tonight came, and so did mattia.
not in that way, dirty fuck.
tonight came, but it was different this time. at 10:00, there was a knock on the door. the house was silent, until i received a text from my dad.
'your friend is at the door' it read. i scrunched my eyebrows down at the phone screen before making my way down the stairs to greet the stranger at the door. i opened it to see kairi holding a singular red rose, dressed in a button up.
"uh, hi?" i smiled to him as he handed me the flower.
"good late-evening, miss brooks." he smiled back, adjusting his shirt slightly. "mattia wants you to meet him at the restaurant. 10:30 sharp." once he finished talking, he smiled once more before running off into waseem's car.
i shut the door in confusion and ran upstairs to change out of my sweats frantically. i ran around my bedroom like a chicken without its head to find an outfit, deciding on a baby-blue tie front blouse with white flowers along with a pair of jeans. i pinned my hair up into a low bun and proceeded to add a light face of makeup before rushing downstairs to ask permission to leave. i crept down the hall to my parents room and opened the door softly to find my mom reading in bed beside my sleeping dad.
"ama, can i-?"
"yes, mattia already asked for permission." she winked at me, pointing to the keys that hung on the wall. "be safe." she reminded as i walked out of the house and to the car. i smiled at a white rose left on the car windshield and grabbed it before getting into the car to drive to the restaurant as planned. once i parked and made my way inside, i was greeted by a dressed up alejandro at the door.
"hello, alejandro." i smiled.
"nice to see you, blair. i have something for you." he stated before handing me another red rose. "your table is this way." he moved away slightly to lead me to a table with a vase full of red and white roses. he pulled the chair out and pushed it back in for me as i sat. "someone will be with you shortly." he said cheerfully before nodding and walking towards the back. i looked around the empty restaurant that was decorated with nicely hung string lights. i ran my finger over the roses that the vase held before i noticed mattia making his way over to me dressed in a black turtleneck paired with plaid pants.
"hi." he said shyly with a gigantic smile plastered on his face, making his way to my side of the table.
"hi." i responded back quietly with a smile, i tilted my head up to him as he pushed a strand of my hair back and kissed my cheek. he took a seat across from me, "you, uh, look pretty." he cleared his throat, adjusting his ring as he looked at me.
i raised my eyebrows, looking down at my outfit. "i would look better if i had time to get dressed." i chuckled at him, brushing my foot against his leg under the table softly.
"i wanted it to be a surprise." he blushed as he spoke, "i'll plan better next time." he reassured.
i shook my head at him with a smile, "its perfect."
we spoke about meaningless things for a couple of minutes before alejandro and kairi came out with food and drinks. they placed a plate and a cup in front of each of us. i smiled at my drink and looked up at mattia, speaking after the boys exited the restaurant. "how'd you know?"
"it's what you ordered yesterday." i reached over and grabbed his hand to squeeze it softly. we began to eat while talking throughout - mattia explained to me how this plan transpired, and how it went about. he also explained to me that the boys wanted to help to apologize for almost starting a fire in my house, which was incredibly sweet. i think.
after dinner, we cleaned up for tomorrows guests before heading home.
"your turtle-neck looks nice on you." i stated as we drove with a smile, allowing entropy by daniel caesar to play quietly through the speakers.
"i know it does." he replied, watching out the window. "stop by the lake." i did as told, following mattia's directions - pulling into a lot, with more string lights along the trees. i stopped the car and got out, mattia taking my hand as we walked down a path with rose petals along it.
"did you do this?" i asked as we walked hand in hand.
he shook his head and chuckled, "no, i just found it." he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"way to ruin the mood."
we walked down by the water, talking a seat on a bench that rested beside it. we sat and watched the water quietly. "what's the meaning of this, polibio?" he placed our hands onto his lap as i rested my head against his shoulder.
"it's whatever you want." he said with a smile, he pushed his body up slightly to reach into his back pocket - pulling out a small gift box wrapped in black paper. he had clipped the picture we took in my bathroom the other day on top of it, with small hearts drawn on the bottom of it.
"tia." i said hesitantly, taking the small box from him.
"shut up and open it." he demanded, adjusting himself to watch me. i nudged him with my arm and took the box. i unclipped the photo and placed it down before unwrapping the box. i shook the box open, uncovering a small gold-plated necklace, with a small circle-shaped charm. i turned and smiled at him, "turn the charm around." he suggested before i did so, looking at the dainty name engraved circle, reading 'mattia.'
"it's beautiful." i said as i unboxed the necklace.
he smiled at me, "it's my handwriting." i handed him the necklace, and turned away so he could put it on me. he took it as i picked the loose strands of my hair up. the cold metal wrapped around my neck as mattia clipped it for me. i turned to him once he finished with a big smile. i cupped his face with my hands and kissed his lips softly, he gripped the back of my neck to kiss back for a few seconds before we unlatched.
"i thought it would look nice around your neck." he said, pulling my shoulders to hug me. "i thought right."
