#Armando x Blackreader

[heyyypuddin]

Withering Petal (Armando x OC) Bad Boys Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Amora and Bowser came back to the car 40 minutes later, finding Armando leaned back in the seat with his arms crossed behind his head and his small shirt riding up. She settled in the car and pulled off to find a store to get some clothes and necessities for Armando.

The ride was in a comfortable silence until Armando spoke up.

“Why’d you tell me that? What you said earlier?” Amora stole a long glance at him before turning back to the road.

“Should I regret telling you that?” She questioned him back at him.

““No.... I’m just curious; it was very trusting of you,” he said, pulling his seat back up and looking at her.

““I figured it'd help make sense, since I told you about Victor and... I don’t know if it felt right or relieving, I guess.”

She admitted it, and it did. She hasn’t spoken to many people in years, and she’s never told anyone about her situation—well, except one—in fear that they might’ve been working with Victor.

““So what happened when your parents died? What are you hiding from?”

She pressed her lips against all the questions he was throwing out, feeling a bit too vulnerable.

“If you were there when the cops brought down James, how’d you escape?” She ignored his questions and flipped them on him. She didn't feel ready to answer all his questions, and he wasn’t the only one who wanted answers.

He sat there silently, a blank look on his face as he looked out the window, debating whether he should answer her. But out of respect for her confiding in him, he knew it couldn’t hurt, and he figured she wouldn’t go running to the cops with all the chances she had.

“I was helping them,” he stated, seeing her head turn to him in surprise.

““They allowed you to do that? but why?”

So he started telling her the whole story of when Mike and Marcus came to the prison for help since he could identify McGrath from previous encounters with him and how Mike let him escape, avoiding the mention of his relation to the detective.

Amora listened intensely, letting him tell the whole story, but it was just one thing she was confused on.

“So I believe you, but one thing I still don’t get is why they would let you go. Why not just send you back to prison?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Armando was tensed. He hoped he was going to be able to avoid telling her this information, but it seems she was able to catch the missing details. He clenched his jaw, almost feeling as if his mouth couldn't move, but he let out a big sigh, his eyes rolling to look outside the window as he answered her.

“He’s my father.”

Amora felt her mouth drop as she took her eyes off the road to look at him in shock. But he quickly looked back at the road, hearing a car horn, and swerved them into the right side, making Bowser whine as he slid in the back seat and Armando's quick glare at her reaction.

““Sorrrryyy! So sorry!” She cringed, apologizing to the car she almost hit and to her passengers.

““You’re his son?? Well, damn, that’s a plot twist." She told him, still in shock, but more questions popped into her head, the word spewing out of her mouth.

“So how come he doesn’t work on clearing your name? Why are they still posting you as a fugitive if you helped? Does he know where you’re at? Are you going to go to him when you’re healed?”

All the questions Armando had no answer to. He truly doesn't know; he felt lost, like a little kid. After busting his mom out of jail, everything just got weird and confusing. Even though it was years ago, he never healed from it. Could he even recover from something like that?

He doesn’t know, but one thing he did know was that he didn’t want to go back to Mexico, nor did he want to be part of that world again; it’s only going to lead him back to prison, which he never wants to go back to.

Is his father clearing his name? He could laugh at that. Even though he was there for him like he said he would be, he was still a cop and wouldn’t fight against the justice he knew he deserved for gunning down all those men five years ago.

““I don’t know” was the best answer he could give. A silence took over them again, and he looked out the window, seeing them pull up to a small shop.

Amora stopped the car and looked at Armando, thinking about the words she was going to say.

““I know we don’t know each other or even fully trust each other, but you’re welcome to stay... at my home, until you figure out what you’re going to do.”

The two stared at each other deeply, one hesitant and the other intrigued.

““Why would you do that?” The question came from Armando, wondering why this woman would offer that. Is she trying to set up a plan to get him caught? Who willing offers a fugitive a space to hide?

"Well, you helped take down McGrath, and for that, I’m thankful, especially after his betrayal of my parents, and you don’t seem to like Victor either, so I know you’re not going to help him find me; at least I hope you won't.”

Armando scanned her face, looking for any signs of dishonesty, but the dark beauty looked at him with those beautiful dark brown eyes, not hiding any of her feelings or intentions.

He nodded slowly at her and said, “Thank you.”.

She nodded back in response, slowly blinking before unbuckling her seat belt to get out of the car.

“Stay here; I’ll come back with a hat and sunglasses so you can get stuff you need from the store,” and with that, she was out of the car, leaving him and Bowser alone.

He looked back at the schnauzer, who was already looking at him. His snout slightly pulled back, releasing a soft growl. Armando rolled his eyes and picked up the treats Amora left in the cup holder, throwing two treats for the dog, who immediately ate some and looked at Armando with puppy eyes, whining for more.

“Quizás no eres tan malo” (Maybe you’re not so bad), he said, throwing the pup one last treat and turning back in his seat, waiting for Amora to come back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day went smoothly; they came back to the house carrying multiple bags filled with clothes, necessities, and groceries.

“I’ll get started on making dinner, and after we’re done, I’ll take a look at your wounds to make sure they’re healing and to change the bandages.”

Amora spoke while flying around the kitchen, putting things away. Armando nodded and took his bags of stuff to go shower and change.

30 minutes later, he came back into the kitchen, sporting a black tank top and brown cargo pants. The aroma of food hit him, causing his stomach to growl at the smell.

It’s been so long since he’s had a home-cooked meal and actual real food; at prison, they only gave him questionable meals.

Amora glanced at him with a satisfied look on her face as she scanned over his new simple clothes and went back to cooking the food on the stove.

““Can you grab the plates from that cabinet? The food will be done soon.” She nodded her head at the cabinet next to her. He walked next to her, grabbing the plates out of the cabinets, and she got a whiff of him, her eyes almost rolling to the back of her head. He smelled so delicious. She unconsciously leaned into him—nothing more she loved than someone who smelled good.

““Where’s the silverware?”

Armandos asked, close to her, making her jump out of her thoughts, and she scooted away from the man beside her, realizing she got so close to him. ““Uhm, its in the drawers by the sink,” she pointed to the far left corner.

He walked away, leaving Amora with her thoughts. She eyed him wearily as he walked away and started to set up the table. She quickly looked towards the stove wall, scolding herself for what she’s doing. “Don’t go around getting attached, girl; have you not learned nothing?” She reprimanded herself; she wanted to smack herself but refrained, not wanting to look desperate and crazy.

She was physically attracted to him, no doubt about it; she can’t help that, but the last thing she needs is her emotions getting attached to him like some schoolgirl.

The last time that happened, she was betrayed, and that hurt her deeply, and she’ll be damned if she allows that to happen to her again. She’s older and not as naive. It won’t happen again, she told herself sternly.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t smell the smoke coming from the stove until the flames burst in front of her.

““HOLY SHIT,” she lept back, quickly trying to remove the pan holding the burnt peppers she was sautéing.

Hearing her yell, Armando immediately ran over, pushing Amora behind him, trying to fan out the fire, but all it did was make it bigger until Amora came back over with a fire extinguisher.

““Move the pot!! ” She yelled, making sure at least their main dinner wasn’t going to be ruined.

Amora pulled up the extinguisher and basically emptied the can on the fire. Once she decided that was enough, she looked around, making sure Armando was okay. locking eyes with each other, and out of both of their surprise, Amora started laughing. It started off small but quickly transitioned to her holding her stomach bent over, laughing, tears streaming down her face.

Armando let out a few of his own chuckles, but he was soaking the image of her in. She looked so gorgeous and so carefree. This whole time, he’s only ever seen her so serious, sad, and lost. He wanted to see more of this version of her.

Amora laughed, subdued into giggles, and finally stopped, a small smile resting in its place. Allowing the energized peace to wash over her. A feeling she hasn’t felt in a long while.

“I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that,” she beamed, but realizing what she just said made her a little somber. And just like that, the peace was fleeting, and the reality of her life came crashing down.

““I can’t remember ither." Armando agreed, wanting a way to bring that smile back to her face.

““At least the main dinner wasn’t burned,” he said, holding up the pan. A small smile was back on her face at the good news, and she quickly took the pot out of his hands to fix their plates.

Amora quickly brought the plates to the dining table, sliding Armando’s plate to him first, then setting her own.

“Before you eat, I just want to bless the food real quick,” he gave her a hesitant nod, and she quickly prayed over the food, parting with a quick Amen before digging in.

He watched her dig in, and he looked at his plate, seeing that it was some kind of chicken pasta. He smirked and cut into the food and brought the fork up to his mouth, and he felt his body explode with warmth.

Letting out a deep groan of satisfaction, Armando began stuffing his face, as if he hadn’t eaten for years.

The sound caught Amora off guard, crossing her legs. Ignoring the flutter in her lower stomach, and continued taking small bites of her own food while watching the man devour his plate.

“Would you like a second plate? She was impressed with how clean the plate was in less than 5 minutes.

He nodded quickly, and she got up, grabbing his plate to serve him another.

““How long have you been in prison again? She asked him as she walked back to the diner table.

”5 years”

“Wow, that kind of explains your reaction, but I’ll just take it that my food is very good,” she half joked with him.

He quirked his eyebrows at her newfound sense of humor. “ “It was very good, but I couldn’t help but notice you made'marry me chicken’. Is there something I should know, mi amor?”

Amora wanted to fall into a puddle. Equally from the embarrassment of the meal name, but also from how he taunted her with that smooth voice again.

““Yes, you should know that I don’t like you calling me that, and I was planning on making this before you intruded,” she played off, trying to regain the small confidence she had.

""Anyways, if you’re done taunting me, I need to check on your wounds.”

He smirked at her, getting up from the table to clean his plate before going to the guestroom and brushing past her. She waited till he was out of the kitchen to do the same, trying to catch her breath that kept running away from her whenever she was close to that man.

“What have I gotten myself into?” She muttered out loud, following the man to the room.

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Hey puddin, sorry about the late post but I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know your thoughts I would love to hear😭

Have an amazing dayyy! 💕

[heyyypuddin]

Withering Petal (Armando x OC) Bad Boys Chapter 8

⚠️Trigger Warning ⚠️

This chapter does contain mentions of violence and strong language as well as horrendous crimes. Please heed if you’re sensitive to mentions of those.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 8 

The next few days fly by like a breeze, nothing exciting happening. Amora’s been working on another big art project for a different client, so she’s been keeping to her office, and Armando has been basically living in her home gym. 

Every time she goes to see what the fugitive is up to, she finds him in there working away. Sometimes she goes sneaking peeks whenever he’s shirtless or making rather loud grunts, thinking she was being sneaky, but unbeknownst to her, he sees her every time. 

The week flew into the next, and Amora was in the room with Armando checking over his wounds. 

““You’re healing pretty well, which is great to see they were looking real nasty when you first came,” she inspected his shoulder, moving over to his side before backing up to change out the bandages. 

He hummed in response, comfortable in the silence they usually have while being in each other's presence. He fixed his position as she started putting on the bandages, scanning over her. He noticed she changed her nails to a light pink with clear textured designs, her toes matching the color. 

‘How cute’ he thought; he always found it so cute how she kept up with herself. It reminded him of his mother; she never liked going anywhere underdressed; she even found it disrespectful when women would come near her not dressed well.

He closed his eyes, feeling an ache from the thought of his mother. It made him want to run away. Even with everything she's done, he missed her. She was the only physical parental figure he had growing up, and even then, he barely got to see her. Another ache hit him, and he looked for a way to avoid the uprooting emotions. 

“Why is Victor looking for you? You mentioned it a couple times but never explained it.” came the question. It’s been bothering him for a while, but he never spoke on it, and it helped take the spotlight of his memories stabbing at him.

Amora's hands stilled on the second wound she was working on and she let out a sigh. Finishing what she was doing, she sat next to him. Looking at him with sad eyes, part of him felt bad for brining that look to her face, but he knew he wanted answers. 

“After my parents' murder, he took me with his cartel. "He-he” she stuttered, taking a few shaky breaths before continuing. 

“I was under his control for 12 years before escaping 4 years ago.”

“mierda” 

“Yeah, tough, right?” she breathed out in an empty chuckle. 

”Obviously people know that he’s a drug lord and was a mercenary, but most people don’t know that he was also involved in human trafficking.” 

This really caught Armando’s attention, his eyes enraged at the assumptions going through his head.

“Are you saying that you were….?” he trailed off, not really wanting to say the words. He may have killed people and dealt drugs, but he never put women in harm's way. In fact, in the Aretas Cartel, all the men respected the women highly, especially when Isabel Aretas was the leader; they had no choice, and if they thought differently... well, his mother would show them why they called her “La Bruja.”

Amora shook her head quickly

“So... he did it differently. Victor Ortiz is a very possessive man; he would make deals with these men and would trade the women, but before the other party could get too far, he would have them killed and bring the girls back. He always made it seem like it wasn’t from his group so that he could keep getting deals.” 

She took a deep breath in, glancing at Armando, seeing him fully locked in. She breathed out, feeling her hands begin to shake, clasping them tighter. Seeing her shake, Armando reached out, covering her hands with his.

""Listen, if you don’t want to continue, you don’t have o." She shook her head in reassurance. 

“Thank you, I’m okay; it’s just—I'm okay. Uhm, so, for me, I was favored by Victor ever since I was little. I’m not too sure why, but wherever he went, he made sure I was there by his side. He traded me a few times but mainly only did them as punishment; he would do it with the vilest men. Thankfully, before they could really touch me and do horrendous things, he would ‘‘Save me,” she scoffed at the thought.

“I won’t lie, I had it better than most women there. I tried to use my advantage by helping women escape, but often we were caught, and he would either trade them or kill the women in front of me. Sometimes he would." Her voice hitched, taking a higher pitch, trying to get the words out but was choking up. 

“S-sometimes he would--I'm sorry.” 

“No, its okay." She felt Armando’s hands caressing her, trying to bring comfort, but she knew she didn’t deserve it, not from all the horrendous things she did. 

Taking a deep breath, she rushed the words out.

“Sometimes he would even force me to pull the trigger or choose who would die,”

she choked out, her eyes turning red from the tears streaming out of her eyes, remembering times when victors' hands were gripping hers painfully around the gun, her trying to struggle out of his grip aiming at different women, some she got close to, but it was futile.

“Eventually I gave up on trying to help, and I only focused on myself. I tried three times, and after the fourth time, I finally escaped and found myself in Miami City. Sometimes I felt like he allowed me to escape; it felt almost easy, and I was right.”

She softly pulled her hands away from Armando, wiping the tears away from her face.

“After being away from him for a year, I tried to live a normal life; I felt it was long enough, and I was finally free. I met this guy, and he was so sweet, seeming so protective and genuine. We dated for about a year and a half, but it turns out he was working with Victor. He promised him two million in return for me,” she spitted out, feeling herself become angry over the hurt and betrayal on the day she found out. 

~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~

Amora came bouncing in the apartment with a happy smile on her face after coming back from a self-care day of getting a message, her hair and nails done. She couldn't wait to show Jay her new hairstyle. She decided for the first time to get knotless braids in a honey blonde color. 

“Baaaaaaabe, I’m hoooome." She called out, putting her purse on the couch, taking off her sandals, and walking through the apartment going to the bedroom. 

She found the man she was looking for, lying on the bed in nothing but black basketball shorts, her eyes scanning over his tall, dark brown body, and up to his face, his sharp jaw clenched shut, one hand twisting his curls and the other holding up his phone, texting, looking too serious. 

She got an idea in her mind and quickly jumped on the bed, crawling over his legs, straggling him, and snatched his phone, putting it up above his head, giving a teasing smile. 

“Notice anythi—.”

A yelp ripped from her throat at being pushed roughly off his lap and onto the floor, immediately snatching the phone back out of her hand.

“What the fuck you think you doing, Amora?” she cowered into the floor out of shock and fear at his outburst. She tried to play it off by laughing even though she was petrified by that reaction. He's never had a reaction like that with her, ever.

"Geez, what got you so serious? I was only trying to show you my hair,” she told him, getting off of the floor and going to the far opposite edge of the bed, trying to create as much distance from the raging man as possible. 

She watched him tower over her, glaring with seething black eyes, his pierced nose gleaming from his flaring nostrils. She felt as if she was in a ring with a raging bull charging right at her wanting blood. 

“Don't do that shit again,” he threatened harshly before storming out of the room, slamming the door. She flinched at the sound and blinked at the door, eyes wide, breathing quickly, trying to hold back the tears pricking at her eyes. 

Her breathing got quicker and choppier as she started hyperventilating at that familiar, dreadful feeling from when she was trapped. She stayed at the same spot, not following him, afraid of what might happen if she did. 

A couple of days past, Amora kept her distance from him, thinking he was going to apologize for his behavior, but he never did.

Eventually she rolled it off, thinking maybe he was just having a really bad day and she made it worse; ‘it was childish of me’, she thought, and decided to apologize to him for her actions, thinking it was going to get better. 

Except it didn't; in the blink of an eye, he changed. He was getting ruder, to her being more evasive. Yelling and cussing at her, sometimes she thought he was even going to hit her.

“Maybe he found someone else,” she thought, and the thought of that crushed her. ”Did I do something wrong? How could I fix it?” Some of the thoughts were going through her, but she continued on pretending she wasn’t going in pain. 

It wasn’t until one night that he fell asleep while they were watching a movie that she got a chance to see what was going on. 

He left his phone unlocked. 

Looking quickly at the phone and back to Jay, she whispered his name, seeing if he would wake up. 

“Jay, hey Jay." She even poked him, but he didn’t stir. So, she lightly reached out, picking up his phone, trying to be as still as possible, and when it reached her, she looked at him and saw he was still sleeping. 

She gave a sigh of relief and went to open up his messages, feeling that relief being ripped and replaced with a fear so tight it was like time froze. 

Victor Ortiz

Her shaking thumb hovered over the name before tapping on it to show the recent messages. 

Sunday around 8 p.m., you'll have her—Jay. 

Will you have my money? - Jay 

Are you questioning me? - Victor

No sir- Jay

Everything felt slow, her vision going blurry. She was going to throw up. She dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom, throwing up everything she ate that day. After a last hurl, she slid back on the wall, shaking. Everything felt cold but hot. Feeling pain in her throat, making it harder for her to breathe, she ended up lying on the floor, curling into a fetal position, when her breath finally rushed out of her, but streams of tears took its place. 

She sat there for maybe 4 hours before getting up, legs shaking but a determined look on her face with a plan of getting out before she came face with that devil. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash back end~~~~~~~~~

Coming back out of her memories, Amora felt herself start to shatter, one crack at a time, until it all came bursting out like a dam.

She felt herself getting picked up and freaked out.

“It’s okay, Amor. I got you. I’m not going to do anything.”

When Armando's warm voice was brushing over her ear, she felt herself get placed in a warm lap, feeling strong arms wrap around her, his head nuzzling in the crook of her neck. 

She allowed herself to remain still in comfort, unsure of what to do, but the more he rubbed her back, the more she relaxed, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. Squeezing her eyes shut and practically slapping the tears off her face, she sucked her teeth, wanting to control herself so that she could finish her story. For the first time she could freely speak on it to someone. 

“I was so dumb and naive, I ignored every single sign there was, thinking the best of him in hopes of living that fairytale life... but I should've known better. That doesn't happen for someone like me,” she whispered out, hardly hearing her own voice zoning out again until she felt Armando's head shake bringing her back.

"Uhm, so that night I set up a plan and I drugged his drink.” Feeling Armando look at her in surprise, she quickly brought up her hands, shaking them, denying any accusations he could've been thinking.

”I only drugged it enough for him to fall into a deep sleep; I didn't kill him or anything!“ 

“Maybe you should've." He couldn't help quip, wiping away some of the tears falling down her round cheeks, and went back to rubbing her back.

A quick giggle slipped out of her lips at that and she whispered a quick thank you for his attempt at lightening the mood before continuing.

“I didn’t know where to go, so I just drove as far as I could. I found this abandoned house and found out who owned it, asking them if it was for sale. It was an old couple, and they just gave it to me. I took that as a good sign and blessing and immediately started to try to make money to make it livable, and this is living where I've been living for the past three years.”

“Where you've been hiding,” he corrected. She looked at him, slowly nodding her head.

“I try not to go out often, but I do when it’s necessary or when I need a little bit of normalcy. But when I do, I go disguised as Desirae and not Amora. It’s a small town, so I take extra measures, especially when it's for my fighting classes that I take every three months.”

He looked at her deeply, going over the events he had with her. Connecting dots in his head It explains a lot about her paranoia, especially when they first met, all the concealed weapons she had around, the fighting skills she practices, her alarm system, even her dog. She's just surviving, waiting for something to happen to her. That's the saddest thing he could think—such a waste for a woman like her to be hiding away from the world. Letting her become a shell, not fighting back, only letting fear whisk her away in life 

"Yep, so that's the story of Amora Johnson,” she muttered sarcastically. She knew it was very pathetic, seeing the look on the man's face. He was a man who was none of what she was. 

On days they both had nothing to do, she listened to the stories he told her of his past; he was a brave man, relentless, and didn't let anything get in his way when he was doing something. She admired him; she thought it was attractive, but she envied him, wishing she could be like that.

“Why didn't you do anything when you escaped, like go to the cops and report him?”” he asked her, curious of why she didn't take more action, why she just chose... to run and not fight back?

“I did... I went to the police station and saw familiar faces that worked at the station that would also be at the cartel, so I left before anyone noticed me not wanting to get caught, and I told Jay—my ex—but he lied obviously about helping me, so yeah. I didn't have friends either, one of the things that I allowed Jay to limit me from; he told me it wouldn't be safe that I couldn't trust anyone,” an empty, cold chuckle fell out of her lips.

“I was a damn fool,” she hissed, looking out eyes unfocused and glazed over.

It was silent between them again, Amora lost in her thoughts and Armando not having anything to say. For a bit, she sat in his lap with him still caressing her back until she snapped out of her daze and slowly got out of his lap.

Very quickly she missed the warmth and comfort of him, but knew she needed to head to her empty bed where nothing but nightmares waited for her, but she didn’t want to be weak in front of him anymore.

“Thank you... for consoling me,” she expressed weakly to him, head looking down, her hair covering her face. 

“Amora...” he spoke, but his words got caught; he didn't know what he wanted to say or if he meant anything, but he did feel for her; he knew that. 

“Yes ?’ She looked at him hopeful but scared of his reaction; it was the first time he called her by her real name, and she was fearful of whatever was going to come out of his mouth. 

“Thank you,” he spoke. A quizzical look crossed her face at the random gratitude. He gave a low chuckle at the adorable expression.

“Thank you for allowing me into your space and for trusting me with your story. I know we started off on the wrong foot, but you still gave me a chance and have gone out of your way for me. I just wanted to make sure you knew I appreciated it." His smooth voice was flying to Amora's ears like music. 

Amora's voice hitched at the appreciation. Emotions bursting inside of her but kept her self-calm.

“Just...don't make me regret it... or I'll have to kick your ass,” she tried joking with him, but she meant her word on not wanting to regret anything. She doesn't think she can handle another betrayal. 

“You won't,” came the serious answer. Their eyes were holding each other until Amora looked away, hiding the small smile on her face. 

“Good night,” she whispered to him before slowly walking out the door, giving him one small glance over her shoulder and shooting him a smile before she softly closed the door. 

His eyes followed every moment of her, until she was gone. He huffed out a deep breath, plopping back on the bed, reflecting back on the woman and all he learned tonight. 

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Authors note: Hey puddin! So this chapter went a bit darker, and it will probably be the last time that it does, so expect the next chapter to have fluff.

Also I see other people create links to their previous chapters to be easier to navigate, would you appreciate if I do the same, I’m new ish to Tumblr but I can figure out if it helps.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed it! 💕💕

[heyyypuddin]

Withering Petal Chapter 9 (Armando x OC) Bad Boys

Chapter 9

The next morning came around, and Amora got up groggily before getting ready to do her morning routine so she could take Bowser for his sunrise walk. Typically, she took him every morning, but with how crazy things have been, not much has been on its usual routine.

She looked in her closet to find something bright to try and cheer herself up, especially after remembering the events that took place last night almsot feeling the way his hands covered her and caressed her as she sat in his lap crying.

"Ughh, how embarrassing, oversharing, and boohoo crying in the man's lap. Way to go, Amora,” she mumbled, pulling out a bright pink athletic romper and pulling it on. She sat down at her vanity looking at herself and decided to put on a little extra make-up to help battle out the roughness she felt.

She glazed her lip with lip gloss, pulled her hair into a low ponytail, sprayed on some perfume, and was out her room door to head downstairs to prepare Bowser’s walking bag. She reached the living room and started grabbing everything she needed and bent over to put on her shoes.

“Goood morning” She heard a deep drawl.

Coming up quickly spinning around, she grabbed her racing heart, seeing Armando behind her, leaning his left hip on the couch with his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants with that troubling smirk on his face.

"Geez, what are you a ninja?’ She asked, trying to calm her racing heart.

It’s not the first time he snuck up on her, and it’s not like he does it deliberately or she thinks, but he's always just... there.

"Nah, just a drug dealer."

She shot him a deadpan look, both of them knowing he's not your average drug dealer.

"Anyways, if you don't mind El Chapo, I need to take Bowser on his walk.”

He gave her a quiet curious look, and when she was about to ask him what he's looking at, he spoke, surprising her again.

“Mind if I come along?”

Her mind went blank at his question, like a computer that hit a buffer, creating an awkward pause—too long of a pause.

“If you do mind, I can just stay in here.”

"No, its fine, you can come; I'm sorry, it just took me by surprise,” she said, avoiding eye contact with him.

She really didn’t mind, but she just feels so embarrassed from last night. After trauma dumping on him. What are they even going to do—just walk in silence together?

That probably wouldn’t be so bad; at least nothing could run out of her mouth that would further embarrass her.

““I’ll go get my shoes”

He stated, quickly turning on his feet and walking away, leaving the distracted woman to her thoughts.

Coming back, he saw she was still in thought, wondering if it had anything to do with last night.

““You good?” He asked her, feeling concerned; he himself didn’t know why; maybe it was because it was the right thing to do.

He saw her eyes come out of her daze, and a small smile pulled her lips, but he could tell it was fake.

“Yeah, let’s go,” and she swung open the door and was out practically running. Again, confused eyes followed her, and he called out her name. She turned back at him with a puzzled look.

““Aren't you going to take Bowser?”

Amora stood there, still like a statue. Static silence filled her brain at the question.

“I can go get him for you...?”

“NO-.....” She yelled out, surprising them both.

“I got it. I will be right back." She spoke slowly, but everything about her was racing fast, her mind, her heart, and now her legs as she flew past him into the house and up the stairs into her room, shutting the door softly behind her, turning around and leaning on it, breathing out.

“Oh god, what am I doing?” she cried out at the shame running through her. She walked over to her vanity, fixing anything on her appearance that she could, trying to distract herself from feeling like a complete idiot.

"Ok, Amora, we were going to go out there, and we are going to be normal, okay? Hes just a regular guy who just happens to be a drug dealer and fugitive who comforted you on your sob story, okay?” She tried to pep talk herself.

“A man who just happens to be very fine and so far so completely different than what I thought—You know what be for real—I got this."

She took one deep breath in and sprayed a little bit more perfume on her before going out of her room and calling for Bowser. She didn't hear him upstairs, so she went down, continuing to look for him.

Yelling his name, she still didn't hear him until she saw Armando peeking his head through the front door.

“He came out here with me.”.

That’s different. She headed to where he was peeking through, and he opened the door, allowing for her to come out, and sure enough she saw that Bowser was out on the front lawn playing by himself.

“When did he come out here?” Amora asked, puzzled by what was happening.

“When you headed upstairs and was gone for a bit, I called him, and he came out here.”

Another confused look crossed Amora's face as she turned to face the man.

“You’re telling me that... he listened to you?”

He nodded, and she gave a quite hum. Since when did Bowser Event start to like him? When she was first training him, he didn't even answer to her at all.

"Okay, well cool, let me just grab one last thing and we can go." Amora told him before marching inside the house to grab her gun and any last item she needs for his walking kit.

Once she was done, she came out, and Armando was watching her as she put the gun in her pouch.

“Thats just for safety, right?” he asked her, and she looked at him with a small smirk.

“Unless you plan on giving me a reason to use it.”

He gave his own smirk, shaking his head at her, and they both admired each other, only looking away when Bowser gave a bark.

“We should go,” she quietly beamed.

“Yeah” Armando gazed at her, the sun rising brightly behind him. She felt a peaceful warmth fill her as she walked past the man shooting him a full smile.

Armando watched after her, feeling his own sort of peace, especially seeing her beautiful smile that he's starting to adore. He hasn't felt that in a while, but he definitely couldn't help but to stare at her ass swaying in the romper she was wearing; she looked gorgeous in that pink.

“You coming?” He heard her yell from way up ahead, bringing him out of the spell she had him. He knew he was going to enjoy whatever this was very much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour later, the couple came back from their walk. Amora was telling him about different anime’s she would watch or her favorite movies. Armando is listening, taking notes in his head. Sometimes he would share about different places he traveled to with different deals that he did, which brought up talk about different places Amoras always wanted to go to.

“Believe it or not, I’ve always wanted to go to the Netherlands. I’ve seen videos and clips, and they just look so magical and unreal,” she starred out with stars and hope in her eyes.

He took a break from cooking them breakfast and started at her.

““What’s stopping you from going?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.

She looked up from her sketchpad, that sadness now replacing that hope.

“You know why,” she huffed out and went back to sketching.

Not wanting to push it any further, he left it and continued cooking their food.

“What other places do you want to see?” He has asked, wanting to dissipate the cloud he sees storming behind her eyes.

“Well, I would love to see Japan; see what the hype is all about. You know, get a better feel for my parents. Another place I want to see is actually Ghana and Honduras, OH! I want to visit New York, but, in the wintertime, since I’ve never seen snow and the movies make it seem really special,” she continued, that light rising back in her eyes.

For the rest of the day, they continued spending time with each other, figuring out bits and pieces about one another. It was an odd but warm feeling for them. Never had they really had the chance to create a bonding experience in their upcoming or even really create friends. It was a feeling they both held on to through the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was finally late in the night when Amora came downstairs freshly showered in her pajamas to watch some TV. But she heard the TV already playing something. She quickly rounded the corner to see it was Armando watching Blue Exrcisot... shirtless.

She felt her brain short circuit at the sight of him lying back on the couch, one arm behind his head and his other near his groin, legs spread open even showcasing how big his legs were.

Her mind quickly traveled south of how she could easily fit between his legs on her knees, gripping those big thighs.

“Parece que te gusta mucho lo que estás mirando, Amor.”

She jumped at hearing his voice, feeling a tsunami of embarrassment hit, for what feels like the 20th time that day; unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time she got caught staring at him.

She walked over quickly to the couch, plopping down on the other side, away from him.

""Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting to see you in here,” she mumbled and grabbed her couch blanket to snuggle and watch the show.

It was quiet for all about 5 minutes until Amora broke the silence, curious as to why he was in the living room.

““Why are you in here? Is the TV in your room not working?”

Armando slowly looked at her and raised his eyebrow in question, and it dawned on her that it probably sounds like she didn’t want him in there.

““Not that it’s a problem—I actually don’t mind you in here; it’s just you never are. You can stay,” she wishes her words could’ve just stopped, but her lips kept moving.

“Only if you want to stay, of course, don’t feel like you have to know just because.”

“I just wanted to be in here with you. I hear you watching some pretty interesting stuff, and you said you were going to show me some of your favorites." Armando cut her off, with amusement on his face. She was so adorable when she was nervous; he would’ve let her continue but decided to give her a little bit of mercy.

““Oh. Okay cool” She sanked deeper into the couch, trying to calm her nerves that the half-naked man was bringing her.

“So who's your favorite character in this one?” Armando asked her, wanting to know as much as he could about her. Wanting to get closer to her, it's been enjoyable the time they've been spending together, and he's not afraid to admit that.

“Father Fujimoto” was her serious response, and Armando looked from the TV to her, unsure if he heard her correctly.

“The father? as in the priest?” He questioned.

Amora didn't look to him but kept watching the TV, trying to keep a poker face.

“Mhmm yeah, who’d you think I was going to say?”

“I don't know." He responded back to his regular cool expression, but the gears in his mind were running.

She let out a giggle from her lame joke, but it eased the nerves she was feeling. She felt herself relaxed, realizing she was still so tense from when she first saw him on the couch, but right now it felt as if she was just chilling with a friend.

“I'm just joking, while I do love his character, I'm going to have to go with Rin as my favorite."

She told him, letting out a few more small giggles and looking over at Armando, who was already looking at her.

“If you want, I can put on the movie they have and can explain as we go." He shrugged at her playing cool, but if he could be honest, that idea did seem really enjoyable.

“Cool, you like popcorn?” Again, he shrugged, but Amora didn't mind; she knew he wasn't a man of too many words. She got up from the couch excitedly and looked at him with the brightest smile he's ever seen her have.

“I'm going to make this the best night you ever had,” and before he could make a joke at what she said, she bounded away into the kitchen. He could think of a few ways to make this the greatest night he had, but for now, he's just going to enjoy the movie night that she's planning

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Hey puddin, sooooo sorry for the long wait on this chapter, I kept scrapping it not satisfied with how I wanted to build those relationship but I decided to leave it be as there will be more chapters for me to work on that, so I know this is a short-ish chapter but i really you hope you enjoy it 💕

[heyyypuddin]

Heyy puddin!

I wanted to send an update for the next chapter. Hopefully it’ll be posted by tomorrow evening, I keep scraping it and starting over but I don’t want to keep delaying it sooo yeah.

So I apologize for the wait, if you want me to tag you when it’s posted let me know. Have an amazing night 💕💕