avery
Antoine had invited me to come to his house that morning. He said he wanted to talk. Kaia was at home, so I couldn't just invite Antoine there to have a serious talk.
My lips still tingled at the thought of his on mine, and I assumed that was what he wanted to talk about.
The taxi driver drove me to Antoine's house, and I paid him with a little extra.
Antoine's house was undoubtedly big, but this was the kind of big that wasn't cocky and screaming 'show-off'. It was the kind of big that was still like a home all the same.
The front gate was left unlocked-for me, I supposed-and I walked right onto the porch, where the huge white doors stood tall in front of me.
The door opened before I could ring the bell, revealing Antoine in a gray t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, along with his undone hair. "Hey, come in," he stepped aside to let me in and closed the door behind me.
"You have a beautiful house," I said, because I didn't know what else to say. I felt nervous. I always did whenever I was around him, but maybe it was just because I kept being struck by his beauty.
"Thanks. Doesn't matter though because it doesn't feel much like a home," he started walking inside, so I followed.
"Why's that?" I was still following him further into the house, until we reached his living room. But he didn't stop there. He went to the kitchen instead.
"I don't know. Nothing feels like home to me anymore," he shrugged and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of orange juice. "Breakfast?"
"No thanks, I've already eaten," I turned down his offer. "So, why did you summon me here?" I tapped my fingers on my thigh nervously.
"Because your apartment isn't available?" He asked back, taking a sip of orange juice straight from the bottle.
"You know what I meant," I said lowly.
"Well, I'm growing even more distant towards my friends. Including my teammates," he sighed and put his bottle of orange juice down on the counter top. "I may have told them to back off of me, and they actually did. Now I don't know what to do, and you're the only person I can talk to about this. Besides Koke of course."
"You told them to back off?" I asked as a reassurance.
"Oops. Habits," he shrugged and started walking towards his living room, and I followed behind him.
"If you want to feel better, then you need to learn how to let people in," I reassured him after the many times he rejected people's offers to help in so many different ways.
"I've never let people in," he slumped down on the couch in his living room.
"It's all up to you. I'm not pushing you to do anything," I stood across him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
He sighed heavily after thinking for a long time. "Fine. I'm gonna start by letting you in. On everything," he said, his blue orbs finally looking up to meet mine.
"Uh..." I surely wasn't expecting him to do that, just like I wasn't expecting us to kiss the other night. But he was acting like the kiss didn't even happen...
"Well? I told you I would tell you when I'm ready, and I am. Do you want to listen or not?" He asked, his face softening a bit.
"Yeah sure," I said, still standing awkwardly in front of where he was sat down.
"Well? Sit down then," he beckoned for me to sit down next to him, even though there was a lot of space on the other couch. We sat down facing each other, our elbows propped up on the head of the couch. "So, let's just get to the point. I'm going to tell you everything, but not many people know about this. Some of the boys know, and my siblings know too of course."
"I promise I'm not going to tell anybody," I reassured him.
"I know. We wouldn't be here if I didn't fully trust you," his eyes dropped down from mine to the couch. "My mother passed away."
"Oh, I'm really sorry," I said in the most sympathetic tone possible.
"Me too. She was murdered, actually," he said quietly. "By the man whose status is my father."
I gasped very quietly and slowly put my hand over my mouth. I really didn't have anything to say about that, so he continued. "When I was twelve years old, my father murder my mother in front of me and my older sister. Thankfully my little brother wasn't at home then. My father- He... picked up a knife and-" He stopped and closed his eyes. I could see that he was more angry than sad.
"He was never a good man. He had mood swings, and he was very unfaithful to my mom. But my mom stood by him, for the sake of her children. One night he was extremely drunk. More than he usually was, if that's even possible. He just did it. Plunged the knife straight through her," he didn't look up. Not even once.
"I don't understand how someone could do that to another person. His wife... Your father, where is he now?" I asked, looking straight at his face even though he wasn't looking back at me.
"He's in prison now. Here in Madrid. I don't even know whether or not he's still alive. Maybe he's already dead. Beaten up by other prisoners. I've never visited him, not even once," he shook his head and pursed his lips.
"I understand now. I get why you're like this. This is just... messy. But none of this is your fault, and you have to be far from the man that your father was. You have to prove to yourself that you are nothing like him," I reassured him again until he finally looked up to meet my eyes.
"I know, which is why I'm trying so hard to change. But you don't understand. That's not even the full story," he looked down again. "I dated this girl once. Her name is Alicia. We dated for three years. I even opened up to her about my past. But then I found out that she had been cheating on me with my best friend for a year. A whole year!" He started to raise his voice. "I loved her, until I didn't anymore. The love I had for her turned to extreme hate in just a matter of seconds. So I broke up with her one and a half year ago."
"That's just terrible. And you've been like this ever since then?" I asked again.
"I trusted her and she broke my trust. She was also brave enough to do it with my best friend. She reminded me too much of my parents," he shook his head again, and we were both silent for a few moments. I really didn't know how to respond to all that.
"Well, she's a bitch. And an idiot. I don't know how she could've done that to you. I'm also really sorry about your parents. I don't know what to say, it's just terrible. You don't have to be sad anymore though, because you can start a brand new life with brand new people here," then it was my turn to look down. "I know all about that. You're not the only one with a bad past, you know? Except mine's definitely less terrible than yours. But I started over, and I can't be happier than I am now," I smiled and he finally looked up again.
"Do you want to talk about that?" He asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
"No, not now. It's not important," I said, waving him off, then we were both quiet, and we just kept staring at each other.
I couldn't stray my eyes off of his. Those blue orbs carried me away in a wave that I couldn't escape. When I remembered how to breathe again, the tips of our noses were already touching, and we both drooped our eyes shut very slowly.
He then placed his lips on mine, and I lurked my hands around his neck. His left hand cupped my cheek and his right arm was placed around my waist. His lips were soft, and I didn't even know how we could move perfectly in sync. We just did.
I knew he was very miserable, especially after he told me the many terrible reasons behind his misery. He was truly a sad person.
But I intended on changing that.
a/n: sorry i haven't been updating much lately:( i've been so busy with writing new drafts for this book and my other books and i've also been super busy with school
i'll try to update every 3/4 days now(: