Tre Ragazzi e Una Ragazza

12 ~ Confessions

It seemed as if time had stopped. We all had been standing there for what seemed like forever, frozen in place. We stood still, standing in different sections of the theatre. We stared at each other in surprise, the only ones in this otherwise empty auditorium. The tension and stress I felt was grand, and the tension between all of us was ricocheting off of the walls like a ping-pong ball. My heart nearly stopped. I looked, shifting my gaze between Lucio, Cosimo, and Amedeo. They all had asked to meet me in this auditorium, alone. I didn't know exactly why, but as I studied the looks on their faces, the reason seemed to be very important. I felt lost. I didn't know what to do or what to say in that moment. 

It took a minute of us standing and staring at each other before someone finally did something. We heard a scoff, which echoed in the theatre. Cosimo looked at us and started walking towards Lucio and I, glaring at Amedeo out of the corner of his eye. "So, we all had the same idea, I guess." Lucio and I had stopped holding hands. I was hugging my arms in anxiousness, but Lucio looked grounded. He looked just as firm as he did on stage earlier that day, staring Cosimo down. Cosimo reacted with a look I had never seen on him before. He looked almost scary. It sent a shiver down my spine. 

Amedeo also started walking towards us, coming up onto the stage to join Lucio and I. He stood in front of me, eclipsing Lucio completely. He looked at me with earnest. "Did you get my note, Daniela? I snuck it into your purse when you were on stage." I recalled picking up his note from the floor of the practice room when it had fallen out of my purse. That delicate handwriting, of course it belonged to Amedeo. He looked down at the ground. "I had something I needed to tell you." I heard Cosimo angrily laugh. "Oh no, don't think you'll be the one who gets to talk first." He said incredulously, hopping up onto the stage. He stood behind me, making me turn around to face him. He looked me fiercely in the eyes, smirking. "That note taped to the door of the practice room? Me." Now it all made sense. "I also have something I need to say to you." Lucio looked at the both of them with a frown. "I was in the middle of telling Daniela something too." 

Cosimo just ignored him. He put his hands on my shoulders, walking backwards and pulling me with him, so we could be more on our own. "Daniela, I need you to hear this." His voice was frantic. He looked into my eyes. "Daniela, I've got a lot of issues. I'm annoying, I'm jealous, and I have a lot of sadness buried deep inside me. I never thought I could show anyone who I truly was, so I put on a mask of silliness so that people would like me." He smiled. "But I didn't have to do that with you. Daniela, I have never felt freer than when I'm with you. I didn't have to just be the goofy guy or the life of the party. I could just be myself. I could be sad, I could be depressed, I could be real. You were the only one who accepted me for me. I've never had this kind of relationship with anyone." He came closer to me, stroking a strand of my hair. "And then there's you. Everything about you is beautiful. Your face, your voice, your personality, everything. Ever since that day when I first met you on the cable car, I have not been able to stop thinking about you. You fill my mind every day." He stared into my eyes, bringing a hand to my cheek and caressing it. "I need you, Daniela. I love you and I can't imagine not having you in my life. Please, tell me you feel the same way. Be with me." He sighed, shakily. "I need you." 

It was like a bomb had been dropped in the room, exploding all around us. Cosimo had just confessed his love to me. What my mom had said and what I suspected was all true. There wasn't an ounce of doubt or uncertainty in his words. He was positive about his feelings for me. I could tell by the determined look in his eyes. He was holding onto me so tightly, like he was claiming me as his. He seemed so possessive in this moment. It seemed like the entire future of our relationship was all depending on how I answered his confession. It was so much pressure, it made my head and my heart hurt. I stammered, but no words came out. I had no idea what to say. Before I could formulate even one word, my racing mind was interrupted by another enormous revelation.