I am so happy to report that we've broken 100 reviews! :D Thank you so much for letting me know all your theories and what you think of the story! It's because of all of you that this story even exists! I'd also like to give a big thank you to the following people: bboop12, ladora, RozaRocks, Mrs. Belikova, Dimka's chick, and M for being faithful readers and reviewers! I'd like to give you all a special treat, so I have sent you all PM's – except for M and Mrs. Belikova who don't have accounts; sorry about that – with a hint on who's been attacking Rose. I hope that shows my appreciation.

The big reveal isn't far away now, so make sure to get your theories out there before it happens! I love hearing them :)

I knocked on the door. I hadn't really been paying attention to where I was going earlier, after Blake gave us the news, and was surprised to find myself here of all places. This probably hadn't been a good idea, but I could have cared less at the moment.

Lissa was gone and there was no trace as to where she went. We'd given the cops the notes she left us, in the hopes that the sooner they got them, the sooner they'd be able to find her. Unfortunately, they'd left nothing but Lissa's smashed cell phone at the site where they met her. That meant the police couldn't track her using her cell.

They'd called Mr. Dragomir and let him know what was going on. Instead of driving the hour it took to get back here, he'd called in a favor with a small helicopter business in Helena and was probably home already. I felt so bad. After everything he'd done for me, this was how I repaid him; by getting his only daughter kidnapped.

The door in front of me opened only a moment after I'd knocked. As soon as Dimitri saw the look on my face, he rushed forward and grabbed me, bringing me into his apartment.

I was surprised at how easily I snapped once he'd touched me. I found myself in his arms, crying hysterically. He held on to me, his arms tight around my shoulders. He didn't say a word as I cried, just stroked my hair and rocked me a little. I was so devastated that I didn't know there was someone else in the room until they cleared their throat.

I opened my eyes to see a girl standing near the doorway to Dimitri's kitchen. She had dark brown eyes that reminded me of Dimitri's and long brown hair, streaked with gold. She was wearing blue jeans and a light blue top with white flowers on it. I quickly broke away from Dimitri, feeling stupid for not remembering that his sister was here.

She gave me a small smile, obviously feeling awkward. "You must be Rose. It's nice to meet you. Er, well, it would be, if it weren't for the circumstances." For a moment, my heart began pounding hard in my chest, thinking she didn't like that I was with Dimitri. But her next sentence cleared that up. "I heard about what happened to your friend."

I quickly wiped at my face, mortified that the first time I met any of Dimitri's family, I was bawling like a huge baby. "Um, yeah. I'm glad I'm finally getting to meet you, too. Even under the…circumstances."

"I'll just let you two talk. I'll be in Dimka's room when you're done." With a small smile at me, she turned and walked to the back of Dimitri's apartment.

I looked over at Dimitri, who still had a worried expression on his face. "I'm sorry. I forgot you had company. I should just go."

"No," he whispered, taking me back in his arms. "I'm glad you came. I've been so worried about you."

I sighed, leaning into him. I don't think I'd ever been more happy to have him. No one would've been able to comfort me after…

"God, Dimitri, it's all my fault! If I hadn't worried her so much, if I hadn't been so selfish and made sure she was okay before me… This never would've happened. I'm such a horrible person." I sobbed into his chest.

He pulled away from me, keeping me at arm's length. Looking directly into my eyes, he said, "No, Roza. I understand why you'd feel that way, but…Lissa is a young woman. She's old enough to make her own decisions. Now, tell me what exactly happened. All I know is what you've already told me."

I'd texted him while we were waiting for the cops to talk to us, letting him know that Lissa had left to meet the people who wanted me dead. "She's still gone. The cops found her smashed cell phone in the park on Sunset Avenue, where she said she was going. They have no way of tracking her down." I felt more tears fall down my face. "What am I going to do? It's all my fault."

He led me to the couch, making me sit. "It is not your fault, Rose. You couldn't have known what she was planning. We're going to find her. We'll go out tomorrow and post flyers, send out emails, whatever we can do to get the word out. Someone must have seen her leaving with those criminals. They'll step forward."

"And what if they don't?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Let's say someone did see something, knew where they were. Why would they speak up? Why would they put themselves into this situation when they have no loyalties to Lissa?"

He stroked my cheek with one hand while keeping his other one on my arm. "Because the people of this town work together to get things done. They take care of each other. You know that as well as I do."

I actually did know that. I'd been surprised when I woke up from my induced coma to find that almost every single person in town had either sent me flowers or cards, wishing me good luck on getting well. It was one of the things that had made me want to get back into my normal routine so fast.

"I don't know. I just have a really bad feeling about all of this."

"It'd be hard not to." he agreed. "But I promise you that we will get to the bottom of this. We will find her. This. Will. Work."

I nodded, trying to stifle the tears that filled my eyes. "So what do we do?"

We came up with a plan to do as he said, make flyers and send out emails. We would also contact the local newspaper and try to get them to write an article on what had happened, urging people to step forward if they'd seen anything. If they hadn't already gotten started on it, that is. News in this town traveled pretty fast.

Dimitri grabbed his cell phone, looking at the time. He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, frustrated. "You should get home. Your parents are probably worried sick about you. What are you going to tell them?"

I shrugged. "I'll think of something. It shouldn't be too hard to convince one of my friends to cover for me. They and my parents both know how hard this is on me. I'll text you when I get home and let you know how everything goes."

He nodded, taking my hand as we rose from the couch. Before I could leave, though, he yelled out to Viktoria, who was back in the living room an instant after he'd called her name.

"Leaving already? I'd hoped I'd get to spend some time with my new sister." she said, leaning against the wall.

My jaw dropped open before I could stop it. Sister? Dimitri and I had just gotten together. Marriage wasn't even an issue yet, although I did find myself liking the sound of Rosemarie Belikov. "I, well, that is…"

Viktoria stood up and walked over to me, pulling me into a hug. Her laughter made my body shake with hers. "Rose, we've heard a lot about you. You're already a part of the family in our eyes. I've never seen Dimka so happy."

I hadn't known I could be happy about anything with Lissa being gone, but that warmed my heart. My mind began to race. If Dimitri's family can accept me so easily, it shouldn't be that hard for everyone else…

She let go of me and looked me in the eyes – something that she had in common with Dimitri. I wondered if his family thought eye contact was a sign of respect. "I really hope you find your friend. If there's anything we can do to help, let us know. Dimitri will give you my number."

"Thanks. I will." I told her before turning to the door. Dimitri was already there, opening it for me. A thought suddenly occurred to me and I turned back around. "Viktoria… Do you think you could be my cover for my parents? It'd be a lot easier if I didn't have to text all my friends to get them to cover for me."

Viktoria nodded, her eyes bright. "Sure, no problem. What do you want me to tell them?"

I thought about that for a minute, trying to come up with something believable. "Tell them you came across me in the park where Lissa disappeared. Say I was distraught, that you brought me to a coffee shop in town to make sure I was okay."

She agreed and got my mom's number from me, sending her a text explaining who she was and that I was on my way home. I thanked her, to which her reply was, "Anything for family."

I turned to Dimitri, who still had the door open, but only by a crack. I walked over and pushed it all the way closed, wrapping the front of his shirt in my fists. I suddenly needed to feel his lips on mine, needed to bury some of the hurt I was feeling in his touch. I pulled him down to me, our lips colliding and catching on fire. There was a fire building between us, one that could easily burn out of control. I felt nothing but Dimitri, heard nothing but him. The world was gone now and only we remained.

Viktoria cleared her throat again. "Hey, I might be alright with the two of you together, but that doesn't mean I want to see it."

I slowly pulled away from Dimitri, giving him one, two, three more soft pecks on the lips. I'd barely heard Viktoria and even if I had, I really didn't care. "I love you. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're here for me."

Everything about Dimitri softened as he looked at me. There was a little bit of sadness in his expression. "I love you, too, sweetheart." A rush of excitement went through me. He'd never called me anything like that before. "And I will always be here for you, Roza. I…I know it doesn't mean much, but I am so sorry about Lissa. We'll find her. I promise."

"That means everything to me, especially because it's coming from you. I'll text you later. I really need to get home now."

He sighed, but nodded, knowing I was right. He leaned down once more for another kiss, holding me a little too tightly, like he thought I might evaporate.

"Okay, I get your in love and all that, but I'm seriously considering getting a bucket of ice water. It might be the only thing that'll get you two away from each other." Viktoria said behind us. She was serious about us letting go of each other, but there was a teasing tone to her voice.

I let go of Dimitri, knowing she was right, that we needed to stop. "I'll see you guys later."

I was out in the hall when I heard, "And Rose?"

I turned to see both Dimitri and Viktoria looking at each other, a smile on their lips. They'd both said that at the same time. It wasn't hard to see the family resemblance in them, not at all. They both waited for the other to continue, but neither did. Finally, they both said, "Be careful."

I tilted my head, a small smile forming on my lips. "Okay, that's a little creepy. Do you guys have some sort of weird family telepathy?"

Their answer was to laugh and tell me goodbye one last time.

[BREAK]

"Please," I cried, looking straight into the camera. "If you have any information regarding Lissa's whereabouts, anything at all, call the hotline we've set up at…"

It was Saturday evening. We – me, Eddie, Mia, Christian, Dimitri, Mr. Dragomir, pretty much everyone who cared about Lissa – had been out all day, posting flyers, talking to people on the street about her disappearance, and getting the word out any way we could.

At noon, a news company got in touch with the police department here in Bozeman. They wanted to do interviews with everyone who was involved in learning about Lissa's disappearance, but they had to get permission from everyone's parents before that could happen. My parents had been reluctant to let me do it at first, fearing it would be too much, but I'd talked them into letting me. Even if it hurt, I'd do anything to get her back.

Last night, my mom got the text from Viktoria saying that I was with her and believed it. She'd been too concerned about me to really worry that I was lying about being with a friend, even one I'd just met. They'd babied me all night, but – for once – I wanted it that way. I felt like I deserved a little babying.

"So," the journalist began. She was a short woman with long, dark hair that spilled in curls to her mid-back. She looked to be in her late-twenties, with bright blue eyes and a comforting smile. We were sitting in a coffee shop just outside of town, doing the interview we'd set up. People were trying to listen in on what I was saying, but every time they'd get close enough to get in the shot, the cameramen would wave them off. "Can you tell us what Lissa is like? Tell us about your friendship?"

I nodded, the tears in my eyes completely real. "Lissa is one of the most caring and considerate people I know. She never hesitates to help those in need. We've been best friends since we were little, but she's more like a sister to me. After everything I've been through, she was always there for me. That's why I'm here now. It's my turn to be there for her."

She nodded, genuine sympathy in her expression. "Could you tell us a little more about what happened to you?"

I was a little reluctant to say anything about that, but quickly decided I'd tell them. I had to do whatever I could to find Lissa. "Well, a couple months ago, I was attacked in an alley. I don't remember much about it; my doctors said that it was a very traumatic experience and I might not ever remember what happened to me. Lissa was there for me after it happened."

"You poor thing." she whispered, clearly getting too emotionally attached to her story. She quickly snapped out of it and looked at her notes. "What does Lissa look like? Is there anything distinguishing about her?"

"She's about five feet, ten inches tall. She has long blonde hair that's almost white and is usually straight. Her eyes are jade green, so I guess that's distinguishing. I haven't met a lot of people with that eye color. The last time I saw her, she was wearing black yoga pants that have the word 'hope' in pink lettering down the leg and a light pink top." I answered.

We sat there for another hour as I answered question after question. When we were finally done, the journalist – Ms. Carmen, she told me to call her – thanked me for my time and told me that she'd be in contact if the station heard anything regarding Lissa.

I got up and ordered a coffee, desperate for some caffeine. I'd been up most of the night and, when I did sleep, I had nightmares. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, but I knew I'd be up for a while so the caffeine wouldn't affect me too much.

As I sipped on my white chocolate frappe, I made my way outside, intending to meet with the rest of our group later. We agreed that we'd meet at the theater – despite the troubles I'd endured there – because it was about an equal distance from where everyone was posted. I decided I would go home for a quick rest and to grab some more flyers before making my way there.

To my surprise, I ran into a familiar face on the way there.

"Rose," Adrian said, running up to me. I couldn't be certain, but I thought it was the first time he'd addressed me by my name. "I came as soon as I heard. I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Sorry. I've been all around town today, trying to find out anything about where Lissa might be. You don't know anything, do you?" I asked.

He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. I thought that would mess it up, but it snapped right back into place. That guy had too much hair product. "No, all I know is that Lissa is missing and everyone is trying like hell to find her. How did this even happen?"

I sighed, knowing that I needed to fill him in on everything that had happened the past few months. Adrian might have been a nuisance, but I could tell that he really did care about Lissa and wanted to help find her. Not in a boyfriend kind of way – he saved that kind of caring for me – but in the way a friend cares about another friend.

So, with great reluctance, I told him everything. Adrian didn't say a word the whole time I spoke, which amazed me. He took everything in, waiting until I stopped talking to finally say anything. But, it turned out, he hadn't been waiting to say anything. Instead, he reached out and pulled me to him, burying me in his chest.

"Rose, I can't believe what you've been through." There was real concern in his voice. "No wonder you were trying so hard to kick me out the other day. It's actually surprising to me that you've held up this well."

"Excuse me?" a voice said, making my pulse rise. Why did he always have to find me and Adrian in some sort of intimate setting? "What's going on here?"

I pulled out of Adrian's arms to look at Dimitri, who was strolling up to us. I opened my mouth to tell him that absolutely nothing was going on, but Adrian spoke before I could. "Nothing that should concern you, Damon."

"Dimitri." Dimitri corrected. By the way he was glaring at Adrian, I was surprised Adrian didn't spontaneously combust.

Adrian waved his hand, dismissing Dimitri altogether. "Yeah, whatever. Look, why don't you find somewhere else to be all pervy and leave us alone? I'm discussing something important with Rose."

"The hell you are." Dimitri replied, barely able to stay calm. His hands were balled into fists and there was a slight trembling in his arms. "Why don't you go find someone your own age to talk to?"

"Why don't you?" Adrian retorted, glaring right back at Dimitri.

I stepped in between the two of them, worried they would start fighting. "Hey, you guys, cut it out. We have more important things to deal with right now than too much testosterone. Like, say, finding my best friend?"

I thought they would continue their arguing from the way they were glaring at each other, but Dimitri looked away first. He would only look at me after that. "You're right. Lissa is the number one priority right now, not some kid who doesn't know his place."

Adrian scoffed. "Better than being an adult who doesn't know his place."

Dimitri stepped closer to Adrian, looking like he really, really wanted to hit him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Please. Look at you! You're practically undressing her with your eyes. It's amazing that no one has seen it yet. Why don't you leave her alone, pedophile? After all, you're –"

I admit that what I did next was very, very stupid of me, but I really couldn't help it. When he'd called Dimitri a pedophile, something inside of me snapped. I'd been doing a lot of thinking about what people would say once Dimitri and I came out with our relationship, even though it was a long way off. I'd been worried that I wouldn't be able to take their comments or sly looks once everyone knew the truth. But right then, I had my answer. I could take it, but not without letting people know what I felt about it.

I punched Adrian in the side of the face. My anger, frustration, sadness, and guilt had been building up in me, not only because of Lissa's disappearance, but also because of all the crap I'd been dealing with since Mason's death. "Don't you dare call him that!" I yelled. I pushed him, making him stagger back. "You don't have any right to say anything about him!"

"Rose –" Dimitri began.

I turned, pointing a finger at him. "Stay out of this." I turned back to Adrian. "You think you have some sort of moronic claim on me because I kissed you?! You don't. You never have and you never will."

Adrian stood there for a moment, holding his cheek where I'd hit him as he looked between Dimitri and me. "Well, then," he hissed, his voice low and angry. "I guess I'll just go and let the happy couple be."

"Yes." I hissed right back. He flinched. "I guess you will."

With one last glance at us, Adrian turned and walked away. We didn't say anything for a long time, at least until Adrian was out of sight. When we did finally talk, it was Dimitri who was the first one to speak.

"Rose, that was…" He seemed at a loss for words.

I turned toward him, hands on my hips. "Stupid? Idiotic? The worst thing I possibly could've done for us? Yeah, I know. But I couldn't help it." He shook his head, laughing. I was aghast. How could he be laughing at a time like this? "What?"

He looked up at me, his eyes shiny and glistening from tears that his laughter had brought on. "No, Roza. That," he said, closing the distance between us and wrapping me in his arms, "was hot."

I looked into his eyes, blushing furiously. The feel of his arms wrapped around me sent waves of heat throughout my entire body. Most of the time, when Dimitri complimented me, it was usually something along the lines of how beautiful I was or how amazing. Hearing that I was hot to him may not have been as romantic as the other compliments, but that didn't mean I didn't like it. Hell, I loved hearing him talk about me that way.

There was a hunger in his eyes, one that was probably in my expression as well. But I suddenly remembered that we were out in public and stepped away from him. "Well, if that's what turns you on, I can always kick your ass, too."

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh, you can definitely try."

Before I could reply, my phone went off. With a groan, I took it out of my pocket and answered it. "Rose, we're at the theater. Where are you?" Christian asked.

I took the phone away from my ear and looked at the time. I still had another hour before our appointed time. "It's only eight o'clock. I thought we agreed on nine."

"Well, we decided to make it earlier. We've already posted the flyers all around town and talked to virtually everyone. No point in wasting another hour talking to the same people. Come on so we can figure out what our next plan is." he explained.

I told him that I'd leave right then and be there soon. "That was Christian. We're meeting at the theater now instead of an hour from now. Care to give me a lift?"

[BREAK]

"We need you to go home and pack a bag for the night." my dad told me when we got to the theater. From the look on my mom's face, she agreed.

"What? Why?" I asked, seriously confused.

They looked between each other before my mom answered. "Do you think that Veronica girl you met yesterday would mind letting you spend the night? I know it's short notice, but your father just got called into work. They want him in Lincoln by morning, so we'll be late even leaving now. I have to go to help him drive, but I'll be back by Monday morning."

The old man stepped in again. "The police want you staying somewhere you've never stayed before, just in case the people who took Lissa decide to come after you. They actually thought about keeping you in one of the cells at the jail, but we wouldn't let them."

Hold me in a cell? Like a criminal? Suddenly, I was very, very happy for my parents' intervention. "Her name is Viktoria. And I can call and ask, but I can't guarantee anything." I was trying to sound like how I thought I'd be before I met Dimitri. I knew that "Viktoria" would definitely let me stay at her place.

"Great. We'll bring you by the house and drop you off at her house before we leave." my mom told me.

Thankfully, Dimitri stepped in. He'd been quietly observing our conversation. "There's no need. Viktoria is my little sister. I'll speak to my mother and let her know about the situation. I can pick Rose up later and take her to their house."

My mom was shocked by the look on her face, but my dad was examining Dimitri, a little too closely. Did he know something was up? I couldn't tell. I said a silent prayer, hoping he wouldn't catch on to anything. I intervened, hoping I'd throw my dad off whatever trail he was on. "She's your sister? She never mentioned anything to me about that…"

Dimitri looked at me now. "Viktoria called me last night to tell me about how Lissa was missing. She was wondering if I'd known her from school. I asked her where she heard that information and she told me she'd spoken to you."

"Thank you, Dimitri. If you could call her now, that would be great." my dad told him, all traces of doubt gone now. "The sooner we get an answer, the better."

"Can I talk to my friends before we leave?" I asked my parents. They told me to be quick about it, but let me go. I ran over to where Christian, Mia, and Eddie were all whispering to each other. "What's going on?" I kept my voice low.

Mia answered, "We ran into Mason's parents." I grimaced. "Yeah, I know. We didn't know if we should approach them or not, but figured finding Lissa was more important than whatever was going on between us. Eddie stayed back, just in case."

"Which was a good thing," Christian took over. "They're still miserable over Mason. Mrs. Ashford's eyes were still all puffy from crying and Mr. Ashford looked like he was hitting the bottle pretty hard. No telling what kind of reaction they'd have towards Eddie."

I took a chance to glance over at Eddie. He had a haunted look on his face that he always got when Mason's family was brought up. It never happened when we talked about Mason. Like I said before, Eddie was trying to move on with his life, keeping Mason and the happy memories they'd made together in his heart. He no longer blamed himself for Mason's death, but it was still hard on him, especially with Mason's family wanting nothing to do with him.

"Hey," I said, grabbing Eddie's hand in mine. "It'll be alright. They'll come around."

He gave me a ghost of a smile. "Yeah, I know. I just hate seeing how miserable they are. I can't complain, though. They're way better than Patty and Sid." He shuddered.

"What's going on with –"

"Rose!" my mom called. "Come on. We have to leave."

I gave my friends a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I have to go. My parents have to go out of town, so I'm staying with Mr. Belikov's little sister tonight. The police wanted me somewhere I've never been before, just in case someone tries to mess with me."

They all told me it was alright – well, except Christian, who obviously thought my parents were crazy for leaving while Lissa was still missing. I had to admit, he was really good for her. He treated her well. – and let me go.

[BREAK]

"Two whole nights!" I yelled, flopping down on Dimitri's bed. I knew I shouldn't have been so happy while my best friend was missing, but I honestly couldn't help myself. "I get to spend two whole nights and a day with just you."

He laughed, putting my bag down next to his dresser. "Well, we have two nights together, but tomorrow will be spent trying to find Lissa."

I nodded, feeling ashamed at myself. "I know. I can't believe that slipped my mind."

"Hey," he replied in a soft tone, sitting down next to me. "I'll admit that I'm not happy about why you're here, but I am happy that you're here. I know it's hard having your best friend gone, but let's try to make the most of this. Alright?"

"Okay." I said, intertwining our fingers. "What do you want to do first?"

I ran my hand along his chest and he closed his eyes. Ever since he'd called me hot after beating up Adrian, I couldn't wait for this opportunity. I hadn't known it would come this soon, but I definitely wasn't going to complain. I got up on my knees in front of him, kissing his neck. Suddenly, his hands wrapped around my waist, picking me up and laying me down on the bed. He got on top of me, holding himself up by his arms.

He leaned down, leaving a trail of kisses up my neck and to my ear. When he did, he whispered, "I have something I've been wanting to do with you for a while now."

I shivered, my body suddenly burning with desire for him. "I know," I whispered back. "Me, too."

He chuckled, slipping off of me and leaving me feeling cold. "That's not what I'm talking about, Rose."

For some reason, I felt like I'd just been slapped. No, that wasn't quite the right description. My heart felt like it had plummeted into my stomach. My throat was suddenly extremely dry and I felt my face begin to heat up. The typical prickling sensation that meant I was about to cry rose in my eyes. I cast my gaze away from him, to the floor, feeling…

…rejected.

I quickly hopped up from the bed. I needed to retreat, get somewhere he couldn't follow me. I didn't want him to see the emotion that his rejection had brought up in me. "Uh, yeah," I said quickly, hoping he wasn't paying too much attention. "I'm, um, going to go to the bathroom."

"Rose, wait," he said, grabbing hold of my arm. He pulled me back to him, but I still wouldn't look at his face. "That can wait, can't it? I have – What's wrong? Rose, look at me."

I tried not to, but he tilted my chin up so that I had to look at him. His face was all blurry, probably from the tears in my eyes, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Even though my face was on fire, the rest of my body felt like it had been in ice for three days, making it completely numb. "I'm fine." I whispered, knowing I sounded anything but.

He shook his head. "No, you aren't fine. What is it? Did I say something wrong? Do something wrong?"

"I…" I really didn't know what to say. How could he not see it? "I just – I thought…well, that maybe you'd… Know what? Never mind. It's stupid." But even as I spoke the words, I knew it was anything but stupid. At least, to me. A tear threatened to fall, so I broke Dimitri's grip on me and quickly rubbed my eyes, hoping he hadn't seen.

Again, he shook his head. He brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "Rose, you know you can tell me anything. I'm sure it's not stupid, especially since whatever it is brought out this kind of reaction in you. I promise, whatever it is, I won't judge you. Just tell me."

I wasn't so sure that he wouldn't judge me. Maybe he'd changed his mind about having sex with me again. That wasn't so hard to believe, considering I was underage and it was illegal. Maybe he decided it wasn't worth the risk. I made the quick decision to just tell him. I glanced down at the floor and took a deep breath, making myself say it as fast as I could before I could chicken out.

"I just thought that, I don't know, after what you said earlier, you'd want to be with me again. I understand if you don't want to, though. There's no pressure. That's kind of weird, thinking that I'm pressuring you. It should be the other way around, right?" I was rambling now, trying to hide just how bad I felt. "Well, maybe not, since there is that age difference between us. I guess you're just trying to be a responsible ad –"

I was cut off as Dimitri's lips took hold of mine. As much as I loved kissing him, I just couldn't get into it. Actually, it kind of made me feel worse than I already did. Squeezing my eyes shut, I kissed him back, a tear falling down my cheek as I did.

He pulled away from me, wiping the tear from my cheek when he did. "Oh, Roza, that wasn't what I meant. Of course I want to make love to you again. That was one of the best experiences of my life, not just because of the pleasure, but because I was experiencing it with you. But I only want to do it again if you want to. I just…well, I wanted to give you something first."

His words made me feel better, but I still felt the stinging in my heart. Now that he'd cleared things up, I was even more embarrassed. Still, I tried to make things better instead of letting him know how foolish I felt. I did the usual thing I did in situations, well, not like this, but situations that were embarrassing. I joked around. "You mean, like a present? For me?"

Dimitri smiled, giving me a soft peck on the lips. "Yes. Give me just a minute and I'll go get it. Why don't you make yourself comfortable?"

I did as he suggested, sitting down on the edge of the bed. The burning in my face had begun to lighten up, as did the numbness in my body. I could now feel the relief washing over me. You should have known he wasn't rejecting you, I thought. Dimitri loves you. He'd never do anything to hurt you or –

I stopped thinking as Dimitri came back in the room. He was carrying a small, black velvet box, the kind that held rings. With a smile on his face, he came to kneel on both knees in front of me. My breathing hitched. Was he doing what I thought he was doing? No, he couldn't be. We hadn't even been dating a month. Then again, I really wouldn't mind. He and I had a connection that I knew I'd never find anywhere else. He was the one I was meant to be with. But hadn't I just thought earlier tonight that we had a long way to go before this happened?

He opened the box and my mind was quickly shushed as I looked at the ring inside. It was simple, but beautiful.

"It's sterling silver," Dimitri explained. "These are diamonds, four of them." The ring had two diamond studded hearts in the middle of it, with two more diamonds on either side of the hearts. It wasn't flashy or anything – the diamonds were small – but it was very, very gorgeous.

"Oh, Dimitri," I whispered. "It's beautiful." Then all my earlier thoughts came rushing back. "Wait, you aren't…? I mean, I love it, don't get me wrong. I just don't want things to move too fast."

He stared at me, confused. I saw when the light bulb went off over his head. "Oh. Oh. No, no, not anything like that. This is just…well, think of it as a promise ring. Not the traditional kind, either. I wanted to give you something special, something that will remind you that I'm in this for the long haul. Basically, it's a promise for the future."

I smiled, my bad mood completely lifted. "It's amazing, Dimitri, truly. Here, let me try it on."

"Allow me." he said, taking the ring out of the box. He took my right hand, placing it on my middle finger. I'd wanted it on the finger next to my pinky, but Dimitri shook his head. "I tried to get the right size for your middle finger because I specifically didn't want you to wear it on the one you had in mind. Most women wear rings from suitors on that finger and we wouldn't want anyone getting suspicious."

I told him he was right as he slipped the ring on me. It fit perfectly, but I hadn't expected any less. I wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you so much. I love it. I love you."

Dimitri pulled out of my arms so he could look at me. "And I love you." He paused. "But I have to say, I am a little hurt at your reaction. You would've said no if I had been purposing?"

I thought about that for a minute before answering. "Well…yes. I mean, I do want to marry you. Someday. But right now…? No. I'm still in high school! Maybe after a couple of years together. I just don't want to rush into things. We have so much time ahead of us."

As he sat there, looking into my eyes, I had no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he really was hurt that I would've said no. But, instead, he said, "You know, you may be seven years my junior, but sometimes you surprise me with how mature you are. I guess it's one of the reasons I fell in love with you in the first place."

With that, we made love for the second time.

[BREAK]

I was trying my hardest to go to sleep. It should've been easy after all the physical activity I'd just done. After all, Dimitri was sound asleep right next to me, his breathing deep and even. At first, I'd specifically stayed awake, wanting to watch him while he slept. It was wonderful, seeing him so peaceful. But now sleep was evading me.

I got up and went to the kitchen, getting a glass of milk. It took me a little bit to find the glasses, but it wasn't too hard. I was just trying not to make a lot of noise. I downed the glass and went back to bed, feeling full and ready to sleep.

I'd just started to drift off when my phone buzzed on the nightstand. I had half a mind to blow it off, thinking it was my parents, but decided against it. Leaning over, I grabbed it and opened it up.

I wondered if this was the universe playing some joke on me that I didn't find very funny. Would this happen every time Dimitri and I had sex? If so, we were going to have some serious problems.

Because someone had sent me a text. Someone from a blocked number.

It felt like my heart stopped beating as I waited for the text to load. That meant that it had some sort of multimedia attached to it. I hoped it wasn't sound so that it wouldn't wake Dimitri. When it finally popped up, my breath caught in my throat.

989 Westwood Blvd, 8pm tomorrow night. Come alone. Do not tell Belikov. Or she dies.

But the text wasn't what had me on edge. I wasn't exactly used to this person harassing me, but I at least expected it. No, what made a little bubble of panic begin to well within me – what I totally hadn't expected – was the picture they'd sent.

Lissa was tied to a chair, her hair sticking up all around her face. Her clothes were wrinkled and disheveled. They'd taken her shoes off, probably to keep her from trying to escape. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. I didn't blame her, though.

I would've been terrified, too, if I had a knife up against my throat.

I told you we were getting close to the reveal! :D Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

Also, some rumors have recently come to my attention about FanFiction taking down a lot of stories that are M rated or have lemons in them. I don't know if this is true, but I am going to take some precautions. I have all of my documents backed up, so if they take this story down, I'll fix all the mistakes they say I've made and reupload it. It might be on another account because I've heard of them cancelling accounts when they take down stories, but I don't know yet.

Bear with me while I rant a little, okay? I think this is totally ridiculous. I've seen some stories taken down that were rated T because they had profanity in them, and now I'm freaking out because my story is T and it has some profanity. What I think is treacherous about this, really, is the fact that the Vampire Academy novels are categorized as young adult (teen) novels and they have profanity in them. They also have sex scenes, even if they are PG-13. So I need your help.

1 – Do you think the sex scene in my story is too vulgar for the T rating? I tried not to make it raunchy for that specific reason, but I'm not sure if they will consider it still too explicit for the rating.

2 – Should I go back and take out all the expletives? This will take a lot of work on my part, but if you guys think I should do it, then I will.

Thank you for your feedback in advance. I think this is really dumb, but I also don't want my account taken down. I have so many stories on here that I've yet to finish and I plan on going back and finishing them. Hopefully FanFiction will come to their senses and stop this.