Now all I had to do was convince ma and papa to let me go to Sicily.

"So..." I started off placing my fork down and everyone at the dinner table turned their head towards me.

"Yes, darling?" Ma asked and I looked down taking a sip of my water.

"Uh, so Arthur- my friend? You remember her?" I blabbed and they nodded.

"Of course we do," Val says turning towards me and I suppress a scowl.

"So, she has a show- in Sicily. And she asked me if I wanted to go with her. I want to go. It's only a couple of days. I'll be safe." I wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts and ma looked at papa.

"I don't know about that Mer." He said and my face immediately dropped.

"Oh come on, she's never really had friends before. Let her have fun." Val said and I raised an eyebrow at her statement but buried my shocked expression with a smile.

"It's not about letting her have fun, it's about the fact that she's still a child." Ma said serving papa some of the butter chicken. He motioned with his hand for her.

"She's 18," Val said, this time papa looked at her sharply.

"If she is that much of a big girl then I think she can speak for herself, Valerie," Papa said sternly and she sulked before looking at me.

"It's only a couple of days, I'll be safe besides there's gonna be her crew members too. So it's not like we could even get in any trouble. And- well- I've always wanted to go see new places. You know how much I love it too. It's just a couple of days papa." I repeated and he looked at me thinking while ma smiled and looked at him.

"Fine, but you call me every couple of hours. I need constant updates. No talking to strangers, no accepting things from strangers, no roaming in places that seem shady and sketch no-" before he could repeat his usual rules I interrupted him.

"-drinking and drugs. Got it, papa, thank you." I grinned kissing his cheek and he grimaced.

"Mer, dear, manners." He wiped his cheek and I rolled my eyes. But I knew he was just fucking around when he smiled.

"So when are you leaving?" Ma asked as Val grinned at me.

"We leave Friday, be back by Monday." I smiled and they nodded. Before I knew it we had divulged into another conversation while eating dessert.

"So, Sicily huh?" Val asked just as we walked upstairs after bidding goodnight.

"Yeah," I muttered picking on a stray thread.

"Look I know you think-" I start but Val interrupts me by grabbing my hand and pulling me to her room.

"Wait- are you sure?" I ask and she nods.

The thing about Val was that she didn't like anyone in her space, so in so many years I have seen her room maybe 2 or 3 times. That too was when she was so drunk that I had to escort her, granted the next day we fought.

"What the fuck Val? You wanted me to just leave your wasted ass for ma to find, or worse papa?" I yelled, I hated myself for feeling the tears starting to prick already. But when Val rolled her eyes like she was done with me I had to blink them back.

"You didn't have to come inside my room for fucks sake! You could've taken me to your room. Or just let me sleep on the fucking couch!" She yelled back, in anger I turned around so I wouldn't be looking at her angered face and start to cry, I wiped a stray tear before huffing and turning around to face her again.

"Ever thought that maybe I don't want you to step inside my room? Maybe I like my privacy too!" I yelled and she rolled her eyes again taking a step towards me.

"You're just saying this for the fun of it! Why do you fucking ask me to come to your room then? Why do you ask if I wanna read books with you? What about 'hey wanna smell this candle I just bought? Come to my room' or what about 'this dress would look fucking good on you come to try it on'? Huh? Now you want to tell me that you never fucking meant it? Bull fucking shit, Marnie." She yelled and this time I didn't blink back the tears.

"Are you fucking hearing yourself? Does it never fucking make sense? Or are you just that fucking dumb?" I ask her softly and she raises an eyebrow.

"Quit beating around the bush." She says monotonously.

"If I don't ask you to hang out would you ever ask me first? You're not fucking hearing yourself. I love my fucking privacy but ever thought that I am so fucking lonely that all I want to do is have some fucking company? That maybe I want to fucking hang out but I make small fucking excuses so you at least feel the need to see me. If I don't ask you small shit like this the only time you will ever fucking see me is when you need me to do something for you or when you want to read a book. You dumb fucking bitch. Ever thought that I fucking love you and I just want to fucking hang out with my fucking sister?" I take a deep breath and before I knew it I was yelling through my tears again.

"Maybe I care so fucking much that I can't stand the thought of you sleeping on a fucking couch just because you're so stubborn. Maybe I just wanted to make sure you're safe inside your fucking room. It may be so special for you, your room but it's just 4 walls with a bed for me. I have no intention of invading your privacy I just want you to be comfortable for the night when you're wasted crying about some dumb fucker who didn't deserve you. Who didn't even say fucking goodbye." I finish off and all she does is take three steps towards me and wraps me in a hug.

My body shakes continuously as I sob on her shoulder.

Dumb fucking bitch.

"Stop overthinking it," Val mutters before pushing open the door and dragging me in with her.

I look at the ground and refrain from looking at her room. I never actually saw her room. Yes, I did go inside her room but I never took my time to analyse it. All I knew is that the walls were Alice blue.

"You can look up it's fine." She laughs as she opens the door to her wardrobe and I finally take my time to look around.

Val's room was the complete opposite of mine. Mine was sage green with golden accents whilst her was blue with silver. Her bed was lined with navy blue sheets and pillows. An ice-blue bean bag in the side of her room and the wind chime that I had gifted her hung by the window.

I had the same one in golden.

"Here take this." She passed me a gift. I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged.

"It's Kish's birthday." She said and I couldn't help but let a loud laugh escape.

Kish was a doll that my mom gifted me a couple of months after my first birthday, I still had it and when we were kids I would celebrate his birthday. Earlier it used to be a huge party with my grandma and grandpa present, along with my aunt. But since I've grown up we have stopped doing that, I still do it though. I bake a cake and pull an all-nighter. And I guess she remembered.

"Thank you." I smiled and she pulled me close to her hugging me.

"Sicily isn't safe, but I want you to be. You still have that self defence-" I interrupted her by hugging her tightly while nodding.

"Yes, I still have them," I said and she nodded against my shoulder and then let me go.

"I'll leave you to sleep, goodnight Val." I smiled before turning around and leaving.

"Good night Mer, I love you." She said, I turned around to look at her.

"I love you too." Closing the door behind me I headed to my room, when I finally reached my room I plopped down on my bed and turned on my bedside lamp to give me some sort of light.

Inside was an extremely revealing black dress and a leather jacket. Wow.

I hung the dress in my wardrobe and placed the boots where they belonged before walking to the bathroom to take a well-deserved shower.

In my room, I always had soft lighting as well as in my bathroom. I turned on a lamp in the corner of the bathroom before turning on the shower. I stripped off the dress as I looked at myself in the mirror. Sighing, I tied my hair up with a hair clip and stepped underneath the cold water.

Looking up I saw the night sky illuminated from the moon from my skylight, closing my eyes I washed my body and let myself fall in the deepest pits of relaxation.