A/N: I have deleted both The Hangover and Sacrifices and Sorrows as neither I can put a good plot to. Instead, I will be starting afresh, beginning with this new story:

Plot: Adrian and Dimitri have been best friends for a very long time; however, when Adrian brings his new girlfriend to meet Dimitri for the first time, all hell breaks loose. Will Adrian and Dimitri overcome their newfound rivalry to recover their friendship?

This chapter will be in Adrian's Point of View. Please read and review!

BelikovsRoza1697

xxx

I saw her for the very first time in an unlikely setting.

I had been sitting alone in my favourite bar, sipping slowly from my drink. The bar – named Benny's – wasn't much, but it sold my favourite malt whiskey for the cheapest price in town. I wasn't broke, far from it, in fact: my parent's had left me a large sum of money to spend on my career when they left for Portugal three years ago. All that money was still mostly intact, as interest continually topped it back up whenever I withdrew some, which wasn't often at all.

My parents were high class businessmen: my mom worked in the financial industry, travelling all over the world and speaking about a dozen languages; my dad was a writer and he wrote books on almost every genre, earning him a lot of money. Portugal seemed good for them both and they left me in Montana, with a kiss on the cheek and the promise of a full bank account. I was in my mid-to-late-teens by then, so I wasn't too bothered about not seeing my parents for an unlimited amount of time, but as time passed, I began to miss simply the knowledge of having two caring figures in my life. But, after a little consultation with Dimitri, I was convinced to begin to live without parents.

Here we come to Dimitri: Dimitri and I met when we were seven. He had just moved to America, after fleeing Russia with his mother and three sisters in fear of his father: an abusive man who took pleasure in the pain of his family. He was a very tall, brown-eyed male with the body of an athlete. Girls fainted around him, but he ignored them, not at all interested in what anyone had to say to him. He insisted on keeping quiet and not socialising with others, but I managed to crack through some of his tough exterior to find the good person that he really was.

Ever since then, we had been inseparable. After my parents left, Dimitri never left my side and refused to let me buy a flat alone. He bought an apartment away from our old school and where we used to live so that we could totally disconnect from that other way of life. We'd lived together for almost a year now and not a single argument, even though we had a few strong ones, had cancelled our friendship. I could honestly say without a doubt, that we were best friends.

That morning, he had woken me while he was dressing for work. He had to leave a lot earlier than me, as he worked at a gym, teaching people how to train correctly. He had needed his t-shirt, which I was conveniently laying on. I had drunk a little too much that night and collapsed onto the couch, falling asleep on impact, not taking time to move things out from under me.

'Adrian!' an annoyed Russian accent spoke and I wearily opened my eyes.

'What time is it…?' I croaked, my mouth dry despite the amount of alcohol I had consumed.

'Five AM, now would you please move your fat ass of my clothes?' he said exasperatedly. I held up my hands,

'Alright, alright, keep your hair on…' I rolled my eyes and very slowly stood, so as not to displace my very fragile bones. As Dimitri grabbed the heavily creased shirt from the couch, I grinned,

'Hey, you know, I might have farted on that. I've heard drunks can't control their flatulence too well. Sorry, man…' I grinned and I heard him sigh, tirelessly.

'I hate you so much…' he said, even though he didn't mean it. I watched as he flung the shirt directly into the laundry basket and ran upstairs to get another one. I lay back down and fell into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

I'd woken and dressed quickly after spotting that it was around ten-ish. Dimitri had long gone and there was a note on the table saying that we needed more milk. I ignored it, as usual and instead focused on breakfast: a half-eaten pizza and some Fanta. Only the best food in this house – cue heavy sarcasm.

After eating, I had finished off some forms that needed signing and delivering. I worked for a bank, like my mom, and thanks to her, I'd secured a work-from-home position, meaning I rarely needed to go into the building and also, that I worked in a way I liked.

I picked up these letters and then left for the bar, dropping the envelopes into the postbox on the way.

And here we come, back to the beginning. I had seated myself and ordered a whiskey. I was gently sipping it, watching the television behind the bar, when a beautiful brown-haired woman, walked in and sat at an isolated table. I grinned, taking her appearance in: long dark hair that went down to her back, slightly tanned skin and a perfect figure. I quickly downed my drink and ignored the bartender offering me another, instead walking briskly to her table and sliding in on the other spare chair.

'Why, hello there, sweetie' I winked and she rolled her eyes, turning and looking out of the window instead. I frowned; usually my witty charm and looks brought women to knees, much like they acted around Dimitri. I looked up and tried to catch her gaze, but she refused to look at me. I sighed and opened my mouth, about to say something, when she interrupted,

'Aren't you going to move?' she said, annoyed. I raised an eyebrow,

'No… why?'

'I want to eat'

'What's stopping you?'

'Your face. It's putting me off eating' she smirked and my mouth dropped open. I wasn't expecting that. At least it got a smile out of her though. The simple gesture made her features light up and I suddenly wanted to stay with her.

'I'm sorry to hear that… what's your name?' I tried to make a little conversation, but she stayed silent.

'My name's Adrian: you'll need to remember that' I grinned and she frowned,

'Why's that?'

'Because you'll be screaming it later' I winked and she laughed a beautiful tinkling sound.

'Nice one, that deserves you some info, I guess,' she paused and smiled up at me. Score, I thought, 'My name is Rose'

'Rose, eh? Well, I can see why you're called that… you're as beautiful as one…' I smiled, trying to pull off a cheesy cute smile, not one of my specialities, but always a winner with the ladies…

'Yeah whatever' she rolled her eyes.

… apparently not.

'So, uh, where do you live?' I smiled normally and she noticed the change. She visibly relaxed and grinned,

'Why, you a full-time stalker?'

'Nope, only part-time,' I grinned and she laughed again.

'Okay, I live on 56, Ruby Lane, know it?' I nodded eagerly,

'Yeah. I only live a few streets away: the block of flats on Carter's? Number 4' she smiled again,

'Yeah, I know it… you live alone…?' she murmured, clearly interested in me now.

'Nope… flatmate,' cue a frown, 'b-b-but he's always out, like, I don't even know why I call him a flatmate, he's never in. He has a busy job…' the frown disappeared and she grinned, probably laughing at my idiocy. I could feel the blush creeping onto my cheeks.

'Well that's nice. But let's not talk about him; what do you do for a living?' she grinned and I was pleased that I was no longer the leader in our conversation.

'I'm an accountant, but I work at home mostly. It's easier for me' I smiled and she cocked her head,

'Oh? How's it easier?'

'Closer to the mini-fridge' I replied, with a wink.

'Mmm possibly the best invention, besides toasters… ooh and chocolate fountains' Rose grinned and I laughed. And so began our conversation which lasted hours. By the time her bill arrived, we'd both missed around 8 calls from our friends, who clearly needed us for something.

We didn't care; we just wanted to be in each other's company. However, finally, the time came for her to go. She stood and gathered up her belongings,

'Well, Mr Ivashkov, it seems the time has come for me to depart' she said, granting me another smile. I grabbed a pen quickly and scribbled my number on a napkin.

'Here, call me, anytime' I grinned, handing the paper to her. She took it and laughed softly,

'Alright then. Till the next time…' she winked and walked out.

~~~~FNSG~~~~

'You look happy…' Dimitri remarked as he walked in, depositing his bag near the front door. I nodded, stretching my legs out on the sofa.

'I am. Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?' I protested, taking a sip of the coffee I'd just made. I'd even made Dimitri one, setting it on the table near his chair. He sat and stared at the cup for a few moments.

'Aren't you going to drink it? You do know what it is, right? It's co-ffee,' I enunciated.

'Yes, Adrian, I used to drink tons of the stuff back in Russia' he rolled his eyes and picked it up, sniffing it suspiciously,

'Excuse me, what the hell are you doing?'

'Have you poisoned it?'

'No!'

'Have you spiked it?'

'No, Dimitri'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, Dimitri'

'Hmm…' he tentatively took a sip and grinned, clearly satisfied. He sat back, relaxing in the seat, 'So what's with the generosity, huh?'

'I don't know what you mean. I'm always like this.' I grabbed the remote and turned on the television, scanning through the program list for something good to watch.

'That's rubbish. Did you get a pay rise?' I ignored him and looked through the DVDs instead.

'How's about watching The Matrix?' I asked and he shrugged,

'Did you get promoted?'

'Inception?'

'Did someone buy you dinner?'

'Star Wars?' I was beginning to get tireless now.

'Did you get a letter from your parents?'

'Toy Story?' I said exasperatedly, my voice breaking slightly. He chuckled,

'Sure, whatever you- you met a girl! You did, didn't you?' I sighed as he grinned triumphantly, 'I knew it!' I nodded,

'Yeah, in Benny's. I love her, for sure. No doubting this time' I grinned and relaxed back into the couch. He raised an eyebrow,

'Adrian, you've said that to a lot of people. Girls that have been around here, you just throw around that phrase when you don't even mean it'

'I always mean it; it's the other people that abuse my love for them'

'Adrian, you said you loved me once'

'When?'

'Last week, I picked you up from Benny's. The bartender called me, you had too many whiskeys. I brought you back and let you sleep on the couch and you said,' now he put on a girly impression of my voice, 'Dimitri, you're my saving grace, I hope you know this: I. Love. You. Never doubt it babe' I snorted,

'I didn't say that'

'Yes, you did. You also tried to kiss me, but let's not go into that' he winked and walked upstairs to change. I rolled my eyes and was about to change the channel on the television, when I heard a scream from upstairs. I ran up there and laughed when I saw Dimitri holding up his pristine, washed and ironed clothes. I had some spare time on my hands, so I had put all of our clothes into the wash and ironed them till they looked brand new.

'What have you done with Adrian? Tell me!' he screeched in a high pitched voice and I laughed.

'Absolutely nothing, babe' I winked and he shuddered, walking into his room and slamming the door.

'When I meet this girl, I'm going to give her a medal, a shiny medal. No, a gold, shiny medal… with diamonds…' I heard him mutter. Grinning, I settled back onto the couch and sighed,

'This was a fun day…' I laughed.