PERNICIOUS // JOHN WICK & SANTINO D'ANTONIO

chapter two;

IT HAD BEEN TEN MONTHS since she traveled to Italy. It'd been ten months since that life changing trip.

Santino had given her another chance at life. A chance many would kill for. And she had nothing to return but her loyalty to him.

Forever. Always. Eternally.

He may think of this as nothing but charity work, as a good deed to cover up all the other bad ones, but to her? This was her turning point. This is where things finally started looking up for her.

"I'm officially a graduate!" She shouted in between the loud roars of happy students and excited families. Of course, she had lied to her father, claiming her official graduation was in a month. He believed her, not really caring enough to research into the website of her university and taking a look for himself. Without really thinking, the woman ran up to Santino, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into the tightest hug she could muster.

Santino's arms gently placed themselves onto her hips, a clearly exaggerated choking sound leaving his lips. "Amore—" he called out, almost as if wanting her to loosen her grip on him, making her pull back and murmur our an apology. Santino smiled after it, his once crisp and colorful suit slightly crinkled from her actions. He looked down at her, tucking back a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm proud of you, cara mia, you deserve this certificate more than anyone in here."

She looked down at the degree in her hand, where her new name laid. 'Belle Baker'. She hadn't changed her last name, especially since it was pretty common and easy to come by. Besides, changing her last name felt .. wrong for some reason. Santino said he could, and that all she needed to do was choose one, but she had politely declined, and instead chose to stick with it. The first name, however, was incredibly hard to find something she wanted to stick with, but Santino helped.

"Mio dio, amore, you still haven't found a fitting name?" Santino said, his tone clearly laced with shock. Eleanor shied away, extremely embarrassed that it was taking her this long to find something she liked. Everything just seemed .. not her. Noticing her embarrassment, Santino sighed, looking out at the city lights from his glass windows. "Since you're having troubles finding a name, I suppose I'm inclined to help, hm?" He murmured quietly, thinking about what name would fit her best.

"Maybe Elora?"

"Too similar to my old name."

"Valentina?"

"I feel like it's too long."

"Hm. What about Bella?"

"You're always calling me that anyways."

Santino smiled, turning his head towards her. "It's better that way, no? It means you're used to it already." Eleanor paused, almost as if she was thinking about it. And it clicked. Santino needed to find something similar, something that he knew Eleanor would love and want to stick with. Then it came to him. "How about Belle? From that Disney movie you hold so close to you?" He suggested, and something shined in her eyes. "You know .. that's actually a really nice name." Belle breathed out, a smile growing on her features.

"It suits you, you truly are the most beautiful thing I've ever laid my eyes on." Santino said, having no shame about admitting how he felt about her. Having her mood being uplifted, Belle looked towards Santino, a glimmer in her eyes as her lips pulled into a small smirk. "Oh. So I'm just a 'thing' now?"

As belle glanced down at her degree, she couldn't help but think about how none of this would've been possible without his help. The thing that she had in her hands right now was possible mostly because of him. Because he was kind enough to help. Because he saw something special in her that she didn't see in herself. Her bottom lip quivered, eyes glistening with unshed tears. Almost all of her life, it seemed like things just only got worse as she grew up, as if everything was designed just to tear her down and wear her.