Amore Inaspettato

Capitolo 23

The ride to Vitto's house was quiet and she was grateful for that. Vitto could tell something was off but he didn't want to question her about it. If she wanted him to know she would tell him.

Ginevra currently sat in the car while Vitto was in his house. She pulled out her phone scrolling through her contacts until she got to the one she was looking for. Her finger hovered over the call button but she couldn't do it. She shifted her finger to the right pressing the message button. Their texts quickly filled her screen. Her eye fell on the last text from him that she had, I know I don't understand exactly but I'll be there.

She had unblocked Nicco's number when she got a new phone but they hadn't been in contact. All she had was the messages he'd set her during the time she was ignoring him. She assumed after that last text he'd just stopped trying. If he'd sent anymore they would have come through when she unblocked him. Her finger's again hovered over the keyboard, she was racking her brain on what to say.

The door to the car opened making her close out of the app and look up to a smiling Vitto. "Ready?" Ginevra asked. Vitto was wearing a pair of dark-washed jeans and a simple black t-shirt.

"Yep," Vitto smiled as he started the car. Silence fell over the two as Ginevra looked out her window. The only sound filling the car was the soft sound of the radio playing.

"Thank you for agreeing to dinner with my dad," Ginevra said.

"Oh it's no problem," Vitto said.

"I know it's not exactly the ideal date," Ginevra confessed.

"So it's a date now?" Vitto questioned.

"I mean you did agree to have dinner with my dad," Ginevra said, "Maybe we can go for ice cream after. Make it a proper date."

"Deal," Vitto said, "But you definitely owe me one." Ginevra couldn't help but laugh at the boy sitting next to her.

"What are you thinking?" Ginevra asked.

"Well, I think it's only fair that if I have dinner with your parent you have dinner with my parents," Vitto said.

"Sure," Ginevra said.

"Oh good. My mom had so many questions about the girl I was having dinner with," Vitto said.

----

Ginevra sat at the dinner table. Vitto and her dad were talking about something but she wasn't paying attention. She pushed the pasta from the Chicken Alfredo her father made around her plate. "How has school been going Ginevra?" Alessio asked breaking her from her trance.

"Well considering today was the first day back I'd say pretty well," Ginevra said. She still had mixed emotions about her dad being back. She was still mad at him for leaving her for a month but glad that he looked clean. She also worried if he would stay clean or not.

"You haven't really touched your food," Alessio said.

"I'm just not very hungry," Ginevra said putting her fork down on her plate.

"We can put it in the refrigerator for leftovers," Alessio said.

"Vitto and I are actually gonna go out for ice cream," Ginevra said.

"On a school night?" Alessio asked.

"Yes," Ginevra spoke, annoyed that he all of a sudden cared what she did.

"We won't be gone long," Vitto said.

"All right," Alessio nodded, "You better get going before it gets too late." Ginevra stood from her chair not sparing another look at her dad before she walked out the front door. She heard the front door shut as she opened Vitto's car door. The boy soon joined her.

The car ride to get the ice cream was quiet. Ginevra's mind swirling with thoughts and Vitto just trying to figure out why the girl was so on edge.

They each got ice cream and found a nearby bench to sit on. "I'm sorry tonight's been so shitty," Ginevra said.

"It's not been shitty," Vitto said, "I got to spend time with you." Ginevra couldn't help but laugh at how corny that sounded. "Too corny?"

"Maybe just a bit," Ginevra giggled.

"Well I meant it," Vitto said. Ginevra looked down at her ice cream mixing it around in the cup with her spoon. "So...I couldn't help but sense some tension between you and your dad."

"You picked up on that huh?" Ginevra asked.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Vitto said.

"No, it's fine," Ginevra said, "I think I've held my emotions in for long enough." Vitto put his hand on her knee, giving it a comforting squeeze. "What I'm about to tell you can't be told to anyone."

"Your secrets safe with me," Vitto assured.

"I don't even know where to start. I guess when my mom died," Ginevra said, "A few months after my mom died my dad started drinking pretty heavily. After a while on the really bad nights, he would turn to drugs, not being able to handle what had happened."

"Ginevra," Vitto said grabbing ahold of her hand, "I had no idea."

"No one did. I spent all of my time and energy trying to hide it from everyone," Ginevra said, "Anyway, things escalated between us about a month after school ended. We had this uh...big fight. He ended up going to rehab and that's where he's been the past month. Don't get me wrong I'm so glad that he went but this past month has been really hard on me. And I want to believe that he's changed but I just..."

"It's hard for you," Vitto said.

"Exactly," Ginevra said, "It's just hard for me to believe he's changed. I just think any second he can go back to how he was before."

"I'm here for you, Ginevra," Vitto said, grabbing her chin so that she was looking into his eyes, "If you never need anything, just ask. I'm only a phone call away."

"Thank you, Vitto," Ginevra smiled.

"Anything for you, pretty girl," Vitto smiled back.

Sorry this chapter is late...and I feel like it's kinda boring. Idk why I struggled to write this chapter so much.
~A