Loving Olivia

Epilogue

Nico

This is starting to feel awkward. I look around the room and no one is interacting. Adrian and Sofia are on one side, and Andres and Ana are on the other, while Olivia and I are kind of stuck in between them in no man's land.

"I think I'll go get some more drinks," Olivia says nervously.

Before I can respond, she's leaving the game room and heading upstairs. Sofia is about to follow her, but I stop her. I need to take care of this myself.

I wait until I can no longer hear Olivia's footsteps and then turn around to face the group. "Okay, listen up, people. I don't give a crap if this might seem weird to you. It's Olivia's freaking birthday. So start acting like it."

They all look absolutely clueless, like they don't know what to do with themselves. "Just start a game of pool or something. Anything. I'm counting on you, Andres," I say pointing at him.

"Fine. Just tell Adrian to stop glaring at me every five seconds," he responds.

"Tell Andres he better stay away from Sofia," Adrian retorts.

"Guys, come on. I don't have time for this. Just get over it or you can get the hell out, " I say angrily.

I huff and make my way upstairs. I really hope Olivia's not upset. It's the last thing I want on her birthday.

I find her in the kitchen, staring out the patio window, looking as beautiful as the first time I laid eyes on her. She's wearing that killer white dress again that knocks me off my feet. I wrap my arms around her, hugging her from behind. She grabs on to my arms and rests her head against my chest.

"This was a terrible idea, wasn't it?" she says.

"We've had better ones," I respond, and she chuckles humorously.

"A girl can dream, right?"

I turn her around and look into her eyes. Her determination has always been one of the things I love most about her. She shouldn't give up on it.

"Just give it time, baby. The last time they saw each other, things were really different. We were practically mortal enemies. But they'll come around, just like we did."

She nods but doesn't look too convinced. "I guess I should actually get some drinks to bring back down," she says, walking towards the pantry.

"No, wait." I stop her before she gets too far. She pouts at me so naturally I can't resist and lift her up onto the kitchen counter so that I have her full attention. "I have something for you," I say, standing in between her legs.

I was going to wait until tonight when it was just the two of us, but now is as good a time as ever. I reach into my pocket and place the small blue box on her leg. "Happy birthday, gatinha."

"Aww, Nico. Thank you," she says, throwing her arms around my neck.

"You don't even know what it is yet," I chuckle. "Open it."

She lets go of me to open the box and immediately gasps. "Oh my gosh, they're beautiful," she says, looking at the diamond earrings I got her.

It took me forever and a day to pick them out at the store because I knew she wouldn't want anything too flashy, so I decided on some simple stud earrings I thought she would like and could use more often. I also have to admit it took me so long because my eyes seemed to keep drifting towards another certain section of the store.

"Try them on," I encourage.

I watch her as she excitedly takes them out of the packaging and puts them on. I've never actually seen her wear earrings before even though her ears are pierced. She slips them on with no issues and they shine just as brightly as her eyes.