding my arms up against the wall.

A shudder ran through me, remembering the one and only time we'd come close to having sex, but Dimitri didn't notice.

"Don't you say you can't do this, Roza." My heart leaped at his use of my nickname, but he didn't seem to notice. "I know you can. You did it when that pathetic excuse for a human being attacked you. You can do it again."

"That was different!" I exclaimed. "I was in danger. I had to protect myself."

He gazed into my eyes, searching for something. He let out a sigh as he dropped my hands. "You know what? You're right." Okay, I hadn't expected that. He turned around. "You can't do it. You've lost that fire I loved about you."

That did it. I stared at his back as he walked away, feeling something rise up in me. I remembered how angry I was at him Saturday night, how I'd slapped him. I tapped into that anger, letting it drive me forward.

It took two long strides to get to him. I punched him on his side, hitting his ribs. He must've seen me because he automatically turned around, getting into the stance we were in before. I waited as we moved, looking for an opening. For some reason, I felt like we'd done this countless times before, maybe in another life…

There. I'd found my opening. I sprang forward, going for the right side of his face. My fist hit his cheekbone, but he didn't seem fazed. He came right back at me, deciding to try a hit of his own. I slid to my left, dodging his blow. His left hand came at me next. I had nowhere to go. If I went to my right, he'd be able to hit me even harder because I'd be going right towards his fist. If I went to my left again, I'd just make it easier for him to line up the punch.

It was like my body took over. I dropped down to the ground, in a crouch. Dimitri lurched forward, thrown off balance by his punch. I brought my right leg out and swung it at his legs. I'd expected him to fall, but he just stumbled to his right. I immediately took advantage of his fumble, standing up and throwing my left hand forward…

…right into his heart.

The blow was hard, knocking him back. I immediately got back into my stance, but Dimitri brought his hands to his side, looking at where I'd hit him. He brought his left hand up and rubbed at the spot, looking up at me as he did.

"I knew you hadn't given up. Good job, really. If you did that move with a weapon…well, you'd definitely incapacitate someone." he laughed.

I smiled at him, loving that he'd praised me. "You weren't so bad yourself, comrade."

"Come on," he said, picking up a towel from the towel rack and wiping his face. "It's time to run."

We ran the same exact way we had Friday, running a mile and then a couple of sprinted laps. After our sparring earlier, we were in good moods. Everything felt light and easy again.

I hated that I'd forgotten to bring extra clothes, but the shower I took helped. The gym had complimentary shampoo, conditioner, soap, and towels in the locker room. If I wouldn't have looked weird, I would've grabbed a robe and wore that out.

"Where'd you learn to do all that?" Dimitri asked as we went through a McDonald's drive-thru. We were both exhausted from practicing and had decided to grab something on the go so we could get home faster.

I shook my head, a smile on my face. I was actually really proud of myself. "I don't know. It was like…like I went on autopilot or something. I didn't think. I just acted." I explained.

He gave me another broad smile. "What I really don't get was that last move you did. You hit me hard. It was like you were trying to get through my ribs and everything to get to my heart."

"What, like stake you?" I asked. We both laughed.

An hour later, we were pulling up to the curb in front of my house.

"So…" I said, not knowing what to do or say. I didn't know if I should bring us up or let him do it.

He looked at me, smiling. "So?"

I gulped. I actually knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn't sure if I should or not. I finally decided to just spit it out. "What happens with us?"

His face fell and I immediately wished I could take it back. But it was too late now. He reached over and took my hand, looking at my fingers. He ran his thumb along them, over and over again. "Look, Rose… I don't think there should be an 'us'."

I stared at him, my heart pounding hard in my chest. I wanted to speak, but the words got caught in my throat. With my hand still in his, I closed my eyes and got myself together. "Why?" I whispered.

"Because…" I heard him sigh. "Because I think I'm the reason you're seeing Mason."

First of all, thank you so much for reading! You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that people enjoy my stories. And second, please review :) Like I said before, you could change the way this story plays out if you let me know what you think about everything in a review or a PM. I love you guys! You're all awesome! :D