Oh, That Russian Accent

Chapter 41

"Good morning," a raspy voice says from my right side.

"Oh shoot! What time is it?" I ask Dimitri and jump out of bed. I can't miss any more classes.

"Calm down, will you. There is still an hour till class starts."

I quickly calm down and lay back on the mattress.

"Good morning to you too," I say and give his cheek a small kiss.

Dimitri slightly chuckles at me and pulls me into his side. He gives me small kisses all over my body, while I cry out in laughter, "Stop it! Stop it!"

He stops and a comfortable silence takes over the room, as we lay side by side.

"Dimitri..." I say.

"Yeah, Ruby?"

"I love you," I tell him.

Dimitri chuckles and jumps at me again, covering my entire face with small pecks. "But you know what?" He asks me.

"What?" I ask him, laughing.

"I love you more."

We lay here together on the mattress until we have to get ready for our classes. I shower and borrow a sweatshirt from Dimitri to wear, and use my jeans from yesterday as bottoms. As we walk out of his apartment, toward the campus, I remind myself that I need to visit Emily today. I have to tell her about my Dad, and maybe even Dimitri. She doesn't know that we were apart for a while 'cause I didn't want to burden her with my worry and sorrow. But I think I can tell her now that everything's alright again. Well, I'm obviously not gonna tell her anything Dimitri shared with me last night - that's too personal... but you get the point.

"Can you drive me to see Emily today? I need to tell her about my dad," I ask Dimitri, making my best puppy eyes.

A small smile tugs at his lips as he sighs, "Sureee."

"Thank you and I love you, byeee," I say as we part our ways to get to class.

"I love you too," he mumbles and gives me a small kiss before walking away.

*****

Dimitri and I are currently sitting in his car on our way to Emily's rehab resort. We just finished classes so we're pretty tired, but we decided it was better to just go now, instead of later tonight.

"Ruby, can I ask you something?" Dimitri suddenly asks me.

I look over at him nervously, making eye contact and nodding slowly.

"How do you think your father would react if we moved in together?"

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me. How would he react?"

My eyes are huge and my jaw is on the floor. Is he asking me to move in with him or is it just a theoretical question?

"I don't know. I think he'd be a little hesitant but then again, it'd be up to me really... Why?"

"Okay and for no reason, it was just a question," he answers nonchalantly.

I don't answer him and I don't know if I'm disappointed or relieved that he didn't actually ask me. I mean, I'd have to make a pro and cons list before I decide to move in with anybody.

I sigh out loud as I see the rehab resort come into view. I have to get out of this car before my mind starts to make a pro and con list all by itself, even though Dimitri hasn't even asked me anything yet.

I walk into the resort after waving goodbye to Dimitri. The lady who's sitting at the front desk recognizes my face and leads me to Emily's room immediately.

"Finallyyyyy you're here!" Emily exclaims as soon as she sees me, "I thought you were dead or something. I've been so bored without you these last couple of days."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything that has happened and also the reason why I haven't visited you this last week," I tell her apologetically. Her "mean" face falls as she sees the seriousness on my face.

"Okay, okay. Tell me everything."

And I do. I tell her every single thing from Dimitri and I's fight, to my phone ringing in the middle of the night, to me standing outside Dimitri's door crying, to me being home again for my sick dad, etc. etc. You all know the rest of the story. The only thing I don't tell her is the things Dimitri told me yesterday. I'm never gonna tell anyone unless Dimitri specifically asks me to.

"Holy moly, Ruby..." Emily says with a small voice. "Are you okay, hun?"

I can feel the small tears in my eye but I nod anyway, "Yeah, I am... or I will be. Don't worry Emily. I'm just happy to be here again and knowing my dad is okay."

"Yeah... I can definitely understand that."

Just as we're about to talk more, one of the workers comes in and tells us that visiting hours are over. We try to persuade her for another hour but she won't budge. What a party-pooper.

I say goodbye to Emily and pull out my phone to text Dimitri, but instead, my phone lights up with a text from my dad.

Dad:

Are you sure that you want this honey? I'm totally okay with it if you are, I just want to make sure.

I look confused down the screen.

Me:

Huh?

Just as I see the three dots typing, Dimitri pulls into the parking lot and gets out of the car.

"So I called your father," he tells me, smiling smugly.

"You did what now?"