Ghost-Writer// Victoria De Angelis // English

28| mirror on the wall

I sat down on the couch and not a second later, Victoria came to join us. "Vic! Do this song with us!" Damiano called her over to join the karaoke. She stared at him coldly. "I'm leaving." She said bluntly, grabbing her jacket and shutting the main door.

"What was that all about huh?" Ethan asked me. "Nothing." I brushed it off. It wasn't nothing. It was me being my usual idiotic self and causing the most drama possible. "So..who wants to sing with us because this is a trio song..." Thomas looked around the clearly not in the mood room.

"I'll be in my room." I told Ethan and did just that. I closed my door and layed flat on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

I. Love. You.

Three fucking words that I couldn't say. I could write millions of lyrics but I couldn't say three words out loud. How pathetic was that?

I sat up, facing the mirror on the wall. I closed my eyes, pretending it was Victoria. "I.. love you." I said out loud, singing in relief. Then I remembered it wasn't real.

I could hear faint horrible singing, it sounded like Ethan had joined in my place. I didn't know what to feel. Am I overthinking it?

Mom:
Who's this Victoria girl you're supposedly dating?

The worst fucking time Mom. The absolute worst time. I ignored it and went onto Instagram instead, in hopes of distracting myself.

I was tagged in millions of ship edits between Victoria and I. Almost all the captions had #couplegoals. I'm pathetic. Embarrassing. Disappointing. Why did Victoria still like me?

I hadn't even thought about Victoria's side of things. Did she like, like me? Or just like me? It was too confusing to tell. I heard a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I yelled, putting down my phone. "Thomas." He said from the other side. I let him in. "Is everything ok?" I asked him, full of instant worry.

He came in and sat on my bed. "I was going to ask you that." Thomas looked at me. "For me... everything is... going fine." I struggled to find the right words.

"Really?" He looked at me in a different way. I sat beside him. "Why do you want to know? You've got piles of problems yourself why deal with mine?" I honestly rambled. "Because that's what you did for me." He explained.

All I did was comfort him and now he thinks he owes me comforting? Bless him.

"Just the regular old stuff I guess." I said vaguely. "Like what?" Thomas faced me. "Life." I said, still not revealing a thing. He looked down at his hands. "It's hard to explain ok..I'll try." I took a deep breath.

"There is a girl, who I would do anything for and I don't know how to tell her. Every time I try, something goes wrong." I explained, hoping he wasn't going to pick up on the fact it was Vic. Of course, Thomas wasn't born yesterday and instantly knew.

"I knew you had a thing for Vic." He clapped in victory of being right. "Apparently everyone does. Except her."

Thomas pursed his lips in thought. "Write her a song." He suggested bluntly. "This isn't a musical!" I laughed at his idea. "But that's how you get things out. Writing." Thomas knew me a little too well. He was right. I hated that he was right.

"Thanks for the advice." I nodded. "I'm here all week." He winked jokingly, making me giggle. "Now if you'll excuse me, duty calls." Thomas got up. "QUICK IT'S STARTING!!" Damiano yelled, making Thomas run quicker.

Somehow everyone sounded more aggressive in Italian. Writing a song for Victoria? I mean, I've done it before so it's not special enough. I've tried taking her to her favorite restaurant but the guys crashed it, although that did have a better outcome than I expected. I tried taking to her plain out loud but I accidentally offended her.

I decided to take a nap and escape from this all...
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"Wake up birthday girl!" I heard Victoria's soft voice call me from my peaceful world. My eyes fluttered open to see her standing with breakfast on a tray. "You shouldn't  have!" I pouted in graciousness. She set it down and climbed into bed with me. "Anything for my favorite person." Victoria cuddled next to me, pressing s wet kiss on my forehead. I was happy. Happy.

"CIAO?!"
I jumped in fright to see Ethan standing beside my bed. That damn dream. They're going to be the death of me. "Oh sorry.." He guiltily mumbled after seeing my terrified face. "What do you want?" I groaned in annoyance. "It's 7pm, I made dinner." Ethan explained quickly.

"I'll heat it up later just.." Why was my voice breaking? Oh shit.. why was I crying? "Are you good?" Ethan gasped at me with his caring personality. "No." I answered honestly for once. Nothing was good. Nothing.

His arms instantly wrapped me tightly. Maybe this was.

"Ethan, I'm exhausted. I'm trying to hide everything and it's just tiring." I felt the lump in my throat clear as I suddenly sobbed. "Don't hide it then, let it out." He patted my back, whispering. I let tear after tear spill out. "Can I tell you a secret?" Ethan asked out of the blue.

"Sure?" I sniffled, wailing my nose grossly. "She'd kill me if I told you.." he chuckled softly, blowing air onto my neck.

"Victoria...she.. she likes you. For real." He said finally.

Those words meant a million things. I was speechless. All this time, chasing after someone, just to find out she was feeling just as worried? "Woah." Is all I could mumble from my shocked lips.

Woah.

"Yes. And I don't want to pressure you into it, but the longer you take to tell her, the longer it'll take for you two to get together, for real. She's not a first-mover." He whispered to me. "I love you so much Ethan! THANK YOU!" I turned to face him.  "Just the messenger." He shrugged his shoulders with a cheeky grin. "Ah! Come here!" I squeezed him tightly.

"So is that a yes on the dinner?" Ethan didn't drop the subject. I jumped up and followed him to the kitchen. He had made chicken curry. "Criminal minds?" He suggested. I smiled and nodded. We brought our plates to the living room and sat.

Once again, not a good show to watch while eating with all the blood and gore but it still felt somewhat comfortable. "We need a new manager, I never learned how to book an interview." Ethan stated as Morgan kicked down a door.

"Find a better one." I warned him. "You're acting like I picked the last one!" He defended himself, making me grin At successful annoying him. I looked back at the screen. "SHIT!" We yelled at the same time, watching the unsub come out of nowhere.

Ethan was better than any friend I could ask for. Now it was just time to get Victoria in my life.

Damiano
Probably none of my business, but Victoria texted me a photo of her crying. Is she good?

Victoria was crying? Over me? No way. I couldn't believe it. Why would I ever want to make the love of my life cry?

I fucked up.

A/n: leaving for Rome in a few days, will Rianna tell Victoria before then? When will Rianna say those words? Will Ethan ever be sad, I mean how is that man still hugging and smiling? What is Victoria's perspective on all this? Will Thomas press charges against Natasha? Will they get a new manger? All questions will be answered in a matter of chapters....