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╚═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

The sound of the front door opening caught Usnavi's attention.

He lifted his head up, only to see that it was Nina entering the room. Usnavi exhaled as he realized that Sophia still hadn't shown up. Nina walked over to Usnavi. She calmly put her hand on Usnavi's back and lowered herself beside him.

"Has Sophia picked up any of your calls?"

"My phone died," Usnavi responded, placing the candle onto the table in front of him. "Sonny said that Sophia should be here soon though."

"It's nice to see that you and Sophia finally are getting along," Abuela commented from the couch to the side of Usnavi. The two friends glanced over to look at Abuela. Although the lighting wasn't the greatest because of the candle lights, they could see her grin. "I'm excited to see her again tonight."

"If she ever shows up," Usnavi fretted, lowering his eyes to the floor. Sonny rolled his eyes. "Just watch as she leaves us again like last time."

As soon as Usnavi finished his sentence, the door opened once more. Usnavi looked up, frozen as he saw the figure of Sophia enter the room. She had changed her attire into something more comfortable. A green sweatshirt, green converses and green sweatpants. Usnavi, knowing that his face wasn't clear enough for Sophia to notice, he had a small smile. Abuela was up on her feet the second that she saw Sophia.

Abuela kissed her cheek and tightly hugged Sophia, expressing her gratitude of her safety. Abuela never really chose favorites, but Sophia was a special little one. Abuela would remember all the good deeds that Sophia did for her when she was longer. But Sophia wanted to have a tough reputation, so Abuela promised that she wouldn't let anyone know about the soft heart that she really had.

Abuela was just as heartbroken as the rest of the block the day that Sophia had disappeared, but Abuela knew that it had to be for a good reason. She believed that Sophia left because of something important, and now that she returned, it was meant to be. On the other hand, Usnavi really hated how Sophia vanished so suddenly when they were younger. He still had sour feelings for her about that, but he was beginning to see that everyone was beginning to move on from her past, so maybe it was time for him to do so too.

"I am so happy that you are safe cariño," Abuela exclaimed, hugging Sophia once more. "Now that I know that you're sheltered, I'm going to go lie down."

Sophia gave a warm smile at Abuela as she waddled off to her bedroom that wasn't too far from the living room. Sophia retracted her attention to Sonny who was staring at her from the couch. He smiled and rose up to his feet. He put out his arms, implying that he wanted a hug. Sophia squealed with glee before running into Sonny's arms. Usnavi sat back and watched the sweet scene that was playing out in front of him.

The genuine happiness that Sonny had with Sophia was something that Usnavi didn't hate about Sophia. Although there were numerous times where she got on his nerve, the fact that Sophia made Sonny smile in the moments where Usnavi couldn't, it really impressed him. Even after the years that she hasn't been part of Sonny's life, he seemed just as happy as he was before with her.

As the hug ended, Sophia turned around, catching Usnavi staring at them. Usnavi quickly looked away, awkwardly clearing his throat. Sophia rolled her golden brown eyes and picked up the lit candle light that was in front of Sonny. She excused herself and wandered into the kitchen to grab a snack. She was starving. As she made it in the kitchen, she placed the candle on top of the refrigerator and began to rummage through the cabinets above her.

"You didn't want to pop another champagne?" The voice of Usnavi asked, entering the kitchen behind Sophia. She paused her rummaging. "I mean, I'm sure you're starvin' after all that running around."

"Yeah, it's sort of shitty that the electricity went out like that," Sophia admitted, closing the cabinet doors. "But the worst part was that it interrupted our date."

"Actually, Damien interrupted our date," Usnavi playfully added, making Sophia chuckle slightly. "Speaking of the devil, where'd you two disappear off to afterwards?"

"Oh you know, we just went to the dark alleyway and made out," Sophia joked, turning around to face Usnavi, who seemed to be taking the joke way too seriously. Sophia leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. "I'm joking man," Sophia reassured, calming Usnavi's clenched jaw down. "I honestly couldn't care less about that man. He's not my type."

Sophia had to make sure that it sounded casual about her hatred toward Damien. She knew that she couldn't flat out say that she wanted to punch him in the face, because she didn't want Usnavi to know the conflict between them. Usnavi took that last line to heart and it broke him out of his stern look and into a relieved smile. Sophia could tell that Usnavi was happy to hear those words.

"Anyways, before that we were rudely interrupted on our date," Usnavi began, shuffling his way up to the candle that was on the fridge. Sophia followed Usnavi's movements as he picked up the candle. She gulped dryly, she hoped that he wouldn't get any closer. "I wanted to tell you something."

Sophia's heart dropped as she saw Usnavi approaching her with the bright light on the candle. She knew in the living room the lighting wasn't that direct, so she got away with hiding the scars and bruises that were added from the previous fight away from Usnavi. But as Usnavi got close to her with the candle light, her face was lit up, making Usnavi pause from his thought. Sophia bit her bottom lip, awaiting the questions to wash over her.

Usnavi narrowed his eyes, closely observing her cuts and bruises all along her face. She avoided his gaze as he shook his head.

"Damien did that to you, didn't he?" Usnavi grumbled, lowering his eyes. Before Sophia could deny his accusation, Usnavi immediately continued. "You were with Damien last I saw you Sophia. Is there something that you're not telling me?"

"I just got shoved a ton in that huge crowd of people who were trying to get out of the club Usnavi," Sophia quickly made up, hoping that he'd buy it. So far, it didn't look like it. "People just kept pushing and shoving, I guess I got hit and clawed a few times here and there."

Sophia quickly stepped out of the light, feeling Usnavi's eyes follow her as she rushed out of the kitchen. She didn't know why that time lying to Usnavi, it was genuinely hard to look him in the eyes. It used to be easy. It used to be just looking him in the eyes, telling him the lie, and moving on with her life. But that time around, things were different. She felt guilty. There was a small voice telling her to stop lying to Usnavi, but she didn't listen to it.

She knew that she needed to leave before she ended up actually telling him the truth. She rushed into the bedroom where Abuela usually slept. She entered quietly and smiled down at her. Just being in Abuela's presence, Sophia felt like everything was okay. Abuela took care of her when her aunt refused to. Abuela was always there for her, always welcoming her into her home, and treated her as her own daughter.

As Sophia placed her hand on Abuela's shoulder, she felt the heat that radiated from her body. Sophia raised an eyebrow.

"Abuela?" Sophia softly whispered, lowering herself beside the bed. Sophia glared at Abuela in confusion as she didn't respond. She's seen Abuela nap before, but she usually responded if she was spoken to. "Abuela? Are you okay? Abuela?"

Sophia went from softly speaking to her to slowly raising her voice, praying that Abuela would wake up. She began to gently shake her, hoping that she'd wake up. But she remained unmoved. Sophia inhaled deeply, tears stinging in her eyes. 

"Please Abuela," Sophia pleaded, her voice breaking by the second. "Abuela, please don't leave me," Sophia begged, lowering her head. "Don't leave us," Sophia breathed, her voice beginning to shake. "We need you," Sophia whispered, her lips quivering. "I need you."

Still receiving no response, Sophia began to softly sob, her hand sliding on top of Abuela's hand that remained lifeless. Sophia hadn't felt this sort of pain since the passing of her mother. She knew that she had to get somebody, but the grief had struck her so hard, she couldn't move. Sophia couldn't believe that Abuela was gone. She passed away.

Soon enough, she heard the gentle voice of Usnavi come in behind her. He seemed to be having the same reaction as he discovered that Abuela wasn't breathing anymore. Sophia tightened her grip on Abuela's hand as Usnavi screamed for Carla to call an ambulance. Usnavi placed his hand on top of Sophia's, bowing his head, praying for the safety of Abuela, knowing that it was a slim chance of her still being alive.

Sophia didn't know what was going on, but she found herself throwing herself into the arms of the person closest to her, which in this case, was Usnavi. She began to weep into his chest, feeling his arms wrap around her in comfort. His eyes welled up with tears as he hugged Sophia, reassuring that everything was going to be alright. It had been a while since someone comforted her during a hard time, and frankly, she was glad it was Usnavi.