Stay with Me

GIOVANNI’S POV I stared at her, my eyes wide and lips parted in shock and to my genuine shock, she laughed. "This is becoming a pattern with us," she said, wiping at the mess with a napkin. "We can't seem to keep food on the table." Despite everything, I felt my mouth twitch toward a smile. Arya cleared her throat and stood up, looking at her ruined sweater. "Excuse me." She walked out of the dining room without another word and the silence she left behind was deafening. Everyone was looking at me. Claire, wide-eyed. Enzo, blank and tight lipped. Maria, who had appeared in the doorway with a cleaning cloth, her expression was unreadable. I sighed, stood up, and left the mess for Maria to deal with. I found Arya's door closed when I reached her room. Underneath it, I could see light and hear movement which meant she was probably changing out of her soup-soaked clothes. I leaned against the wall beside her door and waited. It must have been more than five minutes when the door finally o