We Need a New Room Mate (Danielle Savre and Stefania Spampinato)

Chapter Thirty Seven

"Bella, are you coming?"

Stefania walked down the steps of Royal Central and spotted Gio waiting for her. It was Wednesday, and Stefania had planned to tell their father about her and Danielle. Why she chose today, she wasn't quite sure but he kept asking to see her and now was a  better time than any. 

"Ready?" Gio asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

"Uh, I guess," Stefania said, running a hand through her hair as they started walking. "I feel like I should have written down what I want to say,"

"You don't know what you're going to say yet?"

"Well... I mean, I do. But I think that I'm just going to forget when I see him. We should have picked a neutral place to do this like a park so I could run off,"

"Theoretically, you can run out of his house," Gio pointed out, laughing a little. 

"Si, si. But it might not be executed as smoothly," They continued to make their way to their father's house, Stefania clearly getting more nervous the closer they got, apparent in her much slower and smaller footsteps. 

"Does Danielle know you're telling him today?"

"Ah, no. She knows I'll be back later because I'm with you but that's it. Part of me thought to wait until we're actually official because Americans like all of these terms but I think now would be better," 

"Okay, as long as you're sure," They stood outside the door, Stefania a couple steps behind Gio as she ushered for him to press the doorbell. They waited a few seconds then the door swung open. 

"Ciao! Ciao!" Their Dad smiled as he opened the door and beckoned them inside. At least he seemed like he was in a good mood. "How are you both?" They had the casual conversation, how work had been, what they'd been up to, how Stefania's new house was. 

"Gio! Where is your girlfriend?"

"Ahh, still working on it, Dad," He laughed nervously, knowing where the conversation was headed. 

"That's okay, you are still young," He turned to face Stefania, lowering his head slightly. "And?" Stefania looked at her brother as she felt panic settling in her chest. 

"Well, actually-"

"You have met someone! Aha! When can I meet him? Does he want children?"

"Ah, no," Stefania shook her head and tried not to let the disappointment already evident on her Dad's face affect her. She tried to organise her thoughts a little but thinking about Danielle right now, made her insides feel weird. She wasn't sure if it was a good feeling. "I am seeing someone," She said after a moment when she thought about the way Danielle smiles. 

"You are not making sense here Stefania," 

"I'm actually, uh, dating one of my new room mates,"

"You don't live with any men? You said you are living with two other women, no?"

"No, that's correct, uh," Her fingers were slightly shaking as she went to get her phone. "This is, um, this is Danielle," She said as she showed her Dad a picture of them that Barrett had taken, Danielle's face buried in the crook of her neck as they laughed about how badly Jaina was losing at  a game they were playing. Gio watched intently for any sort of sign of, well anything. But their Dad didn't have any expression on his face. 

"A girl? You are dating a girl?"

"Si, but before you say anything else, she makes me really happy and I think that-"

"Gio, take your sister out of my house," 

"I-" Their Dad held his hand up towards Stefania, shaking his head. 

"Dad, why don't you just listen to what she has to say?"

"No. She wants to bring shame onto my family like this. After all we did to even get out of Sicily. I do not believe this," Gio wanted to stay and stand up for his sister but he also knew that their Dad can be very painful with his words and if they stayed any longer, he would say something very hurtful. 

"Stefania, let's go," Stefania felt her eyes fill with tears as she looked at the floor, her throat felt tight, her legs weak. Even if she wanted to say something else, she didn't feel like she would be able to so let Gio guide her out of the house. "Do you want to come back with me to mine?" He asked as they shut the door, hearing their Dad shouting from behind them. 

"No. I think I am going to go home and, um, do some work. I have some things to go over," 

"Are you sure? Because I ca-"

"Yes! I'm sure," She replied sharply. "Thank you, but I think I want to be alone right now," Gio knew how defiant his sister could be so let her go. She would reach out to him again when she felt ready. The journey home seemed to be a bit of a blur for Stefania, not really paying attention to anything around her. Just... going home. 

She felt an odd feeling inside when she got to the door. She hoped that no one was downstairs and that she'd be able to just go straight up to her room without any questions. She wasn't even sure she could handle a simple 'hello' right now. 

Luckily, no one was downstairs upon entering and she quickly headed for the stairs, just as Jaina came out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Stefania," She smiled, but Stefania could only really manage a head nod, avoiding eye contact as she dipped into her room. That seemed kind of weird to Jaina but she brushed it off and walked into her room where Danielle was helping her pick out an outfit for a date night with Boris. 

"Is Stefania okay?" She asked as she walked over to her wardrobe.

"Uh... yes? Why do you ask?"

"She just seemed kind of, I guess, off,"

"When?"

"Just now. She went into her room and I said hey to her but she just did a kind of awkward head nod," 

"Oh. Well, she was fine last night but I haven't seen her today yet,"

"Hm, okay," Jaina shrugged and tilted her head to the side. "So should I choose a dress or jeans and a cute top?"

Later that evening, Danielle stood in the kitchen, washing up her plate from dinner when she realised that she actually hadn't seen Stefania today at all. Which was weird as they had basically been inseparable when they're both in the house together. She made her way upstairs and knocked on Stefania's door. Stefania felt her heart jump in her chest when she heard the knock. She knew it was getting too late for Danielle not to have come and checked in on her. She wished she had pretended to have gone to sleep. But her light was on so that was already a give away. 

"Si?"

"Hi," Danielle smiled as she peered round the door frame. "Haven't seen you today. How was work?" The blonde could also kind of sense that something was off about Stefania and was annoyed that she hadn't noticed earlier. 

"Good," 

"Okay, good," Danielle nodded her head and walked over to Stefania and sat down on the bed, no one said anything for a minute. "Are you okay?" 

"I kind of just want to be left alone,"

"You know that you can talk to-"

"I said, I want to be left alone,"