Author's Note: So most of you seemed to be in favor of getting into Dimitri's head, and overall I think it will give more depth to the story, seeing Rose through his eyes. I feel like I need to remind people that this is an AU where they are all human, so there will be some noticeable differences to his personality. He's still going to have his antisocial and protective behavior, but since there are no threats of Strigoi lurking about, he's not on edge constantly. We will get a more relaxed version of himself. With that being said, I hope you enjoy!

Once again, thank you so much to the following people kind enough to leave a review for the last chapter: ilovesos9467, blissangel91494, ariegentry22, , MaahKisneer, Victor Marie Dragomir, justmeanyways, swimmer07, ratatatat (guest), and Ims86! You guys made my day!

This chapter has been revised as of 01/09/2017. A huge thank you to my friend and beta, Mordinette for being an amazing person and all of her hard work with helping me revamp this fic :)

Chapter Five

*Dimitri*

"Come on, cousin. You've been here for six months and haven't gone on one date," my cousin Adrian Ivashkov commented, leaning his frame against the door, watching me work, as per usual. "Eddie's friends from New York just got here, and he told me one of them is recently single and she's just your type, too. Average height, great curves. Brunette. Hot."

I rolled my eyes, my attention focused on going through our inventory. "It's funny how you seem to know more about my 'type' than I do." Finally spotting what I was looking for, I pulled the crate of Kahlúa from the shelf.

"Someone has to," he murmured dryly. "Look, Dimitri. I know you think you have to work your ass off for your family, but you have to learn to live a little. Have some fun. The only time you ever socialize with anyone is when you're at work. It's not healthy."

I clenched my teeth, trying to reign in my annoyance. I knew Adrian meant well, but the constant nagging was really starting to grate on my nerves. The fact of the matter was, I didn't have the time, nor the funds to have a social life. "Well, if your deadbeat uncle would step up and provide for his own family, then I could possibly have a life. But we both know that's not going to happen in the foreseeable future."

The amusement immediately drained from his face. Randall Ivashkov, my father and Adrian's uncle, was a sorry excuse for a human being - and that was putting it politely. The man was a drunk and a womanizer. When he wasn't at home beating my mother, he was off gambling. He had stuck around long enough for my baby sister Viktoria to be born before taking off, leaving my mother to raise four children on her own.

He hadn't been heard from since.

So, when I was fourteen years old, I dropped out of school so that I could work to support my mother and my three sisters while my mother continued my education when we had the free time. I took any odd job I could get, from working on local farms to being someone's delivery boy. Being so young, a lot of my employers were forced to pay me under the table, but it had been just enough to keep us fed.

When I turned twenty-one and had saved up enough money, I left Russia for the United States in hopes of finding a job that could easily support my family. Of course, I had been delusional. A kid with little experience in hard labor and not enough of a formal education could hardly be of any use to anyone.

I worked hard and managed to get my high school diploma with the help of Adrian's wife, Sydney. Not that I really needed it. My mother had done everything she could to make sure I was well educated, despite not finishing school. So even then, there hadn't been much time for dating, and the few occasions I had, they never lasted for one reason or another.

Now, ten years later, my situation had not changed much. I was currently working two jobs, one of which was Adrian's manager and bartender at The Kahu. The place had only been opened for a year, but it had already risen in popularity.

The other was as a personal trainer and self-defense instructor at The Nazar Academy of Defense, a small gym that my best friend, Eddie Castile, owned and operated. That was the job that I loved.

I had grown up watching my dad treat my mother like a punching bag, and it only bolstered my resolve to make sure the women I taught could defend themselves against someone like him. If I could save at least one person from the life Olena Belikova had lived, then I was doing my job, and I was damn proud of it.

The only problem was that it just didn't pay enough. Living in Hawaii for the past six months had been expensive. Hell, I couldn't even afford my own place. I was currently living in Eddie's basement, which we had managed to turn into a studio apartment. It was perfect for me, as it only served as a place for me to sleep. I was never home otherwise.

So no, I couldn't justify getting into a relationship with anyone at this point in my life. I didn't have much spare time, and any extra money I had I sent back home. Not a life I needed to bring a woman into.

Maybe one day, though.

Adrian sighed, pulling me from my musings. "Trust me, I know what a dickhead my uncle is. I understand the need to take care of your family. But sooner or later, you're going to have to think about yourself for once." He turned to leave, mumbling something about having to go introduce the band, but before he left, he turned back. "You're the complete opposite to Randall Ivashkov, Dimitri. Even if you didn't work your ass off all the time, you're too good of a person to ever turn into him if that's what you're worried about."

He left after that, and I slumped against the wall. For all of my cousin's faults, he had the inept ability to see straight through me. That was my biggest fear: turning into my father.

Groaning, I pushed away from the wall. I could hear Adrian introduce Eddie's band, Compulsion, and I knew most of the crowd would have moved to the staging area. Though, I could hear some sort of commotion going on in front of the bar.

Grabbing the crate, I headed back out front in time to see a man and a young woman huddled closely at the counter. Well, the man was hovering, the woman looked as if she was leaning as far away from him as possible.

"No, thank you. I'm not the dancing type," the woman replied, cringing away from the man. I noticed her thin fingers tightening around her bottle of water like it was a lifeline. I couldn't see her features through the veil of dark hair covering most of her face.

"Aw, come on, honey. A pretty thing like you shouldn't be up here alone."

I turned away from them, busying myself with putting the alcohol away, but I kept them in my peripheral vision, just in case. I didn't like the way the man was pushing her, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions either, especially if she had a boyfriend or husband lurking around somewhere. I'd intervene if need be.

"I'm not alone," insisted the girl, her voice wavering slightly. "My boyfriend's just gone to the restroom. He'll be back any minute now."

She was obviously lying; the strangled fear laced in her voice was a dead giveaway.

Unfortunately, her would-be suitor noticed, too. He chuckled, low and seductive. "Just one dance. Your boyfriend never needs to know."

"No, please just go away," she pleaded, her voice full of barely contained fear.

Anger ripped through me. It took everything in my power not to reach across the counter and pummel this guy into the floor. I took a deep breath and headed towards them.

I watched as he reached up to brush her cheek, causing her to move back far enough that her back hit the wall. "Aw, don't be like tha-"

"I believe the lady said no."

Their heads turned towards me. I watched as relief and gratitude flooded the woman's chocolate brown eyes. For the first time I noticed the bruises than ran along her cheek and jawline, cuts that marred her beautiful face. A car accident, maybe? No. Some of the bruises along her jaw were obviously caused by fingers. I had seen enough of those type of marks on my mother. I felt my blood burn. The rational part of my brain tried to tell me that those were days old, and most likely hadn't been caused by this idiot.

Regardless, he was the lucky one to be on the receiving end of my ire, even as he held up his hands in surrender. I snarled at him. "I suggest you take your idea of fun elsewhere before I remove you myself."

I waited until the man left before turning back to the girl. She was gazing at me, her brown eyes haunted, but she gave me a grateful smile and offered her hand to me. "Thank you. I'm Rose. Rose Hathaway."

I studied her for a moment, still trying to reign in my anger. Apart from her injuries, she was stunning. All dark brown hair and eyes to match. Judging by her accent, she wasn't from here. I guessed somewhere Northeast, and I vaguely wondered if this might be one of Eddie's friends from New York. I gauged her age to be between twenty-one to twenty-five years old.

Finally, I gave her a soft smile and accepted her hand, startled when a jolt of electricity shot through me from her warm touch. I cleared my throat. "I'm Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov."

Rose Hathaway. Why did that name sound so familiar to me? I propped my arms on the counter and gazed at her. "It's nice to meet you, Rose Hathaway."

She bit her lip nervously, and I noticed her wince as she climbed back onto the bar stool she had recently vacated. It was then that I noticed her other arm was in a protective sling. "Do you often go out of your way to save damsels in distress?"

I snorted, grabbing a bar towel and wiping the counter top, as if trying to rid the surface of anything nasty that man might have left behind. "Hardly," I said honestly. I gestured towards her bottled water. "Can I get you anything else? Something stronger maybe?"

She shook her head and gave me a small, sad smile. "No, thank you. I don't drink."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not something I'm used to hearing from people here."

Rose breathed a laugh, though there wasn't much humor to it. "Not really my kind of place, honestly. I'm only here because my friend's band is playing."

I leaned on the counter again. Surprisingly, I found myself not willing to end our conversation just yet. Lucky for me, most of the patrons were still hovering around the stage. "Eddie?"

Her brown eyes widened as she finished off her water. "Yeah! Do you know him?"

So my suspicions had been correct, she was one of his New York friends. Perhaps her injuries had been caused by a mugging, though I didn't really believe it. There was a pain hidden in those deep brown eyes of hers, pain and perhaps shame. Something I remembered seeing in my mother's eyes many times. No. What had happened to her had been personal.

Realizing she was still waiting for an answer, I cleared my throat and nodded. "We've been friends for years. Eddie decided to move out here to help out his parents, so my cousin Adrian decided he wanted to try to open this place." I gestured around us. "I came out here about six months ago to help out."

She smiled, propping her chin on her good hand. "And you decided to stay?"

Shrugging, I took her empty bottle from her and tossed it into the trash bin. "Want another one?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks."

Moments later, a few patrons came up to order drinks. I reluctantly excused myself as I went to wait on them. I could feel her eyes on me as I moved to make their drinks, and I was surprised at the feeling the knowledge gave me. What was wrong with me? I barely knew this girl.

Finishing with my customers, I made my way back over to her. "So," I started, still not willing to let the conversation go, "what brings you to Haleiwa?"

Her slender fingers instinctively went up to touch her bruised cheek before she realized what she was doing and brushed that soft looking dark hair back over her face. "I'm a writer," she said meekly. "Or, well, I used to be. I used to do a lot of my writing here when my parents lived here. So, I came to try to recapture some of that."

Her dark eyes grew haunted again, and I had a feeling that wasn't the only reason she was here. I had the urge to reach up and brush the hair away from her face. I busied myself by wiping down the counter again. But then, her name finally registered with me. "Rose Hathaway. You write those Lily Adams books, don't you?"

She looked at me, surprised, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. "Don't tell me you're a fan. The target audience is teen and young adult."

I chuckled, tucking the towel into my back pocket. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of reading your work. I tend to stick with western novels. But my baby sister, Viktoria, absolutely loves your books. She's been dying for the next one to be released."

Rose looked genuinely pleased. "Is she here on the island with you? Perhaps I can give her an autographed copy of one of my books, considering her brother was kind enough to rescue me tonight."

Was she flirting with me? I scolded myself at the pleased shudder that coursed through me at the thought. No, I decided. She's simply grateful for the interruption. I shook my head. "No, she's back home in Russia with the rest of my family."

Her brow furrowed in sympathy. "You have no family here? Aside from Adrian, I mean."

"No, it's just me."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, but before she would respond, a loud, thunderous applause broke out near the stage as Compulsion finished their final set. I had been so immersed into my conversation with Rose that I had missed most of their performance.

Apparently, she had been too, because she shot me a sheepish grin as she clapped along with the crowd. Moments later, a blonde bundle of energy came bouncing towards Rose and wrapped her arms gently around her shoulders. "They were amazing, weren't they?"

Rose nodded, and inclined her head towards me. "Lissa, this is Dimitri Belikov. He's a friend of Eddie's."

She extended her hand towards me with a kind smile. "Vasilisa Dragomir. Thank you for keeping Rose company."

I could see Rose roll her eyes and a blush spread across her cheeks, and I had to grin. "It was my pleasure."

Lissa eyed her friend suspiciously before shaking her head. "Eddie's just packing up and we can head off."

I felt a pang of disappointment in my chest, and immediately scolded myself. You don't know this girl, you don't have time for a relationship, I told myself sternly.

Rose stifled a yawn as she stood stiffly from the stool and stretched, causing her shirt and jacket to rise up. My eyes immediately fell on the heavily bruised skin the movement revealed, and I could feel my anger return.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a card with my Nazar information printed on it. "Give me a call sometime," I said, and before I could stop myself, I scrawled my personal number on the back as well, and handed it to her.

My fingers lightly brushed hers as she accepted the card, and another tingling sensation shot through me. I was sure she had felt it too when she immediately pulled her arm back as if she'd been burned. She cleared her throat and gave me a soft smile. "It was nice to meet you, Dimitri."

"Likewise."

I watched as Rose and her friend moved to leave, when they were joined by a dark haired man, whose arms immediately went around the blonde's waist.

Rose spoke quietly to him in a fond, familiar manner. The man's head turned towards me, his cold blue eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion as he noticed me watching his friend. There was a fierce, protective gleam in those blue depths that I found reassuring. At least Rose had someone watching out for her.

Eddie joined them moments later, sending me a grin and a wave as he ushered the group out as something occurred to me. Rose and Eddie had grown up together, and while I wasn't sure if they were still close, perhaps she would have confided in him about what had happened to her.

I wasn't sure why I cared, and what was worse, was that I knew I shouldn't. I had just met the girl. She was beautiful and kind, and surely someone like her would have someone already, and even if she didn't... well…

That wasn't my role to fill.

I found Eddie later that night, and I told him about my encounter with Rose and the drunk man trying to hit on her. "I noticed all of the bruises on her, Eddie. Did she tell you what happened?"

My friend frowned as he leaned back on the couch, propping his ankle up on his knee. "She said she was mugged, though I admit, I'm not sure I believe her."

I leaned forward, propping my elbows up on my knees. 'Why?"

He shrugged. "Lissa and Christian got really weird when I brought it up, and Rose had this weird look in her eyes." He looked over at me then. "Plus, she just recently broke up with her fiancé. I've never met the guy, but you should have seen the look on Christian's face whenever his name was brought up." He sighed. "I think Jesse did that to her."

I nodded. "I think so, too. I just didn't want to jump to conclusions."

Eddie eyed me, his lip quirking. "Are you interested in my friend, Belikov? Because I approve if you do."

I laughed, rolling my eyes at him. "I don't even know her, Eddie. I'm interested in helping her, if she'll let us, but you of all people should know I don't have time to date."

He nodded, and gave me a dubious look. "That's your own doing, Dimitri. I know you get tired of hearing it, but you're going to wear yourself out if you don't give yourself some downtime." He sighed and stood. "I'll try to talk her into taking a few classes with us once she's healed." He paused and gave me a knowing look. "I'm still doing maintenance at her parent's place where's she staying if you wanna see her again."

Groaning, I stood and headed toward the stairs that would lead down into my studio apartment. "When did you and Adrian become my personal Match dot com?"

My friend laughed, but I didn't give him a chance to answer. I closed the door behind me, but not before I heard a loud "I didn't hear a no!" come through the door.