ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴

♛♛♛

The back of her shoulders was pierced by silver irises. Steps light and enthusiastic, hair blowing in the cold wind. Even the hands tucked underneath her arms wiggled in excitement.

"Oh my God, Juls!" She spun around in her spot, her eyes squinting and her cheeks spreading into a grin.

She stared at the rooftop as if it were Disneyland. Her gaze jumped from the scenery to the lowering sun, and back again.

Julius stood against the cement pillar, admiring and absorbing all of her beautiful nature.

He knew she would've liked this. She once told him how much she adored sunrises and sunsets, claiming that it was the colours that drew her in the most.

Julius would never have imagined himself on a rooftop, watching the sunset with a woman, in any of the prior realities.

But she wasn't just any woman.

No, she was his woman. His Hazel.

Hazel took a position on the ledge. Her forearms on the railing, her head held high, she watched the birds fly in front of a tower its hues reflected the sunset.

"Juls, come," She waved her hand behind her back, her gaze never leaving the scene.

Slowly, the man stepped away from the wall and began walking to her side.

With one last step, he was right by her side on the ledge. Viewing the small yet large city, his gaze never seemed to switch in that direction, instead, he looked at her.

Her eyes were closed. Her small button nose glistened red, and her hair was brushing behind her. Her lips were plump and red, and the smile on her face was pure beauty.

Almost every time he looked at her, he would be trapped in a stupor.

"It's so beautiful," She murmured, her eyes reopening and gleaming as she gazed at the sun. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes as the dark brown and green mixture was altered into a golden hue.

Julius locked his gaze on her, his hands clenched to prevent him from reaching out to wipe the stray tear from her eye.

"I wish this feeling would last forever."

Sighing, Hazel lowered her head down to her shoes now, as if the sunset was too much for her to handle.

Hesitating, Julius's actions formed without thought. An arm reached around her waist, lightly tugging her to his chest.

Hazel immediately wrapped her short arms around him. He felt her palms caress his back, her hands lightly gripping his shirt like she always did when embracing him.

Light sniffles escaped her, her cheek was pressed against his chest and he slowly started to feel the wet tears soaking through his shirt.

"What's on your mind, angel?" He murmured. His palm ran up and down the back of her hair.

Never has Julius ever been soft. Not even fucking close to it. Not with growing up in an abusive household his whole life, not even knowing what affection was.

But it came naturally with her. Something that he had no control over.

Her cheek was pressed further into his chest, another shaky exhale fell from her lips.

"Life can be so hard sometimes, it's surreal when you find beautiful moments like these and just wish...for it to be like this forever."

Upon those few words, he felt tense against them. He was aware of her alcoholic parents, their tendencies and blame.

Hazel suffered through it all, every night.

It brought back their first meeting to his mind. Hazel's bloodshot eyes and tears, glistening on her wet cheeks. Her words that night explained that she got kicked out because her mother was drunk and stupid.

They blamed her for their other daughter's death. A suicide that was unforgivably in her hands at the time.

He knew her parents were just insecure, selfish and brainwashed. They placed all their suffering onto the daughter that lived.

Absolutely fucking pathetic.

"It's hard, Juls. It's draining." She lifted his hand and brought it to the top of her head, gesturing to where it hurt.

"I know, darling." He says, continuing the comfort he gave her. "But you keep fighting, yes?" He lifted her head via his hand under her jaw, only to be met with her teary, red eyes.

A sad, small smile came onto her lips.

"Always."

Julius looked at her with an almost proud gleam behind the cold emotion in his eyes. It was hard for him to show anything other than nothing.

He was just glad she accepted him the way he was. Even though he was already changing inside, he could feel it. The warmth in his chest whenever he thought of her, whenever she was near.

The change wasn't something he enjoyed. Everything must always be strictly the same demands, the same orders, always the same. Different wasn't something he was accustomed to.

Especially when he had no clue as to what was happening and what was even changing in the first place.

But by the way, he continued to graze her jaw, have an urge to kiss her every scar and freckle insight, he had a strong feeling as to what this change was.

And he didn't know whether he liked it or not.

"You're the best Juls," She snuggled into his chest, tightening her fists full of his shirt and yet, his heart increased.

"That's the third time now," He mumbled flatly. She giggled. The sound is like a soft, mellow harmony.

"I didn't know you were keeping count," She mocks, looking back up.

Humming, he looked back behind her and tried his best not to look into those warm eyes again. She sighed too, looking back at the sunset as she twisted around in his arms.

"You always know the best places." She stated, leaning her head back against him and resting it there.

He chuckled deeply, tracing his fingers against her stomach.

"I only pick what I know you'd like,"

She smiled, blushing as she does.

"You know me well then." She looked up at him over her shoulder, her innocent eyes, innocent smile, reminding him just how pure she was.

She was angelic, everything about her is.

"What's your favourite colour here?" Her finger trails in the air as she gestures to the sky, tracing the layers of oranges, pinks, and purples.

He follows her line of the directory, catching the oranges, pinks and purples. He notices a particular colour in the sky and instantly takes her finger and draws it in the air.

"This one." He whispers in her ear. He could practically feel the smile on her cheeks.

"It's the same colour as my hair!" She giggled, her fingers now playing with the tips of her red hair.

"Exactly." He brushed his lips to the top of her head, pushing them down softly and removing them after.

A few silent minutes went past between the two, the sun was now down and those different coloured rays turned into a darkish blue. Presenting the night now.

Hazel slowly positioned her hand off of his that laid on her stomach, much to his dismay of having her so close, she simply turned around instead.

Beautiful hazel eyes stared back at him, innocent and wide.

Julius kept his face neutral. As always.

"I want to ask you another question." Softly, she spoke. Her voice was light with a certain determination but also hesitance to it as well.

He hated questions. No one ever dared to question him in general, nor ask about him or his life, or what his favourite colour of the sunset was. But once again, it was her, not just someone.

"How about," He began, his hands going to her waist and easily bringing her to the railing. A gasp from her lips, followed by a giggle as she turned back to face the city.

"—you don't ask permission to ask me questions anymore, hm?"

He leant up close to her flushed face, the tips of her cheeks were rosy and her hand fiddled with the hems of her shirt.

Uncontrollably, as if it were now a habit he'd picked up, his fingertips travelled under her chin and inclined her face up to meet his eyes.

Determination and domination swam behind his irises as he spoke his next words, slow and deep.

"Ask me whatever, whenever."

Her bottom lip fell between her teeth, and he almost lost it. "You're sure you wouldn't mind?"

Shaking his head, his fingers fell from her chin and redirected to the wisps of hair falling down her temple.

Brushing his fingers delicately, he felt her shudder and watched her bare arms enlighten with goosebumps.

He affected her, just like she did with him.

Good to know.

"Okay," She huffed, repositioning her hands onto his shoulders causing him to stiffen from her sudden touch.

She must've realised, retracting her arms immediately. "You okay? Was that not okay?"

The frown on her face made him colder, so no, he wouldn't tell her that physical touch made him mechanically want to shoot multiple individuals' brains out.

But that wasn't the reason he became tense. When she touched him, it caused him physical and mental suffering. When her skin touched his, a raging fire erupted and spread throughout his body, all the way down to his fucking core.

Her touch brought a reaction out of him. As did her voice, her smell, her eyes. Everything.

"Just not used to it," He replied, placing her hands back in their position.

Hesitantly, Hazel nodded. She travelled her hands to the collar of his shirt, pulling it aside an inch, just enough to reveal a deep scar, hidden beneath a tattoo.

"This," She began, her fingertip running along its base. "Tell me his story." She looked up. Eyes blazing with curiosity.

The scars that were hidden beneath the ink, all from different times and places. Most of them were from his childhood, from his youth.

That one, in particular, was one of the first stab wounds he'd obtained ripe at the age of eight.

The memory was as clear as day, in his most fucked up mind. Julius was tortured by his delusional uncle, who chained him to a cellar pole and tortured all the emotion and pain out of young Julius.

"I was eight, my uncle cut my skin and stuck the knife into the wound. Left it there for hours."

And she gasped. Her eyes watered with hurt, her cheeks had gone off-colour as she stared at the scar.

"That's horrible, Juls. How long did he continue to hurt you like this?"

He shrugged lifelessly as if it weren't a big deal, clearly it was to her.

"He died when I turned 17, the shit he did never stopped up until that day."

A lone tear fell from her eye, his gaze caught it and he felt his palms, his skin, his heart, prick.

As if something in him was cracking, a wall or a barricade that attempted to get knocked down by a bulldozer just once, revealing a crack in its wake.

"Don't cry because of me, angel." He wiped the tear and then did the same to the other cheek. She sucked in a soft breath and held it, suppressing the tears he guessed.

"You shouldn't have gone through that. All that pain and never being cared for...what happened to your parents?"

Aria Dupont and Leonardo Santo.

Two of the world's most famous con artists, assassins, and leaders of the powerful Mafia's have been handed down to them.

His parents were unloveable people in this world, both evil, full of anger, and yet somehow found love between each other.

They were never married, one-night stand perhaps, Leonardo Santo didn't have protection and Aria Dupont lied about being on birth control, both untameable in the heat of the moment.

Aria's stomach grew and Leonardo was there. Slowly, the two fell in love in their sick and twisted ways and ignited their cruel, smart minds into one and rebelled against the world with their bare hands.

Julius was born into the world of crime. Literally.

His parents died from a fatal shooting that so happened to be in the house of his mother's, brother's home up in France. Both shot to the heart, Julius was only four, sleeping soundly in the room upstairs.

Stories were what he knew of them. Brief memories he had as a child with the face of his mother and simple flashes of his fathers.

"They died when I was four." He replied simple and nonchalant.

Hazel wasn't even fazed by his unemotional tone. It was the way he was brought up and he didn't know how or what to do to just be nice.

But from what he could tell, he was doing a pretty good job at it so far with her. True, his unusual tenderness came primarily from his instincts. When he was around her, words just spilt out of him, words that came more from the heart than the mind.

Or maybe it was both.

"Do you mind if I ask how?" She wrapped her hands behind his neck, attempting to soothe him, or her, he didn't know.

What he did know was that he loved the feeling of her hands around him. Her touch was like fire to his skin, burning all around the waters.

"They got shot. The murder was never found."

She frowned. He felt compelled to run his fingers between the creases and smooth it out.

He snapped out of it and continued to observe the woman.

"Gosh, I'm sorry Julius. But know they are always here, with you." Her hand was over his heart, her palm soft against the fabric of his shirt and still, he could feel the burn of her touch.

The beat in his pulse, the one in his neck, the one in his chest, began to rise at this point. He had no idea why he was reacting so strongly to her. The words that came out of her mouth surprised him every time, and the kindness he'd never experienced before was refreshing and different.

"I'm presuming you were taken in by your uncle? He abused you for your entire life and never spent a single day in prison," Her expression had changed to solemnity, completely indifferent about the fact someone wasn't punished instead taken away from it.

Julius almost, almost, smiled.

Hazel abruptly hugged him to her chest. Caught off guard, he instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

She smelt like fruit and Tide. His lips grazed the skin on her neck, and he felt inclined to kiss the spot that pulsed in his vision.

That urge was strong enough that his lips pressed against that exact region, giving the impression that he longed for her lips.

She tightened her grip around him as a shudder passed through her body. He noticed her cheeks turning scarlet, her eyes gradually closing, and her mouth's rosy parted lips.

He kissed her again in the region where he'd just paused, his hand on her waist massaging her hip in a steady motion.

"Want to know a secret?" He whispered so softly into her ear that chills ran up her arms. Sufficiently, he rubbed a hand down her arms and washed away the bumps.

"Yes." She replied in the same breathless tone.

His lips curved slowly. Into a slow, lazy smirk that would have any girl, any guy, any person melting to his feet.

"I think you're incredible."

She stilled. Every muscle and joint was still and tense. He felt it.

Pulling back, he found her head still resting against his shoulder and gently, he brought her chin up and in front of him.

Her eyes slowly opened, her face tinted red and her lips still agape. No words seem to be spoken but her eyes told him everything.

"No one's ever said that about me before," She mumbled under her breath, her eyes trained on his chain around his neck.

"I just did." He replied, making her eyes snap up to him, surprised that he'd heard her.

"Well, Juls," She breathed in a sigh of hesitance, nervousness. Glancing into his eyes, she smiled. "I think you're incredible too."

"I think you're more than that. Almost phenomenal."

A deep laugh coursed out of him, not suppressible. Her cheeks flooded and she smiled sheepishly.

"Phenomenal, hm?" He brushed off the way that prickling feeling came back. The barriers cracking.

"It's the truth," She stated truthfully. Suddenly her lips looked at him again. Those rosy lips that lured him in, became moist as her tongue darted out and caressed her bottom lip.

Fuck.

His eyes darted up to her own, seeing that she was looking down, down at his lips. As if on cue, both his hands cupped her rosy cheeks, her index finger pushing a lock of her hair back behind her ear.

Hazel leaned forward, an inch closer to him now. Their breaths were just a part away from mixing, their gazes frozen on each other's mouths.

The frustrating desire of having her lips on his, to feel her ever so sweet mouth, her warm tongue slide with his own and merge into pleasure, sent a current of lightning through his veins.

Someone fucking sedate him.

He noticed how her gaze raced back and forth between his lips and his eyes as they were so near to touching as if she was unsure of her next move.

"Julius,"

He was sure that was the first time in a long while he's heard his full name in her mouth, it was certainly doing things to him, so many things.

"Hazel." He replied.

A soft smile graced her cherry lips, transitioning his full mind and body into a revere.

And now he was the one to make a move, his lips grazed hers, not pressing down but touching. Her eyes widened but softened right after and closed as if embracing the touch of his lips.

Before they could press down, before they could move forward and kiss, a phone rang loudly and broke them apart.

Deeply sighing, Julius moved back an inch as his hand smoothly reached for his mobile. For sure, he knew whoever was disrupting their moment was going to end up dead before the night could end.

The phone went directly to his ear, he answered with a harsh what all the while staring at an uncomfortable, flushed Hazel. Her state made him almost smirk as if she were truly just realising she was going to kiss him.

Jean Roy. One of Julius's men, in charge of most security breaches and an insider on what the various other untrustworthy gangs/mobs in the vicinity were up to. More accurately, what they were planning.

He stayed silent while he awaited the man's response. He could tell Hazel was thinking as she fumbled with her thumbs and bit on her lower lip. He drew himself up onto the ledge next to her, his arm around her waist, still protectively supporting her.

Remaining motionless, Julius told the man to run face identifications and to grab all information he could.

It only took a few words, a few sentences, to abruptly change Julius's mood of what wasn't numbness.

Placing the phone back beside him, he leaned back on his hands and tilted his head up to the sky, eyes closed gently.