"Is everything okay?" she asked, glancing at me worriedly."Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.When we arrived home, I hopped out of the car and headed up to my room without saying a word. Once I got inside my bedroom, I flopped down on the bed and covered my face with my hands, feeling hopeless and frustrated. Suddenly, there was a knock at my door."Come in," I said in a muffled voice.Slowly, the door creaked open and she peeked her head inside the room. She stared at me with concern etched across her face."Are you okay?" she asked me curiously.I nodded before replying. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"I didn't wait for her to answer, as I rolled onto my side and buried my head underneath the pillow to prevent her from seeing the tears gathering in my eyes. I couldn't believe that I was crying so easily. How pathetic.I don't know how many hours passed. Every time I tried to sleep, something kept making me wake up, even if it was just a light tapping noise on my window. At f
My heart dropped as disappointment washed over me. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. She's probably thinking that she deserves better. She deserves better than me. Of course, she does. I'm not perfect. I don't deserve to hold someone like her. I'm not even close to being good enough."Hey, don't think like that," she comforted, reaching her hand out to grab mine. "I don't want to hear such negative thoughts. We're still friends, right?"A warm feeling spread through my chest as she held onto my hand and squeezed it lightly, trying to reassure me. Without a second thought, I lifted her tiny hand up to my lips and kissed the palm gently. I knew that she must be thinking that I was weird and creepy. I knew she was judging me, and I was disappointed with myself. However, I couldn't help it. I love this girl so much."Of course we are. I promise to always be there for you. I'll never abandon you. I'll always fight to protect you," I vowed solemnly."Thank you," she whispered a
"What the hell?" I exclaimed."Don't act dumb," she laughed softly, placing a strand of hair behind her ear.I shook my head in disbelief. "How... how the hell?""Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"I glared at her, "What the hell are you talking about?"She took a few steps closer towards me before wrapping her arms around my waist. My hands immediately found their way to her hips as she pressed her body closer to mine."Let me put it this way," she murmured seductively as she leaned in closer to my face, "I've been in love with you since the day that we first met. Since that day, I have been falling deeper and deeper in love with you every single day.""Every single day that I spent with you was the highlight of my week, and I would gladly spend the rest of my days like that. All I ever dreamed of doing in my whole entire life is spending time with you, and here you are. Here you are, making love to me again."My heart started beating erratically faster as she leaned back, placing
"You're driving me crazy, Romano," she whispered breathlessly."Good," I replied, grinning.Her eyes shot open in surprise and she looked at me inquisitively. "Excuse me?""Good. Because I'm feeling just as crazy as you are right now."A sudden thought entered my mind and I quickly leant forward, whispering in her ear, "Oh yeah, and also, your father wants to speak to you when you get home."She let out a loud groan, closing her eyes momentarily as a frustrated expression appeared on her face. "Can't he wait until I get home later?"I laughed lightly. "Nope. He said it was urgent."Another groan left her lips and she lifted herself off of my lap, running a hand through her hair as she stood up from the bed and headed for the door."Alright," she growled irritably. "I'll deal with him later."I grinned up at her mischievously before pulling her back down to lie beside me once again. I woke up from my sleep, feeling extremely uncomfortable and groaning in annoyance. I opened my eyes sl
She let out a deep sigh as if she was struggling to believe me, but chose not to argue with me. "Anyway, I'll be coming to pick you up soon.""Thanks, Ariana." I mumbled."Don't mention it."The line went dead and I put my phone on the table next to my bed, before climbing off of the bed and heading into the bathroom to freshen up. After I had finished doing that, I made my way downstairs. After a quick trip to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and a couple of pain killers, I made my way into the living room and plopped down onto the couch, turning on the television and flipping through channels until I found a channel that was showing old cartoons that we used to watch together whenever our parents weren't around. I watched one episode of my favorites movie before finally deciding to get dressed and go into the kitchen to help my mother cook breakfast.Once my mother had finished cooking, we started eating breakfast. The four of us enjoyed a quiet and peaceful meal together. Ev
"Love you, sweetie," she called out to me."Love you too, Mom."Once I was back in my bedroom, I quickly stripped out of my clothes and threw them in a pile on the floor before crawling back into my bed and turning on my side facing away from the door so that I didn't disturb anyone. I lay there in bed, staring blankly ahead into space whilst the rest of the world slowly faded into obscurity, waiting for sleep to come. Within seconds, I eventually succumbed to the beckoning darkness which welcomed me as it always did, the gentle embrace enveloping me within its warmth.I woke up the next day with a pounding headache. After throwing some cold water on my face to try to rid myself of the unpleasant sensation that lingered in my skull, I looked over at the clock on my nightstand. 3:45pm. That's definitely not ideal. I thought I had more than three hours to spare till school started and I wanted nothing more than to just lie in bed and avoid thinking about the events of the previous nig
After eating a few more slices of bread and drinking a little more milk, we both finished off our breakfast relatively peacefully. We chatted about various things, mainly the weather and other random topics, until the time for school arrived. We quickly packed up the rest of the snacks I brought over for breakfast, along with some extra clothes, before heading downstairs to meet up with my parents outside. Once we made it to the car parked outside the house, my mother opened the rear passenger door, motioning for me to climb in before walking around and climbing into the driver's seat herself.I climbed into the backseat behind my father and he started the engine. "So, how was school?" he asked as he looked over at me briefly.I shrugged my shoulders. "It was okay.""Okay, that's good. Just keep that attitude up. You'll make lots of friends," my dad encouraged."Yeah, sure.""And hey, how about we stop by fast food restaurant on the way home? I know you haven't had dinner yet.""Yeah
"Okay. But just remember what I said.""I will," she assured me.She waved goodbye to me before opening the door and slipping out of the room. I watched her exit the classroom, before I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. I turned around in time to see my dad hurrying into the room, looking slightly worried."Did you forget something?" I asked."No, just making sure everything is alright between you and Ariana." he explained, looking concerned. "Why did you leave so fast?""Nothing. It was nothing. She just got hungry," I told him, lying through my teeth.He frowned at me. "Is something wrong?""No! Of course not. What makes you say that?"He sighed before placing a hand on my shoulder, reassuringly patting it, trying his best to appear nonchalant. "Well, if you say so. Anyway, I'm going out tonight so please watch the kids for me while I'm gone. Okay?""I'll do my best. Have fun," I replied, giving him a small smile, trying my best to keep my expression neutral. He grinned be
Today marks the first day back after what happened last week. A lot has changed since then. Since we've gotten married, my mother has completely stopped trying to convince me to marry her son, although it has been clear throughout the past weeks that she hates him. But she has also been very understanding towards Sergio, even if she hasn't accepted us yet.My father is currently living with us, as my brother had kicked him out of the apartment last week. He didn't seem very happy about it, especially since it meant that his boyfriend would have to give up their house to live with him. I didn't mind that much though. The less attention that I get from my family, the better.This morning, I decided to wake up early so that I could get some breakfast ready before everyone woke up. I quickly made myself breakfast and put it in a bowl for Sergio. I then proceeded to walk around our apartment getting ready for the day. I was brushing my teeth when the bathroom door burst open and Sergio ra
"Baby, you know that I won't do that ever again. Never. You know that I will always protect you. Always, always. Forever and ever." Sergio reassured me.I nodded in response."Do you remember when you said you needed a break?" I asked quietly."Yeah. Of course I do. Why? Are you feeling better now?" He asked me, rubbing circles on my back."Kind of, yeah." I replied shakily."Well, it's late and I think it's time for us both to sleep. Come on, let's get up and make some coffee so that we can get some rest." Sergio suggested.I reluctantly opened my eyes and slid out of the covers. I followed Sergio out of the room and we entered the kitchen. We poured ourselves two cups of coffee, drinking them gratefully. After putting the cups in the sink, we carried them over to the sofa and sat down."Do you want to talk about it?" Sergio asked me gently, taking my hand in his."Not really." I admitted. "Maybe later?"Sergio smiled at me reassuringly. I leaned forward and kissed him softly, trying
"Wait. What?" I interrupted. "When did that happen?! Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving? What about us? Where were we during those years? Did I know what you were doing? Why did you hide that from me? What happened between you and my brother?"Sergio closed his eyes."You know that it was my fault...you know that I didn't mean for him to become involved with you. It was my choice to leave you alone. But he insisted that you came back with me. That he loved you enough to be willing to sacrifice everything and everything. I tried to convince him that it was in his best interest to stay away. But he wouldn't listen. He was stubborn and refused to change his mind.""He convinced my father that you two were meant to be together. He told my father that you were perfect for each other and he was determined to get married sooner rather than later. That he would wait until you were both eighteen and that it would be worth it because he was sure you'd love him as much as he loved you.
For a few minutes, we just stared at each other, not saying a word. I decided that now was a good time as any to ask him about his relationship with Sergio."So, you and Sergio....?" I started hesitantly.Sergio looked up and stared at me for a few seconds before turning away, his expression unreadable."Yes, we're together." He replied. "But it won't work out." He added when he saw how shocked I looked. "We love each other, I know that. But you'll never be able to understand us like you do. You don't know everything about us. You've known us for all of a day.""How long have I been here?" I asked, not understanding why we were talking about this. Wasn't that supposed to be my question? I had the feeling that I already knew the answer."About seven days." Sergio replied calmly."Seven days?!" I yelled, surprised. "And you didn't think that it was important to tell me that I've been unconscious for seven days?""We thought you needed time to adjust. We wanted to give you some space to
Tears kept spilling from my eyes as I tried to run harder than ever before to catch up with them. Suddenly, I found myself at an empty street. I looked both ways to try and find any sign of the couple and I spotted a familiar figure sitting under a lamppost a little way ahead of me. I broke into a sprint and rushed towards him. As I approached, I began to realize that the man wasn't wearing a jacket, so I figured he must have been freezing.When I got close enough, I could see that he was looking straight ahead with his arms resting on his knees, completely unmoving. I slowly came to stand right next to him, hoping that he would acknowledge my presence. But, he didn't. His expression remained the same and I knew that he was ignoring me. For a second, I stood there, staring at him without moving, completely dumbstruck by what was happening."Are...Are you alright?" I whispered, afraid to make a sudden move lest he would snap out of whatever trance he was currently in.He didn't reply
"Not really. I don't know. I'll probably just hang out with the guys, but that might take a while." I answered."Okay. I'll pick you up at seven then." He said. "How does that sound?""Perfect." I said, smiling slightly. "I'll see you then.""See you then." He responded, hanging up.I stared at my phone for a few minutes longer. I knew there was nothing to worry about. He wouldn't come to pick me up if he knew something was bothering me. He was just being friendly. After a few moments though, I realized that it was already nine in the morning and that the time to wake up everyone else was approaching rapidly."Great. Now everyone else will wake up." I said with a sigh. I picked up my phone and dialled the number of the person who most definitely was not going to appreciate waking up this early. She answered almost immediately."Irish, I was expecting you to call earlier. Is everything OK?" She asked me."Yes, I'm fine. I just woke up and wanted to check if you were awake.""Ah yes. T
"What's so funny?" He asked, frowning at me."Nothing... I was just wondering why you're behaving like this." I said with a chuckle."I'm not behaving like anything." He protested."Oh please, Sergio, don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean. I saw the way you looked at me." I told him.He looked up at me, puzzled."Look, Irish, it's not what you think. I didn't mean to stare at you, ok? It was an accident." He explained quickly.I shook my head. "You know perfectly well that you couldn't have meant to stare. Look, Sergio, you don't seem like yourself these days. You look more serious than ever before. And besides, there's no need for you to feel guilty. You didn't do anything wrong."He stared at me for a while longer, as if trying to find the right words to say."I know. Please. I am sorry, Irish. Can we start over? Forget what has happened." He pleaded earnestly.I sighed. "Okay. I forgive you, Sergio." I said, reaching across the table to touch his hand.He took my hand gentl
"Is it okay with you if we go out for dinner tonight?" Sergio suddenly asked, breaking the silence between us."Why wouldn't it be? That sounds awesome." I answered smiling. "What are your favourite restaurant?"He chuckled lightly at my enthusiasm, and then told me his favourite restaurant nearby. After ordering our meals, we started to discuss our plans for tonight. Although we hadn't talked in a long time and neither one of us was sure about what we wanted to do, we still decided to try to spend some time together. Since we weren't going to be able to talk about what we were going to say later, we decided to keep some of it simple. Just a few casual questions about each other's lives. Then after we finished our meal, we would decide where to go next and what we were planning to do for the rest of the night.It was nice spending time with Sergio again. After everything had happened the last time we spent time together, I had missed him so much. He was someone whom I missed dearly.
But it was hard when I could hear him chewing slowly, every movement accompanied with loud chewing noises which weren't exactly quiet, yet somehow they still managed to reach me. And when I looked up and looked into his beautiful brown eyes... I lost control. Every fiber of my body wanted to jump into his arms and run away from the awkward tension that was surrounding us. And I just couldn't seem to resist."Would you like more coffee, dear?" My mom asked.I snapped out of my thoughts and focused on the question that she had just asked."Yes please." I responded, giving her a weak smile.She nodded her head and made her way toward the kitchen. I heard Sergio move closer to me and stop right beside me. I remained silent while my mother prepared my coffee."You don't have to stay with us," I stated softly. "We're not forcing you to stay. I can handle things perfectly fine on my own. You don't have to stay."He didn't respond to my statement. Instead, he continued to watch me silently un