"What the hell is that about?" Rose asked, looking up in astonishment. "Did you tell Christian which police station we were going to?"
Dimitri thought for a moment. "No. I'm sure I didn't."
"Well I didn't either," Rose confirmed. "If she sees us in there, she's going to think it's about her."
"Let's give it a minute," Dimitri agreed. "It didn't look like she was there by choice, so they'll probably put her in a room or something."
They stood together cuddling on the street.
"Maybe we should call Christian?" Rose suggested. "Even if he doesn't know, his grandparents probably need to?"
"Good point," Dimitri said with a sigh, taking Rose's cell as she held it out to him. Dialing Christian's cell, he answered almost immediately.
"Hey man, Roza and I were walking back to the police station on third after our date, and we've just seen Tasha brought in a police car. Thought I should let you know."
From where she was cuddled against Dimitri, head tucked under his chin, Rose could hear Christian's reply.
"Thanks. Bunic is away on a golfing trip, so Bunica and I are headed down there now," he sighed. "Tasha's had another fight with Luna. I don't know any details, but it was serious this time. Luna's at the hospital and Tasha's probably going to be charged with assault."
"I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do?" Dimitri offered.
"If you're around in ten when we get there it might help," Christian said hopefully.
"Yeah of course. We'll be here," Dimitri said loyally, disconnecting the phone with a sober expression.
Rose looked up at her man curiously. "Luna – that's the one Tasha's fought with before, isn't it?"
"Yeah. They've hated each other ever since Tasha transferred to Lincoln. Something about a guy." The irony was not lost on either of them.
"Let's get inside and sign our statements before Christian and his grandma get here," Rose suggested.
They climbed the front stairs, opening the doors gingerly but Tasha was nowhere to be seen. As per her word, Officer Morales had their statements typed and ready to sign. Rose and Dimitri were both relieved to see there was no mention of them being sexually active, or otherwise, in the final statement!
After reading and signing, an officer explained they'd be in touch if there were any more to do relating to Jesse, and that they were free to go. They sat in the waiting room, and minutes later Christian and his grandmother arrived. Milhaela Ozera looked a lot older than when Rose had last seen her a year or so ago, but it probably didn't help that she was weeping today.
"Dimitri, you're such a good boy to wait for us. And with Rozalia! Christian told me she's your girl. You found a good one there, don't you let go of her," she said fondly, reaching up to pat the side of Dimitri's face.
"I don't intend to, Bunica," Dimitri said giving Rose a tender look and steering Christian's grandmother to a chair while Christian waited at the counter for news on Tasha.
When the news came, it wasn't good; Tasha had allegedly stabbed Luna. While Luna would be ok, she'd needed to be operated on, so there was no way Tasha would be escaping charges, and given the assault had involved a weapon with her past misdemeanors there was a good chance Tasha was looking at jail time. Christian's grandmother was beside herself; Christian had never seen her so distressed. Feeling a bit out of his depth, he'd called his eldest uncle Mark to come down and help. By the time he arrived, it was getting late and Dimitri really needed to be getting Rose home.
"Mark's going to bring Bunica home once they've seen a lawyer and the paperwork is complete. I need to drive her car back now; I can drop you both at Rose's along the way?" Christian offered.
"Thanks, man," Dimitri said, giving Christian a supportive clap on the back. "I'm really sorry this happened."
"Me too," Christian said. "She spoke to me last night. Came to my room and just talked to me for the first time in years. She said she'd never slept with you and she'd just made it up because she was jealous of the way you were with Rose. She said she couldn't believe she offered a guy sex with no strings attached and he didn't want it. She said you were so sweet, even after you turned her down. That you said there's someone out there for everyone and you hoped she found hers but that Rose was yours and you didn't want anyone but her."
Sitting behind where Dimitri sat in the passenger seat, Rose leaned forward to stroke the side of his face, smiling as he leaned into her hand, rubbing his cheek against it.
"She said she wanted to change," Christian said sadly as he pulled up outside Rose's place. "That she wanted to turn over a new leaf."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Dimitri said looking at Christian unhappily. "But give me a call later if you to talk."
"Thanks," Christian said, giving Rose a wave and driving off.
"What sort of time do you think this is?" Abe asked grumpily when Rose and Dimitri walked in. "I was expecting you home an hour ago!"
"Sorry, Tata. We were at the police station after the exhibition signing our statements when Tasha Ozera was brought in. She's stabbed another girl and she's being charged with assault. It looks like it might be jail this time. Christian and his grandmother came to the station and were so upset, so we stayed until Christian's Uncle Mark arrived. Christian just dropped us back now."
"Tasha Ozera? Didn't she call you the other night? You're not mixed up in this are you, Rozalia?" Abe asked in alarm.
"No, Tata. She just rang to pass on a message from Christian," Rose said quickly. "The fight was with some girl from Lincoln High. I don't know her at all."
"How horrible," Janine said. "Will the girl be alright?"
"They think so. She had to have surgery, so it's pretty serious," Rose said with a shiver. "I feel so bad for Christian and his grandparents. His grandmother was so upset."
"I can only imagine," Janine said shaking her head sadly.
"I should get going. Thanks for sticking around to help with Christian," Dimitri said sincerely, leaning down to brush his lips across Rose's lightly. "And thank you for a wonderful afternoon. Other than the end, it was perfect," he said with a big smile.
Abe muttered something in Polish under his breath, which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Janine.
"Thank you for bringing her home safely," Janine said with a friendly smile as Rose showed him to the door.
At school the next day the story was everywhere; Tasha Ozera had stabbed Luna Maxwell from Lincoln High in some ongoing fight over a guy. Luna was still in hospital and Tasha was in custody. Everyone had something to say about it, and poor Christian was being stopped every few yards by curious students wanting to know what had happened.
Between the Guardian's win on Friday night, the Jesse thing, Rose's disappearance, Dimitri and Rose getting back together, Tasha's revelations and then the stabbing, it had been a huge weekend and everyone was relieved to have it behind them. Lissa was almost purring with satisfaction seeing Rose and Dimitri back together and so affectionate. They both looked so happy, but it also meant she could go back to sitting next to Christian in their shared classes. In fact, their whole squad adjusted to Rose and Dimitri as a couple again seamlessly; it was like they'd never broken up.
By the middle of the week, Tasha was out on bail for aggravated assault. She was proving too much of a handful for her parents, so Christian's older aunts and uncles were stepping in to help, taking turns staying at the house to keep an eye on her. With all the tension, it wasn't a great place to be, so Olena had offered for Christian to stay at their apartment for a few days. There wasn't a spare room, so he was sleeping on the couch, but he said it was better than hearing his grandmother crying all the time and his grandfather shouting. Things had almost settled down by Friday when Christian was called out of class to the office. When he came back to class to collect his things he was looking shell-shocked.
"I have to go," he whispered to Lissa and the others. "Tasha hit my grandmother and has taken off with her car and all the valuables she could fit in it. Bunica's at the hospital with a broken hip. Tasha left her lying in pain on the kitchen floor as she ransacked the house looking for stuff she could sell. I'm going to go see Bunica now."
Lissa stood tears in her eyes. "I'll come with you," she offered. "I'll ring Mom and explain. There are only two classes left for the afternoon."
"Let me know if we can do anything," Dimitri volunteered, Rose nodding in agreement.
"I can't believe Tasha hurt her mother," Rose said once they'd left. "Mrs. Ozera is so lovely. I hope she'll be ok."
"I hope Christian will be ok," Dimitri said ominously. "He adores his grandmother. He's going to take this hard."
"How is Mrs. Ozera going?" Janine asked Dimitri a week later. It was their last Saturday workshop session, the practical part of the project now completed, and Dimitri had been invited to dinner with the family afterward. It had been two weeks since Rose had stayed at his place, and Abe had calmed down a little, although he was still wary about 'The Boyfriend.'
"She's doing alright," Dimitri replied politely. "She's been transferred to a rehabilitation home for a few weeks to recover."
"Has there been any sign of Tasha?" Abe enquired.
"No. She's pawned some of Mrs. Ozera's jewelry downtown, so they think she's still somewhere locally. With the assault on her mother and the other girl, and breaking bail, Christian said it's going to be jail time once she's caught."
"She wasn't always like that," Janine said sadly. "Years ago she and Rozalia did ballet together. She was always high-spirited, even back then, but she used to adore her mother. She and Christian would always compete for Milhaela's attention."
"Christian's taking it pretty hard," Dimitri admitted. "So is Mr. Ozera. Christian was staying at our place, but his grandfather needs him, so he's back at home now."
"And what about you, Dimitri? How are you spending your time?" Janine asked.
"Studying, Mrs. Mazur. I have the scholarship exams in three weeks, so I'm trying to get through my assignments and study for those."
"What do you think your chances are?" she probed.
"I'm pretty confident I'll get something. The ideal is a full scholarship of course, but understandably they're few and far between. It's just medicine is a long haul, and it would be nice not to graduate hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt."
"Where are you applying?" Abe asked questioningly.
"Where aren't I applying?!" Dimitri laughed. "All the local Universities plus the closer out of state places, too. I'm hoping for State Uni as their Bio-med program is the best one locally, and it's close enough I could come home weekends. One of the basketball scouts was representing State, so fingers crossed," he said hopefully.
"You're working very hard, Dimitri," Janine said sounding particularly motherly.
"Anything worth having is worth working hard for," Dimitri said giving her a shy smile, before taking Rose's hand and giving it a loving squeeze.
"It's just weird," Lissa moaned as she and Rose sat in Lissa's bedroom on a Friday afternoon stuffing their faces with chocolate cookies dunked in ice cream. "Andre's never dated any of my friends, but he really likes Camille."
"I still can't believe she slept with him!" Rose said with eyes wide. "The first time they properly met!"
"I know! The thing is, Mom's really excited. He's been home every weekend since the party to see her, and they do seem cute together..."
"Hey – at least you like her. If she's around here all the time it's better it's someone you like?"
"Yeah but she's with my brother," Lissa groaned. "It's weird seeing her holding his hand and them stealing kisses! Speaking about sleeping together, have you and Dimitri had sex again?"
"Who said we'd had sex at all?!" Rose asked in surprise. She'd made the decision not to say anything to Lissa about she and Dimitri doing the deed, and for the last three weeks, since she and Dimitri had been back together, she'd evaded Lissa's pointed hints and questions about it.
"It's so obvious by the way you two look at each other! Besides, you owe me! I told you all about sex with Christian!"
"Yes – and I'm still trying to wipe it from my mind!" Rose shrieked. "If something like that were to happen between Dimitri and me, I'd just like to keep it private."
Lissa looked at her shrewdly. "And if something like that had happened, would it have been good? Would he have gotten you off?"
"If something like that had happened, I am certain he would have," Rose said blushing as red as her namesake.
"And do you imagine you would have done anything since then? If it had happened that night I mean?" Lissa said quickly.
"I don't imagine there would have been the opportunity," Rose said, dissatisfaction evident in her voice.
"No time alone or have you had your period?"
"Not that I'm saying anything happened," Rose laughed, "But Dimitri has been studying very hard. Other than school and study sessions in the library or supervised by my father, I haven't seen a lot of him. He has the scholarship exams in a fortnight."
"Well hopefully after the scholarship exams, you'll get a chance to see a lot more of him?" Lissa said with a devious look.
Rose laughed shaking her head. Lissa was like a dog with a bone once her curiosity was roused. Still, she had a point; it had been three weeks since that night, and Rose would be lying if she said she wasn't just a little interested in fooling around again.
"Lissa?" Rose said, putting down her bowl and looking at her best friend. "When was your last period?!"
"I've just had it. Why? When did you last have yours?!"
"Um... It had finished the morning of the Jefferson game."
"So that was what – five weeks ago?" Lissa asked raising her eyebrows at Rose.
Rose frantically counted back through the weekends. "Yes. So that's, what, thirty-five days?"
Lissa grabbed her calendar from her desk. "Yes... Rose?"
"No...!" Rose hissed. "It can't be. We were careful!"
"So you did have sex!" Lissa squealed, immediately diverted.
"Yes, Lissa," Rose snapped. "And I'm about a week late!"
"Oh shit! Are you sometimes late?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Not really," Rose said her pulse racing and her breaths starting to come in short, shallow gasps.
"Calm down," Lissa said, coming to sit beside her best friend and holding her hand. "I'm sure it's nothing, or probably just stress, but calm down, and we'll work this out, ok?"
She picked up her phone and quickly googled. "How long are your cycles usually?"
"About the same as yours? Give or take a day?" Rose said faintly, already imagining how her parents were likely to react.
"Ok, so if we say twenty-nine days, you're six days over. If you're pregnant, you should be able to test by now. I'll just go down and tell Mom we need something at Walmart and borrow the car, ok? Try not to stress out. It could be all sorts of things," she said reassuringly.
Rose lay back on Lissa's bed, suddenly feeling like she wanted to throw up. She carefully did a mental reconnaissance of anything different over the last week or so. Nothing immediately sprang to mind, although she had needed to get up the last few nights to pee, which was unusual for her, and she'd also felt a little lightheaded. Remembering from health ed that breasts were often the first thing to change, Rose yanked her top and bra up and was busy inspecting her tits when Lissa came back in holding her mother's car keys. It spoke volumes about their friendship that Lissa immediately came over and took a good look at Rose's rack without any shyness or embarrassment.
"They maybe look a little larger?" Lissa said nervously, pointing to the sides and top where there were red marks from the bra. "Do they feel any different?"
Rose ran her hands over her breasts, squeezing them experimentally. "Maybe a bit more sensitive? The nipples are a little itchy," she wailed woefully.
"Let's not panic. Come on. Let's go buy some tests."
Usually, a trip to Walmart would be spent running around the various sections mucking around, but not today. They were straight in and out, clutching the bag with four different tests.
"Isn't one enough?" Rose had hissed to Lissa as they were standing at the shelf looking at the various options.
"The article said if one was positive to have another brand to double check against," she explained, putting her arm around Rose who was looking like she was about to hyperventilate.
Back at the Dragomir house Camille had arrived and wanted to chat with Lissa and Rose while she waited for Andre to get ready to take her out. It couldn't have been worse timing, but Lissa gave Rose a look, so they sat and tried to make small talk for a bit. It was awkward as ass, and everyone was relieved when Andre came down and took Camille out for the evening.
"Are you staying for dinner?" Rhea Dragomir asked Rose. "Eric is out tonight, so it's just us girls!"
"Oh – I should go then," Rose said conscious Rhea loved time with her kids.
"Don't be silly. I thought I'd order in tonight? We could have pizza, and you could stay over if you like? We could watch a girls' movie?"
"That's a great idea, thanks, Mom," Lissa said quickly. "We'll just finish our homework and be down in an hour."
"Perfect!" Rhea said genuinely excited to be spending a night in with her daughter and her daughter's best friend.
"Come on," Lissa said meaningfully, dragging Rose upstairs and into her bathroom. "It says first morning urine is best, but once you're overdue, you can use any time of day. This one is meant to be the most sensitive," she said, handing Rose the first test.
Following the instructions to the tee, two minutes later Lissa and Rose were ready to turn the test over to inspect the indicator panel.
"I can't do it," Rose groaned, too nervous to even move from the toilet where she'd remained seated the whole time.
"Shall I do it?" Lissa asked.
Rose nodded frantically.
Lissa stepped forward and flipped the test over.
"Rose?" Lissa said in alarm - but she needn't have bothered. Rose was already looking and had seen the tiny pink plus sign on the test.
"Fuck," Rose whispered. "I'm pregnant!"