"And then he just said 'fine' and walked out," Rose explained as she sprawled out on the bed at Lissa's house, finishing her long-winded recount of what had occurred between her and Dimitri just a mere twenty minutes beforehand.

"Wow."

"Yep."

Not two minutes after Dimitri had stormed out, Rose quickly grabbed her car keys and made her way to her best friend's house, in desperate need of a rant.

"So, what happens now?" Lissa asked, tidying away the last of her clothes. With Yoga being cancelled, and Christian hanging out with Eddie as he always did on a Friday while Lissa was out, she decided to have a wild night of catching up on the housework! Rose had burst through the door just as she started folding the laundry.

"I don't know," Rose groaned, throwing her arms over her face in despair.

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know."

"Do you at least have feelings for him?" Lissa questioned, moving to sit next to her best friend on the bed.

Rose frowned, thinking. If she didn't have feelings for him, why was she getting so worked up over him? Why did he get under her skin so much? Why did the thought of not being with him make her want to be sick?

"I think so."

"But he doesn't have feelings for you?"

"I don't know, Liss. Sometimes I think he does but just doesn't want to admit it."

Lissa scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Typical."

"Huh?"

"It's just such a typical thing to do – avoiding something good just because he might get hurt," she grumbled. Lissa felt for Rose – after all, she hadn't exactly had a lot of luck in the romance department. What with breaking up with Mason, and now being with the most confusing man to have ever existed. Lissa couldn't help but feel slightly responsible, having pushed her to try this casual thing with Dimitri.

"This is all your fault you know," Rose accused, a smile on her face to show that she wasn't being completely serious.

"What is?"

"You told me to sleep with him so I would get over Mason, and now I'm in a whole other mess," she explained, sitting up.

"Well, are you? Over Mason?"

"Yes."

There was no hesitation in her answer. She was irrevocably over that relationship. And probably any other relationship in the future now she had a taste of Dimitri!

Lissa simply looked at her pointedly, as though she had made her point.

Rose chuckled, until a new wave of sadness overcame her, and she flopped back onto the bed with a groan. "Only now I might have to find a way get over Dimitri."

"You guys haven't broken up, Rose."

"There's nothing to break up in the first place, Liss," she mumbled dejectedly.

"Pfft," the blonde scoffed. If she knew Rose at all, she knew that she wasn't one to give up on what she wanted easily. If she wanted something, she got it. "Whatever you say. If you ask me, all is not lost."

"I just don't know where I stand with him anymore," she shrugged. "The rules are constantly changing, and I mean, we're exclusive, right? So doesn't that make it a relationship?"

Lissa frowned.

"Are you? Exclusive?"

"I think so, we never properly said. Only that when he's sleeping with someone, he's only sleeping with them."

"But what about you? How would Dimitri feel if you were to bring up seeing someone else? That would tell you how he really feels about you."

Rose scowled. How would Dimitri feel? Would he really care if she were to sleep with someone else? The whole point of keeping things casual between them was to prevent any heartache. If he wasn't attached to her, what would happen if she strayed? Rose scoffed inwardly at the thought – no one would want her anyway.

"Anyway, come on," Lissa suddenly exclaimed with a clap, standing from the bed and pulling Rose up with her. "We're going out."

"Are we?"

"Yes. You'll just mope around otherwise, and I'm not having that," she stated, her tone suggesting there was no room for argument. "We're going drinking, whether you like it or not."

It didn't take long for the girls to get ready to go, with Lissa lending Rose one of her dresses to borrow for the night. Of course, it was slightly too small for her, considering Lissa was more slender, whereas Rose had more curves, but somehow, she made it work. The material of the dress clung tightly to her skin, showing each sexy curve of her body. Oh yeah, Rose looked good, and she knew it. Satisfied with her appearance, Rose followed Lissa into the taxi they had called to take them to their usual club, chatting idly and giggling the whole way. It had been far too long since they had a girl's night, and Rose found herself growing more and more excited the closer they got to Pyramid. She couldn't wait to drink, relax, and hopefully forget her troubles – for a few hours at least.

Soon time was flying by just as quickly as the drinks were flowing, and the two girls were beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol as they danced, drank, and chatted.

After dancing for a while, the pair started to feel tired, and so chose to head over to a booth to take the weight off their feet. It had been a long time since Rose wore heels, and her toes were screaming at her already!

"Oh my god," Lissa suddenly exclaimed not long after they sat down, slurring slightly on her words. Something behind Rose had caught her attention.

"What?" Rose asked, turning to see what Lissa was looking at. Following her gaze, she couldn't see anything particularly interesting. Jeez, how drunk was Lissa really?

"Is that Jesse?" Lissa asked, pointing to a tall, muscular man with bright blonde curly hair that Rose would recognise anywhere. "Jesse Zeklos?"

Wow, she thought, Jesse Zeklos. Rose hadn't seen him since they'd graduated high school. In truth, she'd almost forgotten about him. Although looking over at him now, she couldn't see how she could have forgotten someone like him existed. Sure, he was no Dimitri, but in high school Jesse had been a real Casanova. He was hot, confident, and alluring – you didn't flirt with him simply for the sake of flirting. You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him.

And Rose had.

"Yeah, that's him," Rose said, shaking the memory out of her head and returning to the present.

"He's still sexy then."

Having been taking a sip of her drink, Rose almost spat it across the table in shock at the words that had just fallen from her best friend's lips. "Lissa!"

"What?" She giggled, turning her attention back to the brunette in front of her.

"You're drunk."

"Not too drunk to forget that I'm married. I'm just commenting, that's all."

Rose rolled her eyes – when Lissa started innocently ogling other men, that meant she needed to go home. One more drink and she'd be completely wasted.

"Didn't you two..."

Rose cut her off, fixing her with a glare. "We didn't have sex."

"No, but you almost did, right?"

Rose nodded, her mind returning to one particular incident at a party in their senior year of high school. She and Jesse were well known for their flirtatious banter. They were clearly into each other, but had never acted on it before the end of term party held at their friend Ralf's place. The pair had taken their flirting to the next level, and soon found themselves half naked in Ralf's parents' bed. Rose was pretty sure they would have gone all the way, had Ralf's parents not come home early, bursting in the room to find Jesse's head between her legs!

"Jeez, Rose, how much did she have to drink?" Christian chastised, as he pulled up outside the club to find his wife swinging on the arm of her best friend for support, clearly drunk and out of her mind. "It's literally nine pm."

Rose frowned at Lissa as she passed her over to her husband, who quickly buckled her into the passenger side of their car. Seriously, Liss? Nine pm? She thought.

"You should know your wife is a lightweight."

Christian simply sighed, both in amusement and slight frustration at his wife's antics. When Rose didn't move to get into the car, he frowned.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, it's okay," she shook her head. "It's still early after all," she added, looking pointedly at Lissa who was now slumped against the window.

The night was just starting – Rose wasn't ready to go home yet. Not to mention the fact that she hadn't nearly got drunk enough to stop thinking about a certain complicated, Russian man. She needed much more alcohol to get him off her mind!

Christian looked at her warily.

"I don't like the idea of leaving you on your own," he told her.

"See, I knew you liked me really," Rose laughed, to which Christian just rolled his eyes.

"It's not like Lissa would forgive me if anything happened to you," he explained. Of course, he would worry about Rose too, but she didn't need to know that.

"I'm a big girl Christian, I can look after myself. Besides, I can make friends easily. I'll find someone to hang out with."

Christian looked sceptical, but Lissa unexpectedly made a noise as though she was about to be sick, which brought his attention back to his wife. He looked painfully from Rose to his wife, back to Rose again, clearly torn about leaving her there on her own.

"Call me if you need me."

"Yes, Dad," Rose teased, rolling her eyes before heading back inside the club.

Taking a seat at the bar, she caught the bartender's attention and ordered another drink.

"Well, if it isn't Rose Hathaway."

A voice just behind her caught her attention, and Rose turned on her stool to see who it belonged to.

"Jesse."

With a wicked grin, he winked at her before taking the seat next to her. "You still breaking hearts?"

"Are you volunteering?"

"Maybe," he said, looking her up and down, blatantly undressing her with his eyes. If it had been anyone else, Rose probably would have been offended, but Jesse's confidence somehow made it work.

The pair chatted a while, catching up on their lives since high school, and soon the conversation had turned to more suggestive topics. When Jesse unexpectedly asked her whether she was seeing someone, Rose was at a loss at what to say.

"It's complicated," she told him. Ain't that the truth.

"So... No?"

Dimitri wore a face like thunder as he walked along the sidewalk beside Ivan, the pair making their way to Pyramid.

"I don't understand why we have to go out," he grumbled, annoyed at his friend for having forced him out of the apartment.

"Because, Dimitri, you'll sit around and sulk otherwise," Ivan teased, nudging him with his shoulder as they walked.

"I wasn't sulking."

A mighty laugh escaped Ivan's throat and he threw his head back, amused.

"Dimitri, you had a face like a slapped arse," he mocked. "I was half expecting to be interrupting you and Rose when I came round earlier, but instead I found you angrily reading on the sofa."

"How can you read angrily?"

"You were turning the pages very violently."

Dimitri grumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes, but Ivan didn't quite catch what he said.

"I don't even really understand what happened," Ivan said, clearly curious about what had gotten under his friend's skin.

"It doesn't matter."

Ivan's eyes lit up in understanding. "Translation: you were a dick."

"Fuck off."

"Ah, just as I thought," Ivan chuckled as they walked through the doors and into the club, having reached their destination.

The beat of music surrounded them, as well as the sound of idle chatter. It was extremely busy, with many people mingling and dancing, but one unmistakable person caught Dimitri's eye as he walked past the bar – he couldn't have missed her if he tried.

Rose.

It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

A heavy thump in his chest, Dimitri contemplated going over to her, to apologise for storming out, until he noticed she was with someone. A man he didn't recognise. With an internal indignation, he decided not to acknowledge her, following Ivan over to an empty booth instead. With her back to him, Rose hadn't noticed his presence in the club.

"Wasn't that Rose?" Ivan asked as they sat down, Dimitri positioning himself so he couldn't see the bar. If he couldn't see her, maybe he could forget she was there.

Dimitri grunted an affirmative.

"She's talking to another guy."

Ivan noticed a jealous flare flash behind Dimitri's eyes, but the man didn't say anything in acknowledgement of his observation.

"Don't you want to stop her?"

"She can do what she wants," Dimitri huffed. "I don't care."

Ivan scoffed at him.

"Tell that to your face. And your fists."

Looking down, Dimitri saw that his knuckles were white as his nails dug into the palms of his hands. He mentally chastised himself before flexing his fingers.

"Okay man, you have to tell me what happened. I'm not sitting here all night in silence while you come up with a hundred different ways to rip that guy's head off."

Knowing Ivan wasn't going to let it go, Dimitri sighed before explaining what had happened. He recounted his conversation with Rose, the way he reacted, and how he stormed out, driving straight back to his apartment as he tried to work out whether he was angry with himself or with Rose.

"But you do like her though," Ivan noted, a twinkle in his eye.

Dimitri simply flipped him off, choosing not to engage in another rendition of "do something good for yourself for a change", which had become a classic topic of conversation for Ivan.

Just as he opened his mouth to chastise him, something behind Dimitri caught Ivan's attention.

"Uh, Dimitri?" He said, prompting his friend to turn around. Ivan gestured towards the bar, where Rose was clearly leaning towards the man she was with, pulling him towards her and crashing their lips together.

Things had quickly become heated between Rose and her old flame Jesse, and not long after they first started kissing did Jesse pull Rose from her seat at the bar, to a more secluded area of the club just near the toilets.

The same place Dimitri kissed Rose for the first time, she couldn't help but remember.

Now alone, Jesse resumed kissing her eagerly, intensely, fiercely, pushing her back against the wall of the club. His lips travelled down her jaw to her neck, before tracing her skin back up to her mouth. He wasn't as good of a kisser as Dimitri was, but it would do.

Dimitri.

Even now she thought of him.

Should she really be doing this? Was she even allowed to be doing this? Getting hot and heavy with another man, when she was already involved in an arrangement with someone else? Albeit a confusing one. Did she even want to be doing this in the first place?

Everything inside of her suddenly screamed at her to stop.

She didn't want this.

She wanted Dimitri.

Her Dimitri.

"Wait, Jesse –" she uttered, pulling back from his eager kiss and pushing him away from her. "Stop."

"You don't mean that Rose," he told her, grabbing her by the hips and holding her in place as he returned his lips to her neck.

"No Jesse, we need to stop. I shouldn't be doing this," she urged again, pushing him harder. Still, he was relentless.

"Why not? You said yourself that you're not with anyone."

"No, I said it was complicated."

Jesse laughed quietly, his fingers digging in harshly, holding her in place against the wall.

"You kissed me, Rose."

"Yes, but –"

"Exactly," he interrupted. "You want me."

"Jesse, stop," she insisted, angrily.

Jesse ignored her, his hands trailing up her bare thigh, disappearing under her dress.

"Jesse –"

Without warning, Jesse was ripped away from her and Rose heard the distinct sound of someone being punched in the face before she could even register what was happening.

"What the fuck?" Jesse exclaimed, clutching his nose in pain.

Disoriented, Rose looked to see what had happened, and found Dimitri, raging like a storm, glaring furiously at a now bleeding Jesse. Rose could tell that Jesse wanted to respond to the punch, to deal him a blow just as hard, but judging by the way Dimitri looked like he wanted to murder him, Jesse had swiftly changed his mind.

"I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can," Dimitri barked, his sheer anger clear in his tone of voice and a deadly look in his eyes. "Before a punch in the face is the least of your worries."

"She told me she was single, man," Jesse excused, throwing his hands in the air innocently. "I didn't know she was yours."

"I heard her tell you to stop. More than once," he stated, his fists still balled at his sides. "Sexual assault is a second-degree felony in Pennsylvania."

"Hey man, she came onto me."

"That doesn't matter," he snarled. "If a woman says stop, you stop."

"But –"

A growl escaped Dimitri's throat and his eyes darkened even further than they already were. Clearly frightened, Jesse scuttled away, leaving his attacker and Rose alone. Dimitri turned to look at Rose, a ferocious look in his eyes. She thought that he might say something to her, but instead he turned and walked away.

"Dimitri, wait!" She called after him, following him as he marched straight out of the club and began walking down the street. Rose had to almost run to catch up with him.

"Hey!" She yelled, grabbing him by the elbow to stop him from walking any further.

He turned on her, looking both hurt and angry at the same time.

"What the fuck, Rose?"

"What?"

"I thought you were with Lissa," he told her.

"I was."

"Oh really?" He laughed, his disdain clear. "She looks very different from the last time I saw her."

"Dimitri, I was with Liss. Christian picked her up."

"You told me you were going to see Lissa, and then I find you alone at a club," Dimitri stated, running a hand through his loose locks, frowning at the pavement below his feet. "What if something happened to you, Rose? Fuck, something probably would have happened if I hadn't stopped it."

Rose frowned at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I could have handled it."

"I've no doubt about that," he told her. "What also bothers me is that I clearly saw you initiate the whole thing."

"So?"

"So? The fuck Rose?"

Rose saw red.

"Hey, you have no right to be mad at me for kissing someone else!" She shouted at him, not caring that they were arguing in the middle of the sidewalk. "You have no right to be jealous of other guys when we're not in a 'real' relationship."

"I'm not jealous."

"Oh really?" She scoffed. "If it weren't for the fact that he carried on when I told him to stop, would you still have stormed over the way you did if you weren't jealous? And come to think of it, if you're not jealous then why do you look practically constipated whenever I mention Adrian's name, or any other guy I'm friends with?"

Dimitri opened his mouth to retort, but Rose interrupted him, the tears now flowing freely down her face.

"You need to make up your fucking mind Dimitri," she told him. "Because I'm not just going to wait around until you decide you want me."

Oh hey Jesse, nice to see you here!

Well that was intense.

Thank you so much for all your comments - I can see so many of you are keen for Dimitri to see that he's being an idiot. Time will tell.

Keep your reviews coming, I appreciate all of you lovely people so much!