𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, shawn mendes

𝟤.𝟫

aurora versini
25/02/18
6:54am
los angeles, usa

"Who the fuck is calling me at this time?" I whisper to myself as I hear my phone pierce through my sleep, disturbing my dreams. I'll wait and see if it rings twice. I'm not about to wake up at this time for a pointless phone call. It does ring again, forcing me to answer. It's my sister, Aria. "What's so important that you had to wake me up at 7am for, Ari?"

"Shit, I forgot you're three hours back. Sorry." she sighs shakily. "Mom wants to see us all."

"Why? What's happening?" My stomach flips as I sit up, now fully awake. "Ria, answer me."

"I have no clue." She replies, sounding worried.

"Who's all?"

"Everyone. Me, you and Mateo, plus Aunt Elena and Uncle Cris and the kids."

"Oh god, do you think something might really be wrong?" I stuttered, my brain trying to process the meaning of this sudden desire for a family reunion on my mom's half. None of them were good.

"We're about to set off, can you make it in time for 5:00pm?"

"If I set off now, maybe."

"God knows what she wants, but I'm looking forward to seeing you. I've missed you so much."

"I miss you too, Ria. I'm catching the next flight back to New York. I'll be with you as soon as I can."

"I love you, Rory."

"I love you too, Ari." I say softly, ending the call. One from Shawn pops up almost immediately.

"What's up?"

"Uh. I googled your dad. I got curious. I'm sorry." He says quickly. "So when you said 'was' yesterday, you meant-"

"That my father is a convicted drug dealer who's serving life in prison? Yes, that's what I meant." I snap, regretting it instantly. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I can't imagine what you're going through."

"Yeah, it's a pretty fucking unique situation." I chuckle wryly.

"I'm sorry for going behind your back and doing that." He apologies adorably, yet completely unnecessarily. I had been pretty cagey about the whole dad thing, so I don't blame him.

"It's fine, honestly. You're only human." I reassure him. "I'm guessing you want the explanation though?"

"That would be nice I guess. I'm still confused."

"So, my dad was born in Venezuela to a single mom, and sold drugs to make a living when he was a kid. Then he met my mom, who came from one of the richest families in Southern Italy, and supposedly left it all behind to marry her. And they moved to New York and my mom brought Versini over to America and they had me and my siblings and everything was basically perfect. And then I think maybe I was 17 or 18 and we were on holiday in Venezuela- we went back there a lot - and there's this knock on the door. It was the police. They arrested my dad."

"Holy shit. What charge?"

"It's be easier for me to tell you what charges he didn't get. Turns out, h-he'd been taking money from the company and using it to buy drugs and sell them underground. You can imagine how well that went down in the fashion industry when everyone found out. My mom didn't take it too well either. She moved to the Hamptons completely alone and hasn't left in 3 years." It takes everything in me not to break down, retelling the story again after so many years.

Then I realise, I've never told anyone the full story before.

"Fucking hell, Aurora. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, that you're going through it. I can't imagine." He exhales. "What about your siblings?"