It's a long way home.

Chapter 4

As they both walked down the street together in complete silence, Alyaksandr stopped and took Ksenia's hand, who turned her head to look at him.

"I'll be meeting you here in 10, okay?" he informed her.

"Perfect." Ksenia smiled at him in agreement.

Alyaksandr took firmed his grip on her hand and looked her in the eyes.

"Don't worry, we'll have enough time together until I leave." he told her soothingly.

Ksenia simply nodded at him, her pupils slightly dilated, her blue eyes shining. He smiled reassuringly at her. On that account he let go of her hand and slowly walked backwards, looking at her, before turning around and entering his house. Ksenia sighed a little. She knew that what he had said was sincere, and she really hoped they would spend a lot of time together before he left.

Ksenia walked a little further down the street, to where her house was. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open. As she was deep in thought, her mother opened the door for her.

"Привет, Ксюша!" her mother greeted her and hugged her before she entered.

"What is wrong, darling?" her mother asked as she saw Ksenia's blank expression.

Ksenia snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face her mother, with wide eyes, looking as though her mother's question had surprised her.

"Nothing. Why do you ask? Do I look like something is wrong?" she asked with a worried undertone.

"Well you seem a little sad, my dear." her mother answered her.

Ksenia sighed out of relief.

"No, I'm just exhausted." Ksenia told her.

"Oh, well, how about you just stay here today and relax?" her mother offered her.

"No. I have to go out today. Sasha is moving away in June, so we need to spend as much time in our group as possible." Ksenia explained to her.

Her mother nodded her head slowly. She knew what this was about. Alyaksandr.

"I know what this about, darling. It's about that handsome Belarusian boy, now isn't it?" her mother asked.

Ksenia just looked at her not saying anything.

"You know, I always liked that boy. He stays true to who he is, that is a quality in a man that is rare to find." her mother told her daughter soothingly, laughing in the process at her comment.

Ksenia smiled at her mother. She was well aware that her mother knew how much she liked Alyaksandr. Mothers always find out, either you tell them or they just feel it.

"Go and change, Ksyusha. The boy is probably done already and waiting for you." her mother said smiling.

Ksenia nodded and went upstairs to her room, quickly discarding her bag and taking off her clothes. She walked over to her wardrobe, picking out a dark blue dress, stopping above her knees. She looked at herself in the mirror and checked if it looked good on her. She liked it. Blue was one of her favourite colours for dresses. Around the neckline, the dress was covered in little Swarovski diamonds. It was one of the prettiest dresses she owned.

Satisfied with her dress, Ksenia then went on to put on her earrings, a bracelet and a necklace. One last spray of perfume to round it up and she was done. She grabbed her long coat, her ushanka and her purse, making her way downstairs. As she walked down the stairs, she stopped and went two stairs back. Through the window on the side of the staircase, she saw Alyaksandr, who was walking towards her house through the pristine white snow.

"Milka." she said, huffing as she laughed a little to herself.

Alyaksandr was wearing his favourite jacket with a fur-covered hoodie, and a winter hat, which looked adorable on him, with streaks of his short, blond hair hanging across his forehead. Ksenia quickly walked downstairs, peeking through the kitchen door.

"Bye, mama." Ksenia said, as her mother walked towards her.

Ksenia gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't come home too late, okay? And be careful!" her mother reminded her.

Ksenia nodded, as she opened the door and closed it right behind her, as she stepped outside. As she turned around, she was inches away from Alyaksandr's face, whose hand was in a fist, up in the air, ready to knock on the door.

"Hey." it came from Alyaksandr, who was right in front of her, looking her into the eyes.

"Oh, hey." she greeted him, smiling.

"Shall we go?" Alyaksandr asked her.

"Yes! Let's go!" she answered him, as she stepped forward, ending the closeness between the two of them.

"Come on!" she said, as Alyaksandr still stood there, thinking about something.

He followed her suit, as she walked down the street.

Tatiana, Ksenia's mother, was watching from the kitchen window, smiling, as she saw Ksenia laughing and throwing snow at Alyaksandr, who returned the favour. Chuckling, she shook her head. It was a pity the boy would be gone soon, she thought.

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TRANSLATIONS (in order)

Russian

"Привет, Ксюша!" ("Hello, Ksyusha!" [Nickname for Ksenia])