Diamond Rings & You

Chapter 38

ELENA'S POV:

I woke up tangled up in Mattia's arms, a place I couldn't trade for the world.

"Hey" he said, giving me a vibrant smile.

"Hey" I said, returning the smile. I sat up, looking around the room and noticing the clothes around us.

"Oh god.."

"Yeah we had a quickie" laughed Mattia, kissing my shoulder. Clearly he was still in the mood. I laughed too, resting my head on his, I was in a noticeably better mood than yesterday.

"I would've thought you'd be awake making me a five-star breakfast" I said sarcastically, but Mattia failed to see that and ran a nervous hand through his hair.

"I would've had breakfast made, but you were sleeping on my arm, and I didn't want to wake you"

"Mattiaaa" I laughed, getting on top of him and wrapping my arms around his neck. He furrowed his brows at me before realising.

"Sarcasm" we both said at the same time, except he rolled his eyes as I chuckled to myself. He planted a kiss on my lips as we heard a knock at my door. Mattia quickly covered us with the sheets and I couldn't help but laugh at our situation. Thankfully it was only Mom, telling us breakfast was ready.

"We'll be down soon, Ma" said Mattia as she closed the door. I raised my eyebrows at him with a smirk.

"Ma? It's almost like you're my husband" I said playfully, but Mattia had a serious look on his face, taking my hand in his.

"Baby I think we should talk about that."

-

Mattia and I had discussed what we were going to say as we were getting ready. I slipped on his Thrasher hoodie with a pair of shorts and he got into a Nike tracksuit.

"Keep walking around in grey sweatpants like that and I might just be having your son" I said as he walked out of my bathroom. He smirked and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Oh you're definitely having my son" he said in a low tone, staring into my eyes. I felt myself becoming mesmerised and had to stop myself before we had round 2.

"How about we get married first?" I said, gently pushing him off me so I could stand up.

"I'm working on it" he groaned. I laughed at his antics as he slipped his hand in mine. We made our way downstairs and Mom and Dad were already sitting at the table. 

"Hey guys" I said nervously, taking a seat with Mattia next to me.

"Let me prepare plates for you guys" said Dad, about to stand up, but I stopped him quickly.

"There's actually something we need to talk to you about" I said, causing Dad to sit back down, and Mom looked at him with her eyes wide.

"I told you" he sighed, rubbing his temples. I looked at Mattia in confusion as if he'd told them, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Told her what?" I asked, leaning forward. Dad took a sharp intake of breath before speaking.

"Well, we kinda heard you guys last night, and made a joke that you'd be pregnant by the next morning, and now.."

"Woah" I sat back in my seat as Mattia burst out laughing. Out of all the things I expected my Dad to say, that was last on my list. 

"Wait, so you're not?" Mom narrowed her eyes at us and I shook my head immediately.

"Mom we know how to use protection" I said quickly, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrasment. She laughed with us and Dad eventually joined in too. He seemed the most relieved out of everyone. Once we'd all calmed down, Mattia held onto my hand.

"Actually, we wanted to talk about the wedding" he said, allowing an uneasy tone to set in the air. Everyone knew what was coming. 

"Mom we're not getting married without you there"
I reached over and held onto her hand, watching as little pools of tears gathered in her eyes.

"Even if it means we get married in England, whatever makes it easier for you" Mattia added.

"You don't have to do this" she sniffed, reaching for a tissue. My heart broke as I saw how frail she'd become. Sunken cheekbones, her eyebrows were slowly fading away.

"I can't get married without you Mom, you're my rock" I said, trying to hold myself together for her sake. She thought about it and began to stand up, but her hands went to her head as she steadied herself.

"You're okay baby" said Dad, rushing over to help her stay upright. She swatted his hands, keeping her eyes shut. After a couple seconds, she looked over at Mattia and I.

"Let me take a quick nap, and then we'll make a decision" she said softly, exiting the room before I had a chance to object. I sighed, disappointed that I didn't get the outcome I wanted, but I should've known Mom wouldn't give me a straight answer, given what she was going through.

"She'll come around" said Mattia, massaging the back of my neck. I smiled at him, but then looked at Dad.

"Honestly, how long does she have left?"

I waited for his answer, but he was hesitant. He waited a couple seconds to make sure Mom wasn't somehow listening.

"A month"

It was like I'd been punched in the stomach, and the air was being knocked out of me. I placed my hand on my chest, feeling my heartbeat going significantly faster.

"Okay so we have a month to get married?" said Mattia casually, but Dad and I shook our heads.

"Cancer usually hits the hardest within the last two weeks, meaning she'll have to be in a hospital for the last two weeks" said Dad. Mattia covered his mouth with his hand when he realised what it meant.

"So that means"

"We need to get married within two weeks" I finished his sentence, nodding my head. Before either of them could say anything, I stood up and left the room, unable to take the conversation further. I stood in the hallway, staring up at Mom's room.

A month.

Dads words repeated over and over in my head. Why? Why did this have to happen to us? I felt tears running down my face as I reminisced back to when everything was perfect. When there was no drama, no cancer, nothing. Why?

Anger suddenly took over me as I started hitting the wall as hard as I could, ignorant to the damage I was causing myself. Just as I did so, Mattia walked into the hallway, his eyes grew wide when he saw me. He ran over and pulled me into him, holding my arms down as I sobbed onto his chest.

"Hey, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself" he said, holding me tighter when I tried to resist. Defeated and vulnerable I gave in, and went back to questioning how my life had gone this downhill.

"Okay so we have to do the wedding a little earlier than we thought, but that's fine, because we always pull through, don't we?" he said, tilting my chin up as he wiped my tears with his thumb.

"I'm sorry" I said quietly, looking at the ground. He kissed my forehead lightly, keeping me close to him.

"Don't say that, you're everything to me, it's my job to protect you" he said, giving me a smile. He picked up my hand slowly and examined my knuckles. Gently pressing on each one, looking for pain.

"They're fine, I can't punch that hard" I said, forcing a laugh. Mattia could always notice when I was faking it, and looked up at me, raising my hand to his mouth and laying a kiss on each slightly bruised knuckle. I felt myself turning red as he held my hand in his. He nodded towards the kitchen.

"Wanna go plan a wedding?"