17| Tregua?

FOR dessert, I tried to ignore Nic's words looming over my mind. I tried to be all there when dessert came and Ava asked me once again what the hell we were eating.

"Is it a brownie?" she asked, looking at the incredibly brownie-like dessert in front of her.

I scoffed. "Is it a brownie? Ava, we are at an authentic Italian restaurant, and you really think Gio is going to serve us a brownie?"

"Okay, sheesh, just tell me what it is then," she said, smiling. "And don't leave out any history implanted in your brain."

I grinned. "This is a torta barozzi, or a black cake. It was renamed after a famous architect, Jacopo Barozzi, in 1907. It's almonds, peanuts, coffee, and dark chocolate, created in a village called Vignola at the end of the 19th century by Eugenio Gollini, a pastry chef. The recipe used to be a secret until it became well known in the region and everyone began to replicate it. Gio, as he says, replicated it perfectly."

"How do you remember all of that history? I've never been able to care about most things involved in history," Ava said.

I shrugged. "Gio has told me a lot and I do research when I'm bored," I told her. "What Matteo is having is a classic budino di riso. It's commonly eaten as a snack or for breakfast, but it's also a dessert. It's a custard-tart hybrid with rice pudding and lemon zest."

"You sound like a chef."

"Unfortunately, I'm no chef. Simple a history and random facts junkie, I suppose."

Ava took her fork and scooped herself a bite. "Do I need to try this before I die, too?"

I smirked. "There are a lot of things you should try before you die. And I can show you every single one."

"Smooth," Matteo drawled from across the table.

Dessert was finished up in less than 15 minutes and afterwards, I hugged my family goodbye. My mom squeezed me as tightly as she could and so did my dad, and then Nic hugged me gently and sincerely. It felt better knowing that he wasn't angry at me, he just wanted me to be careful. It was still weird hearing about his secret friendship with Will Cunningham and all of the things he hadn't told me, but it was good. And I knew that I needed clarity.

So after saying goodbye to my parents and Gio, promising I would be back soon enough, Maverick, Matteo, Ava, and I left the restaurant and started walking slowly (we were all, I suspect, filled up with delicious Italian food) down the streets.

"I am in need of a siesta," Matteo said, yawning. He stumbled a little and ran into Maverick, who steadied Matteo with his hands on his shoulders.

"I think Matteo needs a long and good sleep," Maverick said. "Should we head back?"

"Hmm," Matteo hummed, nodding.

Maverick turned his attention to Ava. "Wanna ride back?"

Ava's eyes flickered from Maverick to me and I grinned. She was thinking about staying with me. She was considering it even though I hadn't planted the idea in her mind.

"I was thinking of staying out a bit longer," I said. "If Ava wants to stay. And if she doesn't mind getting a ride back on the 2-wheeled death machine."

I smirked and Ava looked at me, rolling her eyes before she turned back to Maverick. "Go on without me. I'll manage."

Maverick looked surprised (just how I felt) and nodded. "Okay. Text me when you get back safely. And I'll make sure Matteo doesn't pass out in a food coma."

"It's inevitable! I am in food heaven and I will die here!" Matteo called out.

Maverick shook his head. "Have fun." His eyes were on me for a moment longer, giving me a look that I knew meant he was telling me no funny business was allowed. I saluted him before he walked off with Matteo, helping him stay awake with his arm around Matteo's shoulders.

Ava spun around and pointed a finger at me. "I'm not tired. That's why I'm staying out," she told me. "And I have questions."

"You have questions?"

"I do."

"Ask away, Juliet. I'll answer anything you'd like to know," I said. I started walking along the sidewalk and she followed, standing beside me and leaving a foot of space between us.

"Did you tell your brother who I am?"

I gave her a look. "Why would you think that?"

"The way he spoke to me. And he kept looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed all questioningly. And then you disappeared with him," Ava said. "I just have a feeling."

"I didn't tell him," I said, "but he already knew."

She raised her eyebrows at me. "How?"

"He's friends with your brother."

"Will?"

"Do you have another brother I don't know about?"

Ava elbowed my arm. "No, it's just Will. I just—I would know if Will was friends with Nicolas. We're close about everything."

"I don't know what to tell you. I have receipts." I pulled out my phone and showed her screenshots of Will and Nic's conversations I'd taken and sent to myself. Her eyes were wide and she scoffed as she handed my phone back.

"I'm gonna have a talk with Will," she muttered. "So Nic knows it was me?"

"But I told him not to tell. He seemed to agree and understand."

She sighed out a breath of relief. "Okay. That's good. Thank you," she said. "I actually can't believe Will texts your brother and didn't tell me. He acted like I was breaking the law when I mentioned meeting you."

"So you talk about me?"

"Oh, shut up," Ava muttered. "I tell Will about everything, of course I told him that I met the one person my mother put a ban on."

"So I'm banned? Permanently?" I asked and she nodded. "Wait. Seriously?"

"I'm serious," she said. "My mother doesn't joke around when it comes to your family. You're definitely banned. She said that I was to stay away from you at all costs."

"She said that to you?"

Ava grinned up at me. "She said that to me. Out loud."

I shook my head, staring straight ahead as we approached Armory Square. "So do you feel like you're breaking the rules right now, Juliet?"

"Stop calling me that," she said, "and yes. Obviously the answer is yes. I was raised to stay away from you and here I am."

"Well, it was your choice to stay," I pointed out.

"I had questions," she defended, coming to a stop as we reached the park. There was a group of people standing around someone with a microphone, gently singing and playing the guitar. Ava stopped in the park, her eyes wandering to the person singing and the crowd surrounding. The peace and serenity of a night in Syracuse.

"Questions plural?"

Ava looked at me. "Yeah. Do you only know so much about Italian food and random history because Gio told you?"

I felt myself smile as my mind wandered to fond memories: A family vacation to Italy last summer and the summer before.

"Not just Gio," I told her. "I told you I research when I'm bored, yes?"

She nodded.

"I mean it. I just... get bored and look things up. Or I listen to a podcast about something in history and learn about it. It's just about the one academic-related thing I actually enjoy," I said. "And my family has been to Italy twice. I love it there. It's probably my favorite place. And so I learned a lot about Italy there, too. But Gio obviously has told me a lot about his food and history surrounding it."

"I've never been to Italy," Ava said. "What's your favorite spot?"

"Crema," I told her. Just thinking about the small town, rusted with history, made me grin from ear to ear.

She nodded and then brushed a hand through her hair, pulling her hair to one side of her shoulders. "I can't imagine liking researching and doing it for fun."

"Well, what do you do for fun?" I asked.

Ava shook her head. "I read. I check the stocks."

I laughed. "And I can't imagine doing those for fun, either. Do you ever do anything fun?"

"I find both of those to be very fun!" she defended. "And you do research for fun, so I don't see why you think you can judge me."

"I can judge you," I said, "because I do a lot of other things for fun, too. You remember Skaneateles? Things like that. Things like going out for midnight drives and ending up in a random new location that will forever be implanted in your memory with a fond feeling and nostalgia. Things like taking a day to go to the beach or the lake. Things like booking a trip to Crema for a week when school has died down."

"So you're all about spontaneity," Ava mused.

"I guess you could say so."

"So, do you ever do anything practical, Theo?" she asked.

"I do my research—"

"But you do research for your own personal fun. You don't do it because school demands it. Right?"

She had me there.

"I might not do things that are the most practical, but at least I let myself have a good time. At least I don't keep myself
on a leash," I said and Ava raised her eyebrows, challenging me.

"I'm not on a leash," she argued, "I just have my limits. My standards."

"Rules and regulations?"

"Yes," Ava said. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"No, there isn't. But... you could have a bit more spontaneity," I said, stepping closer.

Ava didn't move away and I stepped directly in front of her, barely leaving space between us. I seized the opportunity to grab her hand and hang my head closer to hers. She didn't close her eyes but kept them open, staring into mine.

"I can show you exactly what I mean by being spontaneous. I can show you exactly how to live with no regrets. In any way that you want," I said, then whispered softly, "Che cosa desideri?"

"I would answer you if I knew what that meant," she whispered back.

"What's your desire?" I smirked.

Ava sighed and continued to look into my eyes. I felt like I could kiss her. She was right here, so close, on a night that was so lovely. But then I still knew that it wouldn't happen. She wouldn't want me to kiss her now. Nic had told me and he was right: Ava was serious.

She pulled her hand from mine and moved back to put a friendly distance between us. "My desire," she said, "is to accomplish what I've been working my ass off for."

"As for me?"

"As for you," she trailed off, looking towards the singing group of people for a moment. "I don't want you to have it in your head that I'm just going to fall for you and sleep with you or whatever it is you think."

Ava looked back at me. "I don't want my family to know that we interact," she told me. "But I don't mind if we do. And I wouldn't mind, since my brother is doing it with yours anyway, being friendly. And stuff."

I grinned. "And stuff?"

She rolled her eyes and shoved me. "Don't push it."

So I would take it for now.

I held out my hand, a friendly gesture that seemed a safe step away from a hug. "Tregua?"

Ava smiled and returned the handshake. "Truce."

❥❥❥

"William I am going to absolutely murder your ass the next time I see you!" I yelled over the phone.

The next day— after dinner with the Montgomery's, which had proved to be quite the interesting affair —I called Will one I knew he wasn't at school. Finding out that Will had a secret conversations with Theo's little brother, Nic, I had to let Will know that I was aware and interrogate him. So I called him after I got out of my 4 o'clock political science class. I was sitting at the counter in the apartment kitchen with Will on speakerphone while I cut up potatoes (Maverick was coming over to make dinner for me and Skylar any minute now).

"It's not a big deal!" Will defended.

I scoffed and in my mind, I envisioned myself glaring at him. Maybe he could feel my glare over the phone.

"It's not a big deal?" I asked in disbelief. "William. You have been friends with a Montgomery for nearly 2 years and you didn't tell me. I found out from his brother."

"But I told you the part about being friends for 2 years," he said.

"William."

"Juliet."

"I just can't believe that you crucified me when I told you I ran into Theo. You went all 'don't let mom know or she'll flip her shit' on my ass. But look at you!" I exclaimed.

Skylar and Maverick walked into the apartment at that moment, holding a bag full of ingredients we didn't have in the apartment that they had to run and get from the store on campus.

"Okay, okay, it's kind of a big deal. But I don't know how it happened, okay? I was friendly with his friend Marina and then all of a sudden, Nic was DMing me on Twitter," Will explained. "I hope you know that I am hiding in the library to discuss this matter—"

"So that mom doesn't rip you a new one," I interrupted. I looked up and received questioning and amused looks from Maverick and Skylar. I sighed. "When you come up for tutoring with Matteo next time, you owe me explanations."

"Deal," Will said. "Now, can I get back to rehearsing and not hiding in the family library? I was supposed to call Matteo 5 minutes ago."

"You call Matteo?" I asked.

"He's helping me, you know, run lines. Like he said he would," Will said and then groaned. "Please. Let me get back to my John Proctoring."

"Okay, okay, fine! Bye. Love you."

"Love you even though you hate me!"

I hung up. I slid my phone to the other side of the counter and ran a hand through my hair. Skylar looked amused and Maverick looked confused and possibly concerned.

"You're bad at cutting potatoes," Skylar said and I glared at her for it.

"Everything okay?" Maverick asked at the same time as he slid the cutting board and knife away from me and passed them off to Skylar, who worked on fixing my terrible cutting job. I couldn't cut potatoes when I was interrogating my brother about having a secret friendship with the family enemy.

"Is it your brother's secret love affair with Nicolas Montgomery?" Skylar asked, smiling evilly. I swear to god.

"My brother isn't having a secret love affair. Theo is pretty sure Nicolas has his own girlfriend in the first place," I said.

"You and Theo, aren't you oh-so close?" Skylar teased.

"Sky, let Ava breathe a little," Maverick said, sending me a sympathetic smile, which counted as an apology for his overly sarcastic and outspoken sister. "What is this about your brother and Theo's?"

"Will's been texting with Nic for about 2 years now. And they're friends."

Maverick's eyebrows shot up. "Holy shit. Even with everything between your families?"

"Yep," I said. "And he didn't tell me, so I found out last night from Theo."

"You found out last night? While I was literally there!"

I nodded. "I would have told you if you hadn't left with Matteo."

"You mean sleeping beauty," Maverick muttered. "And you would have told me if you hadn't decided to stay with Theo."

"She's falling in his trap..." Skylar drawled and winked.

"I'm not falling into any trap. And yes, I chose to stay with Theo because I had questions. Questions regarding how Nic knew who I was," I told them. I left out the details of asking him about his knowledge of history.

I thought about it maybe more than I should have in the past 24 hours. How Theo did research for fun and knew so many random facts about the Italian cuisine we'd eaten last night. How he spoke in a nearly fluent sounding Italian accent when he spoke the language and as much as I would rather not admit it, the whole Italian thing was pretty hot.

But like I told Theo, I had lines that wouldn't be crossed— like riding his motorcycle, which I hadn't done last night, I'd opted to take the late bus instead and Theo went with me to be nice because he insisted and said he could get Matteo to drive him to his motorcycle today. Maybe I could stop pushing him away and being so blunt about not liking him. It was a lie. I did like Theo. I guess he had one of those personalities that was hard to not be drawn to.

We made a truce and we were going to be friends, minus the fact that I made him promise to keep it a secret from his parents, as I'd keep it a secret from mine. But I couldn't help it. It felt like every time I tried to push Theo away, he wouldn't ever give up, and I wouldn't ever be able to shake him. So I guess I was curious what he had to offer. Was that so wrong?

"Riiight," Skylar said. "And that's the only reason you stayed with him. Not to secretly make out in downtown Syracuse while the rest of the city was bustling."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't listen to her," Maverick said. "Are you mad at your brother, then?"

"Not mad. I just wish he'd told me," I said, shrugging it off.

Though, I suppose I could understand why Will hadn't told me about his friendship with Nicolas Montgomery. Considering how strongly I'd felt about taking over the business and that included the feud between our families. Will probably thought I would be the one to blow up on him over it.

"Well, hopefully you figure things out. Nic is pretty decent despite his loudness," Maverick said. "Ready for dinner?"

"I'm starving," I said.

"Starving or thirsty?" Skylar said.

I glared. Maverick rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Sky. Anyway, after dinner, we're dyeing my hair. We're going blonde, ladies."

❥❥❥

...What is this? A random update???

Hey bitchess, the tea is hot lately

ALSO YALL: The Fiction Awards 2020 is up and accepting nominations in categories like Best Protagonist, Best Romantic Plot, etc. If you like any of my lil books, check it out and mention me if you want : )

But hey. I thought I'd update even though I've already updated 3 times this weeeeeeek because I was BORED. So yay.

TREGUA! Iykyk

Hehe. I was so bored I updated aaaaaand now Ava and Theo have a truce, but how long will they be JUST FRIENDS? Idk you let me know what you think...

Imma drink some coffee now. Hehehehe