A Girl's Love

Chapter IX-Broken Embraces

The seconds that followed felt as if they were hours. Your kiss broke, and you turned to look at the pair of brown eyes you used to find the world in, behind those familiar red frames. Piero stood there, absolutely still, his breathing accelerating with every passing moment.

"Pie...", you only managed to mumble before Piero lunged at Ignazio, who had remained sitting beside you, him too unable to move. Piero grabbed Ignazio as if he weighed nothing, and smashed him against the wall.

" Perche??", he yelled to Ignazio, who remained still, not trying to fight him back or release himself from his grip. Piero insisted.

" What were you thinking? After everything we've been through, how could you?", he screamed even louder. Ignazio remained silent, his breathing barely audible.

Then, in a swift move, Piero delivered a rather strong punch in Ignazio's stomach, which caused him to double over and fall down the floor, letting out only a silent grunt. Piero breathed in, and turned to you.

His eyes you felt were stabbing you. They were filled with fury, anger, but also disappointment. That alone was enough to make you feel like vanishing from the face of the planet.

" And you, (Y/n)... I gave you my all, m-y everything. How could y-ou do this to me? J-ust h-", he tried saying as you saw in fear his hands reaching for you before Ignazio's arm stopped them.

" No, n-o... Piero, leave her out of th-is, it's not her fault... ", he said strongly, his one hand still holding his side. Piero looked at him, his face constrained in anger.

" Then whose fault is it? E? 'Cause I believe it takes two to tango.", he said in a slow tone that made you shiver in fear.

" It was m-e, Piero... I, I was the one that couldn't keep my feelings hidden any longer. It was all me, a-ll me, so if you want someone to blame, blame m-e... She, sh-e is not responsible...", Ignazio said, his sentences coming out in pieces as breathing was becoming difficult for him due to the hit Piero had delivered minutes ago.

Piero stood still, his eyes piercing Ignazio's.

" How long? ", he asked simply, and Ignazio took a deep breath before looking at him.

" E-ver since I saw her... I knew what I felt, I f-elt what you felt. Believe m-e I tried, I tried so hard to le-t it go, to forget it... B-ut I fail-ed...", Ignazio responded, his side clearly hurting him way too much to remain standing as he sat down beside you, looking down and trying to catch his breath.

" And you thought that was the best thing to do? Go behind my back with MY girl?", Piero only insisted, to which Ignazio didn't respond as he still struggled to catch his breath.

It was when you decided to stand up, you couldn't stand simply watching this unfold before you without doing anything. So you cleared your throat and desperately tried to hold back the tears as you spoke.

" Pie... I, I'm s-", you tried saying, but Piero simply raised his hand, signaling you to stop.

" You're sorry? Sorry for what? For betraying me? Hurting me? Stabbing me in the back? Please pick which one of those you are actually sorry for... ", he said strongly before he moved to exit the room. You felt yourself running behind him.

" Piero, I'm sorry for ev-erything, okay? Everyth-ing, I nev-er wanted any of this to happen . And I, I...", you tried saying but Piero turned to face you, tears now in his eyes.

" It doesn't make any difference, (Y/n)... All, ALL of your sentences begin with you; how YOU feel, how YOU are sorry, how YOU didn't or did want this. But, really, did you ever think of us? Of me, of Ignazio, of our lives? H-ow are we supposed to continue?", he said, almost in a whisper as he turned and slammed the door behind him.

You brought your hands on your face as the tears you were trying to restrained finally started to fall. You couldn't even breathe as the realization of the situation was only now beginning to feel like what it was; real. You closed your eyes and the only pictures that you could see were those of Piero's tear-stained face and Ignazio's trembling voice taking the blame for everything.

You had no idea how long you'd been crying, when you felt Ignazio's arm surrounding you in a tight hug, his lips softly kissing the top of your head.

" Shhh, please (Y/n), it's going to be okay. P-lease, stop cry-ing...", he pleaded with you, his voice soft and comforting. You remained there, trying to stop the tears and you hugged him tighter, a movement that caused him to silently winch. You widened your eyes.

" Oh, God Igna... I'm s-o sorry, I forgot he h-it you. Does i-t hurt too m-uch? Should I g-et the med?", you started asking inbetween sniffles, but he shook his head no as he smiled.

" It's f-ine, it's j-ust a bruise...", he whispered, but you shook your head no.

" No, n-o, I... Please lie down, l-et me see it...", you asked, and he nodded, seeing that this worry had managed to slow the tears down a bit.

He laid on the bed, and you sat beside him. You traced the bruise that was beginning to form at the right side of his torso. You pressed only a tiny bit, causing him to let out some rather loud groans.

" I'm s-orry... ", you whispered as tears started to fall down again."... It doesn;'t s-eem to b-e too s-erious, a-t leas-t...", you managed to add as you started crying again.

Ignazio rapidly wrapped his arms around you, kissing your cheeks while wiping the tears that refused to stop falling from your eyes. His arms guided you to lie down on top of him, your head situated directly on top of his heart.

" It's going to b-e okay, (Y/n)... You'll s-ee, he will think things through and it's going to b-e okay... ", his voice kept repeating softly, and you wondered who he was trying to convince; you or himself. Nevertheless, his tender voice and gentle movements of his arms managed to somehow calm you down and, eventually, drift you to sleep.

The days that followed only seemed to disprove Ignazio's sentences. Nothing seemed like it was going to be okay. Piero hardly spoke to Ignazio, even during concerts and, even though Ignazio tried to make it seem normal, it was obvious to you that it was not. The moment the lights of the stage went off, Piero turned the other way, talking only to some members of the crew and Gianluca. Ignazio's face held a sense of absolute sadness, but it went away the moment he would spot you. His face would beam, his familiar smile gracing his features.

He kept assuring you that he was fine, and that as time passed, things would return back to normal.

" As long as I have you by my side, nothing can hurt me, remember?", he would always add with a smile as he proceeded to gently kiss your lips, assuring you that he needed nothing more but you.

You could see, though, that he needed what he used to have. Not only him, every single person working for them needed the previous situation to return. The tension was visible, you thought, and it was all due to you and your inexplicable inability to sort your feelings out.

You had noticed him staring at times at nowhere, and his eyes clouding with sadness. Of course, he denied everything, desperate to send away any of your worries.

But it was all there, right in front of your eyes to see; all the pain you'd caused. And, since you were the one to cause it, you had to be the one to solve it as well.

It was early in the morning, and you managed to wake up before Ignazio did, something that wasn't too difficult of a task. You smiled as you looked at his sleeping frame, his breathing slow and calm, no tears on his cheeks.

Like it always should be.

You picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number. The person responded after a few seconds. You took a deep breath.

" You told me to call you if ever any problems occur. Well, they have...".