Page 17 of Undeniable

I find myself walking in before I realize it, my eyes set on one thing in particular. A silver case lined with more colored pencils than I ever thought possible. There are various tools and a special kind of paper that comes with it all. Just imagining how bright those normally dark pair of green eyes would get from seeing this, I quickly grab it off the shelf and take it to the register, effectively using up my last bit of money.

Once I leave the store, case in hand I find that I am practically giddy with excitement. I have always been a big gift giver and have also been equally horrible about waiting to give people their presents. I assume that they are home, though Giovanni didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, maybe I could swing by really quick just to drop it off.

I hail a taxi quickly and rattle off the address that I now know by heart before settling back into the seat. After a fairly short drive, we are pulling up to Giovanni’s house and I am paying the cabbie, letting him know not to wait.

Practically bouncing up to the front door, I knock gingerly before taking a step back. Several moments go by with no answer as my smile begins to fade. I glance to the side and see that Giovanni’s SUV is in the driveway, so they must be home. I reach for the doorbell and press it once before waiting again.

After a few more moments, I hear heavy footsteps and my smile comes back into full force in excitement. The door is thrown open quickly and I am soon greeted with a haggard looking Giovanni. My smile drops and my eyebrows shoot up as I take him in.

He is in sweatpants, something I wasn’t even sure he knew existed, and a dark t-shirt. His hair is mused and sticking up on one side like he has ran his fingers through it too many times and it has decided to give up the fight with him. His mouth is formed into a harsh scowl while his silver eyes are glossy and clouded over. If that wasn’t a giveaway, the fact that he smells like a damn distillery solidifies what I suspected. Giovanni Cordova is drunk off his ass.

“What?” He snaps so aggressively I flinch as I find myself taking a small step backwards.

“Sorry. Um, maybe I should have called first. I just, saw this and I wanted Alessandro to have it. I didn’t know if you had anything like it and I just…”

I trail off as my eyes dart up to look at his. He continues to stare at me, almost as if he is trying to work out in his mind if this is all some kind of hallucination or not. I lift up the case to show him what I am talking about, but he doesn’t seem to understand. Setting down my other bags, I open up the case to reveal all of the beautiful colored pencils and thick paper inside.

Giovanni stares at it for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes at me.

“You got this for my son?”

I look around from side to side awkwardly as I shift on my feet. “Uh, yeah. We just used regular pens and pencils last time. I thought he might want a colored set. There are nicer sets I am sure, but I just saw this one and-”

“Thanks,” he says softly, his scowl quickly dropping as his shoulders deflate.

Giovanni’s head sags down for a few moments and when he looks up at me, I see pure devastation spread across his face. It steals all of the breath from my lungs, and I find myself quickly closing the space between us and cupping his cheek. I don’t miss how he instantly leans into the touch, closing his eyes in the process.

“Are you okay?” I whisper softly.

His features tighten as he shakes his head.

“Can I help?”

Again, he shakes his head before slowly prying his eyes open to look down at me. Though he says I can’t help, his eyes are practically begging me the opposite. They are pleading for me to do something, anything. Not knowing how to take whatever kind of pain he is feeling away, I decide to do the only thing that I would want if I was found in a similar state.

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and drag him down to my height as I hold him as tight as I can, hugging him with all the compassion that I can possibly muster. He doesn’t fight me like I thought he would. Not sure if I have the alcohol to thank for that or not, but either way, his arms wrap tightly around my waist as he tucks me into him, dropping his head to rest in the crook of my neck.

We stand there for a while, just standing there, lightly swaying from side to side as I run my fingers through his thick hair. I feel him deeply inhale against the skin of my neck a few times before he gently pulls away, going back to his full height.

Not wanting to leave him like this I gather up all of my bags as well as Alessandro’s present before I reach out and take Giovanni’s hand, guiding him inside. The normal tingling of electricity is in overdrive as his fingers lace with mine, almost like it is the most natural thing to do in the world. I lead us deeper into the house, shutting the door as we make it into the living room where I see take out containers on the table, dirty dishes in the sink and a broken vase and picture frame on the floor.

Setting down my things on the ground, my gaze looks over to Giovanni in question, but he won’t meet my eyes, instead choosing to stare at our interlinked hands as his thumb softly strokes my skin. Deciding to keep the silence, I guide him over to the couch before sitting him down. I turn to walk to the kitchen for some water, but his grip tightens, begging me not to let go. I give him a soft squeeze before I wriggle my hand free.

His fingers reluctantly loosen, before his arm falls limply at his side. I take a few steps to the cupboard, grabbing a glass and filling it up with ice water before digging around in one of my bags for the new bottle of ibuprofen I just bought. I grab 2 pills before putting the bottle back and walking them and the water over to Giovanni.

He is staring blankly out the window of the living room and doesn’t even seem to notice that I have returned until I gently nudge his knee. I hold out the water and ibuprofen for him for a moment before he seems to understand. He dips his head in acknowledgement and swallows the pills dry before gulping the water down.

I turn to start cleaning up the mess when his hand reaches out and quickly wraps around my waist. I tumble down in a awkward mess until I land on top of his lap. My eyes widen as I look up to see his tortured expression looking down at me.

“Stay,” he rasps roughly. “Please.”

I bite my lower lip for a moment before I nod. He leans his head against my shoulder as his arm stays wrapped around my waist, the other hand joining in until I’m banded tightly against his chest. My hand reaches up to his head as I begin to run my fingers through his hair again. I hear him let out a soft exhale in what sounds like relief before his eyes shutter close.

I don’t know how long I stay there, gently touching him, but within the first few minutes the light snoring that comes from him tells me that he is most definitely asleep. I can’t help but be greedy though and take this opportunity to watch him. He is so incredibly handsome and despite the gruff exterior he tries to display, I can tell he is a total sweetheart. He clearly has things he is working through, baggage of some sort. But don’t we all?

Pressing a featherlight kiss to the side of his head, I slowly unwrap his arms from my body, missing the weight of them instantly as I stand up to look down over him. He looks so tortured. Even when he sleeps, he is troubled if his deep frown lines and twisted scowl tells me anything.

Sighing heavily, I head to the closet and grab the broom before I begin sweeping up the broken glass on the floor. Once it is swept up, I pick up the broken frame that still holds a picture inside. A picture of a young Giovanni in his early twenties with one of his arms casually draped around a gorgeous brunette’s shoulders as they look at each other, huge smiles stretching across their faces. They look so deeply in love that it makes me smile to see him so happy, but also sick with jealousy.

---