Here's another easter egg for you guys. Mama Roza & Daddy Dimitri finally makes a real appearance! :D

Ice-Cream Parlour

Sophia's P.O.V.

Summer before the start of Senior Year - 17 years old

I plopped three cups of soft-serve ice cream down on the table. I passed Mom the chocolate one topped with various candy, Dad a plain chocolate one and for me, a cookies and cream one.

We sat in a booth in the ice cream parlour at Court. This place was quickly becoming a hot spot with the various ice cream flavours and toppings to choose from. It was the middle of summer, so naturally kids and their parents flooded the shop.

A few guardians that worked with my parents stopped by to say a quick hello which my parents politely returned their greetings. Some of them had running inside jokes with my parents which they shared.

Mom was the first to finish her ice cream. It came to no surprise to my father and I, especially when she asked me to grab her seconds. I rolled my eyes and playfully called her a child. She laughed and poked her tongue out at me.

The line was even longer now and the kids were taking forever choosing their flavours and toppings. I glanced over my shoulder at my parents; they were talking to another couple and their kid. I vaguely recognised the couple but was pretty sure the kid was Sacha's age, I remember seeing him around school.

"Oh my gosh, are you Sophia Belikov?" I turned around slowly to see whose voice that belonged to. It was a male voice, one I was familiar with but he had put on a high voice. I bit back a laugh as I met the devilish smile of Damon Petrov.

I shook my head at him. "What's with the voice?"

He grinned. "I noticed half this shop approaching your parents every two seconds. Thought I'd be the first to gush over you instead."

I snorted.

"Nah, I spotted you when I walked in. Thought I'd ask if you're free later on?" he asked.

I glanced up at him in surprise. This was the fourth time I had seen him. The third time we ran into each other, he was finishing his shift and I was walking around Court. We ended up hanging out with each other for four hours. This was the first time he intentionally made plans to hang out. I didn't think he was at all interested me in that way and we actually got along pretty well. Honestly, he could be a good friend and I could really do with one of those these days.

"Yeah, I'm free. What time should we meet?" I agreed.

"Six? I get off at five, just on my break now," he said.

"Six sounds good," I replied. I leaned in closer to him and lowered my voice. "Meet me at the orange tree by the edge of the woods."

Our last hangout had been secluded and not in public, I figured I'd go down the same route this time too.

"No problem," he said. We stepped forward as the line proceeded. We were next to get our ice cream. I loaded this one up with candy and chocolate ice cream again. Damon glanced between me and the ice cream pointedly.

"It's for my Mom," I explained.

He nodded. "Makes sense then."

I couldn't help but laugh. My mother really had a sweet-tooth reputation. Damon filled his cup up with pistachio flavoured ice cream.

I regarded his cup skeptically. "Is that even good?"

He eyed me in disbelief. He picked up his little ice cream spoon and held it out to me. "Try it."

I took his spoon and scooped up a decent amount. My eyes widened once the flavour hit my tastebuds. "Wow, that is good! Why have I never tried that before?"

"Told ya," he smiled. He glanced at his watch and sighed. "Gotta go, beautiful. See you later." He squeezed my shoulder and made a beeline for the door. I tried to conceal my blushing with my hair as I returned to my table. Calling me beautiful didn't mean he was interested in me, I decided. It was just a compliment.

"Here you go." I slid the cup to my mother, not meeting her eyes, afraid she would catch me blushing. When she didn't take it straight away I looked up at her.

"What's wrong? Do you need more candy?" Dad smiled a little at that. I started to move out of the booth when she grabbed my forearm and yanked me back down.

"Ow! What the—"

She fixed me with a hard glare. "What I need is some answers." I rose an eyebrow to annoy her. She always hated the fact that I mastered the technique like Dad, while twenty years later, she still couldn't. "Why the hell were you talking to Damon Petrov?"

"Huh? Oh, we're just friends." Was she seriously angry with me for talking to him?

"Damon Petrov doesn't have women for friends unless he's sleeping with them," my Mom snapped.

I cast her a wary look. "Calm down, Mama. I'm not interested in him…or anyone for that matter, so don't worry."

"I don't care. He's not a good guy to be around. I've heard all sorts of stories and seen all kinds of things involving him. And I'm telling you right now: I don't want to see you associating with him ever again," she said sternly.

My anger spiked. "If you don't want to see, then don't look," the smart retort left my lips before I could stop it. It wasn't often that I talked back to my Mom but I was becoming pissed off. She's never forbidden me to see any one ever.

"Mila!" Dad scolded.

"Sorry. Look, I understand why you're telling me this but trust me, there's nothing going on. There's not going to be anything that goes on," I reassured them. "So, can you please let it go?"

My parents remained silent for some time, annoyingly communicating with each other without words. Dad scrutinised me intently.

"How do you even know him?" he asked. He surprised me with that line of questioning.

"We met in a cafe, here at Court. We literally bumped into each other," I answered.

"Yeah, well, just don't let him bump into your pants," muttered Mom.

"Mom!"

"Rose!"

I dropped my head into my hands in embarrassment. "Are we seriously still discussing this?"

"No, we're done. We believe you Milana, if you say nothing is happening then nothing is happening," said Dad.

"But no more hanging out with him," added Mom.

"What? Why not? You let me hang out with Chad and MJ!" I exclaimed.

"You've known Chad and MJ since you were five! And those boys are good to you. I don't think Damon is," replied Mom.

I appealed to my father. "Dad?"

Dad's eyes flicked between my mother and me, obviously deciding which side to take. I knew as my father he wouldn't want me around any boys—especially a 'player' like Damon, or so I've been told. But he also knew I wasn't a kid anymore that needed to be told what to do.

"It's your decision; you heard what your mother said—"

"Dimitri!" Mom's chastising didn't didn't faze him. He kept on talking like she hadn't interrupted. "But know this, Mila: all sorts of rumours spark with Damon Petrov. We don't want you caught up in that or his games."

"Okay Dad. Trust me, I won't."

ooooh, so Romitri ain't fans of Damon either!

this was one of my personal faves so I hope you loved it too!

Thanks for reading, once again :)

Big love to y'all.