𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙙 || 𝙟𝙤𝙖𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙭

𝘀 𝗶 𝘅

DEAL WITH IT
"on my silent days, i miss you a little louder"

~isla~

we all sat down around the table, well more specifically joão, leo, and i. my mother was still in the kitchen preparing for our feast and i have no idea where my father or my other two brothers are.

"do you speak spanish joão?" leo asks, sliding into the seat across from me. if joão is gonna get along with someone in my family, it will definitely be leo. he's the most friendly and he can somehow make any situation not become awkward.

"a little, i've been trying to learn more because i play on a spanish team." joão replies, a small smile on his lips.

"you play football?" leo immediately asks, his eyes tinkling in admiration. he leans over the table to give joão all his attention.

joão grins and bites his lip. "yeah, i play for atléticos first team." he states, the proudness rolling off his tongue.

"wow." leo coos, his jaw dropping to the table. "that's insane." he opens his mouth to ask another question but my mother calls me from the kitchen. i stand up quickly and flatten out my silk dress.

i place a short kiss on joaos head and tell the two boys that i'll be back in a minute. i walk into the kitchen, my heels clinking against the marble floor loudly. my mother turns her head as she hears me walk in. "hola mamá."

"isla." she hesitates and my eyebrows furrow. she pulls something out of one of the ovens and places the hot pan on the stove, careful not to burn her bare arms. "so that boy?"

"his names joão." i correct her and she rolls her eyes, placing her hands on his hips.

"your father won't like him." she gives me a look telling me 'you should know better' and i scoff, picking at my nails. "he looks nothing like enzo."

my head snaps up at the comparison and let out an airy laugh. "ok." i laugh, grabbing a piece of hair and twirling it around my finger to keep me from lashing out. "so what?"

"i'm just preparing you for what he might think." she raises her eyebrows and i bite my lip to prevent an evil laugh from escaping.

"i don't care what he thinks." i scoff and turn around to return to the dining room. i can hear leo and joão chatting and giggling from around the corner and it immediately puts a genuine smile on my lips.

as i turn the corner, both of them look up at me. "isla!" leo cheers and joão turns around in his seat to look. he gets up to meet me halfway. "why didn't you tell me you had such a cool boyfriend?"

i smile and joão chuckles against my neck as he leans down to plant a short kiss to my pulse point. my brain almost short circuits at the feeling of his lips on my neck, there's no way that just happened.

his fingers slip into mine and he pulls me back towards the table. i have to keep reminding myself that this is all an act, and he would never do anything like this if we weren't in front of my brother.

rey and luis walk into the room a couple minutes later, both wearing a dark suit that fits them perfectly. my father probably had them tailored specially for this dinner.

joão looks over at me as they sit down across from him, nervousness clear in his eyes. i place my hand over his knee as it bounces up and down. rey and luis don't even acknowledge joão sitting there and i roll my eyes at their rude behavior.

"guys this is joão, joão this is rey and luis." i point at each of them with an annoyed grin and they barely even greet him. i scoff and turn away, trying not to get worked up. joão seems to notice because he places his hand over mine, rubbing his thumb up and down on my palm.