a/n: Thank you for the reviews for last chapter!

"Come on, girl!" Dimitri Belikov quickened his pace in an effort to beat the golden retriever back to the house this time. It wasn't going to happen, he knew, but it was still fun to try. His feet pounded on the pavement as he rounded into the driveway. The dog was already waiting for him at the front door, barking as if cheering him on while her tail wagged eagerly.

Dimitri laughed as he came to a stop in front of the canine. Taking her face in his hands, he moved them quickly back and forth. "Good girl," he said, and then reached for the bottle of water he'd left beside the front steps. He took a hefty swallow, and then walked inside.

"Hey," he said in surprise. "I didn't notice your car out front."

His girlfriend of the past year and half gave him a dirty look. "Yeah, you don't notice a lot of things," she informed him.

He immediately frowned. "Something wrong?" he asked halfheartedly. Rebecca had become pretty high maintenance over the last few months, and Dimitri wasn't sure he liked it.

"Of course something is wrong!" she practically hissed.

Dimitri stood there as she let a huge sigh out; he guessed she was trying to collect herself. If there was one thing Rebecca didn't like, it was losing control. "Every time I try to bring up our future, you try to distract me with your words or…your kisses—"

"You don't like my kisses?" he asked with a wry grin as he took a step forward.

"That's not the point," Rebecca said quickly as she retreated. Dimitri came to an immediate halt. "D," she started, softening her voice.

Dimitri hated it when she called him D, but every time he brought it up, she'd laugh it off. He stopped bringing it up a long time ago.

"I think we both know that this isn't going anywhere. So…I am. I came to get all of my stuff..." She laughed miserably. "Not that there's much of it. You'd think after a year and a half I'd have more than one dresser drawer and a place for my toothbrush at my boyfriend's house."

"Rebecca," Dimitri said. "I—"

She nodded. "I know. You're not ready." She walked over and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, then stepped back. Her eyes were filled with sorrow. "The thing is, D, I don't think you're ever going to be ready. Not with me, anyway." She gave him a sad grin. "It'll only take me a few minutes to collect my things."

Dimitri knew he should say something to stop her...but what? She was right. He wasn't ready for more with her, and he never would be. The truth was he'd fallen in love years ago. And he'd never fallen out.

"Mr. Belikov."

Dimitri turned around at the sound of his name. "Can I help you?" he asked, taken by surprise at the intrusion. It was Christmas break, and he'd thought he was the only person in the building. He'd come in to freshen up the paint on the walls and hadn't expected company.

"My name is Janine Hathaway. I'm Rose Hathaway's mother."

Dimitri felt his entire body stiffen. The mother of the student he was having an affair with was not a good sign. Certainly no good would come of this.

"Yes," she informed him in a brusque tone. "I know about your affair with my daughter."

"Mrs. Hathaway—"

"And I'm prepared to make you an offer," she interrupted.

Dimitri's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "An offer?" he asked. He instantly disliked the woman. Besides the fact that she was calling him out, Rose has had plenty of horror stories to tell him about her mother. Dimitri had to admit, he'd wondered if she'd exaggerated some, but now, after having been in her presence for mere seconds, he wondered if Rose had toned things down for his benefit.

"Yes, Mr. Belikov. An offer. I'm assuming you know that my daughter is only seventeen years old?"

"Yes," Dimitri answered in a low voice.

Mrs. Hathaway nodded. "And that if I decided to press charges, you'd likely be found guilty of statutory rape?" she continued. "Your career down the drain?"

Dimitri cleared his throat. "Yes," he said again.

"Good," Mrs. Hathaway said with a sober grin. "I'm glad to see that we're on the same page. Mr. Belikov, I think you've put my daughter through enough, don't you?" She didn't wait for answer. "Pressing charges…exposing my daughter to you again, not to mention the unfortunate events a trial would certainly bring is not in any of our best interests. Would you agree?"

"Yes," Dimitri said, his throat dry.

"Good. Then it's settled. I've done my research, Mr. Belikov, and as luck would have it your contract was for a single year. My daughter won't be returning next semester, and you won't be returning next fall. You're to have no further contact with my daughter. Not now. Not ever. Is that understood, Mr. Belikov?

Now that the shock had worn off a bit and Dimitri was finally coherent, he had a few questions of his own. "What are you planning to tell your daughter?" he asked.

Mrs. Hathaway's gaze narrowed. "I'm going to explain to her just exactly what it is that a twenty-five year old man finds so appealing about a seventeen year old girl," she snapped.

"And what would that be, Mrs. Hathaway?"

"You mean aside from her virginity?"

Dimitri's jaw began to tick at her words. "She won't believe you. She knows how much I love her."

Janine laughed; the sound of her cackling sent a chill down his spine. "I'll take care of that."

Rebecca was finally gone, and Dimitri was instantly assaulted with memories he'd been trying to smother for four years. Any time anything significant happened in his life memories of Rose tried to resurface. He was usually able to fight them off, but this time…he didn't want to.

He couldn't help but wonder about her. His heart ached for the young woman she'd been…for whatever lies her mother had told her.

He hadn't realized he'd been waiting for Rose to come back until that last day of the school year. He'd taken his time packing his things up, and then puttered around the room, straightening and moving things around until the janitor had come in and asked if he'd needed help with anything. But no, he hadn't needed help. He realized then that he'd been waiting for Rose. He knew that once he left this room—and town—that it really was over. That Janine Hathaway had convinced her daughter he'd never loved her.

But the thing that haunted Dimitri the most was that maybe the whole thing had been a lie...maybe Rose had never loved him.