***Theo’s POV***

“Shit,” I choked out. I pushed Dimitri away from myself.

“What the hell?” Oliver repeated, staring between us in confusion. “I just wanted to pee, and I end up seeing you making out with Dimitri Ivanov. Goddamn my bladder.”

“Oliver, it wasn’t what it looked like,” I said weakly.

“It wasn’t?” Dimitri asked in confusion. I smacked his arm, shooting him a glare to let him know he wasn’t helping.

“It looked like you were trying to eat his face with your tongue,” Oliver said, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door.

“You didn’t lock it?” I asked Dimitri, wanting to strangle him.

“In case you forgot, you pulled me away to see if I was listening to you,” Dimitri said patiently. “I never got the chance to lock it.”

I face-palmed. “God I could strangle you.”

“Get in line,” he said, smirking and leaning against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking between me and Oliver as if watching some entertaining TV show.

“So what the hell is going on here?” Oliver asked, his eyes locked on me.

I chewed on my lip nervously. “If I said nothing, would you believe me and let it drop?”

“If I said I was a purple unicorn, would you believe me?”

“Yes?” I said hopefully.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at me. “Start explaining.”

I sighed in defeat. Dimitri moved to put an arm around my waist, but I pushed his hand away, glaring at him again.

I slowly turned my gaze to Oliver. “Fine. I’ve been secretly dating him for a few days,” I grumbled. “Only Kim knows.”

“Not even Thalia knows?” Oliver asked, working to contain his shock.

I shook my head. “No. And she’s not going to know, because you’re not going to tell her!”

“Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands innocently. “I won’t tell her. I won’t tell anyone. I just…damn, I think I’m going into shock, Theo.”

“Oliver,” I groaned. “Stop it. You weren’t supposed to find out.”

He pouted. “Fine. I see how it is. Bromance over. The ship has officially sunk.”

“Ah, and the background character comes fourth to add drama to the situation,” Dimitri said, clearly amused.

“Dimitri, shut up!” I snapped.

“Stop calling me a background character! God, if we really were story characters, you would be breaking the fourth wall and making this uncomfortable for everyone involved,” Oliver grumbled.

“Hush,” Dimitri said, giving him a dismissive gesture and turning to me. “And you were worried about people finding out.”

“I still am. Oliver, you can’t tell anyone,” I said seriously, my gaze burning a hole right into his soul.

“I won’t. Just stop staring at me like that,” Oliver said uncomfortably.

“I can’t believe you found out,” I said miserably, burying my face into my hands.

“Why is it such a bad thing?” Dimitri asked.

I pulled my face out of my hands. “Because you’re a friggin’ freak!”

“Oh my,” Dimitri said, smirking. “That was a mean thing to say to your boyfriend, little Theodore.”

“Oh dear god. He just called you his boyfriend. I still have to pee, but it’s not worth it. Carry on. Forget about me,” Oliver said, turning to leave.

I hurried over and grabbed his arm, spinning him to face me. “Oliver, you can’t tell anyone,” I said seriously.

“I get that Theo. I’m just incredibly uncomfortable right now,” he said, glancing over my shoulder at Dimitri. He returned his gaze to me. “So I’m just going to leave, and pretend that I never saw anything.”

I released him and nodded. He shot me another confused look before leaving the bathroom. I slumped against the door, hating my life.

“Honestly little Theodore, it’s not that bad,” Dimitri said, coming over.

“Don’t touch me,” I said, holding up my hand to stop him.

“You know I don’t listen well.” He pulled me into his arms. I let him.

I dropped my head against his shoulder. “Dammit,” I said with a sigh. “We have to be more careful!”

“Normally, I would say that I don’t give a damn who knows. But I respect your reasons for keeping it a secret, so next time, I’ll make sure I keep ignoring you and lock the door,” he said, brushing my hair out of my eyes and kissing me.

“Does it bother you that it’s a secret?” I asked quietly.

Dimitri shook his head. “No. You should know by now that things rarely bother me, little Theodore.”

“It’s just…I do feel bad about it Dimitri. I really do,” I said, dropping my gaze to my feet.

He brushed his lips against my neck. “Don’t feel bad, little Theodore. If it bothered me, I would tell you. I understand your reasoning. Take your time coming to terms with everything. When you’re ready to let people know, so am I.”

I gripped his arms. He was an obnoxious freak, but I was grateful I had him. I didn’t deserve him, not when I kept him a secret like this. But he wanted to be with me enough that he put up with my secrecy, and I took comfort in that.

I tilted my head up and kissed him desperately, wanting him to know that I did care about him and want to be with him. He kissed me back, the same passion present in him.

We broke away and I left the bathroom without another word to him. I went over to my usual table and sat down, not meeting Oliver’s eyes.

Dimitri came back into the room a minute later and sat with his friends, instantly becoming engaged in conversation with them. I couldn’t bring myself to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Theo, are you okay?” Thalia asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, forcing myself to look up at her.

“Thalia dear, we’re tutoring tonight, correct?”

I forced myself not to blush at the sound of Dimitri’s voice. He had perched himself on the end of the table again, his eyes resting on Thalia.

“Yep. Kim told me you were finally going to help us,” she said.

“Ah, so sorry about that. I’ve been…preoccupied,” he said, his eyes flashing in amusement. Oliver shot me a look, which I ignored as my blush finally appeared. I ducked my head so no one would notice.

“We should hang out again after,” Thalia said, blushing lightly. Oh dear god. Please don’t tell me she was still crushing on MY boyfriend. How rude of her.

“Well of course. I’m free,” he said, absentmindedly playing with the edge of his scarf as he spoke. I had noticed he had a habit of doing that.

“Theo, do you want to hang out afterschool?” Oliver asked, shooting me a look that said we had a lot to talk about.

“No,” I said.

“Let me reword that. Theodore Taylor Light, we are hanging out afterschool or else I am going to beat you unconscious with a fish and drag you to your house,” Oliver said simply.

“Strange threat. Your middle name is Taylor?” Dimitri asked.

“Yea, yea, yea. Oliver, don’t call me Theodore. You’re only going to encourage him,” I said, jerking my thumb at Dimitri in annoyance.

“I don’t think he needs any encouraging,” Oliver mumbled.

“What was that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Nothing,” he said, giving me a sweet smile.

“One day, you’re going to fall asleep, and I’m going to slit your throat and sacrifice you to the dark lord Satan.”

“Well, that’s kinky.”

“No. Our bromance is over, remember?”

“The S.S. Tholiver 2.0 has set sail.”

“Stop saying Tholiver!” Thalia said in annoyance.

“Thalia, you’re just jealous that we have a bromance and you don’t,” Oliver said, slapping his hand over her mouth. He winced and pulled his hand away. “Gross, Theo, your sister licked me!”

“That, Oliver, is not my problem,” I said.

“Well, this is surely interesting. But I have some work to do. I’ll see you later Thalia,” Dimitri said, winking at her and walking away, not catching her deepening blush.

“Thalia, do you have a crush on Dimitri?” I asked suspiciously.

“No. Don’t be stupid Theo,” she said, embarrassment in her eyes.

Oh this bitch.

The bell rang and we all jumped in surprise. We got up and made our way to class. When the end of the day came around, Thalia disappeared with Kim and Dimitri, and Oliver basically dragged me down to the parking lot.

“Drive!” he commanded as we got in my car.

I rolled my eyes and drove us to my house. We went inside together and into the kitchen in search of food.

“I can’t question you until my tummy is full,” he explained, grabbing a bag of chips.

“Joy,” I grumbled, really not wanting to talk about me and Dimitri with Oliver.

“Hi boys,” my dad greeted, coming into the kitchen.

“Hey dad. Do we have any other snacks?” I asked as I peered into one of the cupboards.

“There are Chips Ahoy in the bottom cupboard,” he said, grabbing a glass and opening the refrigerator.

I watched him, shocked by how much I missed Dimitri. The way we would walk into his house and Galen would latch onto him, slamming him into the refrigerator. As terrifying as Galen was, he did have an adorable relationship with Dimitri.

I grabbed the Chips Ahoy and my dad slid sodas over to us. Oliver grabbed some napkins and eyed our fattening food happily.

“Boys! Why do you have junk food before dinner? Jared, did you give the boys junk food?” my mom demanded as she entered the room.

“Nope. Theo found the Chips Ahoy you hid,” dad said, leaning against the counter and sipping on his milk.

“Dad!” I cried, glaring at him. “You traitor.”

“It’s every man for himself,” he said with a shrug.

“But I’m your son! You’re supposed to defend me,” I whined.

“Why would I do that? Have you seen your mother’s wrath?” He set his glass down and ruffled my hair before leaving the room.

“Traitor!” I called again.

“No junk food for you Theodore. Or you, Oliver. Go play in the basement. America has enough of an obesity problem without you two joining the statistics,” mom said, snatching the junk food away from us.

“Calling us fat, huh? Huh?” I asked.

“Basically. It’s called a gym,” she said.

“God you people are mean!” I said, grabbing Oliver’s wrist and dragging him down to the basement.

We went to the back of the basement and sat on the couches down there. Oliver crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at me. “Get explaining.”

I sighed and told him everything. He listened intently, trying to hide his shock as I told him about everything.

He sat back when I was done. “Wow. Okay. So you’re secretly dating Dimitri Ivanov. Did you sleep with Sparkles?”

“No!” I snapped, blushing. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “That’s the thing Oliver. I don’t think I will. I guess I’m afraid that if I give him my virginity, he’ll leave me. And…I don’t want that. I really do like him.”

“So you think he’s just in it for sex?” Oliver asked. “Because your virginity is totally mine.”

“I knew that condom was for me.”

“Dammit, you got me.”

I sighed. “But seriously, I guess I do have a slight fear. He told me he really likes me but I just…I just want to be sure. It’s hard to explain. I guess I just want to have a nonsexual relationship with him since he normally only has sexual relationships.”

“Nah, I get it. That makes sense,” Oliver said with a nod. “But how long do you honestly think you can keep it a secret? Especially from Thalia?”

“I think we can keep it a secret pretty long,” I said, pushing Alek and Thalia out of my mind. I had carefully left out the part about Alek and Dimitri being related. I had promised Alek I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I wasn’t going to break that promise.

The sound of the front door shutting reached us and we glanced at each other. I sighed and stood up.

“That’s Thalia. Let’s go get her,” I said.

Oliver followed me out of the basement and upstairs. We walked into the kitchen together and I froze, staring in shock.

“Don’t look so surprised little Theodore,” Dimitri said, smirking.

“What is he doing here?” I demanded, glaring at Thalia.

“I invited Dimitri and Kim over,” Thalia said with a shrug.

“Well this is incredibly awkward and uncomfortable,” Oliver said with a sigh.

“You’re telling me,” my dad said, suddenly appearing behind Oliver. “Now I have to find enough food to feed five teenagers. God, I’m going to broke.”

“Dad, this is Kim. And I think you remember Dimitri,” Thalia said.

“How can you forget Dimitri? The guy puts glitter in his hair,” Oliver said.

“Ah, and the background character still insists on talking,” Dimitri said with a sigh.

“Dimitri! Quit being mean,” Kim said, nudging him. “That’s Oliver Castro. We’ve had classes with him before, remember?”

“No. But that’s probably because I really couldn’t care less,” Dimitri said with a shrug.

Oliver turned to me. “I hate him,” he announced.

“Join the club,” I said with a sigh.

“Hush up Theo. You’re just jealous that your sister is making friends while you’re still stuck with Oliver,” dad said.

“Hey!” Oliver and I whined at the same time.

“What’s wrong with me?” Oliver asked with a frown.

“Oh, nothing,” dad said with an innocent smile before moving into the kitchen to find food.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I said to Oliver. “Thalia can stick with Dimitri and Kim.”

I pulled Oliver upstairs and to my bedroom, shutting the door. We dropped onto my bed and turned on the TV, putting on Supernatural to kill some time until dinner was ready.

About halfway through the episode, my bedroom door opened. I glanced over and paled as Dimitri stepped in, shutting the door and looking around.

“Nice room, little Theodore. I told Thalia and Kim that I was coming up here to use the bathroom,” he said.

“Well you’re not shitting in my room,” I grumbled.

“No, I’m not,” he said, coming over to my bed. He glanced at Oliver. “Away with you, unimportant boy.”

“Fine. I’ll go to the bathroom, since I couldn’t earlier today since somebody had to freaking make out in there,” Oliver said with a pout, getting up and leaving my bedroom.

Dimitri went over and locked my door. He gestured to it. “There, see? I locked it this time, just for you dear.”

He came over and sat down next to me on my bed. I sighed and leaned against him. He wrapped an arm around my waist.

“You could tell Thalia,” he suggested.

“No,” I said, shooting him a dirty look. “No one else.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, smirking. “No one else, I promise.”

“I’m sorry Dimitri,” I said with a sigh.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, kissing me. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I understand, little Theodore.”

“Would it make it better if I sang the Tarzan soundtrack?” I offered.

Dimitri brightened. “Tarzan is simply fabulous!” he squealed. Although it was an awkward squeal since he forgot to speak without his accent, sending his usually high and musical voice down to a bass.

“Anytime I want to have a legit Russian boyfriend, I’m just going to mention Tarzan,” I said, grinning a little.

Dimitri cleared his throat. “My apologies. Tarzan excites me more than it should.”

“I like it,” I said, laughing a little and kissing him.

He cupped my face in his hands. His hand slid down to its usual and familiar place on my neck as we deepened our kiss.

Dimitri pulled me so that I was sitting in his lap, my legs wrapped around his waist. Our lips broke apart and reconnected urgently, both of us overwhelmed with feelings.

God, how had I fallen so hard for this obnoxious and flamboyant boy? We were complete opposites, and he infuriated me beyond words. But I couldn’t stop the strong emotions I had for him. The need to hold him close and kiss him until I asphyxiated.

We finally broke apart from each other. Dimitri had his usual smirk on his face, but his frosty eyes were bright and alive.

“I should get back to Thalia and Kimberly darling before they wonder where I am,” he said, pecking my lips before standing up.

I watched him leave my bedroom, wishing I had the words to tell him how I felt about him. Oliver returned a minute later, sitting next to me and picking glitter out of my hair.

“The side effects of dating Dimitri Ivanov,” he said, flicking the glitter to the floor.

“I think I might love him,” I said.

“I think I just had a heart attack,” Oliver said.

“Oliver, I’m serious!”

“So am I!” He shook his head. “Theo, you’ve only been dating the guy for a few days.”

“That’s why it’s freaking me out!” I snapped. I ran a hand through my hair. “I can’t explain it Oliver. I just…feel it.”

“God, it’s like we really are in a story,” Oliver groaned, shaking his head at me.

“I just hope he doesn’t get bored with me,” I said nervously.

As much as it freaked me out, I did think I was in love with Dimitri Ivanov. But it terrified me beyond words, because I didn’t know if I could handle being one of Dimitri’s hit-it-and-quit-it buddies.