Under Summer Sky • Zarry

16. Up on the roof

My mum and Gemma left a few days later and I did everything that I could to keep myself from thinking more about uni. 

And the truth was that even though we couldn't put a label on what it was that Zayn and I had, it was more than just a thing and it was ours. Maybe we couldn't define it and maybe we couldn't turn it into something more steady and anchored, but what I did know was that there were feelings involved, real feelings that I couldn't ignore or run from.  

It was too late. I was already emotionally attached to Zayn. 

There wasn't much longer left before the summer ended either; just two weeks. Two more weeks left and then I knew that every moment Zayn and I had shared together would become just a memory dancing in the wind. 

But I was clinging to the remaining time that we had left. 

Golden hour had become my new favorite part of each day; that period of daytime just as the sun was setting, when the sky turned redder and softer and everything seemed to glow. Being with Zayn amongst that kind of magic, just holding hands under summer sky, felt like the sands of time could stand still and suddenly we were the only ones that existed in the world we created.

And every evening after dinner that week Zayn would drive me around in his Ferrari to all these different places in Florence just so we could watch the sunset together. We saw it from the top of the Chianti mountains and down in the valley, on the horizon of the city and now we were going to witness it from the roof of the Vallone dei Sole. 

And I distinctly remembered passing by this place while I was on the back of Zayn's motorcycle on our way to the firefly forest once we pulled up to it in Zayn's Ferrari that evening. The name Vallone dei Sole translated to valley of the sun, and it stood there, breathing with history in its haunting ruin. 

The structure itself was the color of eggshell white, a four story, mid-evil, almost castle-like building, which had been abandoned at the start of the 20th century. Thick layers of green moss and sprawling ferns climbed up the sides of it, almost enveloping the building completely, all except for the roof. 

Gio had recently purchased the place with plans for restoration in his never ending quest to expand his property and business ventures, but he hadn't done much with it yet, and so it still remained in its original bones. I wondered who once lived there and what their lives were like as I crept along the tall blades of grass, shuffling beside Zayn as we entered the building.

The dusty concrete walls caused the air to hang heavily around us and I nearly tripped over a fluky wooden board that was laying on the floor, my hand reaching out for Zayn's arm as I stabilized myself on him.

"Be careful," he warned, grabbing hold of my hand.

We then climbed up several flights of stairs, ascending to the third story where Zayn brought me to a far, empty room. He started to prudently climb out of the window and moved onto a sloping, lower section of the vegetation-covered roof.

But I stalled before following. "Are you sure this is stable?" 

"No," he replied mischievously. 

"Lovely," I sneered, and climbed out of the window anyway.

"Almost there," Zayn stated, his voice straining as he clutched onto a stocky, leafy vine that was crawling up the side of the building. "We just have to climb up."

"You mean to tell me that we're scaling this wall to get up there?"

"How else do you plan on getting to the top? Levitating?" Zayn retorted as he began to bend and move his legs and arms, grasping tightly to the vines as he lifted himself upwards.