WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF ABORTION
*48 hours earlier*
VICTORIA SCOWLED AT THE boy she had looked up to as an older brother for years. "Sei proprio un idiota!" She glanced up at him as she handed him back his phone after listening to the voice message from him that Altheya had sent the groupchat.
Damiano sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't realize Altheya saved it, let alone shared it with her closest girlfriends. But then again that's why he never understood girls.
"I know... I know... look I was just angry and jealous okay?"
Victoria bit her lip and shook her head.
"That doesn't mean you swear at a girl and get mad at her for moving on with her life when you were the one that hurt her, Dami."
Damiano took a deep breath. "Then what should I do?"
Victoria shrugged. "I don't know if there's anything left to do, Dami..."
Suddenly, Charlotte came sauntering into the dressing room again. "Dami? You need some advice? About what? Are you already thinking of dinner plans for after the show?"
The blonde batted her long eyelashes as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck and practically draped herself onto him.
Damiano sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "After this there is no going back." He thought.
Damiano took another deep breath and held Charlotte's hands in his. "Amore, we need to talk." He then gave Victoria a glance, darting towards the door. Victoria nodded and slipped out of the room.
"What's wrong, Dami? Are you breaking up with me?"
Charlotte asked him as her voice rose into a high-pitched whine. She gave him her best puppy dog eyes as Damiano tilted his head towards the floor for a moment and then raised his head to be at eye level with hers.
Damiano inhaled quickly, "the longer you wait, the harder it gets. So get on with it!" His conscious seemed to say to him.
Right.
"Look, Charlie... there... there isn't an easy way to say this, but yes... we're, uhh... I'm breaking up with you."
Damiano replied slowly, letting the words come out of his mouth with zero restraint.
"You hate me, right? That's why, that's why you're choosing to do this." Charlotte's voice began to become choked with sobs almost immediately.
Damiano just rolled his eyes quickly before shaking his head softly at her.
Charlotte was just too much and he didn't really understand her as much as he would have liked to. Charlotte was usually always within an earshot of him and she would always cling to him whenever she saw him.
She never gave him any space, unlike Altheya who'd give him space whenever he needed it. Altheya never pushed him into anything, she had always wanted him to be his own person. But as soon as he met Charlotte all of that seemed to change and because of one stupid stupid choice, Damiano lost the only girl he'd ever really cared about.
"No, no, no... I could never hate you Charlotte..." Damiano replied slowly as he exhaled. This was a total lie though because lately he was getting really tired of her and her annoying clingy attitude.
"Just rip it off like a bandaid!" His conscious seemed to say to him again.
Right. Bandaid.
Charlotte continued to sob and tried to wrap her arms around Damiano's neck for comfort but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"Then why are you breaking up with me?" Charlotte asked again as she looked at Damiano, mascara was already running down her face making her look like a very sad clown. Damiano tried his best not to laugh. If only Altheya were here..." He thought.
Damiano took hold of Charlotte's hands again.
"We just don't get each other..." Damiano spoke. His voice soft and clear, as he tried his best to comfort his ex from a distance.
Charlotte pouted. "What do you mean we don't get each other?"
Damiano sighed again. Charlotte was not understanding or maybe she was just stupid. He was thinking that Charlotte was probably stupid, which almost made him laugh out loud again.
Damiano smirked. "Well okay, which famous celebrity do I share a birthday with?"
Charlotte tilted her head.
"Hmm... George Clooney?" The young girl spoke as she looked back up at him, grinning at him for his approval. Her eyes twinkling. She had to be right about this one.
Damiano grinned, giving her just a small glimmer of hope. But his smile soon faded.
"Nope! It's Elvis Presley!" He said, as Charlotte was on the verge of another temper tantrum. Damiano just rolled his eyes as he pushed her from behind with his hands, towards the dressing room door.
Before she left, Charlotte looked at him once more. "Damn you and damn Elvis." She said as she stuck her nose up in the air and turned down the hall with what little dignity she had left.
Damiano chuckled to himself as he closed the door and walked back to recline onto the couch.
"Wow! Thank god, that's over and done with! I couldn't take another second of her whining."
"Who's whining?" Thomas asked after knocking on the door and entering the room upon Damiano's signal.
Damiano just grinned before taking a sip from his cup of red wine that was next to the bottle on the small coffee table beside the couch.
"Charlotte's."
"Oh?" Thomas said as he grabbed another plastic cup from the container beside the bottle and poured some of the soury-sweet maroon coloured liquid into his plastic cup and took a sip.
Damiano nodded. "Mhm. I think we just broke up..."
Thomas clinked his plastic cup with Damiano's before taking another sip. "Ah! You think or you know, fratello. Which is it?"
His brows knitting together waiting for his friend's response.
Damiano chugged the last remaining droplets from his own plastic cup before tossing the empty cup into the garbage can that was only a few feet away from them.
"I know."
Thomas grinned. "Ah, and? I'm assuming all is well?"
Damiano smiled contentedly. and leaned back onto the couch cushions with his arms behind his head. "Non è mai stato meglio mio, fratello."
Thomas grinned back as he too rested into the couch cushions, mimicking Damiano's actions.
"I'm glad to hear it, friend."
*Present Day*
Luckily, Damiano had been able to catch the first flight from Sweden to France and now, here he was standing outside of Altheya's sister's house with his heart in his hands. It was only seven o'clock in the morning so he didn't expect Altheya to be awake yet. Damiano ran up the front steps and rung the doorbell.
He exhaled as he counted backwards from ten in his head. His breath was coming out of his mouth in small white clouds. His emotions were getting the best of him. "Maybe I shouldn't have come..."
A few seconds later, the front door opened revealing Altheya in her light blue bathrobe, and white adidas sneakers. Her long black hair that he was so used to seeing up in a high ponytail was up in a messy bun.
And to Damiano, he thought that Altheya was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, despite having just woken up.
Damiano stepped forward and cleared his throat.
"Hi."
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* 26 hours earlier*
*11:00am*
KAROLINA GLANCED AT THE magazine article that was laid open on the coffee table in Altheya's living room. "He's definitely coming to apologize. Why else would he leave earlier than everyone else?"
Altheya groaned from her spot on the couch and threw a pillow over her head. A few moments later she released the pillow from her face and let it fall to the floor using her hand. She sat up in a huff and crossed her arms over her chest.
"As if! I'm not forgiving him unless he begs. BEGS. If he doesn't come to me on his hands and knees then I'm sending him home on the next plane back to Rome!"
Marie's eyes were twinkling as she heard her friend speak. "Seems like someone has been thinking about this certain scenario." She responded as she popped a grape in her mouth from the bowl that was on the kitchen counter leftover from brunch.
Marie walked over to the couch and squeezed Atheya's shoulder's before joining Ludja, Ariana and Gaia on the other couch.
Altheya had invited the girls over for brunch, sadly Alexis, Megan and Aleyna couldn't make it because they had meetings scheduled to attend to. But Altheya made sure to send each girl a bouquet of flowers to their respective apartments so that they wouldn't miss out on too much!
Altheya shrugged as her friend squeezed her shoulders. "I've had a lot of time on my hands okay!"
Giulia grinned as she lay on the floor with her legs spread out in a v-shape, flipping through a fashion magazine. "Maybe a bit too much time, Bea."
"How do you think this dress would look on me?" She asked Gaia, shoving the magazine towards her.
Gaia gave her a thumbs up. "I LOVE IT!"
Altheya launched a pillow towards the opposite couch. Luckily the pillow just missed Giulia and Gaia.
"HEY! Can we stop looking at dresses and can you help me with my problem? PLEASE?"
Tate took a sip from her cup of tea that was also on the coffee table. "The girl's desperate." She grinned towards Altheya.
Altheya pouted. "AM NOT TATE!"
Giulia giggled and grabbed the magazine from Gaia and put the magazine down back on the coffee table.
Ariana rolled her eyes as she re-read the magazine article that confirmed Damiano's almost departure from Sweden.
"Seems legit to me..." She said, shrugging.
"Maybe he misses you, Bea. Forgive and forget right?" Luja spoke up from her spot on the couch.
Karolina took a sip of her coffee. "Mhm, definitely." She winked towards Altheya. Her friend just shook her head in response.
"You girls are crazy! Damiano's not coming"—
Altheya had just gotten her ex's name out of her mouth when Luke came into the living room, dressed in a sweater and jeans and a jacket.
"Oh, hi babe! I thought you already left for the studio?" Altheya said slowly as she clutched a couch pillow towards her chest.
The girls looked at each other and stood up and said their silent goodbye's to Altheya as they walked single file towards the front door.
Once the girls had left, Luke sat down on the couch beside her. "No, I was going to wait for you, you know after your brunch but... looks like I might not have to after all..." The Australian replied with a small smile.
Altheya smiled softly. "Luke, if you want we could drive down to the studio now?" She took hold of his hand as she traced designs into his palm.
Luke let her play with his hands for a few moments before stopping her, gently, grabbing her small hands with his larger ones. The blond haired boy's voice got extremely quiet as he looked in Altheya's eyes tenderly.
"Altheya I hear you cry at night and I don't think its because of me..."
Altheya looked away from him, hurriedly. She could already feel the tears threatening to ruin her makeup.
"Luke, its not what you think it is..." Altheya replied her voice trembling. She knew what was coming but she didn't want it to end.
Luke gave Altheya a small smile as he shrugged his shoulders before wiping away her tears with the back of his thumb.
"I'm not the one you're in love with, right?" Luke said simply, refusing to look away from her. He already knew, but he needed to hear her say it.
Altheya just nodded before smiling, as more tears started to spill down her cheeks in a waterfall.
Luke let her fall into his embrace one last time as the two of them comforted one another for what was to be the last time.
"I'm so sorry, Luke. You're such a good guy, you really don't deserve this." Altheya mumbled, sobbing into his chest as quietly as she could.
Luke just shrugged again and chuckled trying to hide the fact that he was crying. He held her close to his chest trying to remember the shape of Altheya's body in his arms, her long hair, her deep brown eyes. Even the way she loved him. Even though her love didn't last.
"Obviously I didn't do enough, Bea." He responded simply as he let go of her figure and stood up from the couch.
"Goodbye Bea, I'll always love you." He kissed her temple one last time and headed for the door.
As Altheya stood by the front door window watching Luke drive away she couldn't help but cry. Luke was such a good guy so why did her heart belong to the guy that had hurt her so deeply.
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*Present day*
Altheya immediately frowned as soon as she saw the boy who broke her heart standing outside of her house as if nothing happened.
She stormed past him and walked to the end of the driveway as she picked up the newspaper that had been delivered that morning and began swatting the young man all over with it.
"COME TI PERMETTI! STUPIDO FIGLIO DI PUTTANA! VAFFANCULO!"
("How dare you! You stupid son of a bitch! Fuck you!" )
Damiano just stood there taking all of it, but it wasn't long before the Italian leaned over and shoved his face into hers and screamed back in near perfect Tagalog,
"SA AKIN? IKAW AY HINDI DAPAT MAGPATULOY! BITCH KA NA BA! ANYWAYS! PAGNANAKAW ALALAHANIN MO AKO! Or do I need to remind you of what you said?
(Me? You weren't supposed to move on! Fuck you bitch! You robbed me remember!)
Altheya had forgotten that she had taught him Tagalog. She cursed silently in her head, "tanginga mo." (i'm stupid)
Both Altheya and Damiano got extremely quiet after that. For a few moments they stood across from each other just staring into the other's eyes, not saying anything, but at the same time they were both saying so much.
Altheya was the one to speak first.
"If I wasn't supposed to move on, then what the hell was I supposed to do, Dami? Do I need to remind you of what you did? Or do you remember?"
Altheya was still glaring at him, as she waited for his response, she didn't have much patience.
Damiano sighed. The sound of his nickname coming from her mouth sounded like angels to him. "Look Bea, I cheated okay? And I never should have done that. It was wrong of me to do that. I don't know what else to do because I can't stop thinking of you and I didn't know how else to say I'm sorry except for this.
Damiano pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and began to sing softly,
"Riding high when I was king, I played it hard and fast cause I had everything. I walked away, you want me then, but easy come and easy go and it would end, so anytime I need ya let me go, yeah anytime I feed you get me? No. Anytime I see you let me know, but I planted that seed just let me grow. I'm on my knees while I'm beggin cause I don't want to lose you."
After Damiano finished the song he stuffed the piece of paper back into his jacket pocket and gazed at Altheya. Man she was beautiful as ever.
"Look I know that you don't deserve a man like me because people like me only hurt people like you. And I really don't want to lose you again and I know I fucked up and I'll keep apologizing for the rest of my life, just as long as I can I spend the rest of my life with you. And I want to have more babies with you..."
He didn't have to remind her. She had remembered the day that she had found out that she was pregnant, they were far from ready from being parents at seventeen.
So Altheya decided to abort the baby, well her parents advised her and she decided to do it after all. She and Damiano had just graduated university and they wanted to go out and pursue their dreams. And a baby would ruin all of that.
But she didn't inform Damiano before she went through with it and it was wrong of her. She already had tears in her eyes thinking about what had happened three years prior. It was the right decision but she should've said something to Damiano since he was the father after all.
"I'm sorry." Altheya mumbled, looking down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact.
And that's when Damiano pulled out a small silver box from his other jacket pocket and got down on one knee. Damiano opened the box and stared up at the girl that he would never be worthy of no matter how hard he tried.
"Altheya Beatrice Marie Areola will you marry me?" Damiano's voice was shaking, in his head he really thought he was a goner. But in a matter of seconds Altheya wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his ear,
"Si, Dami. Mahal kita."
(Yes, Dami, I love you.)
"Mahal kita din, sobra."
(I love you too, so much.) Damiano whispered as he held her close. They were never going to lose eachother again. He promised.
"You know how much, I love Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons?" Altheya mumbled giggling as the two started dancing in the driveway as it began to rain.
Damiano giggled as he spun her around.
"I know."
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LEIA SAYS!
This is the longest chapter yet! But who else is crying? Also I made it canon that Damiano speaks Tagalog because that's 🥵🥵. Anyways hope you enjoy!! ❤️