Love in thirds

12.2 Carlos & Marie

After breakfast you both get ready, putting on some light clothing since it's been quite warm the last few days. You enjoy the city, strolling through the streets, trying out different gelatos and exploring all the different museums that you hadn't visited yet. You're sitting down at a terrace now, waiting for your lunch to be served while you look around. Observing people has always been something that you like to do and sitting outside on a terrace in a busy city is the perfect place for it. "You're looking so beautiful again today, I don't get how you do it every time" Carlos says, stroking your hand while he smiles at you lazily.

When you're both done with lunch you rent a scooter because Carlos has been wanting to do that ever since you arrived here. You wrap your arms around his waist, laying your head against his back while he drives the two of you through the streets of Rome. You arrive at one of the beautiful, landscaped gardens, walking through it slowly while you take pictures of almost everything you see. Carlos holds your hand the entire time, only letting go of it when you need to use two hands to take a picture. You sit down on one of the benches, leaning against him while you two chat and look around. "Excuse me?" a girl asks, and you smile at her before asking her what you can do for her. "You guys look really pretty in this light with that background, can I take a picture for you?" you look at Carlos who's looking at you, nodding before you hand the girl your phone.

"Tell me your Instagram, I can tag you in it!" you tell her, noting down her username. Carlos takes a picture with you and the girl as well before you take one with the three of you, and she waves at you before walking away with a big smile. "Why do I feel like she was more your fan than mine?" Carlos asks, intertwining your fingers while you walk back to the scooter. You chuckle, looking at him while he looks at you with a grin. "Because she didn't even recognise you. I might out fame you soon" you say, wiggling your eyebrows at him. "That's okay, you're cooler anyways."

Carlos rummages around his wallet for two coins when you're standing in front of the Trevi Fountain. You giggle, shaking your head while you look at him. "Babe, this is the most basic thing we could be doing right now" you say, chuckling when he rolls his eyes at you. "I have something to ask you, but I need to do this wish first because it will give me a higher chance of it coming out" you look at him confused before chuckling again. "Okay love, do you have coins then? Because I have some here" you open your palm, and he looks at you with a 'are you joking me' face before taking one from you. "Okay, 3, 2, 1, wish!" he says, and you both throw the coin into the fountain, watching it while it sinks to the bottom.

"Well, what did you want to ask me babe?" you ask Carlos while he wraps his arms around you. He mumbles something against the skin of your neck which makes you giggle before you pull away a little to look into his eyes. "What did you say?" you stroke his cheeks while he looks around nervously. "I-I don't think I can, I" he says, breathing in and out slowly before clearing his throat. "Okay, I'm very, very nervous right now" you look at him with a confused expression, stroking his arms while telling him that he doesn't have to ask you anything if he's not feeling comfortable. You're nervous yourself now as well, not sure what you're supposed to expect at this point. "I-I wanted to ask you, if you'd l-like to move in with me" he whispers, leaning towards you a little.

The sounds around you fade away as you stare into his loving, nervous eyes, he nibbles his lower lip while he searches for an answer in your eyes. It takes you a moment before you fully comprehend what he asked, and you gasp softly. "Are you serious?" you ask, and he nods, taking one of your hands in his while swallowing. "I want to leave for the races together and go home together" he says, looking down at your hands before looking into your eyes again. He scratches his neck, clearing his throat again, "d-do you want that too?" You smile at him, flinging your arms around his neck while saying "yes, yes, yes" multiple times against the skin of his neck. He wraps his arms around you, pressing you against his chest tightly while he kisses you on your hair.