x Reader (Mature)

5

After a very, very cold shower, you stepped out and wrapped a towel around you, wearily eyeing the door where Ryan had left quite a while ago. It was in the back of your mind for the entire shower that he would come back in, but nothing had happened. 

You were... thankful? Disappointed...?

You grabbed the pyjamas you had discarded onto the floor and exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind you loudly. 

It had definitely been a rough start to the morning, but you were blocking it out of your mind already, shoving some comfortable clothes on and fixing your wet hair, before slipping out onto the corridor with your stomach grumbling. 

The mere thought of him touching you made you blush widely, and you locked the memory away until the next time you were faced with him. You didn't want to process what had happened just yet. Dealing with this was for a different time. 

"Buongiorno bellezza." Elena hummed from the kitchen as your feet landed on the bottom stair, already turning into the place where she was standing over the stove. Her voice had somewhat of a mischievous tone to it, and immediately you were weary of her knowing anything that had happened upstairs just an hour ago. 

"Good morning Elena." You replied, sitting down on a chair to the side, crossing your legs and putting your head in your arms lazily. 

"Bad morning?" She asked, looking over at you with a cheeky smirk on her wrinkled face. Her light brown eyes twinkling slightly in the lightly as she made scrambled egg on the pan. 

You immediately stiffened noticeably, and looked away from her. 

"Not much different from the others." You reply, shaking you head and still looking up at the ceiling unable to look at her. Did she know? Did he go out of his room and talk to her about you? Did she hear? The walls were quite thin because of the generally warm climate, but it wasn't as if they had said or done anything loud. 

"I suppose you young people are used to the aftermath of alcohol." She laughed gentle, turning back to the eggs. 

The alcohol, of course! 

Your hangover! 

As if on cue, a pain crept up near your forehead and your mouth went dry. 

"Ah, actually I'm not feeling at my best." You lightly groan, getting up to pour yourself a glass of water and wondering whether it was the lack of food or the hangover that was causing it. Or the events in the bathroom. 

"It's ok cara," She smiled kindly your way, taking the eggs off of the fire, and sliding them onto a plate before setting down in front of you smoothly. "I'll take care of you." 

You couldn't help but look at her and smile lovingly in response, grateful for her. Never in your life had you had someone so pure care for you without having any pressure to do so. 

"Is Giuseppe up?" 

"He's still snoring in bed, poor man." Elena's laugh echoed in the room, "I keep telling him that after 50 the consequences outweigh the positives of alcohol." 

"We'll have to repeat it without wine next time." You replied, eating the food in a hurry, as if it was the first time you had ever tried eggs. 

The grasshoppers buzzed in the little garden behind the house facing the kitchen, and the sound of birds chirping made the whole place seem like paradise. 

When a comfortable silence (apart from the subtle background noise of nature) settled down over the kitchen, Piero walked in loudly through the door disturbing the tranquillity. He had a  sunhat firmly in hand and khaki shorts that screamed archaeologist. 
He stood upright, glancing over at you and Elena in a professional way that seemed extremely out of place in the comfy, family-like atmosphere that you had created. 

You couldn't help but stare at the thick socks that peeked out from under his leather walking boots. In this weather you could barely handle anything else other than shorts and flipflops, and the sight of Piero made you second-hand hot and uncomfortable- not in a good way. 

"I'm going for the day Elena. Please do not set lunch for me." He spoke in fluent Italian, but his monotonous voice took all of the beauty out of the language that you had been getting a grasp of over the past week. 

After nodding firmly to Elena, who acknowledged what he had said, he turned his head and took a long, hard look at you, eyebrows knitting together. 
You looked back at him, expecting him to say something, but after a few seconds of unbroken eye contact he didn't so much as move a muscle, and you started to move your head away in an uncomfortable and confused way, raising an eyebrow at him. 

What was this guy's deal?

He gave you a tight lipped smile as soon as he broke from his trance, before swinging around and leaving the way he had come in, like a ghost. 

You and Elena shared a somewhat confused look, before shrugging. 

Piero was a weirdly inclined man, and that was that. 

As you waffled down the remainder of your eggs, you thought about what book you were going to read whilst you sunbathed on the balcony. 


_____________


Lunch came and passed. 

You, Elena and Giuseppe had discussed the fluctuating prices of onions in the market, over a light salad, of course made by Elena. It wasn't awkward, but your eyes had kept glancing over at the stairs, half expecting Ryan to come down and join. 

You were slightly annoyed at yourself for feeling like you had to keep an eye out for him all the time, but it also felt like you had to be mentally prepared for his presence, and the way that you reacted to it. 

"Is Ryan not coming to eat?" You had asked Elena casually, twirling your fork around on the empty bowl, stalling to not have to get up yet and take it over to the kitchen sink to get it washed. 

"I saw him leave earlier in the day. He said he'd be back later I think." Elena replied, getting up herself, and taking her and Giuseppe's plate. 

"That boy has something dark about him. " Giuseppe yawned, stretching out on the wooden chair before laying his stubby hand on his chubby stomach. In your head, you screamed in agreement at his words. "Any man who declines a good old game of cards is no man to me." 

"You've never managed to coax a game of cards out of him?" you laughed slightly, resting your head in your hand. 

Giuseppe exaggerate an exasperated face for you, and then flung his head back as if he had died.

"If I even get a sound out of that man, I know that I had succeeded in something." He replied seriously, before chuckling, waving the subject off and standing up from the table. 

"You know I don't like it when you talk about him behind his back." Elena stated from the kitchen firmly, pointing her words at Giuseppe, and you zoned out as he left the dining room,  entering the kitchen and talking to his wife.

You took his words and thought them over in your head, as you looked down dreamily  with your face still in your hands. 

So he's not much of a talker. 

 But he has no problem touching you. 

Sighing, you stood up and walked through into the kitchen with your bowl, smiling at Elena and Giuseppe, who were laughing together,  as you started cleaning the plates that had piled up. You watched the garden out of the window as you cleaned; the buzz of the grass and small insects. 

Thank god mosquitoes didn't like you, because the amount of them in the little town was unholy. 

Thinking about the town brought on a gloomy feeling of displeasure at the fact that you still hadn't found a job and properly settled into life on your own. 

God. 

You weren't even on your own for crying out loud.

 Looking at it from a very simplified point of view, you had basically just jumped from one family into another, which was definitely not what you had planned to do. 

The main idea was that you were going to Italy in order  to be independent, strong and adventurous.

Your line of thought ended on the solemn idea that you were probably going to have to eventually move out of here, and find some place completely alone.
Hopefully still in this town.
 Elena's cooking and housework, as well as Giuseppe's hospitality and handiness were making up for the things that you were missing from home, but it was completely against the point of you being here. 

You scrubbed the plates until they were glistening and sighed. 

You hoped that you wouldn't get too comfortable here before you were going to have to leave.