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❝HOW'S YOUR FATHER?❞ Paulo asked, as she saw Naomi shutting her father's door. Paulo had to stay in the waiting room, since he wasn't allowed to visit Naomi's father since he wasn't a family member of his.
"He isn't too good," she mumbled, "But he's getting better," she replied with a small smile.
Paulo nodded, "That's all that matters, right?" Naomi nodded, but he noticed that she wasn't okay, before he knew it, he saw tears rolling down her cheeks that she tried to hide by immediately wiping them away. "Hey, hey, don't cry," he whispered into her ear as he hugged hr tightly. "He's going to be alright in no time. I promise you that, Naomi."
"Thank you," she mumbled against his chest, as her tears stained his grey t-shirt. "Don't worry about it," he whispered as his hands ran through her hair. "Do want something to eat or do you want to sleep?"
Paulo was worried about her, she hadn't really eaten any of the food on the plane because it made her feel nauseous and she had gotten practically no sleep because he was too busy worrying on the plane, unlike Paulo who had slept the entire flight. They had also came to the hospital immediately after they had arrived in Argentina, explaining why they had they still had their bags.
"Some food sounds nice right now, Pau," she admitted as she let out a yawn. "I'll call Jose if he can pick us up and give us a ride," he explained. Jose was one of his friends living here in Buenos Aires.
Naomi, barely being awake followed Paulo to where his friend was supposedly waiting. Only minutes into the car ride, she had fallen asleep.
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She turned and tossed in the bed, until she opened her eyes, not being aware of where she was. Naomi looked around the room, only to see Paulo sitting on the couch eating and he watched a match.
Naomi closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep once again but she couldn't because her stomach kept rumbling so she decided to get up. "You're finally up," Paulo smiled.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching her body as she mumbled a lazy, "yeah."
"You want something eat?" Paulo asked, gesturing to the bags of food from her favorite Italian restaurant in Buenos Aires. "Yes please," she mumbled.
Naomi looked through her bags, for her toothbrush and toothpaste, "I'll be right back," she added heading towards the bathroom.
After a few minutes she came back and took a seat at the table. He quickly served her a plate of her favorite chicken-alfreado pasta and she immediately began eating. Paulo smiled as he watched her eat. "Why didn't we go to my father's house instead?" Naomi questioned as she ate another bite of the pasta.
"Uhm, I didn't really know the directions to your father's house," he laughed. That was a lie, Naomi thought but she was too tired to even say anything- even though she had practically woken up from a nap only a few minutes ago.
She knew that was something going on, something that Paulo was keeping from her.
Naomi didn't reply, and just kept eating her food, without making any contact with him. Just because he had come along with her, and been with her to make her feel better didn't mean things between them were necessarily great again.
She wasn't going to get used to or fall for the sweet and caring side of Paulo. Naomi was tired of his personality and attitude changing all the time- as if he just couldn't control his actions.
But Paulo and his personality was one of the last things on her mind, instead she was thinking about her father. It pained her to see her father that way. To see him so weak- but he still smiled through it all.
She wished that she could be as strong as her father, for him at least. But if she couldn't even stay away from the man who hurt her over and over and leave him, then how could she possibly be strong for her father? Maybe, the only reason she could never leave Paulo was because during the time she felt like she had no father- she had Paulo, to care and love her. And maybe that's why she could never leave Paulo. That the love she wasn't getting from her father- she thought she was getting from Paulo, but for all she knew it could've been fake.
Or maybe, the fact that she had been hurt way too many times by one person, to the point where she didn't feel confident or even love herself- was the reason she just couldn't be strong for herself anymore. He had hurt her too many times to even feel like she could be strong for herself.
When she had seen her father hooked up to so many machines- she felt her heart had broken, once again. She felt heartbroken, but she also felt guilty and mad at herself. Why? Because she felt guilt over the reason that she had treated him differently over the past years, over something stupid- that she realized until now. She felt angry at herself, that she had seen him as a stranger, and not the man who was her father and who loved her with all his heart.
She couldn't help but reminisce the old and small memories- that meant the world to her. Naomi couldn't help but remember all the times he had been there for her, and how he did anything to make her happy, or just to put a smile on her face. Maybe it was all apart of the guilt she felt, that she seemed to think about was the memories between her and her father.
Naomi wondered how everything would be if he parents were still together- and the happy couple she remembered from her childhood.
"Naomi?" Paulo whispered softly, as he held her hand. "Baby, why are you crying?"
Naomi wiped her tears with her sweater, she hadn't even realized that she was crying. "It's nothing," she managed to get out.
Paulo didn't seem to know what to say, so he instead got up and hugged her, tightly. As if she would disappear. Never had he seen her so hurt and vulnerable- not even after everything he had done to her.
She didn't react to his actions, and instead let out all the tears she had kept when she was visiting her father.
Naomi wished she could be strong- but she just couldn't. She couldn't be strong for her father, no matter how much she wished she could be. Neither could she be strong for herself.
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finally updated hehe. my updating schedule is really weird and i'm sorry for that. i love you all! ♡
