Twisted Rose

Hi everyone, thanks for reviewing on the previous chapter. Hope you all enjoy this one and thanks for reading! This will also be the last chapter of the story. Sorry it was so short! I hope you've enjoyed reading the whole thing, though.

Lyrics: I believe that we all fall down sometimes

Chapter Ten

Russia was beautiful. There was honestly no other word to describe how amazing it was. It was easily ten times better than England. Perhaps it was just because I had never been out of the country. It didn't matter where I went, I would probably find anywhere beautiful because it was all so exotic to me.

I had seen photographs of this place and others like it, but there was no possible way that it could have ever managed to do it justice. This was so much more vibrant and interesting than any photograph could make it look.

I didn't believe that it was just because I had never been out of England. Dimitri's face told me that much. He was in just as much awe as I was over it. It was such an amazing thing to see him look so surprised and relieved by his own home.

"Oh, I've missed this place so much" Dimitri sighed as we sat outside a café with our drinks. It was a lot warmer here than in England. Almost everyone was sitting outside with loose dresses on and fans in their hands to aid them in cooling off.

"You look so relaxed here" I noted as I took in everything about him. He looked as though he knew these streets so well like the back of his hand. I felt privileged to simply be in his presence.

"It's my home, Roza" He mumbled, looking ever so humble. It was then that I realised that perhaps he wasn't as comfortable talking about his life before he met me as I thought he was. "It's soon to be yours too." Wow, when I agreed to go to Russia with Dimitri I never believed that it would truly become my new home. The idea of living in such a mesmerising place like this was enough to turn me giddy…much to Dimitri's amusement. "It seems you really like Russia."

"Words can't describe how brilliant it is" I sighed wistfully as I allowed myself a moment to bask in the heat. "Why did you leave?" Just like that, all of the goodness was sucked out of the place as Dimitri tensed up and let out a frustrated sigh. Oh, why couldn't I just be happy about being here in silence? I didn't want to upset him about this.

"Rose, my past is something that you don't want to know" He answered with a shake of his head as though trying to emphasise his point. Almost as quickly as my guilt came, my anger replaced it. If I was to spend my life with this man and trust him to keep me out of trouble, I should be able to know about him. Although I had never really had any experience men, I believed that this was common knowledge.

"Dimitri, I don't mean to pry, but I think it's my business" I retorted, trying to keep my voice as soft as possible. Shouting at him was hardly going to make him trust me enough to tell me whatever is on his chest. "I'm going to be travelling with you. I want you to open up your heart to me…we need to know everything about each other if this is going to work."

"Oh, when did you get so wise?" Dimitri asked with a proud smile as he leaned forward and tucked a stray piece of hair behind me ear. He cupped my face with his large hands and gently stroked my cheeks with his thumbs. The touch almost made me forget what I had wanted to find out, but I couldn't allow that. If he was trying to make me forget, he was doing a bad job of it.

"I've always been wise, Dimitri" I answered, holding the hand stroking my face with my own, his warmth seeping into me as I did so. "You were just able to bring it out of me." Maybe if I sweetened up a little bit, he would be willing to tell me. The notion was probably ridiculous, but it was worth a try. I had nothing to lose, right? Wrong. I have everything to lose. If I lose the trust and respect for Dimitri, I have no way of getting out of the mess I've made.

"Okay, I'll tell you" Dimitri sighed, but I could tell he hadn't wanted to. What could it possibly be? What could be so bad that he wouldn't want to share it with me? "You have to promise me that you'll still take this journey with me"

"Of course, Dimitri" I answered hastily. The mention of any way that this could end sent me into panic mode. "There's nothing that could stop me from going with you."

"I lived a life rather similar to yours when I lived here" Dimitri began, turning away from me as though it was too hard to tell me when he could see me. Oh, why does he think that I could ever possibly hate him? "I felt the stress of royal life get to me too. I had to get out."

"What?" I questioned. My brain felt as though it was dead. Surely I hadn't heard him correctly. No, I couldn't have heard him correctly. Maybe he just made a simple mistake. No, he had to have made a simple mistake. There's no way he could have kept something as big as this away from me for so long. He just couldn't have. "You're a royal in Russia?" I must have failed to keep the offence and anger out of my voice because his face registered only hurt.

"Yes, but Rose it means absolutely nothing to me" Dimitri explained with haste as though he believed I was going to slip from his grasp at any moment. "I hated being a royal too. That's why I came to England. That's why I became a servant. Working at the manor was the best experience of my life…it brought me to you. I only came back to Russia, so you could have a fresh start."

"How could you keep something like that from me?" I asked loudly as my eyes burned. "I needed someone to talk to and you let me believe that you were someone that you weren't."

"Rose, it was only because I wanted to forget that I was a royal" He sighed. "I wasn't cheating you in any way." I realised that he was right. I was just overreacting…once again. It's not all about me. This has nothing to do with me. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time.

"Well, what are we going to do?" I finally asked once I was finally able to voice my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Dimitri asked with obvious confusion, looking more relaxed now that it was obvious that I wasn't mad.

"Well, people are going to recognise you" I reminded. "There's no way people won't. You were ready to rule this place. They're not going to forget you in a hurry."

"I know" He sighed sadly. "I was hoping we could just go into hiding. Maybe nobody would find us. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy."

"Dimitri, could you handle being a royal if I was with you?" I asked, feeling as though I finally had an idea.

"I don't know where you're going with this." He sighed.

"If you were to marry me, I would be a royal in this country" I revealed. "We could still be royal and not have to hide, but we'd be allowed to be together. It's the only way we can get out of this"

"I guess you're right" He admitted, his hand once again going to caress my face before his lips dropped a light kiss on my own.

"Would you expect any less?"

I apologise for this chapter being shorter than the others. There's no way I did that justice, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway ;)