New York, New York

New York, New York (17)

I called Levi and let him know we needed to talk, the day before we went to Italy. We met up in the park.

"Levi, I've made a decision. I'm going to go with you."

Levi's face lit up, and he spread into a huge grin.

"However, there are conditions," I said.

"Anything."

"Don't speak so soon," I laugh weakly. "I am going to do online courses. I'm going to have a job, doing something, anything, while we're on tour. And I want to get married, soon."

The last thing came out of my mouth, and shocked me. I hadn't been planning on saying that! I blushed, but stood there boldly in my decision.

"Okay," He nodded.

"Okay...?" I asked. I guess I'd been thinking he'd say no.

"Yes, I told you anything."

I threw my arms around his neck, and he picked me up off the ground, and kissed me.

I felt a huge grin spread across my face. I couldn't help but smile. I held tightly to what was mine. I didn't want to let him go, I didn't want to be without him, that much I knew.

"I'm so happy," He whispered in my ear. He kissed my neck and I squirmed.

"Does that tickle?" He demanded, "I might have to do that more often."

"No!" I shrieked. He continued to kiss me, and I pushed him back. "If you keep that up I'll have a hickey."

"Ooh," he grinned wagging his eyebrows.

"Cut it out!" I giggled.

The next day, Levi picked me up and I hauled my luggage outside. My parents kissed me goodbye and I got into the car with Sal, Claudia and Levi.

We kissed the elder couple goodbye, and got ready to go through security. Levi kept his hand lightly on the small of my back, and guided me to our appropriate gate. Once on the plane, I sighed heavily.

"Nervous?"

I nodded.

"Don't be, it'll be okay. First time flying?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"It'll be fine," He promised, squeezing my hand.

Many hours later, I wasn't sure how many because I slept, we landed in Rome. From there, we took a train to La Spezia, and from that train station, Levi's family picked us up. Looking at them, I immediately saw the resemblance.

"Ciao caro cugino! E 'un piacere vedere finalmente si vede!" A tall, thin woman said, stepping forward and hugging Levi, and then me.

"Si tratta di Sophie, che non parla italiano."

"Oh, hello. My name is Angelina. This is my husband, Tullio, These are my sons, Little Tullio, Marco, Benito, and my daughter, Domencia. This is my mother, Contessa, and my father, Fabiano. They speak no English, but the children are all fluent, except for my little Domencia. She is still so young."

They were all such beautiful people, shaking my hand, and embracing me. The children were beautiful little angels. Tullio Jr. looked so much like Levi, just dark haired, and with glasses. They were about the same age. Marco was about eleven, and Benito looked to be about nine, and Domencia three. Looking at her angelic little face, I couldn't believe at three she was fluent in English and Italian.

"Come, come, you've had a long journey," Tullio said, gesturing toward the exit.

Their home was lovely. It was beautiful, and full of sunlight. It was quaint, and looked so homey.

Their home was situated it the little town of Cinque Terre, a small fishing village on the hillside.

"You must be tired," Tullio Jr. said, "You're room is down the hall, third on the left."

"Thank you cousin," Levi responded, kissing his cheek.

"You, miss Sophia, can call me Tullie, by the way. I understand my father and I could become confused."

"Sure," I nodded. Tullie leaned in, and kissed my cheek. I kissed his face too.

"Your room is down the hall," Tullie said again.

"Our room?" I asked looking at Levi. He grinned at me as Tullie guided us.

"They're much more liberal in Europe, Sophie."

We went in the bedroom, and Tullie waved, "If you need anything at all, let one of us know. But sleep now, you're tired."

"Thank you Tullie," Levi said, nodding.

I went into the bedroom, and unzipped my suitcase. I hauled out a pair of pajamas and quickly changed. I stood there in my underwear, sensing Levi's eyes on me.

"Don't look at me," I ordered, blushing.

"How can I not? You're beautiful."

I kept on blushing as I pulled on my pajama pants. I heard Levi clamoring around, and looked over to see him in just his boxers.

"What do you think this is?" I laughed.

"I'm sleeping, I don't know about you," he said, wagging his eyebrows, "I always sleep in my boxers."

"Sure."

I went to haul my shirt on over my head and Levi stopped me, and pulled in over my head for me. He kissed my neck.

"You make things hard."

"And you don't, standing there in just your boxers?"

"Well, I suppose....."

"Don't, let's just go to sleep," I suggested. Levi nodded, and we crawled underneath the covers. I cuddled tightly into Levi's chest, and sighed. I could get used to this. I breathed in his scent, and his grip tightened around me.

We woke up the next morning, and we took the train back into Rome. Levi's family promised to let us have the first two days to explore. We went to see the Colloseum, the Constatine Arch, and many other wonderful sites. My favorite was the Trevi fountain.

I stood, looking up at the massive marble carvings, trying to imagine the artistry that it would take to create something so beautiful. And I had an idea, I saw something close everytime I listened to Levi make music. I grinned.

"You know, they say if you throw a coin into the Trevi fountain, that you'll return to Rome someday," Levi mused, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Really?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. "

"Do you have a coin?" I asked.

Levi nodded, digging into his pocket. "Now, hold my hand. We'll turn our backs on the fountain and throw them in together."

"Why?" I asked.

"Hopefully, we'll return together."

My heart melted as I accepted the coin from Levi. He held tightly to my small hand, grasping tighly, and enveloping mine in his. Together, on a slow count to three, we threw the coins over our shoulder. Levi turned and kissed me, his warm lips heating my chilled ones. The snow fell softly in fluffy flakes around us, and I place my hands on his chest, gazing around. I chuckled.

"What?" He grinned.

"This is so perfect," I smiled, looking up at him, "It's beautiful, and I wouldn't rather be here with anyone else."

"Me neither," he beamed back. He kissed me again.

It was so right.