vulnerable

3.

November 21, 2022
Stella's P.O.V
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The jet lag was starting to fade — for the most part. Stella stirred in the hotel bed, rolling over to face the window. The curtains were open and the sun slowly rising in the distance. The white comforters consumed her body, making it hard to get up. She was about to go back to sleep, when a knock erupted on the wooden door.

"Who the fuck is that?" Hannah muffled from her bed, keeping herself locked in the pillow fort around her head.

Stella sighed, sitting up in the darkness. "No clue."

Another knock erupted, followed by some laughter. She rolled her eyes. Her feet swung over the bed and hopped on the cold carpet. Herself and Hannah liked the room as cold as the arctic. She was dressed in her pajamas — a matching navy blue set she'd gotten at target, in case she was mysteriously woken up by a footballer in the night...

Thought it was morning, and she could hear her brother's voice talking too. She opened the door, bringing some light into the crack. It was in fact: Christian and Gio. They were already dressed in their warm-up gear. She felt herself blush as Gio looked over her clothes.

"Morning sunshine." He joked, ruffling up her hair.

She swatted his hand away. "Morning."

"What do you want!" Hannah yelled, still in bed.

Christian chuckled, showing off his captain America grin. "Ah, my beautiful, lovely, girlfriend."

"Shut up." She groaned.

Stella coughed back a giggle. "What's up?"

"Come eat breakfast with us." Gio said casually. His eyes looked kind. His words seemed kind. But she couldn't forget how stiff he sounded yesterday...

"Won't you guys be filming vlogs or whatever?" Stella rubbed the back of her neck. "Are mom and dad down there?"

"Mom and dad are still sleeping." Christian answered quickly.

Gio leaned his elbow against the doorway. "Are you worried you'll be on YouTube in your pajamas?"

She shoved him, making Gio lose his balance. Christian chuckled. Stella looked back at Hannah, who was rising to her feet.

"Wanna eat breakfast with them?"

"Well, since the two idiots decided to wake us up. I guess we should, shouldn't we?" She walked past Stella and shoved the boys out of her way. "C'mon."

"You're not changing?" Gio gaped at her.

She narrowed her dark eyes at him. "You're not worried about that unibrow?"

"Hey!" Gio scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Let's go." Stella chuckled to herself.

The four of them walked down the expensive hallway to the elevator. The hotel was somewhat quiet. Stella glanced over the railing at the lobby, but there were only a couple of the U.S footballers up and atom. Gio pulled on Stella's arm, bringing her out of her thoughts. She stumbled into him, realizing she was about to walk into a pole.

"Clumsy." He teased with a laugh. "How'd you sleep?"

"Better." She nodded slowly. "What about you?"

"Still adjusting." He groaned. "But I'll get there."

"Did my brother snore?"

"I heard that." Christian didn't have to look back for her to know that he was grimacing.