A/N:

Chapter Rated T for language

Sorry for the late update, my bird has fallen sick recently and all of my time has been spent taking care of him and hoping he will get better. Fingers crossed! :-)

I'd like to thank Dimitri. and. Roza. 4E (Stevie) for offering to be my Beta and editing this chapter for me! You're a genius and lightening fast!

Thanks to all of the people who are reading and reviewing this story, you have no idea how much it means to me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy.

Previously on A Blessing in Disguise…

My chest constricted. They were so perfect for each other; they had friendship, companionship, and most of all, love. That was the perfect combination. I knew they were meant to be together…soul mates.

Their relationship was so unlike mine and my star-crossed lover's, Dimitri. Ours was doomed from the start.

I sighed and trotted over to the vending machine. Despite it being coated in dust, the motel looked like it had a pretty good selection of food. I stood there for several minutes, debating on which bag of chips I should choose.

I twirled the change in my hand. "Do I want Fritos or Hot Cheetos? Fritos or Hot Cheetos? God, it's so hard to choose."

"Hello, Roza." The voice came from behind me. I recognized it immediately.

No.

How did he find me?

My heart dropped.

I froze with shock for a moment and cringed. After taking four deep breathes, I turned to face one pissed off Russian.

"Hey Comrade, how's it going?" I laughed nervously. God, I sounded so un-Rose-like.

Just smile and play it cool. I thought. He can't be that angry, right?

Wrong.

Dimitri's gaze narrowed, he clenched his jaw tightly, I heard the squeak of his teeth grinding together.

I was distantly aware of at least a dozen guards behind him, poised and ready to attack—acting like little puppets, waiting for Dimitri's every command. I snorted. Sometimes I despised that my mentor was in charge of everything and everyone at St. Augustine's.

I suddenly felt claustrophobic. The guards were surrounding me, closing in like a snake on a rat. Yeah, the odds of getting Lissa, Christian, Oscar, and I to the Mercedes roadster and making a quick escape before they could catch us weren't looking too good right now. I swore loudly.

My eyes flickered back to meet Dimitri's cold and hard brown eyes. He was staring at me intensely; maybe a little too intensely. I felt like those eyes could pierce my soul and read all of my deepest and darkest secrets. I felt exposed under his gaze, like I was standing naked in front of him, a girl could only wish.

I fought the urge to look away. I had to show Dimitri he wasn't the dominant one in this situation; even though I was well aware that he was. I had to show him I wasn't weak or powerless. When in doubt, resort to attitude.

"How's your nose doing?" I mocked. His long and narrow nose, if possible, looked in worse shape than this morning. At least it was bandaged now, though.

His eyes flashed with anger. "Could be better." He shrugged.

I gazed at his masculine face—the strong jaw-line, knife-edged cheekbones, strong brow, and sensuous lips. My heart constricted. I had only been gone for a few hours and I'd already missed Dimitri, and yearned for him. Damn it.

"How did you find us?" I demanded.

Dimitri jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, behind him, stood a very guilty looking Adrian.

"Sorry, Little Cadet," He tapped his temple. "The psychic powers I possess are far more powerful than you and I could ever dream of—no pun intended."

How could he betray me like that?

"I'm not going back," I growled.

"You have to," Dimitri's tone was cold and menacing, he meant business. "You're a minor. Your mother, Janine, insists that we bring you back to the academy immediately. You're obligated to come back to St. Augustine's—whether you like it or not." A minor? Oh, now he cares that I'm a minor.

"I'm not obligated to do anything," I snapped. "You don't own me."

A devious and possessive smile twisted at his lips, his tone was confident as he spoke. "You are under my control, Ms. Hathaway. I can take you by force or you can simply come willingly. Either way, you're coming back to the academy."

I huffed and glared at him.

"So, Ms. Hathaway, what's it going to be?" he asked. "The easy way, or the hard way?"

A slow, certain grin spread across my face. "I never take the easy way, Dimitri. I thought you'd know me better by now."

"Don't do this, Rose." He warned. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

Dimitri's stance was rigid, his body ready to attack.

"Hurt me? Hurt me?" I laughed bitterly. "You've already done plenty of damage, believe me."

He flinched, knowing exactly what I was referring to—me catching him and Tasha basically getting it on in his apartment last night.

Dimitri closed his eyes, exhaled, and muttered a curse in Russian. He pointed two fingers towards the hotel room.

"Get them out of there," he ordered. "We are leaving now."

Alberta, Stan, and Mikhail headed towards the door.

"Don't go anywhere near them," I said through clenched teeth. "I swear to God, if you even lay a finger on her I will—"

"You will…what? What can you possibly do, Rose?" Dimitri asked, tone mocking and challenging. "You're alone, outnumbered, and unarmed. You'll only make a fool of yourself if you try to fight them."

I was being cornered. I had this panicky feeling weighing down my chest and thoughts. I knew he was right. I was scared and alone, and hopeless. But I wasn't a quitter. And I wasn't going out without a decent fight.

I stepped towards Stan and struck out; it was a stupid move born out of fear and instinct. I drove my fist into his solar plexus. Unaware and unprepared, Stan doubled over and groaned in pain.

I was quick to sidestep Dimitri's grab for me.

"Stop it," he growled.

"I told you I'm not going back!"

"Rose, just stop…please. Don't fight him." That sweet and frightened voice came from behind me. I turned around to face Lissa.

Bad idea.

Never turn your back on your opponent until they are incapacitated.

Dimitri grabbed me from behind; one arm wrapped around my waist while the other snaked around my neck.

I screamed, kicked, hit, scratched, bit, clawed and yanked on hair, but I could never get out of his iron grasp no matter what I tried.

Tired and frustrated, Dimitri gripped my face and slammed my head against the wall. I didn't feel pain. I didn't feel anything. Black shadows consumed me.

I heard slight buzzing, but nothing else. The migraine came in viscous, pounding waves. It felt like a thousand tiny miners were digging at my brain with their tiny pickaxes'. It was excruciating, agonizing, Out-of this-world pain.

I slowly and painfully opened my heavy eyelids. I winced at the bright light and immediately shut them. Unable to see, I accessed the situation with my hands.

I rubbed them along the outside of my legs, the material was cool and smooth—leather. Okay, I was sitting on leather. That didn't provide much insight to where I was.

I continued to feel around. My hands went over a few small hills, and wrapped around something cool and light-weight. I picked it up and shook it, hearing the swoosh of liquid. A plastic bottle.

A deep chuckle echoed through my ears, followed by a Russian accented voice. "What are you doing?"

My eyes snapped open, I ignored the blinding white light and sharp pain in my skull.

Surprised, I jerked my head to the left and was met with a pair of familiar dark eyes. Dimitri.

I screamed.

A loud, high-pitched, girly, there-is-an-axe-murderer-behind-you kind of scream. Dimitri flinched and yelled for me to stop.

"Where am I?" I stipulated.

He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. "You're in my car; I am taking you back to the academy."

It all came back to me. Dimitri finding me in the hotel parking lot (I was still upset that I didn't get my chips), punching one of the guards, battling Dimitri, getting knocked out.

My head spun. I glared at my mentor.

"You smashed my head against a concrete wall!"

"I did what was necessary." His voice was calm and collected, as if he was talking about something as simple as the weather or the Sunday paper.

"Beating up a girl is necessary?"

It was a low blow, comparing him to his abusive father, but it felt like the right thing to do at the moment. He flinched and I immediately wished I could pick up my words and swallow them.

"When my student is assaulting a fellow guard and myself, then yes, it is absolutely necessary and I don't regret it."

"I'm guessing your father wasn't the only wife-beater in the family." I said. And I said it just because I wanted to piss him off.

By the look on Dimitri's face, I'd say I succeeded. I felt uncomfortably smug.

His eyes went black with pure rage, his face twisted with anger, he bared his teeth. He lifted his hand, prepared to hit me. "You little b-"

Dimitri held his hand up a moment longer, before lowering and pounding it against the steering wheel. By the amount of force he put into his angry blows, I'm grateful that he was hitting the car and not my face.

"What if I don't want to go back?"

"You don't have a choice," He didn't look at me, he kept his eyes trained on the road. Safe driver.

"Where are Lissa and Christian?"

"Behind us."

I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw four identical black SUV's following behind our car. The Mercedes roadster was pressed in the middle. I had to admit, we looked pretty badass—especially with Dimitri in the lead.

"I hate you," I was surprised at how much venom was injected into those three words. I crossed my arms and stared out the passenger tinted window.

"You don't hate me," Dimitri's voice was quiet, his tone unsure and hurt. What did he have to be hurt about?

"How did Adrian help you find us?" I asked, truthfully curious. From my peripheral vision, I saw Dimitri shrug.

"It's a long story,"

I snorted. "It's not like I can go anywhere."

"You're right, you can't." He returned. "Long story short, Adrian came to me claiming he could find out where you were. I was hesitant at first but I eventually gave him a chance."

Dimitri sighed and slid me a side-long glance.

"Well, what he did was kind of…strange—to say the least. Adrian said that he needed to tap into his subconscious energy." he paused. "He lit candles, turned off the lights, and murmured a few prayers—"

"Like a séance?"

Dimitri shook his head and outright laughed. "No, a séance is when you try and make contact with the dead. Adrian was just doing these things as calming exercises." He said. "Anyway, he went into a deep sleep. He woke up about 45 minutes later, didn't utter a word, and began sketching various pictures."

Dimitri smiled and flashed me a dangerous look. "Turns out, one of the sketches Adrian drew was of the motel sign you, Lissa, and Christian were staying at. One of our guards—who shall remain nameless because I don't want you to cause him or her any bodily harm—recognized the motel sign and was able to easily identify it." He inhaled and exhaled jadedly. "40 minutes later, we were pulling up to the motel and I found you at the food machine. Not surprising."

"You should have left me there, too."

"Leave you out there alone?"

"I was with my friends," I huffed. "I wasn't alone."

"What you did was tremendously stupid, Rose." Dimitri shook his head. "Something could have happened to you. Do you think I would have forgiven myself if something terrible did happen?"

"Don't really give a fuck how you feel."

Dimitri pressed down on the gas pedal, speeding the car up to 95mph.

"I'm all for fast cars," I said. "But don't you think that's a little dangerous?"

"You want to know what's dangerous?"

"Nope," I popped the 'p'. I was well aware that I was acting like a spoiled brat, but in that moment, I didn't care. I was so angry at Dimitri—for everything and for nothing.

"You leaving the academy is perilous! I can't even begin to fathom what you must have been thinking when you hopped into the trunk of Vasilisa's car." He furiously slammed his palm down on the dashboard, causing the car to vibrate. I whimpered in surprise and terror.

"I was trying to keep her safe," I whispered, defending myself.

"Who?" He demanded.

"Lissa, I was trying to protect my best friend. And myself."

"I will protect you both!" he boomed. "I cannot keep you safe if you are away from me."

"I don't need you."

"Yes you do, Roza! When will you realize that?" Dimitri rubbed his forehead. "I need you here with me. So I can keep you safe. So I can protect you, defend you. Guard you. Look after you. Save you from harm. Take care of you." The last words were spoken in a soft whisper. "Please, don't ever do anything like that again."

Butterflies danced in my stomach from his words. Had he really meant what he'd just said?

I glanced at him, searching his face thoroughly, and I knew the answer immediately.

Yes.

Yes, he had meant them.

"This has gone on far too long," Dimitri whispered voice hoarse and deep with emotion. He pointed between me and him.

"What has?" I asked. "Our teacher–student relationship? Our friendship? Our unwilling mutual attraction?"

"You and I both know it's more than that."

We stayed silent for the remainder of the trip.

Dimitri pulled up to the guard station some time later. He pushed down a button and the window rolled down, he nodded towards the guard who returned the respectful gesture and let us through the iron gates.

I hopped out of the car before Dimitri was done pulling into the parking space. I waved at the passing roadster. Lissa smiled apologetically through the window, gave a slight head shake, and passed by me without stopping.

"I want to talk to her." I told Dimitri.

"That's not going to happen," He locked the SUV and walked over to where I was standing. At nearly a foot taller, he towered over me like a building, and I had to admit, it was hard not to be intimidated.

"Why not?"

"Because you're in enough trouble as it is."

"I have to talk to her!"

"You don't have to do anything besides get to your dorm, now." He commanded.

"You're a dick."

Dimitri shrugged and began walking towards the high-school building.

"I guess you're coming to my room too, eh?"

"Yes," He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're in trouble and I need to rightfully punish you."

"Kinky," I kicked a stone in our path. "However, punishment isn't really my thing. Why don't you ask Tasha, though? By the looks of your apartment last night, I'd say the girl likes it rough."

Dimitri skidded to an abrupt stop. His hand shot out and gripped my bicep, biting bruises into my skin. Those hard and dark eyes stared into mine as he spoke. "That is none of your business."

"You can at least explain yourself."

"I have no reason to explain anything to my seventeen year old student." Ouch.

His words hurt more than if he were to slap me, and he knew it. He meant them. He wanted to hurt me, wanted to cause me pain. Mission accomplished.

"Ouch, that burned bad," I mimicked pulling a knife out of my heart. "But probably not as bad as when you were giving it hard to Tasha last night."

"You are out of line." Dimitri's tone held no room for argument. He laughed harshly. "I'd shut my mouth right now if I were you, before you get even deeper in trouble."

"Is that even possible?" I asked. "To get into more trouble than I already am?"

"It's highly possible," he said. "Would you like to find out?"

I shook my head. "No."

Dimitri opened the door, stepped through, and let it swing shut behind his feet.

"Asshole," I muttered, ripping open the door and stepping inside. "What happened to ladies first?"

"I don't see a lady in front of me," he said. "All I see is an immature little girl." Double ouch.

"I hate you." I lied.

"Honestly, right now," He shrugged indifferently. "I don't care."

God, the one thing I hated about Dimitri was how frustrating he could be. The guy never let up. I wondered if he lasted in bed as long as he lasted in an argument. If so, I knew Tasha was lying under his sheets as one satisfied woman right now.

I felt an unwelcome stab of jealously towards her. The feeling was sickening, too many emotions wrapped up in one body—envy, sadness, hate, anger, rage, heartache. It made me nauseous thinking about the two of them together in that way—Dimitri kissing her, touching her, their bodies moving in sync, Tasha bringing him immeasurable amounts of pleasure.

I shuddered.

If only Dimitri knew how badly I wanted to be the one wrapped safely in his arms, instead of Tasha.

"Ya know," I unlocked the door to my room. "If I get murdered, it will be your entire fault."

"Why?"

"Because you brought me back to this damn Military Academy...aka the killer's home." I said. "I hope you can live with that on your conscious."

I walked into my room and inhaled the familiar scent of Jasmine and Vanilla. I felt Dimitri's powerful presence behind me; so close that I could feel the warmth of his body and smell the crisp scent of his aftershave. His sweet breath tickled my ear as he inhaled and exhaled softly.

"Please, don't talk like that," He whispered, voice hoarse with emotion, his Russian accent velvety and tastefully thick.

"Why?"

"Because I only brought you back here to protect you, Roza. I want nothing more than to keep you safe."

"Why do you even care?" I asked. "I'm just another student. I mean nothing to you."

"I care about you, a lot...too much." he growled lightly. "That is why I want to keep you out of harm's way."

I turned around to face him and gasped from what I saw. Dimitri's eyes were dark and pained, his forehead creased, bottom lip pulled between his teeth. Those broad shoulders of his were slumped and sad. He looked strangely...vulnerable. He gazed into my eyes, allowing all of the emotions to fill his—attraction, attachment, lust, love…

Dimitri then did something that stunned me.

He reached forward, tangled those graceful fingers of his in my hair, and pulled me to his face. The instant his mouth touched mine, I melted into a puddle of goo. His lips were warm and soft like silk…just as I had imagined and fantasized about.

Our kiss was rough and needy and hungry. Dimitri was trying to devour me with his mouth, as I was doing the same to him.

God, he tasted wonderful.

His sleek tongue whipped out and darted beyond my lips, exploring every inch of my mouth in a frenzy. Dimitri moaned, deep and low in his throat. The sound was beautiful and buzzed against my mouth, sending shivers down my spine.

I threw my hands around his neck. He gasped and slammed me against the wall. He pressed his body hard against mine, so hard that I felt every inch of him. I pulled back for oxygen—only God knows how much I didn't want to—and struggled for ragged gasps of air.

He gazed down at me, eyes burning with lust and hunger, those beautiful lips swollen and red.

"Please, don't ever do that again," Dimitri laid his face into the curve of my neck and shoulder, pressed a kiss against the skin, and breathed in. "Don't ever leave again."

"I won't." I breathed.

He pressed his lips against mine once again and I was in pure heaven. I still couldn't believe this was happening. I was kissing Dimitri! If this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up…

I pulled the tie out of his brown hair, chucked it to the ground, and curled my fingers into his long hair, trying to bring him as close to me as possible.

"God, you have no idea how long I have wanted to do this." His voice was muffled against my mouth.

I moaned in response.

Dimitri's lips left a trail of fiery kisses across my cheek, along my jaw, and down my neck. He stopped once he reached the end of my neck and started aggressively sucking, his teeth lightly piercing my skin, leaving a red patch across my flesh. I couldn't help the small moan and whimper that escaped my throat.

"We have to stop now," His body contradicted his words. Dimitri didn't want to stop.

"Why?"

"Because if we keep going," he said breathlessly. "I won't be able to control myself…I won't be able to stop myself."

"What if I don't want you to stop?" I licked the edges of his mouth. He closed his eyes in pleasure.

"It's not about what you or I want," Dimitri nipped on my bottom lip, I melted into his arms. "It's about doing the right thing."

"But I want you." I begged.

"I want you, too," His face scrunched in pain. "I want you so badly…"

Dimitri looked like he wanted to say more, much more. But he bit his tongue and sighed instead.

"Kiss me." I whispered.

"What?"

"Kiss me," I repeated. "Just kiss me one more time, please."

Dimitri stared into my eyes for a moment, nodded slightly, and leaned down to press his warm lips against mine.

It started out sweet and tender at first, but quickly picked up. His hands consumed my body, skimming over every inch they could. I sucked on his plump bottom lip and was rewarded with a groan.

Dimitri's large calloused hands trailed down, gripped the back of my thighs, and effortlessly lifted me off the ground. I gasped in surprise and wrapped my legs around his waist.

I ran my hands along his lean back, feeling the mountains of muscles rippling under my touch. Those wonderful hands of his massaged magic into my backside.

Dear God, the things this man did to me.

In my desired frenzy of devouring his lips and body, I accidentally bumped my nose against his. He moaned, but it wasn't from pleasure this time.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot about your broken nose."

A trickle of blood flowed from his nose in a silent river.

After apologizing profusely, I hopped down and ran to my bathroom to retrieve a wash cloth. I handed it to Dimitri.

"Thank you," he smiled and dabbed the crimson liquid. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Maybe I can repay you back in some way…?" I purred, wrapping my hands around his neck and hugging him tightly. He reached around and rested his hands on the small of my back.

"This can't happen." I felt him shake his head.

"Oh, what is that?" I paused. "I think something just poked my stomach…"

I glanced at Dimitri. His eyes widened as big as UFO's, he hastily pulled back and stood there awkwardly. He cleared his throat and casually crossed his arms over his waist, covering that general area.

I threw my head back and laughed. "I was kidding, Comrade…relax."

"Oh."

He didn't remove his hands.

I grinned.

And then a thought suddenly popped into my mind. What Dimitri and I just shared (Something I liked to call magic), it would never happen again...never. The thought constricted my chest and saddened my heart. Staring at Dimitri now, I already missed kissing him...yearned for his powerful, yet gentle touch. It was like having seconds and thirds of Lissa's bomb ass spaghetti, I always wanted more...so, so much more.

Dimitri, the observer, noticed my change in mood and immediately became concerned. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

I shook my head. "No."

He frowned. "What's wrong then? Your eyes," His thumb traced the sensitive skin beneath my eyes. "They are so sad."

"I just wish we could be together." I whispered.

"We can," Dimitri kissed my lips. "Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday soon…I promise we will. Soon, soon…"

Despite having just made out with the General, I didn't get any special treatment as I was kicked out of my dorm and sent off to school. I flipped Dimitri off, he grinned and winked back.

Luckily, lunch came by faster than expected. I was soon seated at the familiar table in the cafeteria being interrogated by my friends— Mason, Eddie, and Adrian.

Lissa and Christian were sitting across from me. Oscar trotted happily on the table surrounded by his newest adoring fans. I swear that kitten was St. Augustine's biggest superstar. No student could seem to get enough of his cuteness. He'd even softened some of the toughest staff. It was funny seeing the teachers and guards—all mean and tough looking in their army uniforms— holding and cooing at the orange ball of far. The only person who hadn't cracked from his cuteness was Dimitri. Yeah, Oscar and I were going to have to work hard on that.

"Oh, my gosh..." Alberta held the kitten up to her face and closed her eyes. "He's a beautiful baby. Aww, yes...I wish I could take you home with me."

I giggled.

Alberta cleared her throat embarrassed and gently set Oscar back on the table. "This school prohibits animals on the property,"

Lissa and I frowned.

"But...everyone seems to love him so much. I could never ask you to get rid of him. I'd have a lot of unhappy students on my hands if did." she chuckled. "Just make sure you clean up after him and we shouldn't have any problems."

Lissa nodded. "Of course, Sergeant Petrov. Thank you so much."

"Thanks, Ma'am." Christian nodded and gave a lazy smile. Cocky bastard.

Alberta nodded sharply and walked off.

"So, tell us," Mason leaned forward, hands clasped, an eager grin plastered across his freckled face. "How was it...being out in the world all by yourselves?"

"Scary." Lissa said.

"Lame." Christian offered.

"Kick ass," I finished. "I mean, it would have been kick ass if we had been gone longer than four hours."

"Three and a half hours to be exact," Christian corrected, grinning. "It was fun while it lasted, though."

"Agreed."

"What were you guys thinking?" Eddie asked, completely enthralled in the conversation of our dangerous escape. "Are you crazy? General Belikov is going to murder you, bring you back to life, and then murder you again."

"Well, I have yet to receive my punishment," Christian casually rested his arms behind his head. "But I have to see him after school. And I'm pretty our visit isn't going to be about tea and scones and lifetime movies—no matter how much I wish it was."

"I like scones," Lissa nodded.

Mason and I made a sound of disgust.

"They're awful!" he said.

"Agreed." I nodded.

Lissa shrugged.

"So, Little Cadet, how was your punishment?" Adrian spoke up for the first time. I didn't like his tone of voice, it was cocky and snippy. He shot me a pointed look, that smirk told me more than his words ever could—Adrian knew something had happened between me and Dimitri today. And from the way Adrian looked at it, it was something that should have never happened.

Damn it!

I shrugged. "Pretty bad."

"Care to get into details?"

"Dimitri shot a few bamboo slivers under my finger nails, cut my thumbs off, busted a knee cap, and then he threw me into a coffin and buried me alive. That enough details for you?"

Adrian narrowed his emerald green eyes, not amused by my sarcasm. "I'm being serious, what happened in that dorm of yours? The two of you were in there awhile...and when you came out, I couldn't help but notice how happy and giddy you looked."

"Why don't you just burn some candles, go to sleep, and find out? That seemed to work for you earlier when you told Dimitri where our motel was," I snapped. "I trusted you, damn it, and you went behind my back and snitched on us."

I was distantly aware of all my friends staring at us, completely engrossed in our little argument.

"I did what I had to do." Adrian clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists. "I was just trying to help!"

"Well, I appreciate the effort," I snorted. "But next time, don't. Just stay out of it and mind your own business, you spoiled brat!"

I stood up from my seat and angrily stomped out of the cafeteria.

My mind kept drifting towards Dimitri—more so than usual, if possible—and that damn kiss...or kisses.

"What's got you so happy, Hathaway?" Mason came up beside me. I hadn't heard him or seen him. Huh. I must have been more zoned out than I originally thought.

"Huh?" Was my genius response.

I walked up to my orange locker and twisted in the combination.

"You're grinning like a fool," he said. "It's because of me, isn't it? You're daydreaming about my naked body in the shower, aren't you?"

"Always." I winked. He smiled smugly. Great, I just boosted his ego up a few notches. Not what I had planned.

I stuffed my text books into the locker and yanked out my gym bag.

"So, I was thinking that..." Mason twisted a lock of fire red hair around one finger nervously. "Maybe I could, I don't know, take you to dinner later?"

I laughed, slammed my locker shut, and flung the duffel bag over my right shoulder. "Don't we always have dinner together?"

"Well, yeah, we do. But that's at the Mess Hall, with everyone around. And..." Mason was stuttering. Oh boy. Something was definitely up.

"And what, Ashford?" I asked. "Spit it out already."

"And I was thinking just you and I could have dinner. No friends. No interruptions." He said confidently. "I know this great place out by the lake. It's hidden and dangerously beautiful, kinda like you. Anyways, I could pack us a picnic and a few blankets. That way you don't get cold and stuff, you know. What do you say?"

Mason grinned widely, but there was tension in his eyes and shoulders. He was waiting for rejection.

"I don't know, Mase..." I stared down at my shuffling feet. "I have after school practice with Dimitri right now. I might be too tired."

"I understand." He said, somewhat sadly. I immediately felt bad. "But just think about it, okay? My offer still stands."

"I will definitely think about it," I said. "Just don't get your hopes up."

"Too late, Hathaway." Mason smiled, did a small bow, and took off in the opposite direction.

"Men." I sighed. "There's too many of them."

I slammed open the gym doors and loved the toasty air that hit me. It beat being out in the winter air. Dimitri arranged it so that my practices were now held inside. It was too freezing to be exercising in 30 degrees and below weather. I shivered at the thought.

I nearly ran to find Dimitri inside. God, I missed him so much already. It literally pained me to be away from him for any amount of time. I wondered if he felt the same way?

It had been eight hours since he'd actually instigated our kiss this morning. The first time we'd been together. The first time we'd kissed. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I imagined him kissing me again, touching me...

I groaned. I was in love; madly, deeply and helplessly in love. I was a teenage girl, obsessed and fascinated with her boyfriend. Could I even call Dimitri that yet? I shook my head.

I'd made fun of girls that were so clingy to their boyfriends before, but now I understood where they were coming from—I was one of them. But Dimitri was one hunk of a man; you can't blame me for wanting to do dirty things with him 24/7...

I frowned in confusion when I finally found Dimitri. He wasn't wearing his usual army uniform that I was so familiar with, instead, he was wearing a suit—black slacks, a white button up shirt, black tie, and a navy coat decorated with all different colored ribbons and shiny gold metals pinned to his shoulders and chest—badges and awards he'd earned over the years.

I ignored his outfit and ran up to peck him on the lips. Dimitri took a step back and cleared his throat harshly.

I stood there, looking stupid and confused, as rejection and hurt filled my body.

"We need to talk, Ms. Hathaway." He said, voice and face void of emotions. "What happened between us earlier, what I did...it should have never happened."

Shock froze my limbs. "You...you. You mean to tell me that you regret kissing me?"

Dimitri's general mask faltered, I saw his face fall with regret. He quickly slipped it back on before I could see anymore. And spoke, in a flat voice, "Yes."

"You're the one who kissed me first! I never tried to throw myself on you. You kissed me first, damn it!" I knew I was repeating myself, but I felt like Dimitri needed to know exactly how I was feeling. "And now you say you regret it. That's fucked up, Dimitri. Fucked up. Stop playing with my emotions, you either want me...or you don't. Simple as that."

"I don't want you." He said crisply.

Tears filled my eyes, I looked up at his blurry shadow. "You told me you wanted to be with me!"

"It was a lie. I was lying." Dimitri's eyes were cold and mean, his lips pursed into a tight line.

"I was lying before when I said this to you," I whispered. "But now I'm not. I mean these three words with every fiber of my being...I hate you. I hate you so much, Dimitri."

Hurt flashed across his eyes. His face crumpled with sadness. "I've only tried to help you, Rose. I never wanted to hurt you. And I most certainly never wanted you to hate me."

A vicious sob shook my body. Dimitri stared at me a moment longer, before turning around and heading towards the Gym doors.

"Where are you going?" I screamed.

"A meeting."

I felt like he was walking out of my life, walking out on me—and in a sick, twisted way, he was. If Dimitri didn't want me, if he wanted to pretend that he didn't have true feelings for me, then so be it. I'd mask my feelings for the man that owned my heart as best I could from now on. I refused to be desperate and beg to have him back. I was going to close that door on our romantic life, it didn't lead to anywhere anyways.

"I...I, we need time apart. Time to think." Dimitri said, holding the door open and glancing back at me. "Practice is canceled for the next two weeks."

"So, you're just going to give up on me?" My voice was hysterical. "This is it for us?"

"There never was an us."

He walked out and the door closed with a quiet thud. I felt my heart rip out of my chest and it went right out the door with the man who owned it.

As always, let me know what you think! :-)