>The song played on the radio

William and I went to the chairs designated for the students in a hurry, Since the ceremony is about to start and William is actually the Valedictorian. I sit on my designated chair and look for my Dad strawberry blonde hair. I see him talking to someone, the man makes eye contact with me and gives me his billion dollar smile. My heartbeat accelerated, Dad was talking to Salvy and Dad looked so engaged with the conversation while Salvy kept on glancing at me.

I heard the principal say something about starting the ceremony. The program was a blur to me. I only remember crying when William addressed all of us in his speech. After the ceremony, William went to where I am sitting. He holds my hand and together we look for Dad in the crowd. We found him with our friends and their parents. I saw Salvy glaring at William and I have a feeling that William is also glaring at Salvy. I ignored both of them. I ran to Dad's side and I heard William following behind.

William and I accompany Dad to the limo.

"I need to go now Baby. Salvy told me that you will join them for dinner. Be good okay? I love you baby." Dad said while hugging me tight.

"Yes Dad. I'll be good. Take care" I say to him, he released me from the hug and kissed me on my forehead.

"Protect your sister. Always remember you are my son." He said to William.

"Yes Dad. Thank you." William said, hugging Dad tightly.

"I really need to leave now. Take care of each other and call me anytime okay?" Dad says to the both of us and We both nod.

He got into the Limo and we watched the Limo drive away.

Andrea pulled us into a hug. "Come on. We are all waiting on the front of the school. We need to take pictures" she says, dragging us with her.

"Great! More pictures!" William whispered but Andrea heard her and smacked him on the back.

"Woman! That Sh!tting hurts. Maximum of 10 pictures only or I call your cousin Saliva" he shouted.

"Fine fine. 10 pictures. I swear to your black dyed God, I'll slap the sh!t out of you if you call him Saliva" Andrea warns. I just laugh at their bickering.

The 6 of us took more than 10 pictures and William is now arguing not just with Andrea but with Chloe and Ethan as well. I am just watching them, wishing I had popcorn when someone pulled me away and hugged me. I froze from the action, Who the fck is hugging me. The person released me when he/she realized that I stopped moving.

"Sh!t! I didn't mean to scare you" Salvy says, stepping back to give me space.

My entire body calmed down when I heard Salvy's voice. "S-sorry. I'm just a bit jumpy" I say to him.

"No. Don't apologize. I hug you without thinking about your personal space. It was my fault. I'm sorry. It's just you look so irresistible today, I can't help myself from hugging or touching you." he said with sincerity laced on his voice.

I feel my blood rushed to my face, my face matching the shade of my red. How can I respond to that, that was so sweet with a sensual hint. "I-it's okay. I d-don't mind you touching or h-hugging me" I stammer.

"Really? Can I hug you?" he asks with a wide smile. I nodded my head and he put me on a bear hug and swayed me sideways. He broke away from me when we heard someone cough from behind me.

"Everyone already left except one person" Enzo points at glaring William.

"Why is he always glaring at me?" Salvy said in a very serious voice.

I panicked. "He is just really protective of me but he is a very lovable and nice person. I promised!" I frantically explained to the both of them.

Enzo walked to William. "I am driving him back to the house. See you there." Enzo chuckles

He pulls me for a quick hug and holds my hand. He points at his car. "Let's go my angioletto, You have so many bodyguards." he sighed. I just laughed at his childishness.

He opened the passenger door for me and leaned to put the seatbelt on me. I hold my breath not wanting him to hear how fast my heartbeat is. He closed the door and marched on the other side of the car. He drove away from the school, and turned the radio on. The song High Hopes played on it. We both started singing the song, We looked at each other and started duetting the entire song. He looks so pretty every time he tries to reach a high note, squinting his right eyes as if it will make his voice higher.

We spent the entire drive humming and singing along to the songs on the radio. We entered a very big house, scratched that this is not a house, this is an estate. The pathway from the gate to the mansion was in the middle of two massive gardens full of flowers. He parked his car in a garage filled with expensive cars. How rich is he? I tried my best not to gawk and looked rude.

He opened the passenger door and held my hand. He guided me inside the mansion. It looks so expensive, It has a high ceiling with an obscenely ornate chandelier. The walls of the house were littered with expensive looking artworks. I stopped ogling at his house when we reached a room. It's a big room with a stained glass window. He leads me to a comfortable looking loveseat and he seats beside me. The people in the room did not even notice us coming in. I snickered on what I saw in the room. On the left side of the room, Andrei and Chloe are busy making out. On the right side of the room, William and Andrea were having another trivial fight while Lorenzo is amusingly watching them.

"Do they always argue like that?" Salvy says pointing at William and Andrea while his other hand grabs my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Ye-yes. It's usually Chloe and Andrea against William and Ethan" I said. I lowered my head in an attempt to hide the blush in my face.

"Don't hide your face. I like seeing your expressions." He lifted my chin and kissed me on the cheek.

This is too stimulating for me. I have a feeling that any moment, I'll combust and burst into flames. My heart is dancing up and down and I think my brain stopped working.

"You look adorable when you're flustered" He smirks at me and kisses my hand. "I heard from Andrea that you are going to Columbia University, Enzo and I will also start attending the same university" he says while playing with my hands.

"R-really? Don't be mad but Aren't you guys older than us?" I ask

"Yes, We are 3 years older than you. We have to take a break after highschool, Our fathers wanted to train us about the business before starting college. Our family just has some specific traditions about the business" he explains.

"Where are you going to stay? Is it also an estate like this place?" I carelessly asked. My eyes widened when I realized that I said the last part out loud. "Oh no. don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a mansion. I just ahmm can't imagine you in a simple house or something like that. You looked so posh and too handsome for a normal life" I facepalm myself. "Im so sorry. I have this thing where I can't stop rambling stuff. I'm so sorry" I say, hiding my face on my hands. I don't want him to be annoyed at me.

He lifted my chin using his free hand and he was frowning. My heart sank, I knew it. I was annoying him. He taps my nose twice and says, "My angioletto, you will never be annoying in my eyes. You save my life after all." He says and gives me a smile. "Plus I think your stutter and rambles are cute." he continues.

My heart is beating so fast, I hope he is not hearing it. I can't help but smile on what he said. He found my stuttering cute? Did he really mean that? My thoughts were interrupted by a knock from the door. I hear a voice from the other side that says, "Mistresses and Misters, Dinner is ready" What a polite person.

I looked around and everyone was on their feet, walking to the door. William is now arguing with Enzo, that's new. While Chloe and Andrea are having an argument with a clueless Andrei.

"Come on." Salvy stands up and holds my hand. I followed him out of the room. We passed through several hallways until we reached the Dining room. This house is big.

Everyone is already seated. The person sitting on the end of the table looks like an older version of Salvy. On that person left is an older version of Enzo, Angelina, Andrei, Chloe and then Andrea. While on the right side is a very good looking woman, 2 empty sit, Enzo then William. Salvy led me on the left side and helped me sit down next to the beautiful woman while he sat beside me.

The woman gently looks at me and introduces herself, "Hello. My name is Mariella and this is my husband Valerius" she gestures to the man on the end of the table. "I am Salvy's Madre, I heard a lot of things about you. Thank you Lily for saving my son" she quickly hugs me, whispering the last part to me. I smiled at her, not sure if I should say something or not

"And Lily, this is my husband Emilio" Angelina points at the older version of Enzo. I nod my head in acknowledgement.

The maids started to serve the food on the table. We all ate in silence until Enzo spoke up.

"Madre just told me, You guys will all move in together. Is that true?" Enzo asked the twins.

"Si. We did not know that you and Salvy enrolled in the same university. The 6 of us had been planning this since the start of the senior year, we even aimed for either NYU or CU to make it work" Andrei explained, while Andrei just rolled her eyes.

"Have you guys signed the lease already?" Enzo asked with a playful grin on his face.

"No! I know what you are thinking, Enzo!" Andrea shouted.

"Don't shout at your brother Andrea" Salvy said in an authoritative voice, Andrea lowered his head and whispered an apology.

William and I exchanged confused looks, Did Andrea just cowered from a simple warning of Salvy? I met Andrea's eyes and I shot her a confused look, she shrugs at me. So she was really serious about warning William on insulting Salvy.

I looked at my plate and I noticed that Salvy was putting only the my favorite part of the dishes in my plate. I feel my head getting warmer by the second from the blush, I shyly thanked him. He just gave me a gentle smile and continued eating. The dinner consisted of Occasional bickering between Andrea and William or Enzo and William while Salvy and I steal glances at each other.

After the dinner was finished, Mariella stole me away from Salvy. Salvy cutely pouted at his Mother and his Mother just gave him a smile. She drags me to the garden and I see Valerius standing near a fountain.

He looks at me with a kind expression and asks "Can I hug you Cara?" I nod and he gives me a warm fatherly hug. "Thank you Lily. Thank you for saving my son. No words can describe how grateful we are to you" he whispered to me. He released me from the hug and gave me a warm smile.

Mariella also opened her arms to me and I accepted her hug. I can feel her crying in my shoulder. She let go of me and kissed my forehead. "Thank you." she breathlessly whispered.

"If you ever need anything, anything at all. Call us anytime" he said and gave his calling card to me. I accepted it and nodded my head.

"Come on, I think my son is getting restless not being near you" she joked and dragged me inside the house again. She lets go of me when we see Salvy, she gently pushes me in the direction of Salvy and says her goodbye to me.

I saw Salvy pacing back and forth waiting for me. I stand up in front of him and he grins when he sees me. He hugged me and My knees almost gave up when he kissed my nose. "Let's get you home, William is already in your house waiting for you." he says and holds my hand.

I nod my head and he leads me to his car. He opened the passenger seat for me and put the seatbelt on me. I held my breath again, afraid that he could hear my heart going wild. The drive to the house was silent but comfortable, we occasionally sang and hum songs on the radio.

He parked the car in front of the house and opened the door for me. He took something from the back seat and gave me a red lily. "A red lily for the most beautiful Lily I met" he says.

He looks at my eyes and then on my lips, I also instinctively look at his kissable lips.

He leans closer to me and breathlessly pleads, "my angioletto please allow me to kiss you"

I nodded and leaned closer to him. He cups my face with his hands and kisses me. I never thought that sparks while kissing is real. It was a sweet and short kiss on the lips and proceeded on kissing my cheeks, forehead and nose. He stared at me with loving eyes, he held my hand and we walked to the front door.

"T-thank you for tonight and thank you for the flower" I stuttered

"And thank you for coming into my life my angioletto" he responded. He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips before opening the front door. I see William waiting for me on the couch glaring at Salvy. Salvy just rolled his eyes and kissed me on the forehead. He gave me one more glance before he headed to his car and drove away.

I smelled the flower in my hand and sat beside William. I put my head on his shoulder and said, "Today is perfect". He just chuckles and pats my head.