Once again I want to thank each and every one of you. When I posted this story I never expected to get this kind of response, and now that I have, I'm so incredibly happy that I'm going to try and update four-five times a week after I post this chapter. I'm also going to make the chapters longer now that I've gotten into the story. And you should know that this chapter is almost just flashbacks. Sorry for the shortness, I was planning on making it longer and adding a lot of stories and conversations about their past and Ivan and Lissa. But I felt like I was I such a hurry and I just wanted to give you something. The next chapter is going to be long and up tomorrow or the day after that.

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or the characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.

Chapter four: Secrets

"Tell me about Ivan and you. How you met and how he is"

"Only if you tell me about Lissa and you" I shot back with my own smile. I saw her smile grow bigger as she stuck her hand out and said "Deal" I caught her hand and felt that warm tingly motion spread through my body.

"Deal"

RPOV

I leaned back in my now really uncomfortable chair and breathed in the smell from Dimitri's black hoodie that was now on my body.

- - Flashback - -

It was getting colder and colder by the second and I could feel the hair on my arms rising. As I reached down to my bag to pick up my cardigan, a beautiful voice stopped me.

"Are you cold? Do you want to borrow my hoodie?"

"I should have known it would be cold"

"Why?" Dimitri gave me a funny look, I just grinned,

"Well, we are going to an artic waste land after all" Dimitri's beautiful laugh filled the air

"Were not even in Russia, Rose. And it's not an artic wasteland, its beautiful."

Just like you, I thought. Then he seemed to remember his offer and lifted his hoodie off himself. In the process the t-shirt he wore underneath rode up his stomach and I had to bite my hand to not gasp. His body was like an art of work. It was like Gods angels had carved his body out by hand. His toned skin reflected on his eight pack in a beautiful way, and somewhere in my dizzy thoughts I remembered to stuck my foot in my bag and pushed the cardigan out of sight for Dimitri. I smiled at him when he handed me the hoodie, but not before he – much to my dismay – tucked his shirt down again.

"Here you go," he said and handed me the hoodie.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled it over my head and then I noticed an intoxicating smell, it hypnotized me. Dimitri's aftershave.

"Oh god. This smells so good," when I realized what I had actually said I covered my moth with my hand and felt the embarrassment find its way to my cheeks, but Dimitri just gave away a small laugh that made my heart beat faster.

"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

- - End of flashback - -

"So, how did you meet?" I asked Dimitri going back to our deal.

DPOV

"Well…" I said, drew a breath and told Rose how I met my best friend.

- - Flashback - - (AN: All conversation is in Russian)

It was a beautiful summer day in Baia and my mother had promised me that we would go and get ice cream from the ice cream stand ten minutes from our house and then we would go to the park so I could have some alone time with her. Ever since she gave birth to my baby sister, Viktoria, five months ago I had hardly spent any time with her. That was why this day meant so much to me. I was five; I missed my mom.

I was playing with a car when I heard my mother call my name from the kitchen. I sprinted to her with excitement burning through my body. But the next words that came from her mouth made my excitement throw itself out from a building.

"I can't go with you to the ice cream stand, Dimka. Vika has got chicken pox and I can't leave her with Karolina." She gave me a small but sad smile.

"Mama, please. Babushka can take care of her!"

"Babushka is not here. Baby boy, you must understand; Vika is only five months, I need to take care of her, she's just a baby."

"What about me mama? I need you too" I felt a sob going through my chest and then the tears came. My mother took a step forward, trying to hug me and wipe my tears away. Normally I would have thrown myself in her arms but now I felt so unloved, a little baby came and took my mom. And it wasn't even a boy! I've had enough of sisters, two big sisters were enough but now I had a little sister too? Life was just so unfair. I ran out of the house and down the street I ran and I ran until I couldn't hear my mothers voice calling my name anymore, and then I heard a scream. It wasn't just any scream, it sounded like a scream of torture. And it came from around the corner of the building I had stopped at. Being me, I wanted to help whoever was screaming, so I ran around the corner to find a small blond boy lying on the ground while two older guys stood hovering over him and kicking him in his sides.

"Hey!" I shouted, without even thinking about the consequences.

"What do we have here? Another hero? You want to save this guy?" one of the boys said, he was a big guy – not on the height side.

"Go pick on someone your own size!" I yelled back, picking up a rock and threw it at the fat bully. It hit him in his right eye.

"You little fuck!" he exclaimed as he held his hand over his eye.

"Come on Ralph, let's go!" the other boy said and tugged at his arm, he was thinner and had the same shade of blonde hair as the guy on the ground. The also shared the same eyes, were they related? No, they couldn't be, you wouldn't beat someone you were related to, would you?

"Yeah Jesse. Lets go" fat Ralph replied as the hurried away from the ally. I ran up to the little boy on the ground and helped him sit up.

"Are you okay? You did they do that to you? Who are they?" I fired questions at him and he took a deep breath.

"That was my brother and my cousin…" I gasped

"Why would they do that to you?" I was just five, I didn't understand.

"They thought that I stole some money from my aunt, Ralph's mom."

"Did you?"

"NO, of course not. I would never do that!" this made no sense, the abused him for a reason like that? And they didn't believe him when he said he didn't steal?

"Are you hurt?"

"No, you came right on time. Thank you so much" I smiled at him and reached my hand out for him to shake. My mama had raised me well.

"I'm Dimitri Belikov" he took my hand, gave me a smile and said,

"I'm Ivan Zeklos"

"Do you want to go and eat ice cream with me?"

"Yeah!" he shouted with a big smile

"Lets go"

And off we went.

- - End of flashback - -

"Are you joking? Its not funny" Rose said after I told her the story

"No, it actually happened."

"They beat him up for something like that?" she was almost screaming now.

"Rose, calm down." I put my hand on her, trying to calm her down,

"But… he was five… they were his family!"

"You would be surprised if you knew how much family could hurt you" I said with hate in my voice. Rose must have noticed cause she squeezed my hand and said

"Hey, don't worry, its going to be okay" she didn't even know what it was about, but yet here she was, comforting me.

"Thank you" I whispered.

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Have a nice day/night where ever in the world you are :)

JosefineShield.