Romeo

10 | Special

Thank you so much luminous-pixie for this awesome cover!

***

Daniella walked out of Romeo's room slowly observing her surroundings. His apartment was dimly lit with soft light fixtures. The rain from outside was pouring down, making tapping sounds against the glass. The window separated the cold rain outside and the dry warmth of his home. Yet his house wasn't exactly.. warm? There were no pictures anywhere, nothing to show any personality, unlike her own house. Everything looked perfect and polished. It was just as cold and empty as Romeo seemed to be.

As much as she wanted to be with Romeo, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. What was she doing here? All alone with a stranger. In a very expensive apartment driven there in his very expensive car which she was still uncertain how he acquired. Her nerves were tingling, on edge.

Walking past the grand piano, she saw a cat stretched out on the hood yawning and she immediately walked over to the adorable ball of fluff.

"Aww, what's your name?" She cooed at Caramella, crouching down to the cat's level. She reached her arm out to pet her black fur and Carmella jumped into her arms without a second pause.

With her new friend in tow, Daniella walked down the steps holding the sweatpants at her waist so they don't fall to her ankles. She turned a corner and Romeo was waiting for her in the kitchen with two mugs on the counter.

"You play the piano and you have a cat? Ten points for Gryffindor." She hoped he caught onto the reference.

Romeo looked up at her his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I can cook too, does that give me more points? And I consider myself to be more of a Slytherin." He placed a warm mug on a bar stool.

"Seriously? 50 more points." She sat down on the stool, placing Caramella down, but the cat stayed where she was placed and licked at her feet.

"I've only read the first Harry Potter book when I was 10 so please, no more references or else I'll be lost."

Daniella's disapproving pout made him feel.. almost nostalgic. He didn't like fiction books growing up because he could never relate to the characters. Romeo preferred non-fiction books that he could apply to his real life. Even at a young age, he preferred books about psychology and philosophy.

His passion for the subject was probably why he was so good around people. Even now, he had a bookshelf dedicated to books on the subjects.

But now more than ever, he wished he had a normal childhood so he could tell Daniella about it. So he could open up to her as much as she was opening up to him. He wanted to relate to her in an attempt to be closer to her. Because he knew that at the end of the day, he'll never be able to share himself with her no matter how desperately he wanted to.

"I made you special tea, so you don't get sick." Romeo stood next to Daniella with his back against the counter using his elbows as support, his drink in hand, both of them watching Caramella.

"What's her name?" She asked, referring to the cat that had gotten bored of licking feet and was now staring at herself in a mirror.

Daniella took a sip from the mug, and the warm, bitter liquid travelled down her throat warming her up. The tea smelled herbal with a hint of spice. Should she be drinking it? What if it was spiked? All the possibilities ran wild in her mind. But she smiled and told him it was good.

Romeo played with the ends of her still damp braid, his eyes studying her face.  "Caramella means candy in Italian. Come on, I'll tell you how I found her." He lead her to his couch where they both sat down for the next hour.