Well loves here is the start of my newest story. This one is going to have long chapters so please bare with me, writing them will take longer and updates won't be as close as my last story, but I promise it will not be too long. Please enjoy... Without further interruptions I present Sweet Treats ;)

Hospitals always scared me. I never knew why though. I had only been in one once in my life, but I knew better than to think they were good places. Every story I had heard about them was horrible. Someone always died, something bad had happened before hand, or someone was sick. That's exactly why I was here now, my mother, was well dying. I know we had been given a far advance notice, but that had not prepared my brothers and I. We all stood around her bed, as her breathing became harder, and she no longer acknowledged we were in the room. Mason got up and sat on the chair near the door, head in his hands as a small sobs left his lips. Eddie had tears staining his face. And me I stood there numb. I kept looking back and forth, trying to decided what I should do, what I should feel.

Three months ago, our mother came crashing back into our lives. She had left us four years ago, and Mason being the oldest at 18 had to step up and take care of us. I was 13, and poor little Eddie had been 6. Mason had given us anything and everything we could ever need. He never complained to us, and never once bad mouthed our mother. I was not so kind. I hated her for leaving us, for making poor Mason work his ass off in order for us to survive. We had no extended family, no father no nothing and she just left us. She had told us she had some major issues to work out, but I being me was not buying it. Whatever issues they were could not be that bad, not enough to leave your three children to fend on their own.

That is why when she showed up three months ago I had slammed the door of our studio apartment in her face. Mason had finally let her in, and was quick to accept her apology, Eddie of course being only 10 quickly forgot this woman had left us alone. I did not however. I was angry, and mean, and I was not going to let her get away with it. It took her a month to finally convince me to let her try, in that same week she told us she was dying of cancer. They had found the cancer three months before and it was already stage 5. No treatment would save her, and she feared never seeing us again, never being able to explain. I was shocked, hurt, and confused. I wanted to not care but this woman was my mother after all.

So we all decided to let the past be the past and be there for her for her last days. She spent every moment with us, even though she was sick. She would cook, clean, and hang out with us as we watched movies and played board games. Last week things took a turn for the worse. When we brought her to the hospital they told us this was it. The end was near and the only thing they could do was try and make it less painful. They had failed though. No amount of medications made her pain stop, she screamed and thrashed, and two days ago did not even recognize us. But we stayed. Day and night we stayed by her side. She had no one else, and in reality neither did we. Mason had thought home schooling us would be the best, so I did not even have a friend to turn to.

As her breathing slowed, and her chest stopped moving I knew the moment had come. Eddie tried to jump on her as she flat lined but I caught him in my arms as I walked out of the room with him. His sobs were uncontrolled and he kicked and screamed, but I would not let him go. I did not want his last memory of her to be like that. He finally calmed down and I sat down in a chair, his head nuzzled between my shoulder and neck, and I felt his breathing even. He had fallen asleep and it was for the best. I on the other hand had yet to shed a tear. I felt hollow and empty, I felt lost and confused. Mason walked out after the doctor went to check on her. He grabbed Eddie from me. And started to walk to the exit.

"Come on Rose there's nothing else here for us. Let's go home." His words were cold, hard and emotionless.

But I followed anyways. I knew like me he was not going to dwell on this. He had to be strong, we both did for little Eddie's sake. The drive home was quiet, an almost eerie silence. I tried not to think that my mother was now dead, that the only other family the three of us had would never be with us again. But I did try to forgive her, I tried to think that at least we got these last two months together. At least we tried to fix the relationship we had. As we pulled into the apartment parking lot I let all those thoughts go. My life had to go on, nothing was going to come with thinking of the past. I was turning 18 soon and I would have to go into the real world myself.

Mason had insisted that I not work, I tried again and again to convince him I could do it, but he wanted me to deal with my schooling first. He said I needed to get everything in now before it was too late. But he had agreed that when I turned 18 it could all change, and that was a mere two weeks away. I had caught up on my schooling and because of this I was graduating next week. It was not going to be a normal graduation, it would be celebrated with the only two people I had left in my life. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or completely sad about this. My mother had barely missed these two monumental events in my life. I shook my head and headed to my bed.

I grabbed my laptop and started searching for jobs. Many I was not qualified for. Seeing as I had no experience I was at the bottom of the ladder having to climb my way up. After narrowing down my search I found myself faced with my worse fear, the search engine now only showed fast food restaurants and a grocery store cashier. I was not that picky, but I had imagined so much more for myself. I knew college was out of the question, I did not qualify for any scholarships, and loans scared the hell out of me. I was hoping getting a job would help me save, then I could pay my way through college. I did not even want to attend an expensive college, I would be content with the local community college. But even that was out of my financial league. I slammed the laptop shut and settled with sleeping. I could try again tomorrow, when I wasn't as tired.

My eyes were open before my alarm even went off. I don't even know why I had set it. My classes were done and the tutors were now coming in for Eddie. Not only that his babysitter would show up soon after and I would not be needed. I sighed sadly and sat up. Taking a shower was my next best option. Maybe I could wash away some of these feelings, maybe it would wake me up mentally. I stepped into the shower making it as hot as I could. I washed everything away and when I got out of the shower I was surprised by how much better I felt. I had gained a new energy and I planned on using it today. I got dressed in nice black pants and settled for a white blouse. I was going to spend my day job hunting and I figured going in person would be best.

I sat down with Eddie as he ate his cereal and started to think. I had seen a few places downtown that had help wanted signs. All places that were original nothing chain. And I like the thought of that. If I was going to get paid minimum wage it might as well be in a place I would like, a unique place. Like I considered myself to be. Looking back at Eddie I could tell he was sad. After hugging him and telling him everything would be alright his mood lightened up. He was such an easy kid to please and make happy. I knew he would make it past this, and he would be fine. Until then I had to make sure he knew that I was there for him. After a goodbye and a "Be safe" from Mason I got my oversized purse and headed to the door.

I stepped out of the apartment with new determination. I was going to make something out of myself if it was the last thing I did. This would be my chance to have real human interaction. Maybe just maybe I could even make a new friend. I walked into the small cafe around the corner, in which I had seen the seeking help sign. I was greeted by a smiling blond who looked like she just walked off the Chanel runway. I knew everything she wore was designer and wondered what someone like her was doing working here. Everything looked dull in comparison and it was obvious she did not need the money. I tried not to be judgmental and smiled back at her. But she was beautiful and thin. I was afraid she was going to be rude. Most rich girls were, at least those I had run into. But Mason had always told me to give people a chance. He said my attitude would ruin things like friendships for me.

"How can I help you today, I recommend the mocha latte its to die for." She smiled again and I could now tell she for some reason enjoyed this job. The thought of that made me happy.

"Umm yea that sounds wonderful, but I was actually wondering about the hiring sign." Her smile fell a little and I could tell she felt bad about whatever she was going to say. Damn that was not good.

"Oh I'm sorry my mother just hired someone not even 5 minutes ago for the position." I hung my head I had been really hoping this would work. It was a small walk away and I would not need to worry about transportation. But I could not let this get me down. Someone was going to hire me today. I just knew it.

"It's fine thank you anyways." I went to turn around but her small hand on my shoulder stopped me. I looked back stunned but what I saw made me happy. She was being nice, and wanted to help.

"Hey how about that mocha latte, its on me." She smiled again and it was as if I could not say no. "My name is Lissa, my parents own this place." Well that explained why she was working. And this Lissa was quite talkative. "I love it here. Maybe its cause I love caffeine, but who knows." She went behind the counter and started making my drink.

"I'm Rose." I said immediately feeling dumb. Why did my voice have to sound so flat.

"Its wonderful meeting you Rose. Such a pretty name." She looked back and once again smiled. She sure was a happy being. "I have never seen you before, do you not go to St. Valds?"

"Umm no I was actually home schooled. Over protective brother." I gave a small laugh. Mason hated when I said that.

"I know what it's like I have one of those too. He's 22 and spends way too much time worrying about me." She rolled her eyes but you could tell she cared about him the same way I cared about Mason. "Well now that I have met you, we should hang out sometime." She blushed a bit and turned to me. "I don't have many friends at St. Valds. People well they are just so into themselves now a day." I had no idea what she was talking about but nodded anyways.

"Yea I'd love to. My brother is 22 too works for the Guardians actually." Lissa surprised me even more now when she squealed.

"Oh my god my brother works there too. Maybe they know each other?" Before I could answer she started on my drink again.

"Oh Lissa honey can you get... Oh sorry I didn't see you there sweety." The lady stopped and stared at me and she gave me a smile that looked just like Lissa's, this must be her mother.

"Mother this is Rose. I am giving her a boost for her job hunting." Lissa frowned slightly but turned back to her drink making.

"That's wonderful honey." She turned to me and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry about filling the job, you look like a wonderful girl. My name is Rhea by the way" She extended her hand and I shook it. Letting go she started to walk away to the back but stopped and excitement filled her features when she looked back at me. "Darling you should try the пекарня down the street. Dimitri has been going crazy trying to find someone to work with him. Many have quit claiming he's too strict, but he's a good boy. Young little thing to be owning that place on his own." She smiled again and I saw that she must really like this Dimitri guy.

"Thank you so much, I will definitely try it." I had no idea what a пекарня was or what the job entailed but Lissa's mother recommended it so she must think I was capable.

"One medium Mocha Latte. On the house. And one black large coffee, for the hottie at the пекарня." She winked at me and walked away helping a customer that walked in. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at this. She was helping me bribe my first job. She also wrote her number on the napkin for me. I must admit I liked the idea of having a girlfriend to talk to. And Lissa was friendly.

I grabbed both drinks and headed out the door. If bribing him with coffee helped my chances I was willing to do it. I needed a job, and the пекарня was better than nothing. Anything had to be better than working at McDonalds. Not that I looked down on people who worked there, but I wanted something better, something different. I was looking to do something better with my life, and I needed to get paid a little more than minimum wage if I wanted to ever go to college. I stopped suddenly noticing I had no idea what the пекарня was, how was I suppose to find it if I had no clue. I was about to give up when I saw the help wanted sign, and the bakery. Oh so this was a пекарня.

I walked in slowly causing the bell on the door to jingle but when I looked around I saw no one. I took the time to look around, and was highly impressed by the place. Not to mention it smelled amazing. My nose was filled with the sweet smell of baked good, and when I saw the display I was amazed. Everything looked perfect and delicious. This place must be heaven, because it looked and smelled amazing. I could not help but wonder how I had never noticed this place before. It probably had to do with the fact that we did not have a lot of extra money, and never ate out. This would for sure be a hell of a treat for us.

"Hello can I help you?" I should have known he was going to be attractive especially with what Lissa had told me but still here I caught myself staring.

In front of me was one of the most gorgeous, no sexy, no handsome, or maybe he was all of them, man I have ever seen. He could not be more than a few years older than me too. He was tall, very tall, with shoulder length hair, deep chocolate eyes. And his body oh god his body was lean but muscled and amazing. This man had to be fake because no one could ever look this good. I found myself with a dry mouth and wide eyes. I just could not stop looking at him. I felt like a lost puppy hoping he would take me in. I suppose a lot of this well gawking was coming from the fact that I had not gone out a lot, but I knew it was more than that he was fucking hot.

"Excuse me miss are you ok?" His concerned voice brought me out of my musings, and by god he had an accent too.

"Umm.. I..." Uh duh Rose. Now you're speechless. All I could do was point to the sigh, and try not to drop my latte, or his coffee.

"Oh you are looking for a job." And me being me and the mute I was could only nod. "Ok well come back to my office I can interview you." All I could do was follow in silence. And of course watch his ass. Wow. Just wow. He pointed to the seat in front of his desk and I plopped myself down. I was going to have to calm down, and think. I had to talk and soon.

"So what's your name?" He brought out a pad of paper and a pen and started writing.

"Ummm. Rosemarie.. No Rose... Rose Hathaway." Could I be anymore lame? There was no way he was going to hire me.

"Ok well Rose what qualifications do you have to work in a bakery?" Shit. I was definitely not getting this job. But I had to gain some confidence and fast. Especially if I wanted to see this hottie again.

"Well... I'm going to be honest I have none. I have never had a job before. It was a well family situation that held me back. But I can assure you I am a fast learner, and a hard worker. I'm whiling to get the job done and put forth the work." He nodded at this and wrote something else down.

"And how old are you?" He looked up at this question and smirked at me. And what a smirk it was, I felt my knees go weak. Swoon.

"18 in two weeks time." I sat tall turning 18 was something I was very much looking forward to. His smirk increased and he looked down writing again.

"Well Rose you lack experience, but seem determined. When can you start?" I sat there with my mouth open. Did this seriously just happen.

"Well my brother said I couldn't work til after I turn 18 but I am sure I can work something out and start right away." I knew Mason would cave, especially because of everything that had happened.

"OK Rose. Well I will have you fill out this paper work and he will need to sign it to say he is fine with this. And when he does, you can start. You have been hired dear." He smirked again. "You must like caffeine a lot." He pointed to my two cups.

"Oh no this is actually for you." He gave me a confused look, and I then noticed how odd that must have sounded. "Oh god Lissa sent it for you. Rhea her mother told me about the job. So since I was coming here to ask about it she said you liked coffee. Or something. So I brought it. Here. For you." Sweet baby jesus I was rambling. Sounding like a complete fool, in front of a god.

"Thank you Rose that was sweet of you. I suppose it is time for my caffeine fix." He got up from behind his desk and reached out. With shaking hands I gave him his coffee. He looked down at me from his lofty height and a smile crossed his lips. Not the smirk from before no this was full on showing teeth smile. And I was done for. I being the fool I am dropped my latte.

"Oh my goodness." I sprung up deeply embarrassed and I felt my cheeks flush. "I'm sorry, I'll clean it." I started to look around to find something to clean it with but came back empty handed.

"It's ok Rose. I drop things all the time. Butterfingers." He laughed at his joke and I froze. Could this guy get anymore sexier. Everything he did was better than the last. His laugh was amazing. He grabbed a towel from his desk and started to clean up. I still frozen. And for some reason he found this amazing. He kept looking up at me, and I swear I saw that he was enjoying frazzling me so much. I picked up the now empty cup and threw it in his small waste basket.

"Well seeing as I ruined your drink, how about I give you a treat?"OH god yes please. Oh wait a baked treat, you're in a bakery. "Any treat you want, I'll give to you sweet Rose." He winked as he said this and I once again froze. Was he? Could he honestly be flirting with me.

"You don't have to it's quite alright." He turned around and I nearly ran into him.

"Well I want you taste them all, and tell me what you think. I know you'll definitely enjoy my treats." He winked again and walked to his display. He grabbed a box and put one of each in it. "Alright here you go. And please grace me with your presence tomorrow and let me know when you can start."

"Of course thank you..." I stared at him not wanting to be a creep and say his name. He had never told me it.

"How rude am I Rose." He walked around the counter and extended his hand. "Dimitri Belikov." I gave him my hand and I swear when we touched my whole world lit up. His touch was amazing. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that a customer walked in and he let go of my hand to tend to them.

I walked out of the bakery in a daze. Wow. It was the only thing I could think of. He was gorgeous. And I did not know much about relationships and courting, but I could have sworn he was flirting with me. God if only I had not made such a fool of myself. I promised myself that next time I saw him I would step up and flirt back. I mean how could I let someone as handsome, as sexy as him slip through my fingers. I smiled at myself and soon the smile faded when I thought of him already having a girlfriend. What if he really was just being nice, like a boss should be, my shoulders slumped. I started to walk away and then scowled myself. No Rose you find out first before you get all sad and depressed. He could be single, and if he's in a relationship maybe he's not happy in it. I laughed at my inner musings I barely knew this man and he was taking over my mind.

I wondered around the little town we lived in for a few more hours, until I grew hungry. I wanted to, so badly to eat at a diner I found but like the coffee shop I had no money. I pulled out one of the pastries. I figured it would help me out until I could get home and eat something more filling. After the first bite I froze. I had no idea what the pastry was but it was to die for. It had a flakey sweet crust and was filled with what I could only come up with as cheese. Taking another bite I noticed there was also some kind of fruit in there. I closed my eyes and let the flavors sink in. I had never eaten anything like this before. I knew it was because Mason always did the groceries and he was a health nut, but still this was out of this world. I opened my eyes and nearly clasped.

I had not noticed I ended up where I had first started my walk. And with my luck I had stopped in front of the bakery. Dimitri was standing in front of me another smirk on his face. I tried to think about what I was doing, and vaguely remembered I was moaning and groaning over his pastries. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks and he chuckled at me. I was about to look down when I remembered I promised myself that I would be more confident around him. So instead I smiled back and took another bite. This caused him to raise his eyebrow, and the smirk turned into an actual smile.

"I see you like that one. Personally it's my favorite too. Mama use to make them all the time for me. It's her recipe." He pointed to the small table that sat out in the patio of the bakery and I took a seat. "I thought you would be home by now."

"I would if Mason was. He doesn't come home until 5. I just decided to explore the town. I won't lie I haven't really left the apartment since we moved here a couple years ago." I pouted my lips at that. "My brother is way too protective."

"That's not a bad thing. Just means he cares. I'm the same way with my sisters." He looked in thought and I could almost detect some hurt in his eyes. "Anyways my new employee are you hungry? I closed the shop down for lunch. I know this awesome diner. My treat." He stood up and extended his hand to me to help me up.

"Oh I couldn't do that. I mean.. You know. It's just that." I looked down ashamed that I could not because I felt bad for him paying for it.

"Come on it's fine. We will be spending a lot of time together. Might as well get to know each other. Its just lunch." His eyes were pleading with me and I had no idea why. Why would he want to get to know me better? I understood wanting to get to know him, I mean just look at him. But me. I was plain Jane. Yea I had a bit of an attitude but I had nothing to me. Ok maybe I lied. I was a looker, Mason had once told me. I had been feeling down and his need to comfort me kicked in. I knew I was good looking but it was nothing to me. My curves brought about the wrong attention.

"Fine. But next time it's on me." He rolled his eyes as I grabbed his hand. He pulled me up and linked his arm with mine.

Have you ever felt like someone you just met had been your friend forever. Dimitri was like that. He joked and asked questions and I joked and answered them for him. I found myself laughing and smiling like I never had before. And his smiles and laughs were to die for. Every time I made him smile or laugh it would reach his eyes and I swear they would sparkle. I did not know why but I ended up telling him my whole life story. I opened up about my mother and he listened, like really listened. He comforted me and when I got sad found a way to make me smile again. I found out small things about him, he was 20. He was Russian. And loved to bake.

"So I have told you all about me. How about you share with me too." He looked down at the now cold food and smiled, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere. I also noticed we had been here for 2 hours already.

"Well, I moved here a year ago. My family is still in Russia, but in two months they will all be here. They wanted to make sure the bakery would work out over here. You know a smart move. It would be horrible if it failed and they came out here." He looked up and smiled weakly. "I miss then very much. Its been hard. I don't have anyone here myself. But I deal." He reached over to grab my hand but suddenly pulled away. "Rose I apologize but I need to get back Ms. Ozera will be upset I don't have her order ready on time."

We started to walk back in silence. But every once in a while I would notice him stealing a glance my way. I also noticed how every time he did a concerned look would cross his face. I only wished I knew what was going on in his mind. He fascinated me. But I figured since I would be working with him from now on I would be more than able to figure it out. I had also been informed that I was his only other employee. That in itself excited me. As we neared the shop a tall pale, black haired woman was waiting there. She spotted us and smiled at Dimitri but eyed me warily. Dimitri turned to me.

"Keep your promise Roza. I'll see you tomorrow." He entered the shop with the woman following but I was once again frozen. Roza. Oh god. That sounded amazing. Roza. I knew it was my name in Russian. And I loved it. I walked home in another daze. What was this man doing to me? Whatever it was I loved it. He had made me forget about everything bad that had happened lately, filling it with hope and happiness. Tomorrow could not come soon enough.

So what does everyone think? Do you like Rose? And how much of a flirt is Dimitri? What do you think will happen? Should I continue? Let me know your thoughts, I love reading the reviews and PM's you guys send me!