A/N: HAHA, I remember when we were planning on posting a chapter a week, every Sunday. Seems like forever ago! Nearing the end though.

Chapter 49 Day 41

It wasn't the best sleep I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst either. I am up rather early though…earlier than my normal time. Before, I could lie in bed for hours after I'd woken up. I'd usually end up falling back to sleep and dozing for a few more hours, and lately, I've been curled around the girl of my dreams. That made it so much easier to just stay in bed. I don't have that today though so getting up and showering seems like the best option…the sooner I get up, the sooner I can see Linka. Her door was still closed, as was everyone else's.

When I finish my shower, Linka, Gram, and Dmitri are in the kitchen eating breakfast and chatting away in Russian. I don't know a word of what they're saying, but from the tone of their voices, it's a pretty civil conversation…happy even. That's a nice change from what I've come to expect from anything that comes out of Dmitri's mouth.

"Good morning," I say as I enter.

"Wheeler! Good morning," Linka says happily as she stands up. I get the impression that she wanted to come to me and…and what? Give me a hug? I don't know…maybe I'm reading too much into it. Either way, she doesn't give me a hug, she looks down like she's embarrassed and starts stammering.

"Umm, we were just…talking…and eating…do you want breakfast?"

"I can get it. Sit down, relax…and don't let me interrupt your conversation."

She doesn't listen and gets a plate out of the cupboard for me and starts scooping spoonfuls of scrambled eggs onto it.

"You were not interrupting. Linka was just telling us about some of the things she has done with the Planeteers, although I think she was holding out and only telling us the glamorous parts!"

"There are glamorous parts?!" I ask.

"Did I use the wrong words?" Grandma asks.

"Nyet, you are correct…I was telling you the nice things, the beautiful places we have seen and leaving out the parts where we come home covered in mud and smelling like garbage!"

"Yeah, that's more like it! But she's right, we have seen some pretty cool stuff and gone to some amazing places…places I would have never been to if it weren't for the Planeteers."

"What part of New York are you from?" Dmitri asks.

"Uh, Brooklyn. The Bensonhurst neighborhood."

"I have only ever been to the city. Is it nice where you are from?"

"No, not at all."

What's with the small talk?

"These eggs Linka made remind me of my time in America. When I was working and we had early meetings, they were always served."

"Yeah, they were always a favorite of mine."

"Da, I know…that is why Linka made them," Dmitri says as he washes his plate.

"Would you like some toast Wheeler?" Grandma asks me.

"I'll make it Gram. You don't need to wait on me. Just relax…I'm not a guest, remember?"

"Da, I remember," she says with a warm smile as she pats my cheek affectionately. "Come Dmitri, will you help me carry the laundry basket to the washing machine?"

"Da, of course."

Dmitri and Gram exit the room and she gives me a wink. I know she was just leaving to give me and Linka some privacy.

Linka is busy at the sink and doesn't notice me approaching her from behind. I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my chin on her shoulder, sneaking a quick kiss onto her cheek.

"Thanks for making me breakfast," I say next to her ear.

She puts her hands over mine and leans back into me.

"I made breakfast for everyone."

"Yeah, but I got the impression that this isn't a normal Russian breakfast."

"Nyet," she admits as she turns around to face me.

I keep my arms slung around her waist and she rests hers on my shoulders and laces her fingers together behind my neck.

"Did you sleep alright?" I ask, fearing the answer.

She shrugs.

"I guess. I was pretty restless…you?"

"Same."

"Nightmares?"

"No…just lonely," I say honestly.

"Da…that took some getting used to."

I gotta admit, I'm relieved to hear that she agrees.

"Do you want some orange juice?" She asks.

"Yeah," I reply, but don't release her.

"You will have to let me go so I can get it for you."

"Then no, I don't want any."

She smiles at me and then looks down shyly.

I release her and go to the fridge and get my own orange juice, like I told her Grandma, I don't need to be waited on. I pour my drink and take my glass and plate to the table. She sits down across from me and asks,

"When do you want to leave?"

As soon as possible!

"Whenever you're ready…things seem to be ok with you and Dmitri…he's being less of a dick to me too."

"Wheeler!" She shushes me and looks down the hallway to make sure no one else heard. "And da, he seems to be ready to forgive us."

"Forgive US?! For what? What did WE do to him?! He should be asking for YOUR forgiveness, first for getting you involved in Boris' mess, and second for treating you like shit and acting like it was OUR fault and not Skumm's."

"Wheeler, please…calm down. He was grieving and hurt. He was not thinking clearly and looking for someone to blame. Skumm was not here for him to direct his anger at so we were the next closest thing to the situation."

"I can't believe you're defending him."

It makes me sick. I don't even have an appetite anymore.

"He is my family…I do not have much left and I want things to go back to normal. I know with Boris gone, that will never happen, but I at least want to have a relationship with my uncle. He is the closest thing to a father that I have left. Maybe you do not need a father or care about family, but I do!"

Wow. I'm speechless. I have no argument because she's right.

"I am sorry," she says softly. "I did not mean it like that."

"No, don't apologize. You're right. I don't need a father. The only family I need are the ones on Hope Island…and here. I know that Dmitri was important to you before, and I know how badly you want him back…I'm glad he's making an effort. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

She reaches across the table and takes my hand, squeezing my fingers.

"I will not. He is done being hurtful. He is ready to start healing."

"Ok…good…because you get to leave, but Gram is stuck with him and she needs to grieve too. She needs someone to do that with and Dmitri is all she has."

She smiles at me…a smile that isn't just evident through her mouth, but in her eyes as well. Those are my favorite kinds of smiles. I've been getting a lot more of them these last few weeks.

"I am going to strip the bed sheets on our beds and take them to the laundry room so Grandmuska has one less thing to do after we leave. You finish your breakfast while I do that, and then we can leave. Does that sound good?"

"Whatever you want, Beautiful."

"If you keep telling me those lies, eventually you are going to make me believe you!"

"Good! Because I'm not lying. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you."

There it is again, that smile…but she looks away before I can really soak it in.

"Spasiba," she says quietly before leaving the kitchen…a little quicker than necessary, or maybe it's just my imagination.

I finish my breakfast, clean up the dishes, and then join everyone else in the family room.

"Ready?" Linka asks.

"Whenever you are," I reply. "I'll load our things into the Cruiser while you say goodbye."

I get my bag out of my room first, but when I come out of Linka's room, Dmitri is there.

Great. This is not what I need right now. He may have Linka fooled, but I'm not so sure he's being sincere. I guess I'm about to find out.

"Do you need any help with the bags?" He asks.

"Umm, no…thanks. It's just these two."

"Wow, it is not like Linka to only have one bag!" He says with a chuckle. "Even for one day, she would always pack more than she needed…a different outfit for every possible weather. Even if we were going somewhere hot, she would always pack warmer clothing… 'just in case.' Boris would always tease her, asking her if she had packed rocks. Usually it was books…she would also bring along every book she owned because she could either not decide what she was in the mood to read, or she would read an entire book in one day and move on to the next."

The tone of his voice is much different than anything I've ever heard from him. There's a fondness to it as he recalls better times.

"Yeah, she still does that. With the clothes and the books…I think the only thing that kept her down to one bag for this trip was knowing that we'd only be here a day. Plus she's always cold lately, so she knows she'll only need one type of clothing. Although, she must not have been thinking too clearly when she packed because she forgot her hooded sweatshirt. Fortunately, I brought mine so I let her have it."

I don't know why I felt the need to share that with him…maybe it was just my way of reminding him what she's been going through…and the sacrifice I was willing to make in order to take care of her, even if giving up my hoodie wasn't that big of a deal.

"Oh…how is she doing? Really. She puts on a good act for her grandmother…but yesterday at dinner…her sudden illness was not from eating too much was it?"

I'm still not entirely sure I can trust this guy. Is he genuinely concerned, or is he just trying to get information out of me so he can use it against Linka?

"No…she's still suffering the effects of the Bliss. It's been a difficult road to recovery…but she's getting there."

"Good. I am glad that she will make it through this. I cannot stand to think about how close I came to losing her too."

"Oh, so you DO care?"

Oops. That slipped out.

He looks down and I can tell that he's feeling ashamed. And I feel guilty.

"I'm sorry," I start to apologize.

"Nyet, you are right to be upset. I took my pain out on the wrong person…the wrong PEOPLE. I should have been thanking you for doing what you could to try and help Boris. You and your friends risked your lives for him, and you did not even know him…you did it because you cared so much for Linka and I am grateful that you were able to save her and that she has you to help her heal. I realize I have not been there for her as I should have been…but you were. And despite all she has gone through, I have never seen her so happy. She is lucky to have found such a fine young man to love her like you do."

"Uh…we're not…together…not like that."

"Not yet. She puts up a pretty big wall around her…but I have never seen anyone break it down as much as you have. You have broken through those defenses. She has suffered a lot of pain and loss."

"Yeah, I know. Your mother told me all about it at the cemetery yesterday."

"Then you understand that Linka pushes people away as a defense mechanism…she thinks that everyone that she loves leaves…prove her wrong. And do not ever give up on her."

"I won't. I'll always be there for her…in whatever way she needs me to be. Right now, that's just as a friend. I'm ok with that."

"Good." He extends his hand out to me and says, "Please, accept my apology. I understand if you cannot forgive me for the things that I said and the way that I acted, but I really do regret them…I am ashamed and will never forgive myself for the way I treated my dear niece. She is like a daughter to me and I was terrible to her…and to you. I am sorry that I put you in the position to be the only one to console her and to protect her from me when instead, I should have been comforting her and grieving with her."

I take his hand and accept his apology.

"It's fine. What you did was awful, but as long as you understand that and are ready to make up for it, and Linka is capable of forgiving you, then I can too…for her sake. She needs her family. She needs you to be a part of her life. So don't just say you're sorry and forget about her. Call her, write her letters…let her know that she's still important to you and that you care."

"I will. I promise."

"Cool…well, I better get back to her or she'll think I got lost…or that you and I are brawling!" I joke.

"Da, I am sure she thought the worst when she saw me follow you."

"Yeah," I chuckle.

He returns to Linka and Gram while I take our bags to the Geo Cruiser.

I am heading back towards the house when the three of them emerge.

"Ready?" I ask her.

"Da," she says. I can see that she's been crying. I'm sure it was a very emotional goodbye.

"Wheeler," Gram says as she opens her arms for a hug. I walk into her embrace and feel like I'm hugging my own Grandma. That's how comfortable I am with this family. "You take care of our girl, da?"

"Absolutely."

"And you will visit again? For happier occasions next time?"

"How 'bout I bring our girl back for your birthday? As long as we're not off saving the world?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. How did you know?" She asks.

"Let's just say, a 'Little Bird' told me," I say with a wink.

"Ah. We will have a nice family celebration."

"Looking forward to it," I say as I give her a kiss on the cheek.

Linka is giving her uncle a hug while I say goodbye to Gram. I shake his hand and say,

"Take care, Uncle Dmitri."

"You too, Wheeler," he says as he clasps my hand in both of his. "Thank you."

I help Linka into the Cruiser and wave goodbye to her family as we ascend for our trip home.

Things are pretty quiet at first. I know she's sad to leave her family behind, especially after things just started to get better, so I want to give her some time to process everything. I can tell I don't need to say anything to comfort her because she doesn't have the same, anguished look on her face that she had last time when we left. She looks much more at peace. Things are getting better for her, and I'm glad…even if that means that my role as "shoulder to cry on" is slowly becoming unnecessary. It's getting to the point where it's more for me than it is for her I think…and I can't let it get to that. I swore to myself, and to Kwame and the others, that I was not going to take advantage of the situation for my own gain…and I haven't. I'm just…I guess I'm just getting caught up in a fantasy and allowing myself to be happy for a while before things go back to normal.

She is the first to speak.

"So… you spoke to Uncle Dmitri?"

Ah, she wants to know what I said.

"Yeah, he asked if I needed any help with the bags." I say as I shrug.

"And that is all?" She says with a frown.

Of course she knows that's not all.

"I had thought things seemed better between you."

I guess she deserves to know she was the topic. And it will ease her mind to know that we didn't blow up at each other and actually came to an understanding. I sigh and fill her in.

"We talked about you, about how much you mean to us, and he apologized for the way he's been acting." I shrug, not really sure things will ever be "fine" between me and Dmitri, but for Linka's peace of mind, I'll give in. "So yeah, things are better between us."

"But?"

Damn, she's good. I should have known she can see right through me.

"But… it doesn't really matter does it?" I smile at her and hope it's convincing. I don't want to upset her. As far as I'm concerned, Dmitri is not my problem and if she's happy, that's fine. "I mean, he's not my uncle and it's not like we'll be spending a lot of time together. As long as he's being nice to you and you're happy, that's all that matters."

She doesn't say anything. Was I wrong to assume that's all that matters?

"Isn't it?"

Now she's the one shrugging.

"I suppose it is, I just… my family is an important part of my life and so are the Planeteers." She pauses and I get the feeling she's not done. Like she's carefully forming her thoughts to make sure she gets it just right. "You are a part of both now… I do not want there to be a divide, I do not want there to be friction where there does not need to be. We have more than enough to deal with in our daily lives."

So she wasn't just putting on a show for Gram's sake? She really does consider me part of the family now?! I try to contain my happiness as I reassure her.

"I'm not gonna cause any trouble…"

"I know that!" She cuts me off quickly. "I did not mean that, I just cannot help wanting you to like each other."

She really does…but the tone of her voice…there's a sadness to it…or is she ashamed to admit it?

I smile at her as the demons in my own head are starting to laugh at me. You will never find happiness you fool! There are no such things as "happy endings" so why do you even bother thinking you will find it?! I block out the negative thoughts and try to set her mind at ease.

"I accepted his apology and if he's good to you I'll like him for your sake, maybe when I get to know him I'll be able to like him for his own sake, but he'll have to make good on his promises first."

And I mean that. If he can prove to me that he meant what he said and treats Linka like an Uncle should treat his only niece, then we're good. I hope.

"Give me time Babe."

"As much as you need."

I can see in her eyes that she means that. She gets it. She knows more about my past than I've ever let anyone else ever know before. She understands I have trust issues…except when it comes to her. I trust her completely. Sure, she's tested that a few times in recent weeks, but it wasn't her. It was her addiction. She's got her own demons to battle now. Yet another thing we have in common. I know she'll always regret the things she said and did while the Bliss had control of her, but I have forgiven her. I guess I can forgive Dmitri too. Grief is his demon. Now that I look at it that way, I have no right to hold it against him, and in admitting that to myself, I feel a whole lot better. I smile back at her and relax. The rest of our flight is filled with casual conversation, laughter, and enjoying each other's company.

To Be Continued…

And don't forget, to get the full affect of the story, you HAVE TO read Linka's side of the story in Chapter 49 of LouiseX's Codependence!