ELENA'S POV:
I knocked on the door to Mattia's house and anxiously waited. Mrs Polibio opened the door, and her eyes went wide when she saw me.
"Elena honey!" she gasped and engulfed me into a hug which almost suffocated me. I laughed with her, and wrapped my arms around her as she smothered me in kisses. Mr Polibio came out the kitchen and threw his hands in the air when he saw me, before running over to us and joining the hug.
"I knew you'd be back soon kid" he said as we all pulled away. I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders.
"I can't stay away from Jersey"
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face after the welcome I'd just gotten. You'd think I'd been away for years.
"Well we won't keep you waiting any longer mija" said Mrs Polibio, stepping aside.
"He's probably asleep so don't hesitate to wake him up by throwing cold water on him" joked Mr Polibio. Excitement rushed through me as I set off towards the basement. I crept down the stairs, careful not to make noise.
I knocked on the door and waited. No answer. I slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. Despite it only being 8:30pm, Mattia was fast asleep. The curtains were drawn shut and his room was messier than usual. I looked at his nightstand and it was covered with empty water bottles. I frowned slightly as I saw him between the covers. I walked over to him and softly pushed his hair back, leaning down to kiss his forehead. His skin was hotter than usual and he looked pale. Was he sick?
I went to get into bed next to him when I saw he was clutching onto my lip gloss. A smile spread across
my face and a warm feeling entered my heart. I crawled under the covers and felt him stir in his sleep. I faced him and his eyes were slowly opening.
"Hey handsome" I whispered, placing my hand on his cheek. His mouth turned into an "O" shape as he forced his eyes open, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"I-is this a dream?" he stuttered, imitating my actions by placing his hand on my cheek. I shook my head slowly and a smile spread across his face.
"Baby I'm home"
Without saying anything else, he pulled me into a hug, tightly wrapping his arms around me. My arms made their way around his neck and I felt him sigh with relief.
"Holy fuck this doesn't feel real" he said, causing me to laugh a little. He placed his hand on my waist and used the other to pull the covers over us. His eyes were bloodshot, which made me wonder about his health again. But I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and tried to think about happier things.
"I don't ever want to leave you again, that week and a half in England was horrible" I sighed. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned in to kiss my lips softly. I kissed him back and he gently bit down on my bottom lip. I tugged on his hair gently so he'd pull away, and I raised my eyebrows at him.
"So did you hear anything I just said?" I said, but his eyes were still fixated on my lips.
"Something about England being shitty" his voice trailed off and he gave me a cheeky grin.
"I'm so in love with you" he said, drawing circles on my cheek with his finger.
"So am I, big boy Mattia" I smirked, causing him to roll his eyes playfully as I turned onto my back.
"So what'd I miss out on?" I asked, looking up at the ceiling. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me.
"Absolutely nothing" he answered, kissing my cheek softly. I smiled and looked up at him. His skin was still lighter than it should've been and I wondered whether he'd even left his bedroom since I'd left.
"Should I text everyone to meet at the diner?" he said whilst playing with my hair. I looked up into his brown eyes and found myself getting lost in them.
"Babyy" said Mattia, snapping me out of my daydream.
"No yeah, totally" I replied quickly, sitting up. He studied me carefully and tilted his head.
"Are you sure? You're not jetlagged?"
"Not one bit" I said, getting out of bed. He followed suit, but stumbled backwards when his feet hit the floor.
"W-wait" he stammered, holding his head.
"Mattia? Baby what's wrong?"
He sat down on the bed and took a few deep breaths. I rested the back of my hand on his forehead and pulled it away immediately after.
"Mattia you're boiling hot" I told him, but he shook his head.
"I'm fine, I just got up too quickly" he said, running his hand through his hair. I didn't take his word for it. His face was slowly turning a crimson red as he closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing.
Something was definitely going on, and I didn't know if he knew that himself.
-
We got to the diner and I saw the boys and Vic all waiting in our regular spot. I ran inside and huge smiles appeared on their faces.
"Welcome home!" they all screamed in unison, pulling me into a group hug. It felt so good to finally be back with them, but I knew it'd just make leaving even harder.
"I missed you so much" squealed Vic, hugging me again after al the boys had sat down. She was wearing a white skater dress, with two white slides in her hair.
"I missed you so much more, and what's with the cute outfit? You never wear dresses" I laughed, hugging her tightly.
"Alejandro and I just came back from a date" she blushed, looking over at him. He was leaning on his hand looking at her in the cutest way.
"He can't get enough of you" I said, causing her to laugh and shake her head. I took her hand and we walked towards the table. Vic took a seat between Roshaun and Alejandro, who she intertwined her hand with. I smiled at them both as I went to sit next to Mattia. But he had other plans as he picked me up and placed me on his lap. The boys didn't make anything of it, but other people in the restaurant were starting to look in our direction.
"Mattia, people are staring" I whispered, but he shrugged his shoulders and smirked at me.
"And I should care because?"
I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned into my chest and rested his head on me, causing the butterflies to finally appear again. Believe me, I missed that feeling.
We finished up at the diner pretty quick since it was getting late. The boys were all sleeping at Kairi's place, and I decided to invite Mattia over to my place since I had no company.
We got out the booth and started walking to the exit, when Mattia grasped onto my arm. I turned around to see his face had turned pale, and his eyes were rolling backwards.
"Mattia!" I screamed, trying to hold him up. But he was heavier than me and dropped to the ground. Tears rushed to my eyes as his head flopped backwards, and I yelled for the boys to come back. The waiter called an ambulance and I took Mattia's hand in mine. It was ice cold.
"What the fuck happened?" asked Alejandro, as if I knew the answers.
"I don't know" I wept, holding onto Mattia's hand. He was fully unconscious by this point, and I placed my hand over his heart. It was going faster than usual, even though he was completely unresponsive. I placed my hand over my mouth as I heard the sirens from behind me. The blue lights reflected onto Mattia's face, and a teardrop that had escaped my eyes fell onto his pale skin. I quickly wiped it away with my thumb and kissed his forehead, before Vic pulled me away.
