6. "Don't call me cute."

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6. "Don't call me cute."

HARLOW

"What's wrong with you two?" I asked. It was Sunday. We were in Cristiano's car, going to meet Eli and Lola, who just got back, for a picnic.

Zach was acting all suspicious, answering my questions and replying with one word answers. Cristiano, just looked nervous.

"I'm just nervous about what Eli's gonna do to me when he sees your hand. Zach, just needs to get it together." Cristiano gave Zach a look before he hit him in the head.

"Sorry. Just thinking." He smiled at me. Weirdo.

We got to Silver Waters Park. We got out and went to find Lola and Eli.

They were sitting in front of the lake on a picnic blanket, with a basket. We walked over to them and sat down. Eli immediately saw my wrapped up hand.

"Eli, before you--"

"What happened to your hand?" He cut me off. Me and Cristiano exchanged looks.

"I was with Cristiano last night and--"

"What did you do? I swear I'm gonna--" It was my turn to cut him off.

"Eli calm the fück down." I huffed. "It was some old guy, not Cristiano!"

"What happened?" Lola asked.

"So, I was watching Cristiano's fight, don't start Eli, when this guy in his like, mid thirties walks up to me. He goes, 'what is a pretty lady like you doing here?'. And me being my smart mouthed self, I said, 'watching a fight duh' and I try to look over him to watch my roommate kick äss. But he blocks me again going, 'you wanna get out of here?'. I say 'to get away from you.' And try to walk away. But he grabs my arm and says 'come on, I just wanna play' and me being myself, says 'Monopoly or Scrabble'. So that's when he loses his 'Mr. Nice guy' and pins me against the wall. He gives me this super icky kiss and I push him off before punching him in the face, causing my hand to almost break. That's why I'm like this." I explained. Cristiano was tense beside me along with Zach and Eli.

"What happened next?" Lola was way into the story.

"Then he got mad and called me a bïtch. Then he raised his hand to-to s-slap me," I started stuttering because of the way it reminded me of my father. I continued. "But
Mr. Dark Knight in Shining Armor over here appears out of nowhere and grabs his wrist, wraps his hand around the guy's neck and pins him against the wall. You wanna hear his exact words?" I looked at Cristiano who was trying to hold back a smile. Lola nodded.

"He said, 'This is my last night here. Did you think I wanted to win and turn around to see some dirty son of a bïtch kissing my girl? By the way, the answer is no.' Then he knocked him out and wrapped up my hand. The end." I bowed dramatically.

"Did you have to recite what I said word for word?" Cristiano looked at me, exasperated. His cheeks were turning a light pink.

"Yes I did. Thank you for the save. It was cute." I nudged his arm.

"Don't call me cute." He pouted like a five year old.

"That was cute! It was a good story." Lola laughed. "I remember the same thing happening to Eli and I when we first started dating." She kissed Eli's cheek.

"Speaking of, how was your trip?" I asked. All four of them suddenly turned their attention to me, like I was a seven year old who just said 'fück'.

"It was good! Cristiano bought more gelato. Like three buckets of it." Lola answered.

"Why?! You know she's gonna eat it!" Cristiano groaned. Zach had been quiet this whole time.

I got up and sat beside him, leaning on his shoulder. "Hello, Zachariah."

"Hello, Harlow."

"What's up with you? And by the way, I'm waiting."

He looked at me with a charming smile. "For what?"

"Your apology for going AWOL with my roommate! I missed you two." I hugged his waist. He wrapped an arm around me.

"I'm sorry. I, we, missed you too." He glanced at Cristiano who was talking to Eli. "Especially Chris. He was so worried you were gonna be mad at him. And the more he kept hearing your messages, the sadder it got. I overheard his conversation with Alexi. He said he missed you a lot. I think he likes you." He whispered before yelling.
"I SHIP IT!"

They all looked at us and I hit his arm. "Zach!" But that didn't stop him.

"I OFFICIALLY SHIP HARLIANO!" He laughed. Cristiano, Eli and me glared bullets into his head, while Lola laughed.

"Zach, I swear I'm gonna kill you!" I pushed him over, sending him tumbling down the hill into the lake. He came up soaking wet and we laughed.

"Hey, Cupcake!" He called.

"What?"

"I still ship it." He burst out laughing again.

I took off my shoes and ran down the hill, into the lake and tackled him.

"Are you gonna stop?" I asked, putting him in almost the same lock I put Eli in on my first day here.

"Ow! Okay, jeez. Best friends are not supposed to do this to their best friend!"

"Yes they are!" I giggled, letting him go.

Soon, everyone joined us in the lake.

****

"Waking up to kiss you and nobody's there, the smell of your perfume still stuck in air, it's hard. Yeah, so hard. Could've sworn I thought I saw your shadow runnin' around, it's funny how things never change in This old Town. It's hard, so hard. And I wanna tell you everything, words I never got to say the first time around--"

My bedroom door flew open, with Cristiano and Zach running and jumping on my bed on either side of me, almost making me drop my guitar. They laid on their backs.

"What are you singing?" Zach, on my left, asked.

"This Town by Niall Horan. Is there a reason you are interrupting?"

"We're bored. You're not boring, so we came in here. Problem solved." Cristiano said, eating my Oreos, again.

"And to think I called you a good roommate last night! Stop eating my Oreos!" I took the pack from him and threw it on my desk.

"I'm sorry, they're just so good!"

"Whatever." I laid down on my back in between them. A huge scent of honey and expensive cologne washed over me. "How do you smell like this everyday?!"

"Like what?" They asked at the same time.

"Like....the definition of 'sexy'." They laughed at my description.

"Because we are." They said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, before turning on their sides to lean on top of me, cutting off the circulation in my respiratory system.

"I can't breathe." I wheezed. "You two way like, twenty thousand pounds!"

"If that were true, we'd fall through this floor." They got off, returning to their original spots. "You know the TV in your room works, right?" Cristiano said.

I grabbed the remote. I turned the TV on.

This afternoon on the three o'clock news, new acting and modeling teen sensation Annalise Winters, goes big! She will be on the new reality TV show, The Winter's Wonderland! Starring her and her family!

I sat up with my jaw on my lap.

But where is her sister, Harlow Winters? Here's an interview with Annalise herself!

Annalise: my sister is up in LA, living in an apartment with my cousin, trying to jumpstart her dreams on being a singer. That poor girl, no matter how hard she tries, she still screws thing up. I feel so sorry for her. Especially after the accident in Manhattan.

TV reporter: What happened?

Annalise: She was in the car with her boyfriend, her boyfriend was really drunk. They were having a fight while he was driving. They weren't watching the road, so they went head first into another car. Killed an entire family, while they survived it. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even feel bad--

I turned off the TV. A tear slid down my cheek and my bottom lip started to quiver. Soon more tears were streaming down my face, falling into my lap.

How could she stoop so low? That was national television.

I didn't mean to kill an entire family. I've killed a lot of people with families, but not entire families.

I felt an arm pulling me to lay down, then wrap around my waist. I laid my head on the person's chest.

I didn't care that it was Zach.

Cristiano played in my hair from behind, twirling his fingers in it.

"I hate her." My voice broke.

"I know you do." Cristiano said quietly.

"I didn't mean to--"

"We know, cupcake." Zack rubbed my back. I gave up trying to explain myself.

I sniffed and he pulled me closer.

After two hours, Zach had to leave.

Cristiano stayed with me in my room. I wasn't crying anymore, I was just angry and depressed. He replaced Zach in having his arm wrapped around my waist, my head on his chest.

"You know, I don't need comforting anymore, right?" I looked at him.

"Yeah."

"So why aren't you leaving?"

"Because I don't want to." He kissed the top of my head. I buried my face into his chest so he couldn't see how hard I was blushing right now. A vibration waved through his chest as he let out a deep chuckle. "I know you're blushing. No need to hide it from me, bellezza."

"Shut up." I said, muffled.

"It's cute when you blush." He mumbled so quietly, I almost didn't catch it. I decided to keep quiet about it.

By the time 8:00 rolled around, I was fast asleep. The last I remembered, was listening to Cristiano mutter about something. I just didn't know what.

****

I woke up, still in Cristiano's arms. I looked up at his sleeping face. It was still dark, the only light was the moonlight, outlining his perfect features.

I was really bold when it came to guys. I could kiss or hug or flirt with any guy without any problem. But them doing that to me? I'd start blushing ridiculously and start to glitch and stutter.

I looked at his face once more, but his ocean blue eyes were wide open and staring back at me.

"You're awake." I said quietly.

"I've been awake for a while. You were just thinking too much to realize." His voice was slightly raspy. I noticed his voice was deeper and his accent stood out more in the mornings.

I tried to get up but he kept his arm on my waist, stopping me. "Where are you going?"

"To take a shower."

"Stay." He pulled me back onto him. He rolled on his side, hugging my waist from behind. I could feel his somehow minty breath on my neck.

"What day is it?" I asked, my breathing in sync with his.

"Monday." He whispered, making a chill run down my spine.

I closed my eyes, sleep taking over my brain. I felt a tingle on my neck, making goosebumps spread on my skin.

Did he just kiss me?

****

I woke up, he was gone.

I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. He was drinking coffee. "Buongiorno." He handed me a cup.

"Hi." I took a sip. It was the most wonderful cup of coffee I'd ever had in my entire life. "You made this?"

"Si." He nodded.

"Wow." I walked into the living room and sat down.

"Harlow?" He put his cup down.

"Hm?"

"Whatever happens with us from here on out, don't ever hate me for it. I mean it."

I looked up at him, in shock, but he was completely serious. "Okay." Was all I could say.

"I'm gonna go to Berry's Cafe to pick us up some breakfast. Anything specific you want?" He smiled, grabbing his keys.

"No, not really. Just make sure you get the bacon! I'll kill you if you don't!" He laughed at my threat before opening the door.

"Addio." And with that, he left. I decided to call up Charlie and talk to him. It felt like ages since I last spoke to him.

_______________________________

THE KIDNAPPING IS COMING UP....

BE READY.

BYE.

- COA

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