Aria

Chapter 25

-Aria-

Alessandro walked out, dressed in a loose white shirt and beige pants. His sleeves were rolled up and the bracelet I made laid low against his wrist, reflecting the sunlight when it shined on the metal centerpiece.

"I'm going to get dressed as well, why don't you hang out with him for a bit, munchkin?" Gabe asks, nodding his head toward Alessandro. I squeeze his hand gently before stepping away and moving closer to Alessandro. I glance at him before smiling lightly and mess with Gabe by whispering to him how much fun we will be having. Gabe let out a big gasp before running up the stairs to change his clothes. I laugh at his actions and turn to Alessandro to see his reaction. An expression crosses his face but it's quickly replaced with a serious look. He clears his throat and starts walking away from me.

I drop my laugh and stare for a couple of seconds before following behind, accidentally running into his back when he abruptly stops.

"-Oh I'm sorry I did-" I stammer my words as Alessandro holds my hand and pulls me to stand next to him.

"Always beside me." He cuts in a stern voice and waits for my response. Once I whisper a small "okay" he nods and we continue to walk again. I watched as we passed the beautiful green view and perfect landscape of the house, this looks like heaven.

We walked all the way towards the gate, where three men dressed in black stood, their backs towards us. When they heard us approaching, they quickly lowered their heads and opened the gate, nodding while saying 'Capo'. I looked up at Alessandro in confusion but he didn't pay any mind to it.

Once we made it away from the house, we walked down a path that led us to a beautiful area in the forest. I gasp as I see radiant flowers peeking through the bushes. Alessandro turns to me and follows my gaze to the blue hydrangeas. He raises an eyebrow and I rush over, looking at the variety of hues the flowers held.

Absolutely gorgeous.

I feel Alessandro walk behind me and see his shadow spread as he leans forward to pick a flower. He rubs the petals with his fingers and studies them. A couple of minutes pass and soon enough pulls it away from the bush, wrapping his hand gently around it.

"A-at school, my teacher gave a presentation on flowers. I saw a picture of these and couldn't believe how beautiful they looked. T-they're even more gorgeous than I could have imagined." As I spoke in a hushed tone, I touched the flower Alessandro held in his palm. He breaths out before meeting my gaze and lifts his other hand to move a loose strand of hair away from my face. As he does he places the flower he picked onto my hands.

I hesitate before asking, glancing up every so often, "D-do you have a favorite flower?"

"These." He says as he clears his throat and looks off to the gate.

Gabe was walking towards us wearing a tropical print shirt and loose khaki pants. He held a big smile on his face and ran up to hug me.

I giggle as he reaches out to tickle me, "W-wait d-don-t." I laugh trying to move away from him.

"Well munchkin, are you ready for the picnic?"

"Super excited!" I say as he reaches over to kiss my forehead.

"Well then, let's get going." He holds onto my hand and nudges me towards the gate.

"R-ready Alessandro?" I ask, waiting for him to walk as well.

He nods and we begin to walk, Gabe smiles at me and starts to tell jokes as we make our way to the backyard.

I can't wait!