Eleonora didn't know why she kept rifling through the pockets of her jeans, she wasn't going to find anything new.
She sighed, leaning her head back against the wall behind her. This was just great. Absolutely fantastic.
She'd followed everyone out of Edoardo's house, then had the terrible realisation that she didn't have her bag. When Eva had texted her that Silvia was upset after talking to Edoardo, Eleonora had been in such a panic that she'd completely forgotten to bring it. The real kicker, though, was that she kept her keys in her bag. She was at least thankful she'd remembered to bring her phone and wallet.
Eleonora sighed again, bringing one hand up to her face and pressing her fingers against her forehead. How could she have been so stupid?
She shouldn't have come to this stupid party. By the time she arrived, Silvia was making out with Luchino in a corner. At least Eleonora had got to see the look on Eva, Fede and Sana's faces in response to that.
The only true positive to this situation was that she'd spent the last hour of the party sitting on Edoardo's couch patting his dog. She would at least publicly give Edoardo that; he had a cute dog. In hindsight she didn't know why she expected Edoardo to own some kind of small, yappy dog. Arturo was a scruffy sheepdog looking thing, and Eleonora thought he was perfect.
She'd had a dog before she moved to Rome, but he'd gone to live with her mother. Eleonora shut her eyes for a second, trying to push thoughts of her mother from her mind. Now wasn't the time, she had enough to process. She needed to deal with one problem at a time.
Her mother seemed to be able to handle a dog's needs reasonably well. Weird.
Whatever. Not now.
She pulled her phone out of her thoroughly dug-through pocket, texting Filo to double check that he was out for the night. Ah, to be young and free and not deeply entangled in a Gossip Girl-style drama. Is that an out-of-date reference?
Next she brought up Eva's contact, figuring she could ask to spend the night at her house if she needed to. There was no answer, though, and Eleonora tried to think of who she should call next. Who of the other girls was most likely to let her spend the night?
She was so wrapped up in her worries that she didn't notice Edoardo's front door open next to her.
"Ele?"
She turned so fast, pushing herself off the wall, that she felt a pain in her neck. Bringing one hand up to rub the painful spot, she managed to give Edoardo a grimace-like smile.
"Hi."
"What are you doing?"
Eleonora shrugged. "I forgot my keys, so I'm just trying to figure out whose house I can stay at for the night."
Edoardo looked at her for a second, seemingly torn, and Eleonora tried not to squirm under his gaze. "Well, come inside while you figure it out then" he finally said.
Eleonora had thought about this. When she'd realised she didn't have her keys, she'd considering knocking on Edoardo's door and asking to stay until she sorted it out. But that would mean spending time with him. Alone. She knew that wasn't the greatest idea. She'd managed to keep her feelings in check so far, but after their date- and the realisation afterwards that maybe she'd been a little harsh towards him- she didn't know if she could act normally around him. Her version of normal, that is; she didn't know if she could act like she despised him anymore. But she couldn't exactly say no to him now.
Awesome. Here goes nothing.
She gave him a small nod, walking past him and back inside when he stepped aside for her.
"Isn't anybody at home?"
Ele turned back towards him, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "My older brother's out for the night," she said with a shrug.
A jingling sound behind her made her turn around, and she grinned at the sight of Arturo bounding up to her. She knelt down, reaching for him. He flopped down next to her, rolling over onto his back with his tongue dangling out of his mouth. What did we do to deserve dogs?
Edoardo laughed behind her. "You know, normally he doesn't let someone hog his attention quite so much at parties."
Eleonora shrugged, hiding her smile from him. "Can't help it if I'm irresistible."
Edoardo laughed again. "That you are."
She felt heat flood every inch of her body, pressing her lips together and taking a deep breath. She shouldn't have said that.
"Do you want a drink or something?"
She looked over her shoulder at him. "No, I'm alright thanks. Do you need help cleaning up?"
He shook his head. "You're not cleaning up, Ele."
Eleonora just shrugged. She was more than happy to sit with Arturo while Edoardo cleaned up.
"So is your dad coming home anytime soon?" Eleonora was glad she'd caught herself before she asked when his parents would be home.
Edoardo stopped what he was doing, clearing a table of empty cups, staring at her for a second. She knew he was taking in her words and realising what they meant. Before she lost her nerve, she started speaking again.
"I'm sorry for what I said to you when you were talking about your mother."
There was silence between them for a long moment. Eleonora could feel the tension in the room pressing down on her chest.
"It's okay, Ele."
Eleonora didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to say that he could tell her about his mother whenever he wanted, but she knew she shouldn't. They couldn't be friends, they couldn't reminisce about their childhoods or discuss their current family issues.
"My dad's never really home. He travels for work a lot." Edoardo paused. "What about your parents?"
Eleonora was speaking before she could stop herself. "My mum stays in Padua with her boyfriend most of the time. She doesn't come home much."
She paused for a second before figuring she may as well continue now she'd started. "She's meant to be home with us now, actually."
And just like that they were discussing their current family issues. Whoops.
Edoardo sat down on the couch, and Arturo left Eleonora's side to join him. She followed behind him, sitting down next to Edoardo.
"So she's meant to be home with you right now but isn't?"
Eleonora sighed. Why was she discussing this with him? She hadn't even talked to Eva about it. She barely talked with Filo about it.
"Yeah. Her boyfriend, Paolo, has kids with his ex-wife. He normally has them on weekends and he doesn't this weekend so they're spending a few days in Venice."
Edoardo was silent next to her. Eleonora couldn't decide which situation was worse, a parent who chose work over their kid or a parent who chose another person.
"That sucks. What about your dad?"
And there it was. What she really hadn't wanted to talk about.
"Uh, he died."
Edoardo's arm was suddenly around her shoulder, pulling her gently into his side. "I'm sorry, Ele."
She let out a single, dry, laugh. "I'm sorry about your mother."
She hated this. Telling people. It was slightly less terrible when the other person had been through it too. But she still hated this.
It was interesting, though, seeing how people reacted. If people, especially people their age, hadn't been through something similar they never knew how to act and it showed. She could see it, how uncomfortable they were. So she shut it away, tried her best to be okay for everyone. No one wanted to deal with her not being okay.
When people had been through something similar, it was interesting seeing their reaction too. Often they tried to comfort people the way they'd needed to be comforted; sometimes the way they wish they had been. But they still didn't really want to deal with it. No one did.
Maybe Edoardo just needed a hug.
Sometimes Eleonora thought all she needed was a really long hug.
Arturo, who'd been lying at their feet, stood up and pressed his face against her thigh.
No, she didn't need a hug. She needed a dog.
There was silence for a while, Eleonora just sitting there with her head against Edoardo's shoulder and his arm around her. Finally she spoke up. "Do you have any cookies?"
Edoardo looked down at her, grinning. "Of course."
Eleonora sat cross-legged on Edoardo's couch, a tin of biscuits resting in her lap. Arturo was standing in front of her, trying to stick his head into the tin.
"No, Arturo, no! They're not for you!"
"He'd believe you more if you weren't laughing" Edoardo said as he walked into the room, the last of the cleaning up done. He sat down next to her, resting his arm behind her on the back of the couch.
"I'm keeping your dog" Eleonora told him solemnly.
He shifted slightly down on the couch, resting his head against the back of it as he watched her and Arturo with a smile. "No deal. But you can come visit him. He likes walks on the beach. We'll take him on one."
Eleonora looked over at him, rolling her eyes. "Ah, so that's why you have such a cute dog? You use him to get girls. I bet you suggest beach walks to all the girls."
Edoardo scoffed, throwing his hands up in the air in mock surrender. "Yes, you've caught me."
Eleonora tried to ignore the way her heart was beating way too fast and her cheeks were heating up. Her lipstick probably blended in with her face.
"I bet you even take him on walks to pick up girls. Do you have him trained to run up to cute girls?"
Edoardo laughed loudly, causing Arturo to bark in response. Eleonora laughed as well, shushing Arturo and scratching behind his ears. She seriously wanted to keep this dog. Maybe she could trade one more date...
"Has your brother got back to you?" Edoardo asked the question reluctantly, and she had to admit she'd kind of forgotten why she was sitting on Edoardo's couch with him.
"No" she said with a shake of her head.
"Well, you can stay here if you want." He quickly hurried through his next words, seemingly desperate to get the next words out. "I can sleep on the couch and you can take my bed. No pressure. Whatever you want."
Her heart thudded once in response. She said the next words without thinking. "You can't sleep on this couch. You'd be so uncomfortable."
Eleonora and Edoardo locked eyes, and her heart sped up in response.
Her poor heart. She was going to need a doctor after this.
Maybe she just needed a new one. This one obviously wasn't doing it's job properly.
"Okay" was all he said in response. She sensed he was scared to say anything more in case she changed her mind.
"I only have one request" she said, trying her best to look serious.
"Yes?"
"The dog gets to stay with us."
Edoardo laughed, tilting his head slightly to the side and giving her a look that made her breath catch in her throat. "Deal."
As Eleonora followed Edoardo and Arturo from the room, she checked her phone. She hadn't actually bothered to check for a response from Filo, and she did have one from him after all.
Bailed on the night out. What's up?
Eleonora bit her lip, pausing to text back.
Nothing. Just wanted to know your plans. I'm staying at Eva's. Love you.
She slid her phone back into her back pocket, knowing she was doing the wrong thing. Oh well. She was a failure. We all have flaws.
Edoardo's room wasn't what she expected. Like his dog, she didn't know why she'd expected otherwise.
She'd also tried really hard not to think about the inside of Edoardo's room.
It was simple, but not boring. He'd hung artwork on the walls, and a stack of books sat by what she assumed was his side of the bed.
She smirked at the very sad plant sitting on his bedside table. He followed her eyes, sighing dramatically.
"I unfortunately do not have what they call the 'green thumb'."
Eleonora just shook her head at him, still smiling.
"Do you want to take your makeup off? I have some stuff you can use..." Edoardo walked across the room as he spoke, pulling things out of his dresser. He turned around, holding out a shirt and pair of boxers to her.
She was still processing the fact that it sounded like he actually washed his face, a miracle for a teenage boy, so took the clothes without comment.
"The bathroom's just outside to the right."
Eleonora just nodded in response, following his directions to the bathroom. She changed, trying to ignore the fact that the t-shirt smelled faintly of him. She raided his drawers, astounded by him being possibly the only teenage boy ever to have a decent skincare routine.
She stared at herself in the mirror, running her fingers through her hair to try and tame it. There was a faint trace of mascara underneath her eyes, and she tried to rub it away with her fingertips but it just left her skin red instead. She sighed, giving up and making her way back to Edoardo's bedroom.
Eleonora halted in his doorway, watching his bare back as he bent over his bed and fluffed up the pillows. Yes, his bare back. He expected her to sleep next to his bare goddamn chest.
Yeah, she was definitely going to need a new heart.
Taking a breath to steady herself, Eleonora tried to casually stroll across the room to the other side of the bed. "I assume this is my side" she said.
Edoardo grinned at her. "Yeah, that can be your side."
Eleonora gave him a stern look, but didn't comment otherwise. She shouldn't have said that. She would have no permanent spot in this bed. Nope. It didn't matter how good he look shirtless.
For the record, very good.
She pulled back the covers on the bed, sitting down and sliding her legs underneath. She looked over at Arturo and patted the covers next to her, smiling when he instantly jumped up next to her.
Edoardo sighed. "The things I do for you. He's not normally allowed on the bed."
Eleonora shrugged. She didn't want to admit that she wanted to keep something in between them.
Edoardo walked to the door, reaching out to turn the lights off.
"Ready?"
"Mm-hmm."
He flicked the light switch, flooding the room with darkness. Eleonora held her breath, trying to hear his footsteps as he walked back to the bed. She felt the bed dip when he sat down, her heart beating hard in her chest. There was some rustling of sheets as he got comfortable, and then total silence.
"Goodnight, bellisima."
"Buona notte, stronzo."
His laugh was extra loud in the darkness. "You don't think I'm an asshole. You like me."
Eleonora wished she could just roll her eyes at him in response like she normally would. The whole pitch black thing was a bit of a nuisance in that regard. She slid herself down slightly in the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.
"You still have shitty hair."