𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐃 // 𝐇.𝐒.

65.

Chapter 65

April 27, 1986

In all my seventeen years of life, I never snuck out of my home. The thought scared me only because my father has always had enemies and he'd warn me of them.

But climbing out of my window and trying not to make any noise, sparked some kind of excitement. For the first time, I was doing something I wasn't supposed to.

It was cold. It was meant to be spring, but the night was starting to drizzle. I didn't bring a jacket in hopes Lorenzo would give me his. He's a gentleman like that, I can tell even when I hardly know him.

I hopped onto my bike and began to pedal to the location he asked me to meet him. The closer I got, the stronger the butterflies in my stomach flapped their wings.

What I hadn't expected was a party. I rolled up to a house full of people—older people. It wasn't the kind of house party where I'd run into my classmates. It was a scene I wasn't familiar with and for a moment, I felt out of place. Until he found me.

'Amor,' he called me. No one's ever called me something endearing. To think Amor was my name spelled backward made me think he was clever, made me think I was special. I bet he doesn't call anyone else Amor.

Lorenzo pulled me to his side, introduced me to friends, and they all smirked. Did he talk to them about me? Is that why they all shared a look? I never found out because he took me upstairs.

Finally. Finally, I was alone with him.

He started off by thanking me, sharing just how grateful he was for me to show up. Then, he admitted how he hasn't stopped thinking of me.

'I haven't been able to stop thinking of you, too,' I told him, still remembering the way the corner of his lips twitched.

My lips burn. Thinking of how he then kissed me is making my lips burn. It's like they ache to feel them once more. I feel a bit pathetic, really, to dwell on a simple kiss, but it was incredible.

It was worth sneaking out. It was worth risking my father's enemies finding me. It was worth the seven days I had to endure without seeing him since we first met.

I'm sneaking out again tomorrow night and I just know it'll be worth it again.

I don't know what time it is. Then again, it's hard to tell when I'm underground. It must be early since Harry is still sound asleep beside me.

My first instinct was to read my mom's journal again. I ended up reading one of the few excerpts I had skipped, but it only made me sad.

I want to give her the benefit of the doubt when I read what her young mind once thought. Maybe it's easier to judge her knowing the kind of person Dante is today. But in some ways, I was like her. I was naïve, too. I trusted anyone who had ever been kind to me and I failed to be cautious.

Just as I'm about to turn the page, Harry shifts beside me and takes a deep breath in. I set my mom's journal aside and I eagerly wait for him to wake up. Please, wake up, I think to myself as I watch his heavenly back. All I want to do is feel his skin with the tips of my fingers, but I control my urges.

Off the pillow, he tiredly lifts his head and it brings me joy to see him after a good sleep.

"Hi," I whisper.

Slowly, he smiles at me. He then blinks, but his eyes must be craving more sleep because he's unwilling to keep them open. He then moves closer, resting his head above my chest and his wild hair tickles my chin. I don't believe he fell back asleep, even if he poses to be with the way he slowly breathes. His curious hand takes a hold of my ass as I wear nothing but his t-shirt.