𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 | 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐳

Seventy two | What's Going On

The drive to the cafe was short, but tension filled the air between us, I had so many questions as to what Bianca could possibly want, if she was in trouble, if she was going to apologize, I really don't know

When we arrived at the cafe, Bianca was already there, sitting in the corner booth, looking much more worried than I've ever seen, she looked anxious, her once vibrant eyes now looked dull, her hands fidgeting with the edge of her cup, I exchanged glances with Pedri before walking up to her

"Bianca" I greeted her cautiously as Pedri and I sat down "sorry Pedri tagged along, you know how he is" I said trying to light up the mood a bit "Whats going on?" I asked

She looked up, her face pale and worn "Val.. Pedri.. I know this is out of the blue and I don't want to ruin your vacation, but I had to tell you guys before you left to go home, and honestly I didn't know who to turn to"

Pedri crossed his arms, "just tell us what's going on" he said more firmly, wasting no time

Bianca swallowed hard, her eyes darting around the cage as if she feared being watched "I'm in trouble, I'm in a really bad situation with Antonio"

My heart sank, I knew it, she wouldn't have contacted me if she wasn't in trouble, but again, it's the affair she had against João, so is it really my problem? The same affair that left João shattered in the inside, though he'd make it seem like he's totally fine on the outside

"What kind of trouble" Pedri asked, his tone clipped

Her voice trembled as she continued, "Well, um... turns out.. he's... abusive, it started small, but now it's...i don't know what to do, he won't let me leave, i know i messed up with João, but I'm scared; I don't have anywhere to go"

I exchanged looks with Pedri, this was far worse than either of us expected I guess, the disappointment I had towards her faded into something more complex, sympathy, concern

"But I don't want João to get involved, but I have something else to say" she sighed

"Hmm" I hummed looking at her, "after I left the house back in Barcelona, that's when I realized that what João and I had was definitely something else, and I regret cheating on him, and I hope that we work things out and get back together" she explained

"Oh I don't know Bee, you hurt him pretty bad, it'll probably take longer than you think, but your safe with us, we'll figure something out, but I can't promise that it'll happen before we leave, we have like what, only 1 week left" I told her

Pedri nodded, "we'll help you, but you need to stay away from Antonio, you're not going back to him", I nodded, "does he know you're here?"

"No, but he's leaving for a few days, he's leaving tonight" she spilled

"That's perfect, how long is a few days?" Pedri asked, "like a week maybe?" She replied

"That's okay, we can whip something up by then don't worry" I smiled "thank you.. does this mean you're no longer mad at me?" She asked

"Well for now I guess no, but as long as you apologize to João and figure your shit out then maybe I'll fully forgive you"

She nodded before getting up, shooting us another look before leaving the cafe

We followed, leaving the cafe, the warm breeze hit our faces; but the weight of what Bianca had just told us hung heavy between us, Pedri's hand remained on my lower back while we walked back to the car

"I can't believe this" i muttered, "this is so much worse than i imagined"

"It's okay amor, none of us imagined this, but I never liked the guy she left João for, something about him seemed off, but now to hear this.."

We arrived back to our car, he pulled me into a hug, pressing his lips against my forehead "we'll figure it out, I know you still care about Bianca, she's gonna need more help than just us though"

I nodded, "we can't involve João, it could break him"

"I know, but he might know what's best for her, he's the one who was dating her after all, and we can't handle this all on our own" he shrugged

After a few moments, we broke apart, and headed back to the restaurant João and Gavi were hopefully still at

Luckily they were, still waiting, completely unaware of the dramatic turn the day had, almost making me forget it was my birthday,
When they saw us, João raised an eyebrow, sensing the shift in our demeanour

"What happened?" Gavi asked

I hesitated, not wanting to expose Bianca's situation so soon, especially not in front of João, but I also knew we needed Gavi's help

"There's something we need to talk about" I began, glancing at the two of them "but João, I'm not sure you should be involved with this"

João, who was casually laying back in his seat, sat straight up, his eyes narrowing, "what do you mean, what's going on?"

Pedri looked at me, unsure how to address the situation "João it's about Bianca"

At the mention of her name, joaos expression darkened, he ran a hand through his hair, clearly trying to remain composed "what about her"

I stepped in "she's in a bad situation, she reached out to me today, and she.. she's in a abusive relationship with the guy she left you for"

Joaos face went pale, a mixture of shock and anger flashing across his face, he clenched his jaw, the betrayal of what had happened still fresh, despite the time that had passed

"Why are we talking about this?" João said quietly, his voice more strained "she made her choice, she left me"

"She did" I agreed "but this isn't about that anymore, she's scared, João, he's hurting her, and she doesn't have anyone else to turn to, she didn't ask to involve you, she came to me cause she's desperate"

João looked away, staring out the restaurant window, he was silent for a while, his hand gripping the sides of the chair tightly, Gavi shifted uncomfortably, all of us clearly sensing the tension but remained silent

Finally João spoke, his voice low "I don't know if I can do this, I mean after what she did, how can I think about helping her"

Pedri leaned forward, his expression softening
"Were not asking you to get involved, João, Val and I can help her, but we need to make sure she's safe, and we might need to figure out a way to get her out of the city without alerting Antonio, we just didn't want to keep you in the dark"

"Then you do it, I have Maria to entertain anyways" he shrugged

"Umm, she didn't tell you did she?" I asked
"Tell me what?" I took a breath, "she has a boyfriend" I spilled

"Of course she had to have a boyfriend, act all cute with me and lead me on but in the end she had a boyfriend" he rolled his eyes "fine, I don't want anything to do with Bianca, but if she's really in danger, she needs help, just don't bring me into it more than you have to"

I nodded "we'll handle it, you don't need to do anything"

He gave a small nod, his jaw still tense, he looked over at Gavi who had been silently still processing everything, "Gavi I guess this is where you come in"

He blinked, caught off guard "me? What do you need me to do?"

Pedri spoke up, "we're going to need help keeping Bianca safe, maybe even a place for her to stay for a few days, can we count on you?"

Gavi being the supportive friend, nodded "of course you can count on me, but what's the plan? We can't just hide her forever"

"We need to get her as far away possible from Antonio, maybe even out of Miami, back in Spain? I don't know" I suggested

"We'll also need to make sure she's not being tracked or watched" Pedri added "if this guy is as controlling as she says, he could be keeping tabs on her"

João stood abruptly pushing his chair back, "I can't be here for this" he nurtured, grabbing his belongings "let me know when it's over, or actually I'll be back at the Airbnb"

We all watched him leave, understanding the pain João could be experiencing,"He'll be okay" Pedri said to me "right now, we need to focus on freeing Bianca"