Thank you very much for the reviews! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.

CHAPTER 37

DPOV

"Kids, I've got good news," I announced as I walked into the kitchen where they were all sat around Hayley.

Since Rose had left, she'd been coming onto me. I guess Rose had been right about her all along. I would've fired her, but she was my last resort. I couldn't find another suitable babysitter – and believe me, I'd tried. And Rose… Well, she was back now, but I couldn't ask her to babysit my kids again. Not after what I'd done to her.

So now I was stuck with a seventeen year old girl who was constantly flirting with me. I just tried to avoid her whenever I could.

"Rose is coming over for dinner Friday night," I said happily.

"Rose is back?" Alisa said excitedly.

"Can we see her now?" Liam said, just as excited as his sister. "I want to see Rose!"

Inna stayed quiet, but she had a proud look in her eyes and she was smiling.

Hayley was frowning. "Why did you invite her over for dinner? I thought you broke up with her?"

Three sets of eyes turned to look at Hayley, an angry look in their eyes. They weren't very fond of her, but knew Hayley was my last option so they didn't complain, which I was grateful for.

I ignored Hayley's question. "You can go home now, Hayley. I don't have to be anywhere."

"Okay," she said, still frowning. Then she brightened. "Can I come Friday night, too? For the dinner?"

"It's family only!" Liam said immediately.

"Rose isn't your family," Hayley said.

"She is!" Liam argued, almost outraged. "Daddy, Rose is family, right?"

"Right," I said, trying to hide a smile. I looked at Hayley. "Sorry, Hayley."

She gave me a flirty smile. "It's okay, Dimitri. I'll stay over some other time."

I tried not to make a face. Hayley left and the kids started talking excitedly about Friday night. I sat there, smiling as I watched them, and tried not to think about the fact that it was just dinner and that Rose wouldn't be staying over because she wasn't my girlfriend anymore.

"Thanks, Dad," Inna said softly as she moved to sit next to me. "Thanks for talking to her."

I gave her a small smile. "You're welcome, milaya."

RPOV

I dreaded to go to Dimitri's house this Friday night. I tried to find an excuse not to go, but failed. Time seemed to pass faster than usually and before I knew it, it was Friday night. I was nervous and for no reason whatsoever. It was just a dinner. I would be in and out within an hour. Right?

"Thanks for coming, Roza," Dimitri said when he'd opened the door and let me in.

I had no time to respond because, suddenly, Liam came storming down the hallway and jumped into my arms.

"Rose!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around me. "I missed you so much! Are you back for good?"

I smiled and hugged him tight, happy to see him. "I missed you too, buddy. And yeah, I guess."

I gave Alisa and Inna a hug. Alisa was smiling widely and even Inna seemed happy to see me. They were telling me over and over again how much they'd missed me.

"Are you going to be our babysitter again?" Inna asked eagerly.

I glanced over at Dimitri uneasily. "Um, I don't think so. I-"

"Please, Rose," Alisa piped in. "Hayley isn't as much fun as you are!"

"Oh." I forced a smile. "Well, I'm sure it'll get better. And I can't. I've got a new job."

"Don't go back to your new job!" Liam pleaded. "You have to stay here."

"Liam, she can't," Dimitri said.

"But why not? You don't like Hayley either!" Liam said frowning. "You said earlier you wanted Rose back, too."

Dimitri's eyes met mine briefly. "Yes. But you heard her; she has a new job and she can't just quit."

"Sorry, guys," I said, looking at them apologetically. Even if I didn't have a new job, I wouldn't want to come back because that meant I'd have to see Dimitri every day. Or maybe I would come back and just ignore him - if that was possible.

"Now, give Rose some space so she can breathe," Dimitri said.

"It's okay," I said quickly.

He gave me a small smile. "Why don't you guys show her what you made for dinner?" He ushered them back to the kitchen and said to me, "They helped me. They wanted to make your favorite dish."

I followed him into the kitchen. "Oooh, you made homemade pizza?" I said, getting excited.

"Yes, especially for you!" Liam said grinning. "Because it's your favorite! We made it all by ourselves."

Dimitri cleared his throat.

"And Daddy helped us," he admitted reluctantly. "But only a little bit."

"Thanks," I said smiling, wrapping him into another hug and kissing his cheek. "You're all so sweet."

Dinner with Dimitri's family was doable. Actually, it was more than doable. It wasn't really awkward, which I'd thought it would be. It was actually…fun.

This place still felt like home to me, even though Dimitri had broken up with me. I guess it was because of the kids. They still acted the same as before I'd left; like I was part of the family. And I was glad about it. These kids meant so much to me and I was glad I still meant a great deal to them, too.

"Thank you for dinner," I said when we'd finished. "It was great."

"You aren't leaving yet, are you?" Liam said pouting.

"Um, actually…"

I glanced at Dimitri, who'd stayed quiet during most of the dinner, and hoped for his help. He didn't say anything, though.

"Please stay a bit longer," Alisa said. "We can all watch a movie together."

"Yeah!" Liam said enthusiastically.

"Please stay, Rose," Inna pleaded.

I let out a sigh and gave in, smiling reluctantly. "Alright, I'll stay a little bit longer."

"Why don't you guys go pick a movie while I clear the table?" Dimitri said, speaking up at last.

"You need some help?" I asked, more out of politeness than that I wanted to stay here with him. Or maybe you do want to stay here with him, but just don't want to admit it to yourself, a voice inside my head whispered.

"No, that's okay," he said, giving me a small smile. "I'll do it."

He started clearing the table then. I stood there, unsure of what to do or where to go. I could follow the kids, but, for some reason, I couldn't move. For some reason, I wanted to stay here with Dimitri.

Ugh, get over him already, I chastised myself.

But instead of leaving, I helped him.

"Thank you for doing this," Dimitri said as we did the dishes. "You didn't have to, but you came anyway. So, thank you."

"It's okay. It's great to see the kids again," I said.

"They missed you a lot."

I nodded and sighed. "I missed them too."

Dimitri looked up and his eyes met mine. "I missed you too," he murmured.

I glanced away from him. "You promised you wouldn't do that…"

"Do what?" he asked, inching a little closer to me.

"The whole winning me back thing… You said you wouldn't do it anymore."

"I know," he said softly, "but I guess I can't help it."

"Try a little harder," I muttered.

"Okay. I'm sorry." Changing the subject, he said casually, "I saw you in town this week. With that guy, the redhead from the supermarket. Is he your friend or something?"

"Yeah, sort of." Then I frowned. "Wait. You saw me in town and you didn't come and say something to me?"

"Well, I wanted to, but I figured it was better to leave you alone. I didn't want you to change your mind about tonight," he answered. "And what do you mean with 'sort of'? Are you guys dating?"

He was still trying to appear casual, but I knew better. He was jealous.

"Does it matter?" I asked sighing.

"Just answer the question," he said.

"What if I am?"

"So you are? You are dating him?"

When I looked up, ready to snap at him that it was none of his business, and saw the hurt on his face… It stunned me a little. He looked legitimately hurt because he thought I was dating someone else and I felt bad about it.

"No," I said quietly. "I'm not dating him. I'm not dating anyone."

Relief washed over Dimitri's face. "Okay. Good." Suddenly, he looked determined. "Because I'm not giving up on you. I can't."

"You did a few months ago," I said, avoiding his gaze.

"I made a mistake," he said, stepping closer to me. "And I'll regret it until the day I die."

He took another step closer to me until he was right in front of me and I knew I should move, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I held my breath when he reached out for my hand.

"Roza," he whispered. Slowly, I looked up until my eyes met his. "I know what I did was terrible and wrong and I'm so sorry – I really am sorry. But I honestly thought I was doing the right thing."

"I know you thought you were doing the right thing," I murmured. "And I wanted to make you come to your senses, but you didn't even give me a chance."

"I know. I should have. I wasn't thinking. When your mom showed up.." He paused. "When she showed up and said all those things… I was scared she was right. I was scared that one day you would wake up and realize that you didn't want this kind of life. I was scared you would leave me so I… I did what I thought was best to protect the kids and myself. It would hurt them less if you left now than in a couple years from now. I thought it would hurt me less."

"But I told you so many times that-"

"I know, I know," he said, interrupting me gently. "But like I said, I wasn't thinking. I panicked. I thought you'd leave anyway, if it wasn't now it'd be in a few months or a few years. Right then, I forgot about all your reassurances. The next day, I already knew I was making a mistake, but I thought it was better to let you go. So you could have a life of your own. I knew you'd be sad at first-"

I scoffed. Sad was an understatement.

"But I thought you'd get over it after a few weeks," he continued. "Then Ivan told me you were back. He kept saying how sad you looked."

"Great," I muttered, more to myself than Dimitri. "Couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?"

Dimitri sighed. "I knew it was going to be hard, being without you, but I never thought it was going to be this hard. And not just for me. For the kids, too."

"It was hard for me, too."

"My point is… if Ivan told me the truth, it has to mean that you still love me, right? And if you still love me… Can't we give it another try?" he asked hesitantly. "I really want to make things up to you. I want us to work it out. I know we can work it out if you'd-"

"Dimitri, you really hurt me," I said, finally backing up and bumping into the table, "and I don't know if I can trust you again."

"I know. I haven't made things easy for you. But if you'd just give me a chance to win back your trust…" he said, moving closer to me again. "Just one more chance. That's all I'm asking for, Roza." He looked at me pleadingly. "You're the love of my life and I don't want to lose you."

"Dimitri…" I pleaded, panicking a little bit. He was so close we were almost touching. "Why are you making this so hard for me? I'm trying to get over you. This isn't helping."

"I don't want you to get over me," he murmured. "I want you to be with me." He took my hand in his again and started to lean in. "One more chance, Roza. Please."

Dimitri continued to lean in. His lips were almost touching mine and I was pretty sure I would have let him kiss me – if Liam hadn't come barging in, telling us that the movie was about to start. He barely looked at us before turning around again, which I was grateful for.

Dimitri had pulled back slightly because of the intrusion so I took the opportunity to move away from him, almost running to the living room. I made sure to sit in between Alisa and Inna during the movie so Dimitri couldn't sit next to me and try to convince me to take him back. Because, honestly, I didn't know how much longer I was able to deny him his one more chance.

"Will you come back tomorrow?" Liam asked after the movie.

"I can't. I have to work," I said, giving him an apologetic look.

"Oh." He looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "What about Sunday?"

"Umm…" I glanced over at Dimitri for a brief moment. "I'll try," I said. Liam's face crumpled so I quickly said, "Okay. I'll, um, stop by in the afternoon. Is that okay for you?"

He nodded eagerly, smiling again.

Dimitri cleared his throat. "It's time for you to go to bed now, Liam."

"No! I'm six now. I'm older. I can stay up late now," Liam said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Right. I'd forgotten about that. Liam's birthday had been in the summer. The same for Dimitri. I'd missed their birthdays, which made me feel bad, especially for Liam.

"Nice try," Dimitri said chuckling. "You're going to bed. It's already past your bedtime – and it's the same for your sisters."

They wished me goodnight and then reluctantly went upstairs.

"I should go," I said, making my way to the hallway. "Thanks for dinner."

Dimitri followed me. "Thank you for coming," he said. "I really appreciate it."

I nodded and started to turn, but Dimitri grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop. I looked up at him, about to say something, when his lips met mine. I was too stunned to do something so I just stood there as he kissed me.

"Please think about what I said," he murmured when he pulled away. I nodded, dazed. "Good night, Roza."

I blinked, snapping out of my reverie. "Yeah… Good night."

I turned around and quickly walked out of the door before anything else could happen – say, like, me kissing him. Which would've definitely happened if I'd stayed a moment longer. My resolve to stay away, to get over him, was crumbling. Which wasn't good. At all.

Damn.

Ooh, Dimitri kissed Rose! And she didn't push him away. That's good news, right? ;)

I hoped you liked this chapter. Please leave a review and have a nice weekend! ^^