All I want- Niccolo Genoveder Rossi

XlV

“ragazzi, siete tutti ridicoli in questo momento! non facciamolo con il suo regalo.” (You guys are all being ridiculous right now! Let’s not do this with her present). Mr. Rossi says, putting the conversation to an end. Dinner was full of crickets safe to say. I went to my room when it was over, and I lay down on my bed. What was all of that about? If I told Matteho about this, he would totally chew me out and tell me exactly what Camilla is saying. A few hours passed, and it was quiet in the household. Camilla knocked on my door. I opened it. “Sorry about dinner. Things are just mixed up right now..” “It’s fine”. I reply. Camilla sighs. “I don’t think that Niccolo will come- but want to go in the hot tub? It’s 9:30 but..” “Yeah, sure Cami. That sounds nice”. She smiles and walks off to her room to change. I put on a random bikini top that Elouise threw at me two summers ago, and some athletic shorts. Camilla entered my room in a red swimsuit. She smiled and took my hand and we walked to the backyard. “I remember when we dumped a bucket of ice water over Elouise’s head over here. Niccolo had to piggy-back me because Elouise was catching up too fast when we ran around the neighborhood trying to escape”. I say, smiling to myself. “Really? Niccolo never mentioned it”. “Oh yeah, it definitely happened. You could ask him about it eventually. I don’t know why he never said anything”. Camilla shrugged. “I definitely can picture it though.” She added, smiling a little. Just then, I felt a push on my back, and Camilla shrieked. We fell into the water.  I rose to the surface, and it was Niccolo. “Niccolo!” I say, seeing his smile. “That’s my name”. Niccolo jokingly says, seeing me get out of the water. Camilla and I darted over to him, and he pushed him in, except he grabbed my waist before he fell in, taking me with him. “Ha”. He says. “Asshole”. I mutter, laughing. “What was that?” Niccolo says, coming closer. “You heard me”. “Oh, you’re going down”. He says, dunking me back in the water. We all laughed. I could hear Elouise’s voice- ‘Nicco and Lia’ in a babyish voice. Camilla jumped in, and we both dunked Niccolo under water. I stood quietly for a moment, and I felt him coming behind me. Before he could get me, I took his arm and seized it. “How’d you know I was coming?” Niccolo asks, laughing. “Because that was Delilah’s signature trick, Niccolo”. I say, smiling mischievously. “Damnit. She said that you always miss when she does that”. Niccolo says, with me still seizing his arm. I smirk at him, before I let go of his arm. We all had fun, hanging out and just being together. We ended our night in the hot tub. We sat in the hot water, smiling and laughing. “Remember the time when Delilah scolded Niccolo for kissing you on the cheek because you two were acting out a scene from a movie?” Camilla says, slightly tipsy from the wine earlier. Niccolo and I look at her. “Uhh- yeah”.. “Cami, what are you trying to get at?” Niccolo asks, slightly defensive. “Oh you know what I’m intending”. She spat. “That Delilah was a protective sister to Lia?” Niccolo offered. “Remember the time when Elouise and I dumped a bucket of water on Niccolo when he was sunbathing and he threw me into the pool?” I randomly blurted, knowing that the situation would escalate. They seemed to change gears. “Oh, yeah I do. That water was freezing”. Niccolo says, chuckling a little. “The look on your face was priceless. I would do anything for that to happen again”. I say, laughing a little. “Elouise definitely got her karma after that, the day after I pushed her in the pool when she was doing some social media live”. Niccolo reminisces. I laugh. “Oh yeah, that did happen didn’t it?” I say, looking over at his smile. He always had that charming smile that made anyone light up inside. “I remember the amount of times you and Lia would lay on the ground of anywhere you were and just listen to music, and then spend hours just talking back and forth about Nirvana versus Guns n’ Roses. I also remember when you two would take turns trying to explain the significance of Kurt Cobain and I would just smile and nod pretending I knew what you two were rambling about”. Camilla reminisces, smiling. Niccolo and I smiled. “Whatever I said back then, I still stand by.” I say. “Me too”. Niccolo agrees. Camilla’s phone rang. “Oh, I’ve got to take this. I’ll be back”. She says, standing up and taking her phone off the concrete. She went inside the house. It just left Niccolo and I. “Sorry about Cami. She’s just well- Cami. I don’t know what she’s obsessing over..” “She’s obsessing over what everyone had been obsessing over; us. The first day I was here she told me that the reason why you were acting different was because of me, and if I dated you, you would change. I told her she was absolutely crazy and she shouldn’t be thinking like that, but she told me I’ll figure it out sooner or later”. I blurt. Why did I tell him that? That was real smooth, Ophelia. Niccolo’s face furrowed. He turned slightly flushed. “I-uh.. Wow. I don’t know why she’s telling you that.. But uh- I did miss you. A lot more than I should have when you were gone. I thought about you every day and I hated that you weren’t there”. He blurted, realizing that he probably shouldn’t have said anything. I sigh. “I missed you a lot too, Nicco. And when I came back and saw you completely grown up- it hurt. It hurt a lot because we never stayed in touch and you and your family were the one happy thing from my past.” I reveal, looking down at the water to avoid eye contact. “Really?” He asks. “Yeah…” “I want you to know something, Ophelia”. He finally says, after some silence. I look up at him. “I care about you so much to the point where no matter what I do, I can’t express it. I love you a lot, okay? And don’t ever think that I’m going to stop caring”. He says, suddenly closer to me. “Thanks Niccolo”. I say. We both just stared into each other’s eyes, processing what was going on. Just then, Camilla came back out. “Sorry about that.” She says, taking a seat beside me inside the hot tub. She chukles. “Wow. Did you two make out or something?” She saratically says. Niccolo and I laugh it off, knowing that we shouldn’t question her.

Author's note:
Okay but likeee how cute was this chapter 🫢