Chapter 54: Pizza

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"Hey." I watched as Cara quickly locked her phone and smiled up at me. She was getting lots of texts after the competition, most of the people telling her that they were nothing without her.

It was true, she was the best.

"Hey." She patted the seat beside her.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, sitting down, buttoning my suit. The small chapel was packed and it was really hot, everyone fanning themselves with their hands. "Luca was nervous."

"You're like his own personal best man." Cara chuckled.

"Someone referred to you as a top model." I whispered into her ear.

"You're lying."

"I swear. It was Italian, but I understood."

Cara shook her head, she didn't believe me, but I wasn't lying. I think it was an Italian cousin of Ace.

The wedding began and I had difficulties focusing on just one person. Both Ace and Martina looked amazing. I didn't know which of the two looked hotter. The ceremony was in English, but the priest had a very strong Italian accent.

"Are you Christian?" I asked to Cara, leaning over her ear.

She thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Yeah?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Well, not much." She frowned. Weird answer. "I don't know. You?"

"Nope."

The ceremony was uneventful, nobody objected or anything like that. Everyone from Martina's part, I guessed her Spanish family, began to cry when Ace read his vows in Spanish.

That was sweet, not gonna lie. Even if you didn't understand, you could feel the emotion in his voice, Martina crying, too. They sealed the deal with a movie kiss, a little before the priest could actually tell them that they could kiss. I guess they were eager to get married.

When Cara saw the table full of gifts when we were walking towards the venue, she opened her eyes wide, turning her head towards me. "Did we get them something?"

"We got them money."

"Oh." She frowned, but visibly relaxed. "Just tell me later how much my part is."

"Sure." I wasn't going to do that, but I nodded, helping her make our way to one of the high tables. She didn't want to bring her crutch today so I guess I acted a little bit as her support.

"I'm actually glad I don't have to wear heels."

"You wasn't going to wear them anyway." I scoffed, helping her sit down on a stool. There was an 'aperitivo' as they said in Italian, before lunch and everyone was standing up, beginning to drink, but Martina made sure that Cara had a seat before we sat down at our table.

"I want that pink thingy I had yesterday." She squinted her eyes, looking around at the trays the waiters were holding.

"Rosé?"

"I love how you say that." She smiled.

I smirked. "Does that turn you on?"

"Guys!" Riley came over to us. "Oh my god, I had to go reapply my makeup, I cried so much." She wrapped an arm around Cara, who laughed. "Ready to party?"

She smiled. "I'm drinking today."

"Yay. High five!" They high-fived and Riley laughed. "Oh god, I don't know how much I'll last, I already had a few shots."

I shook my head amused and Cara pouted. "You had them without me!"

"Easy, okay?" I mumbled, kissing her temple.

"Yes, dad." Cara replied, rolling her eyes.

"You also like to call him daddy?" Luca appeared behind me, patting my back hard enough to make me stumble.

"Luca, I told you like a million times-"

"It's okay, baby." Luca silenced Riley with a kiss. "Everybody knows."

Riley walked away rumbling. She grabbed two glasses of wine and handed one to Cara. "To us."

"What about us?" Luca asked.

"Nico doesn't drink and you don't deserve it." She glanced back at me. "Did you know he nearly lost the rings yesterday?"

"Really?" Cara asked amused, her glass already halfway down.

"Slow down, lightning McQueen." I told her, grabbing a canapé and pushing it into her mouth.

"It was just for a few hours... but we had fun looking for them, didn't we?" He asked, bumping his hips against Riley's.

"Oh yeah, the anxiety you gave me took three years off my life."

Luca smiled. "See? Now you're younger."

"Not in that sense, you-"

"Oh, the band is about to start." Luca said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and turning her around towards the small stage.

There was a preband, as Martina liked to call them, during the aperitivo, so people could dance and listen to music as they talked before they sat down. I think it was a great idea and I could see people having fun already in the improvised dance floor.

Luca took Riley's hand and they went dancing, much to her displeasure. She didn't like it, but she couldn't keep the annoyed face as Luca made her twirl.

"You can go dance if you want." Cara told me. "I'm fine."

"You know I rather listen to the band." I smiled, kissing her cheek.

"Are they good?"

"Meh." I cocked my head. "I'm better."

"Of course you are." She let out a little laugh and ended her glass in a gulp.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

Cara nodded. "Can I have my other glass now? Please, daddy?" She added playfully.

"For the sake of both of us, stop saying that." I laughed.

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At some point of the wedding, I lost control of Cara. I tried, I really tried, but sometimes I had to leave her on her own. She danced for a little bit, holding onto someone, she talked to Nathan for what felt like hours, seemed like they had gotten on well. She also played with the kids, which made the question I had been longing to ask throb in my mind.

What I'm trying to say is, she got really drunk.

Not drunk like she was gonna throw up, or that I hoped, but drunker than I had ever seen her.

She slurred her words and if she sometimes had difficulties paying attention, right now she didn't even listen. She limited herself to laugh at everything. Sometimes her gaze seemed lost, as if her mind had gone somewhere else.

"This wedding is amazing." She told me as I sat beside her, finally the two of us alone. "I wish I could go onto that bouncy castle." She pouted.

"I'll rent one for you." I said softly, giving her a little smile and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Her eyes opened a little wider and her mouth curled up into a smile. "Really?" I nodded. "Yay! That's so fun." She hugged me and kissed my throat. "You're the best, Nico. I love you so much."

It still felt strange when she was this affectionate. I discovered that in fact, she was very much it, but since at the beginning she was right the opposite, I still felt butterflies every time she showed that side to me.

I let out a little laugh, kissing her hair. "I love you more."

"Seriously, Nico." She muffled her face in my neck. My collar was probably covered in make up by now, it was something that could bother me before, but right now I really didn't care. "With everything that happened... it'd be so lost. If it weren't for you I wouldn't even be getting out of the house."

"Don't be silly, you're not like that."

"I'm being serious, Nico." Her eyes were a little closed when she raised her head up and stared at me. They went down to meet my lips a few times and she still didn't talk properly. "I lost what was most important for me. You-" she glanced down at my mouth again, "you're the only thing that's keeping me up these days." She frowned. "I mean, you're not a thing... you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded with a smile.

"See?" She wrapped her arm around my neck and played with the curls behind my head. "You get me." She puckered her lips, approaching them to mine. I thought about kissing her, but she continued talking. "I'm so happy you're in my life." She glanced back at the dance floor. It was almost dinner time and everyone was still dancing. They were making pizzas somewhere near in a stone oven, the smell making me hungry. Another great idea to finish the day. "This... I don't know, being here has been perfect, I've loved traveling with you... you're the perfect partner." She gave me a little smile, still playing with my curls. "Seeing them so happy..." Cara sighed in content. "I don't know." She smiled. "It makes me wanna get married."

"Really?" I asked amused.

"Yeah." She chuckled, her fingers tracing my ear. "I wanna get married."

I felt it in the low of my stomach, this was my chance to bring up the topic. "We could..." I bit my lips. "Have a kid, too."

"A kid?" She cocked her head, scrunching up her nose with a confused smile.

"Yeah." I nuzzled her nose. "Wouldn't you like it?"

"I don't know, Nico." She laughed. "I don't even know how to take care of myself."

I frowned. She had been taking care of four children since she was 12. She couldn't be serious. "You're kidding me, right?"

Cara completely ignored me, her green eyes wandering around the room. "Let's go have a drink." She glanced back at me. "A real one this time, I wanna try one of those grown up drinks."

I sighed, a little annoyed that she had changed the subject and a little worried about the reason behind why she wanted to drink so much today. "The last one."


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I had to recognize, it got out of hand. She drank a gin tonic and she didn't even flinch. That was the level she had reached. Everyone couldn't help but laugh with her. She was being really funny, dancing in her seat and mumbling incoherent things.

"Nico!" We're gonna have sex tonight, okay?" She exclaimed, sitting in the middle of the dance floor, everyone dancing around her. They all laughed, specially Ace's sister.

"Say it louder, girl!" Nathan laughed hard, twerking as he leaned on her legs.

I covered my face amused but a little embarrassed. "Whatever you say, bébé."

"Yoo-hoo! Why don't you dance like Luca? Look at him!"

After those words, Luca, who was as drunk as her, gave us a demonstration of his new dance moves. Cara laughed hard. She was having the time of her life and I was happy that she could be here, instead of being depressed at home.

"Pizza!" Riley exclaimed. Of course, that girl always thinking about food.

"I made one!" Martina yelled, who was a little affected, too. "I made it for you!" She wrapped her arms around Ace's neck, who smiled at her, his cheeks red, surely a little drunk, too.

"You really made it?" He asked.

"Sí, mi vida." She smiled. Then they kissed and everyone watched them in awe.

Cara got up, slowly making her way towards me, leaning on everyone she found on her way. "See?" She smiled up at me. "We need to get married, I want to make food for you, too." She smiled, kissing my lips.

"I can make it, too."

"But your cooking is terrible." She pouted.

I gasped. "Really? You never complained."

"That's 'cause I'm a-" she hiccuped. "-a good person."

"You know you're hiccuping 'cause you're drunk?" I asked amused.

"I know. I'm getting a little sick, actually." She frowned, looking down.

"Weren't you hungry?"

Cara shook her head, like a little kid.

"Do you wanna leave?"

"Yeah." She nodded, her lips in a pout.

We said goodbye to everyone, all of them sad that Cara was leaving. I teased them about nobody caring about me but Riley, being adorable as she was, wrapped her arms around me like a koala.

When we were walking towards our room, Cara stopped.

"Does your foot hurt?"

She shook her head. "I'm getting dizzy. Can you carry me?"

"Bridal style?" I smirked. She didn't laugh and limited herself to extend her arms so I could pick her up.

"Whoa. My vision is blurry." She whispered. "It was fun though, people are funny. I like them. I never had friends, do you think they want to be my friends?" She asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't they?" I kissed her head, cursing the stairs ahead of me.

"I don't know. I'm weird. They've always told me I'm weird." I was a little focused on walking up the stairs, but I still listened. She was pure muscle, even if she was lean and shorter than me, she weighted a lot.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I guess because I get distracted. I don't get jokes..."

"I've always been weird, too." I said, finally up at our floor.

"Yeah, but you were a cool kid. You had lots of friends, you were admired. I was bullied." She sighed, her fingers playing with the buttons in my jacket as I tried to open our door. "I'm sure they're all happy now that I can't skate anymore." She scoffed without a hint of humor in her voice.

"Don't say that." I frowned, finally inside. I closed the door with my foot.

"It's the truth. All those people who hated me now can be happy."

Carefully, I let her on the bed, sitting down beside her out of breath. She rested her back against the headboard. "Cara, people who hate others for what they love or for what they're good at, can never be happy."

Cara focused on one point in my shirt, fidgeting with her fingers on her chest.

"You'll find your purpose, okay?" I told her, caressing her cheek.

"I'm still dizzy." She swallowed, as if it was hard for her to do so and lay down completely. "Maybe... no sex tonight, okay?"

"Okay." I pressed my lips in amusement. "Let's go to sleep. Let me take that dress off."


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Cara was wearing her sunglasses as she rested her foot under the shadow of a tree. I approached her with a big stracciatella ice cream and handed it to her. We were visiting the village. Even though she was hungover as fuck, she wanted to see it with me. She said she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't. We walked a little, we saw the town square, the town hall.

"Wow, Nico. This is the biggest ice cream I have ever seen." She exclaimed before licking it as if her life depended on it. I loved how she got excited about the little things. "Mhm. Everything's better in Italy." She licked her lips. "You're not having one?"

"I think ate too much yesterday. Luca brought me one of those pizzas after you fell asleep." I took a little leaf out of her hair and smiled.

"Oh." She pouted. "I missed on that. I'm glad, though. I'm getting fat."

"Not again, please." I groaned.

"Did I do something embarrassing yesterday?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?" She licked her ice cream. "I feel like I did."

"Well, you said some pretty funny things."

"Like what?" She asked, her expression a little scared.

"You shouted in front of everyone how you wanted to have sex with me."

She let out an awkward laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head amused. "You also told me you wanted to get married."

Cara then looked away, her cheeks flushed. "Did I?"

"You practically begged me." I smirked.

She laughed, hitting my arm. "Yeah, sure."

"Hey, you asked. I said yes."

"You said yes?" She asked, a little smile on her lips.

I smiled as I nodded. "But you didn't reply to my question."

"What question?" She frowned.

My heart beat faster. I didn't know why I got so nervous, but it was a serious issue. Something I had never thought about, something that could change my whole future. It was something that could determine if Cara and I stayed together.

Yeah, it was that big of a deal. Maybe it wasn't before, but it was now.

"I told you we could... have a kid."

Cara stared at me, breathing hard. "What did I tell you?"

She looked at me as if she was afraid of my answer.

"You told me you couldn't take care of yourself, how could you take care of a child." I said softly, repeating her words.

Cara's ice cream was melting, drops falling down her hand. She shook her head getting out of the trance and got up with one hand, dropping the half eaten ice cream into the trash.

"Well, that's true." She reached into her purse and grabbed a tissue, cleaning her hands.

"That's why you don't want to have kids?" I got up and followed her, handing her the crutch. "Because I'm sorry, but that reason seems pretty weak to me. You've taken care of your brothers for years. I'm sorry, but I don't believe you."

"Why are you pushing me?"

"I'm not." I shook my head frustrated, grabbing her arm so she stopped walking. "I just want to know. I know I said I didn't want them but... you made me realize that I do, I really do. I- I was afraid I couldn't be a good parent but with you by my side... I-" I cupped her cheeks, my thumbs brushing her skin. "There's nothing that I would want more."

"I- I'm 22, Nico."

"I'm not saying we should have a kid now... I just... I want to know if... if you'd do that with me. I don't think I can..." I closed my eyes for a moment. "I don't think I can live my life with that regret."

She frowned. "Are you saying... you'd break up with me?"

I breathed in deeply. "Yeah."

She shook her head, her mouth a little open in confusion. "But I- you can't-" she shook my hands off and began to walk away from me again.

"Cara, wait, for fuck's sake!" I stopped her again, grabbing her hand. "Just tell me, I know it's not because you don't like them."

Cara frowned, her eyes focused on the floor. She did that when she didn't want to look at me. She mumbled something but I couldn't even hear.

"What?"

Cara then looked at me, her eyes watery. "Because I don't want them to be like me!"

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Hey guys! Hope that inspiration comes back again 'cause I just have one more chapter written.

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