Beyond us

1995, 29th of December

The comfort of the sleeping bag beside Ace's bed was more than Antonio had ever gotten at his home. Penelope was in Arias room and Leo slept in the guest room because... well, no one wanted to be near him. Once Aces breathing slowed down, Antonio laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. The adults brought them to the Dalton house so they could talk about what to do with them. But Antonios mind wasn't on that, it was, his mind was on a lot of things, but what he kept worrying about the most was his parents.

Guaranteed they weren't the best to him but where would he stay now? The Daltons wouldn't take him in, they're barely making it through with just them. He doesn't want to leave his friends and this area. He didn't like change that much. Well where he's staying isn't the only thing that's changing.

Antonio gave up on trying to sleep. Instead, he got up and travelled to the bedroom door, he looked back at Ace, his blonde hair gently laying on his forehead. Antonio turned back around, opened the door and exited the room. It was dark. Everyone was asleep. Antonio travelled downstairs and into the kitchen. The touch of the tiles were cold on his bare feet, the only warmth he felt was the person beside him.

He gasped at the sudden realisation that he was not alone. Only to calm down when he saw that it was Aria. She giggled at his reaction.

"You scared the hell out of me." He laughed as well. "Here, feel." He grabbed her hand and put it to his chest. His heart was beating quicker than normal. He saw her blush and pull her hand away.

"I don't need to feel your heart to know you're scared now, remember?" She smiled at him. Their new powers, of course.

"Oh, yeah." Was all he said, he moved passed her and grabbed a glass out of a draw, he filled the cup up with water and turned back to Aria, who was still looking at him. "What?" He asked.

"I'm really sorry, about your parents, I know they sucked and all but..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. He stood there, twirled the water in his glass around and looked back at her.

"Thanks. I'm sorry as well, for being the one that put us in this damned place." He sighed. She walked closer to him and put her hand on his arm in a comforting way. He looked at it and felt comfort from her touch.

"How were you supposed to know what would happen?" She asked. Aria quickly dropped her hand from his arm.

"Only idiots eat weird goo they find in the forest." Antonio grumbled.

"You're not an idiot." Aria retorted back. After years and years of hearing his father call him an idiot, for someone to say otherwise, felt... it felt nice. Antonio wrapped his arms around Aria, giving her a warm hug. She slowly found her arms around him too. They were both disappointed when Antonio brought his arms back to himself. Aria looked to the ground, too nervous to look at Antonio. He smirked down at her and let out a little laugh.

"You're nervous, why?" He asked.

"I-I'm not nervous, how would you know that?" She tried to defend herself, but when Antonio gave her a knowing look she felt her posture deflate. "Oh, right. New powers and all." She tucked her hair behind her right ear and found the courage to look at him again. Her beautiful silver-blue eyes stared at him. His deep brown eyes stared back at her.

He didn't know what he was doing in that moment. Not until he leaned down enough and found his lips against hers in a quick peck. He shot back up and looked at her face for approval. All he saw was bright red cheeks and wide eyes. She was shocked. Did she not like it?

"Was that okay?" He found himself asking.

"I- you- we- I mean- yes! Yes that was okay." She finally spat out. Antonio smiled. Aria is nice, she is a good friend and she is cute. That's what had been going through his mind for a while and it didn't help that she obviously enjoyed his company too.