For The Empire - Sempre

Chapter 68

JOHN PAUL

Lucy scrambles off of Marco's lap hurriedly when we walk in and moves to sit on the other end of the couch in my office but Marco holds on to her and pulls her back to sit next to him. She blushes furiously as she looks over at us.

I catch Stella's eye and see the small smile on her lips as I turn to close the door behind us. 

"JP, before you lecture us," Marco straightens and sits up, keeping Lucy's hand in his. "We talked a long time about how we feel about each other and we want to move forward, as more than friends." He clears his throat. "But we're taking things slow. So, you know, you don't need to give us the talk." He raises his eyebrows at me to convey his obvious meaning. 

"And mom, we know not to behave certain ways around the little ones, but we knew they were out with Kai and Miles," Lucy points out to Stella.

Stella glances at me before she addresses them. "First, you're not in trouble. I hope that's not why you think we wanted to talk to you." Relief flashes on Lucy's face immediately. "And we support you both, but as we mentioned before there has to be some rules, boundaries; living together is not necessarily an ideal situation." 

"You and JP lived together when you were our age," Marco points out. 

"Yes, but we were adults when we became more than friends, Marco. You two are both still really young," Stella responds to which Marco gives a small eye roll but stops when he looks over at me.

"Look, we trust you both. The only thing we ask as that you don't give us a reason not to." I state simply. 

"Well, that's not the only thing we ask," Stella gives me a look, squeezing my hand, but I have no idea what she's trying to tell me and then she raises her eyebrows at me in their direction. I look back at her dumbfounded and she sighs in annoyance. 

"We get you're going to take things slow, but like I said, you're both still really young. So, I want to have an open discussion about what it's like being in a relationship," She clears her throat and tucks some of her hair behind her ear. "Something I wish I had someone talk to me about when I was your age." I lean back curious on how this is going to go.

"Finding someone you have mutual feelings for is both exciting and terrifying. It's fun and confusing at times. It's emotionally and mentally exhausting, too," Stella looks over at me and smiles softly. "But it can also be the most amazing thing you can experience." 

"It sounds like you guys have already covered this, but when or if your relationship..." Stella pauses to look for the right word. "Progresses and maybe becomes physical," this time I notice Marco's face flushes. "I hope you talk about it first and take one another's concerns, limits or worries into consideration. And no means no; no if's and or buts about it." 

"I would never force Lucy to do anything she didn't want to do, Stella," Marco defends. 

"I never would think you would, Marco, but the same goes for Lucy, too, if you're not ready and maybe she is, she would need to respect your feelings, too." Stella smiles softly at them. "JP and I are not naive to know things happen at this age, but what we care about is that you're both being safe and respectful of each other."

She looks back at me, "Anything you want to add?"

I clear my throat, "Um yeah," I feel the pressure to say something as eloquent as Stella, but nothing really comes to mind, so I just say the first thing that pops in my head. "No sleeping in each other's rooms, and keep your doors open if you're in each other's rooms." 

Stella rolls her eyes before she chuckles. "What a dad-like thing to say, John Paul." Marco and Lucy chuckle as well. 

"In all seriousness, considering the living circumstances, I know this was brought up by a friend before I confessed to Stella how I felt about her, but again, we were both adults when I finally found the courage to confess my feelings. Joey had asked me if I had thought about the future, not just the now. It's sometimes hard to see past whatever you're feeling and thinking at your age, but have you talked what would happen if things...don't work out?"