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I stir awake as I feel the bed slightly moving. My eyes open and meet the ceiling.
The white drywall ceiling stares back at me.
I didn't have a nightmare. For the first time in two years, I didn't have a nightmare.
"No. No- no- I-n-"
My head snaps to whimpers and pained cries coming from my right.
Alessio.
He thrashes around in the bed, his brows furrowed as he whimpers in his sleep.
He's having a nightmare. Oh my god.
"Gio-" I put my hand on his shoulder and with that, he jolts up.
"Isabella?" His head frantically whips towards me. His eyes find me and relax slightly. "Where's Amaya? Where's ama-"
"Right here," I interrupt him. "She's right here." I nod my head to between my and Alessio, where Amaya sleeps peacefully.
His head turns downwards. He sighs and slumps back on the bed at the sight of her.
How long has he been having nightmares for?
His forearms cover his eyes and when his shoulders start to shake I realize that... he's crying.
Oh my god.
I can't help it. Even though him coming back and explaining doesn't erase all the damage it caused, I love him more than anything. And I just got him back.
I ache to touch him. To hold him and tell him I love him. I ache for something that my tortured soul had been missing these past two years.
I slowly get up from the bed and walk to the other side. I slide right next to him and wrap an arm around his torso.
He tenses at the contact. His cries come to a stop.
My heart finds some relief.
I drag my hand up to his cheek as I rest my chin on his chest and glance up at him.
"Gio." I whisper.
His hand drags away from his face, allowing his vulnerable, bloodshot eyes to stare into mine.
My heart breaks.
He's been suffering too. I have no idea what he went through this past two years.
He thought he was going to die. He was completely and utterly alone. He lived in a motel. Correction, a crappy motel.
I wipe my hands against his tears. I hold back a sob and glance up to him. I try to pull my hand away but his hand rests on top of mine and stops me.
"I'm so sorry." He says. "Isabella, you have to believe me, I'm so terribly sorry."
