The Death of Love Through the Eyes of One Who Loves

We were sitting in their living room, having a pleasant time conversing and enjoying each other's company. The Massimo's had moved here just 6 months ago, in time for the 2nd quarter of school. They were our new neighbors and we quickly became friends. It was a big family straight from Italy. There were the two eldest boys Carlo, who was 19, and Lorenzo, who 18. Then there were the girls. Ah…those girls were… beautiful. More then beautiful, they were extraordinarily gorgeous. And they were very conveniently triplets like my brother's and I. However the only thing they had in common appearance wise was dark, chocolate brown hair, big eyes and tanned skin. The first girl Rosalie was tall and statuesque with nice curves. She had long legs and long hair that hung all the way down her back. She also had these beautiful, shiny, bright emerald green eyes that rivaled my own green eyes. She was also the oldest by a few minuets. She also happened to go out with my brother Emmett, who was very muscular, but not like he was on steroids. He had a head full of messy curly brown hair that was only slightly lighter then Rosalie's. Next was Alice. She was short or um… petite to the extreme. She was skinny, but not as if she was anorexic. She, also was well proportioned. Her hair though was the antithesis of her sister Rose's. Ali's was quite short, about chin length and framed her face softly. Her big eyes were interesting. They were green, dark brown, and gold all thrown together to create the color that was her eyes. She also went out with my brother Jasper. Jasper was also muscular, but less noticeably then our brother Emm. He had blond hair that was almost platinum. It was straight until it curled at the nape of his neck, his ears, and forehead. Lastly there was Isabella. She was also petite but not as much Alice. She too had nice curves. Her hair was long also, falling to the middle of her back. Her eyes… her eyes were… they were… stunning. They were a deep brown, like her hair. And they were like bottom-less pools that just went on forever. They were so easy to get lost in and I did. Frequently. Alas, we were not going out. However I was planning on changing that, I loved her and hoped I could get her to love me also. Yet all six of us were very close, as if we had known each other for all of our lives instead of only six months.

"Would you guys like to stay for dinner?" Rose asked.

Emmett, who had the appetite of a bear of course said "Yes." Very enthusiastically I might add.

"So, what are we – " Jasper's question was cut off by the sound of the door opening and closing. Carlo and Lorenzo walked and plopped down onto the couch one on either side of Sofia. Did I mention that they are very protective of their sisters ? No ? Well they are very 

protective of their sisters. You should have heard the "speech" my brothers got when they started going out with the girls. Well it wasn't as much as a speech as much as it was a promise of the things they would do to them if they hurt their precious little sisters, but you know, same thing. Anyway they were cool now. Bella curled her legs under her and leaned into Carlo.

"What's wrong sis? Tired?" he asked.

"Yeah. I haven't been sleeping well. I keep getting this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach the something bad is going to happen." She said softly in her adorable little Italian inflection.

Alice laughed lightly. I'm sure you're just being paranoid. Right Rose?"

Roselooked up, her gaze shifting between her two sisters. "Yeah. Of course" she answered truthfully.

" Yeah….You guys are probably right…" Bella said

The door opened again and we all looked up to see a distraught looking Mrs. Massimo. We all just stared, all to afraid to ask what was wrong after what Bella had just said. Lorenzo broke the silence.

" What's wrong ?" he asked.

" Nothing." Mrs. Massimo said unconvincingly.

" Mama, what's wrong?" asked Bella, her voice trembling slightly. Mrs. Massimo just looked at her for a moment before her eyes filled with tears and she looked down.

"Mama? Mama? What is it? What's wrong?" Her voice was louder now, it was frantic. You could hear the hysteria and feel the concern coming off of her in waves.

" It's nothing mia bella figlia. Wait until your Papa comes home, yeah? Then it'll be better." Mrs. Massimo said, but her voice was thick with tears.

"It'll all be better then." The tears in her eyes spilled over. Bella sprung of the couch then. She went to her mother. She took her upper arms in her hands.

"Look at me Mama! Look at me! Tell me what's wrong. Tell your daughter !" Her mother stayed silent as we all looked on.

" Mama!" she bellowed in a flurry of panic. "Dirimi! Che ha torto? Che ha torto? Dirimi! Per favore! Lei mi spaventa! Suo silenzio mi spaventa!" She was telling her mother she was scaring her. Mrs. Massimo was scaring me, all of us in fact, but not more then Sofia. We could all sense something bad had happened, but the raw look of terror and panic in Bella's eyes. It was 

unnerving. The way her eyes were unfocused and kept flitting around the room but not really landing on anything made her look like a terrified, caged animal.

"Giovanni." Mrs. Massimo croaked out. Giovanni? Who was that?

"Giovanni? My Gio? What's wrong? What happened?" asked Bella.

"He got hit by a car." Mrs. Massimo said in a strangled voice as her eyes started tearing again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice cover her mouth with her hand and turn into Jasper's shoulder as a sob shook her tiny frame. I looked over to Rosalie who was crying into Emmett's shoulder. Carlo and Lorenzo had visibly paled and their eyes were wet, though they didn't let any water escape. Both of them kept watching their sister, Bella, like hawks though, as if waiting for her to start screaming bloody murder.

" Bu…But he's okay?... right? It's just a bump, Right? Nothing serious, RIGHT ?" you could hear Bella's voice growing more and more panicked. It sounded as if she was trying to deny what we all knew had obviously happened.

" N-no… he died Bella. Giovanni is… he's gone." Mrs. Massimo said finally letting the tears rush forward. Bella looked her in the eyes before her face crumpled.

"No, no, no, NO ! He's fine…. It's not true. Your lying." Bella screeched. She turned to her brothers. "Tell her." She said pointing at her mother. "Tell her it's a lie. That it's not true." She screamed at them. Carlo looked at his two sobbing sisters and his brother who was just barely keeping it together. Then he stood up and walked to his sister resting his hand in her shoulder lightly.

"Bella." He said softly. And that's all it took. She crumpled to the ground unceremoniously and let out and ear-piercing, heart-shattering cry before she began wailing uncontrollably. It brought tears of sorrow to my eyes. Seeing her like this was horrifying me. I guess it was for her family also because they had such looks of utter pity and sorrow and horror and shock on their faces. I guess this isn't how she normally reacted to death.

"Non é vero! Lei mente! é tutte le bugie!" Sofia said to her self repeatedly, like it was a mantra keeping her afloat. She was practically rocking in a fetal position as she clutched the cross she always wore. She looked crazed. She suddenly looked up with wild, unfocused eyes.

" Call her!" she said as if that was the answer to all of her problems.

"Che Isabella? Che sono lei parlando circa?" asked Lorenzo without hurry.

"Call her! Call Mrs. Taglioni!." She said as if it was obvious.



"She will tell you." She said the tears starting again.

"She will tell you are mistaken. She will correct you. Giovanni will probably answer the phone himself." Bella said. Alice sniffled and walked toward Sofia with Rosalie in tow.

"Bella. I know. I know it hurts. But you can't keep denying it."Alice told her.

"Yeah, Bella. It's not healthy. You look dereanged. Come with us we will get you cleaned up and we will all take a nap." Rosalie said soothingly

"No. You're wrong! I will call her myself! " Bella declared walking towards the phone determinedly. Carlo caught her hand however and pulled her into a massive hug.

"Stop, Bella. Calm down, I know you're hurting the most but denying the fact that Giovanni is gone is not healthy. You need to come back to reality." Carlo said quietly yet firmly. Bella looked him in the eyes before the tears started again and she started pounding on his chest with her fists.

"Why? Why? Why?" she cried hysterically beating on her brother's chest. "Why do you all keep insisting he's gone? Why do you all keep trying to take him away from me?" she bawled.

"Because Bella," Carlo said grabbing her hands to still them. "he is dead." He said slowly. He paused letting this sink in as she stared at him like she didn't get it. "He is not coming back Isabella." He said. She looked at him for a minute more before collapsing to the floor again in a fit of tears. This time however she didn't move. She didn't speak. She just laid there crying. Carlo picked her up and she clung to him with everything she had as if he to might try to disappear and never return. He walked over to the stairs and carried her up.

"I also think that I will go lay down. I'm so sorry for this boys it was unexpected and he was like family to us. I'm sure you'll understand if I don't see you out." Mrs. Massimo said.

" Of course." I said speaking for the first time in what felt like ages.

"We'll see the boys out, Mama you go rest." Said Rosalie. "You go to Lorenzo help Mama up the steps, then take a rest." She added. We all stayed silent until both Mrs. Massimo and Lorenzo disappeared from sight. Once they had the girls plopped onto the couch. My brothers each went to their respectful girl and took them into their arms.

"Sorry. You boys are probably really confused." My brothers and I nodded at Alice's comment.

"Well I'll explain it to you." Alice took a deep breath the started. " Nerina Taglioni and Antone Taglioni are our god parents and our parents best friends. Their son. Gionvanni Taglioni was like family to us. The Taglioni family and the Massimo family were practically one as a matter of 

fact. The families had been friends for many generations. Anyway we all grew up with Giovanni who lived next door. Even though we were all close, him and Bella were undoubtedly the closest. They were so cute together. Everyone loved him, loved the idea of them together. Even our brothers, who had been at the hospital when Gio was born. Gio and Bella liked each other also. They were perfect together. Each of their first kisses were together, their first dates were with each other. They spent many a day together. They wanted to get married after high school, they thought they were soulmates and I think they were. Yeah… they were really torn apart when we moved. They both cried. The day we left he gave her that cross she always wears. He said he'd always be there for her. That's why she never takes it off. We all loved him and we're all devastated but that why she reacted the way she did. That's why she wanted it to be a lie. Not that I blame her." Mariella told us. We were all silent for a time that could have been a minute or an hour before Jasper spoke up.

"We're going to go. And we'll see ourselves out so don't get up, okay? We'll talk to you guys soon." After he said that we all got up and walked to the door letting ourselves out. I replayed what had happen this evening in my head. It seemed surreal. Things like that usually only happened in movies and here I was in the middle of it, while the girl I loved starred in it. I mean have you ever watched the person you love breakdown so completely knowing that there was nothing you could do to help? Do you know what it feels like to know the girl you love, loves someone else and that as horrible as it is you can't help but feel jealous even though he's dead? Have you ever had to think "well great know I have a chance", but it's only by default because they guy she really loves, whose not you, is not alive anymore. Or am I the only one who gets to be so lucky?

mia bella figlia- my beautiful daughter

Dirimi! Che ha torto? Che ha torto? Dirimi! Per favore! Lei mi spaventa! Suo silenzio mi spaventa! – Tell me! What is wrong? What is wrong? Tell me! Please! You're scaring me! You're silence is scaring me!

Non é vero! Lei mente! é tutte le bugie! – It is not true! It is a lie! It is all lie's!

Che Iabella? Che sono lei parlando circa? – Who Isabella? Who are you talking about?