𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, ph.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀𝐢𝐱. blackout.

⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐢𝐱. —— blackout.

— i —

Rome tried his best to not look as uncomfortable as he felt. Noh was sprawled out on the chair opposite to him, looking as disinterested as always, while their dad and the woman were sitting on both ends of the dining table. Rome subconsciously started to think about her like that; she wasn't just any woman, she was the woman, and this emphasis was very much a thing in his mind.

Rome wasn't a little kid anymore, he wasn't going to throw a tantrum at the news of his father having a girlfriend—or at least he'd very much like to say that. It's been eleven years since his mother died, and either way, Rome didn't think that his dad's grieving period had been longer than maybe six months. So it wasn't like Rome wanted to be difficult, it was just that there was something... too pretentious about this woman; the way she smiled was a little too wide for what they've been talking about, she sounded way too eager to know everything about Rome and Noh, almost as if she was going to date them instead of their father.

"How old were you when your mom died?" the woman asked Rome, probably because she noticed that she wouldn't get any reaction out of Noh. Rome's brother was there because he had to be if he wanted to get his monthly allowance, but no one would force him to talk.

This question, though, got the reaction from both of the brothers. Noh visibly clenched his fingers on the fork, while Rome let go of his; it clattered against the plate and created a loud noise that startled everyone a little bit.

Rome quickly cleared his throat. "Um, I was... I was seven."

The woman solemnly nodded her head and turned towards Rome's dad. "That explains a lot. It's quite obvious when kids grow up without their mother, I think that the presence of a woman has a big influence on how the kids turn out when they're older. Do they cause trouble?" she asked.

Rome tuned her out after that because he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from arguing with her at some point. If there was anything wrong with him now it wasn't because he didn't have a mother, but because he didn't have both his parents─his dad was just never there, he didn't care what his kids were doing as long as they didn't get caught.

When the dinner was finally over, Rome locked himself in his room. Mentioning his mother always made him feel like shit because most of the time everyone acted as if she never existed at all; Rome didn't even have any pictures of her, he barely remembered how she looked like anymore. His father didn't keep anything that would remind them of her and Rome was sure it's because he thought that her death was cowardly, that it was something they should hate her for. Rome was often beating himself up over the fact that he was too young back then to try and hide at least one photograph. He didn't want to forget her, even if remembering hurt so much.

Rome sat on the floor next to his bed and dialed Emma's number, he needed to talk to someone, because being alone wasn't good for him now.

"Rome? I was just about to text you!" Emma's cheerful voice sounded on the other side. Hearing her being so happy gave Rome a pause. "I bumped into P'Porsche while I was shopping and he asked if I want to get dinner with him! He's ordering our food now. Can I finally count this as a date?"

"Ah... I... Yes, I suppose," Rome answered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Congratulations, I thought you will have to ask him out yourself."

"Me too! Oh, I think he's about to come back. Is there anything you need? Why did you call?" she asked, lowering her voice a little.

She sounded so excited and Rome really couldn't ruin it for her, another opportunity like that could take years to happen again, especially with someone like Porsche. So Rome forced himself to smile to make his voice sound more normal, otherwise, Emma would worry and insist to come over.