My Bro's Hot Friend

Chapter XXI

I had been training for Diaz for the month. And never had I been put under such nightmarish conditions. I knew my physical condition wasn't the best, but it was when he tried to teach me how to fight that I felt like a complete whale.There were bruises all over my body. Diaz wasn't just teaching me to fight, as he was teaching me how to handle pain in ways that I didn't think were possible. He did not go easy on me whatsoever. I felt like a modern-day Arya Stark getting her ass kicked. It had been the worst week of my entire existence. There wasn't a single muscle that wasn't sore nor a space of skin that didn't have a nasty bruise. The first couple of days, I couldn't even sleep properly as every single part of me ached. That eventually changed though. As I got more and more exhausted each day, falling asleep became the smallest of my problems.It wasn't just the physical torture I had to endure. It was the constant humiliation from Diaz, telling me that I'd never be good enough to take Zack's place, that I was weak and lacked everything that he was looking for.Thinking back, I was feeling insecure about not being good enough to kill people. However, at the time, it wasn't his insults that affected me. Instead, it was the fact that maybe I wouldn't be able to complete that stupid mission and get Zack safe.The house was huge and decorated in a way you'd never expect an infamous killer to decorate it. It looked straight from a Dark Academia movie. There were exquisite paintings all over, everything made out of wood, and it even had a library where you could usually find one or two people quietly reading.If it hadn't been for this weird gang-cult-mafia thing, I'd probably take a few moments to appreciate the beauty of the place.But I never felt more like a fish out of water like in my days spent there. People would give me dirty looks, and I felt watched all the time. Maybe it was the paranoia from spying on all of them and wiring the entire place. My happiness was completely sucked out of me every time I entered the house. I felt as if this heavyweight was put on my shoulders. The days started to merge: they all looked the same. I began to lose hope that this would end soon.Until the day I was waiting for came.I woke up at 4 AM with shots firing left and right, screaming coming from downstairs."You're under arrest," I heard over and over again, "FBI, open up."It felt like a fever dream. Everything was happening at once. My work had finally paid off.Suddenly, this feeling of warmth and safety took over me.I don't remember much after that. The only thing I can recall was Diaz's face staring at me in rage, as they dragged him to the car and the death threats he gave me. And soon, I was at the safe house with Zack.Curled up under some blanket drinking some hot chocolate as we waited for the FBI officers to give us the money and identities they promised us.He caressed my hair and held me tightly."I can't believe you did all of this for me, princess.""You would've done the same for me, right?"He kissed me softly and nodded."Of course, I would."Our love story started when I decided to throw a house party a few months ago. But we go way back.Ever since I was about six, I remember Zack coming over to our house to play games with my brother and me. And he'd always let me win, even if Colin got mad every time. Besides, Zack was the only one of my brother's idiot friends that would never fail to give me a gift whenever it was my birthday or a chocolate bar for Christmas even if I never really got him anything. He'd compliment my outfits and my hair and never had he ever been creepy to me like so many of Colin's other friends.For some reason, we ended up drifting apart while I was in middle school. Eventually, I had gotten my first boyfriend that completely broke my heart and set off my hoe phase. And I remember Zack being the only person that had been able to cheer me up and make me get over him.Maybe that was the reason everything had been super fast with him. I think that deep down, we always had feelings for each other. And that house-party was just an excuse for us to, finally, get together. All that time, I thought he was out of my league.And now here we were, about to run away together to another country.I should feel nervous about this.But I felt calm and ready. Zack and I had gone through so much that starting a life together just seemed right."Are you scared?" he whispered."A little... You?""A little. They're sending us off to a little village in Northern Italy, did you know?""No," I forced a smile, "We'll have to learn to speak Italian.""I think we'll manage."The FBI officers came in and set all the paperwork we had to fill on the table.From now on I'd be called Aurora Camili, and Zack would be Élio Cesario. They gave us half a million dollars so we could get our lives together, some plane tickets and the keys to the cottage we'd be living in.And just like that, what I thought would be a drunk make-out session, ended up as the most defining thing in my entire life.