Aurora

She looked at herself in the mirror once again.

She twisted her body to the side to examine how well the outfit had looked on her body. To her this was the moment where she was indecisive on what to wear, not knowing what would be appropriate and what would impress him.

She was left with a white flower dress that gave a bit of revealing for her legs but was not too short. The deep V-neck cut showed a bit of cleavage and from her perspective she blushed as they bulged out from the dress. The sleeves stopped to her wrists and she felt content with the choice of clothing.

She took about an hour to learn the basic steps on how to apply makeup which was infuriating. There were so many brushes for specific things and she didn't realize that there were so many makeup products to use. She dealt with the bit of products she had that she bought during the week after wanting to explore makeup like other girls.

After applying the layer of gloss on her rosy lips, she stared at herself in the mirror on the dressing table. Matteo hadn't seen her new hair yet but there was nothing new to it, only the fringe that she had planned on last minute before doing her hair. It was in beautiful beach waves which flowed down her back, added with a good amount of volume so that it could frame her face wonderfully.

Her brows had been filled in a bit which to her surprise made her face look a bit different. The mascara darkened her lashes and made her green eyes look brighter than it already was, and the eyeliner which took her about twenty minutes to perfect drastically changed the look of her eyes. The highlight she placed on the tip of her button nose made it appear more sharp and prominent.

She felt different and the strong urge to get his reaction made her fumble out of her seat, glancing at the time and noted that it was near to when they would have to leave for their date. She was nervous as she grabbed her shoulder bag, checking a couple of times to make sure that she had everything with her. She was nervous as she left the room after placing a soft kiss on Kitty's head and bidding her goodbye.

She was nervous as she descended the stairs, staring at her white sneakers as they hit against the marble of every step she took. Her body grew rigid at the final step when she heard the sharp intake of his breath, and her nerves had spiraled out of control on what he would think about her appearance.

She gulped as she lifted her head to look up at him, the tremor in her gaze deepened as his dark eyes swept over every inch of her body. He drank in the sight of her as she stabbed the palm of her hand with her nails, the silence between them causing a multitude of uncertainty.

He then studied the look on her face. His eyes flit from every feature and he took a step closer, and then another until the gap between them appeared to be nonexistent. She stared at his chest that was clothed with a white dress shirt, to her surprise, thinking that it would be another black outfit to wear.

His fingers tilted her head so that he could look into her eyes. "Your hair." he said softly.

"Yes. Do you like it?" she asked, her voice coming out a big ragged.

His fingers gently brushed the strands of her hair.

"No matter what you do with your hair, it would never change how beautiful you are. I do indeed like it, you look even more daring and so fucking precious." he rasped out the last few words and Aurora shuddered. "God, you look so fucking beautiful, baby."

"Thank you." she whispered.

They had been staring at each other for a very long time before they realized that they had a date planned. It was mostly Matteo's fault since he seemed frozen in his spot and too much in awe that he couldn't seem to look away from her. It almost made her giggle when he stared at her again after they had gotten in the car.

He placed a kiss on the back of her hand, telling her once again how beautiful she looked and the two began their journey on the road to a destination that Aurora didn't know about. He wasn't planning on telling her as he didn't answer her questions on where they were going.

Aurora's breath hitched as she quickly caught onto the familiar streets that were leading to a place where she once felt like the people were her family. She clutched his fingers a bit tighter as she anticipated the destination but couldn't bring herself to ask him for confirmation on the place they were heading to.

After about five minutes of more driving the building came into view and that was when her heart fluttered, her emotions began to spiral inside of her as the man next to her slowed down the car. She glanced over at him, there was nothing to express on his face as it was blank and he ignored her questioning gaze.

He got out of the car and she watched as he walked over to her side of the car. He opened the door for her and held out his hand which she hesitantly took. The pair walked towards the building and her grip tightened on his hand as the memories of her earlier times here forced themselves into her mind.

She was confused as to why he chose this place but decided to ask him about it when they got inside.

When they entered she didn't understand why there were no people present. It was vacant and at this time there should have been people scattered around, but they were the only two here.

Matteo led them to the second floor of the building, the familiar setting caused her to lightly shudder. He hasn't said anything to her yet and even when he led her to the single table where they both sat down.

He was staring at her and Aurora couldn't hold in the amount of questions that swirled in her brain.

"Matteo, what's going on?" she asked him.

All she got was the small smile to appear on his face and the sudden voice that she heard, her head snapping to the right side.

"Oh my goodness. Isn't this a lovely surprise?"

Aurora stumbled out of her chair, the feeling of being in a trance condemned her to absentmindedly stand up. She felt the tears form in her eyes as the older woman flashed her smile that Aurora could never forget.

"A-aunt Jocelyne?"

The woman chuckled. "What are you doing over there? Come over here and give this old lady a hug, hmm?"

She felt her feet take her across the room where she threw herself into the arms of Aunt Jocelyne. She missed her so much and she began to sob from how much time they had spent apart.

"Aunt Jocelyne, I missed you so much. I didn't know when I would ever see you again. I'm sorry for not coming to work and not keeping in touch with you, I didn't mean to-"

"Hush, dear." she patted her head. "You are forgiven. It's so lovely to see you and how wonderful you look."

Aurora pulled away from the hug. "It's good to see you too."

Aunt Jocelyne placed both of her hands on Aurora's face, smiling down at the girl. "Look at how beautiful you look. Matteo must be treating you very good, yes?"

Aurora blushed. "Yes."

"I must say I am surprised that he called me to say that he would like to have your date here. He said that he wanted to do his best for your forgiveness so he would be making this night about you. Such a sweet boy."

Aurora glanced over her shoulder at Matteo. He was staring back at her and her cheeks flushed at what she heard about, thinking about how considerate he was.

"Well," she looked at Aunt Jocelyne, "let's not take up all of your time. Go ahead and take your seat, this is a date after all."

Aurora felt truly happy.

She was back at the place where she met the woman who showed her how a mother should be. She was with a man who was kind enough to bring her back here and have their date at this place, enjoying each other's company. Even if Matteo was doing this for her forgiveness, she already forgave him.

She was surprised to see Lauren here. She knew that she worked here and she was the daughter of Aunt Jocelyne but she never would have guessed that she would appear before her, serving their meals.

She cast her eyes down to the table during the duration of Lauren setting down their plates onto the table, not wanting to see any sort of negative emotion present on Lauren's face.

"Enjoy your meal."

That was what Lauren said before she had disappeared. Even though those words sounded sweet, she knew that Lauren never wanted to be here and seeing Aurora must have bothered her.

Her mood lightened when she stared at the plate of food. She glanced up at Matteo who had a mischievous grin on his face.

"I was told that this was your favorite meal to eat here." he said.

She nodded vigorously. "It is."

Together, they ate their order of a tuna-melt sandwich and she was happy when she saw the impressed look on Matteo's face. They spoke to each other, mostly about Matteo since she was curious to know if there was anything that was happening in the mafia.

"You're so gorgeous." he muttered.

Aurora blushed at his intense gaze situated on her face. He seemed so lost, as if he was in a trance and for her it seemed like he fell asleep but with his eyes open. She giggled at her silly thoughts.

She basked in the time spent catching up with Aunt Jocelyne while Matteo paid for their meal. She noticed that Lauren had been avoiding them, standing to the side while looking at her phone. She ignored her as well as she spoke to Aunt Jocelyne before Matteo said that it was time for them to leave.

She was sad to leave this place but when Matteo said they would be back, she wasn't sad anymore. They left the place after a long hug between Aurora and Aunt Jocelyne, Matteo needing to pry the small girl away from her.

They got into the car and Matteo began to drive again.

"Thank you for such a wonderful date, Matteo. It really means so much to me." she told him.

He squeezed her hand. "It's too early to thank me. Our date is not over yet."

"What do you mean?"

"There is one more place that I want to take you to."

She didn't respond as she played with the rings on his fingers, watching silently as they passed by many buildings. The drive wasn't that long before they stopped at yet another familiar place which caused her to look over at Matteo.

He caught her gaze on him, sending her a small smile her way before exiting the car. He took hold of her hand once again and led her into the park where no one else could be seen as it was late at night. She watched as they approached the bench situated across from the swing where she got the vivid image of herself swinging and Matteo sitting on the bench.

Today was full of emotion and her heart swelled at all the memories that he unlocked within her.

He sat down on the bench and gently pulled her down with him, her body close to his and the warmth radiated from him.

They were silent for a long time before he started speaking.

"This date was all about you." he said, his arm wrapping around her shoulder and grazing her face with his knuckles.

"I want nothing more than to see you happy. That smile on your face at the diner, the way you kicked your feet under the table from being excited and those damn eyes that stared at me with so much fucking amazement. All of that made me feel good."

He sighed. "I never want to be the reason that you cry, never again. I-I know that saying this will make me seem like those crappy guys in the books but seeing you smile or just be happy, it brings me at peace."

Aurora smiled to herself at how cute he was when he stuttered.

"I'm giving you all of me." he said, shocking her.

"I- fuck, I'm not perfect, Aurora. I know that when I hurt you the other day, the humiliation you must have felt after I said it, I hate myself for it. I lied that day. I lied to them, to you and I lied to myself. I want to be the man you fall in love with. The man that cares for you, loves you and I cannot allow myself to fuck up and have you ending up with someone else. It scares me."

She angled her body so that it was facing him and he did the same, both of them staring deeply into each other's eyes.

"But I only want to be with you." she whispered, the drop of a wet substance trickling down her face.

He was quick to wipe it away, leaning his forehead against hers. "I only want to be yours."

She laughed softly. "You should ask."

He smiled at her, his fingers caressing her bottom lip. "I only want to be yours?"

Aurora pouted and he chuckled, placing a soft kiss on her pouty lips. She knew he was teasing her and she chuckled with him.

"Can I be your boyfriend?" he asked her.

She blushed. Hearing him ask that was different from how she imagined it, and it made her shy to know that Matteo would be her boyfriend.

She nodded. "Yes."

He captured her lips with his own, creating a slow rhythm in which their mouths moved against each other's. The kiss poured their emotions hidden within themselves and without words, they felt what the other person was feeling.

The soul connection had been set ablaze, fueling their strong mutual feeling that was on the tip of their tongues. It brought them closer, aching for more and searching further than the unspoken truth. There was no lust, there was no naked desire, just the blatant passion of love snaking into their hearts and both knew with no words spoken.

The taste of sweet passion was enticing as their tongues grazed each other's. He pulled her closer and her arms forced his mouth further against hers. The taste of metallic seeped its way into their mouths, Aurora releasing an inaudible moan at the roughness crashing in.

The taste of metallic washed away every sense of enjoyment and the cold feeling of his mouth disappearing from hers made her whine. The moment he pulled away, her head flopped to the front, with no support from his body anymore for some reason she slumped forward, no feeling in her body present.

He shook her shoulders, her hazy eyes slowly peering up at him. She didn't understand why he looked as if he had just seen a dead person rise from the grave, but when her tired eyes fell to her hands, the spots of scarlet scattered on them alerted her.

"Aurora. Fuck- you're nose. You're nose is bleeding."

That was the last thing she heard, and his worried face was the last thing she had seen, before everything around her turned dark.