4:03 AM

Dimitri: Good Morning Roza :)

The sound of my phone buzzing next to my head made me stir. With my eyes still blurring I blind myself with the bright light from my phone and groan loudly. Though the message immediately put a large smile on my face.

Rose: Another early morning Comrade? Trying to work off all the food you made last night?

Dimitri: You seemed to enjoy it.

Dimitri: But no, I like to run to the gym rather than drive.

Rose: Ew. Dimitri. You work out before you work out? What is wrong with you?

Dimitri: Still to be determined. However, I did find myself running in your area this morning. Want to finish this run out with me? I am pretty much right outside your building

Rose: Stalker much?

I bolted out of my bed and rushed into my bathroom. I hadn't bothered to take my makeup off from the night before since I stayed out so late with Dimitri and my hair was a complete mess just from the wild way I sleep. I should honestly say no to running with him, especially since it was so freaking early and I was so freaking tired, but I really did enjoy his company and I didn't want the night before to end so might as well start all over the next morning. Not how I would have preferred to see him in the morning but I will take what I can get. I looked down at my phone to see a laugh emoji from Dimitri before another message popped up.

Dimitri: Am I to take that as a no?

I groaned as I replied back that I would be down in ten minutes. I scrambled to wash my face, threw my hair up into a bun on top of my head and the first workout outfit I could find that was actually clean. Ended up with a simple sports bra and yoga pants that made my ass look amazing. I was surprised when I looked at my phone and I actually managed to make it down to the front of my apartment complex with two whole minutes to spare. I was extremely out of breath and seemed to be sweating already but it was completely worth it when I heard Dimitri's chuckle from behind me.

"You know, I would have been happy waiting for however long you needed." I just gave him a quick shrug before I let my mind read too much into that statement. I have a feeling if I asked him to wait for me to get over Lissa, he would. He is just that good of a man. But I definitely didn't want my brain to continue down that spiral so I quickly changed the subject. And it's not like he actually wanted to date me anyway.

"It's fine. You already ran all the way here. Besides, what kind of person would I be to leave you outside alone at 4 in the morning. You might need protection from some random mugger trying to take your wallet." I was rewarded with another of his full blown laughs that sent a weird tingle down my spine. That sound was quickly becoming my new favorite sound. My own lips curled up at the sides, happy that I was able to make him laugh so often. I've noticed more and more that he seems to be a little closed off around other people, and I loved being able to bring this side of him out.

"You're right. In no way would I be able to protect myself. Come on, Roza." His hand was warm on my exposed lower back as he guided me in the direction we were going to be running. It didn't last long as he let go once I was facing the right away and he took off running down the street. I tried not to let my weirdly strong attraction to Dimitri slow me down, but even then he still seemed to be running laps around me as we ran. I could tell he was trying to slow down for me, but even with his effort he was pulling ahead of me constantly. By the time we reached the gym, I was panting from trying to keep up with his giant legs.

"What's wrong with you, Comrade? How do you do this every day?" I placed my hands on my hips and started to walk in circles in front of the gym doors. I tried to steady my breathing before I embarrassed myself further by walking into the gym panting like a dog. I clearly need to start running more if Dimitri and I are going to continue running together.

"Everyday might be a bit of a stretch, but I try to run to the gym as often as possible. Makes me feel less lazy, like I could be doing something else with that time than just driving." Dimitri gave a bit of a shrug and refused to look me in the eyes directly, like he was expecting me to look at him like I was crazy.

"No, I understand that. Sometimes I feel like I was meant to do something else other than be a veterinarian. But I don't know what. Sometimes, I imagine it has something to do with fighting since I love boxing but days like today make me realize why I don't do that shit." I tried my best to explain that feeling like something might be missing from my life. Dimitri gave a slight laugh as he led me over to a bench in front of the gym. Clearly he wasn't in a hurry to head inside, and honestly I was still feeling out of breath from our 'little' run. I was more than happy to sit down with him.

"Exactly. I lost my best friend when I was fresh into college, a completely random accident while I was visiting family in Baia and he was driving home from some party. I always wondered what it would have been like if I was there. As if I could have somehow saved him from a car crash." My entire body froze when he mentioned that his friend died in a car crash. While I have told Dimitri a lot of very personal things about myself, the crash that I almost died in hasn't been something I've tried to talk about yet as almost every time someone mentions any kind of car crash my mind throws into a blind panic. I could feel my chest tighten as my thoughts started to race out of my control.

Could it have somehow been the same crash? That would be too much of a coincidence, right? He did say college, and Dimitri did make most of his friends in Russia? Baia, right, that's what he just said? And he died? How did he just happen to know so many people who were involved in car accidents? Yet I survived and his best friend didn't? Did he die on the way to the hospital like Lissa's mother did, or from the impact like Andre did? Or did he hold out for a few weeks just to never wake up from the coma and make your daughter, your last living relative, have to make the impossible decision to keep you alive or pull the plug?

"Rose?" Dimitris' voice was so gentle as he placed his hand on my arm. He spoke as if this wasn't the first time he had called my name. I must have been freaking him out because when I looked into his brown eyes, I felt my breathing hitch for a moment.

"Breathe, Roza." Was I not breathing? Oh shit I needed to start breathing. I watched Dimitri's chest as he started to take slow, deep breaths and I followed along with him. After several minutes, I finally got my breathing under control. I pried my eyes from his chest back up to his eyes, feeling absolutely embarrassed for losing my shit the way I did. But Dimitri just looked so concerned for me. I waved him off, giving him a tired laugh at his concern.

"It was just a panic attack, it happens."

"Do you get them often?" His voice was dripping with concern for me, I needed it to stop. I couldn't handle him feeling sorry for me. Not right now.

"Only when people bring up anything to do with deaths related to car crashes." I gave a simple shrug but I could see the wheels turning in his head. His eyes went wide as he realized he was the reason for the outburst but I cut him off before he could completely open his mouth to apologize. "It's fine, Dimitri. There was no way you could have known."

"Did something happen?" I couldn't help the snort that came out of my nose as the tears finally started to fall down my face. I looked around to see if anyone was watching this weird interaction we were having before I nodded my head. I ran the back of my hand under my eyes to try and hide the tears but he had clearly already seen them.

"Yeah something happened. And I'll do my best to answer the questions I know you have, but not here." I waved my arm around us to show how very in public we were. "It may be balls early in the morning, Comrade. But I don't usually like crying in front of strangers." The corners of Dimitri's lips lifted a little as he got to his feet, holding out a hand to me to help get me up off the very easy to stand from, bench.

"Breakfast?" He asked, holding onto my hand and not letting go as we started the walk back to my place.

"Breakfast."

--

Dimitri picked a simple hole in the wall diner, though he continuously kept looking over at me during the walk over. I was unsure if it was because I was clearly still tearing up a bit or if it was something else but he almost seemed nervous. Once the waitress sat us at the table, I couldn't take his cautious energy anymore.

"Stop fidgeting, comrade, I'm not going to break down again." I pulled the menu up to try to hide a bit of my frustration, but I could still see the shocked look on Dimitri's face from over the top of my temporary shield. It seemed to snap him out of it for the moment, but he didn't truly relax until we had both ordered our insane amount of food. By then, Dimitri had a small smile on his face. Weirdo.

Once the menus were taken away and I had nothing else to hide behind, I started to fidget myself. This just seemed to make Dimitri chuckle.

"You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to, Roza. I am fine just having breakfast together." Immediately, I felt my body relax. That was such a sweet reaction that I felt my heart melt a little bit, until I remembered why exactly we even had to leave the gym to sit and talk. I waved a hand in front of my face in dismissal.

"No, no. It's fine. Ask your questions." I didn't want to have to tell the entire story from start to finish. Somehow it was so much easier to just answer questions. Like I can distance myself from what happened by just stating facts.

"Who were the people involved in the car accident?"

"Lissa, myself, her immediate family."

"Obviously, you and Lissa are okay. What about the rest of her family?" Leave it to Dimitri to worry about the people in the car. Not what happened, or who was at fault, but is everyone okay?

"Dead." I say matter of fact. This seemed to catch Dimitri off guard as his mouth just opened in shock before he started reaching across the table for my hand. Even more shocking was that I let him. With him holding onto my hand, he starts using his thumb to brush the back of my hand. It helps. Like it's grounding me to the here and now.

"I am so sorry, Roza. You were in the car?" I could only nod my head at that one, my eyes laser focused on where our hands touched. "Are you okay?" I finally met his eyes, so full of warmth and what almost seemed like fear. What could he be scared of right now? Another breakdown?

"I am fine, Dimitri." He didn't seem completely convinced but he did finally drop it, though he continued holding onto my hand. He didn't ask many questions after that, but finally let go when our food arrived and he was forced to use both hands to eat.

"Last question." Dimitri's voice caught me slightly by surprise. I had just shoved a giant mouth full of waffles into my mouth and was working on cutting another large bite when he spoke. I quickly worked through the bite in my mouth while nodding. "Is this why you are so attached to Lissa? You watched her as she watched her entire family die?"

I was silent for a long time, our eyes locked on each other. I wasn't completely sure how to answer this question. "That is part of it, yes. But another part is that I owe her my life. If it wasn't for Lissa, I would have died in that car accident as well." When he opened his mouth to clearly ask another question I just shook my head. "I think I am done talking about this for today." Always the gentleman, Dimitri just nodded and went back to his food.