"let's heal together" - garcello x reader

chapter 3

[Current POV: Y/N - Location: Shopping Mall/Food Court]

"You seem well off after only a month." Garcello told me, taking a short sip of his iced tea. I replied with a nervous laugh.

"Do I? I'm not too sure about that." I broke eye contact with the man sitting in front of me. How was I supposed to tell Garcello the situation I was in now?

"Well, not trying to judge you, but that's some pretty expensive perfume you have." I looked down at the bag I sat down on the table. That perfume was pretty pricey, but it was all my grandma's money. I wouldn't have gotten it otherwise. Not to mention how terrible it smelled to me.

"My grandmother asked me to buy this for her. She's, er, we're moving and that perfume store in this mall isn't going to be anywhere near her." I responded. At least I dodged the money bullet, but that brought up another problem.

"You're moving?" Ah shit, I should've known lying gets you nowhere. Then again, I expected that question.

"That...that's right! I've been living with my grandma for a month now, and she found a better place to move to. And I'm supposed to be coming with." Garcello nodded to what I said. Hopefully it wasn't too obvious I was making all this up. He studied me for a few moments before asking:

"That's cool. Do you like where you're moving?" He seemed to be invested with the conversation.

"Not really," I sat my head on the table, "the area is, um, small and secluded. There's not many stores or people there." 

"I see." He paused for a moment. "Do you really want to move there?" Jeez, these questions were getting real. I'm starting to have trouble answering all of this.

"I mean, I'll move to stay with my grandma. It won't be that bad moving. Besides, she's the only one I can stay with at the moment." I gave a long sigh. The smoker paused once again. It was beginning to get worrying. I was going to question if anything was wrong, but I was cutoff by Garcello's next sentence.

"Would you like to stay with me again?"

I didn't know what I was expecting him to say, but it sure wasn't that. He had a serious look on his face as well. Those words of his were not helping the guilt I felt for lying. What do I say now? I shouldn't go back to Garcello's place, but at the same time, I feel like I'd be an awful person for refusing the offer. Ugh, I hope this guy isn't trying to peer pressure me into staying with him. If he was, it was definitely working.

"No, it's fine! You were the one who told me I shouldn't go around and lean on strangers anymore, remember?" I replied. "Also, I would just be a bother living with you."

"Ah, that's right, sorry about that. Don't feel pressured about what I said either." He scratched the back of his head, staring down at the table now. "I just...I just didn't want you to feel like you had to move with your grandma, y'know? So you have a choice in where you could live instead of being stuck to her side."

Yeah, this was making me feel ten times worse. I couldn't refuse the offer now. This was probably a good idea anyway. Number one, he won't be suspicious when I'm still in town. Number two, I'll finally have the time to get a job. I guess it would be a win-win for now.

"Alright then, I'll stay with you instead." I answered, earning back his gaze. For a quick moment, it looked like he was smiling. But unfortunately, he started coughing right after, so I couldn't tell.

"Just tell me when I can come over, and I'll be on my way there." I continued once his coughs faded. "Also, would you like something in return? I could tidy up your house, or find a job and help pay bills. If I'll be living with you, I should do something in return, especially with what you did for me a month ago. At least let me pay you back that three hundred." If you couldn't tell yet, I'm pretty sure I have a rambling problem. Garcello must've noticed as well, since I felt a hand being put on my shoulder to stop me.

"Stop worrying so much. You don't owe me anything. If you really want to do something, you should find a job so you can start earning money. I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in my house forever." He told me, chuckling after. I don't know why, but Garcello seemed so...how do I put this, hopeful about my future? It have no idea why he would be, and he has no reason to be. We barely even know each other. Either way, that didn't change the fact that it made me a bit more ready to keep trying and get back on my feet. I gave him a nod of agreement, and from there we discussed when I could officially move in with him. 

The moving date ended up being two days from today around 3pm, which was a Saturday. I made up another lie by saying my grandma would be moving out on Monday, so that I could speed up the process of moving. After that, we left the shopping mall and parted ways. I finally got to tell him my name in the process, so that was nice. And now all I have to do is tell my grandma I found somewhere else to move to, and wait two days. Hopefully, this will be an easy transition.

(Two Days Later)

[Current POV: Garcello - Location: Garcello's Apartment]

I sat on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV. Today was the day Y/N's supposed to finally move in with me. I glanced at my phone. '1:39 P.M.' Almost time. I clicked to the next channel. It was on a commercial break.

"You'll have the mop of a lifetime! Whether the floors are dusty, sticky, or just outright dirty! This new mop has 5 times the cleaning power than your leading brand...!" As I was listening to this commercial, I started to notice how messy my house really was, especially the floor.

There were cigarette buds all over the floor, along with the remains of a broken ashtray I never bothered to pick up. Food wrappers and fast food bags were piling up on the counters in the kitchen. The trash was filled to the brim, making it so everytime I tried to throw away something, it'd be a game of Jenga. And the bedroom was worse than all of that combined. 

If another breathing organism was going to live in my apartment, I should probably clean it up a bit. I got up from the couch, a loud squeak coming from it. I need to replace the couch as well, but that's not the goal right now. I scanned the living room, giving a long sigh. I only had a little more than an hour to tidy the place up before Y/N arrived. I grabbed a garbage bag from my cabinets in the kitchen and got to work. A lot, of hard, grueling work was ahead.