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Despite coming in late and being tired, Dante is the same with me. At lunch, he sits with me and my friends on the field. Killian and Rio join us but they're mostly on their phones.

My friends don't seem uncomfortable with having gang members sit with us. They act like normal and make conversation. Dante sits with his back against a tree. He waits for me to finish eating and then grabs my hips and picks me up. I let out a squeak of surprise as he sets me down between his legs and pulls me back against him.

I lean back against his chest, eyes widened in shock. The girls are equally as stunned and are blatantly staring. Dante ignores them and closes his eyes, leaning his head back on the bark. I can't believe that I'm sat between his legs and leaning on his chest. This feels like such an intimate position and it really sends out a relationship kind of vibe to everyone walking by.

I don't mind it, though. After that kiss on Tuesday, we haven't kissed again. I know it's because we're at school, but at the end of the day, he always just says bye and gets on his bike. I linger at the gate, hoping to get a kiss but no.

To have him put me between his legs and make a statement like this is reassuring. I want to ask what is going on between us but I don't want to put any pressure on him. I hate not knowing, though. I guess we're doing the stereotypical thing of 'seeing where this goes'.

The girls are dying to know, too. They still can't believe that Dante is acting like this. From the way Killian's and Rio's eyebrows are raised, they're not used to Dante being so touchy-feely with a girl either. They're as surprised as I am.

"Come to mine tomorrow," Dante mumbles tiredly.

I look up, over my shoulder at him. "Your house?"

"Yeah. I live near Rick's house, rent it with Killian."

He and Killian live by themselves?

I assumed his family relationships weren't great, especially considering he never sees his sister, but I didn't realise that he doesn't live with his parents.

"Sure, I'll ask my parents."

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It's after lunchtime on Saturday that Dante pulls up on my drive. My parents are determined to meet him this time because they're not too comfortable about me being alone at his house with him. I reminded them that I'm seventeen and they chose to let me go, only on the condition that they get to meet Dante.

They come outside with me and I awkwardly gesture in their direction.

"Dante, this is my mum and dad," I tell him.

He shakes their hands as they introduce themselves. If he's surprised that they're a different skin colour to me, he doesn't show it. He might think that one of them is my biological parent and one is a step-parent, I don't know.

He's really polite with them and they both go back inside with smiles on their faces.

"Thanks for that, you've just made me life a bit easier," I tell him.

He takes my bag and straps it to the bike. "No problem. See? I can be charming sometimes," he says and winks at me.

I get on the bike and he drives us to his house. I recognise the area from Rick Borden's party. He takes his bike round the back of a terraced house and locks the garden gate behind us. The garden is concreted over and there is some old patio furniture on it. Weeds line the pathway.

"I take it neither you or Killian are green thumbs?" I comment dryly.

Dante snorts and shakes his head. "Nope. Can you imagine me with a spade?"

"No, but I can imagine you with a hoe."

He gives me a weird look and I roll my eyes. "It's a gardening tool, you uncultured swine."

"Oh...I see what you did there, very funny. But, you did indirectly insult yourself."

"I wasn't referring to me."

He turns around when he reaches the back and puts his arms over his chest.

"Who else were you referring to? Have you ever seen me with another girl?" He asks.

Clearly, I have hit a nerve.

"At Rick Borden's party I did."

Dante screws up his face as he recalls the party. "Her? I don't even remember her name, she just came and sat on my lap."

I smile at that. "You didn't push her off, though."

He smirks. "She was hot. Well, at least I thought she was, then I saw you."

"And if another girl comes along that is hotter than me?" I ask him, raising one eyebrow.

His smirks deepens. "Not possible. Not interested."

I remain silent as he unlocks the door and goes into the house. We walk into the kitchen. It's small and pretty basic, but it's theirs. The rest of the house is the same. It needs doing up but that requires money. They have a big TV and a comfy sofa.

I follow Dante upstairs and he shows me his room. It's a bit messy but it's not dirty. His bed is clean and I take a seat on it as he opens the curtains to let the light in. Dante lies down next to me and we chill for a couple of hours, talking and going on our phones.

I get hungry later in the afternoon and he offers to cook chicken and noodles for us. My stomach rumbles at the idea. When we come down into the kitchen, Killian and a girl are sat on the sofa. She looks up and smiles at me.

She has pale skin, dark black hair and an adorable ski-jump nose. Killian has his arm around her shoulders and her legs are draped over his. I take it she's his girlfriend.

"This is Dani," Killian says without looking away from the TV. "My girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," she says sweetly.

"You too. I'm Allie."

Dante cooks whilst I help out by cleaning up after him. Killian and Dani want food too, so he makes enough for all of us. We eat together with Dante and I sitting on the floor, we give Killian and Dani the sofa again.

I talk a bit with Dani and notice how loved up she and Killian are. They've been together for a year. He has his hand on her thigh the whole time he eats. I help Dante clear away when we're done and he suggests we go back up to his room for a bit before he has to take me home.

We lie down on his bed and he pulls me in for a cuddle. I trace patterns on his chest over his t-shirt and he runs his hand up and down my arm.

"Your parents are nice," he comments.

I stop tracing. "Yeah, they're a bit embarrassing but they're great."

The silence stretches out between us and I know he's dying to ask but doesn't want to offend me. I know what the silence means, I've sat in it a million times before.

"They're my foster parents," I admit to him. I keep my eyes focussed on his black t-shirt and start tracing patterns again. "I've lived with them since I was ten."

"And your siblings?"

"Are their actual children."

"Okay," he replies softly.

I try not to be embarrassed about my past, so I decide to tell him everything.

"My dad was from Guyana, I'm half-Black. He died when I was two, I think. My birth mum has a drug problem and I don't have good childhood memories of her. She wasn't abusive, but she was neglectful. Child services took me away when I was nine and I stayed in foster care until my parents took me in."

Dante stays silent, letting me get it all out. He keeps stroking my arm up and down and I find that comforting. I can hear his heart rate increase as I divulge my past because my ear is pressed against his chest.

"They are my foster parents and they want to adopt me, but they can't because my birth mum is still alive and won't sign the forms. She's a complete mess I don't know how she is still around. I was offered to have supervised visits with her when I turned sixteen but I refused. I remember enough of that woman to know that I want nothing to do with her."

When I finish, Dante holds me tighter against him and places a kiss on the top of my head.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he says. "My dad is in jail and my mum is a cokehead. She kicked me out at fifteen because I was costing her too much. My little sister was put into care three years ago, I don't get to see her much and I don't like too, either. She's better by not being tainted with our lives. She has a chance to be different."

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

"I guess you understand more than most people at school," Dante says sadly. "We both have fucked families."

"Yeah, I do. I've got a good one now, though."

"You're lucky," he replies and I detect the slightest bit of jealousy in his voice. "Come on, I'll take you home."

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Have a wonderful weekend angels, I'll see you on Monday ❤️❤️❤️