𝕆𝕣𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕔

16: ℂ𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕤

𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘴- the release of emotional tensions; especially through kinds of art or music

Rose's POV:

I check my bag once again making sure I have everything I need. I asked Giovanni if we could go to a park yesterday after our talk and he agreed. I've been looking forward to it all morning!

I decided to surprise him too! I thought it might be fun to paint something as it's been so long since I have. Plus, maybe it will help heal Gio's emotional wounds.

I convinced him to take me to my house quickly so I could grab something (my art supplies) before we arrived.

"Almost ready Fragolina?" Giovanni questions from downstairs.

"Yup!" I call back feeling giddy with anticipation. As I bound down the stairs, a large smile finds its way onto my face. Being distracted, I manage to miss a step and begin to fall face first but luckily my knight in shining armor saves me before anything can happen.

"Careful Amore." I blush at the close contact and new name. I really need to think of more nicknames for him than just Gio!

Being careful to watch my two left feet, we make our way back outside and into his black car. Feeling brave, I open the car door BY MYSELF and get in. When Giovanni moves to buckle me in I stop him.

"Wait, let me try Gio," I plead. He nods his head as I carefully take the buckle out of his hand and clasp it into the holder.

When he gets into the driver's side and is all situated I turn to him with a huge grin. "I did it all by myself! I know how to do things!!"

He looks over at me with a smile of his own and nods his head. "Yes you did baby, and you did such a good job." I blush at the praise and start fiddling with my fingers.

After about a thirty-minute drive, I feel the car stop as we approach our destination and park. After getting out, BY MYSELF might I add, Gio takes my arm in his and leads us into the park.

"We can go wherever you want angioletto, just say the word."

"Okay," I manage to whisper as my wide eyes gaze at the scene before me with wonder. Slowly at first but picking up the pace as we move along, I take Gio's hand and lead us deeper and deeper into the unknown.

I stop once in a while to take in the scene around me but nothing seems to be the right place to stop. Until finally, we reach a long-since-forgotten building. Various vines and other leafy green plants that have woven themselves around the arches of each dome dangle down from the ceiling and move slightly in the breeze.

The room I decide to sit in has an old stone water fountain and various windows that look out to other parts of the structure and the rest of the park. Completely absorbed with the scene around me, I look up and gaze at the blue sky covered in patches of clouds in wonder.

"It's so pretty," I find myself saying as I feel a tear gently slide down my cheek. Giovanni turns to me and gently wipes the tear off my face with the pad of his thumb.

Maybe I should kiss him. Wait- where did that come from? Quickly brushing away the intense and rather strange urge, I pull my bag off my shoulder and open it.

"I have a surprise for you. It's alright if you don't want to do it with me though, no pressure!" I manage to rush out at the end as my shaky hands lift two blank canvases out of their hiding place. Next comes the paints and brushes; one after another I pull them out and set them down.

After double-checking I took all of the paints out, I turn to Gio, who has just been silently watching me the whole time, with a nervous smile on my face. "Do you want to paint with me?"

A ghost of a smile makes its way onto his face as he approaches me and the art supplies, "Of course, but I will warn you that I'm not very skilled."

"Nonsense, everyone is talented in their own way! You know that we're our own worst critics. Although sometimes I'm not really sure if that's true but-" I stop myself when I realize I'm rambling and my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Oops, I was rambling. Sorry."

Gio gives me the don't-say-that look, "No apologizing. I like it when you ramble, it's cute. Now how about we start painting, hm?"

I nod my head as a blush coats my cheeks for an entirely different reason and we sit down.

As we paint, I make light conversation saying whatever is in my mind as Giovanni just listens. I hope I'm not annoying him too much.

"I haven't painted in forever. I used to do it all of the time as a way to deal with all of my emotions. I kind of thought you might like to try painting to help you heal from your emotional pain. You might not show it but I know that deep down, you still hurt and that's ok! In fact, it's more than just ok. I understand if you don't want to talk about anything but always know that I'm here for you forever and ever, no matter what, 24/7, until the end of time. I pinky promise," I set my paint brush down, hold my pinky up to his, and intertwine our fingers.

"Thank you Rose; you have no idea how much that means to me." I nod my head and focus back on the task at hand.

Within twenty minutes I decide to stop painting and look over to find Giovanni watching me. A simple rose blooms on his canvas and if you look closer you can see prickly thorns with... blood on them? I decide not to question it for art is meant to be left up to interpretation.

Gazing back down at my canvas, I look in slight horror as I see what I had ended up painting.