STELLA/CHARMAINE

I quickly fasten the belt on my robe and tighten it as I rush to open the door for my Uncle, smoothing my hair back, knowing it's wild from sleep.

I pull the door open, "Morning, Uncle..."

And then I see Tobias behind him. 

"Tobias..." I put on a bright smile, trying to hide my nervousness and move aside to let them come in.

"Scusami, I didn't mean to wake you up, cara mia." My Uncle walks in, and Tobias follows him in.

Uncle Timo moves across the room to take a seat on the lounge chair next to my window. "You seem to be getting better rest, though. Are you sleeping through the night, without the nightmares?"

"I have been sleeping better lately," I tell him, thinking of JP.

"That's great. That makes me very happy to hear." I watch as my Uncle fidgets with his cufflinks then his tie; he seems nervous.

He clears his throat, "Listen, I wanted to see if you wanted to go on a little trip with me today? I figure you and I don't spend a lot of time together, and it's been a while since we've done anything together, just you and I. So what do you say?" He asks, smiling at me, and my mouth drops open in surprise.

"Wow, Uncle Timo, that's nice of you to offer, but with the benefit tomorrow, I need to go dress shopping."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry, cara. We'll stop and pick one up for you as well. John Paul already asked me if he could take you." He says, still smiling. "And I've already ordered your mask."

"Okay, well, I'd love to. When do we leave, and where are we even going?" I smile, a little nervous about just being one on one with him.

"Great, we leave in a couple of hours. Dress comfortably. And I can't tell you; it's a surprise." He says, grinning at me. "I'll let you get ready. Tobias, didn't you have something to ask Charmaine as well?"

My Uncle excuses himself, and I turn my attention to Tobias, who is near my bathroom. "I wanted to see if I could take you up on your offer to watch the kids next weekend. I want to take Melanie out on a much-needed and overdue date night."

I smile at him and nod my head enthusiastically at him. "Yes, of course. I'd love to. Actually, why don't you have them spend the night so you can have a whole night to yourselves! It'll be fun to have a sleepover!"

Tobias laughs at my excitement. "Okay, I'll see what Melanie says; you know she's a mama bear who doesn't like to be away too long from her cubs, but thank you." He starts walking to leave, and I watch as he nears the bed he stops, looking down.

I'm horrified as I follow his gaze to the ground and see JP's Calvin Klein underwear near the leg of the bedpost. "Say hi to JP for me." He says it loudly, knowing JP can probably hear him, and looks over his shoulder, winking at me.

My face is literally on fire.

I hurry over to the bathroom and open it to see JP's partially dressed. I hold his boxer briefs out to him, smiling. "Missing something?"

JP looks at me, pursing his lips, his eyes slightly narrowed. "What the hell are you doing with these?" He tosses a small pink case at me, and I drop his underwear to catch what he throws my way.

Immediately, I know what he's referring to. "Why are you going through my stuff, John Paul?" He shrugs and walks around me, picking up his underwear and slips them on.

"I was bored; what else was I supposed to do in there? And you didn't answer my question, why do you have birth control? I thought you said you've never done anything with anyone before." He turns around to face me; his eyes are hard, assessing me.

Are you kidding me right now?

"Wow. You know what? You need to get the hell out of my room!" I shove him hard out of the bathroom and lock the door.

He pounds on the door. "Open the door, Charmaine."

I turn on the shower and take my robe off angrily, then step in. The water drowns out his knocking and loud demands to open the door. It's quiet when I finish showering; he must have left.

As I'm doing my usual morning routine, I mull over how he can think I lied to him.

Are all guys this irrational, or is just him?

I pull my robe back on and step into my room and see JP sitting on the corner of my bed, fully dressed again. He looks up and stands, walking towards me as I make my way to my closet and pull out a peach-colored cutout crew top with my white Nikes in hand. "Charmaine..."

I walk past him and stop at my dresser, pulling out a pair of panties, and I open another drawer to grab some dark grey joggers. Hopefully, this is acceptable for Uncle Timo's idea of dressing comfortably.

I feel JP's eyes on me as I remove my robe and slip on the cheeky bottoms.

"You're just going to ignore me, now?"

"What do you want me to say, JP?" I finish getting dressed. "You went through my things and then accuse me of lying to you." I grab my makeup bag and start applying some moisturizer on my face and proceed with my minimal makeup of mascara.

"I'm sorry, okay? I just freaked out, I guess. But what was I supposed to think? Why do you have those if you're a virgin?"

"If ?" I whirl around so quick he steps back, hitting the bathroom door.

"There are other purposes to birth control, you know?" My blood is boiling. JP looks at me suspiciously, which only angers me more.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I got on it when I was fifteen. Carmela took me to a Dr. because I was having painful cramping whenever I was on my period, and I would bleed heavily and longer than what is considered normal, and then there would be times I wouldn't get it.

I don't expect you to remember, but the pain would be so bad that I would miss school during my period. And before I got on them, I couldn't even sit through classes." He watches as I put my shoes on; his hands are deep in his pockets.

"And anyway, why wouldn't it be okay if I wasn't a virgin, you're sure as hell not." I point out. I look over at him, and I can see the regret in his eyes.

"You're right I'm not, and it shouldn't matter if you're not, either." 

I hear my phone chime, and I brush past him, but he grips my arm gently, keeping me from leaving.

"Look at me, Char."

I move my eyes up slowly and see his expression is remorseful. "I'm sorry," He lifts my chin and places his soft lips on mine. "Please don't be mad."

He turns and holds me close to him. I sigh deeply before reaching my arms around him and hug him back. "I'm not mad...anymore."

His lips find mine again, and he kisses me softly, and I melt into him. He holds me tightly and buries his head in my neck.

My phone goes off again, reminding me that I had another message come through earlier. I peck his lips quickly before pulling away.

"Did I hear Timo ask you to go on a trip with him today?" He asks me.

"Yes, he asked me to go somewhere with him, just the two of us. Crazy, right?" I respond as I pick up my phone and see the name Friend sent me a text, I open the message and frown as I read what it says.

**Stella, please don't go to the benefit tomorrow. I don't want you caught up in anything that could happen.**

"Is everything okay?" 

I turn around and see JP's watching me. I don't want to keep lying to him about the man in black, especially now that things are different between us.

"Everything is fine. But I have to tell you something..." I smile at him uncomfortably.

"Okay, what it is?" He walks over to me and crosses his arms over his chest, causing his shirt to tighten around his arms; I feel like he does that on purpose to distract me, sometimes.

I blink, shaking my head to focus. "I should have told you sooner, but things were weird between us before the trip to San Diego..." I swallow as he continues to watch me and take a deep breath, inwardly hoping he doesn't overreact.

"So the day I went to get my passport, at the post office, on my way out, I ran into someone. Well, technically, he ran into me, but I wasn't paying attention because I was so zoned out still, with everything that had just happened with Pop, and my mind was all over the place, and the post office lady was not very nice—"

"Charmaine." JP stops my rambling.

I fidget with my phone in my hands and look back up at him. His eyebrows are creasing as he waits for me to finish. "The man in black, from the library and the restaurant...he...he talked to me at the post office."

JP unfolds his arms, and his thick eyebrows rise. "He what?! Why the hell would you not tell me? Does Timo know?"

"He didn't hurt me, JP. He was expressing his concern and offered his support after he heard about what happened with Pop."

JP gives a short, cold laugh. "You're fucking kidding me, right?" He looks up and runs his hands through his hair exasperated. "Charmaine, how can you be so naive? For all, we know he was the one who fucking killed Dominic and Shorty!"

I narrow my eyes at him. "No! I know he didn't."

"Why the fuck are you defending him? What the hell is going on between you and him, Charmaine?" JP's eyes land on my phone and then narrow. "Is that who texted you?" He rips my phone out of my hand and scrolls through the messages.

"JP! Give me my phone back!" I try to grab it, but he moves quickly and out of reach.

"How the hell did he get your number, Charmaine?" He growls. "And how does he know you're going to the benefit tomorrow?"

"He gave me his number at the post office. He's not who you think he is, JP." I watch as his chest rises and falls with his heavy breathing. He keeps looking at my phone.

"You've been talking to him this whole fucking time and haven't said anything?" His eyes are accusing as he glares at me.

"JP, he's a friend. I mean, I'm pretty sure he is. You can see in the message's he uses my real name. He's been nothing but honest with me since he found out who I am, and he told me to be careful who I trust. He thinks Uncle Timo has a mole working for him, but he's working on finding out why this Cardinale guy is coming after me."

"And now he's warning me not to go to the benefit tomorrow. He knows something is going to happen." I reach for his arm, but he jerks away. I stop short, feeling hurt at his reaction.

JP turns around so quickly; I flinch as he throws my phone across the room, shattering it in pieces when it slams into the wall.

I look at my broken phone on the floor. "What the hell, JP!" I turn back to him, furious.

"You've been keeping this from me and expect me just to be okay with it?" He asks lowly. I look back up at him, apprehensive but mostly angry.

"I'm telling you now, JP. I didn't want to keep it from you. I told you I didn't know where you and I stood, with what was going on between us before California, and he told me to be careful on who I trust.

You didn't have to be an asshole and break my phone!" I walk over and pick up the broken pieces of my phone; the screen is shattered.

"So, you trust him over me?" JP's jaw clenches, and he balls his hands into fists.

"Normally, I would say no, but with how you're acting right now..." He looks over at me in disbelief.

I sigh, frustrated, "I didn't mean that; of course, I trust you! Why do you think I'm telling you, JP. I don't want to keep anything from you." I walk towards him again, but he moves away towards the door.

"JP, please don't leave like this." I plead with him, my eyes starting to fill with tears, but he keeps walking and slams the door behind him.

I sit on my bed, my heart and mind are racing, and I focus on slowing down my breathing. I knew he was going to be upset, but nothing like this. I didn't keep it from him intentionally, there was so much going on, and he knows I wasn't doing okay after what happened to my dad.

I quickly wipe at my eyes and walk out of my room, knowing exactly where he's headed, and rush down the hall and then make my way down the stairs.

I stand outside the door of my Uncle's office, taking a deep breath before I knock, but I don't wait for a response and walk-in.

I'm not surprised when I see JP inside, standing there, but then I take in the serious faces of Tony, Tobias, and Joey as well. They are all staring back at me, clearly waiting, even expecting me. I square my shoulders and step in further into his office.

"Charmaine. What's this I'm hearing about you being in contact with the man who attacked you?" My Uncle's cold dark eyes, glaring back at me. JP's intense gaze is on me as well, but I keep my focus only on my Uncle.

I will not be intimidated by all of them; raising my chin slightly, I address my Uncle. "I need to talk to you in private."

"I'm sure what you have to say can be said with everyone still in the room." Uncle Timo's eyes silently warn me not to disrespect him.

I clench my jaw and feel the heat rising to my face, not from embarrassment but pure rage. I challenge his stare with my infuriated one.

"Forget it then." I turn to leave but stop to look back." I won't be going wherever the hell you had planned to go to today. Some asshole decided to break my damn phone, so I'll be getting a new one."

As my hand reaches the handle, my Uncle's angry voice stops me. "Charmaine! Don't walk out that door."

I look over my shoulder and see he's now standing, his dark fiery eyes on me. "Last I checked, you're not my father. So you don't get to tell me what to do." I slam the door behind me.

I don't have much time, so I sprint down the hall and head towards the garage. My fingers fumble with the damn key box as I pull my keys out, then run to my car, unlocking it.

The thundering footsteps of several pairs of feet running reach my ears as I come to my car; they're close. I get in quickly and hit the garage door opener as I start the ignition.

When I put the car in drive, I see all of them out of the corner of my eye, running towards me, but I peel out of the garage and speed down the driveway.

~~~~~~

***Please vote and comment! :) I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter!**