A lot of my readers wanted to know what was happening with Chantelle and Pancrazio so I thought I'd but this chapter in… hope you Chanti/Zio fans like it. I'll be back to the drama next chapter!
Chapter 43: I'm Yours
PANCRAZIO'S POV
There was so much drama going on in the house, I couldn't keep track of it all.
Chantelle was upset that her siblings wanted to hurt her family, Esther apparently threw herself onto Eddie and Chloe saw it. Eddie defended Esther and, now Chloe is mad at him. Chloe stormed out the house 2 hours ago, Bella followed, now Renesmee and Jacob are fighting and, Esther's back with Eddie again.
Honestly, it was too much to handle and I didn't even know if it was the whole truth, I was going based on what Emmett, Jasper, Alice and Rosalie were betting on in the living room.
"Ten bucks says Chloe doesn't come home within the night." Jasper said, putting a ten dollar bill on the table.
"Twenty that she will, and her and Eddie will be back to puppy love and moon eyes by midnight." Emmett said putting another bill on the table.
"What are your bets on the issue with Esther?" Alice asked, she had a notebook and pen in her hand.
"Fifty that she doesn't come with us tomorrow, and wants to stay here!" Emmet boomed.
"Are you guys seriously betting on a family crisis?" I asked, astounded by them. They all turned to look at me. Emmett laughed, Rosalie and Jasper were smiling.
"Oh honey, this isn't a family crisis, trust us. Family crisis is when Bella throws a fit because she doesn't want to go shopping, or Renesmee giving birth. This sweetie, is good fun. We all know it will be back to normal tomorrow, no harm in a little fun watching it play out." Alice said to me with a smile.
Even though I was taller, and a lot bigger than her now she still seemed to see me as a child, I wouldn't change anything about it though, I loved Alice, as if she was my own mother so I wouldn't correct her. I let out a small smile at the tiny vampire.
"Okay… carry on with your betting," I told them and walked out the room. I walked upstairs and knocked on Chantelle's door.
"Come in," she mumbled. I walked in, and saw her crawled under her quilt.
"What are you doing?" I asked her. She didn't even move an inch.
"Sulking."
"Why?"
"Because I want to," she replied, pulling a pillow over her head. I gripped the pillow in my hand and yanked it off her. "Hey," she moaned and looked up to pout at me.
"We're meant to be going out aren't we?" I asked her. Her face dropped.
"We are?" she asked. I smiled at her. I reached over to her bedside table and took her iPhone. She didn't even whine when I began looking through it, I found her calendar and brought up today's date.
Sure enough there it was. September 8th; Carly's birthday party 8pm to 12am. I held up the phone to her.
"Oh shit!" she said and leapt out of her bed. I looked over at the clock to see it was already seven-thirty. "I have to ring her to let her know we aren't going," she said taking the phone out my hand.
"What?" I asked, instant disappointment in my voice. She paused to look at me.
"Well… with everything that's happening, I don't think it's a good idea… I mean…" she said trailing off as she stared at me. "You want to go?" she asked, her eyebrows coming together in confusion.
"Well I've been practicing my dance moves," I grinned at her. She rolled her eyes. "I'm just thinking about you," I said, seriously now. "You need to get out of here. You're sulking in your bed waiting for something that may never happen. The atmosphere around here is too tense, and I don't like it. I was hoping we could still go. Just go and get out of all this drama for a while." I told her. She sighed and looked at her phone in her hand before she looked back up at me. She then looked towards her closet.
"Can you give me 20 minutes? And can you get Alice? I'm gunna need help." She said. I smiled at her new enthusiasm.
"Sure." I told her walking towards her door. "See you in 20," I grinned and walked out. I called Alice up to help her, and went into my room to put on the clothes Alice had already set out for me a week ago to my request.
It was 7:50 and I was waiting by the door. Rosalie walked out the living room, and on the way to the kitchen she saw me waiting.
"Well don't you look handsome," she grinned. I smiled awkwardly at her. "Bring my girl back before midnight please Zio," she said with a sly grin. I nodded at her, as she walked into the kitchen.
Watching Chantelle walk down the stairs I realised, that I didn't have a simple crush on her. I was head over heels in love with her. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was dressed in a dark pink dress, it came down to the middle of her thighs, and the top had one strap over her left shoulder, leaving her right shoulder bare. Her long blonde hair was flowing straight down her back naturally.
She looked stunning.
She caught me looking at her and smiled. I walked over to her, and held my hand out for her to take. She did as she stepped off the bottom step.
"Are you ready my lady?" I asked her. She giggled.
"Yes thank you," she replied and linked her arm in mine. We walked to the door and I led her over to the car. She giggled with delight when I opened the door for her. She climbed in, and I climbed into the driver's side. Since Eddie and Renesmee had gotten their licenses, the Cullen's saw it fit to give Chantelle and me one too, since we looked old enough to be driving there was no real reason not to allow us.
When we arrived I got out and held my hand for her to take. Everybody stared at us as we made our way into the house.
"Chantelle!" I heard a high pitched voice call. A human girl, about the size of a shoe came running up to us. The tiny girl pulled Chantelle into a hug. I was pretty sure she was a child, if not she was a little far behind on developing.
"Hey honey," Chantelle said with a smile as she hugged the small child. She couldn't have been our age.
"Honey go back to mom and dad," some girl with red hair said walking up to us. She was definitely our age.
"Bye Chantelle!" the girl said and skipped over to her parents.
"Bye Honey." Chantelle called after her.
"Oh her name is Honey? I thought you were just calling her that," I whispered to her she giggled a little and shook her head. The older girl pulled Chantelle into a hug.
"You look amazing Chanti… and who is your rather handsome tall gorgeous date?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrows. "I thought you were dating that guy that dropped out a few years ago… What was his name? Alec or something." she said. I stiffened at the mention of Alex's name. Chantelle stuttered her answer.
"Er… no... He erm… I'm not. This is…" she said pausing to look at me. "Well this is Pancrazio," she said. The red haired girl smiled and held out her hand. I shook it awkwardly.
"I'm Hannah." She said with a smile. I dropped her hand as quickly as I could. "Pancrazio… is that Spanish or something?" she asked.
"Italian." I told her.
"Ohh… are you Italian?" she asked.
"Yes." I answered.
"You don't have an Italian accent," she mused.
"I was taught English alongside Italian. I speak both fluently," I informed her.
"Well well, 2 in 1. I like," she grinned. I shifted my weight uncomfortably as she smiled at me.
"Han he's mine. Go find your own handsome Italian that speaks English," Chantelle said as she squeezed my hand. I smiled triumphantly. I had never heard her call me hers before.
"Aw Chanti, you're no fun," Hannah giggled, she linked her arm with Chantelle's
"Do you have a date?" Chantelle asked her as we continued towards the front door of the house.
"Yeah… Jason. But he's too busy talking to his friends," Hannah said rolling her eyes. We entered the hall, and I immediately noticed the large number of people congregated around the house. The house was big but, not quite as big as ours.
"Chanti!" I heard some other high pitched voice call. Another girl came running up to Chantelle, and pulled her into a hug.
"Hey." Chantelle greeted the blonde girl.
"So this is your hot date you've been talking about?" she asked looking at me, I looked at Chantelle, and she blushed. "I've got to admit, I thought you were lying to us," she said smiling at me. I smiled awkwardly back.
"Pancrazio this is Emily. Emily, Pancrazio," Chantelle introduced us.
"Hi," I smiled.
"He's Italian." Hannah chimed in.
"Sexy." Emily grinned.
I think it was at that point that I was the one blushing.
"Chanti!" someone else called… Jesus how popular was Chantelle?
"Hey Carl," Chantelle smiled. Some boys came over now followed by a bunch of girls. Chantelle began talking to them, and after introducing me I stood there silently. We eventually moved over the couches in the living room, and people literally moved to allow us to sit down. Chantelle continued to talk to her friends, and I sat patiently next to her, her hand in mine. I began playing with her fingers, specifically her ring she always kept on her right fourth finger. I don't think I had ever asked her about it.
"So Pancrazio… that's your name right?" Hannah asked. I nodded. "Were you born in Italy?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"How come you moved over here?"
"His parents were friends with mine. When his parents died he decided to come over and live with us for a bit," Chantelle answered for me. I was glad she had a story because; I had no idea what to say.
"Oh. Sorry about your parents." Hannah said to me.
"Yeah thanks," I mumbled back. Not really accepting the sympathy, I was glad my father was dead, and had never met my mother.
"So tell me something about you Pan," she said. I was shocked at her nick name.
"Don't shorten his name. He hates it," Chantelle said. I smiled slightly; I didn't hate it so much when she did it.
"Oh sorry, I just thought it was such a mouthful. It's like your sisters name; I don't think I've ever called her by her full name before." Hannah laughed. Wait, was she talking about Renesmee?
"Yeah Nessie's name was shortened the day she was born," Chantelle laughed, Hannah laughed with her before turning back to me.
"So… tell me Pancrazio." She said.
"Tell you what?" I asked.
"Anything. What school do you go to?" she asked.
"I'm erm… I'm home-schooled," I told her.
"Oh… I thought you lived on your own."
"No he lives with me and my family. My parents home-school him. He never went to a school in Italy and he didn't want to start in a totally different country." Chantelle explained for me.
"Ah. Well you should go to our school," Hannah said with a huge smile. I mumbled something incoherent.
"We'll see," I said after.
"Well are you smart?" she asked. I shrugged; I didn't know what the average intelligence of a child my age would be.
"He speaks 5 languages fluently, and already has an international baccalaureate. You work it out," Chantelle said, her tone of voice was proud. Hannah looked at me stunned.
"Wow." She said.
"What subjects did you do?" some boy asked me.
"English, French, Mathematics, Geography, Biology and Drama." I told him.
"Awesome," the boy grinned.
"Oh I love this song!" someone shouted they grabbed Chantelle's hand and pulled her off the chair towards the dance floor. I let her other slip from my grasp so she could dance with her friends. She looked back at me as if she didn't want to be away from me.
"So was it hard?" someone asked me. I turned my attention off Chantelle to the boy.
"Er… yeah I guess" I told him. "I finished a year early though," If he had known I was 6 years old and had finished an IB diploma in a year I didn't think they'd believe me.
"So you're what 17?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Awesome," the boy said again with a smile.
"Pancrazio, come dance with your girlfriend," I heard someone say. The girl who had stood up with Chantelle was beckoning me over. I smiled slightly, but shook my head, I wasn't dancing. "It's a slow song, come on," the girl said again. The other people were getting up too; they took their dates and were slowly dancing around the room. Chantelle stood there looking as gorgeous as ever smiling at me. I sighed and stood up, walking over to the girls. The other girl giggled and walked off, probably to find her date.
"I don't dance," I told Chantelle. She already knew this.
"I know, it's not that hard though," she grinned. She reached up and put her arms around my neck. She reached on her tiptoes so her lips were at my ear. "Just hold me," she whispered. It made me shiver. I reached around her waist, and pulled her tiny body to me. I felt her kiss my neck, something I was not expecting. "Now just sway," she giggled into my skin. I did as she said.
She was right, dancing wasn't that hard. It was easier than the other dancing she did. The dancing that made my mouth hang open like a dog and gawk at her as she moved her body.
"See… you're doing it," she said with another kiss to my neck. I swear to god if she didn't stop that I would die right there. "By the way, there's a rumour that you're going to win the award for most handsome," she said with a giggle.
"What?" I asked. What was that?
"You don't need to worry. Carly has a tradition at her parties; there is always someone who gets named the handsomest male, and the prettiest female. I'm pretty sure I'll win prettiest anyway. Everyone here loves me. All you need to do is, accept the crown and walk away," she said. I pulled away slightly so I could see her face.
"Why would I be it? I'm not even in your school." I told her.
"You're the talk of the evening, have you seen how many of my friends are swooning over you. I'm getting a little jealous," she grinned. I smiled back and kissed her forehead.
"Why?" I asked, my lips at her skin.
"I knew you first." She argued. I smiled and pulled away from her.
"And I'm yours?" I asked, trying to hint on what she said earlier.
"You heard that then?" she asked as she blushed. I smiled at her.
"Yes."
"Well. I was only saying that in the context of, you're my date," she said trying to defend herself, but her tone of voice and the blush betrayed her. I brought my lips to her ear.
"I am though… yours," I whispered to her. "In any way you want me to be."
"You shouldn't have said that," she replied. I chuckled slightly. "I don't think I'll ever let you go now," she said. I moved to look at her again, catching her eyes.
"What does that mean?" I asked softly, was she getting onto the fact she saw us together as a couple in the future? I know people teased us about it, and I didn't exactly hide the fact I had a crush on her, but were her feelings as deep as mine? She shrugged, and stretched on her tip toes. Her lips brushed mine in a small peck. It was quick, and she barely touched me but I noticed it. I smiled down at her. She blushed again, and tucked her face into my neck. I held her on the dance floor for a little bit longer.
"Thank you," she whispered after a while.
"What for?" I asked her.
"For making me come here tonight, I'm glad we did," she told me, I smiled.
"No prob," I laughed. She smiled and pulled away from me. She took my hand and brought me back over to the couches.
We sat down and continued to talk about various things. At about 10pm, Carly, the girl whose birthday it was, announced it was time for her infamous award ceremony.
The awards were silly really. One for best dressed, worst dressed, wildest partier, most drunk and then most handsome and prettiest. Chantelle predicted right, and we both won the crowns for the most handsome and pretty awards. In my opinion it was all pointless, but everyone seemed to have enjoyed it, Carly was clearly very good at hosting these parties, and the award scheme seemed to be a huge hit.
After that a huge cake was brought out, and we all sang happy birthday to Carly. One of the boys decided to throw cake in her face, and the entire room erupted into laughter before a food fight broke out.
I had to admit, I wasn't expecting to have as much fun as I did. Chantelle, and I joined into the food fight, but we were manly only trying to get each other. I hated to get cake over her gorgeous dress, but I was comforted in the fact that Alice wouldn't really care, since she probably owned another three of them.
A lot of other boys tried to get in on mine and Chantelle's little game that was separated from the one big one going on, but I was delighted that Chantelle didn't seem to give them any attention. She playfully pushed them away when they tried to get close to her, and she'd come after me instead.
The food fight died down after half an hour, and everyone was laughing and dancing again, this time with food smeared all over the furniture, and the nice dresses.
Chantelle and I got home just after midnight. She went straight to bed after giving me a kiss on my cheek, and another thank you. I watched her walk up the stairs and out of my sight before I let out a small sigh, and walked into the living room. I saw Emmett sitting alone in the room. I suddenly felt awkward, and began walking back out.
"Thank you Pancrazio," he said as I reached the door. I stopped and turned to look at him. He was looking at me.
"What for?" I asked suddenly nervous. I always got like this around Emmett. I could see how protective he was of his daughter, and I was never quite sure what he thought about Chantelle, and me.
"For getting her out of the house, for making her happy," he said. There was no humour present in his voice. This was a side of Emmett I had never seen before.
"I saw her earlier today broken, she felt betrayed, and she was scared… but now she's smiling. So thank you," he said again. I smiled slightly at him, not knowing what to say.
"No problem," I told him.
"I know you're scared of me Zio, but you don't need to be. I'm not going to rip you apart." He said with a small laugh, seriousness gone.
"You ripped apart her last boyfriend," I reminded him. His face changed again.
"You're nothing like him. I can see that now, and I'm not going to try and stop anything that develops between you and my daughter." He told me, my smile was more genuine.
"Thank you sir," I said. I knew he didn't like me calling him that, but I wanted to show how much respect I had for him, regardless of our close relationship.
"Yeah yeah," he grinned.
"Goodnight Emmett," I said with a smile in return.
"G'night kid" he replied, and turned the TV back on. I rolled my eyes at him calling me a kid, and headed up stairs to take a much needed shower.
