Sufferable Acceptance

Thirty-Three

Theo

I needed a break from everything going on at the house, and I knew Amelia needed a break too. I wanted to take her out before it got less safe for us to be out in public. I knew Dominic was planning something after the safe house.

I waited for Amelia outside my room. I heard her door opening, and sat up ready to head downstairs. She never ceases to amaze me. So beautiful. She looked up at me and gave me a big smile. My heart was ready to explode.

"Are you ready Miss. Monet?" I asked.

"Yes I am Mr. Romano." She said as she grabbed my hand. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." I told her.

She laughed excitedly and squeezed my hand. Amelia and I headed to the car. I helped her with her door and ran over to the driver's side. The restaurant was a good thirty minute drive from the house, and I was impatient to get there.

*****

When we pulled up to the restaurant Amelia looked at me in disbelief.

"How did you know?" She asked. "I haven't been here in forever!"

"A little birdie might have told me this was your favorite restaurant in the city." I smiled.

"Alfie..." she said in awe looking at the restaurant.

I helped her out of the car, and we walked up to the restaurant. Amelia stopped at the front doors.

"We can't go in." She said disappointed. "It looks like it's closed."

"It's not closed." I said opening the door.

"Theo, there's no one here."

"There's no one here because I rented out the restaurant for the whole night. I wanted it to just be us." I said.

Amelia gave me a smile, and an eye roll. "You're too much," She said.

"Come on, let's go." I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards our table.

Amelia and I sat and talked for hours. We talked about Marcus, Gio and me when we were younger. And Amelia told me embarrassing stories about Alfie that I was definitely going to tease him about later.

We paid no attention to how long we sat there in the restaurant. Amelia was finally opening up to me. She still held some secrets back, but I could tell she was more relaxed around me. She looked happier than the first night we met.

Half way into the dinner she opened up to me about living with Dominic, how hard it was for her to process who he was. I didn't expect her to open up to me like that, but I was glad she did. She wasn't trying to hide who she was anymore. She told me how Dominic was there for her at her lowest, and how she felt like she was betrayed by a man she considered family.

While Amelia ate her dessert I swirled my wine glass thinking about that night we first met. I wondered how she felt being able to leave in the morning without saying goodbye. We never really talked about what went down between us.

"Theo..." Amelia said.

I looked up at her and noticed I had zoned out.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." I told her. "I was just thinking about the night we first met. I've been asking myself if any of it was even real." I admitted.

She sat quietly for a few seconds before responding.

"I've thought about that night a thousand times since it happened," She said. "The butterflies in my stomach when you sat down at my table. How your eyes lit up when you told me stories about your family. Or your tipsy little laugh when we found ourselves whispering under the covers. All of those things are very real to me."