Half a month later...
"Hurry up Valentina. We're about to leave any minute now!" Iris urged Valentina on the phone.
"If you don't get there in five minutes, then you're uninvited to the wedding." I said as I snatched the phone out of Iris' hand.
I heard Valentina chuckle at my response.
"Okay okay, I've left. I'll meet you guys there instead." She said and I hung up, nodding at the girls to go.
It was time to go bridesmaid shopping. Me, Iris, Valentina, Zara and Eleonora also decided to have a girls day out today as well, but there had been a little delay in the plans due to Valentina being late from wherever she was at.
"Please call me if anything goes wrong. I'll come back straight away." Zara said as she handed Angelo over to Ethan, looking worried.
"We'll be fine, now go Zar. You need this day out." He said to her and she smiled up at him. She kissed him and Angelo before whispering something in Ethan's ear.
I smiled softly at the both of them, no one had a clue what they were, but Ethan and Zara seemed so happy together. They were both taking things slow at the moment, and I respected them for that. There were still a lot of things we all have to go through.
"Matthias would've loved to see you in that dress." Iris commented and I looked at myself in the mirror, smoothing down the dress.
"I-I really do wish he was here." I bit my lip as my lip trembled. Iris turned me around and held both of my hands in hers.
"I do too Caterina. God, I just wish I had spent more time with him, I-I still get surprised to know that he's my brother. I've lived this many years without knowing I had a brother and it feels so unfair, that when I found out, he was ripped away from me." Iris sobbed and I hugged her close to me, feeling my own tears fall down my face too.
"Let's go see him later on, after all this." I said and Iris nodded.
"It's been a year Iris. A whole year now." I gulped, feeling like a lump was stuck in the back of my throat. Iris didn't say anything, but I could tell from her shaky exhale, that she was just as much affected.
"H-he's got to come back. He has t-to. I know he will. My brother will come back." Iris said determinedly and we both hugged each other tightly, holding onto each other and sobbing.
We sat in silence for a while, not doing or saying anything.
"We should get you out of that dress, the others must be wondering what's going on." Iris said and I nodded. She left the changing room stall and I got changed back into my clothes. I exited the stall with all of the six dresses that I had tried on today.
"I would narrow down the selection to these three. The violet, baby pink and nude dresses." Said Eleonora as she examined each dress carefully.
"I agree, I'm not really a fan of the others." I said, staring at the three Eleonora had chosen.
"What about you Valentina and Zara?" Eleonora asked them. Zara agreed with Eleonora.
"I was really thinking that red was my colour, I guess not," Valentina said as she looked at the red dress in disgust, "but I'm fine with those three as well."
"These three it is, now Iris, I think it'll be better if you see what dress the girls have chosen to wear on the day of the wedding. For now, Valentina, Zara and Caterina can decide which is their favourite and I'll let the other bridesmaids know as well." Eleonora said, taking charge and my heart warmed. She was much more softer than Marcello, but they both held an authoritative figure of some sort, but that's what I loved about Eleonora. The fact that she can be a kind and caring mother as well as a woman who knows her worth. It really is admiring when she puts Marcello in his place sometimes.
"You girls go ahead and go to your nail appointment, I'll pay for the dresses and meet you all at the cafe at 3." Eleonora paid for the dresses and we all parted from her.
"The wedding is coming around fast. It's next month wow." Said Zara and we all agreed, looking back on how much time had passed.
"You excited?" Asked Valentina to Iris and she shrugged coyly.
"Just nervous. I'll be getting married soon, I never really thought that would be happening anytime soon." Iris said as she stared off into the distance.
"Any plans of having a baby yet?"
"When are you going to have your first child?"
Valentina and I asked at the same time and we all laughed, while Iris sat there blushing like a tomato. She shook her head instantly, looking away from us, feeling flustered.
"I-. He-. We haven't-. We haven't done it yet." Iris murmured quietly and Valentina snorted, while I nudged her slightly.
"I'm not ready for a child yet, I at least want to see what marriage life is like first and not rush into anything." Iris said.
"How about Grayson?" I asked and she looked at me.
"He feels the same way I do. We've talked about this many times before. We both agreed to wait for a while before having a baby."
"It's what I thought too. I had always planned out my life, despite my circumstances, but they obviously didn't go to plan. I-I don't mind though, I'm happy at the moment, with you guys, Angelo, Ethan and the whole family." Zara said as she smiled down at her fingers.
"What about you Caterina? Got anyone you like?" Valentina smirked and I rolled my eyes at her, smiling.
"I'm not like you Valentina, having a secret man by my side." I teased her and she smirked, flipping her hair back.
"I'm just going with the flow as always. I don't know how I feel." I said truthfully and Iris looked at me. I looked away from her gaze and diverted the attention to Valentina.
"And you Val?" I asked and she shrugged.
"Life is mysterious." She said cryptically and Iris rolled her eyes and nudged her.
"Not you out of all people trying to be mysterious Val." She joked.
"You wound me Iris." Valentina said and I chuckled, checking the time. I opened my phone to see a message from Grayson.
I'm going to check on Matthias. Do you and Iris want to come?
I replied back to his message and let the girls know.
"Send Matthias my wishes." Valentina said and Zara looked away and clutched her bag close to her, a flash of pain passed over her face and I sighed mentally.
Zara continuously blames herself for what happened to Matthias. It was her fault and I hated her for it so much. It took me a while to forgive Zara, she had ripped away someone very special from us, but I learned to forgive. If Iris could forgive her, so could I. I had also learnt that everything Zara had done was because of her baby, and I didn't blame her for that. Her whole life was messed up and all she wanted was a life with her baby to grow up safe.
I held Zara's hand and squeezed warmly, wanting to comfort her. She doesn't know how she will react if she went and saw Matthias and the guilt continuously trips her. She smiled at me sadly.
"Go home Zara and take some rest. Don't feel guilty about this." I said, but she shook her head, tears clouding her eyes.
"It's my fault Caterina. I still can't forgive myself and I don't think I would ever be able to. If I hadn't of stabbed Matthias, we wouldn't be here talking about this, and Matthias wouldn't be laying in a hospital bed for a whole year!" She cried and I wiped her tears.
"Stop Zar. It's already happened and you can't change what happened. Go home and forget about all this." I said, kissing her cheek and she nodded.
Valentina came forward and put her arm over Zara, escorting her out while comforting her. I called Eleonora to tell her about the change of plans and me and Iris went to meet Grayson who was waiting outside for us.
A/N:
Oop, kinda boring chapter I know, but I can't wait for the next chapter! It gets better.
Hope you guys enjoyed!
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Until then