𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝

58

valentina

It's been a hectic couple of weeks. In between spending time with my family and using every last spare moment to catch up on the years we've missed, I've been spending time with Matteo.  

Work for him has been busy these past few weeks which means the only real time we spend together is in the nights and the mornings, which means that he's supper touchy and unwilling to take his hands off me when it's just us two.

I run my hands through his soft waves and his arms tighten around my bare stomach that he's using as his pillow. His long legs are twisted with mine and are hanging off the bed but he doesn't seem to care.

"Matteo," I whisper and he stirs for second. "It's Christmas day."

In two seconds his body moves to hover above me, his thick arms either side of my torso effectively trapping me. He drops down so that his whole weight is resting on me and shoves his head in my neck.

"Mm, morning love." He mumbles tiredly and I shift under his body.

"You're suffocating me." I wheeze out.

"Shut up, no I'm not." He groans.

"I think I would know."

"Well you're wrong." Parting his lips, he gently kisses under my ear and I raise my hands to tug on his hair.

Once I finally get his head level to mine I whisper a small, "Merry Christmas."

His eyes instantly light up and a breathtaking smile comes across his face. "Merry Christmas Vee."

Matteo rolls off of me to stand by the bed, holding his hand out for me to take it. I do and he drags me to the bathroom.

We brush our teeth side by side, watching each other in the mirror and he snakes his arm around my waist. After that we shower together and when I turn the shower off, he hands me a towel before wrapping one around his own body.

All I've ever heard all of my life is that love is complicated, that it takes work and that it's never easy. And I think that love can be complicated and take work but not for us.

Everything with him feels so easy, so simple. I'm not afraid to make mistakes because I know he'll be there for me either way. I know that if we argue it doesn't matter because first of all he caves first and second of all we'll kiss and make up. Conflict is a part of life that we are both very familiar with; I want to be with someone I can fight with because I know he'll be there at the end of the day.   

He knows when I need space and vice versa. Somehow we've found this perfect balance where we're both separate people who enjoy different things but do practically everything together if it makes the other happy. 

It's something I know that we didn't have before, that individuality, that balance.

Our relationship is so much more innocent than it was years ago. Drugs and sex have been replaced with brownies and cop shows, puzzles and paintings and beach days. But our long nights under the stars have stayed the same and so have the kisses.

We've both grown and changed so much over the past few years we've spent apart yet we somehow fit together the same, maybe even better. I don't know if I believe in fate but I am thankful that I decided to be a little bitch and steal shit from him.

As Matteo gets changed in the bedroom, I stay in the bathroom to brush my hair and pee. Once I've applied my various hair oils and body moisturisers I slip on some blue plaid pyjama pants and a black tank top.

I push open the bathroom door as Matteo walks out the bedroom, in the same thing as I'm wearing but a white top instead of a black one.

I send him a little glare and he holds his hands up in surrender.

"I'll let it pass because it's white and it's Christmas."

He smiles and pulls me in for a hug, swinging my body side to side as he kisses the top of my head.

"I love you."

"I love you too Matteo." 

-

I fall into his arms as I sit down in the couch, passing him a glass of whiskey as I do.

"Hey." I sigh, resting my head on his chest.

"Tired?" He questions pecking my forehead.

"Very."

It's been a long day. After showering we went down for brunch and then went on a walk with everyone. We then made and ate Christmas dinner, exchanged gifts and now, board games.

We split into teams of two. Matteo and I go together and so do his parents and mine. Cairo and Enrico who flew back a couple days ago play together and then Luna and Vincent who will not stop arguing. The twins crashed out in their beds twenty minutes ago, tired from running around all day.

We start with a round of Monopoly that very quickly turns violent. Accusations of cheating are thrown around as well as an untrustworthy banker that I've caught sneaking themselves money on several occasions.

In the end Luna and Vincent win even though they very obviously cheated the whole time. Matteo and I come second because I'm fucking amazing at board games and if he didn't distract me every five seconds with his Matteo-ness we probably would've won.

We move onto another board game that pretty much ends the same as the last one did. This time though, real money had been introduced by my mother and father paying other players in exchange for Monopoly money.

Monopoly money.

They still somehow came last, then it was Cairo and Enrico, then Matteo's parents, then us in second again and the little fuckers from last time won.

Moving off from board games we switch to charades, which we win with ease and then to finish off, card games.

"Stop looking at my cards!" I scold my brother and he rolls his eyes.

"I was just stretching."

"I was just stretching." I mimic and he scoffs, muttering 'I don't sound like that' under his breath.

"Focus." Luna slaps the underside of his head and I bite my lip to stop a laugh from spilling out.

Placing down the rest of our cards, I smile sweetly. "We win."

The room is quickly filled with annoyed noises, lots of swearing and then blame being placed on teammates.

I settle back into Matteo's arms, welcoming the comforting warmth he brings.

"I love you." He mouths, pecking my forehead.

"I love you." I mouth back, resting my head on his chest.

I let out a sigh, watching the chaos unfold in front of us both as we sit calmly. This is what I've been missing out on all these years? All this crazy?

My eyes widen when a pillow gets picked up by Luna and she starts beating the shit out of Vincent with it. Something tells me I'll catch up on all the crazy quicker than I think.

And I can't wait for it.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

and scene

sorry this shit took so fucking long, i have been procrastinating finishing this book

thank u all for reading hope u enjoyed, maybe if i can be fucking bothered i'll write another someday

i probably will come back and edit this when i'm bored but i will most likely forget

i have been writing this book since early october so it's taken like a good six/seven-ish months to write it all

for the last time, drink water and take care of yourselves

<3