A/N:

Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed! I'm so excited!

Here's the next chapter.

Cheers,

K

Rose woke up unreasonably early. It was one of those nights were she couldn't get Mason out of her head. She awoke several times during the night and somehow managed to fall asleep. But this time, at the ass crack of dawn, she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes anymore.

Rose dragged her ass downstairs, figuring she might as well start her day. Even though it was Sunday and other than guard Lissa, who planned on staying home for the day, Rose had nothing else to do.

She stumbled into the kitchen and found Dimitri at the table skying with his family. Rose made an apologetic face, lifted her hands in surrender and backed away.

But Dimitri stopped her with a concerned look on her face, "Rose wait". He turned to the screen, said something in Russian and walked over to Rose. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you didn't have to hang up your call".

Dimitri looked down. "I didn't hang up, I just asked them to hold on".

"Oh. That's good".

"What's going on, Roza?"

Rose attribute him using her name in Russian to the fact that he was just speaking Russian with his family. He probably didn't even notice he did it. "Nothing. I just couldn't sleep so I came down to drink something".

"Sit down, I'll make you some hot chocolate", Dimitri offered.

"I really don't want to keep you from your family", Rose pointed to the laptop.

Dimitri spared a glance to the computer. "Would you like to meet them?" he asked quietly, taking Rose, and himself, completely by surprise.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked timidly.

Dimitri nodded enthusiastically with a big smile. How could Rose say no to that smile?

So Rose joined Dimitri's Skype with his family. He introduced her, sang her praises and then excused himself to make Rose her hot chocolate, leaving Rose with his mother and sisters on the line.

Rose looked at him nervously and bit her lip. He was only at the counter, warming milk in the microwave and mixing in the coco powder, she assured herself. Dimitri gave her a comforting nod.

She was immediately attacked by a swarm of girls.

"What's america like?"

"What fashion style are in now?"

"Are you into my brother?"

Through the plethora of inquiries Rose hardly understood any of it. It was an older woman that calmed the flock. "Hello Rose", she said in a thick accent. "I'm Olena, Dimtiri's mother".

"It's very nice to meet. Dimitri talks about you all the time".

Olena smiled with motherly pride. "He talks about you too". That was awarded by a round of giggles from Dimitri's sisters.

"Mama!" Dimitri chastised from the background.

Rose turned to Dimitri, "You talk to your family about me?"

"Once or twice", he shrugged.

Rose smiled widely. She turned back to the screen when her name was called. "Rose! I'm Victoria", Dimitri's youngest sister waved. Her enthusiasm was contagious and Rose found herself just as excited as Victoria seemed.

By now Dimitri sat beside Rose and handed her a a piping hot mug.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" the young brunette asked Rose.

"Vika!" Dimitri was horrified by the line of questioning.

Rose shook her head. "Do you?" Rose fired back the same question.

Vika turned a bright red, singling to everyone on the call that she was apparently keeping a secret.

That earned her a look from her mother that said 'we're going to have words later'.

When the Russians calmed a bit, another of Dimitri's sisters said something in her native tongue.

Rose looked to Dimitri for translation. But the one who supplied it was yet another one of Dimitri's sister, who had the good sense to first introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Karolina and this is Sonya", she pointed to the young woman beside her. "And what she said is that you're beautiful and she doesn't know how our brother can focus around you". Even as she was saying this, her eyes were alight with joy, as well as Sonya's, Victoria's and Olena's.

Dimitri was pinching the bridge of his nose, regretting he asked Rose to join him.

Rose on the other hand was loving every minute of it and laughing her ass off. Dimitri cursed under his breath, yet it was still loud enough of his mother to hear. "Dimka! Language!"

That only made Rose laugh harder.

Dimitri who had not been reprimanded by his mother in years found himself dutifully embarrassed. Rose finally took pity on him. "Aww, comrade! At least she didn't punch you in the face and give you a black eye!" she was referring to last Christmas when her own mother 'accidentally' gave her a black eye during training. Rose was laughing so hard that Dimitri couldn't help but laugh right along with her.

Vika took the opportunity and took a screen shot of her brother who for a brief moment looked utterly free.

As Dimitri and Rose slowly stopped laughing, they noticed the Belikova women were staring at them with goofy grins. Olena hadn't seen her boy look so happy in years.

"We should get going", Karolina said. "I'm taking Sonya to her doctor's appointment and Vika's meeting friends".

Olena nodded. "I'll start on dinner".

Rose wanted to give Dimitri a few minutes alone with is family. She excused herself with her mug. "It was lovely meeting you all", she said to the Belikovas.

"Believe me", Olena answered, a knowing grin plastered on her face, "the pleasure was all ours".

Rose smiled back, a bit puzzled and left Dimitri with his family.

Rose situated herself on the sofa. Dimitri joined her a few minutes later.

"Dimitri, you're family's great". Rose smiled.

He smiled and chuckled. "They're okay". Rose chuckled too.

When Rose sipped from her mug, Dimitri asked, "So what happened tonight?" Dimitri knew Rose didn't sleep well that night. He heard her tossing and turning all night. When he heard her whimpering, Dimitri's worry got the better of him and crept into her room. He tried to sooth her by stroking her hair and humming. It worked for a while. She slept 2 more hours after that. Though he wasn't at all sure whether he should tell her or not.

"I was dreaming about Spokane", Rose whispered. "It's Mason's birthday and he's not here to celebrate it because of me", she shut her eyes tightly, willing the tears away.

"Oh Roza", Dimitri crooned, "It's not your fault". He couldn't help but wrap his arm around Rose's shoulders.

Rose buried her face in his chest, accepting the comfort he was offering. Her hand fisted his shirt as she silently wept. She didn't want to cry in front of Dimitri. She was his partner. He wasn't supposed to take care of her. Yet she couldn't help but lean on him. Dimitri ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her closer. Rose breathed a little bit easier with Dimitri's arms wrapped around her.

After a while, Rose fell asleep. When it was time for the last security checks at the end of his shift, Dimitri couldn't bare to wake her. She deserved the sleep. So he carried her to bed and tucked her in. Dimitri hoped Rose would be able to get at least another hour or two of sleep. He was more than willing to cover for her till she woke again.

As he was making his final rounds, Dimitri told himself he and Rose were just friends. She needed comfort in her time of grief. Comfort he was more than willing to provide. He squashed away the ache in his chest that he felt every time Rose was in pain and there was nothing he could do to take it away. An ache he got whenever he was reminded that she too almost died in Spokane. He remembered how Rose looked when they found her in that god forsaken house, clutching Mason's body. Seeing Rose so broken, thinking she might never get over the trauma, was enough to make him realize that he'd do anything to protect her, no matter how wrong it was. For a long time Dimitri believed he failed her that night. He should have known Rose was going to do something dangerous. He should have found her faster. He should have saved her.

Rose woke up 3 hours later feeling much more rested than she thought possible. She and Dimitri switched off shifts. "Thank you letting me sleep, Dimitri".

Dimitri nodded and went to bed for the day, content that he was able to bring Rose some peace.