Thank you for all of the reviews for chapter one. Here is chapter two of Home At Last! I do not own any of these characters; Richelle Mead does.
I laughed as Dimitri talked. I had finished telling him the story of why I didn't like Tasha (I left out all of the gory details) and we had changed the topic to something much lighter.
I clutched my stomach and tried to speak. "So you mean to say that it was all for nothing?" I gasped as I caught my breath. "All the snow fell on your head?"
He nodded solemnly, "All of it." He smiled as I continued to laugh. He nudged my empty coffee cup and before I could protest he picked it up. "I'll get us some more coffee."
I watched as the abnormally tall, hot, accented, not-quite-a-stranger-anymore walked away from me. I felt a smile settle on my lips.
Soon enough he was back in his seat with two fresh cups of coffee in his handed. He handed me mine and we settled back into our comfortable conversation. Hours passed with us talking and taking turns buying coffee. It was almost six o'clock before I realized that I was keeping him in the airport.
I stopped what I had been saying midsentence. "Oh, my goodness. I'm sorry I've kept you for so long. Your family must be waiting for you."
He stopped and looked at his watch. "I guess it is a little late." He smiled sadly. "But there is no one waiting for me." He made a move to grab his bag. "I should still probably get going. It was really nice to meet you, Rose." He stretched out his hand for me to shake.
I stood and shook his hand. "It was so nice to meet you too." I watched as he slowly walked away. I bit my lip. "Hey, Dimitri." He spun to face me. "Do you need a ride or something?" I asked him hoping for a little more time to spend with him.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually I do. I have no idea where I'm going."
I laughed and we exited the airport together. He followed me to my car but when I unlocked it I looked back at him I found him staring blankly at my car.
"What's wrong?"
He blinked at me. "This is your car?" I nodded. "Did I stumble upon a millionaire or something?"
"Not exactly," I laughed offering up no further explanation. I didn't want him to think that I was a spoiled daddy's girl and scare him away.
We got into the car and were on the highway in not time.
"Where am I taking you?" I asked.
He reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. As he tried to straighten out the wrinkles he said, "42 Maple Street." He looked over at me. "Do you know where that is?"
I felt the space between my eyebrows wrinkle. "I think I do. Are you sure that's where you want to go?" That area of town was rather sketchy. It was most definitely not safe for the people living in it; let alone outsiders. I wondered if he was from there.
He nodded and I took his word and headed in that direction. The drive was quiet. I personally didn't know what I could say. I had just met him and I was about to have to say goodbye soon. I tapped on the steering wheel annoyed that I couldn't think of a single thing to say even after we had spent hours talking.
"Do you live in Philadelphia?" He finally broke the silence.
"No. Actually I live in a smaller town really close by." I smiled as I took an exit off of the highway.
We settled back into silence. I turned up the volume the radio to fill the stillness between us.
When we turned onto Maple Street we looked closely at the numbers. When we finally stopped in front of 42 Maple Street I realized we were in front of a rundown motel.
"Is this where you are staying?" I turned off the ignition. He nodded gather his belongings. I exited the car and made my way to his side. "I'll go in with you. Just to make sure everything is okay."
Inside I saw that the outside of the building was clearly the best part. The rugs were brown; not originally, but from constant foot traffic and lack of cleaning. There was a dead plant next to one of the grimiest windows I've ever seen in my life. The dirty counter was nothing compared to the dirty man sitting behind the counter.
"Hi," Dimitri's accented voice started. "How much is a night here?"
The man grunted. "Fifty."
Both of my eyebrows shot into my hairline. "Seriously? Fifty bucks for this?" I gestured around the dirty motel lobby not wanting to imagine in what condition the rooms were in. "This place is barely worth five." I turned to a surprised Dimitri. "You can't stay here." I walked out the door dragging him with me.
I stopped when we were in front of my car. "I'm sorry. I just don't think it is okay for someone who fought to protect our country to be staying in such an awful place."
He sighed in frustration. "Thank you for looking out for me, but where else am I supposed to stay? I don't have anyone to stay with and I sure as hell cannot afford anything better." He ran a hand through his barely-there hair. "Even this place is pushing."
Guilt rushed through me. "I'm sorry. I really am. I just…." My arms hung limply by my side as I tried to voice my thoughts. "I was just trying to help."
He set his duffel bag on the ground. "I know. I'm just really stressed out. It will take a while for me to decompress again. I know you are trying to. You are possibly the nicest stranger I've ever met."
"You can stay with me if you want." I froze for a second not believing the words that were coming out of my mouth. His shocked face caused more words to tumble out of my mouth. "I mean, I have a guest room, and you can stay there until you get settled in, and you don't have to if you don't want to, and yeah…" I cut myself off realizing that I was just making everything more awkward.
"No, that won't be necessary, but thank you for the offer," he said smiling lightly. His eyes showed thankfulness, and gratitude. I looked around, and saw the crappy motel again.
I turned on my charm, and smiled. "You have to stay somewhere; and this is definitely not the place."
"I can't just accept that. I'm sure you are a great person, but I can't just barge into your life like that, I would probably be an inconvenience" he said, looking apologetic.
"I have no life," I said trying desperately to convince him. "I mean I have a life, I am very cool actually," he chuckled, and I smiled, "What I am trying to say is that I don't work, I don't have many friends, and I just basically laze around all day. I will feel very helpful and useful if you just stayed with me for as long as you need." I looked at him pleadingly, but he still didn't look convinced. "Please," I pushed one last time.
He hesitated but eventually he must've realized that he really didn't have that many choices and the one I was offering was the best one yet. He nodded slowly. "Okay, but I promise not to stay for too long."
"You can stay for as long as you want."
What do you guys think? I know it was a bit short but I had to get this out of the way before I get into the thick of the plot. Please review. I love them.