Titles

Chapter Eight - Sister

!!TRIGGER WARNING!! - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF RAPE, MURDER,  AND ABUSE.

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A/N - Soooooo sorry for a late (like a month) update, but I'm going to try to get back to updating weekly. Hope you enjoy!

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I walk across the grass, still dewy despite the mid-afternoon sun. Luca walks nearby behind me, giving me space but staying close enough to keep me comforted.

My eyes wander around my surroundings, looking across the stone blocks that mark a person's life and death, searching for the two that lie above the people most beloved to me.

After searching for a few moments, my gaze lands on two stones carefully placed side by side in a shaded area beneath a weeping willow tree.

It seems even the trees know to mourn their deaths.

The tombs are surrounded by carefully planted flowers in the dirt, and I walk to them and place each bundle of flowers from my hands to their rightful owners.

I feel Luca come up to stand next to me, and his fingers brush mine. I grip his fingers, clutching onto his hand, needing to find some physical source of comfort.

Staring at my younger sister's grave, my heart clenches, thinking of the last time I saw her through blurry eyes. The half-dressed man looming over her, grinning menacingly as she clutched at her naked stomach, desperately attempting to stop the bleeding of her stab wound. Even on the verge of death, she tried her hardest to shield her undressed body from the evil man in front of her, begging him to stop his harassment.

I struggled to escape the hold of the hands binding me, but the man wouldn't budge. At fourteen, I was forced to watch my younger sister, my best friend, be raped and murdered.

I eventually escaped with only half of her fate.

I shiver.

My dad died getting his revenge.

His best friend, Matteo, ended up in prison.

Beside me, Luca squeezes my hand and pulls me into his side, tucking my head under his chin as I sob into his chest.

How has my life come to this?

Abusive mother.

Dead father.

Dead sister.

One friend who cares more about the boys she screws than me.

Gorgeous and loving boyfriend. Thank God for that.

But I have to hide him from the world.

That makes me cry harder, clutching to my love tighter than before. There is one happiness in my life, and no one can even see it. They just see me as an emotionless void.

If it weren't for Luca, I wouldn't be seeing the sun today.

I would be a tombstone next to my family's.

I always wish it was me that night that got stabbed, not my sister. She was everything to me, and her being able to live the rest of her life past thirteen years was and always will be my biggest wish, hope, and dream.

Though, it'll never come true.

Luca kissed the top of my head and tightened his arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry," I sob. "I'm so, so, sorry. It should've been me, i-it s-should—"

He pulled away quickly and grabbed my face. "No. Arabella, there was nothing in the world you could've done to prevent fate from happening. Nothing. You can't keep blaming yourself."

"But I..." I release a shaky sigh and turn back toward the stones. "I love you guys."

My knees wobble, nearly buckling, and Luca picks me up carrying me toward the car. I stuff my face in his neck and close my eyes. "I love you too, Lulu. So much."

"You too, baby."

"I didn't say 'hi' to them for your dad! Now I feel even more horrible," I sigh into his neck. "How long will it take for this to get better?"

"I don't know Ara, but you'll learn to live with it. I'll help you through. Then once we're free from your mother, we'll get married and go to college, all while taking over our dads' business. Eventually, after that we'll have a few kids of our own, three boys and a girl..."

At some point in his talk, I'm lulled to sleep on his shoulder, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he paints a beautiful picture of our future together.

The dream life.

***

I wake as I'm lifted into the air from my resting position. My eyes blink open and search my surroundings before I fully comprehend I'm in Luca's arms.

At home.

At about 2:47 P.M.

My mom's home.

Again. Luca's carrying me.

...Shit.

I nudge his chest just before he opens the bakery door. "Lu, I can walk upstairs, baby. My mom's home."

"She's not in the bakery, I checked when you were sleeping, and we can go upstairs from my side of the house. Go back to sleep."

Sighing, I lay my head back into the crook of his neck and relax my body as he carries me through the bakery and up the stairs to his living room.

As we pass by, through my hooded eyes, I see Jen glancing at us in admiration and awe. It's not often my boyfriend and I show affection to each other, but when we do, it's mostly in front of Jen, Cam, Matt, and my grandmother. They love seeing it, but my mother has to make things difficult, as always, by forbidding any relationship whatsoever with each other.

My mother doesn't want me to have a best friend or the love of my life because I caused the death of hers.

I let my eyes drop closed fully in defeat. I can't win against my mother, she always beats me.

No pun intended.

Speaking of, we need to buy a new foundation later, we're running out, and we'll for sure be needing it the next few months.

My dad one year after my sister.

Spring is for new life.

Both of their deaths were in the spring

Autumn is for death.

They were both born in fall.

Those are her worst times for drinking.

I think we wrote a poem about that at some point.

... Probably. I'll have to look for that later.

Luca sets me on the floor so I'm standing and lies down on his back on the bed with his arms out. I crawl to him and curl up on top of him, burrowing my face into his chest, inhaling his scent that calms me.

"I still have to make dinner later. I promised Camila she could help me. Do you want enchiladas or burgers?" My question is muffled.

"Enchiladas, they're less work. But you're sleeping first. You only slept a little but in the car, and after a day like this, you need rest."

I nod, closing my eyes. Sleep should come easy. I'm exhausted.

Feeling Lu kiss the top of my head softly, I fall asleep.