Chapter 11: Lips

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Friday morning and Cara hadn't seen me yet. Maybe I had been avoiding her, I admitted it. I wanted to see if my face could get any better before our 'date'. Well, it did, but not as much as I would've liked to. My eye was still purple, yellow around the edges. The part that was supposed to be white, still had a red stain that looked like I was crying blood. The cut in my lip was almost invisible now, but the one in my eyebrow only seemed to get worse. It also had a bruise around it, and it seemed to have spread in a greenish color. My ribs hurt a little less, and I had to thank Monsieur Grincheux for that. He actually gave some useful tips on how to rest them.

I still hadn't gone to therapy as Luca wanted me to, but I felt better. I didn't get why I was so upset the other day. I knew I could be fine without help. Everything was gonna be alright.

I waited for the skater outside the clinic as I smoked and scrolled through my texts. Caden was telling me how he had broken up with his girlfriend and now his and hers family hated him. I tried to cheer him up but to be honest, my mind was somewhere else.

"Hey." I heard someone say behind me. While I turned around quickly, I realized I had totally forgotten my face was a mess. "Oh my god." Cara opened her eyes a little wider. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"You should've seen me on Friday." I chuckled.

She didn't. She kept studying my face.

"You're making me shy." I laughed nervously as I put out the cigarette, avoiding her gaze.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'm gonna be able to stop staring."

"Thank god I'm cute." I smiled at her and pushed myself forward from the wall. A faint pink color appeared on her cheeks. "Are you ready? I'll follow you."


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That girl drove fast. I was scared she would crash. Blinkers were non existent and red lights were optional. I didn't know if she did it on purpose or she just didn't pay much attention.

When we finally arrived, I was glad I was the one driving for the rest of the day. I had feared for her life and for those around her.

I waited patiently for her to park outside the garage, hoping we could go have lunch already, but someone knocked on my window.

"Come inside, I just need to do a few things before we go."

I nodded surprised and got out of the car. Since the other day she had pretended she didn't know me, I really thought today she was going to make me wait in the car. Maybe it was just around his older brother Brandon.

"I leave pretty early in the morning and my brothers are not exactly the best at cleaning, tidying up and stuff." She opened the door with a key under a pot and let me walk inside first. I let my eyes wander around. It wasn't too big, a staircase close to the door, an arch leading to a cozy living room, with furniture that didn't exactly go well together. "See? A mess." She gestured to the room. It wasn't that big of a mess, to be honest, my room had looked worse. There were baby stuff on the floor, toys and clothes around the staircase and what looked like baby food spattered on the coffee table. "Just wait here. I'll clean this up in a minute."

"I can help you."

"Really?" She stared up at me with a smile as she picked up a one-piece from the couch. If I could see that smile once again, I'd clean the whole house for her. I nodded, a little smile of my own. "Thank you so much." She put a hand on her chest. "If you could pick up the toys and put them inside that blue chest."

"Sure."

I was almost done when I heard someone walking down the stairs. "Who the hell are you?" My stomach clenched and I stood up quickly. I wasn't expecting to meet anyone. I turned around and saw a blond guy, tall but not taller than me, green eyes and freckles all over his body. Ben.

Cara walked out of the kitchen. She looked nervous but annoyed at the same time. "This is the friend I told you about. Lunch is in the stove, grandpa will wake up anytime soon." She said quickly. "The twins get out at 2, but Justin finishes at 1.45. You wait at the gate, you don't need to get out of the truck. Justin always waits for the twins. After that you can go to day care and pick up Sandro." She breathed out and looked around, checking if anything was out of place. "Any questions?"

"Yes." The guy nodded towards me. "What happened to your face?"

I opened my mouth and scratched the back of my neck.

"What happened to your face?" Cara asked him, scrunching up her nose.

"Really funny." He chuckled humorlessly and rolled his eyes. "Is that a pimple in your forehead?"

Cara brought her hand up, her fingers feeling her forehead. "You son of a biscuit." She walked forward and smacked him upside the head. He extended his leg quickly before she could run away and kicked her butt. Suddenly I felt as if I was intruding. "I don't have time for this." She narrowed her eyes at him. He smirked triumphantly. "I'll go check on grandpa." Cara turned to look at me. "I'll be up in a minute." She said going down the stairs to the basement.

Ben approached slowly and stopped in front of me. I kept my hands inside my pockets. "She says you're her friend."

"I am." I nodded slowly.

"She doesn't have friends." He narrowed his eyes. I opened my mouth but couldn't start my sentence since he cut me off quickly. "Look, I don't know what your intentions are, but my sister is really special. She's very innocent and sometimes she doesn't see the bad in people, but I do. If you ever hurt her in every kind of way, I swear to god, I will kick your ass."

"Okay." I nodded again.

"I'm being serious. I'll give you a matching one." He nodded towards my black eye.

"Sorry. I'm ready." Cara smiled at me. "Help him up, would you? He likes to watch TV here." She informed her brother. Ben waved her off and sat on the couch.

"Yes, mom." He rolled his eyes again. "Can you leave already?"

I noticed Cara was reluctant to leave the house, but I started walking towards the front door so she could follow me.

"Is your grandfather okay?" I asked as we walked to my car.

"Yeah." She smiled. "He's just... you know. Old. He gets tired easily."

"Is he your father's father?"

"No." She shook her head as we got inside the car. "He's my mom's. My dad and he... they don't have the best of relationships- did Ben say something?" She turned her head and looked at me. I felt like she never ended her sentences. "He can be really annoying."

I shook my head surprised at the change of subject and started the engine, putting on my sunglasses right after. "Nah. We're good."

Cara opened my glove box and started rummaging. She was spontaneous like that. She found a few cigarettes, some candy and a grinder. "What is this?"

"That's for the weed."

"You smoke weed, too?" She asked opening it and smelling it. I watched as she scrunched up her nose and pulled apart quickly.

I smiled to myself, turning to the road again and nodded.

"Why?"

"Uhm... it helps with pain." I replied.

And with thoughts, too.

"Oh." She grabbed a plastic wrapper and grabbed it. "And what is- oh." Her face became all red and pushed the plastic inside the glove box again and closed it quickly.

"What was it?" I asked amused.

"A condom." She mumbled quickly. I laughed at her uncomfortableness. "So, where are we going?"

"I thought it'd be fun to go to a French restaurant."

"Fun?" She asked absentmindedly as she stared out the window. "'Cause you're french?"

Her tone caught me off guard. I hid my bottom lip inside my mouth and shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know. We could go somewhere else if you want-"

Cara chuckled. "I'm just kidding. I'm sorry. I have a weird sense of humor. It'd be fun, yeah. I have to be honest, though I'm a little picky with food." She looked at me with a disgusted face. "I heard you guys eat snails."

"Don't worry, I don't like them either."

I stopped at a restaurant that I didn't even know if it was good or not, I just searched it up. When I parked, I turned to look at Cara, who was staring at the restaurant with a hesitant expression. "This place looks expensive."

"It is."

"But I- I don't have enough money." She glanced up at me with a frown, her lips almost in a pout. I wanted to pinch them and kiss them until that expression disappeared.

"I do."

Cara glanced down at her outfit for a moment -you guessed right, sportswear- pursed her lips and stared at me narrowing her eyes a little. "This is not a date."

"We'll see about that." I chuckled as I opened the door.

The blonde girl opened her mouth incredulously and grabbed her things, getting out of the car after me. "I'm- I'm being serious, Nico."

"Sure you are." I smirked as I approached her.

She frowned. "I don't date."

"And why is that?" I cocked my head amused.

Cara shook her head quickly avoiding my gaze and passed me by, gently hitting me with her shoulder. "I'd rather eat one of those snails."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Come on, don't you think I'm cute?"

Before she opened the door, she turned towards me. "That has nothing to do with the fact that I don't date."

"Oh, so you think I'm cute?" I smirked as I rested a hand on the door above her head.

She rolled her eyes and spun around, opening the door. I laughed and got in after her.

The menu was in French. It was hilarious seeing Cara's face trying to decipher what she was reading. She was proud, I knew she wanted to ask for help but she didn't. She limited to bounce her legs, her hands under her thighs as she examined the menu.

"Do you need help?" I hid my bottom lip inside my mouth trying to fight a smile.

"Are you laughing at me 'cause I'm dyslexic?" She asked taking a sip of her water.

I had totally forgotten about that. I raised my eyebrows and mumbled, "n-no. I'm sorry."

Cara gazed up at me and smiled.

"You're an idiot." I chuckled.

"Order something for me?" She handed me the menu.

"What do you like?"

"Surprise me." She smirked and stared at me under her eyelashes, chin resting on her hand. She didn't date, but that was flirting. At least where I came from.

I ordered two filets mignon and a cheeseboard. She seemed to love it and I was happy I got it right. She had the weird habit of smelling her food but for some reason, I loved it.

"What do you really do?" Cara asked all of a sudden.

"What do you mean?"

She twisted her mouth. "You can't seriously expect that I believe that you're an artist."

"Why not?" I asked offended.

"You can't do all of those things you say you do. It's impossible. No one is that talented." One thing I learnt about Cara, her dreams and thoughts had a finish line.

I depended my voice. "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious." Cara looked at me as if I was crazy. I chuckled and took a sip of my tonic. "Albert Einstein."

She scrunched up her nose and laughed. "How do you know he said that?"

That caught me off guard. Like almost everything she said. "I don't know." I honestly didn't. I read it somewhere.

She chuckled. "But seriously, why don't you focus on just one thing?"

"Because I'm genuinely good at all of those things. I don't care if you don't believe me." Why was I getting irritated?

"Okay." She nodded taking a bite from her filet. "You have to show me."

"Show you what?"

"Your talents. I want to know why you're so confident." She smirked.

I nodded firmly.

"That's two things you have to show me now. I still wanna see your tattoos." She added absentmindedly looking down at her plate as she cut a potato.

"That's not fair." I stated. "You need to do something else for me then."

Cara cocked her head and narrowed her green eyes. "What do you want?"

I sat back on my chair and mimicked her, narrowing my eyes pensively. "Mhm..." I studied her face. Her blonde hair in a ponytail, the intensity in her eyes, her sharp nose and her small mouth. "I want a kiss."

She chuckled and gave me a confused smile as if it was no big deal. "Okay." She kept on eating, staring down at her plate.

"On the lips."

Cara glanced up at me as she raised her eyebrows, her mouth agape.

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Hey guys!! Hope you're doing okay!

Here's a new chapter! Hope you liked it. A little bit of a cliffhanger, what do you think Cara will say?

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