Kingston U: Introductions

7. giovanni

Gio got up from the bed the next morning, making his way into the bathroom.

After using the toilet, he washed his hands and splashed some water on his face. He was still drowsy despite opting against going out. He stayed inside his dorm room all night and participated in... other activities. He let out a small smile as he looked at himself in the mirror. He was glad Jayden took the hint and crashed somewhere else last night.

Giovanni opened the bathroom door and stared at the beautiful female figure laying in his sheets for a moment. Quietly he made his way back over to his bed, slipping under the sheets next to her, scooping her body in his arms.

She stirred in her sleep, slowly waking up. She turned over on her side, facing Giovanni.

"Good morning." he whispered.

Keisha smiled. "Good morning, baby."

"You have fun last night?"

She snuggled closer to him and grinned. "Of course."

The boy laughed. "I'm talking bout the party."

Keisha shrugged. "It was cool."

"What about my sister?" he asked. "Was she aight?"

She sat up and looked down at him. "Yes, Gio. Grace was good." she sighed. "It's sweet that you worry about your little sister but she ain't little anymore. I would never let anything to happen to her but she can handle herself."

Despite only being three years older than her, Giovanni was always protective of his sister, ever since they were kids. He believed it was natural instinct for a dude to guard his sister. Especially when it came to his sister.

Grace was delicate. She was shy and too nice for her own good and Gio knew people took advantage of that. He didn't want that kind of cruelty to reach Grace. He was nervous when she decided to go off to college but atleast they were at the same one. The closer she was, the more he could keep an eye on her. Giovanni knew couldn't protect Grace from all the evil of the world but he could try.

Even though sometimes he was overbearing. Even though sometimes he was too controlling of her personal life. Even though sometimes he overstepped the role as brother and crossed over to warden.

He laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling. "I know she can handle herself but imma always look after her." he declared.

"Speaking of..."

Gio looked to her.

"We need to tell her."

He sat up, shaking his head. Just like that, his good mood was tainted. "Nah. You already know-"

"Like you said, Gio, she can handle it." Keisha argued. "Grace is not a little girl, she'll understand. I can't keep hiding this from her."

He grabbed her hands. "No, she won't." They went over this a million times. "I know my sister and if she find out about us, Keisha, she gone break."

Keisha looked at him sadly. This was the boy she loved. She fell hard for him and was seeing him since her last month of high school. It's been about four months now.

She was happy. She was truly happy. They both were. Keisha always dreamed about finding the perfect guy and was lucky enough to find him so young. It just sucked that it had to be the brother of her best friend. She aas glad it was him, but afraid of how Grace would react to her best friend dating her older brother who was always in her business.

"And you think hiding it even longer is gonna make it better?" she scoffed. "Gio, baby, the longer we keep sneaking behind her back, the harder it's gonna be to come clean and the worse it's gonna be when she finds out. I want to be able to be public with you. I want to be able to share how happy I am with my best friend.

"Last night I couldn't even tell her where I was going, just that I was staying with some boy." she leaned her head against his chest. "I don't want to keep hiding my relationship from her. I don't want to keep hiding us."

He held her tight. "I know, babe. I know." Giovanni hushed. He felt the same way. He didn't want to keep them a secret either but he didn't want to hurt his siter either by dating her best friend– her only friend. "I just– let's just wait, okay? Please."

The guilt Giovanni felt was tense in his chest. He wasn't sure if it was from the fact he couldn't be more open about their relationship when Keisha was clearly ready, because he was making her lie to Grace or because he was keeping this from everyone in the first place.

Once shit hit the fan– which was inevitable at this point– who was going to get hurt the most?

He didn't want to find out.