~Seraphina's POV~
The mention of Malachi and his mean group of friends made my mood deflate, my gaze now cast down towards the floor. If Dennis told him about what they said, that meant he knew they'd been teasing me about my feelings for him. I couldn't help but to feel humiliated by that.
"Kitten?" He said gently, but I refused to look up at him. I didn't have it in me. "Seraphina, please look at me." He sighed, and I knew he was serious because he had used my full name. Enzo never did that, ever. Even so, I just couldn't. It was silent for a little while longer between us, but his gaze never left my face. "Why didn't you tell me about anything that they'd said to you?" He asked softly, and I just shrugged softly. "Don't just shrug, Phina. That's not good enough. They made you cry. Why would you not tell me?" He sighed, reaching out to gently grab my chin and make me look up at him.
"It's embarrassing, Enzo. I didn't want you to know because it had to do with you." I said softly, looking up at him with a frown on my face. I saw his lips form a hard frown. "I'm so sorry, kitty. I know that you hurt and I'm sorry that it's my fault. You deserve so much better than that. I...I wish it were different." He said, breaking my heart. My eyes pricked with tears and I felt my throat tightening and burning up, pushing the tears back as best as I could. Crying would only make Enzo feel guilty and I didn't want that because even though he wasn't in love with me, he did love me. We were best friends. It wasn't his fault that I felt this way, nor was it his fault that he didn't feel this way. So I just swallowed thickly and simply shrugged my shoulders, feeling my eyes grow glossy with tears that were becoming harder to hold back.
"Don't be sorry." I choked out, my voice soft and delicate as it barely held back the intense cries that were clawing their way forward. "It's not your fault." I added weakly.
But Enzo just looked absolutely defeated, looking down at me with a frown. All of the sudden, he pulled me into a hug. "I told Malachi he needs to leave you alone unless he wants a broken nose. All of them, actually." He said softly, letting me silently cry into his chest as I clung to his shirt. My face was wet and sticky with tears, but I couldn't stop. "Thank you, Enzo." I sniffled, pushing up onto my toes to hug him tighter. A soft chuckle left him and his arms tightened around me in our hug, making me feel an odd warmth low in my chest. "Of course. What are friends for, huh?" He teased softly, resting his head on top of mine as one of his hands rubbed soothing circles on my back. I sniffled again and buried my head into his chest, trying to hold onto as many little moments like these as I could, even if they didn't mean the same thing to him as they did to me.
"I really do wish you had told me about what they said to you and not Dennis. I don't like when you cry, Phina." He murmured, causing me to sigh softly. "I promise I'll tell you if they say anything again. I doubt they'll do anything else, though, now that you've said something to them." I said, carefully and reluctantly pulling out of his hold. He smiled and wiped the stray tears from my cheeks, nodding his head. "You're damn right." He chuckled, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. It wasn't fair when he was sweet like this. All he was doing was making my feelings for him even more intense.
Enzo adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and I glanced up at the clock, realizing that it was a little after eight PM already. "You should probably get home before your dad gets mad." I advised quietly, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Yeah," He sighed out and nodded his head, running a hand through his messy black hair. "You're probably right." He agreed, unlocking the front door and stepping outside. Before he left, he turned back towards me and sent me a smile. "Since you're busy tomorrow, are you free Sunday?" He asked, cocking up a brow at me. I nodded softly and felt a small smile form on the edge of my lips. "Yes." I affirmed, peering up at him as a grin slid on his pink lips. "Great. I'll be here around noon. We can hang out all day." He smiled, and I felt my stomach immediately flutter with excitement. "Sound good?" He asked.
I nodded my head quickly and felt a warmth in my cheeks, hoping I didn't appear too desperate. "That sounds great." I confirmed, and he gave me a grin before he turned around and left. I watched him leave before I shut the front door and locked it, blushing to myself as I looked down while I fiddled with my fingers.
Still blushing a little, I turned and headed back upstairs, crawling back into my bed to daydream with Chester about Enzo for the remainder of the night.
**
When Dennis arrived, I was up in my bedroom, trying to find a pair of socks in my dresser. I usually didn't wear socks inside the house because I thought it was pointless, but my feet were feeling cold.
At the sound of the knock on the front door, I quickly pulled on a plain white pair of socks and headed down the stairs in a hurry, wanting to answer the door before Luke could, or worse—Carmen. I loved Carmen, but I didn't want her to scare away the only chance I had at making another friend. When I reached the front door, I opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Dennis' tall figure and his lips pulled into a friendly smile. "Hi." He greeted me, making me smile slightly. "Hello." I said back, stepping to the side to make room for him to pass by. "You can come in." I ushered, waving him in.
Dennis smiled and carefully slipped past me, his footsteps light as he walked inside the house and looked around curiously. "So," He began, turning back towards me as I locked the front door again. "Where are we going to be working at?" He asked, raising a brow at me. I paused and clasped my hands together, fiddling with my fingers. "Well, I was thinking that we could just work up in my room, if that's okay. I-If not, though, then we can work down here." I suggested nervously, peering up at him shyly. "I'm fine with working in your room." He smiled and shook his head, gesturing for me to walk ahead of him. "Lead the way." He encouraged, looking down at me.
I bit my lip and nodded, keeping my head down as I led him towards the stairs. Dennis followed closely behind me and we walked up the steps, heading down the hallway to my bedroom. When we entered my room, Chester lifted his head from the pillow that he was laid on top of on my bed, looking over at me. He realized there was an unfamiliar guy with me and watched him warily, but he didn't start barking. "I didn't know you had a dog." Dennis mentioned, staring right back at Chester. My lips twitched up a little and I headed to my closet, grabbing the big poster that he and I were going to be using for the project. "Yeah. His name is Chester." I said, biting my lip as I sat on the floor with Dennis. "I can get you a beanbag to sit in, if you want. My sister has some in her room." I offered, looking over at him. "I'm okay, but thanks." He refused, setting his backpack on the floor beside him.
"You probably have better hand writing than I do, so do you want to do the writing and I'll do the drawing?" He asked, cocking a brow up at me. The project was for us to cover what the seven elements of art were, and to draw an example of at least three. However, I wasn't very good at drawing. "That sounds good to me." I agreed easily, taking the markers that he had laid out on the floor for me.
We each began to get started after I moved to be beside him, as I couldn't write upside down. I did have nice handwriting, but probably not when trying to write upside down. Across the top of the poster, I wrote 'The Seven Elements Of Art' and then kept to the left side of the poster with the actual elements and their definitions, so Dennis would have some space to do the drawings on the right side. When I glanced over at the drawings he had already completed, I smiled a little and sat up, observing his movements while he drew. His brows furrowed in concentration and he lightly bit at his bottom lip, the movements of his hand precise and thought out. He was pretty talented.
I waited until he had finished three different drawings of three elements before I spoke up, my voice soft. "You're good at drawing." I said, looking down at the shaded realistic dog he had drawn beside the definition of value. He looked up and sat up, his eyes meeting mine. "Thanks." He smiled, running a hand through his brown hair. "I've been drawing since I was eight." He added, as if he knew that I was about to ask that. My lips pulled up into a tiny smile. "Well, that explains how you got to be so good." I smiled, peering up at him. Dennis' lips twitched up and I looked down at our finished poster, biting my cheek. "Do you think it looks okay?" I wondered, glancing over at him again. He hummed in thought and looked down at the poster as well, thinking it over. "Yeah, I think it looks nice." He decided eventually, nodding his head in finality. I smiled and flipped the poster over, writing my name on the back in the upper right corner in red marker. Then, I gave Dennis the marker and let him write his name right beneath mine.
Now that we had finished doing our poster together, I helped him with putting his markers and other supplies he'd brought back into his backpack, a small silence between the two of us. He zipped his backpack up and I stood up, the poster in my hands. I placed it back into my closet and then turned around, watching as Dennis stood up, his backpack slung over his shoulder. "Do you need to leave?" I asked, not meaning to sound as pushy and hopeful for him to stay as I did. I hoped he didn't think I was weird or possibly annoying.
Dennis looked up at me as Chester stared at him from where he sat between his feet on the floor, intrigued by the stranger. "No. I just assumed you would want me gone." He said bluntly, making me frown. I shuffled awkwardly and crossed my arms over my chest, biting my cheek. "I-I don't mind if you want to stay." I whispered, a soft blush creeping up my neck. I was sure he knew by now how awkward I was, how hard it was for me to talk to people. We had sat at lunch together for years and yet this was the most we'd ever spoken. He looked at the watch on his wrist to check the time and then looked back up at me a moment later, smiling. "I can stay until three, but then I need to get home." He said, tossing his backpack to the floor at the foot of my bed. I felt a burst of hopeful excitement in my chest and smiled brightly at him, nodding my head.
So Dennis and I sat in my room on the floor, even though my bed was right there. He didn't complain about it, though. Instead, we just talked to each other, though he did much more talking than I did. We also played with Chester, who had been dying for some attention since we had started our project earlier in the day. And when three o'clock came around and Dennis left to go home, I felt like I was finally on my way to having another friend.