From London to Rome

Chapter 25

Skylar

I've had quite some beers the past few hours, but I'm nowhere near the state some of the other people are in. They were more than tipsy when Luca and I arrived, but now they are completely wasted. Some of them are passed out on the floor while others are dancing on a table. More like trying not to fall off of it. I cannot relate to being that drunk. I've gotten drunk before, but I never ended up in a state of complete humiliation because of it. Although, I don't need to be drunk to embarrass myself completely.

Luca hasn't left my side the entire evening, apart from getting us some refills. I've been chatting with Julian and Finn the entire evening. Most of the other guys seem nice as well. I haven't talked a lot with them since they kept to themselves, hanging out in the kitchen. Ezra didn't come near me after the little incident we had. Luckily, otherwise, I would have to show him the self-defence Noah taught me since I was little.

Miles calls for Luca and he leaves to follow him outside. Julian and I are left alone and he soon asks if I want to go outside as well. I don't know what's happening there, but I decide to follow him. We find the guys sitting in the deck chairs smoking cigarettes. Julian takes one from Miles, who offers me one as well. I decline the cigarette. I absolutely hate smoking and seeing Luca with a cigarette in his hand isn't the best view I've ever had. All the seats are taken already so I sit on the armrest of Luca's chair. One of the guys asks if I smoke. I tell him no. Never have, never will.

"If you don't want me to smoke, you just have to say so." Luca means well, but I cannot tell him what to do.

"It's your choice, really. I'm not telling you what you can or can't do. I will tell you that I'm not a big fan of smoking." Luca acts upon my words immediately and drops the remainder of his cigarette before crushing it with the sole of my shoe. "I didn't even know you smoked."

"Usually I don't. Just at parties or when going out. But if you don't like it, I won't do it." He continues before I have a chance to protest. "Don't try to change my mind. Your opinion is more important than a cigarette. You are more important." His words really get to me. For someone who has always struggled with being confident, hearing those words means the world to me. I can't put into words how my heart swells with happiness and I bet by now I have hearts in my eyes. I lean into Luca, but the small armrest I'm sitting on makes it hard to move without falling. To save me from the embarrassment of falling on my face, Luca picks me up and sets me down on his lap.

His friends notice the sudden change, confusion shining in their eyes. In the end, it's Callum who breaks the silence.

"So, how did this happen?"

"It seems pretty logical to me. We met, I liked her, she liked me and here we are."

"Well, we only heard about her a week ago and now you're sitting there being all cosy together. Seems a little odd to me"

"Just because I told you last week, doesn't mean I only met her then. We met almost two months ago." Callum drops the subject and the other guys quickly focus on something else. Out of nowhere someone screams 'game time' and all of the guys storm back inside. I'm somewhere between shocked and surprised and I look at Luca for some clarification.

"We have our own kind of beer pong. We play table football in teams of two. The loser out of three matches has to take shots." Okay, so the guys are all excited to do shots. Luca and I make our way back inside to join the others at the table football table. Due to the slightly, or not so slightly, drunken stage most of the guys are in, the games don't last very long. Soon they need another team, so Luca and I decide to give it a shot. I played quite some table football at home. Whenever Noah had friends over, Hailey and I would play a few games along with them.

Luca and I are on a roll and in no time, we have won from three teams. Even though we didn't lose, we still take a few shots along the way. The next game is the finale, only two teams are left; Luca and I and Ashton and Callum. After two rounds it's one against one, making the last round extremely tensive. Ashton and Callum are good, but Luca and I prove ourselves to be better. I already know Ashton doesn't like me, but he will definitely hate me now. Everyone else swarms around us, patting us on the shoulder as a way of congratulating us.

"Bro, you really need to step up your game. Not only does this chick have better football knowledge, but she also crushed you at table football." Ashton is definitely not amused by Finn's comment and turns into his grumpy little self again.

Someone turns the music up and a few bottles of liquor are brought out. I know I should stop drinking because I have to study tomorrow and studying with a hangover is far from ideal. However, it doesn't stop me from taking another shot. And another. And maybe one more. I'm seriously drunk, feeling my head buzzing and my limbs getting heavy. Luca doesn't seem to be doing much better. Some of the guys start stumbling out of the door, making their way home. A few others decide to crash in one of the guest bedrooms. There is no way I'm taking the subway home being this drunk, so Luca and I end up in one of the guest rooms as well. No matter how drunk we both are, it still feels a bit awkward to sleep in the same bed, even though we have done so before. We get comfortable, his arms around me and my head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart. I don't think there will ever be a day when listening to his heartbeat doesn't relax me. This is definitely the best way ever to fall asleep.