CHAPTER 44

Lillie

Dimitri came home from his parole check up with a chip on his shoulder. I wondered what could have pissed him off this much. Thinking he was just irritated with his strict parole officer, I dismissed it. I asked if he was okay, but he said he was fine. I didn't question him further.

He was hesitant to go into town today, but came nonetheless. It didn't look like he wanted to disappoint me or something. But if he wasn't up to it, I would've left it alone.

We drove in my car to town. The drive down, Dimitri seemed on edge all the way and I didn't know why. Something was wrong for him to be acting like this suddenly.

"Are you seriously okay?" I asked, frowning my brow.

He smiled. "Yes Lillie, don't worry... it's just one of those days you know."

I nodded reluctantly. But Dimitri seemed to have eased slightly. And I blew a sigh of relief.

I parked at a second-hand furniture store. Since he didn't have any furniture, this would be a great start and within his budget. We got out of the car and walked to the entrance doors. Dimitri was close behind me as we browsed the old store, filled with antique and modern furniture scattered around the sizeable area.

We found some good deals Dimitri would be interest in and found more options. We purchased nothing until the time came for him to move out my house. My heart ached a bit at the thought. I enjoyed having him around, more than I would like to admit.

We browsed a few more stores for about two hours and I helped him purchase some clothes. He kept on saying how grateful he is to me, and I kept on blushing.

Afterwards, we got some food. Beef tacos at a food truck was for lunch. We sat in the park on a bench and ate our meals. It was cute, our conversation flowed, and it was nice to see Dimitri relaxed. I enjoyed myself on our little picnic.

After we had finished eating, we sat back and watched as couples young and old walked by, some hand in hand, children playing and running around while their parents looked on. Dimitri threw back a ball that came bouncing our way to a little freckled toddler. The mood was sweet. I thought of having my own family one day, and I pictured a scene just like this.

I secretly smiled.

"Dimitri... have you ever thought of having a family of your own one day?" I asked, turning to him.

He didn't look at me and looked straight ahead, observing. I saw a small frown forming on his brow, and he swallowed hard. I figured he was struggling to answer me, and I returned my gaze to the people in the park.

"I'm probably not family man material," he breathed out heavily.

I felt disappointed and sad he felt that way.

"You are family man material, Dimitri. You loved your brother and tried to protect him as much as you could." I said cautiously, not knowing how he would take it.

He immediately looked at me. It looked like he was fighting an internal struggle. His eyes glazed over.

"I loved my brother." He said, swallowing hard. "And I failed him."

Dimitri's eyes glistened. He was holding back tears, threatening to peek out. He blinked back hard. I could feel his remorse and guilt in his words, and my heart ached for him. I felt like lunging at him with a tight hug; I felt the need to comfort him, to ease his pain. Instead, I scooted up a little closer to him, placed my hand on his arm, and gave it a tight squeeze.

"It's not your fault Dimitri, you did the best you could," I whispered.

I didn't speak about the matter further.

It didn't take us too long before we both stood up to leave the park. We walked on the sidewalk past different stores and shops. Dimitri held his bags of clothing and I window shopped as we walked by side by side.

"Lillie?"

A voice that sounded very familiar called out to me.

I whipped my head around and met my eyes with the brown ones I had looked into for six years of my life. I froze on the spot as my heart dropped and the drumming thundered in my ears. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to get the words out.

"M-M-M-Mason," I said, words failing me.

I couldn't believe I was looking at the man who broke my heart into pieces. The last time I saw him was when I walked into him doing the dirty with Melissa. I willed myself to forget about him and I was doing a good job at it too, but seeing him again made me agitated.

He looked good, more mature than the last time I saw him. His brown hair was still a mess, and he looked like he was working out. His tanned trousers and white shirt fitted him well. Standing next to him was Melissa, who looked just as good with her wavy red hair and blue dress. They looked like they stepped out of a fashion magazine.

"What a surprise to see you, Lillie. It's been a while." Mason said, just as surprised to see me.

I nodded automatically.

I was pissed he had the nerve to come up and talk to me after all he'd done, and just pretend that nothing had happened and that he didn't shatter my heart.

My body tightened against Dimitri.

"Yes... it is a surprise," I said coolly, not wanting to say his name.

Melissa just looked at me arrogantly and I wanted to wipe that stupid grin off her damn face. We were standing there on the sidewalk, facing each other way too long, and I wanted to leave.

Mason saw my agitation to go. His eyes snapped to Dimitri and creased his eyebrows. He continued to glance between Dimitri and me. I looked at Dimitri and he stared daggers at Mason.

Mason shrunk back under his heavy stare, and I smiled inside.

He wanted to say something but was stopped by Dimitri, who took my hand gently.

"Let's go, love..." he said confidently, as he pulled me away from the engaged couple, brushing roughly past Mason.

I was more than happy to oblige. As Dimitri and I walked away, I looked back and saw Mason's face. Disbelief and amazement all rolled into one... priceless.