The Dancer

Picture Perfect Moments

We were half way through our wonderful holiday in Tuscany and I noticed Tom had begun to get a little restless. So one morning while he was out for a run (yes, he still did that on his holiday) I decided to see how far the nearest town was by car. Seeing that it was only a twenty minute journey I planned a trip down there for Tom and I to explore the next day.

With the car packed up and both of us ready to go, Tom squeezed into the drivers seat of our hired Fiat, which I found utterly hilarious because of his beanpole length. He looked rather nervous though, which had me curious, it wasn't like he'd never driven in Italy before so it couldn't have been that. I pondered to myself what the problem could have been, but quickly forgot about it when he perked up during the drive.

"I saw they have this really nice restaurant in the middle of the town looking over the central plaza. It does a variety of food, but their spaghetti carbonara is highly recommended by the locals. Fancy giving that a try this evening?" I asked, reading through the tourist guide as we drove along.

"Actually darling, I thought we could go to the pizzaria that's in the outskirts. I went there with Emma and some of the other cast when we were filming Unrelated and their food is to die for. I've booked us a table already. I want to show you the view they have of the lake" he smiled across at me before turning back to concentrate on the road in front of him. Because I'd wanted to go to the other restaurant, I was a little disappointed, but reminded myself that we still had another week left so knew we'd be able to visit there another time.

"Ok, we can go to this one another time then" I replied pointing at the restaurant and folding down the corner of the page so I wouldn't forget.

We pulled up in the car park just outside the town and made the rest of the way in by foot. Tom took hold of my hand and we strolled through the streets, having a look in every other shop that caught our interest and stopped to sit down at midday for some ice cream, in which I snapped some pictures (mainly of Tom). The sun got hotter and hotter so eventually Tom and I took shelter in a little café in the plaza.

"Emma text me this morning, asking how we were getting on. She really misses this place" Tom said after taking a sip of his coffee and looking at me from over the rim of his cup.

"I don't blame her, it's beautiful here Tom. I don't think I can thank you enough for bringing me. I'll have to repay you with something just as nice one day" I replied, taking his hand and brushing my fingers over his.

"Well there's actually something you could do right now" he said quietly, I could sense nerves in his voice.

"And what's that sweetheart?" I asked, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Once we get back to England, would you like to move in with me?" My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened in shock. Tom must have noticed because he suddenly began to explain himself. "Well darling I thought that seeing as we've been together for nearly six months now, it would be nice. I mean we've both made it quite clear that neither of us plan on going anywhere anytime soon and to be honest, I'm so madly in love with you, I don't think I'm ever going to want to leave you anyway. If you think it's too soon, I'm happy to wait, but the offer is there for whenever you want to" The moment he stopped babbling was when he noticed me smiling at him. Not only had I found it incredibly adorable that he thought he had to explain himself, I was also completely over the moon that he'd asked me. "Please say something darling?" He said breaking the silence and just making me smile even more.

"What made you think-" I stopped suddenly, watching Tom's eyes begin to water. He genuinely thought I was rejecting him. I moved my chair around the table so I was sat beside him and pulled him into my arms to hug him tightly. "Of course I'll move in with you Tom. I can't think of anything better!" I whispered into his ear before kissing his neck gently. I heard him exhale the breath he'd been holding and his body relaxed into mine.

"Oh Em I love you so much. For a second I thought you were going to say no" he murmured into my hair. He held me tightly, refusing to let go.

"Is everything alright signora?" One of the baristas had come over to our table to check we were both ok. With a smile, I pulled Tom's camera out of his backpack and turned to the barista.

"Everything is perfect thank you, I was wondering if you could take a picture of the two of us please, it's a pretty special day for us" I asked excitedly. The man happily took the camera from me and set it up while Tom and I snuggled closer together. His arm snaked around my waist and kissed my cheek, whispering a quick 'I love you' into my ear before we both looked at the camera, huge happy smiles on our faces.

"Bellissimo! You both look bello! Giovane amoré!" He smiled as he handed the camera to Tom.

"Grazie señor" Tom answered, taking the camera and switching it on again to see the photo that had been taken.

"Prego. La tua ragazza è molto bella" he said to Tom, who was nodding his head in agreement. I sat there in surprise as I discovered yet another talent Tom possessed.

"Sì è e ho intenzione di sposarla uno giorno!" Tom replied, speaking as if Italian was his first language, I had to get him to teach me! The barista's mouth dropped open and he smiled happily at me before replying to Tom once more.

"Congratulazioni! Spero che lei dice di sì!" With that the barista turned and walked back to the coffee bar, waving happily back at us.

"I hope so too" Tom mumbled quietly to himself in reply to whatever the guy had just said. I took the opportunity to interrogate him about what just happened.

"So now I know you speak Italian, are you going to tell me what you both just talked about?" I asked, chuckling at his triumphant smile and blushed cheeks.

"He said you are very beautiful" Tom said smiling across at me and stroking my cheek and I agreed with him. I could tell he was hiding something from me though, that couldn't have been all he said.

"What was he congratulating you for then?" I asked frowning, it had been one of the few words I picked up, as well as 'ho intenzion' which meant 'I intend to'.

"I told him we were moving in together" he said, but I knew that was a lie, just by his cheeky smile and the tone of his voice. Tom was up to something and I was desperate to know what it was.

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TOM'S POV

I still couldn't believe Emma had actually agreed to move in with me. Even two whole hours after asking her, my heart was still racing. I couldn't believe how far we'd come in such little time within our relationship. And I also couldn't believe I'd lied to Emma about what I told the barista. I know it seems unfair that I hid the truth but if she realised that I'd told him I intended to marry her one day, I was worried it would scare her off! Obviously I have every intention of telling her eventually, but our relationship is moving pretty fast as it is. I didn't want to ruin it by throwing in the M word. A wedding was not really what I had in mind right this very moment.

After a long day of walking around the town and the excitement of moving in together, Emma and I finally arrived at the restaurant I'd arranged for us to go to that evening.

The restaurant was just how I remembered, a very stereotypical Italian restaurant. The kind that they showed in the movies, it even had 'That's Amoré' by Dean Martin playing in the background. I caught Emma smiling at the atmosphere of the place and I knew then she already loved it. The hostess came over to greet us and seated us at the table I had reserved earlier that morning. It was the best seat in the house, overlooking the lake at the bottom of the hill and a prime place to watch the sunset over the Tuscan hills. It was as romantic as it could get, and that's the way I had intended it to be.

"Are you sure you want me to move in with you Tom? I mean it's a big thing and I don't want you to feel like I have to" Emma suddenly spoke up after we had finished our starter, her eyes were worried so I decided to reassuringly take her hand.

"Darling I want it more than anything I've wanted before in my life. I love you with all of my heart and I couldn't think of anything better Emma." I smiled at her and I saw a tear leave her eye and begin to roll down her cheek. With a frown I asked what was wrong.

"Nothing wrong whatsoever sweetheart. I'm so happy right now, that I'm here with you and that we're moving in together. My life just couldn't get anymore perfect right now" she sighed happily as I kissed her hand. Emma was the one, my soul mate and I planned to keep it that way. Till death do we part.