__________
-UNKEPT-
PROMISES

It had been at least half hour since Valentina and Steve had been talking. About everything that has been happening for the past few years. But right now, they were talking about the fact that Steve kept embarrassing himself last year at Scoops Ahoy!

"So the girl you were attempting to flirt with ended up having a boyfriend?"

Scratching his neck, Steve started blushing. "Her boyfriend walked in right when I was about to ask her out."

"And how'd that work out for you?"

Putting his head down in even more embarrassment, he replied, "He threatened to tell my manager to fire me."

Valentina started laughing, gaining Steve's attention.
"Sorry. It's just I didn't think that it'd be hard for you get a girl to go out with you."

Raising his eyebrows, Steve wondered, "Do you want to go out with me?"

She immediately stopped laughing.

"What? I thought I'd ask." Shrugging his shoulders in response.

Words started forming in Valentina's mind, not quite sure if she should share them. But she did anyway. "If you asked me that a while ago, I would've said yes."

"But?"

Pursing her lips, Valentina continued, "But, we didn't even talk to each other until a couple days ago. And when I think about it, you didn't even want to go out with me last summer either."

"What are you talking about?"

"Last year, that girl Trish you slept with, she asked you out for me, and then you said that you had something to do later on?"

The gears in Steve's head started turning, slowly stretching to remember. "Oh, that. Yeah, Dustin discovered that there was a Russian code and it was a whole thing. I ended up having a bruised eye for a while."

There was an uninterested look on Valentina's face.

"Right, look, the point is, I'm sorry, it's not like I could've told you about it."

Rolling her eyes, Valentina expressed a small smile. "It's fine."

Whenever a girl says, it's fine, they always mean the opposite. Something that Steve had learned the hard way. The words formed without him thinking. "Did you know I can sing?"

Now slightly interested, Valentina perked up, then signaled, "Go on."

"When I was little, my parents signed me up for choir at school, turns out I was born a natural. But no one knows about it, so you can't say anything. It's our secret."

Smirking, Valentina was invested. "I won't say anything."

Smiling genuinely, Steve appreciated it, truly, but he should've known it was too good to be true.

"If-"

She was cut off. "There's an if?!"

"Then the cat will be out of bag, Harrington."

He eventually caved in. "Fine, what is your if?"

Feeling accomplished, Valentina stated, "If you want me to keep your secret, I want... "

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The rest of the group were waiting, but Marco grew anxious by the minute. His parents were bound to come by any second now and he was worried about how they'd react.

"Where's our daughter?"

"Marco?"

Widening his eyes, Marco got up and rushed to his parents. "Ma! Dad!"

Quickly hugging them, Marco brought them to the counter. The nurse on the phone, with a friend.

"Hey Linda, could I take my parents to see my sister?" Marco asked the nurse.

Waving him off, buzzing them in, the three rushed to Valentina's room. "I should've done that sooner."

"Mijo, what happened?" Christina questioned.

"It's better if you hear it from her."

Arriving at the room, they heard talking. Looking at each other, they barged in.

"Mom? Dad?"

A look of worry on Steve's face. "Oh shit."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"So you were hit. By a car?" Armando questioned calmly.

"Yes."

"Okay and did you see who the driver was?" Armando asked.

"I didn't know I was supposed to investigate who the suspect was while being hit by a car," Valentina responded.

"Valentina," Christina scolded.

Innocently smiling, she kept herself together. "No, I didn't see who it was."

Taking a deep breath, Armando stood up, going to shake Chief Powell's hand. "Thank you for being here."

"Don't mention it. And Valentina, even though a lot is going in this town at the moment, I promise we'll catch who did this to you," Powell reassured.

Nodding her head, Valentina thanked the Chief.

Now looking over at Steve, she held out her hand.
Him taking ahold of it, he whispered, "We'll be fine."

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Valentina?" the voice asked.

Peeking their head through the door, Dr. Andrews was surprised at the sight before her. "Christina? Armando? It's been a while."

Valentina's parent's faces dropped.

"Andy?" Valentina questioned.

- so spoiler alert, valentina is about to find out
about her past & of course i left it on a cliffhanger

- also y'all see end of beginning by djo trending?
it's joe's time to shine

- if you want more recommendations of songs by him, listen to, bnbg, figure you out, or tentpole shangrila (all his songs are good, but the three are just a few at the top of my head)