You Take The Breath Right Out Of Me (Shayne)

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

He pushed himself up from the position she had placed him in, and hopped up so he was standing. He sighed. He couldn't tell her that he was just worried about her hanging around other guys, well more jealous than worried. What would she think if she actually knew that?

"I do want to hang out with him again," Shayne replied, "I just don't want you hanging out with him."

He wanted to smack his forehead as soon as he said it, because he knew that she wouldn't take it well. Like the times when he had followed her on a date before to spy on her.

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

"Excuse me?!" she demanded. "I can be friends with whoever I damn well please! I'm a big girl, Shayne; I can take care of myself!"

She usually didn't mind that protective streak of his; it had kept her out of trouble more often than it got her into it. What Mariella minded was when he got possessive or jealous over her spending time with a guy. She felt like he was treating her like the same little five-year-old that he'd first met thirteen years earlier. She wasn't a little kid, damn it! She was a grown woman!

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

"Obviously you cannot!" Shayne insisted shaking his head, "I've always been there to swoop in and rescue you ever since we met!"

Partially because he almost stalked her sometimes... but that wasn't the point! Even when they first met he had to save her! He always felt like he was always there for her, to pick her up when she screwed up, but that could've just been his perceptive on it all.

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" she demanded. "I have done plenty without you to swoop in and act like fucking Superman!"

How dare he?! She wasn't a small child, anymore, and she wouldn't let anyone, even him, undermine her accomplishments. She had worked hard and earned every fucking accolade that she had. It hurt that Shayne would even say something like that to her, honestly...more than she liked to think about.

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

"It is supposed to mean I don't think you can take care of yourself well enough! You've also been saved plenty by me!" Shayne insisted.

He didn't even know why he bothered with helping her out! Well, actually, he did, but that still didn't mean she could demean everything that he had done for her! She should appreciate it.

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

Mariella paused at that and glared at him. She sniffed a little and felt tears stinging at her eyes at the same time, though. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to feel because she was simultaneously sad and angry. Out of all of the people she knew, she least expected Shayne to say that! He knew that she hated being treated like an invalid...

"F-fine, then! I won't bother you anymore!" she sniffed, apparently deciding to settle on horribly upset.

She turned and ran out the door, slamming it behind her and hoping that she hadn't woken anyone up.

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

As soon as she had left, he regretted everything that he had said. He quickly ran to the door, opening it.

"Wait! Mariella!" Shayne called, feeling she was already gone, "Fuck."

Why did he have to be such an idiot? He didn't really have to claim the credit for protecting her, because admittedly she did a lot herself as well. Why couldn't he just let her be happy with her own accomplishments?

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

Mariella eventually stopped running at the corner (mostly because she hadn't been seeing straight and ran right into a lamp-post), and slid to her knees, crying into the overlong sleeves of the sweater she'd "borrowed" from Shayne when he wasn't paying attention.

God, why did it hurt so much that he'd said those things? They'd fought before; even best friends argued sometimes, but she didn't usually run out, and he didn't usually act like he had that night. Maybe she was just overreacting...

Meanwhile, Ana had woken up to the sounds of Shayne and Mariella yelling at each other and wandered downstairs in time to hear the door slamming. She assumed that Mariella had run out since she heard Shayne yelling Mariella's name moments later. She grumbled under her breath and went all the way downstairs.

"You should probably go find her," she yawned. "It's late; anything could happen to her. Her sense of direction sucks when she's upset, too; who knows how long it'll take her to find her way back?"

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

"Yeah," Shayne sighed, before he began running out of the Salla and out into Diagon Alley. Knowing Mariella she probably would've ran into something and stopped by now. Shayne really wished he hadn't said some of the things he had said. It really hurt Mariella and he hated when he hurt her especially.

Shayne only stopped running when he saw Mariella not far away. He slowly approached her. Now, how was he going to approach this?

"Mariella," Shayne began as he came closer, before sitting next to her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said the things I did."

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

She whimpered softly and shifted away from him, hiding her face. She didn't like it when people saw her cry. She wasn't supposed to. What did she have to cry about? She'd gotten through a civil war without losing any of her family, and Shayne swooped in and fixed everything on any of the many occasions when she fucked up. Nope. She didn't have any right to cry, but she did anyway.

"Th-thought you were sick of cleaning up after me," she sniffed quietly. "O-or did Ana send you out to look for me?"

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

Shayne sighed looking over at her, crying. It was his fault for saying those things, and actually he almost liked when he could clean things up for her and others. He really hated to see her like this. Why did he have to be such an idiot?

"Neither," Shayne answered, "I came because I wanted to apologize. I wasn't right when I said those things, Mariella. I was just... worried about you and I want to protect you, but you can take care of yourself. I can't stand the thought of you around other guys, or in any sort of trouble. You're very important to me."

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

She shook her head and turned away from him further. Now it was more that she couldn't...seem to...stop crying. She knew that Shayne hated it when she cried, and she didn't like it any more than he did. She tried really hard to not look a mess in front of him! Mariella didn't really try very hard to look pretty (she didn't think she was, anyway, not when she was always surrounded by those Cavaliere girls), but she woke up a little earlier than Shayne every day to make sure that he didn't see her first thing in the morning, anyway. She put a lot of stock in what he thought of her.

"B-but you were right," she argued. "I'm a perpetual fuck-up; I'd have probably gotten myself killed if not for you, Tal, Fara and Gabe! I sh-shouldn't even be here; I'll just fuck things up for you all here, too..."

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

Shayne scooted a little closer to her. He was almost tempted to put his arm around her, but he was a little hesitant, because she was upset because of all his stupideness. Shayne bit his lower lip and sighed.

"I was not right. Mariella, you are a wonderful woman. You're smart, beautiful, and talented. You have your moments, I will agree, but that doesn't mean that you are any less of a great person," Shayne replied, "Without you, I wouldn't have anyone I can just have fun with and just relax around. We all love you, Mariella; I love you."

[Mariella Katrine de'Medici]

She tried to scoot herself further away, but she'd backed herself up against the lamp-post when she turned away from him. In lieu of being able to move away, she curled even further in on herself and covered her ears. He was just trying to make her feel better, and she didn't want that to be the reason that he said he loved her.

...Why did he always have to mean that he loved her as a brother would a sister, anyway?

"You were!" she insisted. "I'm not smart; I'm always jumping first and thinking later. The only things I'm good at have nothing to do with magic or governing. And I have to make up on to even be pretty, so I'm not beautiful, either! I don't want you to say those things to just make me feel better! I want you to mean them, and I want you to mean that you love me as more than a sister when you say that you love me! T-ti amo... ((I-I love you...))"

[Shayne Tomas di'Angelo]

Did she really mean that she wanted him to love her more than a sister? He always thought that she loved him only like a brother! Of course he loved her more than a sister, wasn't it obvious? Everyone else seemed to be so sure that he had 'more than a crush' on Mariella. Everyone else seemed to have noticed, no matter how much he denied it in front of them and to himself. He only denied it to himself because he never knew that Mariella ever felt more to him than him.

"I do really mean everything I'm saying!" Shayne insisted, "Sometimes jumping in before thinking things through is the smartest thing. I can't tell you how many times I've over-thought something and had it come to bite me in the ass later. I don't care if you wear make-up, you'll always be beautiful to me. And... Mariella, I really do mean more than like a sister. I've loved you for a long time, I always thought that you never thought of me as more than just a friend or like a brother, so I never let myself entertain the idea. Have you ever wondered why I get so angry when you're hanging out with other guys? I'm jealous, Mariella, because I've never been able to get you to love me back. I was worried that those other guys could have stolen you away from me."