As I look into her blue eyes and smile ~Victoria De Angelis(english translation)

Chapter 9: Family Meeting

The champagne is still tingling when a woman puts it in my hand and Ethan puts his arm around my waist. "Mom this is Sarah my girlfriend." He explains and I hold out my hand to his mother. She immediately pulls me into a hug though. "Oh this is great! Honestly we didn't expect him to have anyone with him this year." I just grin at Ethan knowing full well that I will tease him about it later. "Well, you sure picked a pretty one." His mother adds and winks at him. I thank her for the compliment and we are immediately led on to the rest of the family, where I soon meet one of his sisters. "Hey I'm Eleonora." She introduces herself and shakes my hand. "Sarah." I reply curtly but in a friendly tone. I talk to her and Ethan for a while until an older grandma joins us. She turns out to be Ethan's grandma and starts telling embarrassing childhood stories about him and I really have to pull myself together not to laugh out loud. Ethan just shakes his head in embarrassment. We talk here and there with a few relatives until an aunt of his excitedly comes to us with a camera. "A kiss for the camera?" she begs us and I look at Ethan who is looking at me pleadingly. I just close my eyes and quickly let it wash over me. "Grazie!" she exclaims, glancing at the camera. "That's a round of milkshakes for the band." I whisper in his ear and together we head to the buffet. We fill our plates to the brim and sit outside by the ocean.
"Did I actually interrupt you and Vic doing something last night?" I almost choke on my bread. "No." I answer immediately. "Vic hasn't laughed so much in a long time. It's nice to see how happy she always is around you." I feel the butterflies in my stomach come to life. "She'll probably kill me if I tell you this but she really likes you." "So do I." Ethan grins happily like he suspects something. I just shake my head in confusion. We stay for quite a while, shuttling back and forth between the beach and the cabin. When we say goodbye to everyone late at night, something happens that can only happen to me. I trip over something in the sand and knock myself and Ethan over. Of course I land on him. I quickly jump back up and apologize to him. "No I don't owe you anything anymore, except you want anyone to find out." He immediately declares. Smart move Edgar. I nod in agreement. Then he bursts out laughing, where I can only join in. Oh man how embarrassing. As soon as we have calmed down, we immediately started our return journey.

"And how was it?" the others inquire immediately and I look warningly at Ethan. "Fine, a normal family reunion." I agree with him and look out for Vic. "She's out with her sister. She'll be back soon." Thomas replies to my searching look. I nod in relief. "That she's worried about her even when she's drunk is cute." I overhear the whisper from Damiano to my brother. I just sigh and walk slightly shakily to my room. I throw myself on my bed and scroll through Insta for a bit until I hear the front door. I put my phone away and wait for Vic to come up. As soon as she opens the door, a smile spreads across my lips. You can clearly smell that she has also drunk a glass of wine or two. She crawls over to me on the bed and kisses me.
Wait? What's going on now? I don't mean that I don't like it, but is it really Vic or just the alcohol? As hard as it is for me, I slowly push her away from me. She opens her eyes wide as she realizes what she has done. "Sorry." She just blurts out and disappears from my room. I remain rooted to the spot, unable to move. What just happened?!

Yawning, I wake up and remember a dream that felt too real. Vic was kissing me. The images from last night flash through my mind and I remember everything again. The kiss was real. Something I never would have thought of a few weeks ago. And even though I've been wondering what her lips taste like for a long time now, I still imagined it differently. Not like this. Besides, she was just drunk anyway and didn't think anything of it. Didn't she? While she is having another normal day today I will lie awake in bed for hours and rethink everything. Am I about to act normal around her again? Will it be weird? Will we talk about it? Will she sleep with me again tonight? Last night I felt so alone without her. The bed was so empty.

"Earth to Sarah?" snaps Thomas in front of me as we make our way to some deserted little lake. The sun is just beating down and I only now see how far behind I've fallen. The others are a good deal further ahead. Vic's hair is bobbing back and forth with every step, while she is talking about some serious topic with Damiano. Just now I respond to Thomas and turn my head to him. "Huh?" "Everything okay with you guys? Why was Vic sleeping in HER room?" "Maybe she didn't want to wake me up." I lie, hoping he'll buy my answer. "Come on, tell me! What's going on?" "Tommy do you want me to look like a Swiss cheese right now, because that's what I'm going to do if you continue to put me through this." Thomas laughs briefly and then gives a grin. "I'll remember that line when Ethan asks for any unnecessary facts again. But honestly, I'm here for you and if you don't want to tell me, then tell one of the others." I sigh and am grateful for his care, which finally makes me open up to him. "So everything was the same as usual when one of us comes home later. We stay awake, wait, and then fall asleep together. So last night she came into my room like she usually does but then she kissed me." "Wait. What?" "Yes I know and now I don't know what to do. On one hand I thought it was nice because by now I've come to terms with the fact that I love her but..." When I realize what I just said I immediately fall silent. What is he thinking now? I mean it's not wrong what I said, but still it's the first time I've said what's been on my mind for so long. "So you really do like her, huh?" asks Thomas after a few seconds that felt like hours. I just nod and hang my head. "Hey cheer up. Talk to her. You don't have to tell her everything right away. Just talk about what happened last night." "But what should I say? Hey Vic remember last night when you kissed me?"  "Well maybe you'll start a little differently but please sort it out today. I can't take her a second night. She talks in her sleep all the time. How can you stand it?" I lightly punch him in the shoulder and look at him in horror. "That's totally cute." "If that's how you feel about it. It definitely bothers me." He holds his hands in the air apologetically and I just shake my head with a grin.