Pietro felt sick.
For the whole week they where apart, he almost physically felt sick. Like Ava being away from him was eating away at his soul, like an infectious disease only she could cure. But he had no choice but to endure, the same way he would endure a tsunami, hoping not to get destroyed in its path.
He wanted nothing more than to run all the way to her apartment and kiss her as hard as he possibly could, not caring one bit if he ran out of air. He was already dying; it might as well happen with his last memory being the taste of her lips.
Most of his week he spent in his studio, alone, focusing on the sculpture he refused to show until it was ready. Every time he would carve in a new detail he wondered; would she actually be there to witness the finishing product he had promised her that she would? Or was he working on it in vain?
Now, in his black, three-piece suit, surrounded by a hundred people coming to celebrate Angelica's wedding, he felt defeated. The restaurant was decorated with flowers in vases and tables covered with white, silk tablecloths, but all Pietro could think about was how much Ava would love to see it all in person. And yet, she was nowhere to be found.
"Lei non verrà." Pietro sighed as he fixed the button of his suit, shaking his head at himself for believing he could ever change her mind.
"Tu devi avere fede, Pietro." Giovanni placed a comforting hand on Pietro's shoulder and squeezed, accompanying Pietro as they exited the restaurant and to the outside area, where the party was taking place.
People danced and celebrated the union of Angelica and Adam, the poor man being cornered by Pietro's very drunk uncle.
The sight made Pietro chuckle, momentarily forgetting the extreme sensation of anxiety that was rooted deep in his gut. His uncle may have been living far away from Pietro, but whenever he came by he made sure to remind who the craziest in the family was, and how much crazier he could get with good alcohol and good company. And him and the new member of the Balma family were long overdue for some quality bonding time, since Angelica was widely known as his favourite niece.
Before Pietro could greet his uncle properly, Vincenzo barrelled through the crowd and fell upon Pietro quite messily, unable to fully stop himself, almost sending them both to the floor. He seemed excited and very much out of breath, his eyes gleaming with astonishment that Pietro felt to find the reason for.
"Che cazzo Vincenzo — " Pietro let out before Vincenzo grabbed his face and turned it abruptly towards the direction he wanted him to look at, his annoyed gaze turning into a stunned one as his eyes detected the face he was searching for all night in a sea of irrelevant others, his heart stopping its rhythm before picking up the pace once more. His Adam's apple moved visibly up and down his throat as he tried to bring himself to his senses, his wish finally coming true.
Her beauty was always a given, and yet every time it managed to surprise him. Even when the memory he had painted with incredible detail in his head still very much lived in the corridors of his mind. But now she was right there, in front of him, in a red, satin dress with thin spaghetti straps, the material flowing on her body in the same way the Northern Lights danced in the night sky. Her black, strap heels complimented her feet as she walked, lifting her off the ground elegantly.
Her lips where coated with a neutral colour, the edges darker, the two colours blending perfectly. That, paired with her winged liner did things to him he could not put into words, and yet could definitely act out if Ava gave him the chance.
When he approached, Pietro had no idea. But there he was, standing right in front of her, and she was letting him have the first word.
"You came." Pietro spoke up, so close a whisper would be sufficient.
One smile reminded him of all the reasons staying away felt like a death sentence, watching her lips pull apart as they prepared to deliver an answer.
"I came."
"And so did we! Give us a hug!" Giovanni came in with open arms, hugging Ava tightly, letting her proceed to the rest soon after.
Pietro cleared his throat loudly and raised an eyebrow, showing everyone the fakest smile he could do, sending clear signals of where he wanted them all to be; far away for the moment being.
Ava and Pietro awkwardly laughed while they watched them all move away with whispered apologies.
"How was your week?" Ava said. She pursed her lips into a tight, nervous smile, afraid to listen to the answer.
"It was good, it was good." Pietro nodded his head as he answered, but soon his face scrunched up, mixed with a shaking head. "No, that's a lie. It was horrible."
Ava answered his laughter with her own as she agreed, recalling her own week in her mind. All she did was write, beat herself up and then write more, banging her head against surfaces. But maybe, things weren't so bad as Ava felt them to be. That time she was away from him gave her the time to really settle in her choices, coming to terms with the life changes she was about to make. The process was personal, and it happened in the space of her own home and mind.
She wanted to love and be loved, the beauty of it now was so crystal clear. And she intended to prove herself worthy of all the love he wanted to give her, for he had shown that he was worthy of hers.
"Ava?" Pietro asked, looking at her snap out of her thoughts with a ghost of a grin.
"Yeah?"
"Dance with me?"
Pietro shifted in his spot as he asked his question, a look in his eye Ava never saw that often. He had a giddy smile on his face and yet his hands were clenched behind his back, fingers fidgeting. It gave Ava a few seconds to process him, the sensation settling in the pit of her stomach familiar.
He looked devilishly handsome dressed in his suit, a palm facing the sky waiting for hers to meet.
Ava didn't waste anymore time as she delicately placed her hand in his, feeling the cold, silver ring he always wore chill her skin. She had taken this feeling for granted for so long, not grasping just how much she could miss something so tiny.
One hand slipped around her waist and brought her close as they mingled inside the couples dancing, the other still holding her hand. Their hands always fit so perfectly against each other, as if they were two lost pieces of a puzzle, only now finding one another.
If Pietro listened a little more intensely, he would be able to hear Ava's erratic heartbeat, the organ ready to escape its cage and tumble to the floor. Without his support, Ava wasn't so sure she would be able to remain standing, his cologne an addictive sent, the aroma giving Ava a high no drug could ever achieve.
"Bella ragazza?" Pietro whispered, Ava looking up at him with eyes that could hold the whole universe.
The only answer she could say was a humming sound, hanging by the edge of his lips for whatever he was about to say. Hearing those two words was divine, lingering in her mind even when she went to sleep. When Ava's apartment was empty, lights closed with only a small, week light breaking it all up, they danced around the room, haunting her and easing her pain at the same time. But now she was hearing them, straight from his lips.
"Can I kiss you?"
Ava's smile got bigger, teeth now in full display, rising to the tips of her toes. Much to Pietro's surprise, she was the first one to close the distance, and yet he never complained once.
Everyone always said first kisses feel like fireworks exploding. With bodies being set ablaze as the night turns into day with explosions of light above them, feeding the insane hunger for more. Ecstasy is known to run wild through veins, heads on cloud nine for as long as the kiss lasts, and even after. No other kiss can match to that, not even come close. Not when that particular kiss is given by the person whose lips are needed to be tasted, the other waiting all their lives just to be near.
Ava always thought those were tales of hopeless romantics trying to give their waiting a purpose, vacant words that can be destroyed with nothing but a gust of light wind.
Until her lips met his.
They had a faint taste of champagne and strawberries as Ava pressed her own against them, her hand leaving Pietro's shoulder to snake around his neck. A mutual shudder pierced Pietro's core as he brought her closer to his body, needing to hold her close in case she was nothing but an illusion of a twisted fate, scared of the possibility it was all a fabricating of his mind.
But she was real, and the way their lips moved against each other in a steady pace was equally real. Their hunger remained hidden from the prying eyes around them, being kept under wraps for more private moments that where sure to follow soon enough.
Pietro ached to move his hands lower, his mouth craved to feel more than just her lips, his other hand resting against Ava's jawline as he held it with light pressure. Every spot he touched left goose-bumps Ava found herself falling in love with, wanting them to cover every piece of her body if it meant that his hand wound trail it all.
It was the change of music that made them both pull apart, combined with the inevitable need for breath. The utopia of each other's lips was now gone, but the pieces still lingered, their hesitant pull apart acting as evidence to the side effects.
"Finally!" An exasperated Manuela approached with the rest following, her voice reaching Ava and Pietro with a slight startle.
They all fell upon them in a surprisingly strong hug, the pair chuckling as their eyes met, deciding to not say anything and let their friends be happy with them.
But once the hug was over and Ava and Pietro finally had room to breathe again, the two had eyes only for each other, making the rest feel like secondary characters in a play that had the spotlight turned directly at them.
"What now?" Ava said, smiling. Pietro smirked back instead, his head turning towards the restaurant long before his eyes followed.
"First, I'm going to get some alcohol for everyone, then we're going to dance some more,"
Pietro took a pause as he got closer to Ava and leaned right next to her ear, his hot breath sending shock waves down her back, making her close her eyes and breathe in deep to keep herself together.
And then, he chose the words that had the power to send Ava to the floor for good; "But you and I are not done after that."
His lips shined with a wicked grin, one corner higher than the other, living for the look of pure surprise mixed with pleasure.
Pietro kept coming up with ways to leave Ava with her mouth hanging near the floor and her insides twisted together, wondering if it would be too inappropriate to grab him from his tie and flee the wedding before the cake was even cut.
"Ava, you made it!" Angelica's voice boomed from behind us she emerged from the crowd, kissing Ava on both cheeks. "I see you and my brother worked things out."
Ava blushed under the mischievous smile of the bride, a soft laugh filling the open spot that was occupied by the silence in between. Her eyes looked towards her shoes as she felt heat rising towards her face, the need to look elsewhere far greater than any she could overpower.
"Yeah, we did."
"Very, very glad to hear that." Angelica cleared her throat, making Ava raise an eyebrow and look back up.
The look Ava was receiving from Angelica was far from celebratory, and exactly the opposite on what a bride looks on her wedding day. She fidgeted on her feet while continuing to fix the strands of hair framing her face, obvious swallowing keeping her from talking. Every time Angelica would open her mouth to utter anything it would immediately close back up, Ava deciding to put her out of her misery by taking it away once more.
"Is there something you want to ask me?"
"If you insist." Angelica laughed, far too strained to sound like a true one. "From one to ten, how happy would you say my brother is?"
A frown pulled Ava's eyebrows closer together, two lines creasing in between. She pursed her lips as she thought over the question, trying to hide her confusion.
"I hope twenty?"
Angelica let out a groan that was accompanied by a whine, smoothing down her dress in an attempt to soothe her own self down.
"That's not enough." She said, taking a deep breath in. "Okay. Alright. We need to get him to about a hundred."
Ava let out a tiny snort as a humorous idea popped in her head, her lips moving faster than her mind could say no, letting it out; "Got a bathroom we can slip in?"
She laughed to herself as she took a sip from her champagne, the rhythm of her heart picking up as she saw that not only did Angelica not laugh but was instead considering it with an arched brow.
"You see, now I'm nervous because you're not laughing." Ava chuckled with a wide smile that was hurting her cheeks, afraid of stopping in case the horror she felt came forward. "Angelica, what's happening?"
"I may have done something, which let to another thing, and that thing is going to drop Pietro's mood from a twenty to a minus twenty."
With every word Angelica spoke, Ava grew slightly more scared, setting her glass down on the table next to her, where her friends were now starting to gather around. Her body still faced hers, Ava rubbing her hands gently on a napkin to get rid of the water droplets that had stuck on her hands from the low temperature of her drink.
"Please don't tell me this is a love triangle situation, Adam seems nice."
"Oh, I wish."
That drink resting on the table seemed far more approachable now, Ava wanting to run away far from anything that would make Pietro madder than his sister involved in a love triangle, the pressure of being the one to keep him in control losing its appeal, if it ever held any.
Responsibilities like that where a first, and Ava felt slightly underqualified and severely underprepared.
"What, what's going to make him madder than that?" Ava asked, her voice slightly wavering.
But at the moment where Angelica was about to answer Ava's question, burning all her doubts to ash, someone called out to her while demanding her attention immediately with some urgent matter Ava didn't care enough to hear. All her attention was on the words that never made it out of Angelica's mouth, leaving her hanging there, with just as many questions as before.
"Just try to keep him calm for me. Please?"
With that, Angelica left, Ava staring at thin air for a few seconds before turning towards the table. She looked at her friends for answers, but none of them knew how to dissolve the bubble of confusion that was wrapped around her.
"I still understand nothing." Ava exclaimed, raising her shoulders up with tension before letting them drop with defeat, finishing whatever was left in her glass.
"I don't know, maybe it's..." Manuela started, something behind Ava's shoulder catching her by surprise as her heart stopped beating, mouth agape.
But Ava noticed absolutely nothing about the change of energy, the electrifying tension reaching dangerous levels. She still waited for Manuela to finish her sentence, not understanding why everyone was suddenly looking away from her. None of them were paying attention, all frozen like horrified statues.
"Would you people finish a sentence!" Ava groaned as she finally turned around, watching the man everyone seemed to stare at, enter.
The darkhaired stranger was slowly mingling with the crowd, his blue suit being buttoned and unbuttoned over and over again. Eyes scanned the room before they landed on Angelica, his hand raising in a wave that seemed to be the mixture of nervousness and awkwardness.
He seemed familiar. Maybe too familiar, and yet Ava could not pinpoint the memory where she ever met him or at least saw him before. Every time it slipped away for mere seconds, Ava forced to chase after it again, the process repeating itself continuously.
"Today's a good day to witness a murder, right?" Vincenzo gulped.
"What are you talking about?" Ava asked.
Vincenzo finally looked at Ava like she was crazy, tilting his head to the side. "Doesn't he remind you of someone? Let's say, I don't know, the guy you kissed five minutes ago?"
Ava looked at the stranger again before a gasp flew out of her mouth, her hand placed over it with lightning speed. That's where she knew him. Not from a picture, not from a meet, but from the reflection inside the man she was falling in love with over the course of her stay. The brother Pietro would rather die than mention in a conversation, every remnant of his name forbitten from ever coming up when he was close by.
"We can not let Pietro see him," Ava mumbled from gritted teeth.
"We can not let Pietro see who?"
Everyone jumped with yelps of surprise as Pietro stood behind them, a small giggle leaving his lips as he abandoned the drinks he had brought with him on the round table. He was so carefree it almost made Ava want to scream.
"Hey!" She greeted, a little too loud, jumping in front of him, even if her height was nowhere near enough to block his view entirely. Once more her mouth bubbled out the first thing her brain could think of, any other ideas flying with the wind. "How about you and I go to the bathroom!"
"What?" Pietro laughed, a confused and slightly scared look being sent her way. "Why would we go to the...bathroom?"
His sentence started to slip away by the time he reached the last word, his smile fading rapidly while his face hardened significantly. Everything in his demeanour shifted like a gust of wind changing it's mind, another version of him taking control right before Ava's eyes.
The sweet, wise-spoken man she knew had stepped back and let a harder, sharper version of him have the spotlight. One that abandoned glasses on tables without caring if they fell or not, leaving them at the mercy of the people around him to keep them straight.
Pietro walked around Ava with a determined look in his eyes, not listening to reason, and definitely not the attempts of Ava to slow his momentum down.
And once he was in close enough distance, Pietro let his fist take the lead.
"Pietro!" Ava yelped in surprise, her hands flying to cover her mouth while her brain went numb for a few seconds before it all rebooted.
Giovanni and Vincenzo sprung into action and pulled him back, away from the man that was supposed to be his brother, Pietro not struggling to fight them off. As if he had achieved his goal, an action he had been saving for a long time for Angelo, something that was long overdue.
But he still spat out words with such speed Ava had lost the ability to translate, taking over the spot of Giovanni and Vincenzo at Pietro's side, her hands wrapped around his forearm as she hoped to provide some serenity, if that was even possible in such a moment.
Giovanni and Vincenzo still lingered in front of Pietro, separating him from Angelo, somewhat afraid that if they moved to the side by even an inch, hell would break loose, and Pietro would go for at least one more punch.
"Meritato." Angelo mattered under his breath, quickly stuffing a tissue under his bleeding nose, watery eyes now focusing as much as they could on Pietro. "Ciao fratello."
But it was as if Pietro never heard a soul utter a word, for he never even looked at Angelo when he was addressing him, instead holding his gaze fixated on Angelica with a mixture of betrayal and anger.
"What is he doing here?"
Through gritted teeth Pietro spoke, Ava glancing around to see what commotion they had gathered, thanking any heavenly power that had protected them, the scenery unfolding a little further than the main event.
"I wanted my family home — " Angela sighed, but her sentence was cut short by a dry scoff.
This time Pietro stared right at Angelo, his face twisting with disgust. "Since when does he consider us family? When he was out getting high instead of going to his father's funeral or —"
"Pietro that's enough." Mirena raised her voice, Pietro going quiet at his mother's command, but with anger still sizzling very visibly to all.
Ava pulled at Pietro's arm to try and motion him away, somewhere they could be alone, whispering to him to follow. But he never budged, he stared at Angelica and Mirena with a pair of hurt eyes, Angelo staring at the ground instead of witnessing what was going on for him. "Pietro, let's go." She whispered sympathetically, needing to get him somewhere where he could calm down.
"He doesn't deserve to be here." Pietro said with disappointment, his voice straining to stay even and controlled while he took a step back. He scoffed once, "Family...I'm family. Mama's family. He's not family."
Another, stronger tug came from Ava as her patience started to wear thin, afraid that if she allowed Pietro to say one more word, Angelica would break down, her eyes shining with a heavier gloss.
But she could sense every single emotion he emitted, delivering blows to the backs of her knees as they threatened to fold her in half. All the bitterness and pain of years of build-up were slithering to the ground from every single pore he had in his body, droplet by droplet. His own eyes where at the verge of spilling crystal-clear tears under the moonlight, unsure whether they where a result of anger or sadness. Perhaps a bit of both.
Ava finally let go of his arm once they where far away enough to not be even able to hear the music, finally letting him walk up and down the area as his thought ran wild through his mouth.
"He doesn't get to come here, he doesn't get to celebrate our happiness with us." Pietro turned to face Ava, a furious look in his eyes. "He wasn't there when I need him! He could have chosen not to sell my father's things to get money, he could have not left me at gas stations to go get drunk, or have sex or God knows what!"
The absence of Pietro's yells was deafening, Ava staring at him blankly, careful not to even make a grimace to ruin his moment. This was the time for him to let it all out, scream it if he had to. This was the only moment he would have this opportunity.
"He could have been there, and he chose to walk away. Act like we never existed. He doesn't deserve to be here."
His body fell down on the bench that happened to be behind him, giving up on the attempts to stand up straight and keep his head held high. His elbows were digging in his thighs as he held his head in his hands, Ava sighing as she sat right next to him with a hand on his back, running in small, soothing circles.
"I know it's wrong." Pietro mumbled, "I know I shouldn't make them feel bad about forgiving him, but I don't think I can."
The sky full of stars was now the main point of focus for Pietro before he turned towards Ava, hesitating to look at her, afraid to see what he thought would stare back at him.
"I don't know if I can ever forgive him." Pietro repeated, making Ava nod with a sigh.
She leaned closer and wrapped her arms around him tightly, her way of yelling out she wouldn't leave him. And even when there was no way to relate to feel exactly what he was feeling in this moment, the only thing she could do was hug him until he didn't need her to.
"I know this must be hard for you," Ava mumbled against his shoulder, "But this is your sister's wedding, and if she needs him here, then you have to tolerate him. You don't need to try and understand."
The two pulled apart in silence, leaning back, feeling the lines of the hard wood dig into their backs. The sound of their breathing was rippling through the open space with serenity, calming them down into a nearly numb feeling.
"I'm sorry he left you at a gas station." Ava said, receiving a quiet, humble laughter in response.
"It turned out fine, I guess. The lady who owns it was nice, gave me candy. And she had this annoying son named Vincenzo, got stuck with that one."
Ava raised an eyebrow and chuckled, letting it evolve into a laugh that was short lived. She breathed in deeper while she pushed her hair behind her ears, the lightness of the changed subject letting her get on her feet instead of pushing her down into the bench, as if she was about to merge with it.
"Ready to go back?" She asked, opening her palm for Pietro to slip his own hand in. "And I promise, if he tries anything, I'll throw a cannoli at him."
___________________
Translations
"Lei non verrà." = She won't come.
"Tu devi avere fede, Pietro." = You must have faith, Pietro.
"Che cazzo Vincenzo — " = What the fuck Vincenzo
"Meritato." = Deserved
"Ciao fratello." =Hello brother