7. BETTER THAN 'UNREQUITED LOVE'

Happy reading. ♥️

The continuous ring of my alarm wakes me up and the first thing I do is, slap the alarm clock with my hand.

I forgot to draw the curtains last night and so the bright light seeps through the window lighting the whole room up. My room was fairly large sized with fawn colored walls matched with cream colored furniture.

A queen sized round bed was pushed against the wall with two side tables on either sides. A small built-in bookshelf was beside my study table and chair near the window. There were two more doors; one was the bathroom and the other was a walk in closet.

I got out of the bed seeing that it's nine thirty and I woke up later than usual today. After doing my business, I brush my teeth and wash my face before dabbing it dry and spraying rose water on it.

Walking out of the bathroom, I push open my closet door and start rummaging through the clothes to find the suitable outfit. Grabbing a light blue, high-waisted, boyfriend jeans which is ripped, I pair it with a plain white tee and take off to shower.

After about thirty minutes, I am ready and my hair are dried and tied in a top knot bun. I finish my look with a cute floral knot headband and white sneakers.

I slip down the stairs with a newfound enthusiasm when I hear mom and dad laughing about something making my smile even wider and day even brighter.

"GOOD MORNING." I chirp loudly as soon as I enter the kitchen.

Mom and dad are both doing the dishes when they hear me and turn around with wide eyes and confused smiles at my unusual cheeriness.

"Morning princess, you seem awfully happy today." dad states.

Mum slaps his arm and gives me a warm smile while opening her arms wide for me. I grin back and rush to her wrapping my arms around her tightly.

"You never welcome me with open arms." dad pouts adorably with a frown.

"This isn't about you, Ronan." mom says rolling her eyes.

"Aw dad, come here." I say and hug him tightly.

He chuckles and kisses my head after giving me a tight hug.

"What's got my baby all happy today?" mom asked handing me a glass of orange juice.

"I'm going out with Nick. He said it's a date." I mumble shyly.

"Aw, that's so sweet. Ronan, take notes." mom teases dad.

"Isa, baby, I took you out just yesterday night." dad rolls his eyes.

"Well, it's not my fault that I can't get enough of the time we spend together." she smiles looking up at him.

Dad grins goofily at her and places a chaste kiss on the side of her head.

"I wish I get a love story like you." I say placing my now empty glass on the counter.

Mom smiles softly and replies, "Something tells me that it's gonna be better."

Dad nods in response and begins to dry out the dishes. The twins comes running to me, both of them latching to my legs and I pick them up and run out to the garden.

"My babies." I coo peppering kisses on their faces.

They giggle now sitting in my lap and start playing with their clay. Mom and dad come to sit on the chairs and we talk for almost an hour about their jobs and my school.

"NICK!" the twins shout in unison and hop off my lap.

I crane my neck to see him bending on his knees as he sees Nate and Noah running towards him.

He picks them with ease and spins them both around earning loud shrieks and laughs from both of them.

Kissing their cheeks, he places them back on the ground and they run to me again.

"Good afternoon, Savannah. Adam." he greets them with small smiles and brief hugs.

"You're taking my daughter out today?" dad asks.

"Yes, if you allow that is." he replies smoothly.

"And if I don't?" dad retorts.

"Then I'll ask over and over until you agree." he answers politely.

A small smile breaks out on dad's face as he pats Nick's shoulder and nods his head towards me.

His gaze travels to me and a shiver runs down my spine as his eyes takes me in, what seems to be, appreciation.

I walk timidly towards him and he instantly wraps his arm around my waist.

"Hi." he whispers looking down at me.

"Hi." I whisper back with a small smile.

His midnight blues are swirling with all sorts of positive emotions and I blush before looking away.

"I'll bring her back in the evening." he says and we leave together.

"You look gorgeous, bambi." he compliments.

"Thank you. You cleaned up pretty well, too." I reply looking at his white tee and blue chinos paired with white converse.

He chuckles mumbling something under his breath and I frown in return.

"I said, you'll be the death of me." he tells sensing my confusion and opens the door for me.

I sit and buckle my seat belt as he comes to settle in his seat and ignites the engine.

"Are you really not going to tell me?" I ask in hopes of finding out where he's taking me.

He shakes his head and drums his finger on the steering wheel with a smug smirk.

"Where are we going for lunch?" I ask with a pout.

"Jesse's." he replies making my eyes light up in excitement.

I fist bump the air and he laughs. Realising what I had done, I awkwardly bring my hand down and clear my throat before turning to look out at the busy streets.

Nick parks the car outside my favorite diner and we hop out together.

"Bambi, walk slowly." I hear him scold.

I turn around and grin at him making his scowl disappear in thin air.

"Hi." I say goofily.

He smiles softly and replies, "Hi, amore mio."

I flick his nose, not caring about the fact that I didn't understand the last part of his statement and walk inside the diner.

We order our cheese burgers and fries with coke and eat in a comfortable silence.

"I missed you, bambi." he says all of a sudden after we both were done.

I rest my left cheek on the table and look at him quietly before asking, "Then why did you leave?"

He blinks, taken aback, and grabs my hand that rested on the table. My skin tingles at his touch as he intertwines our fingers.

"Baby, I had to. Mum and dad sent me away and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have the time of my life in Italy. My birth home. It wasn't my decision, though." he states.

My eyebrows furrow and I snatch my hand away from his, ignoring his endearment. Tears spring my eyes as I swallow harshly and stand up to leave. He sits there dumbfounded as I leave the diner.

After a few seconds, I hear his rushed footsteps behind me and I fasten my pace on the sidewalk.

A second later, I feel his arms go around my waist and he lifts me up effortlessly and walks in the opposite direction where his car is parked. I thrash in his hold kicking my legs but he only tightens his hold.

"Eliza!" he warns.

His breath fans my neck and I stop at once. The passerbys looks at us either in awe or like we're crazy.

My back relaxes against his chest and my tears stop falling as he opens the car door and gets inside the driver seat with me in his lap.

Shutting the door, he cups my face and makes me look in his eyes, "What's wrong?" he asks seriously.

I gulp audibly and shake my head, "N-nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Eliza. This isn't the first time you acted out when the topic of me being away was being discussed." he speaks sternly.

"Nick, I needed you." I whisper quietly.

"What for?" he asks exasperatedly.

I look at him in disbelief as soon as he utters the last word and as if realising what he had said, his eyes widens in alarm. I hiccup and try to wriggle out of his lap but he places a firm hand on my butt and one on my waist.

"Eliza, baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Did you need me for something particular? That's what I meant." he quickly corrects himself.

"Why does it matter to you now?" I ask softly.

"It will always matter to me, gorgeous." he answers kissing the tip of my nose.

I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder, "You left me... yet you never left my mind." I say quietly.

He lifted my head from his shoulder and peppered kisses all over my face, over and over until I let out a small smile and pulled away to do the same to him.

His eyes closed as soon as my lips came in contact with his skin and a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

"You're driving me crazy, bambi." he whispers opening his eyes.

We stare at one another for a few minutes before he buries my face in his chest and restarts the car and drives to God knows where.

***

"Wake up." I hear someone whisper in my ear and open my eyes to see Nick looking down at me with a smile.

"Where are we?" I ask rubbing my eyes.

"You'll know as soon as you get off my lap because baby, even though you're practically weightless, my legs are numb now. It was a long drive." he teases and I gasp.

"I'm so sorry." I apologise getting off of his lap and out of the car with him following behind me rather slowly.

I look at him apologetically and mumble another 'sorry' which he brushes off with a kiss on the side of my head.

I look around to see a... room? Flat? House? I couldn't guess. We were on the outskirts of the town and in front of us stood a large one story, what seemed to be a, house, surrounded by a deserted area and I blink up at Nick in confusion.

He smiles and takes my hand before walking in it's direction. He takes a key out of his pocket and inserts it in the keyhole and we hear the sound of a 'click' followed by the creak of the door.

He tugs at my hand and I finally step inside the large space which is brightly illuminated by the sunlight streaming inside from all four corners of the huge room since it had floor to ceiling glass windows framed with white wood.

"Wow." I breath out as my eyes sweep over the empty space.

We walk further inside, feeling the wooden, spotless floor beneath our shoes. I stop walking all of a sudden when I see huge built in white wooden shelves on one corner of the room filled with.... paint bottles?

My mouth go dry as I look at the precious human standing beside me with a nervous yet hopeful look on his face.

"Nick." I whisper in awe.

"This, uh, studio belongs to my uncle. He used to, um, run a photography studio here but he moved back to Italy a couple of years ago so I, uh, called him to ask if I can use it in his absence and he happily agreed. So, uh, I-I thought that I should bring you here since you love painting and uh did this all by myself but it's alright if you don't like it. We can go somewhere else or watch a mov-" I cut his rambling short by jumping in his arms, taking him by surprise.

He quickly balanced us as he held the back of my thighs and my legs wrapped around his hips.

"I love it. This is, hands down, the most thoughtful gesture. I absolutely love it and nothing else could be better than this on our first date." I beam at him.

His midnight blue orbs fills with admiration and relief as he looks at me with a small smile of his own which turns into a teasing smirk as he and I both register my words making my eyes go wide.

"So you admit that it's a date?" he teases.

My cheeks turn a dark shade of red and I bury my face in the crook of his neck as his chest vibrates with a chuckle.

"I'm glad you liked it, bambi." he says in a happy tone.

Of course, I liked it. And I liked HIM, too. And I felt a sudden wave of fear wash over me because in that moment, I realised that my liking towards him was progressing hastily to a whole new level and this is not the full stop, no, in fact, there was no full stop at all.