The Rossi boy

Chapter 1

I hated this. I hated this stupid panic attacks. No matter where I was, when a storm was closing in on me, I would loose it and end up as a nerves ball in the Rossi's shed. Always. Like the first time.

That night, when the door opened, the blue spinning lights were blinking in my house's direction. There were a lot of voices and whispers, but one of them froze the blood in my veins with its howl. An irreparable tear made sound. A phrase so deeply despairing "My poor baby!!"... an irrepressible cry, disheartening.

I knew that voice too well. I heard it some nights, when she thought I was asleep.

He was still screaming his drunkenness when they dragged him out of the house. The fucker didnt even had the cleverness to lie. He just kept cursing her, blaming her for his goddamn life.

At least, he had the decency to hang himself in his cell when he realized he fucked it up big and wasn't going to see the light of day ever again.

The hands that were rubbing my back stopped as the trembling in my body intensified. He stood again, going up the stairs to his room. As we passed by the master bedroom, I could hear Marie on the phone with my Grandma. She was telling her not to worry, that I was with them and she didn't need to come back early from her shift at the Hospital, as I was going to spend the night there.

Lucas pushed the door open with his foot and went straight to the bathroom. The lights were already on and the water running. The whole room was crowded with the humid and hot steam.

The next thing I felt was the hot water pouring on us. He hold me under it for a long while, waiting for me to be calm enough to move. My face was still pressed against his neck, but with the water running on I couldn't breathe like that anymore. He took that moment to undo my pray around him. His wet hair falling on his face and tickling my nose as he passed his head under my closed numb arms. His five oclock golden shadow softly scratched my temple where his sharp jaw bone brushed.

My whole body was shaking and I felt if I moved a single muscle, it would break like a twig.

Lucas set me on the bathtub edge and helped me take off my shoes and jeans. I would have felt embarrassed with anyone, but not with him. I couldn't bring myself to imagine allowing Adrien -I'd die from shame - or Dante -...ugh not Mr. Pervert-, or even Victoria, to undress me like that.

The tips of his fingers, so warm, brushed my skin as they dragged my pants down. Then he undid the buttons of my shirt, one by one. His eyes never embarrassed me. He was concentrating on his task, nothing more.

I must admit that after the episodes, when I stopped to think about it, I felt a pang of hurt to my pride knowing that Lucas -the guy who screws anything that can fit into a mini skirt-, didnt have the slightest interest in me. He would never see me as a woman. I was just the annoying girl next door; his charity act once in a while, when a storm struck; a pain in the butt he would only stand for the benefit of having a designated driver and a nanny when he was passed out drunk.

Lucas stood and pulled up from the hem of his drenched t-shirt. I closed my eyes shut when those ripped abs showed up the damned "V" in front of my face. Maybe he didn't see me as a women, but I could definitely see a man in Lucas. I've always had. He was every girl in this towns fucking fantasy. I wasn't blind, or stupid

He helped me get into the bathtub, sitting himself in the edge where I was before, still in his soaking wet jeans, and started to massage my shoulders and back slowly, with just the right force to relax my tense body.

A soft whimper escaped my throat when he pressured a painful knot between my shoulder and my neck. His fingers stopped for a second but started again right away.

The skilled hands worked their magic on my back for a while longer and when I was finally able to relax enough to move on my own, Lucas left. As silently as he kept himself all along.

This was almost a routine to him. Every storm. Every fucking storm would trigger the panic attacks. He was always the first to find me, since that very day he first did. No one else seemed to be able to get me to move from the shed, anyways. Not even Adrien or my Grandma. Only Lucas seemed to know the words to brake the spell or the silences needed.

I finished showering and slowly, like a possessed, wrapped myself on the fluffy towel he left for me. I could barely dress in Marie's clothes that were next to the sink. I got out of the bathroom, my hair dripping on the carpet. The top floor was silent, except for the water running in the next bedroom. Lucas must be using Adrien's shower.

I sat on the bed, staying in a silent trance, a deep fatigue taking over me. Like every time I have one of this episodes.

Lucas came back into the room a few moments later, the tracksuit pants hanging dangerously low on his narrow hips and... not using a shirt.

He came closer and started rubbing my hair with the towel. When he was satisfied with the results, he left it on the chair and crawled onto the bed, dragging me with him. A six foot- four inches, and almost two hundred pounds of power muscles giant, makes a surprisingly good pillow.