Another Chance at My Promise

Art - CHAPTER 19

"What, my art on your neck?"

Remi looked at his neck on the screen and saw that his turtle neck was slipping down, exposing his hickeys. He slapped a hand over them as he blushed. The blush was just as vivid as it would've been if the two were face-to-face. Marcelo chuckled. "I'm just messing with you, Teo."

"I-I know you are," Remi said. It was clear that Marcelo was joking but that didn't make Remi feel any less flustered than he would if Marcelo wasn't joking. "Why are y-you at your parents' house anyw-way?"

"The café is closed today. When the café is closed, we all just kind of hang out together here. I guess we're just all so used to being together 24/7."

"B-But you don't work at the café all the t-time."

"I know, but it's just nice to have your whole family together so whenever that's happening, I always take advantage of it."

Remi bit his lip and looked away. Marcelo took a second to analyze his expression before realizing.

"Ohhh... Teo, I'm sorry. I wasn't—I didn't mean to—fuck!"

"I-It's fine."

"No, it's not. We just had that conversation, so I shouldn't have sa—"

"No, I-I have to get o-over it."

"Remi, no you don't. You don't have to get over it in order to deal with it. You just have to be able to not let it affect you."

Remi took a soft deep breath and freed his lip from between his teeth. Marcelo was right. Just "getting over" something is practically the equivalent of bottling it up. Remi has to actually deal with it by being resilient, not letting what happened get to him. And the only way to do that is to talk about it.

"I don't know... I guess—It just k-kind of hurts, y-you know. Hearing you t-talk about how c-close your family is while I haven't spoken t-to my p-parents in years," Remi sniffed, sitting down on a beanbag in the far back corner of the library where no one else would bother him.

"Yeah, I get that. I will never be able to say sorry enough to you."

"Why would y-you? You didn't d-do anything."

"I know but still. Getting you to open up about the situation is still a bit fresh, so I shouldn't have said anything related to it yet."

Remi sniffed again.

"But hey, my family will always welcome you in. They were literally just talking about you a few minutes ago. They already love you."

A delicate smile tugged at Remi's lips and he wiped his eyes, leaving him with glossy lashes.

"Th-Thank you."

"You're welcome," Marcelo nodded.

After light chatting for a few more seconds, Marcelo heard his door creak. He turned around to see Blaire, Marcela, Blaise, Axle, and Ace sneaking into the room.

"Really?! The door was already slightly open. How in the hell did you make it creak?!" Blaise shouted at Ace. Ace snickered, making the rest of the three siblings snicker too.

"Why are you guys in here anyway?" Marcelo asked.

"We heard Remi's voice. Where is he?" Blaire replied. Marcelo's eyes went wide for a second. He hoped that they didn't hear his and Remi's conversation. He didn't want Remi's information to be aired out.

"How much did you guys hear?"

"What? Were you guys having phone sex?"

Remi's gasp was heard through the phone. Marcelo chuckled and held up his middle finger at his siblings.

"She's kidding." Axle said. "You were telling Remi that we love him, and we just wanna say that we approve that message."

"For sure. You're our little bean, Remi. We love you!"

Remi giggled, "I l—"

"Ohohoho, no way. They do not get an I love you before I do. And we are not there yet, so you five will not be receiving an I love you," Marcelo said as he smiled sarcastically.

"Ughh, whatever. Remi and I are in a relationship, remember. He knows I love him," Blaire joked. Remi giggled again.

"In your dreams, B."

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Marcelo slipped his socked feet into his shoes, put on his jacket, and grabbed his keys and phone. He ended up taking a short nap after he got off of the phone with Remi and now, he was about to go and pick Remi up. He turned his room light off and walked out, heading down the stairs where he saw his Blaire, Marcela, Blaise, Axle, and Ace sitting on the couch while the rest of his siblings, the ones in high school and college, were in the kitchen with their parents.

"Hey, Marco, over here!" Marcelo heard Ace call out. He looked over and stood in front of them making Marcela pull him down to sit in the middle.

"What the... What do you guys want? I have to go pick Remi up."

"Can we just talk to you for a quick minute?"

"About?"

"We... we heard."

"You heard what?" Marcelo asked in a joking tone.

"We heard yours and Remi's conversation." Marcelo immediately deadpanned. Oh no. "About how he hasn't talked to his family in years. Is that true?"

"That's none of you guys's business so stay out of it please."

"We're serious, Marco. Is it true?"

Marcelo huffed and looked down at his keys. He wouldn't tell them Remi's story, but they already knew this small part of it, so he wanted to see what they were gonna say.

"So what if it is?"

"Nothing. We just wanted to tell you that if Remi ever needs anything, anything at all, let us know. We'll all be here for him."

"Definitely. We don't know the whole story but just know that we've got his back along with you."