TRIGGER WARNING: There will be incidents spoken about in this chapter that may make some readers uncomfortable (i.e. non-consensual sex, sexual abuse, etc.) If you do not wish to read, then please do not read this chapter. You have been warned.
Lorenzo Berkshire
"So where did you two end up going after the cantina last night?" Colette asks Valentina and me after we all sit down to have breakfast at a nearby restaurant.
"Yeah, we ran into Mateo on our way out, but he said that he hadn't seen us all night... Lorenzo, didn't you beat his ass?" Apollo crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. My eyes meet Valentina's worried gaze, but I give her a reassuring smile.
"Of course I beat his arse mate," I scoff, "he was probably so out of it he didn't even remember" I shrug nonchalantly.
"That's what I said!" Colette exclaims, but Apollo keeps his gaze on me for a couple more seconds before shaking his head and taking a sip of his coffee.
"After that, Lorenzo and I just decided to call it a night. Sorry we didn't go back to tell you two," Valentina says and then takes a bite of her chocolate croissant.
"At least that poor excuse of a guy got what he deserved," Colette's face grimaces in disgust.
"Can we just drop the topic?" Valentina says in a frustrated voice and we grow silent. Nobody spoke of the topic again, but I noticed that Valentina's mood changed when Mateo was brought up.
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"So you want us to try and paint each other on the spot?" I ask Valentina as we sit across from one another on a picnic blanket. There are watercolours scattered around us and we each have a small canvas in front of us, a paintbrush ready in our hand.
"Yes!" she smiles at me, "this will be cute and funny! I don't know about you, but I'm a master painter," she winks at me.
"Well, I happen to be quite the master-" I try to say my joke, but Valentina covers my mouth with her hand.
"Don't" she laughs and I lick her hand. She pulls her hand back with a squeal and blows a raspberry at me.
We start our paintings and I already know mine is horrendous. I've somehow managed to paint what looks like a cross between a house elf and a girl with long hair. Oh Merlin, I can't show her this.
"Okay! Are you ready?" Valentina's excited voice questions me.
"You have to promise you won't hate me after this," I warn her.
"I could never hate you," she smiles warmly at me. I sigh deeply and tell her I'm ready.
"Okay, on the count of three. One... Two... Three!" Valentina says, and we both turn our paintings around.
Immediately we both let out laughs that are louder than any mandrake I've ever heard. I look at the painting Valentina did and it looks like someone gave a child paint.
"I love it!" she exclaims as she reaches over to grab the canvas from my hand.
"You're joking right?" I ask her in disbelief.
"I'm not! It's so bad that it's so good, does that make sense?" her gaze lifts to meet mine and then back down to the painting, "plus, I think the resemblance is uncanny" she brings the painting next to her face and wiggles her brows.
"Well, I love yours too," I laugh as I grab her painting, "but I must say, I thought you said you were a master painter?" I raise a brow at her.
"Art is subjective," Valentina says and shrugs her shoulders. We both let out another laugh and put the paintings aside to fully dry. We lay beside one another, looking up at the clouds and calling out figures that we see.
"That one looks like an apple!" she points to the sky.
"That one looks like a pixie," I say and point to a cloud on our left that is shaped like the familiar creature.
"You know what a pixie looks like?" Valentina asks me and I nod my head, "that's so cool!" she smiles and turns back to look at the clouds.
"How come you don't ask me about the wizarding world more or ask me to show you more magic?" I ask her.
"Well," Valentina sighs, "It's not really my business to know...I mean, you've already risked so much and I don't want you to risk anything further just because of my curiosities. Also, I love you for you, Lorenzo. Not for your money, not for your status, and definitely not because of your magic" she says and turns to face me. I turn as well, meeting her beautiful brown eyes.
"I've spent the majority of my life surrounded by a family that only saw through a superficial lens. The fact that you love me for who I am...I-I can't begin to explain how happy that makes me feel. I love you, Valentina" I say and lean in to kiss her soft rose tinted lips. When we pull away we smile at each other.
"What happened when you were with Mateo?" I ask her. Her smile drops and she turns to face the clouds. Her eyes focus on the sky for a couple of seconds before she sighs and shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Last summer, I met Mateo at the beach. He was the cute guy that everyone had on a crush on, besides my brother who was the only other person talked about on the island. Anyways, Mateo came up to me one day and asked me what I was reading. He was very nice and seemed to be into the same things as me, so I accepted his offer to go on a date. Mind you, I never had a relationship before let alone gone on any serious dates," she fiddles with her fingers.
"One date led to another and Mateo seemed to be the perfect guy. He was nice to me and always, always put me first before anything. But, after a month, things started to change. He became more possessive. He wouldn't let me hang out with Colette saying that if I didn't hang out with him it meant I didn't care like he did. He also would get crazy jealous when any other guy even tried to talk to me, even if it was a waiter taking my order. I would try to talk to him, but he would avoid the topic and get really angry if I pushed it. I ignored it because I didn't know any better," Valentina's voice breaks, but she continues.
"There was one night when we were invited to a party and he forced me to go. Around this time was when he was trying to sleep with me, but I didn't want to be intimate with someone who didn't treat me right. It wouldn't be my first time, but I knew that I wasn't comfortable with Mateo and I being intimate. At the party, I only had one drink, but Mateo must've put a roofie in there because I was very out of it... I'm assuming you know what happened next," her eyes avoid my gaze and my heart breaks at what she went through, "I tried so hard to get him to stop and I even screamed for help, but my voice felt like a whisper... The next day I told Apollo what happened and he went ballistic. I've never seen my brother so angry, and Mateo ended up needing to go to the hospital. We tried going to the Italian authorities with what happened, but because we were foreigners who were in a relationship at the time, they just dismissed it as a lovers quarrel that they couldn't charge...I never spoke to Mateo ever since." Valentina finishes, wiping a tear that escaped her eye.
"I-I wish I'd have given him a harsher punishment if I knew the full story of what happened. I'm sorry Valentina," I say and bring her into my arms, holding her close. "I'd never want you to feel unsafe" I whisper into her ear.
"Lorenzo, this was before we met each other. I don't want you to apologize for something that wasn't your fault," she turns, bringing her hand up to caress my face.
"You know, ever since I met you, my nightmares stopped," I admit to her.
"What nightmares?" she asks me.
"What I'm about to tell you...is very unsettling and I don't want you looking at me in a different way after I tell you. Promise me, Valentina" I beg her. She nods her head, but I shake mine.
"Words, Valentina. I need words," I repeat.
"Lorenzo, I promise I won't look at you differently," she says.
"When my cousin Draco and I turned fourteen..." I say and tell her the story of that horrid night. The night that ruined me for the three years leading up to this point. The night where Lucius Malfoy forced prostitutes onto Draco and me, forcing us to lose every last shred of innocence we had left. I will never forget the smell of the room, the sounds I could hear all around me, the way my body would react involuntarily, the way I just wished it could all be over so that I could go home and cry myself to sleep. The day that turned my dreams into the nightmares that haunted me every night since then.
Instead of pitying me or giving me a judgemental look, Valentina pulls me into a hug. In that hug I feel all the love being poured into me.
More than words
Is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say
That you love me
'Cause I'd already know
Her warm embrace speaks more than words could ever say. We stay in each other's arms, me smelling her scented shampoo and the slight smell of sunscreen that she uses on her skin. Never in my life, did I think that I would tell anyone about the events of that day. But that's what love does. Love surprises you in ways that you never knew. It makes you realize that you want to share everything with that person. Not only because you don't want there to be secrecy, but because you want to know if they'll love you at your worst.
And with Valentina's sparkling eyes staring up at me, I know. I know....
That she loves me
'Cause I already know...