Hearth

22: the sleepover

Annaliese

"Valentino, we need to talk."

His curly head tenses and a guilty smile widens on his lips. Valentino brings his muscled arms around my waist and snuggles his face into my hair. "We're talking right now, right principessa?"

I stare flatly into his blue eyes. "You avoid the talk, I avoid you."

His arms tighten. "I was just playing," He chuckles, dropping his head onto my shoulder.

I purse my lips. "Sure you were Val."

Letting out a loud huff, he collapses back onto my pink duvet into a starfish position. His dark skin contrasted with the frilly atomosphere of my room. The subtle glare in his eyebrows held strong. "Why do we have to talk in here then?"

"Because I said so. Have a problem?"

"Nah nah. I'm good."

I grab Mr. Bunny and hold him to my chest. "Do you know why you're here Val?" I ask with an intimidating stare.

His lips quirk into a smile as he tries not to laugh. "Nope. Please, inform me principessa."

"You haven't been acting like yourself recently," I tell him with concern. He swallows and avoids my gaze. "You've been really.. upset. I just want to know if you're okay."

"I'm fine," Valentino replies immediately, his fingers subtly fidgeting with the drawstrings of his sweatpants. No, you're not.

"Val, I can tell you're lying," I point out. He stays quiet for a few minutes as he clenches his jaw. "You don't have to tell me what's bothering you. I just think you deserve to be happy again. I feel like it's been ages since I've seen you smile."

"Damn, I might start blushing."

I send him a flat look. Laughing loudly, he pushes me onto my side and forces me to lay beside him. I stare at him until his smile fades and he's making eye contact with me. I need him to know how serious I am about this.

Sighing softly, Valentino reaches over his body and grabs a few of my curls. "Look principessa, I'm doing fine. I guess.. I was just a little triggered recently by something in the past but I'm doing better now."

"Are you getting better or are you stuck?"

He hesitates as he contemplates the concern in my eyes. "I don't know yet," He finally admits, resting his head gently against one of my soft pillows. "I hope one day I'll get better."

I softly pat his head. "I want you to get better too. Just in case you're worried at all, I'm not mad at you anymore. I was a little hurt at the time but I've gotten over it. Your feelings matter more to me then me getting butthurt."

"Speaking of," He pipes up, swallowing. "I shouldn't of said that to you. It doesn't matter how shitty I was feeling or whatever. You're still my kid sister. You've been through hella shit and I shouldn't have rubbed it in your face. I'm sorry, for hurting your feelings and everything after that."

I smile and my eyes can't seem to stop drooping. "That's okay, you're still super strong. Remember when we met again and I said I wanted to be as strong as you?"