Sorry for keeping you all waiting so long.

Aurora

"Aurora, stop this nonsense and just come out."

Aurora sniffled. "Will y-you let me go to work?"

"No."

"Then I w-won't come out." she cried.

Matteo had always been mean to her. He had even restricted her from leaving the house without his permission but now he was being a bit too strict. She was okay with following his orders, but now he has forbid her from going to work.

He didn't give her an exact reason about why she couldn't go. The only bit of information he gave her was that she didn't need a job, since she now has anything she could ever want. She refused to listen to him and wanted to go to work but that just sparked an intense argument.

Aurora has now been locked inside her room crying while Matteo tried to apologize. She wouldn't come out of the room until he says that she can go back to work. She missed the cafe and wanted to see Aunt Jocelyne since it had been a while.

"I'm sorry."

Aurora felt angry. "I-is that all you're going to say? Tell me w-why I can't work."

Maybe agreeing to live with Matteo was a bad idea on her part. Living with a man who she has known for a short amount of time should have been a red flag. Curse that stupid weird attraction she had for him.

"I'm sorry, agnellino." he said.

"Leave m-me alone. All you've done is be m-mean to me and I don't l-like it. Why let me stay w-with you if I am just going to be locked up here?" her voice raised a bit at the last part.

There was silence on the other side of the door. All that could be heard were her soft cries.

"You don't e-even have time for me and it m-makes me sad. I h-have been staying here for over a week and you're a-always giving me the cold shoulder." she continued to cry.

Matteo was always working and never telling her what he was doing. He would leave early in the morning and return home late at night. She would stay up to try and catch him to see him, but would always end up asleep. She made him dinner and hoped that he would be home early to eat it, but that moment never arrived.

The only company she had was Malinda and even though the last was sweet to her, she yearned for attention from Matteo. It was him who offered her a place to stay yet he hadn't made her felt welcome in the slightest. If it continues like this, she might as well move back to her old apartment.

"Can you trust me?" he asked.

Trust? She didn't understand what that had to do with anything. He isn't allowing her to work anymore and now she was left alone to do nothing at home.

"Why?"

"Can you just trust me? Please."

Aurora felt her breath hitch when she heard him say please. He could detect a hint of pleading in his voice and never had she expected to hear something like that coming from him.

She sniffed. "Of course." she said truthfully.

Matteo sighed. "I'll have Cordelia keep you company for the rest of the day. Would that make you feel better?"

Cordelia she had missed but she wanted it to be Matteo.

"Yes." she mumbled.

Aurora sat on the white blanket sprawled out on the grass when she heard a cheerful voice yell her name in the nearby distance. Rushing towards her was a young girl that she hadn't seen since the day the went shopping together.

"Cordelia!" she said with enthusiasm.

The two girls collided and squeezed each other, both having smiled on their faces.

"I have missed you." said Cordelia.

"I m-missed you too." she said with a smile. "Are you hungry? I made us l-lunch."

Cordelia peeked over her shoulder to look at the white blanket. On it was a picnic basket that Aurora had thought would be a good idea for them. She wanted go experience what other young girls would do when their friends came over, and she went all out with it.

She must have succeeded in her plan when she saw Cordelia's eyes light up at the sight.

"Of course! Did you do this?"

Aurora nodded shyly. "H-how did I do?"

Cordelia sat down and opened the basket. "It's really pretty. I haven't been much in Matteo's garden but the scenery is always beautiful don't you think?"

Aurora once again nodded and joined her on the ground.

Cordelia began to unpack their lunch. Aurora didn't know exactly what she had to prepare for them but Malinda had assisted her which she was grateful for. Together with Malinda they had made all sorts of food, from a different arrangement of pies to cheese sandwiches.

The two girls dug into their meals and Cordelia seemed to enjoy what Aurora had made. It brought her delight to know that someone liked her cooking and it made her want to make more.

"Can I ask you something?" Cordelia asked.

Aurora nodded, still munching on her sandwich.

"Do you like my brother?"

Aurora choked on her sandwich and started coughing. Cordelia's abrupt question startled her, not knowing she was going to ask something like that.

Cordelia cursed and started lightly slapping on her back to help her. After some time her coughing seemed to simmer down and Cordelia leaned back to listen to her response.

Aurora didn't even know what to tell her if she had to be honest. She didn't know how to explain to her that she doesn't know what exactly it is that she felt for her brother, but something was there. It could be just a minor attraction and hopefully not something else.

She didn't want to have feelings for someone who would never have the same feelings for her. That person was Matteo who showed no bit of care other than having her stay at his home. There was just nothing else beside that and she believed there could never be something more.

"No." she denied quietly.

Cordelia gave her look. "I don't believe you. I also don't believe that my brother does not in fact like you too."

Aurora shook her head, her hair slapping her face. "T-that can't be. Your b-brother thinks of me as a s-sibling."

Cordelia laughed. "As a sibling? If that were the case then I might as well move in too. However there is a slight problem, he doesn't allow anyone in his house besides his maid and our father."

"Not e-even you?"

"Not even me. That's why you must be someone special for my brother to let you stay in his home."

"He pities me."

Cordelia sighed. "He cares for you. He might not show it but he really does. Besides, how the heck did you even get to stay with him?"

"He offered. H-he was very kind to d-do so."

Cordelia looked as if she had seen a ghost as she heard the words coming out of her mouth.

"Matteo as in my brother offered you a place to stay?"

Aurora nodded.

"I never thought I would ever live to see the day my brother shows generosity towards a female. Can't you see that you're special to him? He clearly likes you!"

"I don't think t-that is true. Matteo does not like m-me and I do not like him."

Why does it feel like she was lying to herself?

"Oh come on, Aurora." Cordelia groaned. "How clueless can you be? If my brother didn't like you then he wouldn't have helped you. Do you know how many times he has ignored me whenever I wanted to stay over? This clearly says something."

Could Matteo really...?

No that can't be. All this time he has shown no sign of liking her or having any attraction to her. It was only on her side that she had felt a tiny bit of attraction towards him, but it is clearly not the same for him.

If only he was a bit more friendly and spoke a bit more to her. She wanted to get to know him more, hoping that they could at least be friends. She wished he was more like his sister.

"He doesn't l-like me."

"Aurora-"

She shook her head. "Let's t-talk about something else. Do you h-have other siblings?"

Cordelia eventually gave up and changed the topic which was a bit of a relief for Aurora. They spoke more and they got to know each other better, but there wasn't much to share on Aurora's part. She left out everything that had to do with her illness not wanting someone else to worry about her and only spoke about the orphanage.

She only told Cordelia about the good memories she had. There wasn't much good that happened in her life, but everything bad was left out.

As they spoke, for some reason she looked up to see a figure leaning against the balcony. She felt frozen to the core as her eyes caught the sight of him watching them, more specifically her only. His eyes were trained on her as he smoked, his left hand in his left pocket.

She wondered for how long he must have been standing there and watching them. It made a shiver trail down her spine to know that he was looking at her for a long time, but tried to ignore it. She was convinced that he only looked at her so that she wasn't any harm towards his sister.

Like a protective older brother should do.

No one looked away, and the voice of Cordelia had been drowned out. Even though he had been caught staring he still didn't avert his gaze, and neither did she. The reason why, there was increase of a feeling deep down inside of her the more she looked at him.

What is it?

Hey everyone !

I hate this chapter.

I have been so busy with schoolwork that I didn't even have time typing out a sentence. I literally had to rush through this to get at least something in this chapter. I didn't deliver this time and I'm so sorry.

The updates will be slow because i'm really busy and I'll try to do my best to upload much faster.

Vote and comment :)