SCARLETT
When the doorbell rings, I walk toward the door to open it, after getting my bag. I have been up for a couple of hours now, and I had immediately gotten ready for the day. Harry hasn't told me where he wants to go, but considering that Andres will be with us too, I opted for a casual sundress with a straight neckline and thin strips, with a pair of black converse.
When I open the door, I immediately smile when I see Andres. His eyes immediately light up when he sees me and he opens his arms toward me. I get down on my knees to hug him and before letting me go, he kisses my cheek, producing a sonorous "mwah" sound.
"Hello, honey!" I tell him, getting back on my feet and grabbing his hand. Harry is not too far behind us and when I get near enough he smiles and leaves a kiss on my cheek too.
"Good morning, angel." He tells me and I feel my knees getting all jelly.
"I'm so happy you're spending the weekend with us!" Andres screams excited, while we walk toward Harry's car. He jumps and agitates his free hand, unable to stay put, while we walk. He just wants to show his excitement in any way he can.
"I'm very excited too!" I try to match the excitement in his tone of voice and Harry giggles. I help him get into the car and then I get to my seat, next to Harry.
"So what is the plan for today, man?" Harry asks, briefly turning toward his son, before starting the car. Obviously, he's got the power in his hands.
"Shake Shack and then laser tag!" He screams, way too over excited already. Well, with a plan like that, I get his excitement.
"Sounds good!" Harry tells him, starting the car and driving toward the highway, to probably toward the DC area.
"Do you always let him do whatever he wants?" I chuckle, picturing in my head already Harry that tries to satisfy all of his son's desire. Even for me, he's always tried to do the impossible, so there's not even a doubt in my mind that he'll try even harder for his son.
"I see him two days a week so I try to make him happy when he's with me..." he shrugs his shoulders and turns toward me to smile at me for a second, before moving his eyes back on the road.
"That's nice..." I admit. "I've always been the best at laser tag, by the way." Harry chuckles at my words.
"Can you be on the team with me, Scar?" Andres asks me right away.
"Of course..." I turn behind toward him, offering my hand for him to high-five and he does. "We're gonna destroy your daddy!" I tell him and his eyes immediately light up, before nodding his head in determination, while Harry just chuckles.
Once we get to shake shack, we get our burgers and we sit at a table, Andres next to me and Harry in front of us.
"So you manage to eat all of that on your own?" I ask Andres, pointing at his burgers and fries, faking my best-surprised face, while he proudly nods his head.
"Yes, I'm a big guy!" He smiles at me and then he gives his burger the first bite.
"With a big appetite, right?" I chuckle and he immediately nods his head, with his mouth still full.
"So how was school yesterday?" Harry asks him and Andres waits to swallow his food before answering.
"Boring..." he shrugs his shoulders and pouts just at the thought of it, making both me and Harry laugh at him. "Katie keeps bothering me." He rolls his eyes.
"You shouldn't be so rude to her, monkey." Harry scolds him and Andres furrows his eyebrows, looking at his father quite offended.
"She's annoying!" He justifies himself. "I don't want to be friend with her."
"Who is Katie?" I ask, looking at both of them.
"A stinky little girl." Andres tells me, distorting his nose at the thought of her and I must admit that it's quite funny. He's all pouty now, while he thinks about her.
"She goes to preschool with him and she has a little crush." Harry chuckles and Andres glances at him.
"She follows me everywhere and wants to play with me but I don't want to play with girls!" He complains and snorts in exasperation, pushing his curls away from his forehead. He really seems exasperated by all of it and I must admit it's quite funny.
"So you don't want to play with me either?" I ask, faking my best-shocked expression and in his eyes immediately appear a mortified look.
"No!" He shakes his head with determination. "I want to play with you."
"But I'm a girl too!" I try to resonate with him and he seems to think about my words for a few seconds.
"But I don't wanna play with little girls!" He tells after and Harry chuckles.
"But I think you could have as much fun with little girls as you have with your other friends at preschool." He thinks about my words for a few seconds, before giving me an answer.
"You think so?!" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows and looking at me.
"Yeah, I do!" I nod my head. "Your daddy is right, you should be nicer to her and to all the other little girls."
"You're right..." he nods his head. "I'll tell her I'm sorry on Monday and I'll play with her." He tells me and then smiles to himself, before going back to his fries.
"You're such a gentleman!" I compliment him and I caress his head. He looks at me and smiles proudly at my words.
"Great job!" Harry smiles at me and stretches his hand to mine, caressing the back of it with his thumb.
"I didn't have to work too hard... he's a great kid." I tell Harry in a whisper, while Andres is just too focused on his fries and mayonnaise. "You and Cielo are doing an amazing job..." I tell him and sadly smile while looking at him. I'm happy for them and for Andres, but sometimes it's hard not to feel sadness or pain while looking at him and how much he's grown up already, knowing that I'll never know how it feels to raise your own child and watch him grow up. They're both so lucky and Andres is lucky too, because he has a couple of amazing parents.
The laser tag had been incredibly amusing. I was paired with Andres and Harry played on his own. At the end of the game, we had won. Or better, Harry had probably let us win. After that, Andres had insisted to play two more times. For dinner, we had gotten sushi and we were all very happy with the choice. Once we park in front of Harry's apartment, we both notice that Andres has fallen asleep. Harry takes him between his arms to bring him inside and I immediately don't know if go back home, or just go inside with him and he understands my hesitation.
"We can drink something together..." he shrugs his shoulders and smiles at me, nodding at his door with his head. Something tells me that I should just go home, because it's already late, and I'm not sure I can control myself at this time of the night, when Andres is not around, but I just can't seem to walk away. I nod my head and I can't help but notice the way his lips curve into a smile.
His living room and entry are very well furnished, it reminds me a lot of his old apartments, but the ornaments on the chimney and the coffee table, and the warmer tones of the upholstery, make it feel more like home, without losing its chic tone.
"I'll take him to bed..." He tells me in a whisper, to prevent him from waking up. I nod my head and while he disappears down the corridor, I sit down on the couch and I cross my legs. He comes back after a few minutes.
"Wine or something stronger?" He asks me. In a corner of the living room, there's a little cabinet with various bottles of liquors.
"Wine. Red." I specify and he nods his head. He takes out a bottle of it and pours the red liquid into two chalices, before walking over to me and handing me one of the two. He sits down on the couch next to me and his knee brushes mine. A shiver immediately runs across my back, even at the slightest touch.
"It was very much needed..." He sighs and chuckles, taking a sip from his chalice. I couldn't agree more. It has been a very busy and tiring day, but definitely a memorable one. I imitate him and take a sip of my chalice too. He's always had a great taste for wine and this one is very good too.
"How is he doing after what happened?" I finally manage to ask him, now that Andres is not around anymore.
"He's fine... I and Cielo have decided to make him see a therapist, just in case." He shrugs his shoulders and softly smiles at me. I feel extremely sorry that because of me, or better, the mess of a man I brought behind, this poor child has to see a therapist now. "And you? Are you seeing one here?" He asks me.
"I've already seen way too many therapists, I'm fine..." I shrug my shoulders and I chuckle, before shaking my head.
"What happened has been traumatic for you too, I think you should still see someone about that..." I can see how his eyes are filled up with concerns, while he tries to convince me, to resonate with me.
"It's nothing..." compared to what has already happened, I would like to add, but I don't. Something tells me that he understands it anyway, though. I sigh and I fill up my mouth with wine once again.
"You didn't tell me about the apartment you've seen anymore..." he decides to change the subject when he understands my hesitation at talking about that and I'm very glad he's decided so.
"Yeah, it was just perfect!" I say enthusiastically while I think about it again. "Not too big, not too small... just perfect dimensions. And the position was great too, but way too out of my budget." I sigh and I shrug my shoulders. I've thought a lot about it, during the last week, and that's really something I can't afford, right now. I've given up already, by now.
"How much out of your budget?" He asks me.
"Like two thousand dollars." I sigh again. "It doesn't matter, I'll look for another place." When I go for another sip of wine, I realize that my chalice is empty now. I look around and notice that he's left the bottle near the cabinet, so I stand up to fill it again.
"I'm gonna take another glass!" I tell him and he just nods his head. I walk toward the other half of the living room and I immediately stop in my tracks when I notice something that I hadn't seen before. My heart seems to almost stop beating for a minute, while I look at what is hanging on the wall. I can feel his presence behind him, while I look at the familiar painting on the wall.
"That's my first painting ever..." I tell, more to myself, than to him behind me. He moves to my side, slowly, and I see him nodding his head with the corner of my eye. The one hanging on his wall, had been the first painting I had ever painted at my art therapy. I had put everything into it, everything I was feeling in that period of my life. I was so attached to it, that I almost didn't want to give it away, and all this time, he had always been the one to have it.
"Amia, right?" He sighs, with a soft smile on his lips, while he looks at the painting in front of us. He's referring to the name of the painting, that probably knows very well. I slowly nod my head and I turn toward him. "It means beloved, dearly loved, right?" He asks again and I feel my heart rushing into my chest.
"It's a French name..." I nod my head and sadly smile at him. I had chosen this name as a title because I didn't want to give too much away. I didn't want people to look at the painting and see my deepest and most intimate emotions and secret. I remember thinking that Amia was discrete and original, at the same time. When I look at this painting, between the red and black painting spread on the canvas I can still feel it all, as if it was yesterday. It's a strange case of life that he's been holding it for all this time. He's chosen right this one, between all the paintings. I wonder if he can feel what has happened, or I'd like to know what he sees in it. That's the most beautiful part of art, isn't it? That everyone can interpret it as they feel, they can see whatever they want in it. As a painter, since I've first started, I've always wanted people to feel something while looking at my art, or finding themselves inside of it.
"You're the first person that has ever bought one of my paintings..." I realize and say out loud, turning my whole body toward him. He looks at me and smiles.
"No matter what part of the world you were in, I've always been supporting you..." He stretches his hand toward mine, and his touch, together with his words, make my heart skip a beat. I know what is about to happen next, when he, slowly, takes a step toward me and wraps his arm around my waist. I know and I do nothing to stop it, maybe because I want it more than I've ever wanted anything else in my life. He lowers his face toward mine, bringing his fingers on my chin, when he cuts the distance between our lips.
When I feel them against mine, it's almost like nothing has ever changed, even if now everything is different. We're both different, living different lives, but what I've felt for him is still there, still untouched, still strong and intense as ever. Or maybe, as it has ever been. It shines through my whole body, making everything better, making me feel better, and stronger. I hold him against me, to feel that he's really here, between my arms, and I'm between his. Our lips move in synch, very slowly, but intensely. My hands move on his back, that is so much stronger behind my palm and his chest, against mine, feels harder and stronger too.
"I thought you wanted to wait..." I tell, between a kiss and another, when it finally hits me. It's happening again and maybe it's too soon? Maybe we're not ready yet? Maybe it's completely wrong and we're ruining it for ourselves again? So many maybe's. Way too many. He moves his lips away from mine, to look at me, and I immediately regret ever opening my big mouth. He takes my face between his hands and rests his forehead against mine.
"Fuck waiting!" He hisses under his breath. "I've been waiting for the last four years, I'm tired of waiting. I won't waste any more time..." He tells me, before slamming his lips against mine once again. And he's right, that's all it takes to destroy all my maybe's, my perplexities and doubts. I just needed to know that he's felt exactly like me, during the last four years, and that he still feels like that. I needed to know that he's feeling all of it right now too.
His strong arms are wrapped around my body and I get completely lost in them. There's nothing I care about anymore but the taste of his lips on mine and how they feel. His tongue explores my mouth once again, running behind mine, colliding and escaping back and forth.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you..." he whispers against my lips, resting his forehead against mine and looking at me for a few seconds, almost to make sure that he's not a dream, that I'm still here in flesh and bones and that this is really happening. I have to remind myself of it, too, when I look at him so near.
He breathes heavily while he looks at me, trying to take back in his lungs some air, after our heated makeup activity. My hands, rested on his chest, can perfectly feel the way it raises up, gets back down, back and forth. He's beautiful, absolutely breathtaking.
"Take me to bed, yeah?" I murmur against his lips, bringing my hair to his hair and tightening him against me. He doesn't let me ask again, he grabs my hand and drags me down the corridor, until the last room at the bottom of it.
I don't have any time to look around, he grabs me by my waist, he immediately drags me near his body and his lips are swiftly on mine again. We get lost in the kiss, none of us seem to need air to breathe, it seems like we just need each other and nothing more, right now.
Soon enough, I find myself falling on the bed behind me and he quickly joins me. I can feel his excitement pinning against my leg as he kisses me and I feel myself throbbing between my legs. It has been so long, so damn long. I push my neck backward, leaving him the space to kiss, suck and lick on my neck. He keeps one hand on my waist and the other gets lost between my blonde mass of hair.
It's absolutely absurd, that after four years, I still want him as much — maybe even more — and that I want him more than anyone else. I've never felt like that. My hands reach the buttons of his shirt and I start handling with them, but the way his lips brush my neck and his hand palms my breast through my clothes prevents me from focusing.
Before I can go on with my attempt to undress him, he gets off of me, as quick as he can, when he hears the door being swept open. I quickly stand up, being faced with a sleepy Andres on the door, looking back at us while he rubs his eye. He furrows his eyebrows while he looks at us and both me and Harry try to get our breaths back after the heated activity.
"What are you doing?" He asks, looking at us. He's holding his stuffed monkey against his chest and his head is slightly bending on the side, while he looks at us with his distrustful look. I look at Harry, hoping that he'll be the one to take us out of this very awkward situation.
"We... we were just... doing some gymnastics!" I immediately turn toward him when I hear the excuse he's come up with. He could've done definitely better. He imperceptibly shrugs his shoulders at me when he understands my critic, so I decide to just go along with him.
"Yeah... exactly!" I nod my head at him. "That's what adults do when they eat burgers!" Andres seems to buy our story, once I've confirmed it too, and he slowly walks toward us.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asks him, trying to hide how bothered he's feeling because of his interruption.
"I wanna sleep here!" Andres says, jumping on the bed and crawling toward the upper part of it to get behind the sheets. Well, it seems like it wasn't really a question. "Are you sleeping with us, Scarlett?" He asks, looking back at him from his warm spot in the bed. I immediately feel my cheeks going on fire at his question, before shaking my head at him.
"I really should go back home now..." I sigh, turning toward Harry and giving him an apologizing look.
"No, just sleep here... we have a guest room!" Harry protests. "It's too late to go back on your own..." he's probably right, considering it's past midnight, so I just nod my head and accept his offer. Andres, after listening to us, immediately sits up.
"Can I go sleep in the guest room with Scarlett?" I chuckle, while Harry just looks at him, making clear how exasperated he is by now.
"No, you either sleep here or in your room, where you should be." Andres snorts, at his father's words and glances at him.
"Well, then can she sleep here and you go in the other room?" I giggle at Andres' words and Harry just sighs, shaking his head in exasperation.
"Just sleep... you'll see her tomorrow!" Andres snorts one last time, before laying down again and tugging his sheets back on.
"Goodnight, Scarlett..." Andres sighs, waving at me with his hand. I walk toward his side of the bed and I lower down to leave a kiss on his forehead.
"Goodnight, angel." I caress his head and smile down at him.
"Dad, where are you going?" Andres complains, when he sees his dad walking toward the bathroom. He must've had some nightmares, so he doesn't want to sleep on his own.
"To the bathroom. If you don't mind, I have something to take care of." He sighs and then shakes his head at me, making quite clear what it exactly is that he has to take care of. And I sigh too, at the thought.
"I'll wait here with him..." I say, immediately calming Andres down. Harry nods his head and I walk toward the bed again, taking off my shoes and laying down next to him. He immediately grabs my hand and smiles at me.
"You had a bad dream?" I ask him, pushing his curls away from his forehead. He slowly nods his head at me.
"How do you adults do not to get scared of your bad dreams?" He pouts.
"Good question..." I chuckle at him. "I wish I knew." He furrows his eyebrows while he looks at me.
"You're scared too?" He asks.
"Yeah. Adults can be scared too." I nod my head. "But the most important thing is remembering that no one's gonna hurt you once you open your eyes." I caress his cheek, while he carefully listens to me.
"I'm not scared anymore when I sleep with my mom or dad..." He tells me. "They have guns!" I burst into laughter at his words and he looks at me, not probably understanding why it's funny, since he wasn't trying to make a joke.
"I felt like that with my dad too when I was younger..." I nod my head and he smiles at me. "I don't have a gun, but I promise you no one will hurt you when you're with me either, so you can close your eyes." He decides to listen to me and nods his head, finally closing his eyes again. I try to stay awake, to wait for Harry and then go to my room, but I just feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier and soon enough I can do nothing anymore to prevent them from closing.
HARRY
When I had come back from the bathroom, Scarlett had fallen asleep on my bed next to Andres and I must admit that I stayed there, motionless, in front of the bed, just looking at the two of them peacefully sleeping, admiring the scene in front of my eyes. I had taken a blanket and covered Scarlett with it, before getting into bed with them.
When I woke up, this morning, Andres and Scarlett were still sleeping, so I had taken advantage of it to do a little bit of physical activity and some calls.
When Scarlett wakes up, she walks into the living room, with her phone near her ear. She's talking to someone on the phone and that must've woken her up.
"Yeah, thank you so much!" She says. "I'll come by tomorrow, alright? Ok, bye! Have a nice day!" She says, before ending the call. She rests her phone on the kitchen counter and then looks at me with a big smile.
"Great news!" she excitedly says. "Paul just called me and he told me that the renting went down to 3,500 thousand dollars. I can definitely afford that." She throws her arms at my neck and tightens me in a hug.
"That's great!" I try to put on my best-surprised face. This may have or not something to do with my calls of this morning, but she really doesn't need to know that.
"I have to stop by his office tomorrow to sign the contract and then I'm free to move in." She says, once she lets go of me.
"When are you going to move in? I could take a day off to help you, now that your father is back." Her lips immediately curve into a smile at my proposition and she nods her head.
"Tuesday and please, I'd love that!" She wraps her arms around my neck and smiles at me, before leaning in to kiss my lips. I had missed how natural it feels. It has been a lot since the last time and yet it doesn't feel so. It's a weird, but pleasurable feeling. She moves her lips to mine, slowly, taking her time, our lips purely massaging each other.
"Good morning, baby..." I smirk against her lips, once she moves her lips away from me. She smiles too and rests her forehead against mine, just enjoying our proximity.
"I don't know if you've already made plans with Andres, but my mother wanted to know if you two feel like coming over to lunch." She tells me, playing with my quiff of hair, pushing it away from my face. I haven't had a cut in a quite long time.
"We would both love it..." I nod my head at her and she smiles.
"Great..." She stretches her arm toward the counter to get back her phone. "I'll text her!" I wrap my hands around her waist and while she tries to text her mom I start peppering her neck with kisses. She giggles, trying to wriggle away from me, but I make it harder for her, just getting her nearer and nearer to me.
"Keep your hands to yourself, Mr..." She giggles and then smirks at me.
"Or what, miss?" I provoke her, trying to go in for a kiss, but before I can, I feel my wrist being grabbed and tugged away. Both I and Scarlett turn around, just to find a sleepy Andres glancing at me.
"What, monkey?" I chuckle at him and he grabs Scarlett's hand, holding it tight against his cheek. His eyes are still puffy from how much he's been sleeping and his curls are all over the directions.
"No!" He just says, glancing at me and pouting. Scarlett chuckles too, lowering down to take him in her arms.
"Morning, handsome!" She tells him, kissing his cheek and just like that, Andres' little jealousy seems to be completely erased. The expression on his face softens and he rests his head on Scarlett's shoulder, holding against his chest his stuffed monkey.
"Morning, sunshine!" He tells her and both me and Scarlett chuckle. That's usually what Cielo or my mother call him. Oh, he definitely has a little crush. It will definitely be difficult to explain what's happening between me and Scarlett.