Caio and I had a peaceful couple of days up until now. Against my wishes, Caio let my mother inside after she found out where Alessio had stashed me. She sat across from me and crossed her arms. 

“You can come home with me, your room is still there and—-”

“No.” I said flatly. 

“Caio, tell him you want your space.” My mother said, looking at him. 

“Caio, you don’t have to listen to her. She’s not your boss or your—--”

“He is a grown man who would like his privacy.”

“How do you know, huh? Did you fucking asking him?”

“He is a single adult male. What use does he have keeping around a fucking child, Matteo!”

“Get out!” I yelled. Losing my cool with her. 

“It’s not your house. You don’t have the right to tell me to get out.”

Standing up, I took my half full plate of dinner, set it on the counter and turned around, stomping to the room and pulling my sweater on. Leaving the bedroom, she yelled at me even more. 

“Where are you going!” She screamed at me. 

“Somewhere you are not. You ruin everything! Every little fucking thing. Things here were fucking peaceful and then you fucking show up!”

“Matteo, calm down. We can sort this out—-”

“Shut up Caio! I don’t want to sort things out with her. I hate—----” Caio closed the space between us and grabbed me, cutting off my words with his hand he slapped over my mouth. 

“Perhaps it will be best if you come back another time.” Caio said politely to my mother. I wiggled in his arms and bit his fingers.

“Or never come back!” 

“Hold on. We can talk. Just let me deal with him.”

“Huh?” 

Caio yanked me despite my thrashing to his bedroom and tossed me inside. He held the doorknob at first, but then he just plain locked me inside. I only knew about the lock because I had seen Caio lock it. 

“Caio, you son of a bitch! Let me out!”

He didn’t respond, and I didn’t hear him out there even talking with her. Fishing my phone out of my pocket. I dialled Alessio’s number, but after a ring or two, it went right to his voicemail. His bedroom window was open, so I could see in his room. I would have been happy to be in his space if it wasn’t my prison at the moment. Kicking the door down was out of the question. 

Calling Andrei, he picked up.

“Thank fuck!”

“Matteo. What’s up?”

“Caio! Stupid son of a bitch! He locked me in his bedroom and I can’t get out!”

The phone was silent and when I pulled it away from my ear, tapping on the screen, it was dead. My anger peaked, and I threw my phone into the pillows on Caio’s bed. 

“I fucking hate you!”

I unplugged the lamp on his nightstand and threw it against the floor, bits of lamp flinging everywhere. I threw anything I could get my hand on. Books, a water bottle, a couple of pillows.

I opened his dresser and yanked his clothing out of his drawers, tossing it on the floor. I kicked it around and even went as far as dumping the water inside the bottle all over the clothing. I threw things out of his closet and continued to destroy his room for an hour. I shoved his empty dresser in front of the door. 

Sitting on the bed, I took a shaky deep breath. Looking at the other nightstand, I spotted the charging cord. Finding my phone, I plugged it in and laid there waiting for my phone to charge. Grabbing one of the pillows, I rested my head on it, and it smelled just like Caio. It was comforting and aggravating. 

I set my phone on the nightstand and rolled over, taking the pillow with him. I tucked my face into it. 

I woke up when something hit me and I sat up straight. Disoriented and confused about what hit me. A pillow lay on the bed and Caio stood in the room among the chaos I made of his things. 

“You made quiet the fucking mess of my things, didn’t you?”

I looked away from him, anger seeping back in. 

“I hope you intend to clean this up.” Caio said. I looked at him, spotting the lipstick on his lips, the same colour that my mother had on hers. 

Laughing, I grabbed the pillow and stood up. Yanking my phone off his charger too, I walked towards him, pausing to speak. 

“You have no shame. You could have at the very least wiped her lipstick off your lips. Enjoy your mess.” I said, shoving past him. “Asshole.”

“We are not done talking, Matteo.”

“I don’t have anything else to say to you, Caio. What left is there to say?”

“I didn’t kiss her, Matteo.”

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t get it.”

She kissed him to prove a single point, and I got it. We would never be the same. She had an advantage over me, and she made the point of proving it. She could take Caio at any time. 

Caio went back into his bedroom, and I left the wing. With his pillow in hand, we travelled barefoot from Alessio’s complex, into Maddox’s complex, and it was late. I knocked on the door, and Andrei opened it. 

“Matteo?”

I wrapped my arms around him; the pillow hitting the hallway floor, and I cried. 

“Come on. Come inside.”

Letting go of Andrei, I followed him inside, but not before making sure to grab Caio’s pillow. Lukas got up off the couch, his face full of concern. He wrapped his arms around me. I couldn’t even tell him what happened. 

“Matteo, what’s going on?” Lukas said, softly, rubbing my back. 

“She… I….” I cried even harder than before. Lukas took me to the couch and pulled me down with him. He hugged me until I stopped crying. Andrei took a call quietly in the kitchen. 

“It’s probably just your brother.” Lukas said, rubbing my back still. 

“She kissed him…” I said, softly, tears starting at the edge of my eyes again.

“By him, you mean Caio?” He said. 

“Yeah. Her lipstick was still on his lips when he came back.” I sobbed. Andrei came into the living room, sitting down on the couch. He yanked me away from Lukas and hugged me. 

“Your brother is on his way. I tried to tell him you were fine here. But he insisted.”

Alessio let himself in a few minutes later, Lev right behind him. Looking unhappy. I stood up and watched Alessio go wash his hands. 

“What happened?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t concern you.” Alessio said, his tone cold.

“Your washing blood off you hand, I think it does—--”

“It’s not his.” Lev said.

“Then who—-Oh god. Alessio, what have you done?” 

Caio. It had to be Caio. Dropping the pillow, Andrei grabbed my arm.

“Let me go! I have to check on Caio!”

“He deserved what he got. Don’t run to his side, Matteo. He hasn’t given you a goddamn reason to.” Alessio yelled. 

I yanked my arm away from Andrei, only to be blocked by Alessio. He pulled me against him. 

“Stop please, Matteo. Don’t go to him. He doesn’t deserve that from you.” Alessio whispered. 

“You hurt him.” I cried. 

“It was only fair. He hurt you.” Alessio said. 

I pulled back and looked at him. 

“I didn’t tell Andrei…. You knew she kissed him.” 

“We saw it.” Lev said. 

My chest felt tight as I spoke. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I always knew I wasn’t going to win him over. But you hurt him and I have to check on him. I have to know he is ok, for me.”

“He is in the medical building.” Lev said. Alessio glared at Lev. But toned it down after a minute, playing with the wedding ring on his finger. 

“I broke his nose.”

“Alessio!” 

“I made sure he was fine before I came to check on you. Only because Lev forced me to.”

“You can’t just hit people!”

“I told him I was going to hit him beforehand. Right before I did.”

“Alessio. I’m so mad at you right now. Stop letting your anger get the better of you!”

“I couldn’t. She knew it would break your heart, and even if he pushed her away, it was already done. My heart broke for you. So I hit him. I couldn’t fucking hit her, even if in that moment I wanted nothing more than to do so for you.”

“She did it on purpose. Just to prove the point she was trying to make. She could have him if she wanted, and I can’t.” I said, tears falling down my cheeks. “He doesn’t want a kid.”

Alessio wiped my tears with his thumbs and spoke. “She has always been cruel, but this is new. I won’t let her get away with this. I blame myself. I shouldn’t have said you were staying there by accident.”

“He locked me in his fucking bedroom just so he could go speak to her. He wouldn’t let me tell her I hated her.”

“He locked you in the bedroom?”

“Yes, I tried to call, but you didn’t pick up. I called Andrei, but the phone died. I trashed his bedroom and then went to sleep. When I woke up, he was there, her lipstick staining his lips.”

“Matteo, how horrible.” Lukas cried from the living room. 

“I have to deal with this. Once and for all.” I said, wiping my face. 

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to check on Caio. And after that, probably cry. But I’ll be alright.” I said. 

Heading to the door, pausing, and walking back to get Caio’s pillow. Alessio gave me his pass card before I left. Taking a deep breath, I made my way out of Maddox’s complex and to the medical building. Holding the card to the lock, it opened, and I walked inside. Caio stepped out of one of the medical rooms. His hand holding his nose. 

He went back into the room. Not saying a damn word to me, and his eyes were so angry. He scoffed when I came into the room. I set his pillow on the chair. 

“I’m sorry he hit you. I didn’t ask him for that. I would have preferred he didn’t.”

“What do you want?” He said, holding his nose still. 

“I came to make sure you were alright—-”

He moved his hand and his nose poured blood and I grabbed a few tissues and pressed them to his nose so it would stop bleeding. He groaned. 

“Keep pressure on that. I’ll get Alessio to come have a look again.”

“No thanks, he was rather rough last time.”

“He saw you kiss her.”

“I didn’t fucking kiss her. She kissed me. She saw Alessio and Lev and she grabbed me and pressed her lips to mine, for fuck’s sake! I shoved her away.” He yelled angrily, throwing the ice pack and packing Alessio probably gave him. 

“It doesn’t matter anymore. She proved her point, Caio.” I tried to hold my tears, but one slipped down my cheek. 

“Stop. Don’t do that.” Caio said. 

“Sorry.” I muttered. Keeping my hand on his nose. “Text Alessio and let him know he needs to come do something about your nose. I have to clean up my mess back at your place. I’ll get my things and find somewhere else to—--”

Caio wrapped his hand around my arm tightly. 

“I didn’t ask you to leave. Matteo.”