Leeway // Joe Mazzello

15|| "The Promise"

Octavia's guide to the hell that is the English language

ITALY
/ˈɪtəli/

(n.) A peninsula country of southern Europe
⤷Alternate definition: I Trust And Love You

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Stepping back into Hyde Park was like stepping back in time. It had only been weeks ago that Octavia and Amelia had explored the park after their debacle with Christian. But it felt like a lifetime ago, she felt like a completely different person. And here she was again, wandering the place, all because of the same person. She unofficially officially dubbed Hyde Park "The Christian Escape".

Joe was late. As always. That meant that he wasn't over-eager to see her, which meant that he was at least calm about the situation. This only worked in Octavia's favor because the calmer he was, the less likely she was to word-vomit all over him.

Joe was not, in the least bit, calm. He couldn't quite decide on an emotion, his head had never been so jumbled in his life. He was a straight forward guy, dealing with the most complicated person he'd ever met. He was so worked up he forgot where they were meeting, which led to him getting lost, which led to him being late. His brain was running on hyper drive and it wouldn't take long for him to physically explode.

What a disaster these two are.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Octavia gave up waiting on one of the many benches and took to pacing up and down the walkways. She lost track of time and didn't even realize that Joe showed up late. When she started seeing a pair of black shoes heading toward her, she realized how unprepared she was for this.

She looked like an anxious mess, pacing and everything. He was just Joe. Was she really so worked up over this? He'd already forgiven her six times over in his head, it wasn't that big of a deal was it? Maybe he was missing something.

When she looked up to see him standing there, trying to knit together his first sentence, she couldn't control herself. Her dam had been broken.

"Joe... I..." She slung her arms to her side in defeat, letting them bounce back for added effect. He pulled her into a hug before he could notice the tears starting to slide down her face.

"Hey... hey... It's just me. You don't have to work yourself up over this. I forgive you, for everything." He calmed her and released his arms from her waist. She took a few seconds to collect herself, taking deep breaths and wiping away her tears.

"No it's not that. Well it is that but also..." She trailed off to take another breath, not trying to freak out again.

"Maybe we should sit." He offered, starting to notice the severity of the situation. He guided her to a bench and waited patiently for her to be able to talk again.

"We're not that close." She stated blatantly after a few seconds.

"We're not?" Joe asked confused. He, at least, thought they were close.

"You didn't let me finish. We're not that close, I mean we've only known each other a few weeks right? And honestly, we don't know that much about each other either. But what I'm saying is, despite all of that, you're person I feel the closest to. And, after a few very very rude conversations, I've realized some things that I don't necessarily like about myself, and I don't know how to deal with that. And I figured maybe even just talking about it would help me, and I trust you the most with what I'm about to tell you." She finished, finally meeting his eyes with a worried expression.