ℜ𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫 ℌ𝔬𝔩𝔦𝔡𝔞𝔶- 𝔇𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔬 𝔇𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔡 𝔣𝔞𝔫𝔣𝔦𝔠

Chapter 3

In the morning after Cecilia's big day and even bigger night, she was sleeping in due to all the alcohol in her system. The girl from last night was getting pretty worried, but mostly annoyed at the fact that she couldn't go out until she made sure Cecilia was okay.

She tried pinching her a couple of times. For a moment, she even considered dumping water over Celia. How bad is it going to be if she dies in my flat? But at the same time, she would already be dead if she really drank that much. As the kind-hearted bassist was having those thoughts, not facing the sofa where Cecilia was sleeping, little miss Astor slowly rose up. She started looking around, and she couldn't recognize her surroundings. But the hangover didn't allow her to panic. Her headache seemed to be the bigger problem at the time.

The girl from the band, still not having noticed that Cecilia had woken up, was filling a bucket with cold water. At that time Cecilia got up and slowly approached her from the back.  

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! If you plan on dying, you'll first have to get to your hotel." The bassist started saying as she was turning around with the bucket and when she saw Cecilia standing right behind her, she dumped it all over Celia. They both began screaming, but on the bright side, Cecilia's hangover was quickly going away. Its place taken by rage. 

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Cecilia shouted. "Who are you? Where am I? And why did you do this?"

"Please calm down, I have neighbours!" She grabbed Cecilia by the arm and took her to the couch again. "My name's Victoria. I'm not too sure of how many things you remember from last night. Long story short: you were alone at a club, drunk as well. The staff was going to call the police, but when my friends and I learned you're foreign, we felt terrible for you and decided to take you in for the night." Celia's head was slowly processing everything and with all the information, the headache was coming back. "I'm also really sorry for the bucket!" Victoria said as if it wasn't initially for the same purpose.

Realization hit Cecilia like a brick, and she immediately stood up looking for her phone. "I'm really thankful to you and your friends for this gesture. I really cannot describe how much I owe you. But do you know where my phone is?" 

"Yes, I left it on the dining table." Cecilia ran there like the Flash and when she saw the 30 missed calls from her mother she was about to faint. 

"This is going to be the end of me!" She said and started to cry on the table.

"Would you mind telling me something about yourself?" Victoria asked, not minding Cecilia's bad state. After all she had had enough of her. 

"My name is Cecilia. I'm from Britain." She started talking and hiccuping. "It's a really long story, but I have strict parents. They never let me do anything just for fun, alone or with friends. This summer I was supposed to stay alone in Rome and have the time of my life, but after they learn about yesterday It'll all end before it started. It's for the best, taking in consideration how I couldn't survive 24 hours by myself."

"Oh!" Victoria wasn't expecting this. "Don't cry. It'll be alright." She started patting her back. 

The phone started ringing again. It was the only thing that could be heard. They looked at each other and suddenly Cecilia picked it up. After explaining to her mom everything that happened, she was more than enraged. But the terrifying part was when her father started talking. 

"Do you have any idea what the word responsibility means?! That's what I thought. And to think how I actually believed that you'll be alright by yourself. This is it, young lady! The whole Italian police was about to start searching for you. You are getting on a plane this afternoon, and we'll send you to your brother. Now that we know diplomacy isn't your forte, let's see about hard labour. THE WHOLE SUMMER! Be at the airport at 5 sharp. And just dare to not show up!" The Lord was a hard man to anger. Cecilia on the other hand was an easy person to terrify. While she was having an hour-long conversation with her parents, Victoria had welcomed her 3 bandmates, and they were all smoking on the balcony. 

"You guys have to admit she's cute." Damiano was thinking aloud. 

"I'd say clueless. From what I understood, she's been living in a gold cage her whole life. And she knows nothing about the actual world. No wonder she got so drunk last night. It was probably her first time." Victoria said and took a drag from her cigarette. Cecilia came over as they were talking.

"Hello everyone! Again I'd like to apologize for the trouble and say how thankful I am for the 4 of you!" Her voice was shy and quiet. She couldn't think straight.

"Hey, it was no trouble. You just crashed on Vic's couch for one night. No big deal." Damiano said and Victoria elbowed him. "I'm Damiano by the way." he said through a grunt and stretched his hand to shake hers. Cecilia instantly remembered his eyes. She was mesmerized by those eyes a couple of times that night.

Thomas, the guitarist and Ethan the drummer were next to introduce themselves. 

"It was really nice meeting you guys! I'll grab my shoes and will head to the airport."

"Are you leaving Rome?" Thomas asked curious. 

"Yes. Italy, actually. My parents got really mad about yesterday and are sending me to Africa to my brother." After saying that, she broke down again. Damiano cached her and wrapped his arms around her. 

"Why are you crying?" He asked her.

"She wants to stay here on her own, and to prove to her parents that she can manage to survive without them." Victoria filled everyone in. 

"Well then stay. Sometimes kids need to be tough on their parents too, you know?" Damiano said, rubbing her shoulders. "Just tell them: Mom, dad, I'm staying here and that's final!"

"They're paying for my flat!" Cecilia told him.

"How are you managing on your own, then?" Thomas asked her.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know what I'm doing with my life. I'm so clueless." Cecilia exclaimed and Victoria laughed at the thought she used the same word to describe her.

"Could you give us a minute?" Damiano asked her, and she nodded, walking in the flat. After a while of quiet bickering, they called her back out.

"So, would you feel alright staying in my place for the summer?" Damiano asked her very straight forward. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did people outside her little world actually do stuff like that. And then it hit her that he might actually expect something from her.

"But I can't pay you rent or anything." She said, trying to see if he was going to suggest what she was expecting. 

"We'll find you some type of job. You said you wanted to be independent, right?" Victoria asked her.

"Yes, all of this is fine. Amazing, actually. But why?" 

"Everybody deserves a second chance at happiness." Ethan told her. 

"Some people even deserve a third and a fourth." Damiano added. "Do you agree?"

"Yes, of course I agree. Thank you so much!" She hugged them all. " I don't know how I'll ever repay you for the kindness!"

"You speak  funnily." Damiano pointed out and laughed.

A/N: I'm back at it again. Hope you guys like this chapter. If you did, make sure to vote and let me know by commenting. 

Also, this is happening the year before Eurovision in an Au without COVID-19.