"Already?" Justin asked, pouting out his bottom lip.
"Don’t give me that. Yes, already. Sweetie, we have an hour drive, and a really early flight. Danny’s asleep on the floor-"
"I got it. Well, thanks for coming to my little shindig."
I hugged Justin and kissed his cheek. "Happy birthday, Babe."
"Thank you. You two have fun." He shook Josh’s hand. "I know you will."
"Thanks man. Happy birthday." Josh picked Danny up off the floor. "We’ll see you all alter." Josh walked outside to take Danny to the car.
I walked over and gave Justin one more hug. "Bye Cutie. Have fun tonight," I whispered in his ear. I winked in Laura’s direction, and I swear Justin’s jaw dropped to the floor.
"Bye Holly! I bet Josh is waiting. Have fun; see you when you get back!" Laura shooed me toward the front door.
"Bye Lor." I hugged her.
"Bye Sweetie. Have fun; God knows you two deserve it."
"Thanks. I’ll call you later." I walked outside and jumped into Josh’s awaiting car.
"I hate flying," I mumbled to myself as we took off from the Connecticut airport and headed toward Italy.
"But we’re going to Italy, so you can’t hate it that much," Josh said in my ear, draping his arm around my shoulder casually.
I giggled as his lips brushed against my ear. "Stop it," I whispered when he continued to nibble on my ear and then my neck.
"I missed you," he whispered.
"I know," I said cheerfully.
He rolled his eyes at me and sat back in his seat, closed his eyes and fell right to sleep.
"Italy," I sighed. I lay my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
"The view is so pretty!" I exclaimed as I looked out our hotel room window. It looked out over Venice. We were spending five days in Venice, and five days in Florence. "I can’t believe we’re actually here. Just you and me; it’s so romantic."
Josh came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "That was the point." I leaned my head back on his shoulder and he kissed the top of my head.
I yawned heavily. "Stupid jetlag!" I muttered and walked over to the huge, king-sized bed. I curled up and propped my head up on my hand. Josh stared at me. "What?"
"You’re so cute." He grinned and strolled over to the bed, lying down next to me.
"Well thanks, you’re not so bad yourself. What time is it?"
"Three."
"Ok, I’m just gonna take a little nap."
"I think I’ll join you."
I rolled over to face him and buried my face in his chest. He stroked my hair gently and I fell asleep in the comfort of his arms.
I got out of the shower, dried off, put my robe on and walked back into the room. Josh was asleep on the bed.
I sat next to him and ran my hand along his cheek. He stirred, but didn’t open his eyes. "Josh?" I called lightly.
"Hmm?" he grumbled.
"You need to get up and get ready." It was our third day in Venice, and Josh wanted to take me on a gondola ride. We had spent all day in our room, trying to figure out what to do. "Why are you napping, anyway?"
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I…didn’t sleep last night."
"Why not?"
"I was busy."
"Doing what?!"
"Watching you sleep." I blushed. He brushed some hair out of my eyes. "You’re so beautiful."
"I try."
"You don’t have to."
"Stop it! You’re making me blush. Go take a shower, I wanna go!"
"Alright, alright." He kissed my nose and disappeared into the bathroom.
Well things were certainly going perfectly. It was just Josh and I, all alone on a romantic getaway, which we so desperately needed.
Italy was so beautiful. Josh had been right. It was really romantic. Now, a gondola ride through the canals to top it all off. A night under the stars. I was so excited.
Josh was out of the shower within fifteen minutes of getting in. He stepped out of the bathroom and I burst into a fit of giggles.
"What?" he asked.
"Your hair," I laughed. It was standing straight up, going in all different directions. "Fix it, now! Please." He gave me a look and shoved me out of the way, so he could see in the mirror. He chuckled at himself. "See?"
"Yeah, yeah."
I watched as he fiddled with his hair, styling it this way, then that way. "Ah, you take longer than Justin to fix your hair! Hurry up," I whined. "I gotta do my hair, and my makeup too!" He proceeded to take longer.
He glanced in my direction. "Gonna keep whining?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Blah!" I shoved him over and we shared the mirror.
"Come on!" I said impatiently. I took Josh’s hand and dragged him down the sidewalk to the spot we were going to begin our gondola ride.
We finally got there and he helped me into the boat. He got in himself, and we were off.
Josh sat behind me; I sat between his legs. He wrapped his arms around me, his head on my shoulder, and held me close.
"Wow," I said, in awe, a huge smile spreading across my face. "Look at all the stars." Josh just smiled. "It’s so beautiful."
"I missed that smile," Josh said, kissing my cheek. I turned my head and his lips captured mine in the most warm and tender kiss I’d ever experienced.
He sat up and I leaned back into him. I glanced up and saw his face pointed skyward. "What are you thinking about?" I asked curiously.
He looked down at me. "You." He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it. "Like always." I blushed. "I love you." It was the first time he’d said it since he’d come back, and it had been a week.
"I love you, too."
We sat quietly for the next hour, just staring up at the stars.
"So, what shall we do?" Josh asked as we walked hand-in-hand down a cobblestone street in Florence.
"Anything. Nothing. I don’t care," I said. I was taking it all in; all the simplicity that came with having absolutely no where to be and nothing to do. Today was our last full day in Italy. We were flying out at 11:30 the next morning.
"Are you hungry?" he asked as we approached a tiny café.
"Yeah, actually, I am," I said, suddenly realizing it.
We sat down at a table outside and ate quickly and quietly. I was eager to get back to walking and looking at all the antique shops that lined the street.
"Josh?" I asked as we turned a corner and started back toward our hotel.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." I put my arm around his waist.
He moved his hand around and stuck it in the back pocket of me jeans. "Thank you."
"For what?" I giggled.
"For letting me put my hand in your back pocket, ‘cause it was cold!" he said sarcastically.
"Ha. Ha." He kissed the top of my head. "Thank you for not hating me. And for bringing me here, of course."
"How could anyone hate you?! And thank you for coming here with me. It was kind of a spontaneous thing-"
"I know! I loved that. The way you were just like, ‘We’re going’," I said, imitating his deep voice. He chuckled. "Ya know, I don’t know if it’s possible to be more happy than I am just being here with you. I don’t wanna go home."
"I do! I miss Danny, the cute little tyke."
"Aww," I said, squishing up my nose and smiling. "You’re so cute. I miss him, too." Our hotel was in sight now. "My feet hurt," I complained. Josh immediately picked me up, cradling me like a baby, and carried my across the street to our hotel and up to our room.
