Bermuda

1.1

A/N: I'm happy with the events that take place in this chapter but not with my quality of writing. I will be editing this chapter a lot in the next few days. Please feel free to personal message me any tips or advice you may have!

That night, I couldn't sleep. Fear consumed me because of my father's condition. He claimed nothing was wrong but I'm not an idiot. He seemed to have lost the tan that's years of living in the hot Italian sun had brought, his slight beer belly wasn't there anymore and his eyes always looked pained. Just the thought of losing my dad was enough to send me spiralling into a deep darkness. My dad is my everything. I kept telling myself not to worry—if dad wasn't concerned then I shouldn't be either. God would keep him with me. I know he would.

When I woke up, I didn't feel any better. I didn't bother with my appearance today, only wearing concealer and Vaseline on my lips. I wore a baggy t-shirt, skinny jeans and my tattered vans. I went downstairs, scared that my dad would look as bad as he did yesterday but fortunately that wasn't the case.

He was sitting at the dining table, sipping his coffee and reading his newspaper. As usual. I breathed out in relief. Thank you Jesus.

"Dad?"

"Good morning amore mio." He smiled.

"Are you okay?" I asked warily as I approached him to give him a hug.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He waved me off. "Thank you for getting my medicine, my love."

"Anything for you, papa."

My mom came out the kitchen with a plate of pancakes which I scarfed down. I was so on edge last night that I couldn't eat which surprised everyone including myself. I was always hungry when it came to my mom's food.

Suddenly my phone vibrated but I knew who it was already.

Theo: I'm outside, Rhi. -T x

I took a quick sip of my orange juice before bidding goodbye to my parents.

I got into Theo's car and strapped in my seatbelt.

"Hey." I bit my lip and twiddled my thumbs.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hi."

"Hi." His eyebrows furrowed.

"Hello."

"Hello." He frowned before starting his car and driving off.

The rest of the journey to school was spent in a deadly silence. I hated how awkward things had become and I knew I was the reason why things were so awkward—that made me feel even worse. Finally, we had arrived at school and Theo parked in his usual spot. I mumbled a goodbye before opening the door of the car but Theo reached forwards and closed it again.

"Okay stop." Theo turned to me, staring at me deeply with his majestic blue eyes. "This...is all wrong. We should not be this way! We've been best friends since third grade. There should be no awkwardness."

I finally looked up and smiled slightly at him. "I know, I'm sorry."

"What's wrong? Is it because I admitted my feelings for you? If you didn't mean what you said about feeling the same way, I understand. I did kind of push it onto you. And that Barclay guy must make things even more confusing for you."

"I-I don't know the specifics, If I'm honest. I do have feelings for you, Theo, I do. But I do have feelings for Barclay as well and I thought they were gone but they're still there. I'm so sorry if you think I'm stringing you along or—"