Page 126 of XOXO

Life is like a box of chocolates. Sometimes you only like a few out of the whole box.

Violeta was quiet as we got her bag removed from the plane and waited for it. I held her close, too afraid of letting her go, even though I knew she wasn’t going anywhere. I hoped she would stay with us.

“How is your ankle?” I asked, hating that I was barely remembering she hurt it. “I can carry you to the car and you⁠—”

“It’s sore, but I’m fine,” she said, looking up at me. “I think I just sprained it, at least, that’s what the doctor said yesterday.”

“What doctor?” I bristled.

“Lorenzo had me checked out at his hotel. That's why it took me so long to get to the rental,” she said, looking down. “He said if the pain didn’t subside to go get it x-rayed.”

“I think we should do that anyway,” Levi said, coming up on her other side. “You’re still limping slightly.”

“Ms. Vega, here is your bag.”

I was about to grab it when I realized it wasn’t her bag.

“This is⁠—”

“Thank you,” Violeta said, taking the bag.

“Where did your other bag go?” Levi asked, taking it from her.

“He wanted me to throw it away,” she said, scrunching her nose. “Said I needed to look presentable and that thing was hideous.

“What? He made you throw away your memories, all the patches and⁠—”

“I asked the hotel we were staying at to send it to my brother for me,” she said, interrupting him. “It’s safe. I would not let him get away with that.”

“Good morning, Bella.” Matteo joined us with papers in his hands. “Hungry or shall we all get a good nap in?”

“Food and I have questions before we nap,” she said, looking at us a little warily.

I hated that we had placed doubt in her gaze.

“Good choice, Reina,” Levi said. “We have a car waiting for us in short-term parking.”

We followed Levi outside. I let go of Violeta to put my cap and sunglasses on. Matteo pulled her close, kissing her head as I looked around, surveying the airport for any sneaky paparazzi. It had been relatively quiet since we had left this morning, but I kept expecting them to show up at some point. From all the chaos we had yesterday, it seemed weird we hadn’t seen anyone yet.

Halfway to the car, Levi picked up Violeta through her protesting. She wrapped her legs around him and thankfully, she had a flowy dress that was long enough to hide the important parts. She laid her head on his shoulder, sighing softly.

My heart grew ten sizes too big watching my best friends holding hands and holding our girl. It scared me to take this leap of faith but, I’ve wanted nothing more than this, not even acting.

Levi put Violeta in the backseat and I got in on the other side. Matteo hopped into the driver’s seat with Levi right next to him, holding his hand as we left the airport. Violeta looked out the window as we drove, biting her lip. I kept glancing at her, wishing she would say something, but I didn’t know if she just needed time to process everything.

Matteo pulled into a small restaurant we had scouted when we left for the airport. We had several plans in place because we didn’t know how bad things would get. I got out of the car first, opening the trunk to open her suitcase looking for her white tennis shoes and socks.

Levi opened her door, leaning over and kissing her softly. He said something to her and she nodded. Jealousy at how effortless it was with Levi and her hit me. I wasn’t jealous of him, but I didn’t know how to be like that with her. A part of me felt like I always had to hold back, subconsciously thinking I couldn’t have her.

“Here, these will be better for your ankle,” I said, slipping her sandals off, putting her socks on and her shoes on as carefully as I could.

“Thanks, Ru,” she said, sniffling.

I looked up as I tied her shoe, seeing a tear falling down her cheek.

“Hey,” I said, leaning towards her to brush the tears away. “You’re safe, and I’m sorry it took us so long to⁠—”

“No, stop apologizing,” she said, leaning into my hand.