ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ∆ ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀ ᴢᴇᴘᴘᴇʟɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ∆

∆ᴛᴇɴ∆

“Are you sure you’re alright by yourself?” Joseph asked, placing my bags in my living room. “Suzie and I can stay for a while.”

“No, no. I’ll be fine,” I said, dismissing him with a shake of my head. “You guys are tired too. If I need anything, I can always call my dad. He lives down the street,” I said, shooting him a reassuring smile.

“Alright, but call us soon, okay?” Suzie said, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

“I will. See you,” I said, waving to them as they left, gently closing the door behind them. I sighed and slumped down against my couch, running a hand over my tired face. I sat there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling before grabbing one of my crutches from the ground. I hobbled over to the kitchen and placed my crutch against the counter. I grabbed the phone from the receiver and dialed my dad’s phone number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, uh, can I ask a favor?”

..

Not even fifteen minutes later, my front door was bursting open and my dad and my brother came running in.

“Y/n!” Daniel yelled, jumping on the couch beside me. “What the hell happened?!”

“Calm down!” I said, chuckling at him. My dad closed the door and walked in, placing a bag on the table. “I just twisted my ankle while I was on vacation with Joseph.”

Before I had left, I had sat down with my dad and brother and explained everything about the inheritance and the lost side of the family. My brother was happy that I had gotten in touch with Joseph, but my father seemed reluctant on the other hand. He was also happy, but he said he wasn’t ready to meet him yet. I understood that. However, Daniel couldn’t keep his excitement contained and wanted to meet Joseph immediately.

“What happened?” My dad asked, taking the food from the bags and handed them to my brother and me.

“I fell off the dock,” I lied. “I wanted to stay and finish out our visit, but Joseph was persistent about coming back.”

“Aw, I’m sorry that happened sis,” Daniel said, folding his legs under him as he opened his box of Chinese. “Did you get pictures?”

“Yeah!” I said, leaning over to grab my backpack. “I also drew some stuff.”

“Let’s see,” My dad said, leaning over the table to look as I laid the pictures out. “Who’s that?” He asked, pointing to a picture I had taken of Joseph and Suzie.

“That’s Joseph and Suzie Q, his wife. This was in Naples,” I explained each picture, telling them where it was taken and what we were doing.

“Wait,” Daniel said past a mouthful. He flipped back a page in my sketchbook and moved a picture to reveal a drawing. “Who’s that?”

I felt my lips turn upward. I had totally forgotten that I had drawn Caesar at one point. It was just a simple sketch that I had did on the boat.

“That’s Caesar,” I said. “He’s an old friend of Joseph’s who tagged along with us and planned most of our trips.”

“He looks nice,” Daniel said, sitting back after closing my sketchbook.

“He is,” I said.

“So, dad and I were talking,” My brother said, making me turn my head to look at him. “We wanna meet Joseph.”

My eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah,” My dad said. “I was reluctant at first because I was scared. I got over it.”

Daniel and I laughed. “Dad? Scared? Ha!” He laughed, nudging me in my side. I giggled and shook my head at them.

Later on that day, my brother, dad, and I all just sat around and laughed with each other, catching up on the week I had been gone. I looked down at Daniel, who had placed his head in my lap and fallen asleep. My dad was also asleep in the chair, his hat pulled down over his eyes with my dog at his feet. I smiled to myself and messed with the ends of Daniel’s curly hair. He had hair like my dad, that was for sure.

In my bored and relaxed state, I found my eyes drifting to the photos still laid out on the coffee like playing cards. My gaze shifted to the picture I had of Caesar. I didn’t know why, but I just couldn’t seem to get him out of my head. It was like he was invading my thoughts. I didn’t know how to feel about it. Had Suzie been right? Could I have fallen for him? No, I was only there a week and a half, and only a little over half of it was spent with Caesar. Not to mention, he was just a kind man. His personality was just very flirtatious.

The sound of the phone ringing made me jump, and for Daniel to shoot up, narrowly missing my jaw with the top of his head. My dad pushed his hat up and looked around at the sudden noise.

“I’ll get it,” Daniel yawned, slinking from the couch as he shuffled towards my kitchen. “Hello?....Y/n, it’s for you.”

“Well no duh, Sherlock. This is my house,” I chuckled, hopping over to him. Daniel grabbed my arm and steadied me as I took the phone from his hand.

“Y/n, you there?”

“Oh, hi Joseph,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Well, nothing good, that’s for sure,” I felt my lips tug into a frown.

“Why? Is everything alright?” I asked, holding my hand up to Daniel who gave me a questioning look.

“Yeah, but something big came up. I have to go back to Italy and help Caesar,”

“What? What’s going on?” I asked, worry seeping into my tone.

“He’s alright if that’s what you’re scared of. A big attack happened last night, and a whole corner of people was killed, and he and our Hamon coach think it’s because of the Vampires. I have to go back and help them, so I won’t be able to get in contact with you until I send a telegram. Suzie knows where I’ll be, so as soon as you get better, go to her and get your ass to Italy.” Joseph said.

“Alright,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek. “Be careful, Jojo.”

“What do you mean?” I swear I could hear the grin in his voice. “I’m always careful.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I chuckled. “See you.”

“See you.”