Oh, That Russian Accent

Chapter 15

After I've studied for a couple of hours, I text Dimitri.

Me:

Are you still up for me coming over later?

Dimitri (Mr. Grumpy):

Sure.

Me:

Be there in 5.

He doesn't respond, but I still pack a bag with dirty clothes and head-on over. I might as well get some clothes washed, while I'm there.

'Ha, he's never gonna get rid of me, as long as he's got that machine,' I grin to myself while thinking. Maybe I should tell Emily about it. Then again, I don't think Dimitri will appreciate that. When I finally reach his apartment door, I knock.

"Hi," I say when he opens.

"Hello... What have you brought?"

"Uhhhhh... you know, just some dirty clothes."

He rolls his eyes at me, but I can see the small smile at the corner of his lips, as he turns around.

"Where are the boxes with your stuff?" I ask him, as I walk into the apartment.

"Already unpacked," he answers nonchalantly.

I widen my eyes and look around his apartment. There's absolutely nothing in here. I slowly make my way to his kitchen and open his cupboards. Nothing.

"Dimitri! You have nothing here. How are you going to eat cereal when you don't have any bowls? Or any platters for the matter?"

"I do not need that. It does not matter."

"Awww, come on!" I say and pull my phone out, before continuing, "There's a Walmart a 10-minute walk from here. We're going shopping."

"But I do not want to go shopping with you," he says rather harshly.

Instead of taking it as an insult, I grin.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Why not? It's a beautiful day and it's only 4 PM. That means we have all day and night. And I'm patient... well sometimes. But I'm just gonna sit right here until we leave. You can't kick me out, so what do you say? Get it over with or wait alllllll night long?" I taunt him.

I can see him physically tense up, but he still says, "Let us go then."

I beam and together we walk out of his apartment. We don't talk on our way there, and I know he's annoyed. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed him. It is, after all, him that is living there.

I don't think much more of it, as we make our way into the store. Dimitri grabs a cart and we walk down a random aisle.

"So you definitely need some things for your kitchen. What else do you need?" I ask him.

"Uhhh... If I have to say something, I guess I can use something to drink and maybe some eggs," he says unsurely. I grin at him and grab his hand, as I pull him down toward the refrigerators. He intervene our hands and walks faster, so he's now the one pulling me.

We grab some water, blue Gatorade, juice, eggs, Cheez-its, Goldfish, Reese's, Annie's mac n' cheese, bread, fruit, etc. We don't buy much food, only the essentials in case he gets hungry in the middle of the night, or something like that.

Dimitri and I make our way over to the homely things.

"You need a broom, toilet paper, some dishcloths. Do you have toothpaste?" I ask and he shakes his head. "Okay, so also some toothpaste."

We get all the necessary things and check out at the register.

"Thank you for this," Dimitri tells me.

"I know, I know. What would you do without me?" I answer, sarcastically.

He cracks a little smile, but mutters something under his breath, sounding like, "I would not know."

I shake my head and avert the topic by asking a completely random question, "Dimitri, how do you manage to stay that ripped, when all you do is eat junk food?"

His eyes meet mine, as he answers, "I guess, I just work out sometimes... Why?"

"Ugh, I envy you. I just wondered if you follow any strict exercise schedule or something like that."

"Why were you wondering about that?" He asks me, prying even further.

"I just... I maybe want to lose some pounds, so it could be nice to know if you have any magic tricks up your sleeve," I tell him, embarrassed.

"Why would you want to lose weight?"

"You just don't know when to stop with the questions," I snap at him. He meets my eyes again, and a look of surprise crosses his face, but he doesn't respond.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I- I am just not particularly fond of the way my body looks," I tell him honestly.

"Is that why, you would not let me lift your shirt, the second time we kissed?" He asks me nonchalantly, before continuing, "Or why you did not swim with the others, on the camping trip?"

I can feel my entire face heat up. Why the hell would he bring the kiss up now?

"Uhhh, yes. I don't exactly like to show my body to anyone."

"That is stupid," he states.

"Excuse me?" I ask him now offended.

He stops in his tracks and turns around to look directly into my eyes. "I said, that is stupid. You have absolutely no reason to hide your body. Not from me and not from anyone. You have a stunning body! Why can you not see that?" He yells at me, sounding extremely frustrated.

When I don't answer him he says, "Look, you do not need to be "skinny" and "perfect" to be beautiful. But if it will help with your confidence, I will help you work out. I, personally, do not want to change a single thing about you, but that is not really my choice, is it now?" He sighs and cracks a grin in the end.

I have no words at all. What the actual fuck just happened? I can't find any words to say to him, so I sink my bags with groceries to the ground and hug him. He stiffens immediately but hugs me back nonetheless.

"Thank you," I whisper. Shit! I'm falling too hard, and too fast for this guy. My heart is beating too fast and my hands are getting clammy. I let go of Dimitri and pick my bags up, as we make our way to his place.

We use the rest of the evening unpacking the stuff and just talking. Dimitri follows me back to my dorm around 10 PM and we say goodnight to each other, before parting ways again.