From London to Rome

Chapter 15

Luca and I have been hanging out a lot since our hiking date almost two weeks ago. Time really does go fast when you're having fun. Most days Luca picks me up after my shift at the coffee shop. We either go for coffee or lunch after, sometimes strolling through one of the many parks in the city. If I have lectures after work he walks with me to the UCL campus. When we don't feel like being around other people we just lounge in my flat. We have watched dozens of movies together already and just a few days ago we started a mystery series that has us extremely invested. Which means we will have to spend even more time together so we can finish the series. The more we hang out together, the less I worry about not having anything to talk about. No matter how often and how long we are together, we never run out of conversation. And those moments we don't have anything to say we just sit in silence without it ever becoming awkward.

I hate that I still haven't told my friends about what really is going on with Luca and me. Tess and Madison have been asking a lot of questions. I could have expected it since I'm staring at my phone most of the day, probably smiling at something Luca sent me. I hate that I have to lie to them. I have told them as much as I can without them suspecting who I'm spending time with but they still know there's a guy and they are determined to find out who he is.

Abby is a different story. We've known each other since high school, we were never friends in high school. She was a grade above me and we just knew each other from spending our breaks in the library. When I was in Greece last summer, she was there as well with her family. We started talking a lot and by the time we were back in England, we were friends. She studies English literature at Oxford University, so I don't see her that much. I expected it to be easier to hide what I have with Luca from her since we don't see each other that often. I didn't expect her to catch on to something the first time we facetimed after running into Luca. She immediately noticed something was up. I knew I couldn't hide Luca from her once I mentioned a boy, so I told her I was really stressed out about my courses. It's not a lie though, my courses have me really stressed out. Abby is one of these people the FBI would be glad to have. Tell her the smallest bit of information and she has a name and contact information within minutes. So now I just have to make sure she doesn't find out about me seeing someone because I'll be damned if she doesn't find out it's Luca once she knows.

Today Luca walks me to class again. We've just had lunch together and he insisted on walking with me. He holds my hand while we're getting close to campus. We have been holding hands a lot this week. Okay, now I sound like a 5-year-old. Nothing has happened between us. Mostly because most of our time is spent in public and we don't want to risk someone seeing us. I'm actually surprised no one has spotted us in the past weeks.

When we turn the corner, I see Madison and Tess already waiting for me. They haven't spotted me yet so that gives me time to warn Luca. We quickly say goodbye before he walks towards the subway, away from my friends. When I turn back to walk to the building, my friends are already next to me. Apparently, Luca didn't get away without them seeing him. Their faces aren't shocked enough to know who I was walking with, so that's a relief. Now I just have to endure a bombardment of questions coming my way.

"I'm sorry, but did I miss something?"

"I don't know..."

"Skylar, don't get me started. Start speaking, you ..."

"Madison! Let's keep it civil here. But she is right, Sky. Start speaking."

"Okay, okay. So... We've been hanging out ever since that date you helped me get ready for. Not much more to tell." I cross my fingers hoping they will leave it for now, but I know my friends too well for that to be an actual possibility.

"Oh, so much more to tell! What's his name? How old is he? Where did you meet him? Do you have a picture?" I was prepared for all those questions, but not the picture part.

"His name is Shane; he is 21 and we met in the coffee shop. He is the one I told you about a few weeks ago, or did you forget? You even helped me get ready barely two weeks ago." Luckily Luca and I prepared a small story in case someone would ask me questions. Thank god for middle names. Now they have a name, but won't be able to find someone that matches it. Luca doesn't use his middle name much, although I guess most of his fans will have figured his middle name out. Madison seems satisfied with my answers and starts rambling to Tess. Madison can be a little much sometimes, but give the girl any type of love story and she doesn't stop talking about it for days, possibly weeks. I'm glad that they let the picture part be, for now. I don't think I could have talked me out of that one.

Luca and I talked about telling our friends he said one of his friends knows about me but none of our other friends has a clue. Neither of us feels good about lying to our friends but I think we both want to make sure this thing we have going on works out. Seeing as how good things are between us, I think we may be getting there soon.