Love never fails

03| The trouble story

Chapter 28: Consequences and Reconciliation

Lorenzo and I had a magical night, full of kisses and whispered promises, but the next morning brought the weight of reality crashing down. As I prepared for school in a white shirt and skinny jeans, I couldn't shake the nervous excitement that had settled in my chest. Everything felt different now, not just because of what had happened with Lorenzo , but because of the consequences that were sure to follow.

"Good morning, Lilly," Lorenzo  greeted me as I looked at my window. He was already at the window, the way he used to sneak in when we were just friends.

"Good morning, Lorenzo ," I replied, a little smile tugging at my lips. "You should probably start using the front door, though. I don't want my family getting mad or suspicious, okay?"
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he agreed, though there was a hint of reluctance in his voice. It was strange—being with him was so familiar, yet so new. The ease of our friendship was still there, but now it was laced with something more intense, more complicated.

As I headed downstairs and Lorenzo headed out the window, the rest of the house was already buzzing with activity. "Good morning, everyone," I greeted them, trying to sound as normal as possible.
"You came back late last night," Eddie said, his tone more questioning than accusing.
"Oh my god, calm down," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "We just talked for too long, sorry."
"No, it's okay, baby girl," my mom said, offering me a reassuring smile. But I could see the concern in her eyes.

"Well, she was gone for a long time," Matthew added, and I could hear the hint of suspicion in his voice.
"Yeah, and she shouldn't be out so late," Mason chimed in.
"Shut up," I snapped, feeling my patience fray at the edges.
Ding dong. The doorbell rang, cutting through the tension.

"Oh, hi Lilly," Lorenzo  greeted me as I opened the door us acting casual as he wasn't just in my room. "Do you want to take a walk?"
"Yeah," I agreed, eager to get away from the prying eyes of my family. "But can we get breakfast first? I'm starving."
"Of course," he said, and we headed out together.

We walked to a small café near the park, the silence between us comfortable yet charged with the unspoken complexities of our new relationship. "This is weird, huh?" Lorenzo  finally said, voicing what we were both feeling.
"A little," I admitted. "I just wish it could be like old times, you know?"
"Yeah," he said, a small, sad smile on his lips. "Me too."
When the waitress came by to take our order, I asked for chocolate pancakes, my favorite. Lorenzo , on the other hand, wasn't hungry. He watched me eat with a fond smile, but I could tell he was deep in thought.

After breakfast, Lorenzo  suggested we visit the old treehouse. It was a place full of memories—some of our best times together had been spent there, climbing and laughing until the sun went down. The treehouse had been a refuge for us, a place where we could escape from the world.
"I missed it here," I said softly as we approached the treehouse, the old wood creaking under our feet. "Me too," Lorenzo  replied, though there was a heaviness in his voice that hadn't been there before.

We climbed up into the treehouse, the familiar scent of wood and leaves bringing back a flood of memories. "Remember that time the treehouse broke and our dads tried to fix it?" I asked, laughing as the memory surfaced.

"Yeah, and they only made it worse," Lorenzo  chuckled. "Our parents had to fix it for us because we loved it so much."
"Yeah, and then my dad broke it again," I added, grinning at the absurdity of it all.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Lorenzo  said suddenly, his tone serious. My parents had divorced a long time ago, and it hurt talking about it
"It's okay," I said, though I knew he understood the lingering sadness.