I am finally uploading this. I am sorry I haven't posted anything recently. My grandmother is sick and I have been going to visit her a lot and trying to balance out work. I think I've mentioned it before, but I work about 60 a week. Anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter. I wrote this a long time ago in my fan fic journal lol.

Antonia gently played with the ceramic ducks and made little kiss noises every time their beaks clinked together. She giggled as she looked over to see Samuel roll his eyes. She was currently in the kitchen of his apartment as he plated their dinner. It was finally Valentine's Day, and he had invited her to come over to spend the evening together. She grabbed the small bowl of hummus, silverware, and some napkins to help him set up the table. "Come on love," they walked over to the small dinner table putting down the items. The girl was in love with the flowers he had gotten her and kept playing with the ribbon tied around sat across the girl as they ate and talked about how their school year was going. The two shared their school stresses, friendly gossip, and resolutions that already failed for the year. "How's your mum? Is she working today?" Samuel smiled at the question, raising his eyebrows almost laughing. "Um, well my father sent her a lot of money, so she actually went off on a shopping spree." She giggled at the fact that she would have done the same thing. "Good for her," Samuel sarcastically scoffed at her comment and continued back to eating.

As the movie played, Antonia was mesmerized by the intricate animation displayed by the characters. They were currently watching Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, a film that the goth heard about in her Art class. Samuel was pretending to be interested by the fact that it was a musical since he was expecting some cheesy pop music. He was surprised to hear the tunes that actually played and thought that it was okay so far. They sat on the couch rather comfortably with their shoulders pressed against each other, not saying much, very engaged as the movie progressed. Every now and then, they would shoot a quick look at each other trying not to make it obvious. From time to time, the teens were paying attention to the outfits they chose to wear for the occasion. Antonia gently outlined the buttons on her shirt as it gave her something to calm down. She wore a cute fitted long-sleeve knit shirt, a tight maxi leopard print skirt, and her classic Doc Marten maryjane shoes. Her hair was straightened and brushed down neatly adorned with a matching leopard print headband. Her fingernails were painted a hot pink color and wore a few rings with heart-shaped gems. Samuel had on a Blondie T-Shirt, brown plaid pants, and bright yellow Converse. He too had on nail polish that Angelita painted when she was bored in their forensic class yesterday. "Do you want something sweet?" The goth looked at him as he slowly got off the couch. "Okay. What do you have?" Samuel didn't respond as he was back in the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying a little pink box with tiny flowers on it. He opened it for Antonia and revealed six decorated French macaroons. They were adorned with dried flowers and gold leafing, the cookies looked too pretty to indulge. "Woah," Antonia smiled as she began to think about which one she wanted to eat first. "Can I have this one?" She pointed at the green macaroon, and he frowned, "No I'm just showing you them be before I decide to throw that one away." He playfully made the comment and the girl rolled her eyes. She grabbed it gently trying not to ruin the decoration. Holding it in her palm she admired the item, Samuel on the other hand, took the flower off the cookie he chose and popped it in his raised an eyebrow as he stared back at her with a confused expression, "Wot?" She said nothing as she peeled the flower off her cookie before she took a small bite out of the sweet snack and continued watching the movie.

"Are you seriously crying?" A few tears escaped her eyes as the movie finished. "They didn't tell me that how the movie ended!" She coughed as she tried to keep herself together and Samuel started laughing at her. Samuel then mimicked the girl's sniffing which earned him a good whack from the cushion. She glared at him while regaining her emotions and clicked through other movies she was able to stream. "Oh, put that movie called 9. It's really good." She looked at the creature on the screen and hesitated to put it on. Then again, she already made her pick to watch a movie so it was fair that he would get to watch the movie he wanted. Once it began, she found herself keeping her eyes on him. After sitting next to each other for quite some time without engaging in any conversation, she wanted to somehow get his attention. She glanced at him a few times as she noticed the bruise that was there faded to a yellowish color. The small knot near his eyebrow also went away as she was fully facing the boy. Her eyes gazed down to the lower half of his face seeing that the cuts on his lip were also gone. He noticed the girl from his peripherals and began to smirk. She then faced the screen to watch the movie but that didn't stop him from breaking the ice, "Don't be weird and stare at me without saying anything." She looked at him again softly blushing as she tried to think of something to say. He slowly turned to face her and his heart began to race. Samuel felt anxious as to what would happen next but was doing his best to keep his decided not to say anything until she did.

She finally thought of something to say after a few minutes of silence, "What actually happened when you got in that fight with that guy?" He moved his lips to one side as he tried to recollect the details of what happened that night. He started off the story emphasizing how he first took their pump at the gas station which received a giggle from the girl. He then went on to talk about what the boy said when they faced off in the snack aisle. "What? He said that?" The boy raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. "The mate went on talking about my accent and other bullshit. Overall, the lad was a total prick." She crossed her arms moving her feet around on the carpet. She had taken her shoes off so her soft socks made an odd sound, "You're not ugly. You just happen to look different." He softly smiled at her remark and continued on with the story. He discussed that his attitude made him upset which left Antonia with a sassy expression. "So, you're the one that initiated the fight?" She began to smile a bit which made Samuel hesitate to continue his statement, "Umm… yes. But in general, he was a total douche." He looked at the girl looking off to the side and resting her arm against the couch. She brought her fist upto her head and rested against it looking at him, "Don't stop now. You already exposed yourself so go ahead and finish." He lightly chucked in disbelief as the girl made her comment but then had to really focus on the situation. The punk made sure to leave out specific details from the story, especially Dominic's willingness to truly harm the boy. He then bragged about how they got rid of the other guys by scaring them off and how they went home celebrating his success. He thought it wasn't necessary to discuss what happened after Josiah said those racist comments to Seymour but informed the goth about the type of person he was. He saw her face get red and he repeated word for word on the comment aimed toward his companion. She looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, it made her nervous to know what it was like. She hadn't gotten into serious problems with other girls, but it hurt her to know that there were people in the world that were full of hate. "Do people say that stuff to you all the time?" "What? Things about my appearance? People say anything to get a laugh," his eye shifted in a way that indicated that he was a little bit hurt. Samuel always resorted to fighting to fix his problems. He thought it was his way of having things fixed easily and no one questioned him about it. It was different now, having to move countries, go to a different school, hardly visiting family, living in an area where ironically being different was only cool if you had the right background or resources to flourish from it. He was in a consistent state of thinking everything was unfair. Antonia looked away from him to watch the movie again. She had lost track of what was going on and saw that more of the burlap creatures were on screen.

After a while, Samuel was done sulking in his anger and wanted to pick at the girl's thoughts. She was still positioned in his direction, making it easier for him to get what he wanted to be done. He first moved his arm up to rest his elbow on top of the couch. Antonia's eyes widened for a moment as she recognized he was trying to make a move on her. She was very close to him and also felt the need to close the gap between the two. After a while, he looked over to her seeing that her eyelids were laying low. The grey eyeshadow sparkled in the dim lighting of the living room that escaped from the lamp. He lightly used his thumb to trace her eyebrows, "Your brows are so thin." She pushed his hand away as an immediate reaction, "You're going to smudge it if you rub against it." He gave her a sneaky grin pinching her cheek, she immediately felt embarrassed as he mumbled her response mocking the request. She felt her face grow warm as his hands touched her face, he knew exactly what he was doing and stopped once he saw her face became red. He too demonstrated a soft blush as he was infatuated with the girl. He stared deeply in her eyes as he loosened his grasp on her face. "You have a look that other girls don't really have." He moved back then repositioned himself to where one leg was crossed over his knee and the other was planted on the ground. As they began to spend more time together, he paid attention to how hermakeup was done. Even though he wore a bit of eyeliner and darkened his brows, he still knew nothing about cosmetics. But oh, how he was captivated by the girl's beauty. She often wore very dark-colored lipsticks, but he favored the times when she would wear dark red lipstick, just as she was wearing at that moment. They remained a few inches apart, keeping a soft gaze on one another without any hesitation for what could happen next. "I like that you take the time to take care of yourself." "I like that you notice that." Antonia felt the need to close the gap, but it was soon broken when Samuel leaned back against the couch. She narrowed her eyes on him, sitting in the same position she was in earlier but now his arm wrapped around her shoulder. In that second, she could feel her heart once again beat faster, closing her eyes for a moment, she thought carefully about the way she was going to sit. She put her arm down, inching closer to his chest.

She said nothing, sitting there stiff trying to get an approach on him. Samuel then began playing with a strand of her hair, looking in her direction. She turned to face, seeing a had gentle smile on his face. "You're really pretty." "Thanks. You say that all the time." She giggled at her own comment before glancing back at the film. He pulled the strand of hair making her face him and their eyes locked. "Don't make this odd darling…" His brows began to come closer together as he anticipated an honest reaction. "I… I can't help it…" Samuel rolled his eyes as he thought her response was ridiculous. Whispering, he put his other hand on her arm, "Innit mad, that we're just here with nothing too crazy going on." A laugh escaped from the goth as she felt defeated in the situation. Samuel moved the girl closer to him for a gentle embrace. She let out a soft squeal as he tightened his arm around her shoulders, she thought for a moment that she would be caught in a headlock. He rested his cheek against her temple and let out a deep sigh, she didn't notice his eyes close nor the smile that beamed on his face. He loosened his grip on her and Antonia leaned her head back. "Im just going to do it." Based on his slow movements, the girl figured he was done waiting through the fluff and got straight to the point. When he moved to face her, he parted his lips to ask her a question when she planted her warm lips on his. Samuel genuinely was going to wait it out, only turning his head to further tease the girl milking out a conversation. But because of the type of person he was, he let her take the lead. Antonia softly placed her hand on his arm as he kissed her back. Expecting to be a short kiss, Antonia got hit with a wave of emotion once a few moments passed. Samuel went in cupping her cheek, he readjusted their lips and the girl gently pushed him away. His hand glided down her arm feeling the utmost satisfaction in a while. The girl didn't wait to look at him. She cupped her face feeling humiliated. The boy grinned widely as he wiped away the lipstick stains with his thumb. His heart was beating fast and was regaining a steady pace of breathing. He wiped his finger on his pants and readjusted them without trying to make anything obvious. Samuel noticed that she looked at the T.V saying nothing and chuckled. "Hey," the boy put a hand on her back on the other on her arm. She said nothing, recoiling from his touch. He smacked his lips thinking she was just messing with him, "Toni." He combed her hair with his fingers and moved it behind her shoulders. He saw that her face grew red, and her eyes filled with tears. "Toni?" She released herself from him gently getting up from the couch. "Antonia," she quietly walked away and entered the restroom without saying a word. He looked at her confused as she walked away, eyes wide open as he sat up on the couch.

Antonia cried on the toilet seat feeling overwhelmed. Her soft sobs echoed off the walls, only followed by silence that filled the apartment. For some odd reason, the girl began to feel as if she had rushed the moment they were having. She really liked him at this point and wanted something serious about him. She got caught in the moment and processed that he was trying to talk to her. She began to think that he would see her differently now and the goth now worried that Samuel would get the idea that she would want to do more than just talk after the kiss. "I should have asked him… I shouldn't have done that." Her mind flooded with many thoughts, and it only got worse when she heard his footsteps approaching the bathroom. Samuel got close to the door ready to knock, pausing to hear if she was still crying. He put his ear close to the door, feeling hurt as she whined quietly. "He probably thinks I've slept with everyone I've dated. Oh my god... What if I come out and he expects me to spend the night? He's going to want me to sleep with him. Ugh. What the fuck…" She began breathing hard as her crying continued. After a few minutes, she finally calmed down. Samuel was now back in the living room with his arms crossed looking at the paused movie. He was very worried about the girl, pondering to see how he could handle the situation or to text his friends for help. A few ants marched back and forth on the seam where the bathtub met the concrete. She watched the tiny insects move around, finding it calming as she we able to focus on something else. She got up to look at herself in the mirror and scoffed. Her mascara was now smeared everywhere from rubbing and wiping her tears away. She ran the sink to wet her fingertips, cleaning up her face. She grabbed toilet paper and began to wipe away her smeared lipstick. Tears once began to stream down her cheek as she tried to fix herself. "Am I overreacting?" She looked at herself deeply through the mirror, feeling grounded again, "I definitely overreacted." KNOCK. KNOCK. She looked over to the door, "Are you okay?" Samuel's shadow could be seen below the door in the little gap that was left. "Yeah," Antonia shrugged her shoulders as her voice cracked responding. She fixed up her makeup the best she could before reaching for the door. She took a deep breath as she cracked it open slowly, he moved back to make sure that he gave her space. He looked at her, seeing her upset expression and hands lightly shaking. Her head was slightly tilted down, peering at him though her brows. He was still very confused about the situation, "Oi, what's your deal?" He began extending one hand out as Antonia tried to collect her thoughts. He figured to ask her more questions to see what would get her talking. "Did I say something that threw you off earlier? I promise I didn't mean to offend you… Or did you not want me to touch- I mean hold you? Like when we kissed." "No. Its not that… It's just that I should've asked you for a kiss instead of trying to shove my whole mouth down your throat." He uncrossed his arms,trying to catch her train of thought, "What do you mean? Like… you kissing me? Antonia, you weren't forcing anything on me." She looked at him in the eyes slowly getting closer, coming in for a hug as he opened up. She rested her cheek against his collar sniffling as he wrapped his arms around her. "Love, I don't mind the snogging," he ran his finger through her hair, "You don't have to be afraid to like me." "I just feel weird because I was just caught up in the moment."

The two were then back on the couch talking about what was presumably the start to a relationship. Samuel and Antonia carefully talked about what they expected out of each other, emphasizing important things that they had to know about one another. It was a very long conversation, but a good one. Overall, it reassured the girl about her emotions and worries when it came to relationships in general. Antonia was always confident, but there would be times when she was very anxious about boys. There seemed to always be a catch. Whether a guy thinking he would be granted anything he wanted in return, feels obligated to limit and control what their significant other does, or expecting everything to be sacrificed for him. These were issues that Antonia noticed that came to dating guys and she was tired of it. However, it felt different with Samuel. He was not at all the type of guy that Antonia normally dated, yet he seemed to agree with the morals and values she shared. One thing that Antonia picked up on throughout this conversation was his ability to pick out characteristics about her personality. Of course, he was attracted to her, but he admired her for who she really was. Samuel was glad to see the girl smile a few times during their conversation.

Antonia grabbed the bouquet of roses that were sitting on the dinner table ready to head out. It was close to midnight, and she needed to return home before her parents got suspicious. Joseph and Nicole were in the parking lot to get the goth from the apartment. "Zip up your coat, love. It's chilly out." He opened the door for her and followed her out as they walked to the Jeep. She turned around to give him one last hug before entering the vehicle. He put his hand on her back rubbing it before letting go. He watched them leave the parking lot until the car disappeared into the night.