The smell of bacon filled the house just as Dimitri was stirring in bed, making his stomach instantly rumble. With a smile, he turned on his side and reached out to cuddle into the woman lying next to him, only to find that she wasn't there.

'Of course', he thought.

If he smelled food, there must be someone cooking it. It wasn't until he realised that it had to be Rose cooking, that he suddenly sprang from the bed, bolting from the room, any hint of tiredness now replaced with fear.

Rose cooking was never a good idea.

He reached the kitchen in record time, expecting to find disarray, chaos, maybe even a small fire. Instead, he found Rose dancing at the stove, wearing nothing but one of Dimitri's t-shirts as she fried the bacon ready for their breakfast.

Rose hadn't realised he was standing in the doorway, and so Dimitri allowed himself a moment to watch her, taking in her beauty as she sang quietly along to the music blasting from the speaker.

How could Dimitri be so lucky to call such an angel his?

Chuckling to himself, he entered the kitchen and walked up behind Rose, turning the music down slightly as he walked past to a more acceptable volume.

"You know we have neighbours, right?" He teased, snaking his arms around her waist.

"I'm sure they appreciate my excellent taste in music then," she retorted, shaking the pan gently so the bacon wouldn't stick.

Smiling, Dimitri gently pulled her hair away from her neck, before leaving soft kisses along her now exposed skin.

"I was going to bring you breakfast in bed, you know," Rose told him, slightly disappointed that he woke before she could surprise him.

"I smelled bacon and I was concerned that my kitchen would be on fire," he teased.

Rose elbowed him playfully in the stomach as he stood behind her, his arms still around her waist.

"Hey!" She exclaimed. "I can handle cooking bacon."

"Roza," Dimitri grinned, "you burned the boiled eggs you made the other day. I didn't even know that was possible."

"Because I'm just that incredible, Comrade. You should know that by now."

Dimitri simply chuckled, planting one last kiss on her jaw before making the both of them tea. Rose finished cooking the bacon pieces before enveloping them in bread and butter to make sandwiches.

"I think we should tell your family today," Rose said as they sat at the kitchen counter, before taking a bite of her food.

She looked fondly down at the new item on her finger – a breath-takingly gorgeous engagement ring that matched her bracelet perfectly. Rose couldn't believe her eyes when Dimitri had dropped to one knee the day before – he couldn't have picked a better ring if he tried. But to tell the truth, she would have accepted a proposal from Dimitri regardless, even if he had proposed with a ring pop.

"Knowing Babushka, they probably already know," he joked, referring to his Grandmother's unnerving ability to predict things before they happened.

"That's true," she giggled. "Still, we haven't been over there in a while. I'd like to see them."

Just as Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, Rose faded from in front of him and the scene dissolved into a new location. He was standing at the front of a church, Ivan to his side, the both of them wearing formal shirts, ties and jackets with a little boutonniere.

Looking around, he saw his Mama, Babushka, his sisters and nieces and nephew sat together in the pews. The rest of the church was filled with guests, some that he recognised, some that he didn't. He noted a familiar man with dark black hair and ice blue eyes, sitting at the end of one of the pews, bouncing a giggling, golden haired little girl on his lap. Dimitri recognised him as Vasilisa's husband – the girl must be their daughter.

"Hey man, you don't need to look so nervous," Ivan teased, elbowing him playfully. "She's not going to change her mind."

"I know, I know," Dimitri sighed. "I guess I just can't quite believe that the day is actually here. That someone as amazing as Rose has agreed to marry me."

"Ugh, don't get soppy on me now bro," he groaned, pretending to grimace. Truthfully, no one was happier for Dimitri than Ivan. To see his best friend so in love, so content after years of denying himself true happiness, made Ivan incredibly proud. He was especially proud to act as his best man as he married the love of his life.

The music echoing off the old church walls suddenly changed, causing the guests to halt their conversations and turn their attention to the back of the church, standing. Dimitri did the same, turning to see Vasilisa walking up the aisle in a dusty pink bridesmaid dress. Vasilisa was quickly forgotten in Dimitri's eyes though, as just behind her was the most beautiful woman he'd ever had the privilege of seeing.

His Roza.

She was utterly breath-taking, floating towards Dimitri with the biggest smile on her face, wearing a gorgeous white dress that looked as though it had been designed specifically for her it suited her so well!

Dimitri couldn't believe his luck – this was the moment he had been waiting for his whole life. To marry the woman who made him feel as though he was seeing the sun for the first time.

Just as she reached him, however, she faded away again – as did the world around him. This time, he found himself standing outside the door to his house. Their house.

Only he didn't have the same joyful, content feelings he felt before. Instead, he felt anxious, nauseous – he knew in his gut something was wrong. His chest felt as though it was about to implode, it was so tight!

With shaking hands, he turned the key in the lock, opening the door quietly before tiptoeing inside. All the lights were off, and it was eerily quiet in the house. It appeared as though no one was home.

Dimitri knew, though.

He knew.

His breath trembled as he ascended the stairs, careful to walk slowly and silently, actively avoiding the one step he knew would creak and make his presence known. If his suspicions were correct, she wouldn't expect him back so soon.

His heart sank further into his stomach when he reached the landing, the familiar sound of Rose's moans and whimpers hitting him like a tonne of bricks.

A rage burned within him, and he violently burst through the bedroom door, quite clearly catching his wife and her dirty secret off guard.

Betrayed. Again.

"How could you do this to me, Roza?"

Dimitri startled, his chest heaving with heavy breaths, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

What the fuck was that?

Images of Rose, limbs intertwined with another man lingered in his mind. He felt sick.

It hadn't been the first time he dreamt of Rose and a possible future together – although with the other times he'd forced himself to ignore it, to repress them until he had forgotten. A life like that was never on the cards for him, so he always tried his best not to think of it – even though his subconscious seemed to have other ideas.

It was the first time he'd dreamt of that, specifically, however. The first time he'd imagined her betraying him, breaking his heart like that.

With a sigh, he shook the thought from his head. It wasn't real. It couldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it to happen.

Ever.

Scolding hot water fell heavily on Dimitri's back as he showered for the day, desperately trying not to replay the events of his dream as he did so. However, thoughts of his dream could only be replaced with a recap of his interaction with Rose the night before. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried not to think of her, she was always there, right in the forefront of his mind.

He hated how they had left things last night – he'd never seen her so angry before. She was hurting, clearly. And it was all because of him.

Stop it, Dimitri, he thought. There was no use dwelling on what had already happened. They could fix it, right? They could come to some sort of compromise, one that suited them both. Rose would be happy. He would be happy...

Until she breaks your heart.

Fuck! Why did his mind always have to go there?

Mentally chastising himself, Dimitri shut the water off before stepping out the shower and drying himself off, tousling his hair with the towel so it wasn't dripping down his back. He quickly got dressed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a simple white t-shirt, and then headed out into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Just as it brewed, he heard a light knock at the front door, and Dimitri instinctively knew, hoped, who would be standing behind it. Forgetting the coffee entirely, he sauntered to the door, his suspicions realized once he saw Rose standing there in font of him.

Even early on a Saturday morning, no doubt with a slight hangover, she still looked flawless.

"Hey," she greeted him, briefly looking up into his eyes before quickly looking away. Either she was too angry to look at him properly, or she was worrying about something. Worrying about how this interaction was going to go, perhaps?

"Hi."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said with a small smile, stepping aside to let her into his apartment.

As Rose walked past him, she was enveloped in his scent – the smell that could only be 'Dimitri' – and it made her heart skip a beat. Just his scent alone made her giddy. How could one man be that attractive? Be that perfect? Only – he wasn't perfect. Otherwise she wouldn't be needing to have the conversation she was about to have with him.

She needed to remember that was the reason she was there.

"I thought maybe we should talk," she explained, steadying her breathing.

"That's probably a good idea," he agreed, his accent thick as it always was first thing in the morning. It only added to Rose's internal battle with herself.

Gesturing to the sofa, Dimitri followed behind Rose before taking the seat next to her, the tension in the air thick, palpable. He could tell she had a lot to say to him.

"I don't think I can do this anymore, Dimitri," she blurted, after neither one of them had said anything to start the discussion. "I can't – I don't want this. And I don't think you do either."

Dimitri frowned, taken aback. She really wasn't hanging around, diving straight into the matter at hand.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"I know you, and I know you have feelings for me. Real feelings," Rose explained, her eyes piercing into his, full of emotion and urging him to open up to her. "But I think you're scared to admit it."

Dimitri opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure what to say.

"I need something real, Dimitri. I want this to be something real. Not just sex on tap."

He sighed, his shoulders dropping and head falling forward into his hands.

"I told you Roza, that's not what I do. I can't love you, or anyone."

Rose reached out to him, resting a comforting hand on his knee.

"I know that's what you think, but it's not true. We can do this," she assured him. "We're practically a normal couple as it is."

A normal couple.

At her words, his dream from the early hours of the morning crept into his mind, images of the two of them together doing 'normal' everyday things like cooking breakfast. Images of significant moments in their lives – getting engaged, married...

Was it so hard to believe that it could possibly work for them?

Suddenly the nauseating feeling of betrayal reared its ugly head as he thought about Tasha. He had wanted those same things with her. A normal life. And she hurt him, just as Rose had done in his dream. Did it mean that she would do the same? He couldn't, just couldn't be hurt like that again. It had almost killed him the first time. He had a feeling deep down that experiencing disloyalty from Rose would be even worse.

Grimacing, Dimitri closed his eyes and his shoulders dropped, as if something heavy was weighing on him. Meeting her gaze, Rose could see that he was thinking, calculating. What was going on in his mind?

What felt like hours later, he shook his head slowly.

"You should leave."

"What?" Rose questioned, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "I'm not going anywhere until we talk about this. You can't hide your feelings from me anymore Dimitri."

She reached out toward him, her palm smoothing back his tousled hair, feeling the familiar bolt of electricity as they touched. With a sharp intake of breath, Dimitri jerked away. He quickly stood from the sofa to create distance between them.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Rose."

Rose could only stare at him with wide eyes, her lips fallen apart in bewilderment.

"You're not even going to try?" she stated in a small voice, her head swimming with confusion and dread; the atmosphere around them had changed, and it was making her feel nauseous.

"It's not you," he explained, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't expecting to have this conversation today. Rose clearly had other ideas… But he couldn't, just couldn't, subject Rose to a real relationship with him. She needed to leave, before either one of them got hurt.

"Oh please Dimitri, don't give me that," Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Not the 'it's not you it's me' bullshit."

They were going around in circles and Rose could feel herself getting more frustrated by the second. With an inward groan, she stood from the sofa and planted her hands on her hips, throwing him a look of daggers as she did so.

"This is over, Rose."

Rose simply looked at him in bewilderment, sensing that he wasn't telling her everything. As if he could read her mind, Dimitri groaned and ran a hand through his hair in frustration for what felt like the hundredth time, contemplating his next move.

It's a wonder he isn't bald, Rose thought.

"Fine. You want the truth?" Dimitri questioned, urging her to understand. "You don't mean anything to me. At all."

Pain shot through her heart at his words. It was almost as though she could feel it shatter into a million little pieces. Dimitri clenched his jaw tightly before looking away, unable to look at her anymore. This was hard enough as it is.

"When you first came to my studio, I thought I'd see if I could get an easy lay," he continued. "You looked easy enough."

Rose could feel tingling sensation of tears gathering behind her eyes. How could he say that to her? He had to be making it all up, surely! Rose felt so certain that there had been a connection between them. And now she just felt... used.

"You're lying," she shot back, shaking her head.

Dimitri shrugged, unsure of what else to say. Rose simply gaped at him - she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You're such a fucking liar! I can't believe you!" She all but screamed at him, her anger coming to a boil. "You were the one that started this. You pushed me until I agreed to it all. You opened up to me. You brought me to meet your family. You –"

"It was a game. You don't-" Dimitri began, hesitating just a fraction of a second. "You don't mean anything to me."

Rose felt her stomach twist into knots.

"Tell me the truth, Dimitri," she pleaded, a look of longing in her dark eyes.

Dimitri looked away, his jaw hard.

"A truth doesn't become a lie just because it's not what you want to hear."

Rose scoffed.

"I heard the hesitation, Dimitri. This is such bullshit!"

"Just leave, Rose," he urged.

"No."

Dimitri walked towards the door of the apartment, hoping she would follow.

She did.

Just leave Rose, please. I can't hurt you any more than I already have, he thought inwardly.

"I'll see you around, Rose," he stated emotionlessly, his stoic face showing no evidence of what he was feeling.

Rose saw red.

"I hope you realise just how much of a dick you're being right now. How much you're hurting me."

Rose knew everything he was saying wasn't the truth. She knew him well enough to know that he was lying to her – to himself. He was doing the exact thing Ivan had unintentionally warned her about - acting like a dick to keep his feelings and other people at bay. He was making it all up in the hopes that she would hate him and leave. Ending things before they'd even had a chance to begin. Hurting her now, so that he couldn't hurt her later. So that she couldn't hurt him.

At her words, Dimitri's face dropped, a look of hurt rising behind his eyes. With a groan, he buried his fingers into his hair and covered his face. He urged her to understand.

"Please, Roza, I'm the problem, not you."

Her emotions getting the better of her, the tears started to fall fast, and the man before her quickly became blurred in her vision.

"I've fallen in love with you, Dimitri." Rose stated, pain clear in her tone.

When Dimitri spoke, his voice was laced in agony.

"I warned you when this started Rose. You can't love me," Dimitri stated with a sigh, instinctively reaching out to her, wanting – needing – to wipe away her tears.

With stubbornness, she stepped away from him, folding her arms across her chest in defence. As she did, she felt the delicate chain of her bracelet brush against her wrist. The gorgeous bracelet that Dimitri had given her the week before, that once gave her a glimmer of hope. It almost felt like poison ivy to her now.

"Was the bracelet just another way to get into my pants?" she snarled at him.

Rose snatched it off her wrist, the chain breaking and scraping against her skin. Angry, she threw it at Dimitri's face. With his quick reflexes, he managed to catch it before it could hit him.

"Keep it," he urged.

"No. I don't need something that brands me as your possession."

"That's not what it was," Dimitri retorted, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at her dramatics.

Rose scoffed.

"It pretty much showed that I was yours Dimitri! That I belonged to you." She yelled, tears spilling down her cheeks. She was far too angry, too hurt, to care though.

Dimitri held the bracelet tightly as Rose pushed past him to leave. As she turned her back to him, Dimitri grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Don't fucking touch me," she shouted. How dare he touch her after everything he had just said to her!

"I'm sorry, Roza."

A laugh escaped Rose's lips – she couldn't quite believe what was happening. First he begs her to leave and then stops her from doing that exact thing?

"You want me to leave, so let me."

"Take the bracelet," he pleaded.

"Why?"

"Because," he started with a sigh. "I've never bought anything for a girl before, not since Tasha. But this has to be over. It needs to be."

Taking her hand, Dimitri gently passed her the bracelet, his fingers lingering for just a second. Without hesitation, Rose threw it away from her as though it burned her, and it fell quickly to the floor.

"ебать!" Dimitri exclaimed, his anger getting the better of him as he closed the gap between them. Now he was practically standing on top of her.

Dimitri closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, angry at himself. Why did he have to let her push his buttons the way she did? Why did she had to be so God-damn irresistible? Why did she have to make him care for her?

"You don't deserve me, Dimitri," Rose stated. It was the exact thing he had told her before – that he didn't deserve to be with her.

"I know," he sighed. "I didn't deserve you in the first place."

His breath came out heavy and hot, just inches from her face. Their eyes burned into each other, the heat rising intensely between them. Rose tilted her head up, not backing down, almost daring him. Unable to hold back, his mouth crashed into hers, and Rose leaned into his ferocious kiss.

After a moment, Dimitri groaned and pulled away.

"I can't do this, Roza."

Even so, within seconds, their lips danced together again, a feeling of longing lingering between them. A sound of frustration escaped him, as he walked her backwards against the door, pinning her wrists over her head and leaving her neck open for him to explore the skin on her neck.

"Make up your mind, Dimitri," Rose urged.

She groaned as Dimitri attacked her with his kisses, a whimper escaping her lips as his teeth grazed the skin on her shoulder. Waves of pleasure coursed through her body, igniting at his touch.

You don't mean anything to me…

An easy lay...

As Dimitri explored her skin, his words from before echoed in Rose's mind.

She suddenly felt sick.

"No. You're right," she stated, twisting her wrists out of his grasp and pushing him away. "We can't do this, Dimitri. I know you're lying to yourself about how you really feel, but even so – you can't take back everything you said."

"Roza –"

"No," she stated, reaching for the door. "Maybe someday we can be friends, just friends, but for now I just need to be away from you."

She opened the door, looking at him one last time before she walked away.

"I'll see you around, Comrade."

Imagine if I just said 'The End' and left it there... I'm sure I'd get some very angry reviews haha!

I assure you, there is much more to come.

I can't promise to update as frequently as I have been, however. The next few weeks are going to be super busy for me I'm afraid - but I promise to be writing when I can.

As always, thank you for your reviews and feedback! I love hearing from all of you! Be sure to keep them coming, and I hope that you'll be patient with me while I work on the next few chapters!

:)