I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 14: Stars of the Silver Screen

A/N: Premiere time! Been almost a year since the actual premiere in Venice - how fast does time go? This chapter is a little shorter, but the next one should make up for that:)

Lyrics at the end again from Always Remember Us This Way.

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Stefani was an absolute nerve ball of tension.

They had finally made it to Venice that morning, and she was about an hour from stepping out at the Film Festival for the first photocall, then the premiere awaited later in the evening. While she couldn't wait to see the finished film, couldn't wait to show her and Bradley's precious, hard-crafted production to the world, terrible nervousness plagued her again. The weather was still unstable, rain showers coming down at regular intervals, thunder rumbling occasionally but the gale force winds had calmed down.

She glanced down at her long white dress, brushing her palms against it and taking a deep breath. It was gorgeous, despite her initial thoughts about it being far too virginal for her or even wedding dress-like; it was simple and beautiful, a perfect choice for her debut as a feature film actress. Christian's stunning diamond engagement ring glittered in her left hand, they had had a long talk earlier and she had agreed to wear the ring publicly from now on; it had already made an appearance a couple of times over the past months, sparking rumours she had not commented on in any way. She wasn't looking forward to telling Bradley she would be wearing the ring; it was a good line of defence for the both of them against the gossip and comments that would be sure to follow once their chemistry and connection were revealed to the world, but she hated the thought of possibly causing him to hurt.

They had spent one incredible day and another incredible night in Rome together, putting on baseball caps and sunglasses as disguises and heading out to see some sights with Hannah and Rob in tow to avoid gossip if they were recognized; it had been a great day and as they had managed to look like a bunch of completely normal tourists, a visit to the Colosseum area, Fontana di Trevi, the Spanish Steps and a couple of museums had gone off without a hitch. In the evening, she and Bradley had enjoyed an intimate dinner at a small restaurant tucked into a corner a few blocks from the St. Regis; it had felt so much like they were just two normal people in love, enjoying the Eternal City, especially as afterwards at the hotel he had driven her to absolute insanity, made love to her so thoroughly even thinking about it had shivers running all over her body. That, if anything, had been a truly perfect night, but now the situation was even more complicated; now she had another man's ring on her finger and Irina was in Venice as well, but she was too far in, couldn't turn back, really didn't know what the hell to do anymore, so for now, she had decided to just focus on the movie and leave her personal life onto the background.

Stefani glanced at the clock, sighed; the makeup team had left her alone for a moment as per her request but now she hoped they'd be back already to calm her nerves. Natali wasn't there, had been unable to fly due to a bad cold and a sinus infection and suddenly she really needed to hear her sister's voice. Reaching for her phone, she checked the time again; she had maybe ten minutes left on her own.

Natali answered almost immediately, coughing. "Hey, sweetie."

"Hi." She got tears into her eyes, really wishing her little sister was there with her. "You sound terrible. How are you feeling?"
"Like crap." Natali sighed. "How's Venice? I'm so annoyed I have to miss it."

"Oh, it's wonderful. I'm just about to walk the red carpet for the first time with the man I love, whose girlfriend is probably watching our every move like a hawk, while I'm wearing an engagement ring from another man." Stefani rolled her eyes at the absurdity of her own life. "So yeah, everything's great."