𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 | 18+

21

My heart hammers in my throat and ears as I stand immobile in the corner of the room. I want to run but I can't. It's a if my feet were glued to the floor and my legs paralyzed. The intruder seems just as shocked as I am.

Most people have a fight or flight instinct. I'm that small percentage that has the freeze.

"Who the fuck are you!?" He shouts, pointing the gun at me. I barely hear him over the thumping of my heart inside my ear, adrenaline cursing through every inch of my body and making me shake a little.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" I yell, grabbing onto the first thing my eyes land on that's beside me. A lamp. I take it and I'm about to chuck it at his head when the door opens again. I jump but this time it's Ezra. He's still soaking wet. He seems unfazed, maybe even confused at first seeing me with a lamp in my hand and my face white as a sheet of paper, until he sees the man. His eyes go wide and he charges at him, but the man rips the ski-mask off right in time and reveals Matteo's familiar face.

Ezra's shoulders slouch and he lets out a hard sigh. His back muscles turn rigid as he sends a punch to Matteo's abdomen, who hunches over a bit.

"Get out of my house." He growls. Anyone would've obeyed him, hearing that tone. Except for Matteo, of course.

"We have a problem." Matteo says, ignoring his previous statement.

"You just had to break into my house  like a fucking dingbat because sending me a text was too difficult, wasn't it?" Ezra says, his tone still loud and annoyed. He walks over to the fridge where he pulls out a bottle of cold water. He chugs it and sighs, crumpling the plastic into his fists.

"Was that necessary-"

"Just tell me what happened before I kick you off the roof." Ezra rolls his eyes. I still feel petrified, I can't move my feet and my hand is practically glued to the lamp.

"Ci hanno attaccato i russi, in due delle villette. Ne hanno bombardata una e l'altra l'hanno invasa. Siamo riusciti a catturarne due, ma non dicono un cazzo." Matteo says, making weird gestures with his hands. I have no idea what he's saying, but I'm guessing it's something secret since he's speaking in another language. It sounds like Italian.

"Ma come? Non vi eravate assicurati del massimo controllo?" Ezra snaps, suddenly angrier. It looks could kill Matteo would be well past disintegrated right now.

"Eh si.."

"Mio padre mi ucciderà..." Ezra groans, knotting his hands through his fingers.

"Te contattalo, ma tanto lo sa già..."  Matteo shrugs as I just watch their conversation, confused.

"Ma grazie. Magari non gli è ancora arrivata la notizia, lo sai che sta male. Porco mondo, sta per morire." Ezra growls.

"Allora prendi la situazione nelle tue mani e fanne qualcosa. Sei te in prossimo a prendere il suo posto, mica io." Matteo points his hands at himself defensively.

What in the world is going on?

I should start saying gibberish and pretend like it's a language just so they feel left out from my conversation with myself. Yeah...No.

"Va bene. Glielo dirò. Ora vattene, dammi un po' di tempo per pensarci e ti aggiorno domani." Ezra says.

"Very well. I'll see you guys later." Matteo chirps, as if someone changed the language back to English on a Netflix movie.

"Bye...you." He says, forgetting my name. That explains why he didn't recognize me when he was pointing a gun at me a few minutes ago..

"Delilah." I remind him.

"Yes, bye Delilah. Be careful around him, he might bite your arms off." He whispers.

"Noted, thanks. Bye.." I mutter as he exits. Ezra still sits at the counter with his hands knotted in his hair, tugging at it as if he were going to rip it out. Some people can rock the bald look, I'd look like a deformed egg.

Oh, I'm still holding the lamp??

I set it down and walk over to Ezra, leaning down to his level. He doesn't budge. Water from his hair drips down in front of him.

"You alright?" I ask, poking his shoulder.

"I'm thinking." He mutters, closing his eyes. I hum and circle around the counter, getting a glass of water.

"Thirsty?" I ask. "For water, I mean." I add, not knowing how dirty his mind is.

"No, thank you." He mutters. How do I help him? If there an On/Off button somewhere? I lean over and poke his back.

"What are you doing?" He groans.

"I'm looking for an On and Off switch." I tap my fingers along his back but he doesn't move. Not in the mood for jokes, I see. I sigh and circle my arms around him, hugging him from behind. I ignore the wetness of his shirt.

He's stiff in my embrace, but he eventually softens and leans into my touch, putting his hand over mine. We stay there for what feels like forever, but my back starts to ache so I stand up straight, keeping my front pressed against his back and my hands on his head, playing with his hair. It's thick and soft, even though it's wet, light waves running through it.

"Matteo gave me half a heart attack." I say softly. He hums. "Luckily my super ninja instincts kicked in, like fifteen seconds too late but that's besides the point, and I was ready to throw a lamp at him." I say, trying to brighten his mood.

Sometimes people need to have sad moments, but it's good to have someone to talk to that cheers you up.

"That's cool." He mutters.

"Hungry?" I ask, backing away from him and looking in his fridge. It's make sense if he isn't after having a giant cup of iced coffee.

"Not really." He says, getting up and going for the direction of the hallway. He slides his shirt off as he walks, soon disappearing into nothing but the sound of his footsteps.

Oh okay.

A few minutes later, Ezra comes back out with a dry sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head.

"Sorry.." He walks over to me and leans against the counter.

"For...?" I ask, confused as of why he's apologizing. I'm one of those people too, I over-apologize.

"Being a grump." He presses his lips together.

"It's fine. I have no clue what shit you guys were talking about, but it's cool." I shrug.

"You know! There's a fair going on tonight that we could go to!" I say, a smiling beaming on my face.

"I guess so." He smiles a bit.

"I'm so pushing you off the ferris wheel," I tease.

"I guess you're coming down with me, then."

word count: 1332
☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎

bonjour amigos, how are y'all doing.
Stay safe <3
-S