• AMALIA •
Archer and I are alone again after we eat. My brothers leave, Alexandra goes to her bedroom, Enzo asks to play in his room.
I took the necklace off, wanting to preserve and save it for special events. It's too glamorous to be worn every day.
"Do you wanna watch a movie?" I ask.
He looks over at me and smiles. "Sure."
I stand and grab the remote, then sit closer to him. He looks over at me, and I grab the blanket off the back of the couch before carefully laying it over us. His arm slips around my shoulders and he looks down at me, an emotion I can't quite place shining in his grey eyes.
"What movie?"
"Any. I don't mind."
"Okay." I whisper. I turn the TV on and play a random movie. Slowly, I tuck myself into Archers side. His other arm comes to enclose around me before he turns us down we're sideways on the couch. I'm between his legs with my back leaning against his toned chest.
"Ally wants to go to the park tomorrow." He says. "Do you and Enzo want to come?"
"I have to open the shop." I whisper.
"Oh. I can still take Enzo, if you'd like."
"Really?" I look up at him. He nods. I smile, and his lips begin to tilt upwards at the sight. "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me." He says softly. He plants a kiss in my hair, and I lean into him, finding that my shoulders relax upon contact and a certain calmness takes over me.
•
The next day, I'm putting Enzo's coat on for him, then smoothing out his blonde curls before kissing his little cheek. He giggles. "I'll see you later, baby. I love you."
"I love you too mama." He says. "Moon and back!"
"I love you around the whole universe a gazillion times." I tell him.
He gasps. I laugh. He begins giggling again.
I lift him up into the stroller, strapping him in, before standing. Archer comes up behind me and kisses my cheek. "You're sure your dad is on his way?"
"Yeah, when I called him he was in the car." I lie. He thinks my dad is coming to keep an eye on me but he isn't. I need time alone, and I have to become more independent again. I can't let my dad coerce me into resting and potentially lose some business.
"Alright." He says. "Bye."
"Bye." Ally walks past us, "bye, Ally."
"Bye!" She exclaims excitedly.
They walk out of the shop door, and I round the counter, sitting by the till. I lean back in my chair and exhale a small, calm breath.
A few customers come in before I decide to eat the lunch I brought down with me. I open the plastic tub and grab my fork, beginning to eat. I take a few sips of my water and look up when the bell dings, signalling that there's a customer.
I pause, horror overtaking me.
"Frankie." I say, forcing my voice not to shake.
Slowly, he smiles. He looks different, but also the same. Eerily so. Memories begin to come back to me but I force them away as I stand.
"I killed you."
"You stabbed me in the dick and left one of my hands untied, sweetheart. It was easy to get away." He tells me, his voice mocking. "I was right in front of you, vulnerable as ever, and your weak ass couldn't even kill me."
I swallow the lump stuck in my throat. "It was you, in the car."
His smile only widens manically. "Mhm. I saw Archer in the car with you and I just couldn't stop myself." He begins walking toward me, and my hands shake under the desk. I glance around for my phone, but it's in one of the drawers behind me.
"You know," Frankie continues, "I learnt some interesting things about your family." He tells me. Panic swirls within me. "I was just on my way to tell the police when I saw your pathetic little shop and thought I'd say hello. Give you a little warning before I get your whole family arrested. Maybe call your dad and say goodbye."
"I'll kill you." I say.
He laughs. "Is that what you promised yourself last time? That you'd kill me? Have you forgotten how that worked out for you?"
He punches me suddenly, and I'm thrown against the back of my desk. Pain spreads throughout my back and I groan. The wounds I have from the car accident only makes the pain worse. He rounds the counter and wraps his hands around my throat, squeezing. My eyes widen as I gasp for air. I grab his wrists, clawing, hitting, slapping, but he doesn't let me go.
I feel around behind me and grab a small plant pot, bringing it up to the side of his head and smashing it. Ceramic cracks and falls onto the floor in large, sharp pieces. I hope it knocks Frankie out, however it just causes the side of his head to start bleeding. He scowls, punching me again, but before his fist comes in contact with my face I catch it and shove him away. My hands fumble for the drawer my phone is in, but before I'm able to grab it I feel a sharp, painful yank on my hair. My head is slammed into the desk and I scream, pain shooting throughout my entire face. I feel blood drip down my nose as he continues to smash my face into the mahogany.
When he pulls my head back for the seventh time, I lose all consciousness.
• ARCHER •
I push Enzo on the baby swing as Ally goes down the slide repeatedly, making me watch her each time.
We've been here for about two hours. For the first thirty minutes, Alexandra was playing with Enzo, but she decided she wanted to go on the zip line and I didn't think Amalia would be too happy if I let an eleven year old take her two year old son on a high zip line.
Ally runs over, her blonde hair disheveled. "Can we leave now?"
"Yeah, okay." I say, secretly relieved. I fucking hate the park.
I lift Enzo out of the swing and set him back into his stroller, buckling him up before rounding it and holding onto the handles. I reach out for Ally's hand but she frowns.
"I'm not a baby." She says.
I peer my eyes. "What, you're too grown up now?"
"What if the people from my new school see me?" She asks.
"Then they'll know how much you love your big brother—" she shoves me, and I laugh. We leave the park and begin the journey back to Amalia's shop. As soon as I open the door, though, dread settles in the pit of my stomach. My eyes are immediately attracted to the smashed plant pots on her counter and I rush over to it, my eyes widening when I see Amalia on the floor, blood pouring from her head and nose and her eyes closed.
"Amalia!" I shout. I fall to my knees beside her and hold her head up. Ally steps around the counter and gasps. "Ally." I say. I have to say her name again before she looks at me. I pull my phone out of my pocket and pass it to her. "Call Amalia's brother, Xander, okay? Tell him what's happening and to meet us at the hospital."
"Archie!" She sobs.
"It's okay. It's okay." I assure her gently. "It'll be okay. Just call Xander for me, okay?"
She nods, sniffling.
"Thank you." I say. I lift Amalia's head up and cradle her as I reach my hand up to grab the phone off the desk. I dial nine-nine-nine and quickly request an ambulance.
• XANDER •
My phone rings. I sigh heavily as I glance at it, but concern overthrows my annoyance when I see that it's Archer.
I pick it up and put it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Xan—Xander?" A high pitched voice says. I recognise it as his little sister Alexandra's.
"Yeah. Is everything okay?" I make my voice gentle, since she sounds upset.
"N-no." She sobs. "A-Amalia is on the floor and—and she's not waking up. She's bleeding a l-lot."
I stand up from my desk and grab my keys, rushing out of my office at the back of the restaurant. "Ally, you still there?" I ask.
"Uh-huh." She sniffles.
"Okay. Can you tell me where you guys are?"
"Amalia's shop. B-but Archie said to tell you to come to the hospital. He's calling an ambulance."
"Alright. Tell him I'm driving there now."
"Okay." She whispers. "S-see you. Bye."
"Bye." I say. Then I press on the petrol and drive to the hospital, calling my dad on the way. Archer doesn't have his number, so it makes sense why he called me.
I get to the hospital and rush to find Amalia's room. When I find it out, I practically sprint there. I open the door, finding Amalia on the hospital bed, our dad sitting beside her as he tries to console her. She's sobbing, sputtering out words that I can't understand. I rush over to her, my eyes widening when I see the bandage around her head and the bruises forming on her face.
"What the hell happened?" I ask loudly.
"Frankie's back!" Amalia exclaims. "And he's gonna call the police! He knows about everything! Everything! Everyone's gonna go to jail!"
"Shh." Our dad urges her. "It's okay, baby. He's not going to anything."
"Yes he is!" She shouts.
"No he's not." He assures her. "You can all come stay with me, how about that?"
She nods, sniffling. He wraps his arms around her and holds her in a hug, kissing her forehead. "Everything is going to be fine, sweetheart."
"Promise?" She whispers so quietly I have to strain to hear her.
"Promise." He replies.
She's silent for a few seconds before saying, "I wanna go home."
"Okay. Xander, can you check with the doctors?"
"Yeah." I walk out of the room, pausing when I see Archer there. My eyes narrow and I walk over to him. "Where the fuck were you?"
"What?"
"When my sister was getting her head slammed into a fucking desk, where were you?" I shove him against the wall. "You know she can barely take care of herself recently, and you leave her alone to run a shop? Are you fucking crazy?" I shove him again, anger consuming me.
"Don't touch him!" I look down at Alexandra, who's pushing me away. "Your stupid sister told him your stupid dad was coming, so he took me and Enzo to the park! You're the one who's fucking crazy." She beats small fists against my stomach until Archer pulls her away. "If you ever touch my brother again, I'll kill you, you ugly mammoth!"
Her eyes water and her bottom lip wobbles. Archer frowns as he sits down on the small bench, pulling her to him, concern written on all his features. Regret swarms me, but I turn and walk to the front desk.
"Amalia Romano is my little sister. When can she be discharged?"
"As soon as she signs these forms." The woman there replies, handing me some papers and a pen.
"Thanks." I say, but she doesn't hear me, already moving onto the next person. I go back to Amalia's room, finding her already getting changed into comfier clothes dad brought. "Here, you just have to sign these."
I pass it to her, then sit down beside her on the bed. She begins signing everything as her son crawls onto my lap. I smile down at him. "Hey, buddy."
He leans back on me and yawns. "M' tired."
"We can get you down for a nap when we get back." My dad tells him. Enzo leans away and crawls over to him instead.
"Done." Amalia whispers.
"Alright." I say, taking the papers from her. A doctor walks in and explains to Amalia that somehow she scraped past having a concussion but she should still take it easy for the next week or so. She nods and assures him she will.
• AMALIA •
Xander leaves to go back to the restaurant, and Archer says yes to staying at my dad's house with me. My dad tells me he already has someone who'll cover the shop so I don't have to work for a while, and says that he'll pay them. Despite how much I don't want to accept that, I just nod and thank him. At least this way my business will be making some money.
We get to my dad's house and I climb out of the passenger seat, rounding the car to grab Enzo from the back. He snuggles into me tiredly and my dad meets me by the beginning of the pathway to the front door, setting a hand on my shoulder. I smile down at him, then glance back up. My dad is opening the front door, motioning for me to go inside. I do, and a feeling of heavy comfort blankets me immediately.
I walk up the stairs and into Enzo's room. I set him down in his bed and lean down to kiss his cheek. My back aches from the effort but it's okay. He falls asleep quickly, and when I turn around I see Archer in the doorway.
"Hi." I whisper.
"Hey." He replies. He walks over to me and carefully wraps his big arms around me in a hug. I lean my head on his chest and close my eyes.
"Do you wanna come take a nap with me?" I ask.
"Sure." He replies. "What about your dad, though?"
"You'd rather nap with my dad?" I tease.
He laughs. "No. God, no. But he thinks we're getting divorced and that.. you know." I do know. My dad thinks I have no feelings for Archer.
"I'll just say we were both exhausted and passed out." I tell him.
"Okay." He responds.
I pull him out of Enzo's room and into the hall, closing my son's door over gently so it doesn't make too much noise. Then my mind shoots to Ally. "Where's your sister?"
"Your dad already showed her her room. I think your dog is with her."
"Oh, alright." I say softly.
He wraps an arm around my shoulders as I walk him to my room. We get into the bed and I fall asleep immediately.