Rage

Chapter Twenty Seven

A/N: perfection04224 this one's for you, for not abandoning Rage on this journey. We're finally at the second to last chapter now.

Julio's Uncle Matteo's house was almost two hours away, despite what he'd told me earlier about it being an hour out of town.

By the time we pulled up into the driveway of the large house, it was 7:30 pm and my stomach was rumbling. It, thankfully, wasn't audible but it did nothing to reduce my nervousness.

Julio's uncle was the only family member, apart from Javier, whose opinion he cared about. Javier had been easy to win over, but I wasn't sure Julio's uncle would be.

If he hated me or had some doubts about me, I knew Julio loved and respected him enough to hear him out. Besides, even if Julio didn't listen to him, I'd still want the closest thing my boyfriend had to a father to like me.

"You're nervous." Julio observed, watching me amusedly as I rubbed my sweaty hands against my jeans, just as soon as I got off the motorcycle and given the helmet to Julio. He had told me to dress casually, so I'd elected to wear black jeans and a slightly dressy blouse, in an attempt at appearing both casual and serious.

"Of course I'm nervous." I snapped, not attempting to hide my anxiety as I spoke. I didn't even feel bad for snapping at him— he snapped at me often enough.

"Why?" Julio, as expected, brushed off my tone and focused on the fact of the matter.

"Because I'm meeting your uncle! You told me yourself that he's the only person you respect. What if he hates me?" I said anxiously, watching as Julio put the helmet I'd handed him on the seat.

He placed his hands on my shoulders comfortingly and bent down slightly, so that he could look me in the eyes.

"You're Taylor fucking Channing." He said, in an attempt at encouraging me. He succeeded slightly, as I cracked a smile. "You can conquer this whole goddamn world. Why wouldn't he like you?"

I giggled, my frustration immediately evaporating. My nerves weren't entirely held at bay, but they'd dissipated momentarily.

"Besides," Julio added, slipping an arm around my waist as he led me towards the front door, "He isn't going to judge you. He only wants to meet the girl who was awesome enough to get me to fall in love with her."

I blushed, smacking his arm softly. He only chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before ringing the doorbell.

"You're adorable." He commented, and just as I was about to retort, the door opened, revealing a woman who looked to be in her late thirties wearing dark blue jeans and a thin, caramel sweater. She wore barely any makeup, but she was still pretty, with clear olive skin and shining hair.

"Julio!" She greeted, her eyes alight, "How have you been?"

She hugged him before he had the chance to answer. "I've been good, tía." He replied, and she turned her gaze to me.

"And I'm sure it's all because of her." She said knowingly, holding a delicate hand out for me to shake. "I'm Julio's aunt, Gabriella."

"It's nice to meet you." I replied, shaking her hand, and feeling at ease. She seemed really nice. "I'm Taylor."

"We've heard a lot about you, Taylor." Gabriella spoke smilingly, and Julio looked away, embarrassed.

"Yes, my nephew is smitten." She teased, before adding, "Oh, where are my manners? Come in, come in."

She ushered us inside the house. It wasn't as fancy as my mother's, but it was still large and it screamed wealth.  Everything was decorated tastefully, and nothing was over the top, as it was in my mother's house.