I look up at the door and smile when Cataleya and Isabelle walk in.
'What are you doing here?' I point at my laptop and sigh deeply. 'Working.' I reply as they take a seat on the couch across from me.
I sat there an hour ago, but then I switched to the table behind me and now I'm sitting on this couch instead.
'Well, do you want to hang out?' Isabelle asks, looking around the room to stop at Nico. 'Why is he sitting over there?'
'Because she moves too much.' Nico replies, sighing as he gets up and jumps over the couch just to end up next to me.
'Cool, cool, well do you want to go hang at the pool or get something to drink and have fun tonight?'
'What's the occasion?' If it's because Leya decided to stay with Rio or at least give him another chance, I'm done. If not, I still have a lot of work to do so I might have to decline.
'We're headed to Spain!' Isabelle exclaims, getting all excited.
She told me that she has never been to Spain before and that she always wanted to go there. And Italy.
I told her she should go with Marco if she wants to see Italy, because he would be able to show her around a lot better than Leya or I would.
'Does that mean you made your decision?' I ask, turning to Leya for a second. She shakes her head at me, awkwardly smiling because she knows she doesn't have much time left.
'I don't even know if we'll be in Spain tomorrow, so let's get there first, then I'll decide.'
My eyes widen, and by the looks of it, I'm not the only one who's shocked. 'Really?' Nico asks curiously.
'You're telling me that you're going to decide as soon as we get to Spain?' She shakes her head again and looks at her hands on her lap. 'I think I have a bit more time there, right?'
'So you're not going to decide as soon as we get to Spain?' Isabelle asks.
I can tell that Leya doesn't know how to respond because she doesn't know what to do. 'Ley?' 'I might need more time. Maybe some time away from all of this would give me a clearer vision of what might be, right?'
'Don't you think three months was enough?' I turn to Nico and frown at him. 'Who the fuck are you to decide?' Isabelle asks, suddenly sounding defensive. 'And why are you even talking?'
'Don't start with me Veah.' He says, looking at me as he throws his arm on the back of the couch, 'Because you and I both know I'll win.'
'No you won't.' I state, rolling my eyes before looking at the other couch to stop this stupid staring contest.
But Leya and Isabelle are looking at us with that look. And I hate it.
'Don't you fucking dare.' 'Anyway! Did you talk to Leon yet?' Leya asks curiously.
Nico mumbles something and heads back to the table, taking a seat there as he goes through some papers again.
'I have not because he didn't leave his room.' She rolls her eyes and heads over to me, grabbing my hand as I place the laptop on my side. 'Maybe you should.'
'If he comes out of his room, I might.' 'This would be a lovely topic to talk about with a martini at the pool, don't you think?' Isabelle asks, getting up as well.
They both look at me with bright smiles on their faces, but I shake my head. 'I have some shit to go through and-' 'You're still working on that hotel stuff?'
'It's not like I can just stop.' I state, trying to make it seem like the chain really needs me right now. 'Yes you can, it's like over eighty degrees out!' Isabelle exclaims.
She's clearly excited to hang out and I like hanging out with her a lot, but I was just in the workflow.
But Leya keeps her eyes on me, studying me for the things I'm not saying. 'And?' I sigh and smile at her. 'And it keeps me busy so I don't really mind.'
'So you don't actually have to work, great! Come with us-' 'You two can go, but I don't really want to right now, maybe I'll join you later?' Isabelle's excitement fades and I keep my eyes on Leya.
'Please don't overdo yourself, okay?' She asks, giving my hand a squeeze. 'I won't.'
After a few glares at me from both of them, they leave the room and close the door.
'What was that about?' I turn to the voice and grab my laptop as I head over to the table he's sitting at. 'What do you mean?'
'You're acting up?' Nico says, looking at me with a strange look on his face. One I can't place.
'You're the one acting up.' Normally he's just quiet and observing, he doesn't intervene with other people's shit, yet here he was. 'I'm not the one trying to hide from my boyfriend.'
'I'm not hiding from him.' He looks me dead in the eye, waiting for me to fold, but I won't. I'm not hiding from him. 'You're not talking to him.' 'Just because I'm not talking to him, does not mean I'm hiding from him, now can we please stop talking about me?'
'Why?' He asks, amusement gleaming through his eyes. 'Because I'm not the one acting up here, you are.'
'Well, can you blame me?' What?
'What could possibly be your reason to act up?' He chuckles and shakes his head, trying to act like we're not having this conversation right now. 'Forget it.'
'No, you started at A so you might as well say the rest of the alphabet. Tell me.'
'There are too many reasons to count, Veah.'
Something's up.
We haven't talked in a few days because we're both busy with all the work Rio is giving us, but still.
I should've known when he asked if he could stay in here with me, but I was too busy with taking that phone call to even bother.
'Start with one.' He inhales slowly and nods at me, before moving his papers to the side. 'Okay, right.' What is he doing?
'For starters, the woman I want is sad because her useless boyfriend isn't paying attention to her.' Fuck no.
'Don't call him useless, he just needs time to process it. And I'm not sad about it so don't even start with me.'
He looks at me with anger in his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, 'Fine. Fuck. Then there's the fact that I would give that same girl my entire fucking soul just for her to smile again.'
'Nico.' I warn, hating where this conversation is going. I thought we cleared this shit when we spoke about it last time.
'And I would give her all she desires and so much more, but she's blind or something.'
'Stop it.' He tilts his head a little, mocking me as he continues, 'I just don't get why she stays with someone like her boyfriend when she could have so much better.' 'Nikolai, please stop.'
Something switches in his eyes and he looks at the empty table in front of him, sighing deeply. 'All... All I want is for that woman to be happy, to smile again like she used to, to live.'
My heart starts beating a lot faster because of his words, and I can't help but smile a little. 'That woman will be fine, trust me.'
'I know she will be,' He says, looking at me with a soft smile playing on his lips, 'I just want to be there when she does.'
'Now can we please talk about something else?' He nods and turns back to work, before looking at me over the papers in his hand. 'What do you want to talk about?'
'What are your plans now?' They only stayed because they got paid to find Leya. But we found her now, and since Killian and Brandon are a thing and Celine and Vincent are a thing, they have reasons to stay.
'Do you want me gone that badly, zayka?' I grin as I scroll through my laptop and shrug. 'I don't want you to just disappear.'
Vincent and Killian said that he did that shit before.
Nikolai disappeared for a long time because he had a lot of shit going on with his family. And till this day he still hasn't told them anything about what happened.
'You don't?' I shake my head and hate myself for doing so because this might give him the wrong idea. 'Not because I love you, I mean I care about you, but just as a friend.'
'Right.' He mutters, handing a piece of paper to me, 'A friend.'
I nod and look at the paper he handed me, noticing that it's about one of the orders Rio asked me to look at a few weeks ago.
'So? Where are you going?' I ask again, placing the paper beside me to check if it's the right one on my laptop. 'I thought you said you didn't want to talk about a certain subject.'
What does this have to do with... 'Nico, you don't have to stay because of me.'
'I want to.' He says, looking a little ashamed that he's even saying it. 'Why?' 'Because even if you don't want me the way you want your stupid boyfriend, and you're an absolute pain in my ass most of the time, I like hanging out with you as a friend.'
The way he says friend doesn't sit right with me. And it's not the only thing that's not sitting right with me.
'Stop calling him stupid, before I kick you right where it hurts the most.' He smiles a little, shaking his head as he places one of his last papers on the right pile.
'Alright. Sorry for hurting your feelings by calling him stupid.' He says mockingly, rolling his eyes as he leans back and stares at me.
'Jealousy doesn't suit you.' I state, turning back to my laptop instead of looking at his blue eyes. 'Stop acting like a complete dick and stop being jealous.'
'Why would I be jealous?' I fight the urge to look him dead in the eyes, but I lose my battle and stare up from my laptop, straight into his eyes. 'Seriously?'
'I have every right to be jealous.' He's not even denying it?
'No, you don't.'
'I do.' He replies, keeping eye contact the entire time. 'Why?' 'Because he has the woman I want.'
It's like all the air leaves the room for just a second and I turn back to my laptop to fill my lungs again. 'Next topic or I'm leaving.'
'Where are you going when we get to land?' He asks as if he didn't just say what he did.
And that's what scares me the most about this. He can act like he's not hurt at all by my rejections even though I know I'm hurting him.
'I will probably stay with Leya's mom for a while and I don't know after that.' He nods impressed, swallowing the words he wants to say more than anything in the world, and smiles for a second.
'What is it?' I want to know, but it might end up the wrong way. 'Nothing.' So I won't push it.
'Alright.' As the word slips my mouth, I can hear the door open behind me. 'Brandon if you're going to beg me to join the party, the answer is no.'
Nico stares at the person behind me and I don't like the way he's tensing more and more by the second.
'Well, I'm not Brandon,' I freeze at his soft voice and almost turn around to face him. Almost, 'but I want to talk to you.'
I can feel Tiago moving closer and hear footsteps as well.
My eyes are pinned to Nico, wishing that he would just stop glaring at Tiago and talk to me about something stupid.
But he doesn't.
'Is that okay with you?' Tiago asks, moving over to Nico's side of the table. I nod and look at him for a second, realizing that the bags under his eyes are even clearer than before.
Only three days have passed ever since I told him, but it feels like a month has passed when I look at him. A month without sleep, a month without rest, a month without silence.
'Sure,' I say, feeling my heart break with each letter of that stupid word, 'We can talk.'
My mind goes crazy as he slowly lowers himself into the chair, feeling the need to hug him and comfort him expand by the second.
He awkwardly looks at Nico and back at me, making me smile a little. 'Nico, could you give us a second?'
For once, Nico takes his eyes off of Tiago, just to look at me for a second and sigh deeply.
He sounds disappointed but doesn't say a word as he gets up and heads out the door.
'You bewitched him, didn't you?' He asks jokingly, with no amusement in his voice whatsoever. 'What?'
'He's in love with you, even a blind person can tell.' I stay silent while I log out of my laptop and slowly close it, finding the right words to react. Wondering if I even should.
'If you want to know about my relationship with-' His eyes widen for a second before he tilts his head a little. Wrong choice of words. 'With Nico, which is strictly platonic on this side, you're allowed to just ask.'
'You like him, don't you?' What? 'I only like him as a friend.' I reply hesitantly, wondering where this is coming from.
'He doesn't scare you?' Now I'm the one frowning, while he looks at the table between us. 'Tiago-' 'You feel safe with him, right?'
'Most of the time, yes.' I feel like everything I'm saying is wrong right now. There's no right answer to any of his questions.
'Do you think you...' He inhales sharply and slowly exhales, before looking at me again, 'Do you think you could be with him?'
'No- Why are you asking me these questions?' He grins and looks at me for a few seconds, leaning back against the chair as he sighs deeply. 'You told me to ask, right?'
'I told you to ask but it sounds like you're setting me up for failure, so tell me what's going on, please?'
'All I'm trying to say is that there's obviously... tension between you two, so I thought that you might've... thought about it and...' Is he fucking serious?
'You think I cheated on you?' I ask, waiting for him to look at me. But I know he can feel my eyes on him, so he probably won't look up from the stupid table and face me. 'If you needed comfort after everything that happened to you, I would be fine with that. As long as you tell me.'
'You wouldn't mind if I cheat on you?' He finally looks at me and I can see the unmistakable panic in his eyes. 'Of course not, fuck Neveah...'
'Then why would you-' 'I didn't mean it like that... I just- God. I don't even know how to talk to you right now.' He mutters, shaking his head as he slumps down in defeat.
My heart hurts at the sight of him, knowing that I could've prevented this by just keeping my mouth shut.
'Well, I'm sorry for telling you.' He looks at me with tears in his eyes and panics again, 'I didn't mean it like that.'
For some reason, I'm having a very hard time believing him.
'If that's what you wanted to talk about, he kissed me at a party but that's it. I didn't want it to happen but it was a coverup and we didn't talk about it ever since.'
I can tell that he wants to hurt someone badly, but I wonder if it's Nico he wants to hurt or me, but he keeps himself composed.
'So you do want to be with him?' He asks after a moment of silence.
'Where in that sentence did I say I want to be with him?' I ask, getting a little annoyed now.
It's like he's trying to match me with Nico so that he can do as he pleases.
'Neveah, I'm just asking you some questions to see if... If you could move on with him.'
The last pieces of my heart, the ones he secretly held even though I thought he didn't, break as his words crash into me like a truck.
He doesn't want me anymore... So he's trying to make me move on?
'No. I don't.' I state, fighting the tears behind my eyes as he keeps his stare on the table. 'Have you thought about it?'
I stay silent, hating the fact that I've thought about it once. That time Nico confessed his feelings for me. I thought about it for a split second, wondering what it could've been like if Tiago didn't exist.
But there was nothing. No picture, no future.
Because if it wasn't for Tiago, Nico and I wouldn't have met in the first place.
'So you have?' 'Tiago, why are you doing this?' I feel like locking myself in my room and falling into a deep slumber that I'll never wake up from.
'I'm just- I don't know what you want me to do, Veah.'
A lot of things. He could be doing a lot of things right now in order for us to figure this shit out, but not one thing seems right at this moment.
'I want you to leave.' I mumble, watching as he nods and slowly gets up out of his chair. 'If you want this room to yourself again, I'll-' 'I want you to get out of my life.'
He stops in his tracks and slowly turns around. 'Do you mean that?'
'I don't fucking know.' I answer honestly, my emotions growing by the second. All I can feel is anger. And it's not just directed at him.
'But what I do know is that I was so dumb to think that this,' I point my finger at us, 'would actually work. I mean, you're in a fucking gang! And I was so stupid to take that internship in Italy, I should've convinced Leya to choose Japan instead and all of this could've been avoided! And-'
'Neveah, stop.' I look into his eyes, seeing that he's genuinely in pain. And it hurts to see him in pain, but it strangely feels right to hurt him back the way he hurt me not so long ago. 'Don't you fucking dare.'
I get up and move over to him, ready to break my heart even more by doing so. 'You're the one trying to make me move on with someone else! So just fucking go!'
'You think I'm doing this so that I can do what I want?'
'Why else would you want me to move on?! You just feel bad because you think I won't let go of you, but you're free to go, trust me!'
He takes in my words, letting them soak in his head while the tears fight their way out of my eyes. I quickly blink them away and take a deep breath.
'If that's what you want.' He says, turning to the door and leaving before I can even respond.
Fucking asshole...
Nico walks through the door in less than two seconds and stares at me as he stays on the other side of the room.
'Are you okay?' He asks softly, making my heart ache all the more. Because this is it. The thing I didn't want to happen, but I let it happen. 'I don't know.'
'Do you want to talk about it?' I look into his eyes and blink a few times, debating if I should or shouldn't talk to him about this.
If we would be just friends, I would. But it will hurt him and I don't want to hurt him.
I've hurt enough people today...
'Not really.' He nods and walks around the room for a while, making me a little nervous.
It's clear he's not dropping the subject until I talk to him.
'Did he tell you not to talk to me or something?' I sigh deeply and shake my head as I head over to the couch, 'He didn't tell me to do anything.' Apart from the fact that he wants me to move on...
'Well, he obviously said or did something to upset you and-' 'Nikolai.' Is all I'm able to bring out as the realization kicks in.
We're done.
I mean, we've had fights before, but this one feels different. Especially because of what happened.
I knew I shouldn't have told him... At least not now.
'This has to stop.' I say, looking up at him as he moves closer, sitting on the little table in front of me. 'What do you mean?'
'You need to stop caring about me so much.' I'm trying to be as direct as possible to avoid miscommunication, but I know that I'm failing miserably.
'I've tried.' He admits, nodding slowly as he keeps his eyes on mine, trying to read my soul, 'Trust me, I've tried over and over again.'
I wish I could help him with this, but I don't know how. I told him a million times that this will never be more than friendship. He just doesn't get it.
'I'm sorry for hurting you.' He smiles a little, nodding as he takes in my words. 'Don't be. You can't choose who you fall in love with.' He mutters, his voice deep and hazy, 'Your heart just picks.'
My phone pings across the room and we both just look at each other while a few notifications pop through. 'I should go look who that is.' I mutter as I climb off the couch and rush to the table so I can grab my phone.
When I see Rafael's name, my heart starts beating a bit faster.
We haven't talked since the whole fiasco that happened a few days ago, so I'm a little unsure if he still wants to kill me or not.
He probably does...
𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖
Fuck... Fuck... Fuck...
At first, I debate hiding from him until he forgets about texting me, but knowing Rio, he's probably waiting for me already. Especially now that Leya is hanging with Isabelle by the pool.
And there are not many places I can hide, we're on a boat that he bought.
'Everything okay?' Nico asks as he moves over to the table and takes a seat again. 'Yes, just- I have to go and talk to Rio.'
He frowns as I grab all my stuff and head to the door, smiling at him as I close the door.
What does Rio want to talk to me about? Is he going to shout at me and throw stuff at me? Or does this have something to do with Leya?
Because if he thinks I have another trick, he's wrong.
Terribly wrong.
I head to my bedroom first, dropping everything on my bed before heading out again. Night runs into my room and jumps on my bed, sniffing the papers and laptop I just threw on there.
I want to stay here and cuddle with that cat for the rest of the day, just because it feels right, but Rio wants to talk to me.
So instead of doing what I want, I head to the meeting room to have that conversation with Rio.
Please don't kill me... Please don't kill me...
'You wanted to talk to me?' I ask as I step into the meeting room.
I almost got lost again, but it's a good thing I didn't because Rio looks kind of troubled.
'Take a seat.' He points at the chair across from him and waits for me to move, which I do.
I'm not in the mood to argue with him. Not today at least. And by the looks of it, he isn't either.
'I'm going to say it once and we'll never talk about it again, okay?' I frown and feel a little curious as to what he's talking about. Because I have no clue. 'I'm sorry for losing control the way I did a few days ago.'
His apology almost blows me off my seat. 'You-' 'We're not talking about that anymore, did she say anything about me?'
I tilt my head a little, smiling at his curiosity. He still seems troubled, but differently. At least he can make sure that she's safe now.
'Not much and I'm not going to tell you more.' I say, straightening my back, 'Are we really headed to Spain?'
He sighs deeply and nods, leaning against his chair. 'I can't keep her with me if she doesn't want to.'
'So you're giving up?' My question triggers him again. Just like most of my questions do when it comes to this shit. 'I'm not.'
'Then why are you acting like all of this is over when we're on land again?'
'She doesn't want me around her family.' I nod, completely understanding why she would want to keep all the Curzio related shit as far away from her family as possible. 'You don't have to get her family involved.'
'How?' 'I honestly don't know.' He takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eye, a bit disappointed that I didn't come up with a plan to help him out of the gutter.
The silence is breaking me, reminding me of the conversation I had with Tiago earlier, shattering my heart and mind all over again.
'Can I go now?' He slightly raises a brow at me and shakes his head, placing his arms on the table as he leans forward.
'What's your plan?' What? 'What do you mean?'
'What are you going to do when we get to land?' He asks, looking at my hands, before looking back at my face. 'Not sure yet, I'll probably stay in Spain for a while or move back to the States.'
'What's going on between you and Leon?' Oh.
Out of all things, I didn't expect him to talk to me about this.
We never really talked about my relationship with Tiago, not like this.
Sure, he blamed me for what Tiago did at the beginning, but that's it.
Did Tiago tell him already?
'What do you mean?'
'You two aren't talking to each other again, despite that you two already had sex? And you told him what happened without telling him any details?'
'He told you?' I ask immediately. 'Don't avoid the questions.'
Shame crawls up my spine and I look at the table between us.
There's a short moment of silence, making this more and more awkward than necessary.
'North.' He says after at least five minutes of silence.
I look up, straight into his dark eyes, and wait for him to tell me what's on his mind.
Something is certainly bothering him.
'Remember what you told me when we went to Florida?' What? I try to think about our conversations back then.
But I don't remember anything important. We hated each other back then, so all we did is shout some hurtful shit to each other.
'You said that in order to have a healthy relationship, you need to communicate.'
He tilts his head and smiles at me. 'Did I say that?' I ask, fully knowing that I did.
But I said that to get my point across. He needed to understand how much he hurt Cataleya by not telling her how he felt and- Oh.
No. That doesn't count. I told Tiago how I felt. I told him time and time again. He just doesn't like me anymore because of what happened to me, he can't love me the way he used to.
Right?
'Now I know it's easier said than done, trust me.' I giggle because that's exactly what he said back then.
'But all you have to do is listen and talk, right?' He asks, keeping his eyes on mine.
And he's right. All I have to do is listen and talk. Tell him how I feel. Honesty.
'I think we should both listen to that advice. But you especially, since he's leaving any minute now.' What?
'He's leaving?' Without telling me? After the fight we had?
Rio nods and looks at his watch. 'He's leaving for Italy, finally using his brain instead of his heart.' He chuckles unamused, looking at me again.
'So go. Talk to him about your feelings. Follow your own advice.'
He's right. I should follow my own advice.
And I will.
Before it's too late.
So I jump up from my chair, smile at him as a thanks-for-the-advice, and run towards the door.
'Where is he?' I quickly ask. 'On the top.' Helipad.
I knew I heard something last night. Fuck.
My legs work before I can even think straight, but I run.
I run as fast as I can
I hate that this ship is so big, I hate that he's leaving without telling me, I hate that I said what I said, I hate that I don't regret it because it was the truth, I hate that my ankle still hurts while I run, I hate that I can't just let him be and move on, I hate that my heart is on the verge of exploding into a billion pieces.
I hate all of this.
'You idiot!' I shout as I reach the helipad. Tiago turns towards me and frowns.
'So you're leaving?' I ask, stopping close enough to hit him. 'Adriano said I was allowed to go.'
Of course he did.
'If one of us is leaving, it's going to be me.' I shout pushing him away from the black machine behind him.
I have no clue how to control it, but I'm not going to be the one staying here.
'Neveah.' He pulls me back and makes sure that I won't be able to get in the helicopter again.
In a split second, he pulled me out of the helicopter and let go of me. He doesn't want to touch me... 'You asshole!'
He frowns and allows me to push him again, almost making him fall.
'You have the nerve to leave without telling me!?' I shout, not even trying to cover my anger anymore.
'I thought it would make your stay a bit easier if I left.' Asshole.
I hit him, right in his face, and feel the tears escape.
I hate this. I hate every second of this. It's too painful, too much.
'Cara-' I look up into his gorgeous eyes and almost melt. Almost.
Because the anger and pain are just too much for me to bear right now.
It's the fact that he was leaving without telling me, without talking about all the shit we said not so long ago, the fact that the last reminder I might have of him would be our fight.
'So you were going to leave without saying anything?'
'It's not like you'll listen to anything I have to say anyway.' He mumbles, only angering me more.
'So I tell you what happened, you try to make me go to Nico, and you just leave?'
I didn't expect him to be as touchy as before, but I didn't expect him to leave either.
'I don't want to make you uncomfortable, so I'll do what's best and leave.' Uncomfortable?
'You are not- It's not you that makes me uncomfortable, it's my fucked up mind thinking that you-' 'I still feel responsible.' He states, his voice loud and clear as the waves crash against the side of the boat.
'You're not.' He shakes his head and tries to reach for the door of the helicopter again. 'It doesn't matter.'
'So what, you're just leaving because you feel responsible.' He stops with his hand on the handle and nods as he slowly turns around to face me again.
'Without telling me?' Is this what he felt when I left all those years ago? Or when I left a few days back?
Because if so, I hate myself for doing this to him.
Panic starts to kick in when he turns around again, pulls on the handle, and slowly opens the door.
'You didn't even apologize to Leya!' It's a lie. A simple lie to keep him from getting in and leaving.
He looks at me as if I'm insane, already done with my shit again.
'I did.'
'No, you didn't.' He closes the door again, turning around to face me completely.
'I said I'm sorry over a hundred times since I got you back-'
'But it was never sincere.' He tilts his head a little, looking deep into my eyes.
'You never meant any of it.' Don't go...
'I did.' I shake my head and step back, trying to keep myself from hitting him again.
Please don't go...
'You only said it because you knew I made my decision to leave. You didn't say it because you actually felt sorry for Leya... You just didn't want to be alone.'
My words hurt him in ways I can't describe. Yet he doesn't move a single muscle.
'Maybe you're right. I didn't feel bad for what I did, because I was going to fix it right away.'
I roll my eyes because none of that happened. He was probably sleeping around with a bunch of different bitches and drinking until he couldn't see straight, not helping at all, while Rio and I were fighting for our lives to get Leya back.
No... He would never...
'I didn't know Cataleya wasn't chipped, so that's why I didn't care if she would be with them for a few hours. I just needed to get you back.'
'That's selfish.' He nods, looking away again. 'I thought I would get her back immediately.'
I look at him, wondering what changed in those three months. Or more, who changed.
'If I had known, I would've done something else. Anything else.'
We go silent for a while and I listen to the sounds of the ocean.
He once said I reminded him of the ocean. I was his ocean and he was my sand. He was supposed to stick to me until eternity, but he's leaving.
'And I get that you're angry at me and I finally accepted your repulsion. So I'll be leaving.'
Repulsion... Is that why he said all those things earlier? Because he thinks I'm sick of him?
'I don't-' I stop when he looks into my eyes again, afraid to continue, but I have to.
I have to tell him before it's too late.
'I don't want you to leave.' I whisper, barely loud enough to understand.
We haven't touched or kissed or been near each other ever since I told him, but I don't want him to leave.
Tiago chuckles and turns back to the vehicle behind him. 'Please...'
'What do you want, cara?' He turns back to me and steps closer, 'Because you say something else every time we have this conversation.'
'Don't go away because of me.' I whisper again, afraid that if I'll say it too loud the waves won't be loud enough to cover the desperation in my voice.
'But you said-' 'I know what I said, and I meant every word. Every tear, every shout, every scream, every fraction of pain I caused. I meant it.'
He looks at me again, watching as tears roll down my cheeks. They cut through me, as if they're made out of chemicals again.
'But that does not mean I want you to go.'
'Neveah...' He moves closer again, almost close enough to touch me, to wipe the tears from my face and make the pain stop. 'Don't go because you think I want you to, because I don't.'
I step forward, closing the gap between us, putting my hands on his chest to keep myself from falling.
'I was just hurt by all the shit you said and I panicked, so please-' A whimper escapes my lips and I lean against his warm body, ignoring the images trying to creep up.
'Just don't-' 'I'm not.' He whispers, cupping my face gently, before wiping the tears streaming down my face.
'You'll be going to Spain and I'll be going to Italy for some business there. But I'll be back.' He tilts my head up, forcing me to look at him 'I promise.'
I press my face against his hand and slowly reach for his hand. 'I don't want you to go...'
His hand feels soft and warm, almost making me melt at its touch. I press my lips against it and look back at him.
He takes a shaky breath and presses his lips on my nose.
'I think it's best if we have some time apart, to think things over.'
As if three months wasn't enough time yet...
I want to shout at him, but I simply swallow my words and nod.
I did my part. I told him how I felt, I told him all about everything that happened while he was gone, and he still wants to leave.
And if that's really something he wants, I'll let him.
'But I promise you, we'll be together again. One day.'
I nod again and watch as he leans in to kiss me. I let it happen. Just like I let it happen every time even though I shouldn't.
The moment our lips touch, I feel the wave of heat rush through me.
He slowly leans back and smiles softly, 'I'm still your sand.'
Idiot. I roll my eyes and step back, trying to act like that didn't just make my heart flutter.
'I love you Neveah.' He states with a soft smile before he heads towards the helicopter. As soon as he closes the door, I step back, far away to not get blown away by its power.
'I love you too.' I whisper into the air, for the waves and wind to hear.
He smiles again, before taking off and heading south in a big flying piece of metal.
I head back to my room and freeze at the door when I hear Victoria's soft voice.
'She always runs away from me!' She complains to... Nico.
'Who always runs away from you?' They both turn to me with wide eyes. Victoria jumps off of the couch and runs over to me, hugging me tightly as I try to stay balanced. 'I've been looking for you the entire day!'
'I told you I have to work this morning, remember?' She nods and smiles at me, keeping a tight grip on my waist.
'I know.' She says, making me smile when she finally lets go of me and runs back to the couch. 'What were you two talking about?'
'The cat always runs away from her.' Nico says and Victoria turns to him with an annoyed expression on her face. 'The cat has a name and it's Night, but yes. She keeps running away from me!'
'Because you're running after her like a crazy person.' I say as I head over to the bed and take a seat.
Night runs into the room and jumps on the bed, right next to me. 'Not fair!' Victoria shouts when Night starts brushing her head against my arm.
'Come here.' I say, holding out my hand and waiting for Victoria to get closer.
She slowly moves over to me, keeping her eyes on the cat on my right. 'Slowly or you'll scare her away.'
Victoria climbs on my lap and reaches out for Night, slowly stroking her, and smiles at me when Night doesn't run off. 'See?'
'She's so cute.' She mumbles as she turns back to Night.
'Everything okay?' Nico asks, looking directly at me. I take a deep breath, debating if I should tell him or not. But the answer is no.
'Yes, I'm fine.' He nods and slowly gets up from the couch, trying not to scare Night away, before heading to the door. 'I'll leave you guys alone for now.'
'Bye Nico.' Victoria says, before putting all her attention on the black cat laying next to us.
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A/N: Team Nico or Team Tiago? Let me know!!! GOOD ARGUMENTS AS WELL!
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