"Exactly who was that Miss Hathaway?" Stan stormed over to my desk. Looking around I saw that everyone was getting ready for a show and honestly if I wasn't the one being yelled at, at the moment I would do the same thing.

"That was none of your business." I smirked and crossed my legs under the table.

"Excuse me! If you answer your phone in my classroom it then becomes my business and I have a right to know why you were dirty talking your boyfriend!" Stan slammed his hands down on my desk, causing a loud bang and out of the corner of my eye I saw my classmates flinch. This however only made me angry.

I uncrossed my legs, stood up and faced Stan, the look on his face now one of pure terror.

"That was not my boyfriend. That was a soldier that is currently fighting in the war. We have been writing to each other and he is getting leave this week so we have organized for him to come here. " I sounded out each word, my face only inches from his own.

With that I walked out of the classroom and back to my dorm.

It was Wednesday and I was not one for cleaning. In fact I never cleaned, ever, but with Dimitri coming to stay I figured it would be courteous to let him see the floor. The cleaning took hours and it still wasn't spotless. I didn't worry about the rest of my classes and I was glad that no one had come looking for me until now.

Knock, Knock.

"It's open" I yelled and mentally cursed myself. I really didn't want to have to deal with Adrian or Mason right now.

The dark wooden door swung open and revealed Lissa. She bounded over to me and wrapped me in a hug.

Lissa spent a good while with me in my room as we caught up, talking about boys, the gossip at St. Vlads that surprisingly didn't include me at the moment and even touched on Dimitri's arrival.

It felt good to talk to Lissa like this again, the way we used to. Lissa and I hardly even spend time alone anymore and not for lack of trying either. Our whole group has become so close knit that we hardly do any thing with out each other and Lissa has Christian and I have had to juggle the two off-on relationships I have had over the last year and a half with Adrian and Mason.

I glanced at my watch and noticed it was three.

"Lissa, I'm so sorry, I have to go to the airport to-"

"Say no more" Lissa replied, ushering me out.

I tore down the hall and I could hear Lissa's tinkling laugh.

"Have fun."

I anxiously tapped my foot as I waited for Dimitri to exit the plane. Raking my hands through my hair for what seemed like the thousandth time I turned towards Alberta who was sitting next to me.

"Rose, you look fine." She took in my wide-eyed expression and continued. "I promise."

I let out a huge breath that I didn't know I was holding and prayed for the butterflies in my stomach to dissipate with the breath. No such luck, they were there stronger than ever.

Passengers were coming into the terminal from the planes and I stood up immediately. Alberta chuckled but stood up as well. Passengers went past but I still couldn't see anyone that resembled a soldier. First ten, then twenty, then thirty and still no Dimitri. I bit my lip and frowned.

"Are you sure this is the time Rose?" Alberta questioned.

"Of course I'm sure." I snapped.

Then walking around the corner I saw him. The 'I told you so' died on my lips as I took him in. He had the standard army buzz cut although his seemed to have grown out a little more than it should have, tanned skin and a well built body, chocolate brown , almond shaped eyes and he was tall. Really tall.

He looked a bit lost, standing in the terminal, wearing his army uniform and having people openly stare at him.

"Close your mouth Rose" Alberta whispered in my ear. My jaw shut with an audible click. Letting out a shaky breath I walked over towards him and our eyes met.

I gave him a small smile and he gave a small one back. I felt eyes bore into me as people watched the scene unfold before them, probably imagining some 'Dear John' type reunion.

"Comrade" I gave him a mock salute.

"Roza. It's good to finally meet you. You look beautiful." He winked and I swooned at his accent. I'm positive that he noticed however he didn't say anything.

"Well comrade you don't look too bad yourself." I smiled.

"Do you even know what you're talking about when you call me comrade?" He raised an eyebrow and I internally groaned, great, another person that can do that.

"Sure I do. I have to do a report on the R.S.S.R. this week." I retorted.

"Well I pity your teacher because I'm pretty sure it's the U.S.S.R" He chuckled.

"Same thing." I teased. He rolled his eyes and pulled me into a hug that I gladly returned.

His hands rested on my bare back as the lacy black top I was wearing had ridden up and I stretched my arms around him. His hands moved marginally lower and his fingers rested on the waistband of my light blue jeans.

My arms rested on his back whilst my head rested on his perfectly sculpted chest, or so it felt that way.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until I heard someone clear their throat. I quickly pulled back and saw Alberta, a smile playing at her lips.

"Dimitri, this is Alberta Petrov. She's the Vice Principal at St. Vlads."

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Dimitri said, stretching a hand out to shake while he kept one hand on the small of my back.

Alberta gave a small nod and shook his hand. She then noticed the hand he had on my back and kept a steady gaze at the contact until Dimitri withdrew his hand.

"Well then, let's head off."

The car trip was spent by talking about light things like what it's like in Russia, school, friends, relationships, which happened to lead me to find out that he has no girlfriend… or fiancé or wife, but never once did we bring up war and for that I knew he was thankful.

We pulled up at St. Vlads and headed straight to the office where Kirova would be to set down some rules. I wasn't sure what to expect but I wasn't entirely sure that I would like it.

Everyone stared, I wasn't bothered though because there were always rumours flying around and I happened to be the center of a few nasty ones concerning Jesse Zeklos. Dimitri, on the other hand was a little uncomfortable with the attention. Guys were glaring at him and girls were lusting over him which made the boys glare even harder.

"Rose is a slut, of course she is fucking him… honestly given the chance, who wouldn't?" Meredith whispered as we walked past. I glared at her and gave her the finger when I was sure Alberta wasn't looking. She sneered and Dimitri seemed appalled. I grabbed his arm and tugged him along in the direction we were headed.

Sitting in Kirova's office I kept tuning in and out. I turned towards Kirova and looked at her beak-like nose that held thickly rimmed glasses and her sickly, pale skin, which now held obvious wrinkles, that were never visible when I first came to this school. I laughed inwardly because I was probably the reason for them.

"Do you understand Rosemarie? Mr. Belikov?" She concluded.

I gave a sharp nod, noticing Dimitri doing the same and with that we left to go to my, our room.

"What was that back there?" Dimitri's eyes looked murderous and for the first time, in the short amount that I'd known him, I was scared of him.

"It was nothing, just leave it!" I pleaded, knowing instantly that he was talking about Meredith's comment.

"You call that nothing Rose? That was totally out of line and you know it."

"Yeah and what do you want me to do about it? I have punched so many kids over the things that they would say about me or the people I care about but ultimately they still win because I'm the one getting suspended." I spat.

"I'm not saying beat the shit out of them, just don't give them reason to say things about you." He growled.

"Look. I'm a virgin. I have never slept with anyone. These rumors started because a year ago a kid called Jesse and I had a thing. One night he pushed for sex and I kept refusing but he kept going. I broke his nose and stormed out. His pride was hurt and he was scared I would tell people that I refused him so he said that we fucked and I head butted him during the sex. He said that I bragged about how many guys I had slept with before and so he finally gave in and we did it. So I'm sorry but I did nothing to deserve what they say." I had never let anyone known that it bothered me. I put up such a good front that even Lissa believed me when I said that it didn't bother me but seeing Dimitri look as though he believed the rumors made me crack.

For the first time in two years I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

Dimitri held me as I cried.

It had been an hour since my break down and Dimitri and I had gotten his luggage from the SUV.

I walked over towards the bed that Dimitri would be occupying for the next few weeks and set down one of his bags. Dimitri followed a few seconds later, dropping several bags with a huff.

I stood there awkwardly as we looked at eachother.

"Yeah, this is it."I sat down on my bed and patted the spot next to me.

Dimitri complied and once again we were wrapped in awkward silence as we gazed at each other, neither of us moving. Abruptly, I turned away and ran my hands through my hair.

"Let's watch some T.V" I suggested, turning on the television, trying to rid the sudden feeling that enveloped me and left butterflies in my stomach.

The news popped up as the T.V came to life and then it registered. They were talking about the war. I drew in a sharp, ragged breath and looked at Dimitri. His face looked emotionless but his eyes made up for it.

The pain in his eyes was the only indicator that he was even breathing, despite his chest rising and falling but you get the idea.

"There has been another death. Young Ivan Zeklos was murdered in a raid."