Author's Notes:

Don't hate me because Rose isn't in this chapter; she will be back next chapter

-=o0/&\0o=-

The rest of the night with Roza passed uneventfully, but she did spend a lot of it in my arms.

When I got home, Randall had many more chores for me. He had taken to giving me extra work as almost another form of abuse after I got too large to hit without fighting back. I wouldn't sink down to his level, though, so I just did the work and did my best at it. By the time all my chores were done, Roza's light was already off, although I could tell her curtains were closed.

Sunday morning, I had to attend church. St. Vladimir's was a religious school connected to a church and every student was required to attend church services on Sundays. Despite the fact that I lived with Randall on weekends, he never attended church with me. In fact, my sisters, Mama, and Babushka would attend, sometimes even sitting with me.

When I got to the sanctuary, my family wasn't there yet. I found the spot where Ivan was sitting and joined him, sitting in the same pew. The service hadn't started yet, but it was due to start any minute.

"Dimitri!" he whisper-hissed, "How did your dates with Rose go this weekend? Did the book work? What about Twister? Did you end up telling her how old you are?"

"One question at a time. And not during church," I told him as Viktoria came and sat on my other side. A few seconds later, the priest came and began to recite the opening prayer.

I bowed my head and tried to ignore him as we prayed, but Ivan continued, hissing out a whispered, "C'mon, man, don't hold out on me!" then Ivan leaned forward and added to Vika, who he always had a crush on, "Hi Vika, you look lovely today!"

"Dude!" I hissed back, next to his ear, "Wait until after church to pester me about my dates this weekend!"

"You're telling him about your dates, Dimka?" Viktoria asked, "I want to know, too!"

"No," I whispered to her, "I am not telling him about my dates. But Ivan keeps asking."

"At least tell me if she knows how old you are now?" he asked. Oh, shit, here we go! I shot Ivan a killing look, but he just continued to look curious.

"Roza doesn't know how old you are, Dimka?" Viktoria asked in a quiet voice. The church service was well under way, but except for the tone of our voices, it looked like it had been all but forgotten by the three of us.

Ivan smiled at Viktoria, now aware that he held information she wanted. Ivan was my best friend since we were kids and would often choose our friendship over girls, but he had wanted Vika since he was twelve. "Dimitri hasn't told her how old he is," Ivan replied to Vika, "and she thinks he's in college," then to me, he added, "What? It's not like Viktoria wasn't going to figure it out!"

Viktoria asked me, "Is there a big age difference?" Despite being in church, I nearly cursed under my breath. I knew this was coming the moment Ivan asked if she knew my age.

"Something like that," I said.

Ivan added, helpfully, "Dimitri said she dated Jesse."

Viktoria's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. "Jesse? Ivan's cousin, Jesse? Jesse Zeklos?! That Jesse?"

Ivan nodded. I muttered to him, "Ivan, if we weren't in church right now, I would seriously throttle you."

"Jesse went to St. Vladimir's," Viktoria said, then she looked at me and asked, "Roza did go to St. Vladimir's, didn't she?"

Ivan looked like he was going to nod again, but I shook my head 'no' and surreptitiously pinched him before he could do it.

"Ow, Dimitri!" Ivan said. The people in the pew in front of us all turned and shushed him. "Sorry!" he whispered to them.

"If she didn't go to St. Vladimir's, why did Ivan just say 'ow' like that?" Viktoria asked, squinting at me.

Between gritted teeth, I replied, "Probably because he's an idiot who doesn't know how to keep from getting himself from getting hurt."

Ivan seemed oblivious to what I was trying to convey and told her, "Yes, Rose is twenty-five. She graduated from St. Vladimir's the year after you did."

"I bet I could find her in my yearbook!" Viktoria said.

"Not likely," said Ivan, "She's changed her name since high school."

I looked down, pinched the bridge of my nose for calm and took a deep breath.

"Are you sure I don't know her?" Viktoria asked me.

"One hundred percent," I told her, since Vika had already said that she only knew Rose by reputation.

Viktoria, in a surprising change of direction, said, "Dimka, you can't keep deceiving this girl. You know she's going to find out how old you are."

"Vika," I said, "how would you feel if you found out a guy you were dating was in high school?"

"Like der'mo," she said - like shit -, "but it'd be a lot better hearing it from him than from someone else."

"I won't be in high school much longer," I told them both, "I just have to keep her from finding out until I can graduate."

"Do you really think it would be better for her to find out you're only a freshman in college next school year, after you've been dating her for months already?" Vika asked,"And how do you explain why you can't spend time with her on graduation weekend?"

I knew she was right, but I simply couldn't manage to find a good way to tell Rose. As we were instructed to stand for singing a song, I told them both, "Let's talk about this after church. Okay?"

Both of them mumbled an agreement as the song began.

-=o0/&\0o=-

"If I tell you this, you can't say anything to Vika. Right, Ivan?" I asked, sitting on the bench outside the church.

Ivan huffed out a sigh, and then said, sitting beside me, "Fine! But you have to help me with her. You heard what she said about dating a guy in high school."

"She already knows you're in high school, Ivan," I told him.

"But I still want her to go out with me! So stop stalling and just tell me about the dates, Dimitri. Did you at least kiss her?"

"Yes, we kissed. Cooking with her went mostly okay. When we were kneading the bread together, I think I elbowed her in the boob so hard that I gave her a small bruise, though."

"Hold on," he said, getting excited, "How do you know that she had a bruise? Did you see her breasts, Dimitri? Did Rose show you her breasts?"

"No! She didn't show me her breasts!" I exclaimed, hesitantly adding, "but I may have - briefly - caught a partial glimpse down her shirt neckline."

"You dirty dog, Dimitri!" Ivan said, cuffing me on the back, "I thought you liked this girl! Why are you turning into a Peeping Tom with her?"

"I'm not turning into a Peeping Tom," I told him, "I just caught a glimpse. Accidentally. When she was bent over. If it was up to her, she probably would've just taken her shirt off for me, anyways, but you know about what Doctor Ozera told me! I can't! Not until at least our next date!"

"So, she wanted to?" He asked. I sheepishly nodded. "When did the kissing happen? And what happened after the cooking?"

"The kissing happened before we ate dinner on Friday. Rose and I both really liked the book. I'll bring it back to school with me tomorrow for you. By the way, she saw your note. Thanks for that."

"Did I say anything in the note that wasn't true? And did you at least get to ask her the question about having thin walls when you have sex?" he asked.

"No," I said, "Why would I want to ask that one?"

"It can be fun to have a girl who is very vocal in bed," he laughed, "What if she just lays there perfectly quiet and still, and acts like it's boring to be having sex with you?"

"Oh, no, she's not quiet when she's in bed," I told him.

"So, you did get her to go to bed with you?" he asked. Der'mo! Why did I say that?

"No!" I protested, perhaps a bit too aggressively.

"I'm not so sure I believe you, Dimitri," said Ivan, "Why're you holding out on me, bro?"

"Fuck!" I said, "It's a long story and I don't want to be that guy who brags about his conquests. We had a little bit of closeness during Twister, but no clothes came off. There was some contact, that's all - but we didn't have sex!"

"I told you Twister. It works every time!" he said.

"You have no idea," I told him.

"As much as you want this girl, you didn't seem like this was just about a fuck. Does this mean that you two have a commitment of some kind? Like a defined relationship? Or did you two just get physical without one?"

"Sort of both," I told him, "She seemed pretty ready to get close and we didn't really say the words, but we both agreed we wouldn't be seeing anyone else."

"So when do you see her again?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I said, "We didn't set a next date. Should I text her right now and set one up?"

"NO!" Ivan practically shrieked, "Buddy, if I've learned anything at all from all of my experience with dating women, it's that you never, NEVER contact her the next day after a date and ask her to go out again. Either give it another day or two or wait for her to contact you, whichever happens first."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"If you call her the next day, you'll seem too eager. If you wait, the more likely she'll want to be the one to contact you," he said, "Trust me. I'd put money on it."

"Is that a wager?" I asked, "I could use some money to take her out somewhere nice."

"How about this?" Ivan said, "It's not often - or ever - my best bro is this serious about a girl. If you don't initiate contact with her before at least Tuesday, and give me proof of it, I'll give you fifty bucks to take her out somewhere nice, regardless. If she gets in touch with you before you can contact her, then ..."

"Ivan, I don't have any money that I can spare to wager on it," I told him.

"No problem, Dimitri!" he told me, "If she asks you, then you have to do two hundred reps on the bench press during lifting every day we lift, from the time she contacts you until Friday. If you have to get in contact with her, after Tuesday, then I'll do two hundred each day. Deal?"

"Deal."

We shook hands, and then my phone rang.

-=o0/&\0o=-

Author's Notes:

Since Ivan is a pretty unknown quantity, I've taken some liberties with what he would be like. I've actually based a lot of his personality off a couple of my husband's closest friends over the years who were all (to quote conversations that my husband and I have had in the past) 'lovable dickheads', including the best man from our wedding.