The first few days after Dimitri told Rose he was going to fight for them, Rose walked around the house in a state of utter panic. She avoided Dimitri at all cost, always made sure if they were in a room together they had a buffer and tried as hard as possible not to make eye contact.

When a week had gone by without incident, Rose was relieved she'd made it that long. Soon, Dimitri was back on active duty and their shift swap would entail her at the very least to give Dimitri the courtesy of a hand over. Rose needed to stay strong. For both of them.

Another week flew by. She evaded Dimitri easily enough. A little too easily. She have been letting her guard down, just to see what would happen.

It had been an addition full week before Rose realized that Dimitri wasn't doing anything to so call fight for her. Nothing at all. He didn't try to get her alone, or try to talk some sense into her. He didn't even try to use his roguishly handsome wiles to seduce her.

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. While she didn't want him to fight for her, she was sorely disappointed that he didn't. It made her question everything they'd been through. She wondered if the harsh reality just hit him when Christian caught them. Or maybe Chris had managed to talk some sense into her stoic Russian. Or maybe Dimitri just came to the conclusion that she really wasn't worth all the hassle. Either way, no fight had ensued. It seemed chivalry was indeed dead.

Then a daunting thought crossed Rose's mind. The most horrifying of them all. Maybe Dimitri was reallocating and just decided not to tell her. There'd still been a few weeks before he absolutely had to submit his forms to the board, but that didn't mean he hadn't done so already.

Now, Rose no longer felt panic. Nope. She'd shifted gears straight into terror. Tinged with a healthy dose of rage.

How dare he not tell her? How dare he lie to her? How dare he make love to her and then leave? How dare he tell her he wouldn't give up on her and then go right around and give the fuck up on her?!

She couldn't complain or even confront him about it. It was what she wanted.

Rose was somewhere between angry crying, frustrated crying and heartbroken crying. In any case, it was back to crying.

One day after classes, Lissa begged Rose to go out to coffee with her, claiming she needed some girly time with her best friend.

"I know it late Rose", Lissa stated. It was a silent agreement for all the house residents that no one left the safety of their warded apartment complex after dark. "I promise we'll be back before nightfall".

Rose conceded. She couldn't refuse her best friend's puppy dog eyes tactic.

They sat at the coffee shop nearest to their apartment with tea, hot chocolate and bear-claws when Lissa blurted out "Christian's cheating on me!"

Rose spit out her beverage, "What?!"

"I think Christian may be cheating on me", she answered, a bit more composed.

"Liss, Christian is crazy about you. He follows you around like a lap dog. He almost incinerated a human last week for checking you out. He loves you. He'd never cheat on you". For good measure Rose added, "And if he did, I know how to hide a body".

"He's barely spoken to me in weeks", Lissa began.

"Maybe there's a lot on his mind with his mid term assignment".

That made sense to Lissa, but she wasn't convinced. "We haven't had sex in 3 weeks".

Rose shut her eyes tightly. And here she was thinking she just got better at blocking Lissa out… "Is that uncommon?" Rose asked. After all, what the hell did she know about the sex life of a couple in a long term relationship.

"It's not unheard of", Lissa answered. "Though, usually he'll at least try. But lately he's been… denying my advances". She said delicately.

"You came on to him and he turned you down?" Rose's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

"Yes!" Lissa hissed. "And…"

"And what?" Rose prodded.

"And, the other day I walked in on him and Dimitri having a hushed conversation that stopped the moment I entered the kitchen. When I asked, Christian lied to me about it! Tried to sell me some cockamamy about ruining the surprise for my birthday".

"Your birthday is in 6 months!"

"I know!" Lissa huffed. "I want to trust him and I want to talk to him about this, but he's already lied to my face, twice. Can you do me a favor and please ask Dimitri what the hell is going on?"

Slap. Meet. Face. "Uh…" How the hell was Rose going to get out of this? "I'm not really sure that's a good idea, Liss. What makes you think Dimitri won't lie to me?"

"You said Dimitri never lies".

She did say that once upon a time. "He may have lied to me once or twice before", Rose crossed her arms over her chest.

"Please Rose. At the very least we'll know if they're in on it together or if something really is going on with Chris".

Rose was tempted to tell Lissa she and Dimitri weren't currently on speaking terms, but that would have just started up a whole other topic Rose had no intention of getting into. She had half a mind to tell Lissa to compel Christian, but figured in compulsion veritas. If he stated spewing truths, he wouldn't stop.

"I'll try to work it into a conversation, ok?"

"Oh Rose, thank you, thank you, thank you".

"Come on, highness. Let's get back before you turn into a pumpkin".

On the way home Rose was wracking her brain how she would even start a conversation with Dimitri. And about Chris and Lissa's love life, no less. It had crossed her mind that maybe the drift between Chris and Lissa was her fault, on the count of Christian now keeping her and Dimitri's secret as well. She debated whether she should talk to Chris directly about it, but she didn't want to betray Lissa's trust. Not to mention that in the unlikely scenario that Chris was a cheating dirtbag, he certainly wouldn't come clean to Rose about it.

Rose entered the apartment and froze. Lissa smacked right into her back.

"Ladies", Dimitri greeted them and chugged his water.

Lissa wasn't so fazed, but Rose was almost drooling. Dimitri had apparently just come back from his pre-shift run. His hair was tied back at the nape of his neck. A few strands escaped and framed his face. He hadn't shaved yet so he was just a little scruffy, but damn if it wasn't sexy as hell. That wasn't all. Dimitri tipped his head back, sucking more water out of the plastic bottle. Rose was mesmerized by the way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with every gulp. Her eyes followed the movement, then trailed down his body. Her head tilted sideways as she took him in. His shirt was long gone and every single muscle was taught and on display for her viewing pleasure. His shoulders, pecs and abs glistened from sweat. He'd only had his track shorts and sneakers on. The sight was breathtaking. And Rose's breath was definitely taken.

Lissa elbowed Rose and said "Dimitri, Rose has something she needs to ask you."

Rose's eyes widened as she was broken out of her trance and glared at her pushy blond friend. So that's how Rose would start a conversation with Dimitri, with an unwelcome shove.

"Sure", he shrugged nonchalantly. "I need to finish up my weights training. But we can talk".

Again Rose gulped, but followed Dimitri anyway. So much for avoiding him.

In his room, Dimitri picked up the weights and started his reps. Rose watched him regulating his breathing, flexing his muscles.

Dimitri would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy watching Rose squirm. He was beyond pleased that he had this effect on her. He wondered if ignoring her since Christian found out about them had finally achieved the intended goal and she was there to talk about them. Had she told Lissa, he wondered.

"What do need, Roza?" Dimitri intentionally called her by the Russian variant of her name, letting the R roll off his tongue. He was fighting dirt and he knew it.

His velvety accented voice sent a shiver down Rose's spine. But she needed to focus. Rose cleared her throat. "Lissa thinks Christian's cheating on her", she blurted out.

Dimitri stilled mid rep, surprised at the statement. "Why does she think that?" He raised his eyebrow but continued his regiment.

"He's been aloof lately and she caught you two whispering about something in the kitchen the other day", Rose answered. "I don't believe he'd cheat on her, but she begged me to ask you if you know anything".

Dimitri set his barbells down, giving Rose a view of his amazing backside. She swallowed hard.

"He's not cheating on her", Dimitri answered with is hands on his hips, not relenting his gaze from Rose's.

She shrugged. "Then what were you guys talking about? And don't give me any bullshit about plans for her birthday. You and both know that's crap".

Dimitri inhaled deeply. "We were talking about you", he said pointedly.

"What?" Rose crossed her arms over her chest as if it would make her smaller.

"Christian and I were talking about you. And me. And how it's killing him keeping secrets from Lissa".

Here comes the panic again. "What did you tell him?"

"That he should just tell Lissa because you weren't going to".

Rose's jaw dropped. "You had no right to say that to him".

Dimitri's jaw clenched. "Are you going to tell Lissa about us?" When the answer was silence, he continued, "Then I had every right".

"Dimitri, what the fuck?!"

"It's eating him up inside, keeping something like this from the woman he loves".

"It's not his to tell".

"It became his to tell when we were careless enough to get caught! Besides, I think she should know about us".

"No!" Rose said adamantly. "Absolutely not", she shook her head, "Lissa has enough burdening her. I won't put this on her too".

"What is it exactly that you think you're protecting her from, Rose?"

"I won't put the guilt of us not being able to be together on her. You and I both know she's going to blame herself and insist that it's okay when it's not! Besides, there is no us!"

Dimitri laughed without humor. "Because you won't let there be!"

"I don't see you doing anything to change that!" And there it was.

Dimitri was taken aback. Was she waiting for him to make good on his promise? He'd thought the cold shoulder would make Rose realize that she needed him as much as he needed her, that they were worth fighting for. Instead, she apparently just thought he'd lost interest.

"Don't look at me like that, comrade".

"Like what?"

"Like a deer caught in headlights. You said you'd fight? Where is it? Where is your fight?!"

Dimitri stared at his shoes. She was waiting for him. And he fucked up.

Before he had a chance to reply, Rose assaulted him with another question. "Tell me, did you already hand in your transfer request?"

He glared at her. "I'd never do that without discussing it with you first".

Rose suppressed the urge to sigh in relief. The intensity of his gaze was too much to bear and Rose had to break eye contact. She stared at the floor and said "Good".

When Rose turned to leave, Dimitri closed the distance between them and boldly press Rose agains his body with an arm around her waist. He tilted her face up to his with a hand threaded through her hair, silky locks spilling between his fingers. "Just so you know, ignoring you for the past few weeks has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I thought would make you to realize that we're worth fighting for".

Rose was a bit breathless from the closeness. Her heart fluttered. "So you ignoring me has been you fighting for me?"

Dimitri nodded while leaning his forehead against hers.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard".

"Oh yeah?" he smiled. "You're here, talking to me now. About us. You were disappoint when you thought I was done. Which means you actually do want me to fight", his smile only grew. "I'm nowhere near done", and then he kissed her. In earnest.

There was nothing rushed or desperate about it. He kissed Rose slow and searing. Like he should have kissed her a long time ago.

Dimitri pulled back. Too soon in Rose's opinion. He kissed her forehead before releasing her. He headed to the ensuite for a much needed shower before his shift.
"Nowhere near done", he repeated as the shut the door gently.

He left Rose giddy, with a school girl smile plastered on her face. Which she quickly shook off. She still held the same conviction as before, they couldn't be together because Lissa came first. If she had voiced that to Dimitri now, he wouldn't have bought it for a second.

While he didn't quite know how they'd make it work, he knew they could. And although his plan didn't pan out like he had intended it too, Dimitri's chest expanded with new hope. Rose's conviction was cracking and he knew it. He knew it by the way she came to him to talk, he knew it by the way she was actually mad that he hadn't made any moves yet to win her over, he knew it by the way she kissed him back. It was only a matter of time before he'd tear down her walls completely.

A/N:

I want to thank you guys again for the reviews and support!

I'm sorry if this chapter feels a little like a filler. Maybe it is. I just didn't want to not post this week.

I hope you like it. I know everyone was waiting to see Dimitri fight, but like he said, he's not done yet!

I've called myself a reviews whore in the past. And if I'm being frank - that's still the god's honest truth!

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Much Love,

The reviews whore