LILITH

I never felt so exposed as Silvio's eyes burnt into mine.

I was genuinely taken aback by everyone's reaction, I am not sure if they really meant it or did it to just make me happy but in any case, I was happy. Really.

Happy to have friends like them. Supportive and loving.

Unlike my best friend who still gaped at me without uttering a single word.

"Hello...?" I stepped closer to him and waved my hand in front of his eyes.

He blinked at me slowly and cocked his head, his eyes once again roaming over me. "Where the fuck is my ugly-looking best friend?"

I gasped and hit him on his chest. "You are such an asshole! Ugh. Is that even a way to say that I am looking good?"

To be honest, I wasn't really angry at him for saying that. Silvio always had a different way of expressing himself and he indirectly did compliment me.

He stepped closer and shoved the bouquet he was holding towards me.

I snorted. "No, thanks."

He was literally giving me red roses, is he even serious? I was glad he couldn't see me blushing.

With a glare, he forced the bouquet into my hand.

"Wow, so sweet," I said sarcastically then hit him with the bouquet itself making a few petals fall down. "Let's go, stupid. We are getting late."

Taking the bouquet with me, I walked out of the room and he followed behind me.

Downstairs in the living room, I found Alessandro and his wife talking with Mom and they both complimented me too.

Thanking them, I handed the bouquet over to Mom so that she could keep it in a vase or something.

Outside Silvio held open the door of the car for me and I climbed into the passenger's seat and he helped me with pulling my gown off the floor and placing it carefully inside and making sure it doesn't get stuck as he closed the door.

As he drove us to the venue, I prepared myself for everyone's stares.

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Sure enough, people were stunned to see Silvio there since he is quite famous, known as the "silent, mystery boy", son of Alessandro Ludovica, someone who no one dares to mess with.

Everyone knew me as his best friend and they loved to stare at us, whispering among themselves.

Tonight, fortunately, they all soon went back to whatever they were doing.

I held Silvio's hand as we walked around, taking in all the decorations and lights.

"You didn't even take a picture with me," I complained to him.

He didn't waste any time in pulling out his phone.

"Take a selfie!" I suggested.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and he extended the phone so that we could both fit into the frame.

I grinned up at it as he clicked the picture.

He showed it to me and it was so beautiful with Silvio having one of his rare, tiny smiles on his face.

We moved on and ate some of the snacks present there. Time seemed to pass quickly and I enjoyed every moment.

Some of the couples were slow dancing on the floor and I turned to Silvio. "Will you dance with me?"

His eyes were fixed ahead on the dance floor. "I don't dance."

Oh.

I tried not to show my disappointment but then he added a moment later, "But I can make an exception for you."

My eyes widened in surprise and my heart warmed at his words.

He led me onto the dance floor and his arm slid around my waist pulling me closer, our fingers intertwined together and I rested my other hand on his shoulder.

He started to gently waltz us around, his eyes locked with mine.

"You said you didn't dance then how are you so good at this?" I asked as he twirled me around and then caught me again.

This time I found myself pressed against him, his cologne surrounding me and our faces inches apart.

His lips curled up into a smirk and he leaned closer until his lips brushed my ear sending a shiver down my spine.

He whispered, his voice low and husky, "I am good at everything, mia luna."

My body suddenly felt a little hotter as he leaned back and shot me a subtle wink.

Did he just try to...flirt with me?

I couldn't voice that, I felt too shy to do that. I am sure I must be mistaken. Silvio would never flirt with me.

But why did the idea of him flirting with me excite me so much?

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The holidays were going on, school ended completely for Silvio and he had already applied to a few colleges for computer science considering he is already so good at it.

It was fifteen minutes past midnight when my phone vibrated on the nightstand.

I picked it up to see a message from Silvio. 'My room. Now.'

I glanced at Mom who slept beside me and then slowly crept out of the bed.

What is wrong with him?

Making sure I don't wake up Mom, I left the room quietly and then walked towards the main house, then upstairs to his room.

I pushed open the door and entered inside, the lights were too bright considering I was almost sleeping and I squinted my eyes.

When everything finally came into view and by everything I mean Silvio, I gasped loudly.

He pressed his index finger against my lips. "Shh..."

Half of his face was covered in blood, the other half littered with bruises and cuts.

"What the fuck happened?" I whispered-shouted against his finger.

He looked exhausted as he removed his finger from my lips and leaned against the wall. "Just help me clean up."

"Clean up? You need to go to the hospital!" Tears welled in my eyes.

"No. If Dad gets to know about this, he will kill me himself."

I suddenly remembered what I heard at lunch yesterday, Alessandro was telling Marcelo and him about some mission and when Silvio suggested that he would go there himself and take care of everything, Alessandro told him not to.

But looking at Silvio now, I am freaking sure he went there.

"Why the hell would you do something like this, stupid? Look at you!" I scolded him. "I am telling Marcelo at least, he will take you to the hospital."

I turned around to leave but he grabbed my waist from behind and placed his other hand on the door.

His chin rested on my shoulder and he sighed softly. "Please, Lili."

My heart clenched at the desperation in his voice and after contemplating, I whispered, "Okay."

He stepped back and as I turned around, he pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.

His whole torso was covered in bruises too just like his face and I bit my lips to stop myself from scolding him more.

My brain thought it was the right moment to make me realise that this is the first time I am seeing him shirtless.

I knew he was muscled, lean and sturdy, with broad shoulders and wide chest and abs looking like they were carved from stone. My eyes took him in, roaming down to the line of hair trailing down from his abdomen and disappearing inside his jeans.

My throat suddenly felt too dry.

I cleared my throat and glanced up at him, his face blank but eyes glinting with mischief.

I gestured for him to sit on the bed. "What are you waiting for?"

"For you to stop blatantly ogling at me." He retorted as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

My cheeks flamed with embarrassment and to hide it, I glared at him.

There was a first aid kit waiting on his desk and grabbing it, I placed it on the bed and then fetched a towel from his bathroom and soaked it in water.

Sitting on the bed I told him to lie back and when he did, I cleaned all the blood from his face and body with the towel.

Thankfully none of the cuts looked deep enough that they needed stitching.

I cleaned him up and proceeded to clean each cut with some ointment and then bandaged it.

I could feel his gaze on my face as I treated his wounds and he played with a strand of my hair probably trying to distract himself.

Fifteen minutes later, I was done and I sighed in relief.

"Don't you dare do this again or I swear to god, Silvio--" I cut off when a lump formed in my throat.

I closed my eyes as a tear escaped which was wiped away by him.

He got up on his elbows and stared at me intensely, tilting his head. "Or you will what?"

"Or I will not talk to you."

He literally snorted. "Really?" He lightly pinched my waist.

I slapped his hand away. "Yes."

"Hmm?" He again pinched my abdomen, his touch turning light.

"Yes," I stated firmly.

He shot me a mischievous smirk before he started to tickle me really hard.

With a yelp, I fell down on his bed as he continued to tickle me as I laughed hysterically. "Oh God, stop!"

"Silvio!" I tried to push him away but he didn't bulge.

He hovered over my body, tickling me with the rarest of his smiles where all his teeth were on display.

"Please!" I laughed, it was becoming difficult to breathe. "I...I can't... breathe."

That made him stop and I breathed heavily as he lay down beside me.

He grabbed my hand and interlacing our fingers together, placed it in the middle of his chest where I could feel the steady beat of his heart.

"Lilith?" He called softly.

I tilted my head to look at him and he did the same. "Yes?"

"I got accepted at Cornell University."

It took me a few seconds to understand and when I did, I threw myself on him. "You did it, nerd!" It was his dream University.

He winced making me pull back and apologize.

"When did you get to know?" I asked excitedly.

"This evening."

"And you didn't tell me? That's so bad. But I am really happy for you, Silvio. You always wanted to go there."

While Marcelo, Cyrus and Ezekiel are all studying in the college here itself in Boston, Silvio always wanted to go to Cornell.

With a small smile, he nodded in agreement but there was something else.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "I'll be leaving for New York next month itself."

New York.

He will be living there from now on.

I won't get to trouble him every day.

I won't be able to meet him every day.

I'll miss this asshole.

I tried not to show all those emotions on my face because if he gets to know that I am sad he is leaving, there is a chance that he might not even go because of me.

"That's great, Silvio." I tried to smile at him. "I knew you could do it."

I pretended to yawn. "Now you better rest and let your wounds heal. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He knew I was lying, he was too observant to not notice that but he nodded slowly.

And with a heavy heart, I left his room.

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The more I wanted time to go slowly, the more it seemed to slip from my hand.

Every time anyone talked about Silvio going to New York, I had to act like I was happy and I was truly happy for him but deep down, I didn't want him to leave me.

I wanted him to stay with me here forever. I cried about it every night yet smiled at him every day.

He knew it. He could see everything clearly written on my face but he didn't comment on it.

I don't want him to stay here just because of me but at the same time, I wanted him to. I was just being selfish.

So when the day arrived when he had to leave, I didn't even leave my room. I just couldn't see him leaving or even say goodbye.

He might hate me for this but I just couldn't.

I stayed in my room trying to read a book but all the words looked jumbled and frustrated, I placed it away.

Mom did try to force me out saying that I will regret not saying goodbye to him but I didn't listen to her.

The door to the room opened and I knew Mom would again say the same thing but it was Silvio who stood there.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to where I sat on the bed.

"I...I was just... going to come out..."

He sat down on the bed and gave me a look that said that he knew I was lying.

My bottom lip trembled. "I..." Tears started to fall down my eyes uncontrollably.

This time I let him see my tears and I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.

He cradled my head in his palm as I cried my heart out.

"Promise to call me every day even if you have nothing to say." I cried. "Promise you won't make another best friend there."

"I won't be able to handle two best friends anyway."

I cried even more. "You better not. And... don't forget me or I will kill you. And don't do anything stupid, don't pick up fights unnecessarily."

He stroked my hair in response.

I continued to say, "I won't miss you though, at least there will be peace here for some time. I won't have to see your stupid face every day."

I let myself hug him for a minute more and then I pulled back and hastily wiped away my tears. "And I wasn't crying for you, I just...was reading a sad book."

He didn't react to that and got up to leave.

I chewed on my lips as he walked to the door then he paused and turned around and came to me.

Before I could ask what did he want, he leaned down and his lips grazed my forehead ever so tenderly and he rasped, "I'll miss you."

Then he was gone before I could hug him again.