The loud muffled music through their locked door stirred them awake. Giavanna and Joseph looked around and jumped, scurrying away from each other once they realized they were cuddling. Best not to tell them they did that all night.
Though they had agreed to be cordial with each other, they were still not comfortable one another. Their mutual agreement does not mean that things automatically change between them. They still held an animosity and hatred for one another; feelings of that nature do not just vanish over night.
Even when, or if, they did get over those feelings they then had to determine whether or not they liked each other well enough to become at the very least acquaintances. Then, they could take their feelings for each other and grow from there.
Yet they were far from that; a loud clammer and laughter bellowed up towards their room, over the loud music, pulling their attention to their bedroom door. Fully aware of the unexpected and unwanted guests invading their home and waking them up, unpleasantly, they cleaned up and got dressed.
Once ready, Joseph opened the door and peered out and down the step. Only to find his and Giavanna's family commemorating and drinking. Unfortunately his incredibly drunk, crude and brute cousins spotted him as soon as he opened the door.
'SASHA!' I could hear them yell up towards us followed by the heavy slamming of feet as they seemingly stammered up the steps. 'DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!' Jo seemed to struggle at closing the door with them being right on the other side.
Soon after, three huge Russian men came clambering into the room laughing and falling all over themselves. I would not be surprised if my cousins were not far behind them in the same state of being.
What did surprise me however was how they came for me and not Jo. Picking me up and carrying me out of the room as if I weighed nothing at all to them. "Wait! No! No!" I scratched and reached for anything within my grasp to get away.
One con of being a petite person in a family of giants: you will be manhandled!
I froze and stopped fighting for all but a second when I noticed that Jo was chasing after his cousins to try and get them to stop and put me down. His efforts were useless but I appreciate the notion.
Apparently both Jo and I complaining about the matter fell upon death ears because we both got swept up in a crowd of each other's families. Instantly I was on my feet being shuffled around from Aunt, to cousin, to mother in law.
It was hard to determine what everyone was saying to me but from what I could gather,I know it was mainly them wondering when I was going to have a little Zwon for them to raise.
This really was the last thing I needed...
I concealed my pain on the matter; simply smiling and laughing it off. Pretending it did not hurt; that it did not hurt to have lost the one they were asking me for. That it did not hurt that I could not tell them about him or that it did not hurt that they were unknowingly, innocently, bring back all the pain I felt still for my son.
I worked my way through the crowd trying not to really answer anyone or even look them in the eyes. Soon enough I was being encased within someone's arms, and his scent was nostalgically pleasant. 'Mi dispiace tanto la mia bella(I am so sorry my beauty)
"Papa!" I looked up to confirm, I may have been mad at him previously but it was nice to just hug him and savor this moment even if I did not accept his apology. Maybe if I say nothing he will just think I did...
He kissed my forehead and loosed me back into the crowd, this time with my own family. Seeing my mother's bright and joyful smile lifted my spirits tremendously; while her grabbing and kissing my face repeatedly caused a genuine laughter to erupt out of me.
'Playing you is not fun, or easy.' My sister whispered in my ear as she poked my side, making me flinch each time. "Jo told me you did an amazing job. Still not going to consider studying acting?" 'Nah!' We laugh with each other for a moment more before the rest of my family swarms towards me.
At least they gave me a few seconds with my immediate family. Yet a lass, their questions of an 'heir' push me right back down that depressive slide and into the rut I currently called a home.
Thankfully as soon as that had started I felt a tug at my wrist. I could not see who was pulling me but it was happening so fast no one else seemed to notice it ether. In fact it was not until I was back in my room with the door locked, literally a second later that I realized it had been Jo.
"I saw you slowly dying out there." Joseph looked at Giavanna as he sat the edge of the bed with a huff. He gave her a smile significantly less arrogant than normal.
Giavanna chuckles a moment "Yeah, perfect timing... Uhm.... Thank you." She gave him a ghost smile before sitting on the floor leaning up against the wall beside the door.
"Oh! Did-did Stone just thank me?! Gasp I think we just made progress!" Joseph stares at her in anticipation.
"Jo. Shut up, okay." Giavanna tries to conceal her playful smirk.
"Nope, no progress, my bad." The two of them faintly laugh about their banter for just a second before it dies out. "I am amazed that despite not knowing you ran away our families threw a party the day after I brought you home. Makes me wonder if they knew what was really going on; or if they just took a chance, you know?"
Giavanna sighs "Honestly, my family does this all the time, it is their way of helping my father and I make amends." She looks down at her hands and shifts uncomfortably. " If only they knew it only made things worse; because so many things go unsaid..."
"Believe me, I know." Joseph's words seemed to please Giavanna, it was nice having someone that understood. Someone other than the usual suspects. They were quiet for the next minutes or so. Both looking down, lost in the somber thoughts of their lives. "So where do we go from here?" Joseph asked out but the question was more to himself than anything else.
The silence in the room stayed until Giavanna at last spoke. "He had our best features." Joseph perks up and stares at her surprised she mentioned anything at all. Giavanna, after a couple of deep breaths stared back at him and right into Joseph's eyes.
'He...he had your eyes Jo.' I could feel her voice crack and her eyes water. Was that why she been avoiding looking me in the eyes until now?
"I wis-" 'Who had Jo's eyes?!' Jules somehow manages to come barging into our room asking. "How the bloody hell did you get here without us hearing you pick the lock?! And I swear if you say 'because I am Jules' I will-"
'You will what?! Hmm?! ' Jules cut me off, examining my face with a faint but evident cocky smirk playing at the corners of her lips. 'Because I am Jules.' She winks before Swinging around and helping G up to her feet.
"I hate you." I jokingly say before going over to make sure G was alright once she stood. 'Awe I love you too Jo.' She pushes me away from G and hugs her letting out a breath of relief.
'So are you going to tell us where you have been for the past year Gia? It is the least you could do after putting us through hell.' She walked over and hugged me, but then abruptly pushed away from me. 'And just who the hell has your eyes Jo?!'
I could not bring myself to answer her question, nether could G. 'Do not tell me you had a son with one of your past flings Jo!'
By the time I processed what she had just said enough to respond it was too late. 'What the hell Jo, I knew you were a player but I thought you at least knew how to wrap it up!'
She went on and on and every time I tried to interject she would get louder and louder and push me into the wall. I did not really have the energy or motivation to fight back.
This went on for a few minutes, and it was not until G grabbed Jules and covered her mouth that I had realized she was trying to stop Jules with me.
"Jules it is not at all what you think. Come on, you know me well enough to know I am not the type to go carelessly sleeping around. Just think about it, think about what you know about me."
I watched as her anger faded away from her. She never did think straight when she thought one of her friends were being hurt by someone else. Which was heartwarming; it meant that if it were the other way around and she thought G had hurt me she would have responded in a similar fashion.
'I will explain everything just relax first Jules.' G's quietly spoke while still covering her mouth hand. 'I swear if when I move my hand you are still loud I will slap you.'
'I dare you to slap me Gia.'
'Do not tempt me Jules.'
The two ladies stared and made these weird, fast motions as if threatening to hit each other. A faint laughter coming from the two of them as they did so.
A loud smack noise followed by the ladies groining and rubbing their faces made it obvious that they had in fact smacked each other. "Alright, so, what going on? Did you two have a son?"
Giavanna and Joseph simply looked at each other and huffed. "I KNEW IT!" Julianna quickly covers her mouth realizing how loud she was in that moment. "Where is he?" Her voice much quieter this time.
Giavanna walked over to Joseph, looking up at him for comfort. He gave her nod before she turned around to face Julianna again. "He-he passed, yesterday morning." She closed her eyes to keep herself composed.
Julianna froze, staring at both Joseph and Giavanna like a deer in headlights. She stayed like that for a extremely long time just thinking, processing everything as her heart broke for her friends. Eventually she dropped her head "I am so sorry." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I wish there was something I could do."
"Just being you is enough Jules." I placed my hand on Gia's shoulder to give her comfort, while trying to give Jules a convincing smile to comfort her. The two ladies looked at me and I let out a heavy hearted sigh.
"Our lives have never been easy; but, there is beauty in hardship..."
After a moment of just silence Jules finally cracked a smile, which in-turn sparked mine. Gia on the other hand kept her head down and studied the cracks on the floor.
At least until Jules came up and hugged her. 'Why did you run?' Jules held Gia's face forcing her to look her. 'You know I would have helped you, that I always have you back.'
Gia huffed 'I just, I just needed to get away from it all.'
A knock at our door made us all jump for moment. Seems like I was not the only one who forgot we had more guests downstairs. I give the ladies a second of two to recompose themselves before I open the door.
It is my dad, who walks right into the room without welcome. Quickly followed by Gia's dad in the same fashion. Jules greets them both then excuses herself from the room.
They stared at us long after Jules left. Fixated more on G than on myself. 'Mia Bella, you have been crying. Why?' Angelo asked G in an examining fashion. We all watched as she gathered herself, taking deep breaths and continually wiping her tears.
'I just, we just, were all reminiscing about old days. It made me miss......' She paused for a moment right before I saw that stone cold glare I grew to live with return to her eyes. '... You know what forget it. You do not care anyway.'
Angelo and even my father stepped back apparently pained by G's words. Suddenly my body clenched and my heart was left up in the air with anticipation as to what was to come next. There had to be a safe way to get out of both of our fathers anger, more specifically there had to be a way for me to save G from both of our fathers combined wrath.
In a normal situation I know we could handle their anger. Sadly, both of us were not fully ourselves. "Uhm, you know, you two still owe us a wedding gift. We both know our mums bought us this home." I gave them both a ghost smile, which was greeted, after a few more minutes of silence, with a welcome laughter. Coming from both Angelo and my father.
'Your son is too damn smart for his own good.' Angelo addressed my father waging his finger at me. 'It is just too bad he let it all go to his head.' My father's joke even made G giggle a little bit. 'Fine, what do you two want?'
All eyes were on me and my eyes were on G's. I could feel a devious smile form on my face as G slowly realized what I was going to say next. That cold stone look melted away living her looking like a deer in headlights. She turned and open her mouth to answer before I could but she was too late.
"How about a honeymoon?"
.....................................................
'Ello!
Thank you for reading!
Just want to apologize for taking a long time to update.
I made this part longer to sort of make up for the long wait time. I promise my next update will not take as long.
Hope you enjoyed this part!
Also be on the look out for a new story! I should be sharing it soon!
-Èmile