Romeo & Juliett: A Forbidden Love Story

Romeo & Juliett: A Forbidden Love Story: Ch. 15 - Edited.

Romeo's POV:

I always knew having an outsider in the house was going to create problems. Not that I really thought of Juliett as a stranger, but she has been away from our family for quite a while and a lot's happened over the course of the years. Everyone and everything has changed.

I went from being the good boy to the player. Randy's gone from the quiet guy to the angry one. Riley's...Riley's the same as he's always been, but then again he hasn't been through as tough times as the rest of the family has had. Dad's busies himself with work so as not to think about Randy and his problems, while mom just gets depressed at the name of them.

I really didn't think it was a good idea for Juliett to go near Randy, but I knew that nothing I said would make her see reason. Juliett hasn't seen him for long and she probably had all these emotions in her that made her want to get attached to someone and never let go. I was ready to be that someone for her, but...ugh, I was sure Juliett wasn't.

If only Juliett could see what a horrible person Randy was, if only. But, then again, I didn't want to scare Juliett away or hurt her feelings by telling her about his issues.

Mom had gotten so close to telling her yesterday, but it was a good thing I was in the hallway when I overheard them talking about it. I rushed in, trying to look casual, but then realized I didn't have an excuse as to what I was doing there. The first that came to mind was the mall, which was something that I heard Juliett say to Randy.

When I overheard their conversation, I wanted to laugh aloud - Randy at the mall? Hah! - but that would give away my hiding spot and I couldn't afford for Juliett to find out that I was spying on her. I wasn't actually interested in going anywhere or doing anything for that matter, but as long as I got to spend some time with Juliett and could keep her away from mom, I was all ready for it.

I knew Juliett was going to end up finding out at some point, but I hoped that time wouldn't come for a long while.

I also knew that Juliett wasn't going to stop trying till she got what she wanted, so I knew that her next target was going to be dad. Earlier this morning, before she could get the chance to talk to him about anything, I crept into dad's office and persuaded him into not telling Juliett anything or even answering any of her questions. He agreed to do as I said and went back to sleep feeling both relieved and guilty.

I really didn't want to see Juliett getting hurt. Just because we never got along as kids doesn't mean I was just going to let that happen to her now. It was my time to make up for what I did to Juliett back then. I was never going to hurt her again and would protect for her for as long as I could. Plus, I wouldn't let anyone or anything get in my way, or at least that's what I promised myself I would do.

The same day, when I woke up again in the morning, after following through with my daily routine, I headed downstairs into the kitchen where I found Juliett already sitting at the table. She looked...different. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was something off about her this morning. For one thing, she wasn't eating and secondly, she had her head down on the table.

"Hey, Juliett?" I called out to her.

"Hmm?" she tilted her head up a bit and I was shocked at what I saw.

Her face was pale and her eyes bloodshot red, her hair was a mess, and she seemed oblivious to all. Even when a loud crashing noise came from the kitchen where mom had probably dropped one of the pans or something, Juliett didn't jump at the noise like I had done.

"Hey." I said again.

"Hi." she mumbled.

"You don't look so good, is something the matter?"