From London to Rome

Chapter 46

Luca

I've been going crazy all day. I've been pacing around my hotel room trying to get my thoughts straight. I hate the way the media portrays me as this eligible bachelor, trying to match me to as many models or actresses as possible. I know it hurts Sky to see all those pictures and read the stories about it, and that is what hurts me the most. Leaving London and Sky behind for so long was and still is terrible, but all the stories going around in the media is what makes this trip the worst one ever. Travelling is one of my favourite things to do but this time I can't do anything without it blowing up in the media and usually involves a new dating rumour. I just want to have my baby with me and tell everyone how much I love her and that she's mine and I'm hers.

I know there was a reason why we decided to keep our relationship out of the media, but at this moment, I would rather be attacked about my actual relationship with the girl I love instead of being matched with random girls. It feels wrong to be judged on something that isn't even real. I've had this crazy idea for a few days now. I tried hinting about it to Sky to see if she would be open to the idea, but she either hasn't picked up on the hints or she is fine with it.

When I told Adrina about my plan she was really excited. She gave me some tips on how to go about it since I barely use social media and I definitely suck at it. Since I was already asking people for their opinions, I decided to ask Skylar's siblings as well. Hailey screamed a very excited yes. I just had to promise her to choose the perfect picture. All she cares about is Sky looking the best she can. Noah didn't care much about that part, he just reminded me of my promise to never hurt Skylar or else... I can't blame him for being overprotective, I'm exposing his sister to the judgement that is social media.

I have to do it. I just have to do it. I don't have anything to prove to myself or to Sky, I know that. But I want the whole fucking world to know how much I love my girl. I want everyone to see how happy she makes me. I don't want to have to hide what we have, I don't want to sneak around on dates.

I go through my photo gallery looking at all the pictures I've ever taken of Sky. I knew I took a lot of pictures of her but I didn't realise just how many pictures I took these past four months. There are so many amazing pictures of Sky, but I feel like none of them expresses what I want people to see. I don't want people to just see a picture of her smiling at the camera. I want something that shows our relationship and how we are together, as a couple.

And then I find it. The perfect picture. It's a picture of Sky sitting on the bed. It was when I took her to a hotel downtown for a night, so we could wake up with an amazing view of our favourite city. Sky is looking outside, her face slightly turned away from me. You can still clearly see the side profile of her face, so people who know her will probably recognise her. She's wearing nothing but the sheet she clutches to her chest, her rose tattoo peeking out at the side of it. She's beautiful. This is the sight I want to wake up to every morning for the rest of my life. She is the rest of my life.

I open Instagram and select the photo. I don't edit it or anything, she doesn't need it anyway. I don't tag her in it, people will find her account anyway, but I don't want to make it too easy on them. I don't know what to put in the captions. Everything I come up with sounds cheesy. And if Sky and I have one thing in common it's that we hate cheesy. Then I suddenly remember Sky always talking about this poet, she loves her poems and has read the books multiple times. I search through the poems, looking for the perfect one. Once I have it, I post the picture with the poem without thinking about it twice. I should have done this a long time ago.

"I do not want to have you

to fill the empty parts of me

I want to be full on my own

I want to fill so complete

I could light a whole city

and then

I want to have you

cause the two of

us combined

could set

it on fire"

― Rupi Kaur

The likes and comments start coming in right away. I turned off my Instagram notifications a long time ago, so I don't see all the shit people say. Adrina texts me that she's proud of me, it feels good to make my little sister proud. A few of my friends text me things like: 'finally' and 'never thought you would have the balls to make it official'. I appreciate all of their messages, but there is only one I care about. It's already late at night in London, but I hope she sees it before she goes to sleep. I can't have her finding out about it after everyone else.

Aside from the texts, I also get a few calls from my management. They probably aren't happy I didn't inform them about any of this, especially with all the publicity going on right now. I guess their plan to set me and Sydney up has failed miserably and they aren't happy about it. But I'm happy with my decision and they can shove their complaints up their ass. I ignore all of the calls and keep on waiting on a message from Skylar.