1 one | new & old meetings.

golden child; lion boy; tell me how it's like to conquer. fearless child; broken boy; tell me what it's like to burn.

-oh darling, even Rome fell // p.s.

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MILENA'S P.O.V

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The first thing that had crossed my mind when I had looked down at the papers in my hand was that I had forgotten to give back the pen I had borrowed from a classmate -- whose name I couldn't remember.

The second thought that came into my mind when I had looked around the empty cafe was that I had never been pretty good at writing. I had always even better with numbers and raw data -- but words and literature? I had always struggled with it.

Laughs. Laughs. What rhymed with laughs? Coco puffs.

Well it didn't rhyme that much, but I had wanted coco puffs then.

The third thought that had crossed my mind was that mini skirts were really uncomfortable. I really needed to do laundry if I didn't want to wear a miniskirt yet another day and flash my tushy to the world.

Two arms wrapped around my figure from behind and I was almost ready to scream bloody murder until the sound of a familiar someone's laughter filled my ears.

"You dumbass!"

Liam had thrown his head back further to laugh heartily, gently settling me back in the chair and then proceeded to take a seat opposite me. "Why, hello to you too, sweetheart."

"You little bitch," I had gasped, discreetly resting my hand over his on the table,"You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Liam had entwined his fingers with mine -- laughing all the while -- and finally when his laughter subsided, he finally opened his mouth,"You should have seen your face!"

He would have said more if not for the sudden commotion that interrupted us.

"Ow!" We had turned back to see Ryder, planted on the floor, face first, as everyone else there -- stood there, laughing at him.

After a round of laughter, Blake & Jude had stepped forward, helping Ryder up.

"I swear, I won't be ever coming to spy upon them, again." Ryder had said, caressing his face.

"Hey, what do you mean by spying?" I had asked standing up as Liam followed my lead, snaking one of his arms around my waist. I nudged him in the ribs but froze when his hand suddenly went lower and squeezed my hips.

"Mil, actually..." Jude had trailed off.

"Blake?" Liam then had questioned his best friend.

"Well.." Blake had walked a few steps towards us,"Your subtle attempts towards hiding your relationship failed miserably, and everytime you two were alone, we spied, or at least tried to spy on you, so that we could confirm whether we were correct or not."

"What is this?" I had commented, "Pretty Little Liars? Ooh, I see you getting it on with your friend there. -A."

That had earned a laugh from everyone, until Liam cleared his throat, his grasp on me tightening,"Well, it is time we make this official. Yes, Milena and I are dating each other."

"Well, it was about time." Blake had mumbled.

"We just didn't want to drop the bomb all of a sudden - because well, we didn't want to disrupt any friendship of our circle."

The three of them had given us blank stares.

"We are okay, right?" I had asked, nervously playing with the hem of my skirt.

"Are you kidding me?" Jude had yelled,"Of course we are! You are the Monica & Chandler of our group!"

I had grinned like an idiot, grabbed Liam's face and kissed him -- a show that none of our friends ever forgot.

- - -

"Milena?"

"Milena?"

"Milena!"

I broke out of my daze.

"God Bless America!" I shouted out, my eyes wide as I frantically searched for the owner of the voice.

When they rested on the brown-eyed boy at the driver's seat, I let out a sigh of relief. "Yes?"

"What the hell were you thinking?! I have been calling your name for the last eight minutes!" Michael yelled, shooting his free hand frantically in different directions, while the other stayed on the steering wheel.

"Oh, shush. I had a daydream about such a good thing after so many days!" I shushed him, my fingers tapping on the window sill.

"Good thing, wait.. Liam?"

A weak smile crept on my face. "Yes, Liam." I said as I looked out of the window, watching the trees go by.

"Mil." Michael said as his free hand came to rest on my shoulder. "You should not think of him, you know that. Cherishing memories is good, but you are just too young to be looking in the past and pondering over reveries."

I chuckled at his statement. "What can I say Mic, Liam was a storm. A wonderful storm. He went as fast as he came, leaving a mark on me in the process."

Mic let out a mirthless chuckle as he took a sharp turn. "So okay, to lighten up your mood, let's go to Starbucks."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I am not paying."

"Why? I paid the last time!" He whined.

"Oh, please, I am broke!"

"Oh, no you aren't. Your hand bag is full of cash. I got a peek of it this morning."

I smacked his arm. "You sitzpinkler! But, Starbucks is costly!"

Michael looked at me, giving me his best puppy dog eyes. I further added, "But as I have some money, I don't see any harm in going to Starbucks. "

Michael chuckled excitedly and screamed, "Starbucks, here we come.."

And we sped off towards Starbucks.

As we entered Starbucks, the familiar smell of caffeine hit me. We ordered our favourites - a caramel frappuccino for me and a java chip frappuccino for Michael.

Ugh, this place was packed.

I took our ordered drinks and started walking towards the direction where Michael was. But I had no clue from where, but suddenly a huge structure came in front of me, and my caramel frappuccino spilled on that.

A human structure.

Ugh no. Please no wattpad clichè drama.

It was a guy, of course. But he wasn't as pretty I had expected him to be -- definitely not Harry Styles' level pretty or Brad Pitt's level hot -- but he was pretty fair looking, with fine blue eyes.

Blue orbs. Ooh, how poetic. All that wattpad reading was paying off.

"Look where you are going! You just spoilt my drink! If you don't know how to walk, sit at home." I roared, not sorry at all. And after all he came in my way.

"And if you don't know how to talk, then keep your mouth shut." He replied back in a cold tone, voice laced with a lovely Italian accent.

"Excuse me?" I spat, angrily.

"Excuse you what, tesoro?"

"You head upon a mop-stick, don't you dare call me tesoro or whatever again."

His lips slightly bent at the edges, giving out a frown. "Trust me amore, you suck at swearing." He exclaimed in a clipped tone, murmuring things under his breath. And I was pretty sure I heard the word cagna.

Rude much? What an asshole.

"Listen here, you asshole," I started and his eyes twinkled in sharp amusement,"I don't like to talk to obnoxious persons like you. You are stubborn, overconfident, arrogant and I am actually falling short of adjectives here for describing how awful you are. Hope we never meet again. And one of the biggest losses in my life was wasting my valuable Caramel frappuccino on your obnoxious self. And it was you who came and collided with me like a wall."

By the time my speech had ended, he looked at me -- his face completely blank -- looking highly uninterested in the conversation.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes," I spat out, ready to bite off his head any time now.

"Is obnoxious the only word you know?"

"It is the only word that comes to mind when I look at you." And with that, I was turning back, walking towards Michael so that we could get out of there.

God wasted such a beautiful physical appearance on such an obnoxious person.

"Hey Mic -- here, take your Java Chip Frappuccino."

"Hey, Mil!" He stared at me for a second, and after observing my expression he spoke up, "Let me guess, something annoying happened on the way from the counter to here, and something horrible happened to your Caramel Frappuccino too?"

"Yes!" I let out an exasperated sigh,"On the way, I collided with an obnoxious person on whom I wasted some precious moments of my life, and my Caramel Frappuccino also happened to be wasted on that obnoxious man's obnoxious shirt, no suit actually. But I seriously hope it was not Armani.." I said in one breath.

Michael looked at me and narrowed his eyes, "Was that obnoxious person hot, like fire level hot?"

"Yes, no, okay yes, he was hot, but unfortunately, God wasted one gorgeous body on that obnoxious soul."

Michael chuckled in return. "Yeah, I get that. Now let me enjoy my Frappuccino and go order another one for yourself. And, the treat's on me."

I hugged him. Yay, I didn't have to pay. I mentally sent a thank-you to the obnoxious person.

Michael messed up my hair and I swatted his hand away. That was something my brother would do, if I had a brother.

Michael was like the brother I never got to have. He always seemed to know how to cheer me up.

I felt somewhat odd, like someone was trying to kill me, but with glares. You know, female intution and all that.

I whirled around but failed to spot anyone. As I was turning back, my eyes met with those same electrifying blue eyes.

He was looking the other way now, his jaw perfectly on display -- and I could swear to God, that was one fine jaw.

Even if he was a man of shitty personality, I had to admit, I was impressed by him. His contempt radiated off of him in waves.

As he turned his face around the other way, I took a quick glance at him -- studying his features for one last time -- his ocean blue eyes, sharp nose, and that killer jaw that could even cut glass.

His dark hair looked untamed but at the same time, I could tell that every single strand of his hair was gelled and fell right in perfection.

I tossed my ginger hair over my shoulder. I was not particularly ugly, I was quite good looking. But goddamn did that man make me rethink the definition of beauty.

Like I said, God had done such unfair things.

I was snapped out of my ogling session of this hot stranger by Michael tapping on my shoulder.

"Milena! Your phone is getting messages continuously for the last two minutes. Just answer that fùcking call of yours!" Michael stated, clearly annoyed.

I glared at Michael.

"What?" He asked.

"Language Mic, language. There are kids here." I stated calmly. He shut his mouth.

I took out my phone, and what I saw would surely be enough for giving me nightmares for the next few days.

It was a video of my sister doing her daily activities. But it was not the video that scared me. The messages were the one responsible.

Oh my Kitty, you surely remember me, don't you? Haha, what am I even asking? How can you forget me Kitty? Isn't your sister very happy in Paris? Look, how she is enjoying her senior year. Well, I would like to say, I am waiting to continue from where we left off. I am waiting for you. I don't even worry, I know, no one has claimed you yet. I will not let anyone. This is not a threat. This is a note. This is my undying love for you.

I tightened my jaw, feeling the droplets of sweat -- formed on my forehead -- drip down slowly, and my throat felt dry. The floor seemed to sway beneath my feet. I tried hard not to react but I knew my body was going to give in soon.

Breathe, Milena breathe. Breathe. You can do this.

Noticing my jaw tightening and my breathing rate picking up, Mic asked, concern laced in his voice,"What the hell happened? Are you okay? Is there any problem? Can I do anything? Do I need to find a place for burying bodies?"

With heart palpitations going like crazy and laboured breathing, I tried hard to calm myself and conjure up the name of the man who was the cause of my nightmares and who ruined me. Or so I had always thought.

With a quivering voice, I took his name, "Michael, Nate is back." 

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