Where you go - Carmen Berzatto x OC

Chapter 8

„Hey, Nat, straight up, that was fucking gnarly." Carmen complained to his sister when he had finally caught up to her in her hallway. Natalie shook his head at him. „You're such a soft, shitty bitch." The man blinked, taken aback. „What?" She glared at him. „You called Pete's cause you're too scared to call me. That's weak, bro." Carmen shook his head. „No, no, no. I called Pete cause every time I call you, you talk a bunch of shit and I really can't get into a fight right now." The woman scoffed. „You only call me when you're freaking out! And since I know you're low on time here are the bullet points: You only appear when you need something, you never got back to me about The Thing, you spend every minute since you've been back in that fucking restaurant, you didn't tell me you're apparently fucking dating Rafaela now and I had to get that from Uncle Jimmy; and now you're taking advantage of Pete?" She counted off and Carmens eyebrows wandered higher on his forehead with every point. „And you know how much I hate Richie being here!" Carmen breathed out. „I'm fine with all that, except I do kinda like Pete now and..."

„Man, you have such a fucking attitude!" Natalie interrupted him impatiently but her brother simply continued „I went to The Thing." The woman's face fell into surprise. „Wh- you went to a meeting?" She asked in disbelief. It took a moment but then Carmen finally confessed „yeah, I go three times a week." She smiled. „Where?" He looked a this sister. „River North." Natalie looked at him softly „Al Family?" He nodded. „Al Family, yeah." He swallowed. „And actually... Rafaela plays a huge part in all of that." Natalie cocked her head. „How so?" He sighed and leaned against the side board. „Before I met her... I used to constantly hear these voices in my head. Mikey, since his death. But also my old boss. Mom. It felt like I couldn't think. It felt like I couldn't breath. I felt like I was slowly drowning in my own spiralling thoughts with no way out. I couldn't relax, not even for a minute. I was constantly on edge and exhausted." He confessed and Natalie felt her eyes starting to sting, her heart hurting for her youngest brother.

„But with Raf... I noticed almost from the moment I have met her. She calms me, Nat." Unconsciously a small smile started to grow on his face. „She has such a calming presence. When I'm with her I feel like I can think, like I can breath. When I feel like I'm drowning she is there to pull me out of my own thoughts. She made me realise that I was an ass to Pete and that maybe I do need help and can also accept it. I'm not sure if I would have gotten that far without her." Natalie sniffled. „Oh my god. You're really falling in love with her, aren't you?" He looked at her oddly and she hugged him, confessing „I was actually going to lecture you about fooling around with a girl so much younger than you, who is your employee on top of that. But now I feel like really routing for you both." Carmen frowned over her shoulder. „Why is everybody going on about our 8 year age difference? It makes me feel creepy. I'm only 30, not 50." He complained. Natalie chuckled. „Will you fight with me tomorrow?" She felt him nod. „Yeah."

She withdrew from him with a frown. „Wait, did you make Rafaela cry?" She asked in a warning voice. She had clearly seen the signs on her face. That girl had cried her eyes out not long ago. He immediately shook his head and sighed. „She and Richie had a fight. Well, we're all currently at odds with him, but it was especially bad between these two." Natalie rolled her eyes. Of course. „That fucking asshole."

So imagine their surprise when the siblings returned and saw the two laughing with each other like there had been no nasty fight before. Rafaela smiled at them - only to get startled when Natalie suddenly pulled her into a hug. „Oh, wow, okay?" She gasped, her eyes on Carmen. „What is going on?" She silently mouthed and Carmen just shrugged with a small grin. When Natalie withdrew she looked around and frowned. „Where is Pete?" Richie shrugged. „I asked him for a cup of coffee." Natalie sighed. „Oh, Pete. He probably got sidetracked."