Hello everyone! Nina-chan finally got her ass into gear and finished the fucking chapter.
I want to apologize for long it took, it wasn't my intention. I've just been really busy and my time for writing was limited, so I was only able to write bits and pieces here and there, which is why it took me forever to complete. However, I came down with a flu, which sucks because I can't take any fucking medicine for it, and in order to prevent my twins from getting sick, my sister in law took them with her, which has been of so much help. My husband (gods, it feels so strange calling him that) has been taking care of all the chores in the house, which means I get to do nothing but sleep, cuddle with my seven month old baby, and catch up on my shows. Since I had so much time in hands, I was able sit down and finish the bloody chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it, and I hope you see you in the next chapter.
Also, I know is graduation time in America so congrats to all those graduates, I hope life doesn't kick you too hard from now on xD
Nina~
Chapter 9: My past
-Third Person POV-
Tsuna was tired of walking. She never thought possible to try on so many clothes as she had today. Hayato couldn't make it to their "shopping spree," so Tsuna was left at Elena's mercy. They had been in the mall for for hours now, going from store to store, where she was forced to buy all this crap she didn't even know she needed. From shirts, to pants, to skirts, to dressed, shoes, jewelry, bags, hair products, makeup, everything you can think of, they probably bought. Tsuna didn't want to know just how much they were spending, given that all the stores they went to looked ridiculously expensive, yet nothing was labeled with a price tag. In a few hours, she has probably spent what her father makes in a whole year of hard work. She has tried to protest more than a few times, but Elena wouldn't hear her. Eventually, she just gave up, and let Elena do whatever she wanted. Currently, the two of them were enjoying a light snack when Elena stepped away to take a call. She came back in a few minutes, looking a bit troubled.
"Looks like we're going to have to find you a nice outfit to wear today."
"Why?"
"Because you're meeting Giotto's family tonight."
-Tsuna's POV-
The second those words left Elena's mouth, I felt my heart drop to my stomach. "Do you mean Giotto's parents?" Whenever Giotto talks about family, he only usually talks about his grandfather. I've asked himd a few times about his parents, but he's always dodged the question, so I have no idea what his family might be like.
"His parents and his brothers." Wait, Giotto has brothers? He's never mentioned that to me, just what the hell was he thinking?
"Before you get all mad at him, Giotto has his reasons to keep this stuff from you, believe it or not. I'm sure he'll tell you everything before dinner tonight." Elena looked like she didn't want to be speaking about it, so I decided to drop it. She was probably right anyways, I'm sure Giotto will talk to me soon enough. "Well, we should finish, I know the perfect store to visit." I groaned and finished my pastry. Quite frankly, all I want to do right now is leave this place, but by the looks of it, it's not going to happen. Elena drags me to this expensive looking boutique and picks something she deems appropriate for me to wear tonight. She didn't even ask for my opinion, she just picked it out and that was it. Fortunately, I trust Elena's taste, and she did picked something quite beautiful.
The ride back to where I was staying was...tense. Elena was texting the whole time and based on her expressions, things weren't going smoothly, which made me worried. Was Giotto's family that bad? Just what the hell is going on? Since we left the mall, Elena hasn't spoken to me, and whenever I asked something, she just told me Giotto would talk to me once I arrived to the castle. Not knowing what was going on made me nervous, but I couldn't force anyone to tell me what was going on if they didn't want to. Soon enough, we arrived to the castle. Elena asked some men to take our bags inside, and as I was walking towards the main entrance, I noticed Elena wasn't following me.
"You're not coming?" I asked her.
"No, I have to head home and get ready. I'm having dinner with Daemon's parents tonight."
"Who's going to help me get ready for tonight?" God knows I'll need all the help I can get.
Elena smiled at me, "you'll see. You should head inside, I'm sure Giotto is waiting for you." She got back in the car and left after a few seconds. When I enter the castle, I found Giotto waiting for me by the stairs.
"Hey," he walked towards me and kissed me softly. "How was shopping?"
"Tiring, you know how...excited Elena gets from time to time."
"That's bad huh?" I nodded, "well, how about we take a small break?" Before I could say anything, Giotto grabbed me by the hand and dragged me toward the back of the castle. He opened a door and next thing I know, I'm standing in front of a large pool looking at a beautiful garden like no other I've seen in my life. "Pretty isn't it?"
"It's gorgeous."
"Come on, let's sit by the water." I followed Giotto and sat by the edge of the pool, taking my shoes off and putting my feet in the water, which felt wonderful against my tired feet. Giotto copied my actions, not seeming to care about the fact his pants were going to get wet. There was a comfortable silence between the two of us that was interrupted by a maid, who came to bring us some cold drinks and some snacks. Giotto handed me a glass of lemonade as well as some pastries, which I happily ate, after all, they were incredibly delicious. "So I'm sure Elena told you we're having dinner with my parents tonight."
"She did," there was more I wanted to say, but I decided to give Giotto his time to explain everything to me.
"I know what you're probably thinking, and I swear there's a good reason why I never spoke to you about them, and I hope you understand why."
"Well, unless you tell me why I won't."
-Third Person POV-
"Try not to judge to harshly okay?" Tsuna nodded and gave him a kind smile. "My father is the youngest out of three sons. My two uncles, Enrico and Massimo, died in an accident a long time ago. That left my dad, Alessandro, as the heir to the throne and heir to everything under the Vongola name. My father wasn't the most suitable person to be king, but grandpa had faith in him, faith that he'd change, but he didn't. The only person my father looked after as himself. He was, as still is, a horribly selfish person who only thinks of himself, and those he's interested on, and grandpa knew this. He thought my father was just lonely, so he started looking for a wife for my father, and that's when my mother comes into play. My mother is the only daughter of the Chiavarone family. She has an older brother who was going to take over the family, so she didn't have much to look forward to. The Chiavarone is one of the richest, most influential families in Italy, and my grandfather thought an alliance between then and the Vongola would beneficial for all the parties involved, so he arranged a marriage between my father and my mother. The deal was fantastic for my mother: she'd be named princess and eventually queen, and she wouldn't have to fight her brother for scraps of the family fortune. Things were slightly different for my father: he saw the advantage of marrying my mother, but he was conflicted, given that there was another woman in his life. However, he decided to keep quiet and marry my mother. Needless to say, the two of them hate each other. Seriously, they can't even be under the same roof for more than two hours. They keep their appearances in public, and events, but that's it. The two of them keep away from each other as much as they can. I don't even know how did they manage to sleep together and have me."
"If they hate each other so much, why don't they just get a divorce?"
"Things are not that simple. If they were to get divorce, my mother would lose her title as a royal, along with most of the benefits that come with that title, and her rights to the Vongola. Not only that, but we would lose the alliance with the Chiavarone and that could bring consequences to the Vongola family, and the crown. The two of them gain benefits from the marriage, and they both know it, so I guess they just have an agreement: I stay out of your way, you stay out of mine, and we pretend whenever we have to, and it's worked for them. The one person who's most affected by this is me. Let's just say, neither one of my parents really wanted to be my parents. I was essentially said by nannies and my grandfather. I could count with my hands the amounts of times I would see my parents during the year. Which is one of the reason why I don't speak about them: they weren't parents to me." Tsuna's heart broke when she saw the sadness in Giotto's eyes. How could he had been through something like that and still be that kind, loving person Tsuna fell madly in love with? Wanting to make him feel somewhat better, she held his big hand between her tiny ones, and he smiled at her. "There story is far from over. Remember I said that before my father married he was with someone?" Tsuna nodded, "he still with that woman. Her name is Sienna, and by technicalities, she's my father mistress. Funny enough, I think she's the only sane person is this circus I call a family. I didn't interact much with her growing up, but the few times I did, she was nothing but kind to me. She was kinder and motherly towards me than my own mother. My father has two sons with this woman: Reborn, who is two years older than me, and Xaxus, who's a year younger. When my grandfather found out, he was furious. Illegitimate children are quite frowned upon when you're a royal, so neither one of my brothers bears the Vongola name. Actually, no one outside the family, and a close circle of friends, know that I have two brothers, and that's when things get really messy. Grandpa loves all of there of us, there's no questioning there, however, he also needs to follow the rules. I'm sure that nothing would make my grandfather happier than recognizing Reborn and Xaxus as his grandchildren and have them be part of the royal family, but he can't, and that's the part my father doesn't seem to understand. When grandpa found out about my brothers, father insisted they were given royal rights, and for Reborn to be named the next heir to the throne after my father, something my grandfather didn't agree to. I'd stay as the only prince and heir to the throne, and everything under the Vongola name, unless my father had another child with his wife, not his mistress. My grandfather had no issue incorporating my brothers into the Vongola affairs that had nothing to do with royalty, but he couldn't make them official members of the family. My father didn't take it lightly, and he started to threaten people, and go against my grandfather's orders. Fed up with his attitude, grandpa decided to take action, and he took my father out of the line of succession, for both the throne and everything else in the Vongola. Once he step down, the throne would go to me. My father wasn't happy about this, at all, and he made sure everyone knew. Eventually, things settled, but the family was even more broken than it was before, and I was the most hated member in it. Before this all happened, my father hated me simply because I was born, but now he hates me because he says I'm the reason why he lost everything. My brothers hate me because they think I'm the reason why they can't be part of the family and my mother hates me simply because she never wanted to be a mother. That's my family, I hope you know understand why I never spoke about them."
By the end of his story, Tsuna was close to tears. Since he never spoke about them, Tsuna figured that Giotto didn't have the best relationship with his family, but this was beyond anything she could've imagined. Giotto practically was raised not being loved by anyone other than his grandfather, yet he still turned out to be such a wonderful person, and it broke Tsuna's heart. Because someone as wonderful as Giotto deserves so much better. He deserves all the happiness in the world, he deserves a happy family that loves him unconditionally. Before she could hold them in, tears started streaming down her face. Giotto saw this and immediately wiped them out. "Please, don't cry alright? At the end of the day, it all worked out. My friends became my family, and I was happy. More importantly, I'm happy because you make me happy. You show me what loving is all about, and as long as you're by my side, I can take on anything."
"I promise," Tsuna said as she tried to control her crying. "I promise I'll always be by your side, even when things get tough. More importantly, I promise to you what a real family should be like. You won't ever feel unloved again, not if I have say on the matter." Tsuna had no idea of the effect those words had Giotto, who felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He was the luckiest man in the world.
Giotto laid his forehead against Tsuna's, "that's all I ask for." He then kissed her, and Tsuna just wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself in the kiss. "We should start getting ready." Giotto said once their kiss was broken. He got up and helped Tsuna, and two of them went upstairs to get ready for dinner.
Giotto knew that what was coming wasn't going to be easy, but he didn't care. He'd be willing to fight every single member of his family for Tsuna, and he was going to demonstrate that tonight.
