I bit back a laugh while the third pair snapped in his hands.

"You're holding them too hard. Hold them lightly," I handed him his fourth pair of chopsticks.

He held them lighter this time, but he struggled to get a piece of sushi up. I grabbed a piece with my chopsticks and raised it to his mouth, watching his face to see if he likes it or not.

But like always, his face was impossible to read. I asked, "So? Do you like it?"

"What is this shit?" he asked, leaning forward to look at it.

"It's a sushi roll."

I picked up another piece with my chopsticks, once again putting it into his mouth. I watched as he chewed and swallowed, and he nodded slightly, "Not bad."

I think my face just lit up.

My phone buzzed against the table. I picked it up, bringing the phone towards my face.

Winter texted me, 'Hey Elle! <3 There's an end of July party this weekend. I'm going with a few friends, but if you wanted to come with somebody that'd be great!'

"Who's got you smiling like that?" Nico asked. It sounded like he tried to keep his voice even, but I could hear a hint of jealousy to it.

A smirk slowly spread across my face. I took a deep breath and set my phone down, "It's just Leon."

"Who the fuck is Leon?" his eyebrows tugged together.

I leaned back in my chair and referenced what a customer said one time, "You know, the blonde guy?"

I don't actually know if his name is Leon. It probably isn't, but if I somehow guessed right, that'd be pretty cool.

His chopsticks snapped again.

I laughed slightly and put my hand over top of his across the table, "I'm just kidding. It was my friend Winter. She was inviting me to a party this weekend."

"And are you gonna go?" he asked, holding my hand tighter than usual as if he were nervous.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "She said I could go with somebody, but I don't really have anybody to go with. And I don't want to go alone."

"I could go with you."

I felt my eyes widen a little. I looked around his face, "Really? You don't seem like the type to like parties."

"I don't," he confirmed my assumption. "But I do like being around you."

I rest my head in my hands to try and hide the fact that I'm blushing.

"So, lets go together then," I smiled.

He nodded, and deciding that he was just going to break every pair of chopsticks I gave him, I gave him pieces of sushi that I picked up for the rest of our lunch.

-----------

I avoided my parents like the plague when Nico dropped me off yesterday. He did keep me locked in the car for an hour after we got sushi before letting me out, but since my parents weren't home yet, I didn't mind.

They did knock on my door and enter, but I pretended to be sleeping to avoid having to talk to them.

And now, I'm getting ready to spend the day at Nico's since he's done tattooing his client. He sent me a very bossy text with no please saying, 'Coming now. Got you coffee.'

"Elle?" Rio's voice spoke from my doorway, making me stop doing spins in the mirror. "Why do you look less ugly than usual today?"

"Ha-ha," I faked laughed, turning away from the mirror. "I'm going to Nicos' house."

"When your back, you wanna watch a movie?" he leaned against my doorframe. "A new movie got put on Netflix today."

"Sure," I agreed while picking up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder since I was going to ask Nico if we could stop somewhere.

A knock came from the door downstairs, and I was surprised that he didn't just text me. I patted Rio's cheek while I walked past him, "Look at you, being all nice to your older sister."

"I need to go disinfect my face now," he said while wiping his cheek.

I laughed to myself as I walked downstairs. I opened the door, and Nico stood there with a little bit of a grumpy look on his face.

As I shut the door behind me, I asked, "What's up with you? Why do you look like you wanna kill somebody?"

"Parents tried calling me earlier. Put me in a bad mood," he told me, and I was a little surprised by how quick he was willing to open up to me. "Now let me kiss you."

I let him kiss me without protest. He held onto my hand while we walked to his car, and this time, he opened the door without me having to ask him to.

We got in the car, and I started flipping through the radio stations. It was bad pop music after bad pop music, and I knew that I was taking longer than I probably should've. Instead of complaining, Nico just reached across the seat and buckled my seatbelt for me while I continued to look.

I finally found a good station while he pulled out of my driveway, and he held my hand with his right hand while he drove with his left.

"So, what did your parents want?" I asked.

He took a second before answering me, "They tried calling me, and when I didn't answer, they sent me a text. They asked for me to come over for dinner tonight, but there's no fucking way I'd do that."

"How come?" I asked gently.

"When Amara died, we moved houses instantly. I didn't think it was a huge deal, but then they slowly started to throw her stuff out. I'd notice more and more of her stuff out in the garbage bins, and they never set up her bedroom in the new house. I thought that they would, even if she was gone. Then they slowly stopped visiting her grave. Went from once a week, to once every two weeks, to once a month, until they completely stopped going. When I'd ask if they could take me, they'd yell at me to get over it because she's gone, and visiting her doesn't change that. Then they took down all of the pictures of her in the house and didn't even go to her high school graduation for her. The class paid tribute to her, and my parents didn't even let me go," he told me, and I held his hand tighter as he did so. "But what the last straw was for me, was when they started acting like she didn't exist. When I'd ask what we were doing for Amaras birthday that year, they'd pretend like they didn't know who that was."

"Haven't spoken to them since the day I turned 18 and moved out," he continued. "They erased Amara from their lives, so I erased myself from theirs."

My heart hurt for him. Losing your parents along with your sibling must hurt. I spoke gently, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Not your fault."

But I still felt sad for him.

I don't blame him for not wanting a relationship with his parents. I'm not going to tell him, 'Oh, give them a chance, maybe they've changed' because that's not my place and he knows them better than I do. If he doesn't want them in his life, that's okay.

"You look beautiful, by the way," he raised my hand to his lips to place a kiss against it.

I opened my mouth to ask for him to say it again when he cut me off, "Don't ask for more - your one for the day is up."

That's what he said last time.

"Can we stop at the store and get some paint?" I asked him as we approached Walmart, making him lower his eyebrows. "I want to re-paint my room. It's been the same color since I was in middle school."

"The color of it fits you," he told me, but turned into the parking lot anyway.

I shrugged, "It's just pink."

"Exactly."

He parked the car close to the store, and I was thankful because these parking lots are huge and I didn't feel like walking through it.

Nico followed me around the store while I looked at all of the different paints before deciding on a shade of grey that matched my flooring.

Nico took the can of paint from me so that I didn't have to carry it, but he rolled his eyes when I poked his cheek.

Once we got to his house, I made him watch a movie with me. Then another. Then another.

I was worried that he was getting bored, but when I'd look up at him since I was laying on his chest, he always looked content as he ran his hands through my hair.

The third movie came to an end, and I decided I wanted to move the can of paint that had been blocking part of the TV. I grabbed it off the TV and started walking towards his dresser.

He spoke up, "Careful, don't fall. Ah - almost fell there."

"Nico," I laughed at how he was trying to mess me up. "I'm not gonna-"

I tripped over his rug slightly, but it wasn't with enough force to make me fall. Some of the paint spilled out onto the front of my shirt, the coldness of it making me gasp and set it down.

Nico laughed, making me stick him the finger.

"Now I need to take a shower," I said while looking at the paint that covered the front of my shirt. "Is it okay if I use yours?"

He nodded, and I made my way over to his bathroom. I shut the door behind me before pulling my paint-stained clothes off and turning on the water.

I stepped into his shower and felt relieved seeing that he didn't use 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. He had separate bottles of each, along with a facewash and sponge.

I used all of his products, and I used them happily since they smelled good.

Once I was done, I turned the water off and ringed out my hair. I stepped onto the mat and wrapped my body with the towel, calling myself an idiot in my head once I realized I didn't bring any clean clothes in here with me.

I stepped out in my towel, seeing Nico sitting on his bed in comfortable clothes now. Black shorts, white t-shirt, white socks. I asked him, "Can I borrow some of your clothes? I'll give them back the next time I see you."

"Sure," he said.

I walked over to his closet, the wooden flooring feeling a little cold against my feet. I looked through all of my options, wanting to pick something that I liked even if I was only wearing it until I got home.

I felt his warm hand on my shoulder as I felt his presence behind me. I turned and looked up at him, "I can't decide. You pick for me."

"Okay. I pick nothing."

His lips pressed against mine, and I held my towel up with one hand while the other went to the side of his face. His kiss was aggressive, and he put his hands on my back to keep me from falling backward.

When he pulled away, we were both breathing heavily. His eyes looked all around my face as he whispered, "So fucking beautiful."

The front of my body was pressed against his, only a towel keeping him from seeing me. I bit my bottom lip, feeling something hard hit my stomach.

"Nico..." my voice came out soft and weak my vision was clouded by the desire I was feeling.

I guess he felt it too, because he lifted me up, pressing his lips against mine. My legs wrapped around his waist and his hands held my legs. Our kiss never broke as he walked us over to the bed, and the heat between my legs began to grow.

He bent down, placing me on the bed softly. He looked down at me, putting his hand against the side of my face. I slowly pulled the towel off, revealing my body to him. His eyes left mine, staring down at my body.

"There's something you should know, Nico," I told him, nearly getting distracted by his tattooed chest while he pulled his shirt off. "I'm a virgin."

He removed his pants before kneeling down in between my spread legs. 

He kept his hands on my knees as he told me, "Me too."

I could feel my eyes widen in surprise. Nico is beyond attractive, and I was shocked he hadn't had sex before. He kissed my inner thigh before telling me, "I wanted to save it for somebody special."

My stomach filled with even more butterflies, which I didn't know was possible.

His lips kissed against my clit before his tongue started pressing on it. His name came out of my mouth softly without me meaning for it to, and he looked up at me with a smirk.

My legs shook a little as he slipped a finger in while his tongue remained where it was. When my grip on his hair tightened, he knew exactly where I liked to be touched.

He stood up and grabbed a condom from his drawer. I felt nervous while looking at it, wondering how we could do it without hurting. He noticed this and said softly, "If it hurts, we can stop."

I nodded. I lay down on my back while he got on top of me, pressing kisses against my neck. I bit my bottom lip while he slowly entered me, and it was a pain I couldn't describe. It hurt, but it hurt it in a way where it was also satisfying something.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, removing his lips from my neck.

I nodded, "It hurts, but don't stop."

The pain got worse as he started to go a little bit faster, and my nails ran down his back. My legs wrapped around him, and my head laid back on the bed while he kissed my chest.

I blinked back the tears. His hand squeezed my neck slightly, and his black hair grazed my skin.

My body slowly started to get used to it, although the pain did still remain. A moan came out of my throat as he went deeper than before, and his teeth tugged on my bottom lip.

"Harder," I decided, the feeling of pleasure now matching the feeling of pain.

He started to go harder, and he didn't seem to mind my hold on his hair tightening. I released it, putting my arms around his neck.

"Nico," his name flowed out of my mouth as my back arched and my legs shook a little.

His breath hit my skin, "You like that?"

I nodded, the pleasure now overpowering the pain. He looked me in my eyes and said, "Then keep your eyes on me. Anytime that you look away, I'll stop."

I kept my eyes on his, staring into the dark green color. His black hair fell onto his forehead as he never took his eyes off of mine. He whispered, "You're so beautiful, Elle."

My lips turned up in a smile, from both his words and the euphoric feeling that rushed through my body. 

Every time he would thrust inward, noise would come out of my mouth. My skin was hot, and I knew that my cheeks were flushed. 

"Am I making you blush?" he teased, my eyes still never leaving his since I didn't want him to stop.

I nodded, and he said quietly, "Good."

I could feel myself building up. My heart pounded in my chest, and my legs that were wrapped around him tightened. His eyes rolled back for a second as he said my name under his breath.

He leaned down and kissed my neck, and I turned my head to let him have easier access. His lips moved to my ear, and grazed it while he whispered, "Be mine, Elle."

"W-what?" I felt breathless. 

He moved his eyes back up to meet mine, my body coming closer and closer to finishing. 

He repeated, "Be mine. I want you to be my girl, and I want everybody to know it."

I gripped the sheets tightly as I was seconds away from finishing. My stomach filled with butterflies as I smiled up at him, "Say please."

"Please."

"Yes," I answered instantly. 

He hit a spot that made my legs shake, making me stop wrapping them around him. Liquid poured out of me as I finished, staring into his eyes as I did so. I felt him finish in the condom, his throat making a low vibration.

He removed himself and collapsed down beside me. Our breathing was heavy, and I knew my cheeks were as red as cherries.

I turned my head to look at him, and he turned his head to look at me.

"Guess we aren't virgins anymore," I smiled at him.

I could see him fighting back a smile, "Shut up."