When in Rome
22 December 2014 — Rome
"Fi – Fiones – Fiona!" Imogen reached out a floured hand to stop Fiona from continuing her mad dusting throughout their apartment. "You've been cleaning all day, you need to stop. Everything looks fine."
"No, no, no, it can't just be fine, it needs to be perfect," Fiona retorted, resuming her avid dusting of the end tables in the living room. "I don't have much time to make it perfect either; Declan called and said their plane landed and they're already on their way here and – oh! The sheets for the spare bed are still in the dryer! Crap, I need to –"
"Allow me," Imogen offered, after putting a tray of sugar cookies in the oven and setting the timer, her hands now free of flour. "But you need to stop, okay? The apartment looks great, and it's just your brother and Holly J, they won't care what state our place is in."
"I know, Im," Fiona said, washing Imogen's dirty baking dishes as Imogen got the sheets from the dryer down the hall. "It's just, I want to make a good first impression; I mean, Declan's been here before, but Holly J hasn't visited yet and I want her to see how well I'm doing."
Imogen paused as she came out of the laundry room, her arms full of clean bed sheets. "Wait, you don't still have the hots for Holly J, do you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly joking.
Fiona laughed out loud, taking the sheets from Imogen. "Definitely not."
"Good. And if anyone here should be worried about making a good first impression it should be me. I've only talked to Declan on Skype a handful of times – all of which were briefly, might I add – and I've only met Holly J during the Frostival," Imogen explained as she followed Fiona to the spare bedroom where they began making the bed together.
Surprisingly though, as nervous as she thought she would be for this day, Imogen was actually somewhat calm, especially compared to the way Fiona was acting. After spending days thinking about how everything could possibly go wrong with the visit, Imogen realised and reasoned that whatever happened, happened, and that was just that.
"Mmm, Frostival …" Fiona mused, tucking the corners of the sheet into the bed, "my second favourite day ever. But don't worry about impressing them, they love you already."
Imogen threw the pillows back on the bed, fluffing them into place. "The only thing I'm worry about is why the Frostival is only your second favourite day ever, Miss Coyne? Was that Ferris wheel ride not up to your affluent standards?"
"Obviously it was the best time I've ever had on a Ferris wheel, all thanks to you, of course; but the day you came to Rome definitely tops that bitterly cold night. Maintenant la vie est belle."
"As much as I love, love, love both of those days, the first night of grade twelve is totes my favourite – the night you had that party and –"
"I can't believe you," Fiona sighed, hugging Imogen from behind and resting her chin on Imogen's shoulder. "That was the worst night ever, I was so mean to you. Why can't we just forget it even happened?"
"I might have hated it at the time, but now I love it. Because," Imogen began, turning around in her girlfriend's arms and wrapping her own around Fiona's neck, "if that night never happened we would never have became friends and we wouldn't have fallen madly, head-over-heels in love with each other – and we definitely wouldn't be standing in the spare room in our apartment in Italy, about to make out."
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Fiona whispered, her voice low.
"Once or twice," Imogen joked, "but I never get tired of hearing it."
Fiona pressed her lips against Imogen's. "I love you," she mumbled.
"You're perfect," Imogen responded, kissing her girlfriend back passionately, her hands tangled in Fiona's hair.
Their kiss heated up quickly, lips moving violently against each other and hands caressing each other's bodies. They stayed locked together for several minutes and didn't break apart – albeit, reluctantly – until the doorbell rang.
"Poor timing as usual," Fiona sighed, resting her forehead against Imogen's. "Are you feeling okay? You're not nervous, right?"
"Would you take a chill pill already?" Imogen asked while stepping away from her girlfriend. "Are you sure you're not the nervous one?" When Fiona didn't answer she continued, "Are you going to get the door or should I?"
"Oh, right, yeah, I will."
Fiona quickly gave Imogen one last peck before making her way to the source of the bell ringing for the second time. Before opening the door, Fiona took a deep breath; it wasn't that she was nervous, in fact she was very excited to see her brother and best friend, it was just her usual anxiety getting in the way and twisting her normally calm thoughts into anxious ones. Finally, though, her hand found its way to the doorknob and pulled it open, revealing a seemingly impatient Holly J Sinclair on the other side.
"I was beginning to think we got the wrong building," Holly J said with a smile, half joking but also being partially serious.
Fiona smiled and squealed, and pulled her best friend into a tight hug. "I'm so happy to see you! I missed you so much! Wait – where's Declan?"
"Your gentleman of a brother offered to pay for the taxi and bring my bags in. I'm sure he'll be up any second."
"Always the gentleman. Anyway, how was the flight? You two were civil with each other, I assume?" Fiona was a little apprehensive when she initially voiced the idea of the two coming to Italy for Christmas. She knew that in front of other people the two exes were well-behaved and good mannered towards each other, but she had no idea if they were at all bitter towards each other behind closed doors.
"You say that as if you have no hope in us, Fi," Holly J smirked, and looked over her shoulder as the elevator ding-ed, thus revealing Declan Coyne with two large suitcases in tow. "Well, if it isn't the devil himself."
"Sorry I took so long – notoriously small Italian elevators and oversized luggage are not a good combination. But anyway, Fiona, come give your long lost twin brother a hug already!" Declan chuckled at himself and held his arms out wide open for Fiona.
Fiona couldn't help herself and smiled widely at Declan before taking him up on his offer of a hug. Immediately the embrace felt like home, somewhere she had found safe when she was younger; it was almost hard to believe that someone Fiona relied so much for the first seventeen years of her life was still such an important part of her life, but also very distant at the same time – granted they spent two years living in different countries and were now living on different continents with an entire ocean separating them.
"I'm so glad you're here!" Fiona confessed, pulling out of the hug, still smiling.
"Well, I wouldn't pass out on the opportunity to spend Christmas in Rome with my sister, her best friend, and her girlfriend – where is Imogen, by the way?" Declan asked, trying to peer around Fiona and into her apartment. If anyone asked, he wouldn't admit it, but Declan was slightly nervous about officially meeting Imogen for the first time; he was always used to being the number one person in his sister's life, but he had to come to terms with being replaced (granted, Declan and Imogen served entirely different roles in Fiona's life, but Declan always wanted to remain the protective older brother, a position he was sure Imogen wouldn't be interested in fighting him for).
"Oh, right, she was making Holly J's bed," Fiona said, as if suddenly remembering. "I hope you don't mind, Dex, but you'll be on the couch." She went back into the apartment, with Holly J following close behind and Declan slightly farther behind, fighting to fit his and Holly J's suitcases through the door. "Imogen?" Fiona called out.
"Kitchen!" Imogen responded, pulling the tray of Christmas cookies from the oven and carefully using a spatula to set each one on a cooling rack. She glanced up when she heard Fiona and Holly J enter the room. "Holly J, it's so good to see you again!" She set aside her baking utensils and walked over to receive a friendly and genuine hug from her girlfriend's best friend.
"You, too, Imogen, it's been awhile." Holly J smiled, she really did like Imogen. Sure, the girl may be slightly quirky, but she treated Fiona right and made her happy, and that's really all Holly J needed to give Imogen the Holly J Sinclair seal of approval.
As Holly J and Imogen finished their hug, Declan walked in, having finally given up on the luggage and dropping them unceremoniously onto the floor in the front entry. This is it, he thought to himself, feeling the nerves rattle through his normally calm body.
Imogen pulled away from the hug and looked over Holly J's shoulder to see her girlfriend's twin brother step into the room. "Declan Coyne," Imogen began, "season's greetings."
Although slightly taken aback by the greeting, Declan quickly and politely replied with, "Imogen Moreno, nice to finally meet you, in person." Not knowing if a hug was appropriate or not for his sister's girlfriend, Declan stuck out a hand, hoping to seem both intimidating and welcoming at the same time.
Imogen shook Declan's hand, thinking nothing of the awkward exchange, while Fiona looked on, holding her breath and desperately trying to remember how to breathe. Fiona had waited a long time for this meeting, and she really wanted her girlfriend and brother to get along with each other; if they didn't, Fiona didn't know what she would do. Across from her, Holly J seemed to notice her uneasiness.
"Feeling okay, Fi?" There was a hint of humour in her voice, trying to ease any awkward tension in the room, but her humorous tone was out-weighed by concern.
"Fine!" Fiona said, pulling herself from her thoughts, and smiling as a form of proof. "I'm fine, great, actually! I'm just so glad to have my three favourite people all here at once. Um, Imogen and I were actually wondering if you two wanted to go out for dinner – our treat, of course."
Imogen gave her girlfriend a questioning glance; this had not been part of the plan, in fact, Fiona had sent Imogen to the supermarket that morning to pick out ingredients to make dinner at home that night for their guests. However, Imogen wasn't about to call Fiona out on this in front of Declan and Holly J, and instead opted to go along with the impromptu plan.
"Yeah, there's this cute, little café we go to all the time down the street. It's delicious! Plus, they have the teeniest mini-food for appetizers and it's just so adorable!" Imogen hoped her small piece of input would be useful and convincing of their "plans." She smiled at both Holly J and Declan, before turning back to Fiona who looked relieved and thankful that Imogen went along with her story.
"How could we say no to mini-food appetizers?"
"So, did Mom and Dad leave for Costa Rica yet?" Fiona asked Declan as the four of them sat around a table at the café, sipping on warm drinks and enjoying the mini-food.
"They left Friday morning," Declan explained, covering his mouth while chewing.
"Your mother seemed particularly thrilled to be spending the holidays at an international environmental conference," Holly J added with a smirk.
Fiona raised an eyebrow at her best friend. "You were in New York on Friday?"
Both Declan and Holly J glanced at each other and then back at Fiona, both wondering who was going to explain the situation. Apparently it would be Declan.
"Uh, our exams finished on Wednesday, so I, um, invited Holly J to stay in New York with us until we left – you know, so she wouldn't have to travel to Toronto and then, uh, back to New York for our flight."
Fiona nodded subconsciously as her brother spoke, but once he finished she looked over at Imogen as if to say, "Are you believing this?" To which Imogen just shrugged her shoulders; she had no idea if this was normal or not, and knew well enough not to say anything about it.
Declan sat across from Fiona and Imogen, wondering if he looked as uncomfortable as he felt. He risked a look at Holly J beside him, only to find her staring into her lap. At this point Declan knew he needed to get the attention off Holly J and himself.
"So, uh, Imogen, how are you liking Rome? Not feeling homesick, I hope?" Declan flashed a smile before he started eating again, as long as he had food in his mouth he couldn't actively participate in conversation, and at this point, that was just fine for him.
"I love it!" Imogen gushed, continuing to ignore what just happened. "I was so nervous, though, coming here, it was like I had a bunch of baby pterodactyls flying around inside me for weeks. But then I saw Fiones at the airport – with a sign! – and it just made everything feel so right, you know. I miss my mom and stepfamily sometimes, but we Skype a lot, and my life is here in Italy now." Imogen grinned at Fiona before taking her hand. "I go to the best architect school during the day and come home to the best girlfriend at night."
Fiona squeezed Imogen's hand and quickly leaned over to softly kiss her girlfriend on the lips, completely ignoring Declan and Holly J across the table until her brother cleared his throat before letting out an amused laughed.
"Sorry," Fiona mumbled, pulling away from Imogen.
Seeing his sister kiss her girlfriend, Declan was reminded, once again, of his and Holly J's current secret. They agreed to not mention it as soon as they saw Fiona and instead they'd wait until they were settled, but Declan knew the longer they kept it a secret the more awkward it would be explaining the relationship. And so, at that exact moment, he decided it was time to address the elephant in the room (even if he and Holly J were the only ones actively aware of its presence).
"Fi, there's something we need to tell you." It was out of his mouth before he even registered what he was saying. Without even looking beside him he could feel Holly J's eyes burning into him. "Um, well Holly J and I – we, uh –"
"We're back together!" Knowing that the damage was done and the secret was about to be revealed, Holly J took it upon herself to share the news once she saw her boyfriend stuttering over his own words. She braced herself before looking across the table at Fiona; it wasn't that Holly J and Declan didn't want Fiona to know, they just weren't sure how she would react to the news.
Fiona felt a ray of emotions rush through her body, ranging from mad that they were just mentioning this now to, as Imogen would say, over-the-moon excited. Most of all, though, Fiona felt happy for the two of them; she was no longer the manipulative, insecure girl she used to be, and she could honestly now say that she wanted her brother and best friend to be happy, and if that meant being together, so be it. She had to admit, though, she was expecting this to happen eventually.
"Well, it's about time!" Fiona told before laughing at the shocked looks on their faces.
Declan let out a sign of relief. "So you're not mad?"
"How could I be mad when I've been waiting – patiently, I must add – for this to happen. If this is what you both want then I'm behind it one hundred percent!" Fiona paused, still grinning at the two of them before continuing, "So, how long has this been official?"
Just when Holly J thought they were in the clear, her friend asked the inevitable question, and to be honest, if Fiona was going to be mad it was going to be now. "Since August," Holly J whispered. And there it was, the look on Fiona's face was completely unreadable, but Holly J would put it somewhere between confused and pissed off. It was Declan that came to the rescue.
"We just wanted to make sure that it was actually going to work before we told you! And it's working really, really well. Sooo, now you know! Anyone for more bread?" Declan held up the breadbasket and offered it to the three girls, all of which ignored him.
"I talk to both of you weekly, and neither of you could have offhandedly mentioned you were testing the waters? I mean, I'm happy for you both – really, I am! But why keep it a secret for so long?"
"Fiona, you know we both love you and care about you; we just didn't want to get ahead of ourselves by telling you in case everything fell through. But now we know that we're on the same page and we both want the same things and we're happy – really happy." Holly J stopped her explanation to smile at Declan, who replied back with his own ear-to-ear grin. "I know it was slightly selfish and extremely secretive, but I really hope you can forgive us – if not now, than one day at least."
Fiona soaked in the information, still holding on to Imogen's hand, trying to understand everything Holly J was telling her. "Well, it depends," Fiona began, holding back a smirk, "I get to design your wedding dress."
Declan stared at his sister, wide-eyed. "We're not getting married, Fi."
Fiona finally let out a giggle. "Well, not yet, Dex, but trust me, it'll happen. But fear not, this courtship definitely has the Fiona Coyne stamp of approval."