A/N: Hello my lovely readers :) I'm glad you guys liked my last chapter and the preview I gave you...AND TO THOSE WHO GUESSED WHERE IT CAME FROM...you were right :) I'm in love with that show and Arrow haha anyway this chapter is kind of laid back kind of heavy...but it ends perfectly if I do say so myself

So this chapter's dedicated to Kay1a, and SpiceRub...I HOPE EVERYONE LIKES IT!

"ROSE! HOW COULD YOU ALMOST DIE WITHOUT ME THERE?"

"Gee Syd, and here I was worried you'd have a heart attack because you came close to never seeing me again."

She snorted and said, "My life would be so much easier and I would lose a bunch of stress." But I could see her trying hold back a smile so I just stared at her and not even a minute later she broke down laughing before sobering up. "Are you ok? Seriously."

"Yea, thanks to a hot Russian," Lissa interjected. Memories of the kiss after brought a deep red blush.

"WHO?" Sydney said, getting into the cameras face.

"Damn, someone needs to get laid," I muttered. From the death glare I got from her I could tell she heard.

"Dimitri," Lissa said, the dissaproval evident in her tone and shaking head.

"REALLY?"

"Sydney, why the hell are you shouting? It's not that big of a deal."

"Can't you guys hear that noise?" She shouted, looking to the side of her with disgust.

"Nooo," Lissa and I said. Mia was out on a date night with Eddie and Viktoria was MIA.

"Well my stupid roommate is in her room with the music blasting. Basically, she's having sex," Sydney said disgruntled.

"Who's your roommate?" Lissa asked at the same time I said, "At least she's getting lucky." Both Sydney and Lissa looked at me in disbelief and I just merely shrugged.

"Her name's Avery Lazar. I've never had a real conversation with her because she sleeps during the day and is out all night. I just know that her dad is the chancelor of the university and I couldn't say no to him. I'm just lucky her brother, Reed, didn't move in to, it's bad enough that her boyfriend, Simon, basically lives here."

"Is her brother cute?" I asked, scooting up to my laptop.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" She shot back, causing me to blush again, but I rapidly shook my head. She raised her eyebrows with a questioning and disbelieving look, but she answered my question. "I mean, yea, I guess, but he's always quiet and bodyguard-like and like he doesn't take any bull from anyone or have any fun."

"Wow he's your soulmate," I said, an amazed wistfulness in my voice. If looks could kill, I think Sydney just killed me like 50 thousand times. "C'mon, Syd let's be honest here. You don't like him cus he's a stupid version of you."

"Lissa, guess what I found out," Sydney said, looking a Lissa who looked like a deer caught in headlights. I saw the wheels turning in her head. I told her what happened on top of my car because I had to tell someone, and I couldn't bring myself to tell Lissa, Mia, or Viktoria. I told her I hadn't told anyone and I didn't want to tell anyone until we had our first date.

"What?" Lissa said, her voice dazed with confusion.

"I'M SORRY! I TAKE IT BACK!" I shouted, glaring at her as she gave me a victorious grin. "You're evil," I muttered.

"No! Tell me! Tell me!" Lissa whined. Sydney looked at me with a challenging look.

"Well, I was talking with Ms. Terwilliger, the history professor I'm interning for, and she said that we might be done with out research soon, so I might be able to go home early!"

"YAY! Sydney that's great!" Lissa said. I smiled because she had told me before.

"Wait, that's not what you were going to say was it?" Lissa said as she looked from Sydney and I. "Just tell me."

"I kissed Dimitri," I mumbled.

"What?"

"I...kissed...Dimitri," I all but shouted. Lissa's jaw dropped, literally, and her eyes bugged out.

"How..what...when...WHERE!"

"Umm I'm pretty sure you know how kissing works, but if you don't then I have a deeper respect for Christian and your relationship. And when? The night of your engagement party, after we walked back, he pulled me away and we went to my car. Where? Um the trunk of my car," I said rapidly, my cheeks unable to contain all that redness so it spread to the rest of my face.

"Oh my gosh, Rose!" She squealed. "How come you didn't tell me! Holy Hell! Your car! Oh my god!"

"Geez, Liss, calm down. It was just a kiss. Not like we got all hot and heavy," I said, thinking about it for a moment before corrected myself. "Well actually we did but we get kept our clothes on."

"Wait. Is that why your car was still out there the next day?"

"Yup," I said, popping my "p."

"So, what happened afterwards?"

"He took me home." She gave me an look that said "and?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Then he went home."

"What happened in between?"

"He walked me to the door and kissed me goodnight. Look, Lissa, nothing happened ok? And now he acts like the kiss didn't happen."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we still talk like we did before the kiss. With the exception that he's taking me out tomorrow night. I just, I don't know, Liss, I thought he was going to act different."

"Woah, wait. You never told me that," Sydney said, joining the conversation.

"Yea cus I told you about the kiss the night it happened. And, no offense, but you're the last person I'd go to with boy problems. I mean remember Brenden," I said with a smile.

"Brayden! My goodness how hard is it to remember that?"

"Um, sweetie, if I couldn't remember it when you two were dating, I'm much less going to remember now that you two have gone your separate ways."

"Whatever. My love life isn't what we're talking about."

"Maybe cus you don't have one at the moment."

"If having a love life means it being as complicated as yours, I rather not."

"You say that now, but when you run into him. You'll take it back."

"Wow, deep, short, and it was a good one," Lissa said. "Either way, back to you Rose." Then we launched into a discussion of what I would wear and then moved onto Lissa's wedding. By the time the call ended we had the cater reserved and place settings picked as well as the theme. I could tell Lissa felt bad, but my judgement was wild enough that hers would have made things harder. I felt good for telling Lissa, God knows I was running on borrowed time since I've never really been good at keeping secrets. I went to bed relieved and excited for tomorrow.

LINE BREAK

Ding. I stirred in my bed, thinking it was something in my dream.

Dong. I pulled my pillow over me to block the sound, but since I move around so much, it quickly returned to its place under my head.

Ding. Dong. I groaned and sat up in bed, wondering who was so evil to wake me up. They better have a good reason, or have breakfast.

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. I pushed myself off the bed since it sounded urgent because now they were ringing it repeatedly. Looking out the window as I rushed down the stairs I noticed the sun wasn't up, so no breakfast.

"Mia?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes after opening the door. Nope, I wasn't dreaming. Standing in front of me was a grief stricken Mia, her mascara running down her cheeks and her eyes red from crying. Looking at her outfit, I realized she probably had come from dinner or Eddie's place. "Here, come in. Do you want some tea or coffee?"

"You got anything stronger?" She said half-jokingly, the chuckle she gave having no humor in it. I shook my head and walked us to the kitchen. She sat down in the bar as I her a cup of coffee. I wasn't going to ask her what was wrong, I was gonna let her get to it whens he felt ready. I heard her take a big breathe and slowly exhale as I brought her a cup and took out the cream and sugar in case she wanted any. Without looking up from her cup, she finally started talking. "Eddie and I broke up."

"What?" I asked, shocked, as I sat down next to her. Yea Mia's not the easiest person to be around, but Eddie was the only person that could stand it and have a smile no matter how bad she got. It made no sense, they were so perfect for each other.

"Yea. We got into a fight after dinner and...and…he ended things," she said, breaking down at the end. I wrapped her arm around her and let her cry on my shoulder. I never experienced much break up, but I'm pretty sure asking questions and pestering for more informations wasn't the way to go. My friends was grieving, I'm pretty sure she just needed someone to listen to her and not judge as she broke down.

"I mean it wasn't one our stupid fights, but I didn't think he'd leave. The dinner was going so good! I thought he was going to pop the question, but that didn't happen. You remember Joshua? One of the soldiers that was in Mason and Eddie's group or whatever they're called when they went on tour?" I nodded my head and didn't bother correcting her. "Well we ran into him as we were walking after dinner. Eddie said he wanted to show me something and he was talking me towards the fountain where he first told me he loved me and when we got there he saw Joshua walking the other way. So they chatted a bit, catching up and what not, and then Joshua congratulated him. I had no idea what he was talking about and thought maybe he told some of his friends he was going to propose, but from the pale, scared look Eddie got I didn't think that was it. So of course, I asked what he was talking about. When it dawned on him that I didn't know he quickly retracted what he said, saying that maybe it was someone else and he got them mixed up. Puh-leez." She took a sip of her coffee and a deep breathe. I had a feeling this was where it took a turn for the worse.

"You know how I get when I'm not filled in. Long story short, I got it out of him. Eddie had enrolled into the police academy. So did Mase, but he's not my man so I could care less. The police academy, Rose! He promised me he was done. That when he got back from the tour he was gonna leave the military and get a real job, go back to school, start building a future for us! And now he's going to be a police. So when Joshua left, Eddie tried doing damage control, saying he was going to tell me tonight and this and that and that he loved me. But he knew and I knew it was pointless. I didn't say a word, I just walked back to the car. I didn't know which hurt me more. The fact that I heard from someone else, because apparently it's been a done deal for about a month now, or the fact that he was doing another life endangering job. When got back to my place, I let it out. I yelled and yelled, tears started coming down, and I just yelled. And he didn't say anything, but I could tell he was getting angry. He doesn't get it, Rose. He doesn't know what it was like for me when he was away, he never even tried to understand, but I was fine with that because I didn't want to remember it. I was just glad he was back home and safe. But now, now it's going to be worse. Every night and every day he's on shift I'm gonna worry until he comes home. When he was away I knew when he would be back and it wasn't until around that time that I started really worrying. Sure the whole time he was away, the worry was in the back of my mind, but it was easy to deal with. And he doesn't get that. He thinks I'm being selfish and not letting him do what he loves, but that's not it. He says he can't be with me if I can't accept who he is."

She said the last line slowly, like she was trying to not break down or like she could still hear him say but can't believe it was said. The whole rant was like a roller coaster. It started slow and calm, but the deeper the story got the more emotions were revealed and the quicker started talking, and then at the end she slowed back down and became emotionless. And the tears poured out.

"But...but I do accept who is and he's so stupid he doesn't see that. If I didn't then I would have left him before he went on tour, or I would have cheated while he was gone, or left him while he was away. But I didn't. I stayed by his side and I stayed faithful. I even told him I was fine if he went on another tour down the road if it was something he wanted or had to do again. I just, Rose, how am I suppose to deal with him being a cop? He's putting self in danger every time he goes on patrol and sets out of his cruiser. How many nights am I going to have to try to sleep through while he's out trying to catch a criminal and solve a case? How many times am I going to have to panic when the door knocks thinking it's a cop or something telling me he died on duty? How many times am I going to have to jump when the phone rings thinking it's you guys or someone else calling saying he's in the hospital and he's shot or stabbed? On top of all that, how am I suppose to deal with all this when he's leaving for the academy in a couple weeks? Why didn't he just tell me when he enrolled? Why did he leave me?"

She broke down crying again and I murmured soothing words and rubbed her back. I don't know how much time passed, but before long her breathing evened and her cries stopped. I lifted her and carried her to my bed. I tucked her in and left to go change. I saw on the clock on my nightstand that it was 5 am. I don't know what time she came over, but there was no way I was getting any sleep so I changed into some workout clothes and decided to go for a run.

LINE BREAK

In high school, Mason dragged me to join the track and field team with him, claiming I need some exercise if I was going to keep eating the way I did. So I joined and I loved it. I loved the freedom of running, I loved the weight training that made me stronger but kept my figure the same, I loved that I was good in it. I was the best, but I didn't want to do it in college. The one thing I hated about it were the events because they were so limited. So in college, I stayed to running on my own and I'd wake up an hour earlier than I would for class so I could go running. Over the summer I'd run when I wake up, and if I had an early appointment I'd wake up an hour earlier to go run. Running let me sort my mind out. Also, with my music playing, I felt like the further I ran the more of my worries and stress got left behind me.

That's why I was her, running through the park that was like a mile away from the Dragomir's mansion. It's also why I was so lost in my own thought I didn't see where I was going or who was around. So when I stopped running and fell back and onto my ass, I was a bit confused and in pain.

"Ugh," I groaned as I picked myself up. "Dude, watch where you're-" I cut myself off when I saw who I ran into. Also, my breath caught and I lost what I was going to saw when I saw him giving me an amusing smile. I breathed his name out in disbelief.

"Good to see you too, Roza. Might I suggest watching where you're running next time?" Dimitri teased as he got up and dusted himself off. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and the nervous laugh escape my lips.

"I'm so sorry. I was lost in thought and I didn't see you."

"Must be something big, but I thought you did see me and were running to greet me."

"Oh, well if I did see it was I would have. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing being that you're a bit far from home." I looked at what he was wearing and saw he had on black track pants and a black cut off tank top.

"No duster?" I teased, a smile forming when I he laughed.

"No," he said sternly, but I could hear the humor in his tone. "I was just out for a run. Isn't a bit early for you to be up though?"

"Ha ha. I can't go to sleep cus my mind's having a hard time digest something so I thought maybe an early morning run could help make sense of things or at least tire me out so I'd pass out at home." Why I just told him that I don't know, but something about him makes me trust him and I know he won't judge or anything. I just hope I don't scare him away.

"Well, maybe I can help. I mean, if it's something you want to share, then I'll listen and maybe I can offer an unbiased perspective that notices something you didn't." I looked up at him, and I saw the honesty in his eyes. I nodded my head and gave him a small smile. "Great. How about over some breakfast?" I nodded my head, my mouth slightly watering at the idea of food. "Wanna run there? I mean, if you want to run with me."

I gave him a bigger smile. "I don't have a problem running with you, I just don't want you to feel bad when you see I'm faster than you."

"Oh really," he said playfully, already jogging ahead of me, going backwards so he can see me. "I guess we'll just have to see." I saw him flash me a big smile before turning around and running. I smiled to myself and started running, quickly catching up to him.

LINE BREAK

"Your double hot chocolate and two chocolate glazed donuts, ma'am," a voice said from behind me. A smile formed as I recognized the accented voice, but I laughed because I could tell he was trying to hide his accent and sound American but it sounded so weird and he still couldn't hide his accent.

"Mmm," I said as I turn around from the window I looking out at and flashed him a big, cheeky grin as he set my breakfast in front of me. He sat down with his breakfast and we ate in silence for a while. Me not knowing how to address the elephant in the room, and him not wanting to push me to talk if I didn't want to.

"My best friends broke up," I blurted.

"Um the ones engaged? Lissa, right?" He asked, confused on what Lissa's name was and which friends I'm referring to.

"No," I said with a small chuckle. "Mia, the short blonde, and Eddie, her boyfriend...or ex-boyfriend now I guess…" I trailed off not liking the sound of it.

"Well, what happened?" He asked tenderly, reaching out and engulfing my small hand that was wrapped around my cup of coco in his bigger hand. I looked up into his eyes and saw nothing but trust and worry. Knowing I could confide in him, I told him what Mia told me last night and adding the backstory so it made sense.

"It's just they've been dating since junior year and now he just left, it doesn't seem like something he would do," I confessed at the end.

"Maybe he was doing it to protect her," he suggested, speaking up for the first time.

"What do you mean?"

"Well being a cop means making a lot of enemies and risking your life. Maybe he did understand the pain and suffering she went through while he was on tour and knew that going into the academy would bring it back. Maybe he understand that her life was at risk because of the enemies he might make. Maybe he took all that into consideration and decided because he loves her he's not willing to put her through that and just wants her to be happy, even if it's not with him. He would rather be heartbroken now and hate him and find someone else instead of dragging her with him and hurting her without trying," he said solemnly. He had a point. I know Eddie and he never gets into something without being prepared, not after the stunt we pulled junior year.

"I...I guess you're right," I said thoughtfully. I looked up at him and with a curious look asked him how he came to that conclusion. He smiled before answering that the father of Paul and Zoya, Karolina's husband, was a cop and died on duty and he saw what it did to her, that even to this day she's a little closed off to dating because she feels like she'd be unfaithful to him. I nodded my head and went back to my coco.

"Well, if I want to be ready for tonight I should probably head back home," I said when I finished off my drink.

"Roza, you're beautiful no matter what," he said as he got up and took our garbage. He came back and offered his hand, which I gladly took.

"I try. I try," I replied with a playful smug attitude. He just shook his head but I saw the smile on his face. When we got outside we sort of lingered there.

"Well, I'll see you tonight," I said as I started back walking away, but I didn't get far before his arms encirled around me and pulled me to him, our lips touching a brief, passionate, but soft kiss that left me breathless and wanting more when he pulled away.

"Goodbye," he said before giving me a quick peck and jogging back to his mother's house I assumed. I stood there stunned, my lips still tingling before jogging home.

A/N: Quick clarification...I know I didn't put in where Dimitri was coming from, but from their small conversation while they waited for breakfast (that I didn't put in) he told her that he was coming from his mother's house.

Now that I put that there...how did you like that chapter? Did the Mia storyline seem ok? Are you interested in seeing how that goes? LEAVE ME A REVIEW AND TELL ME! BTW I have the next four/five chapters outlined...so get ready cus this boat isn't going to stay in calm waters forever

I'll see you next week! And I know for a fact you'll love the next chapter! :)