My mom was staring at me with an emotion that nearly made me shake.

I guess Nico could sense this because he put his hand on my back and rubbed up and down in a comforting motion. And as much as I appreciated it, it only made my mom's glare turn more intense.

"This is Nico, do you remember him?" I asked nicely. "He was our neighbor 10 years ago."

"No, I don't remember. Why are you here, and why is he touching you?" she asked while raising her voice as if we were doing something horrible. I gulped, always feeling nervous whenever somebody yells at me.

Nico answered her without removing his hand, "I'm just trying to comfort her."

"I wasn't talking to you," my mom spat at him.

Nico grabbed onto the back of my shirt and pulled me closer to him, "Well you got an answer from me."

Seeing the look my mom was giving Nico made me want to speak up, "Nico is my self-defense teacher. And he's....."

My voice trailed off. My parents were strict about dating, even Romeo wasn't allowed to date unless my parents 'approved' of the relationship. My mom always loved me the least, and I felt my eyes turn glossy as I was about to make her love me even less.

Nico squeezed my shirt in an encouraging motion. I swallowed my saliva and finished my sentence, "He's also my boyfriend."

My moms' brown eyes widened. If Nicos' hand wasn't on my back, I probably would've started crying.

She shook her head, "You can't date a boy I know nothing about."

"She's an adult, so she can," Nico spoke up, but his voice was calm and even.

My mom glared at Nico. She forced her eyes back to me, "Get in the car, Maribelle. I'll have Romeo come get his car, and you can explain what you've been hiding from me at home."

"She's not going alone with you. You're gonna make her feel like shit even though shes done nothing wrong," Nico said while his grip on my shirt tightened.

"She's my fucking daughter, so yes she will," she snapped at him.

I hated how I felt. I felt like a child, too scared to stand up to their parent. I took a deep breath, watching the look on my moms' face. And as I looked at her, memories filled my brain.

She never treats me like I'm good enough.

She wants to control what I do, who I see, where I go to school.

But Nico treats me like I am good enough.

"Nico is my boyfriend, mom. Whether you like it or not," I spoke up, not trying to sound disrespectful, but just defend myself. "And if you respect that, then I'll come home-"

"I don't have to respect anything, Maribelle. I came to America to give my future children a good life. I left my own parents and siblings for you, so don't tell me what I need to respect," she spat at me, and guilt sank in my stomach.

Maybe she's right.

"Don't try to guilt trip her," anger began to seep into Nicos' voice. "You want to give her a good life? Treat her like a human being and let her be happy."

My mom started to walk towards me, and Nico protectively stepped in front of me so that she couldn't grab onto me. My mom started, "Move-"

"She can make her own decision. Even though I don't want her to go with you, I'll respect it if she does. But it'll be by her choice, not because you're dragging her," the anger was now prominent in his voice.

I gulped, words feeling stuck in my throat. Nico gave my hand a quick squeeze when he saw how uncomfortable I was, but my mom was staring at me with hate. She crossed her arms, "You have 5 fucking seconds, Maribelle. Either you come over here and live the life that I came here for you to have, or you will no longer be welcome in our home."

My heart sank to my stomach. I could see Nico looking at me with a sympathetic expression out of the corner of my eye, understanding that my mom was asking me to pick between her and Nico.

"It's okay, Elle," Nico spoke to me in a quiet voice. "I'll understand."

My heart ached seeing the expression on his face. His face was warm, understanding. But it was also upset, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Then I looked at my mom, who had nothing but anger on her face. And I realized the difference between the two.

Nico wanted me to be happy, and my mom wanted to control me, no matter how upset I was.

I took a step toward Nico, holding onto his arm while I stared at my mom. Her face shifted from anger, to embarrassment. She looked away for a moment and spat, "Do not step foot in our home again."

Even though it was my decision, my heart was still in pain. She turned on her heels, and they clicked against the cement before she got in her car and slammed the door shut.

She sped off, and my bottom lip wobbled watching her leave.

"Hey, none of that," Nico spoke gently while turning my face towards his. A teardrop fell from my eye, but he was quick to wipe it away. "Don't cry, it's okay."

His voice was gentle and soothing, and I wrapped my arms around his torso. His right hand went to my back, rubbing up and down it while his left held onto the back of my head. Silent tears slid down my face, and he whispered softly, "It's okay, let it out."

"Can we go back to your house?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head before responding. He continued to hold me close to him, but he put his hand on my chin and tilted my head up.

He used his thumb to wipe some of my tears away, and I looked into his vibrant eyes.

"It's your home now, too."

----------

Nico had gone downstairs to get me some water, because he said he was worried I'd get dehydrated. I've always hated crying in front of people, but what my mom said to me caused a deep pain in my chest that I couldn't get rid of.

I aggressively started wiping my cheeks when I heard Nicos' footsteps grow closer to the door. I covered my face when he entered since I didn't have enough time to wipe it all, and I heard him set the glass of water on the nightstand.

"Move your hands," he said even though he moved them himself.

"I just hate crying in front of people," I sniffled, my nose and cheeks embarrassingly red. "It makes me feel so guilty."

"Why's it make you feel guilty?" he asked like he was genuinely curious.

The bed dipped in front of me as he took a seat. I told him, "Because it puts whoever you're crying around in an uncomfortable position."

"I'm not uncomfortable," he said while moving some of the chocolate brown hair out of my face.

Once he was satisfied that the hair was out of my face, he put his hand on my thigh and ran his hand up and down it comfortably. He said softly, "It's okay to cry, Elle."

I looked into his eyes, "Do you ever cry, Nico?"

"Sometimes," his smooth voice replied.

My head tilted. Nico was a titanium wall, and I had never seen him close to crying. Even when he brought me to Amara's grave, his eyes never even turned glossy.

"What do you cry about?" I asked him, my leg appreciating the warmth from his hand.

"This is about you, Elle," he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "We can talk about me some other time."

I moved in the bed slightly from his weight shifting as he reached for the glass of water. He grabbed onto it and held it out for me to take, "Drink."

His voice was stern, like it was an order. I grabbed onto the glass and drank, nearly forgetting about my slight headache as I did so.

I drank until it was completely empty. I handed him the empty glass and he did a satisfied nod, "Good girl."

He put the empty glass back on the nightstand. He moved back in the bed and pulled me with him, holding me to his chest with both of his arms.

"I understand if you decide to change your mind. She is your mom," he said while starting to run his hands through my hair.

I shook my head slightly, "She always made me feel bad about myself. Nothing I did was ever good enough for her. I know Romeo and Rio will still hang out with me, but it just hurts to know that my mom hates me now."

More tears wanted to fill my eyes, but I blinked them back. I didn't want to cry anymore, my headache making me wince. Nico stopped moving his hands as if he thought that he had pulled my hair, "Are you okay?"

"Yea, I just have a slight headache."

Once my words confirmed that he didn't pull my hair, he resumed what he was doing.

"Slowly, it'll get better, and it will heal," he spoke gently as his fingertips massaged my scalp. "And I will be here to help you."

I felt as if I could melt into him, his body and words were so comforting. As I lay on his chest while he focuses on making me feel better, my stomach fills with slight butterflies. While laying on him, I feel good enough.

I feel like I am worthy of being loved.

If Nico could ever love me one day.

My eyelids began to feel heavy, my blinks lasting longer than I meant for them to. His fingers in my hair and the smell of his cologne made me feel tired until I could no longer open my eyes again.

As I fell asleep, I heard him whisper, "Sleep; I'll take care of you."

---------

I woke up to the feeling of the bed lifting beside me. I yawned slightly while rubbing my eyes, and then I turned around to see what Nico was doing.

He was standing in black jeans and a black shirt, and was putting a belt on. I pushed myself up on my elbows and asked, "Where are you going?"

He turned around, and I noticed that the sun was shining through the curtain. Before I could look at the clock, he sat down on the bed in front of me. He spoke quietly, "Go back to bed, it's pretty early. I just have a client to tattoo, but I should be back in about 2 hours."

"I could come with you," I suggested while moving the mess of my hair out of my face.

He shook his head, "You've only gotten six hours of sleep. Get two more, and if I'm still not done, then I'll come get you."

"Haven't you also then only gotten six hours of sleep?" I asked.

He nodded, "Yea. But you're more important than me."

My heart warmed at his words, but it also felt guilty because I thought the opposite. I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off by pressing his lips against mine, tugging on my bottom lip with his teeth after.

He stood back up to his full height, "I'll be back in a few hours, and I'll have something for you."

He exited the bedroom and shut the door behind him, not giving me any time to argue.

I let out a sigh before laying back down on the pillow, pulling the blanket to be covering my ear since I need it to be or else I can't sleep. My body was still tired, so I fell asleep quickly.

---------

My eyes opened, and the first thing that I did was stretch my limbs. I rolled over to grab my phone, looking at the time.

12:47 pm.

I had a text from Nico at 11:13 am underneath it that read, 'Home now. Don't want to wake you up, come downstairs once you're awake.'

I basically jumped out of bed, my feet hitting the cold wooden floor. I put some gray socks on that were the same shade as my shirt, and I walked into the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth before going downstairs so that he didn't think I was ugly.

I brushed my teeth first, my tongue feeling minty as I then brushed my hair. I used my arms to pull my hair back into a single braid, letting it go down to my mid-back.

Once I sprayed myself with some of my perfume, I shut the bathroom light off and started to make my way down the stairs.

As I walked down the steps, my stomach hurt thinking about my moms' words. I wanted to text Rio and Romeo to ask them if we could go out to dinner together because I'm sure they're probably confused.

The smell of food filled my nose as I reached the bottom of the stairs. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Nico wrapping a plate of food with saran wrap. He paused when he saw me, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Hey," he said as he walked over to me. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good," I told him as he pulled me into him for a quick hug. "How was your client?"

"A guy named Chad that was talking my fuckin' ear off about his football team," he said before kissing my forehead. "But I missed you. Thought of you the entire time."

I bit my bottom lip while I smiled. He walked over to the plate and slid it across the table to me, "Eat."

"Aren't you hungry, too?" I asked, noticing that there was only one plate of food.

"I already ate, don't worry," he said while walking around the counter and sitting on the stool beside me.

I used my fork to put the food in my mouth, and Nico kept his eyes on me the entire time. He asked hesitantly as if he didn't know if he should ask, "How are you feeling?"

I swallowed my food and set my fork down. I turned to look at him and he sighed, "Fuck. Should I not have asked that? I'm sorry-"

"I'm feeling better today," I cut him off. "After I eat, I'm going to text my brothers and ask if they'll get dinner with me after work tomorrow."

Nico nodded, looking a little relieved. As I went back to eating, he stood up and walked over to a bag that was on the table behind us.

I looked up hearing the sound of something heavy getting put on the table in front of me.

My eyebrows lowered seeing that it was a can of paint. He explained, "I thought you might want to paint the living room with me tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" I asked, wondering why he would want to paint his walls from grey to white.

He nodded, "Positive. After you eat with your brothers, we'll paint together. Okay?"

I nodded, unable to keep the smile off of my face. As I finished my food, I watched Nico as he started to put the can of paint and some paintbrushes on the ground in the living room.

I took a deep breath, setting my fork down once I finished eating. I couldn't stop my thoughts from forming in my head, smiling as I looked at him.

I don't regret choosing Nico.