Saving the Don

☆ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏 ☆

Dante's POV

The sharp sound of the alarm ripped into my senses, dragging me away from my peaceful slumber. Without opening my eyes, I reached out and grabbed my phone, before squinting at it.

As the blurry world cleared out, I flung away the blankets and pulled myself up to sit on the edge of the bed, placing both my arms on either side of me. I blew out a sigh and stood up, walking towards the closet while taking the bed's support and flinging a random t-shirt over myself.

After getting ready, I trudged over to the house. It was the weekend, so Daliah is probably home. I headed towards the kitchen to make myself a caffeine fix. What, my legs are broken, not my arms.

Technically, Daliah should be in charge of it because she was my 'nurse', but I hated depending on people more than required. It feels like I'm willingly indebting myself. My hands were perfectly fine so there was no reason to not do it.

But as soon as I opened the door to the kitchen, I was hit with the warm aroma of...coffee?

A clinking sound filled my ears and I noticed Daliah leaning against the counter with one hand holding a dark blue mug, which was, I assumed, the source of the caffeinated scent, and the other was swiftly beating the mixture inside.

A concentrated expression donned her face: pursed lips, slightly furrowed eyebrows and gaze fixed on the mug, with her chocolate locks tied up into a messy bun. She was so absorbed on the task at hand, that she didn't even notice my presence.

Daliah paused, the spoon slowed to a stop and a tired sigh slipped past her lips. She set the cup down and raised her eyes, which widened in surprise upon catching sight of me. Unlike before, she didn't tense up so much on seeing me, and I tried to press down the uninvited twinge of satisfaction upon noticing that.

A few stray strands of hair escaped from their loose clutches and settled down to frame one side of her face.

"Good morning," Daliah spoke, lifting a pan heating on the stove, and poured the milk into the dark blue mug. Then she walked up...and placed it in my hand.

"It's...mine?" I didn't even know why the fuck I was so surprised. I mean- she was my caretaker in a way, r-right?

She smiled softly. "I'll make myself another one." As she turned around to grab another mug, the image of her tired eyes just now flashed through my mind, and my hand snatched out, grabbing her wrist.

Our eyes met for a split second before she tensed under my hold. I instantly let go, clearing my throat and looking away in an attempt to dispel some of the tension.

"I..uh," I started. Why was I hesitating so much?  "I'll make my coffee myself. You can drink this one."

No. I was not being a gentleman. I just don't want to be dependent, yeah?

Thats the only reason I did that.

Was I worried? Pfft- No...

Why would I be worried?

Thats ridiculous...

She stared at me, before slowly nodding and averting her gaze. We spent some time in awkward silence which was only broken by the constant sound of the spoon hitting the ceramic. For some reason, I noticed that neither of us had added sugar to our coffee. Something common..

Not that it mattered or anything.

"So, I got you a deodorant like you asked," Daliah drew me out of my thoughts, pulling something out of a random drawer. I sipped my coffee, turning towards her.

I opened the cap of the black bottle and pressed down. It wasn't working so I pressed harder, making it spray suddenly. My fingers released from the top...but it didn't stop spraying. Confused, I tried shaking it, but to no avail.

My body swivelled around on hearing Daliah's voice behind me.
"Hey, so I was thinking-"

Bad move.

"What the fu-" it sprayed straight into her face.

She pulled away, coughing and waving her hand in front of her face.
"Cazzo, i miei occhi!" (Fuck, my eyes!)

Meanwhile, I was muttering profanities under my breath, trying to fix the damn thing. What the hell is happening, I didn't even know this was possible!?

Daliah was still choking beside me when it finally stopped and we were left surrounded by a light mist and a sickly sharp scent of musk. We turned towards each other at the same time.

Daliah guffawed before digging her teeth into her lower lip. For some reason, I felt the urge to laugh too, and I tried to press it down by clearing my throat, but one look at each other, and the laughter spilled out of us uncontrollably.

I found myself looking into her eyes, which were tearing up because of how much she was laughing and the sting of deodorante da uomo. The veins were red and distinct, but her irises glowed with countless shades of grey.

A.N:- 50, anyone?

That night I was lulled to sleep by the phantom of a certain captivating pair of smokey eyes, and I was too tired to question my thoughts...

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