From London to Rome

Chapter 29

Picture above from dirtybootsandmessyhair on Instagram 

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"You really have a thing with always wanting to surprise me, don't you?"

"I haven't surprised you that often..."

"What about our first date, the day when you asked me to be your girlfriend, the football game tickets and basically every other date you took me on?"

"Yeah okay. You have a point. I just love seeing the excitement in your eyes once you figure out where we are or what we're going to do. You do know where we are right now right?"

"Yes I do, it's Regent's Park. I've been here before, it's not like I haven't gone anywhere in the eight months I lived in London."

Going to a crowded park is not exactly what I had in mind for my birthday, but I'm just happy to not be alone today. I only had a morning class today after which Tess and Madison took me out for coffee. It sucks not to be with my family on my birthday, but at least they send a bunch of texts this morning. With my final exams and projects getting closer I don't have time to go back home before the summer break. Madison and Tess insisted on taking me out to dinner tonight as well once they found out I didn't have any plans yet, so I probably won't have much time to miss my family and home.

Luca and I sit down on a blanket and Luca takes out a cake from his bag.

"You didn't have to do that." I know how difficult it must have been to hide a cake in a backpack and make sure it was still intact when taking it out. It's adorable though. Luca got us a double chocolate cake, one of my favourites.

"I know, but I want you to have the best birthday you can imagine. I know how you miss your family and I wanted to do something special for you."

"Thank you, Luca! It's amazing." No one has ever done something special for my birthday, aside from my family. My heart fills with bliss just by thinking about all the things Luca has done for me these past weeks, the dates he took me one. He always makes me feel special.

We eat our cake and lay on our backs on the grass, looking up at the clouds. I've always found looking at the sky fascinating. No matter whether it is day or night, there is always something to find up there. There is so much out there that we don't know about. Luca already told me once that he enjoys looking at the stars at night, so I hope he also enjoys looking at the clouds.

"I also got you a present. I know you didn't want anything but I got you something anyway."

"You really didn't have to go through all the trouble."

"I quite enjoyed it actually. I had a rather interesting conversation with your sister about it."

"My sister!?! You talked to Hailey? What? How?" Words fail to describe the surprise and shock I'm in right now. We've talked about my siblings before and when Miles posted our picture on Instagram Luca was with me when Hailey called but I never properly introduced them to each other.

"Don't freak out, but I found her on your Insta and sent her a message because I wanted to discuss a gift I wanted to get for you."

"Let me guess, she screamed?"

"Solid 20 minutes."

"Wow, you got more than I got when I told her about you. Back then she only screamed 10 minutes."

"Well, I am the man himself, am I not?"

"Don't get cocky."

"She did also threaten me."

"Wait till you meet Noah, he's even more protective."

"Can't be..."

"Oh, believe me, it's possible."

"Anyway, your gift. Hailey liked the idea as well, so I hope you like it too."

Luca hands me a box. It's beautifully wrapped with a big bow on top. I can't control my excitement any longer, so I quickly open the box. Inside it lays a camera. I've always wanted a camera but never had enough money to get one, so I stuck with my phone instead. Luca got me a camera for my birthday, I can't believe he did this for me.

"You told me you wanted to get better at photography, so I thought you could use it."

"It's amazing, thank you so much!" I can't wait to start using it. Just imagining all the amazing pictures I'm going to take gets me all excited. "You know I'll be making a lot of pictures of you, right?"

"I'm all yours, baby."

God, whenever he calls me baby my heart starts racing as fast as a damn formula 1 car. No matter what he does or says, my body just goes insane. For the next hour, we just lay on the grass, me snapping pictures of Luca when I think he doesn't notice. I haven't felt this happy in a long time.

"So I'm going out to dinner with Madison and Tess tonight and I still have to tell them the truth about you, so maybe tonight is the right time for you to meet them? If you don't want to, just say no but-"

"No, I'd love to meet them. You've met my friends already, so I guess it's time I meet yours as well."

I suggest Luca joining us for dinner but he insists I ask the girls if they are fine with it. The girls are more than happy to have Luca join us for dinner later, not that they know who they're meeting yet.