The thick rain of January soaked through Giovanni's woollen cardigan and licked the skin of his face and neck, making him shiver. His hands shook, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or his nerves.

Everything had felt wrong as soon as he stepped foot into the dead grass around the house. The flowers he purchased on his way no longer seemed beautiful, his clothes no longer seemed to fit him, and his carefully combed hair was wet and stuck to his forehead. Maybe it was for the best. He didn't want to look like he was desperate. His mind was swirling with a thousand questions as he waited. Maybe he should have warned he was coming. Maybe she wasn't home. Or maybe she had returned to her romance with Andrew. Maybe she just didn't want to see him.

"Holy crap, you're soaked!" said Alice upon opening the front door of Andrew's house.

"A-Am I?" he stuttered. "I didn't notice."

Alice pushed him off the rain, offering the shelter of the house's ceiling. She closed the door behind him and stood in front of him. He was used to her in large clothes. It was strange to see her in pyjama and a blanket draped across her shoulders.

"Let me get you a towel," she said, walking away from him. "And maybe some of Andrew's clothes."

"Oh, no!" he almost screamed after her. "He's clothes are all Gucci or whatever. He'll hate me if I ruin them!"

Giovanni wasn't sure a guy like Andrew would notice if a shirt was missing. He probably had a thousand of them and could easily buy another. Plus, maybe he already hated him. From the little he saw of Andrew, he didn't seem to express feelings very well. The only people he seemed to like were Nicole and some waiters.

He took his shoes off, only to find out his socks hadn't survived either. Maybe he could blow-dry his clothes in the bathroom. The flowers were undeniably ruined, so he just hid them behind the jackets hanging in the hall.

"Okay, I got sweatpants and a hoodie." She came down with the clothes in hand. He was pretty sure he'd never seen Andrew wear a hoodie.

"Yeah, um, do you have a blow dryer?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Let me show you the bathroom."

Once inside the ground floor's bathroom, Giovanni stripped off his wet clothes and tried to dry himself with a towel. He was very conscious of Alice's presence just outside the door and tried to do everything as quick as possible. He changed to a pair of grey sweatpants and a hoodie that made him look even skinnier before trying to blow dry his own clothes.

I look like a clown. He thought as he found his reflection in the mirror. Andrew was taller and leaner than he was, but the way his clothes looked baggy on Giovanni's lanky body was enough to make him feel small and frail.

"Are you okay in there?" Alice asked. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm okay! I'm coming out now."

He hoped she wouldn't realise how stupid he looked and let her lead him into the living room where she had been watching a film just before he rang. She pulled her knees to her chin and hugged her legs, looking at him through the thin curtain of colourful hair.

"So, how is Christmas break going?"

He shrugged. "It's okay..."

"We should go out and-" she started, but he interrupted her.

"We kissed. I don't know what that meant."

She blinked, hesitating to answer. The silence made him nervous. It was already hard enough that he was asking it as plainly as that. It was hard enough to say it and to admit he kept thinking about it. Having to wait for a reply only made it worse.

"Alice?"

"It was just a New Year's kiss," she said, looking at everything but at him. "People kiss in New Year's all the time."

He tried to catch her eye, but she kept diverting her gaze away. "So it meant nothing to you."

She got up, pacing away from him. She walked around the room, staring at the ceiling, twisting her hands. He felt the urge to follow, but he stayed put, waiting for her to talk to him.

"It's what Nicole does." She sighed. "She kisses random people at parties and everyone loves her. I want people to love me like they love her," she explained, not wanting him to know how she truly felt. Refusing to acknowledge how she truly felt.

Giovanni didn't understand her obsession with Nicole. Not everyone loved her. He was pretty sure there were many people who hated her bitchy attitude and the way she could get under people's skin.

"I'm not talking about Nicole, I'm talking about you and I." His voice was almost a whisper. "I want to know what it meant for us."

She shook her head and locked eyes with him. Her posture was decisive, but her eyes weren't. "If you're looking for some love story between us, I'm sorry, but it was just a New Year's kiss. I'm done thinking I'm in love with people only to get hurt right after. I'm done with romantic stories. We're friends and that's it."

"Friends," he repeated, sulking in. It made little sense that she could be so wary of relationships just because of one failed attempt of a relationship, if she could even call it that.

"We're great friends," she said, grabbing his hands. "Why ruin that?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

🖤🤍🖤

The sound of the water running in the shower stopped and Andrew buried his head deeper against the pillow, picturing his girlfriend as he listened to her being noisy on the other side of the wall. The shower door closing, the cabinet opening, closing, steps, something falling, a lazy yawn, the doorknob to the bedroom.

"How come you have such an enormous bathroom and still crowd it with your shit?"

The wardrobe slid open to reveal her clothes shoved in between his. He opened one eye, staring at her, holding the towel in place with one hand and searching for an outfit with the other.

"Strange, isn't it? Mostly because you're the one trying to break my house into pieces."

Nicole rolled her eyes and grabbed the first pair of jeans she could find, putting them on. He checked the time and closed his eyes again, ignoring the turmoil she was in.

"Where are you going?" he mumbled.

"Where are we going? You mean?"

He glanced at her. Had he forgotten something? No, he was sure they had nothing planned.

"Nicole, it's too early. Come back to bed."

"It's eight."

"Exactly. Get in here."

She shook her head but sat by his side on the bed, clutching a white top against her chest. Eventually, she would have to pull him out of bed.

"Tie it up, would you?" She gestured to her back.

He let out an inaudible sigh, but grabbed both strings and pulled them into a pretty bow on her back. She shivered with his stiff fingers but held steady.

"Asking me to tie your clothes is fine, but inviting me to your shower is too hard," he mumbled.

She laughed and pressed a kiss to his cheek, her hair falling on his naked shoulders and face.

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

"You can start by taking your wet hair off me."

She got up, but he didn't want her to go. He grabbed her arm, pulling her back to the bed. Nicole's back hit the mattress softly, but she was already out of breath, body stiff for an entire minute. She shook it off and wrapped her arms around him as he hid his head in the crook of her neck.

"Happy birthday," he mumbled.

"I thought you had forgotten."

"I did." She shivered at the feeling of his lips brushing against her skin. "But I remembered just now."

She chuckled, and said something about them having to go, but didn't move. He held her tighter so she couldn't get up, but it was useless as she didn't really want to leave his arms, either. It was as safe for her as it was for him.

"Where are we going?" he asked, leaving a feathery kiss just below her ear, making her shiver.

"We're going to meet with my sister at some café."

"And that's just at ten, right?" he asked before pressing his lips to hers.

Nicole pushed his face away from her and sat up. Or at least tried. He was quick to pull her down once more and keep her in place with his own weight. She laughed off his refusal to get out of bed and pushed him away again. This time, he just rolled off and stayed put.

"It's now, not at ten. You need to get ready."

He didn't move.

"Andrew?"

"You're breaking my heart, you know?" He turned to her with a mock pout and a poor attempt at puppy eyes. "Shattering it into tiny pieces. Into dusty dust."

"Dusty dust?"

"Dusty dust."

Nicole cocked a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. She always looked cute like that. But he found her cute in every situation. He wasn't sure what he preferred.

"You're okay with butchering my heart?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Get dressed." She bent towards his ear and whispered, "If you get ready quick, I'll let you do whatever you want tonight."

His head snapped to look at her. "Anything?"

She shook her head. "Within the reasonable."

"Mmm... I still don't want to get off bed. It's cold outside."

Rolling her eyes, Nicole left the room, leaving him alone. He forced himself off the bed and put on the first pair of pants he could find and a grey shirt. Soon he was closing the apartment's door and escorting his girlfriend down the streets of New York to the small café where she had agreed to meet her sister.

Andrew had known they were triplets for some time now, but Laura resembled Nicole in ways Rita didn't, which took him aback. The girl was sitting in a booth by a corner, wearing a trench coat over a white shirt.

"You're late," she noted.

Nicole ignored the comment and slid to the seat in front of her. Andrew did the same, trying to hide how uncomfortable it was to have Laura's eyes fixed on him. She forgot about his existence soon enough as a man with dirty blond hair came out of the bathroom to join them at their table.

"Oh, this is my boyfriend..."

"Michael," Andrew interrupted.

Michael looked at him and went in for a bone-crushing hug. "Andrew Georgina Whittmore! How dare you not tell me you are here?"

The sisters exchanged a look and mouthed "Georgina?" to each other.

Andrew wiggled out of his friend's death trap and went back to his seat, soothing the wrinkles of his shirt as best as possible. Michael also sat down, putting his arm around Laura before she shook him off.

"I told you not to do that."

He was about to complain, but then his eyes found Nicole. "Oh hi. I didn't know you guys were twins."

"Oh, really?" Laura asked. "So, when I said it was my sister's and I's birthday, you thought what?"

He clicked his tongue, and instead of replying, he got up again to order two birthday cupcakes to a brunet waiter and then sat back down, hands in his pockets. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping much, two dark circles marking his eyes.

"Birthday cupcakes?" Nicole asked. "Opposite to normal cupcakes?"

"Yeah. Birthday cupcakes come with the candles."

"And they just have two sets of two and zero lying around?" Laura asked.

He blinked. "Two and zero? Not two and one?"

They stared at him, and he disappeared again to find a waiter. Laura sighed and took a sip of her coffee. She looked like Nicole in that way, in the mannerisms, in her reactions to people. If Rita was a younger looking version of Nicole, Laura was just as tired, if not more.

"Imagine not knowing your partner's age," said Nicole, stealing a bite of her sister's croissant.

"You don't know my birthday," Andrew told her. "Seems equivalent."

"Of course, I do. It's in July." She smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't ask for the precise date. "Which means I'm older than you by the next few months."

"What?"

She blinked, unsure of why he sounded so surprised. "It is in July, right? So I'll be older than you until then."

"Nicole, I'm twenty."

"Twenty in July?" she tried again.

"Twenty right now."

Laura chuckled at the confused way they were staring at each other. "Imagine not knowing your partner's age."

Nicole glared at her and flipped her off before turning back to her boyfriend. He didn't seem startled by the whole thing. Apparently, she'd been the only one unaware of their age. She wondered why. Maybe she should've asked, but it seemed reasonable to her to assume they were the same age.

"My entire world has been shattered. We talk after I process," she said, and stole the rest of Laura's croissant.

"Hey!"

Michael came back with the waiter, who brought two blue glazed cupcakes. The waiter also took Nicole and Andrew's order, as they hadn't had breakfast before she dragged them out of the house.

"So," Michael started, lighting the candles up, "today we celebrate two decades of Laura and Nicole. No offense, guys, but you're old as fuck."

"You're older."

"Two decades of them annoying the people that dislike them, and a blessing to the lives of the people who don't want to murder them every five seconds. I do not know how they're still alive, knowing how bitchy they can be."

"You're going to be the one dead if you keep talking shit."

He shot her a look. "As I was saying before being rudely interrupted, today is a very important day for the people who care about this sort of thing. Not them, though. So, you may just blow the candles because you don't deserve the singing."

"Good, I didn't want you singing either way," said Laura and blew out the candle.

Nicole stared at the cupcake and took the candles out, staring at the flame before blowing it out. The wax had melted towards her index finger, and he curled it into a tiny ball.

"How come you didn't make a speech on my birthday?" Andrew asked.

"I did. But you were passed out on the balcony, so you didn't hear it. One of my best ones."

Andrew's phone rang, and Abigail's face popped on the screen. He turned it off and leaned his head on Nicole's shoulder. She was splitting the cupcake in two and gave him the other half. The phone rang again, but he turned it off. He kept eating his half undisturbed, licking the icing. It started ringing again.

"You should pick it up," said Nicole.

"I don't want to."

She reached for his phone under his attentive look and picked the call up, pressing the device to her ear. He didn't stop her; he didn't even open his mouth.

"Hello," she said, and a voice replied with surprised. "I'm Nicole," she told the girl, and shut up again. "He is. He doesn't want to talk to you, though." There was another pause, in which she frowned. "I can't do that. He doesn't want to talk to you." Andrew could hear how angry his sister was from how close he was to the phone, and was about to take it from Nicole, but the girl was as calm as a leaf. "Look, if this is all you have to say, it was very nice talking to you. Bye." She was about to hang up, but something stopped her. "Tonight? I don't think he is very interested, but I'll tell him. Bye."

"Tonight what?" he asked.

She slid her thumb over his lower lip, cleaning the blue icing, and took it to her own lips. He wanted to kiss her, but he stayed still.

"Dinner. With her, your parents, and her fiancé."

"Absolutely not."

"I know."

"Damn," Michael joined. "The whole anti-Drew parade. You know you're probably not getting out of New York now that you're here, right?"

"Abby and I have an agreement."

He snorted. "Sure."

Nicole looked at them. She didn't understand, and he wouldn't explain. He just wanted to put everything behind his back and never look at it again. Coming to Abigail's wedding was just an attempt to not dismantle the whole family at once.

After breakfast with Laura and Michael, they walked through a few streets on foot, staring at the stores and shops on the street. Nicole was particularly amazed by the snow, but she didn't let it show.

"I like it here," she said, holding onto his hand. "It's so full of people."

That was one way to describe it. He liked it too, but not in the amazed tourist way she did. It was only the memories of his teenage years with his friends that coated the streets with happier feelings.

Nicole stopped by a jewellery store, staring through the glass at all the displayed pieces. He was looking at the texts from his mother, asking if Abigail had called and if he was planning to come. She said she missed him, and he missed her too. All that didn't change the fact that he was afraid Michael would be right and his agreement with Abigail meant nothing.

"What is 'Boundless'?" Nicole asked, reading an engraving on a silver necklace. Sometimes he forgot her English had flaws.

"It has no bounds."

"What is b-" she started, but was stopped by her phone ringing.

It was Miguel wishing her a happy birthday. He was at work and made everyone at the shop sing for her. They all knew her because she stopped by a lot to get Miguel. He filled her in on how his life was going, which typically would be a roll of complaints against Jenny, but it was just to let her know they were on somewhat friendly terms. However, Lúcia seemed jealous.

"Then tell her she has nothing to worry about. Because she doesn't. Right?"

"Of course not! I'd never like Jenny in a thousand years."

"You did, once."

"BLASPHEMY!"

She laughed, and they hung up. She spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies with Andrew. He got popcorn, and they sat on the sofa, laughing at an old comedy she had never seen before.

I can't believe I'm finally posting this chapter after weeks of trying to finish it. Btw still a raw unedited chapter as the last 5 or so. This is why I can't write books longer than 20 chaps. I get exasperated with the story. I'm going through writer's block. I can't write and I cannot like anything I write. I just want to finish this so I can edit it. I swear after this book I'll just edit everything I have posted and you won't be getting anything new from me (don't unfollow me because of that!). I swear I can't write. I can't.

Fun fact, since I stopped posting regularly I lost 8 followers. Then I posted 1 chapter of Boundless and suddenly I hit 134 followers. I'm not saying it's related (because I know half of the followers ain't even reading, they're just looking for follow backs) but it certainly feels like I need to keep on the active or else I'll lose everyone :)

I'm not doing a good job talking about Andrew's problems, maybe because I cut down part of this chapter and the previous that talked about him because I am lazy, but let's hope next chapter we can't dive deep. I'll literally only talk about him.

Thoughts on Alice and Giovanni? Who still hates Alice? 

Thank you for reading and sticking with my madness. I'm very greatful for the people who actually care about this story <3