I Blame Wattpad for My High Expectations of Men

Chapter 41 - Watch the fucking stop sign!

*Author's Note: Just a heads-up, this is one of the crazier chapters. So, buckle up and keep all body parts -hands, arms, legs, long hair, etc.- inside the ride at all times. If you have long hair, it's advised that you put it up -if possible, wear a hat or use a band of some sort. Always use the safety equipment provided, as in the seat belt, shoulder harness, lap bar, chain, etc. (or in this case, just pretend to). Once again, don't say I didn't warn you. Stay blessed! :)

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Week one of winter break back home without a single word from Ace was hard, despite having celebrated my brother's twenty-third birthday with our entire family. I had neither gradually recovered nor broke down like Tessa and Hardin had during their hellish days of what they thought would be their separation for good, nor had I felt disappointed, which many have said can sometimes be far worse than feeling angry. Instead, I guess you can say I was hoping that Ace would hit his head hard enough to suddenly realize what had gone wrong between us and why I had been expecting him to contact me first that time around.

However, by the time the majority of week two had gone by, I had realized that I was hoping in vain because nothing had changed in those six days either, except for the fact that Hayden was no longer as nervous around the family as he was during the first couple of days of his visit. The emptiness I had felt from having no contact with Ace for twenty consecutive days then hadn't stopped me from genuinely enjoying my break with my family, though, especially when Christmas had arrived. Because thankfully, with them by my side, it had begun to hurt a little less even though I somehow knew the annoying pain would never subside completely. Not without some type of closure, at least.

It helped to not think about it as much as I could, but the conversation I ended up having with my brother that night before New Years Eve was clearly not one of those times, no matter how much his wise words had comforted me back then.

~Flashback Continued~

"Hey, you asleep yet?" I hear Luca ask quietly. I look up from my current page of Problems by Jada Sharma to see my brother's face peeking in from behind my bedroom door.

The novel was a Christmas present from my grandparents -who are the only reason Luca and I ever decided to keep 'Dino' as our last name- this year, and although it's been an amazing and relatable read so far, I still set it down before motioning my brother to come in.

To address any confusion that might've come up at that middle part, yes, my family and I still keep in contact with the fucker's immediate family. Just know that my grandparents and aunt -his older sister- are nothing like him and they were even more ashamed of their son after they had found out what he did to my mother and brother. Long story short, my grandparents and aunt gave my mother nothing but their full support from there on out, and he couldn't do anything about it since he had disowned them for some unknown reason long before he, my mom and brother ever moved to the U.S.

Luca walks in, closing the door behind him before walking over to the edge of my bed to sit next to me.

"What's up?" I ask him, actually glad to finally have some one-on-one time with him after having spent the last several days with a house full of people. Tomorrow won't be any different either, especially since my mother's parents and her twin brother will also be flying in from Italy to join us for the next few days, before they go to visit some cousins down in Florida.

In all the chaos of festivities and crazy family times that have been going on so far, it's a rare sight to be having a conversation with Luca that won't involve yelling things like 'the moms need you in the kitchen' or 'it's your turn to take out the trash' like we have been doing over the loud commotion around us.