𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬

《 30 》

If the room was already cold, I'm sure it got even colder with the dead silence that followed. The black screen that appeared after we lost connection to the cameras reflected the idea that the home I grew up in was no longer even a place.

I swallowed hard while I stared at the dark screen in pure shock. My vision began to get blurry when tears welled up in my eyes. The smiles, the laughter, the memories... it felt like that explosion made them die, but they were somehow still alive in my head. Yet that empty pit in my chest seemed to deepen even more with each second that passed.

Everyone else's presence was totally forgotten by me. I didn't want to look at them nor my family's pained expressions. I was scared that if I looked at them I'd continue to get hurt. But I decided to walk down pain's path and glanced around.

Those who came with me looked hurt and shocked, but their expressions didn't match Isabella's. She looked crushed. Her hands had Luciano's arm in such a tight grasp I could see the veins on her arms.

Home. It doesn't exist anymore, and it hurts to even say it.

Then, my eyes locked with Angelo's. That was the first time I saw him give me an apologetic look instead of the usual burning gaze. When you put it in a way, we'd all be dead if he hadn't warned us or if he hadn't found that phone. Basically saved my family's lives, and mine too.

I felt like I couldn't take being surrounded, so I stood up and went to walk towards the lounge but a firm grip on my wrist stopped me. As I blinked away the tears that had welled up in my eyes, I looked back to see Angelo.

Without saying anything, I forced my wrist out of his grip and walked away, dissapearing behind the lounge's curtains. But that didn't stop him from following me. I could feel his presence right behind me since I stopped right after passing the curtains, so he didn't really have any other option than to stop when he was barely inches away from me.

"Hey," He said, hesitantly grabbing my wrist once again and making me turn to face him. "I'm sorry about that..."

I simply hummed, not wanting to opine on what I had just seen on the now black screen. He just looked as if he was trying to read me, but truth is, I'm anything but an open book.

His deep brown eyes looked down at my hands when I intertwined my fingers together, caressing my hands with my thumbs. The place just seemed to keep getting colder and it was starting to get to me.

"Cold?" He asked, and I watched as he began taking off his blazer. I found myself staring at it when he threw it over his arm, as if hesitating.

My proud self refused to accept his blazer when he offered it to me. But my body had other plans. I could barely feel my shoulders, along with the tip of my fingers. The skin there felt numb.

With a sigh, I reluctantly grabbed it, my fingers grazing his arm I slid the blazer off it. I saw the apologetic look on his face be replaced with the usual burning gaze as he watched me throw it over my shoulders, letting myself melt in it's warmth.