Italian references:
Il Mio Cuore: My heart
Tesore : darling/ treasure
~*~
Hazel POV
I place the last of Coda's folded clothes into his suitcase, hearing a bang in the bathroom.
Coda mutters a muffled curse before there is more shuffling.
Placing my hand on the door hesitantly, I wait until the shuffling quiets down.
"Coda are you—"
"Hazel, can you help me—" Coda asks at the same time, the door opening so quickly I nearly topple forward.
Coda steadies me with his good arm, my hands resting on his chest.
His t-shirt clings to his skin from the steam in the bathroom and I clear my throat, looking away awkwardly.
"My arms cramping up," he explains, gesturing to the shaving cream that covers his chin.
I stifle a laugh at how annoyed he looks and turn around to shut the door.
"Do you really trust me with a razor blade?" I ask, grinning evilly.
Coda stiffens, a look of panic crossing his face as he backs away slowly.
"Now baby, I need this pretty face," he says and I roll my eyes.
"Relax, I'm a pro with sharp objects," I say, placing my hand behind his neck and pulling him forward.
His body hits mine and he places his hands on my waist automatically. "That only makes me worry more," he murmurs teasingly.
I laugh and Coda lifts me onto the bathroom counter, his body between my legs.
"Maybe this bum arm isn't so bad after all," Coda muses, rotating his bad arm slowly.
I tilt his face up, carefully placing the blade on his neck. "If you talk I might accidently cut something I'm not supposed to."
His hands tighten on my thighs and if the razor blade wasn't on his neck I'm sure he would've gulped.
Dragging the razor up to expose a strip of his skin, I repeat the process slowly.
"You're stuff is all packed up," I say softly, addressing the elephant in the room.
Today was the day Coda was leaving for jail.
I swallow hard, trying to keep my voice from wavering.
The past few days have been bittersweet. Coda and I spent every moment together—swimming, gazing at stars, talking—
It would've all been perfect if the idea of jail wasn't looming in the horizon.
Coda senses the direction of my thoughts and he lightly tugs on the end of my hair, twirling it around his finger. "It's going to be okay."
I nod, hearing that statement over and over again but never fully able to trust it. How could everything be okay if he was leaving for jail?
I tilt his head slightly to the side, running the razor above his jawline. "I-I know, it's just one year is a long time—"
Coda cups my face in his palm and I lower the razor, trying to blink back tears.
"It's a long time," he says, running his thumb across my cheek soothingly. "a lot can change. You might not want me—"
I look down, swallowing hard. "Stop saying that. My feelings for you won't ever change—"
Coda brushes his thumb across my jawline, guiding my face to look up at him. "If you still want me—" he ignores my protest and continues. "I'm going to get you out of here. We'll start somewhere new. Together."
I stare at him speechless. Together? Somewhere new?
Even though I loved Coda and knew that I would never be able to find someone like him, I never thought of our future past Coda's jail time.
My heart beats fast and I stare at him wide-eyed.
"T-together?"
Coda laughs, kissing my forehead before leaning back to look at me. "Anywhere you want to go baby, we'll go."
I sniff, holding onto his hands. "You really mean it?"
Coda nods, kissing me softly. "You're my family now," he murmurs. "I'm going to take care of you."
My fingers brush against the necklace on my neck that had once belonged to Coda's mom.
Family.
Together.
Coda's gaze flickers down to the pendant as his thumb strokes my cheek. "I love you Il Mio Cuore."
I think back to that contract we had made up nearly a year ago, the words sprawled across the napkin in crayon.
"No more contracts," I murmur.
"Just promises," Coda agrees, looking at me in a way that makes it hard to breathe.
I nod, unable to keep the smile off my lips. "I love you —more than anything."
Coda leans back with a smirk on his lips. "Even more than chocolate and Oreos?"
I purse my lips, tapping my chin. "That's a tough one."
Coda snorts, shaking his head in disbelief as I laugh.
"Now that you've mentioned the past, you still owe me a phone," I say, playing with the short strands of hair on the back of his head.
Coda's eyes narrow in confusion for a second before a sheepish grin makes its way onto his face. "Oh yeah. I chucked it off the cliff."
"Mhm," I say, crossing my arms. "You did."
Coda tightens his grip on my thighs as he leans forward to rest his chin on top of my head.
"I owe you a lot of things actually."
Sensing that he's no longer talking about the phone, I wrap my arms around his torso and hug him tightly.
"Then I guess you better come back quickly and make up for all of those things," I say teasingly. "Don't fly off to Maui with Aurelio once you get out."
Coda presses a kiss onto my temple, his hands warm and reassuring as they hold me tight. "I'm not going anywhere after this. Not without you."
I swallow hard, trying to keep my voice light. "Promise?"
Coda pulls back to give me a tender smile that never fails to get my heart racing.
"Baby, have you already forgotten?" Coda asks, tucking my hair behind my ear. The look in his eyes is reassuring and full of confidence. "Home is where you are."
~*~
A/N: If you remembered which chapter Coda first said 'Home is where you are' kudos to you! Guys, there is only one chapter left of this story--the epilogue. I don't even know what to say. This story is my baby. I've worked on it for like a year.
If I haven't told you guys enough already, I love each and every one of you. Without you guys, i would've left Wattpad ages ago.
If you liked this story, please please please check out my new story 'Loving You' and 'The Night Vigilante'. 'Loving you' is going to be the teen fiction/ romance novel i'm going to focus on so that story will receive the most updates (it's posted on my profile!). It's going to be good guys, I have it all planned out :)
I will try to post the epilogue soon so keep a watch out for that :) I love you!
-Sabrina