Amore Mio ✓

XVI. Mending the Hearts

Alice's POV:

I wave my hands at Neilson, who merely stands there, staring at us as Ian drives away. I turned my attention back to Ian, whose hands were shaking on the wheel. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask, placing a hand on his trembling shoulder.

"W-Was that N-Neilson?" he stutters. I nod, quite concerned that he looks like he's about to faint any second. "Are you sure the dude doesn't like you?"

I release a deep breath. "Neilson only sees me as a younger sister," I mumble.

Ian shakes his head, giving me the dumbest look in the world. "Are you blind, lady? Did you not see that look he was giving me?!" he shouts, placing a hand on his chest, patting it lightly.

I tilt my head, "What look?"

"That look, the look that says I'm going to bury you when no one is looking kind of look," he said.

I wave him off, staring out the window. "You're exaggerating, Neilson is probably concerned that his little sister has a boyfriend."

"No, I know what I saw, and as a man, I can sense when another man is feeling threatened. He looks like he wants to kill me the moment you ran into my arms. He looks like he's ready to beat up my face until my mother doesn't recognize me," he said.

One of his twitches.

"I knew it! I knew I shouldn't let you be my fake girlfriend! That guy, Neilson, he is your obsessive stalker!" he declares.

I scoffed, "I'm the one who had been stalking him since I was eight." I'm not afraid to admit my stalking nature.

"You never know Alice, you may think you're stalking him, but maybe he is playing some mind-fucking game, and it turns out he was the one watching you all along," he said, stopping at a red light, he turns towards me. "Dun dun dunnnnn, plot twist."

I start playing around with his old radio that can barely pick up any signal. "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea, but that look he gave me makes me want to piss my pants," he said, resuming his drive when the light turns green.

I roll my eyes, "I thought you said you are a man."

"Yeah, that was before I found out my fake girlfriend has an obsessive stalker who is six feet tall and can potentially mess up my handsome face," he replies, waving a hand over his face.

I punch his arm, "Stop saying that."

He rubs his arm, "You're the worst fake girlfriend ever," he mumbles. I stuck out my tongue at him.

Three months ago, I met Ian in New Jersey during my summer program. He was there visiting his grandparent, who coincidentally lives near Princeton, so we spent the summer together.

The first month, we were partying our ass off with college students, drinking alcohol when we aren't supposed to. When we were drunk, things slipped out, and he told me all about Kayla, this girl he loved since elementary school. Apparently, I was just his temporary crush because I'm cute. In return, I told him about Neilson, the guy I've been crushing on since I was eight.

In the second month, our party life was over and started inhaling junk food and crying over our unrequited childhood love. We gained a good eight pounds together, but our tears helped us lose all the weights.

In the third month, we made a pack and hooked up together, forgetting our stupid love. We didn't really hook up since we never kiss or hold hands. I agree to be his fake girlfriend to make Kayla jealous, and he promised me food and a distraction from Neilson.