A/N: WOW HELLO AGAIN :D sorry everyone that its been months since this update from the last. I've been so hectic and so much going on that I didn't have the time to work on any of my stories really :( this is a pretty short chapter but I'm going to update it soon and I'm working on my other two stories as well so you should see updates soon!
I hope you enjoy this one!
The sounds of cars driving in the distance and the coolness of the shade made Amy come back to her senses. Opening her eyes she looked in surprise at the tall buildings around her. Well they weren't sky scraper tall but they at least went up 3-4 stories. They looked as if they were made out of old bricks slightly brown and yellow with age. Uneven flooring caused her to look down as she saw cobblestones run the length of the street. The sun was beating down over head but in the cool shade of the buildings it was easy to feel pleasantly comfortable. She could hear the loud talking and laughter of people slightly farther off.
Turning around she saw Jazz, Lance and Gabe standing behind her. Jazz was skipping around the street with a happy grin plastered over her face. Lance just shook his head as he watched the elf skip in glee. Gabe leaned against one of the buildings watching them. It seemed he noticed her stare since he looked over at her and she could feel her breath catch in her throat. Butterflies seemed to erupt deep in her stomach as she seemed lost for words. His hazel/green eyes trapped her and she yanked her gaze away from his feeling a slight blush begin to permeate her cheeks.
"This is fantastic! Oh my gods Amy wait till you have the pasta here!" Jazz enthused as she practically gushed at the idea. Her green eyes sparkled with warmth and she ran over; grabbing Amy's hands she bounced up and down as she carried on grinning.
Lance raised an eyebrow and walked over to them. He placed a large hand down on Jazz's shoulder to which the little elf looked behind her with wide eyed innocence.
"Let's let Amy keep her hands ok Jazz?" he teased her with a slight twitch of his lips.
Jazz pouted as she stuck out her full bottom lip and pouted as she dropped her hands and backed away a step.
"Well you're still gonna love it here girl," Jazz stated as she sniffed acting all prim and proper now as she raised her nose in the air and closed her eyes.
Lance and her exchanged amused glances. Ignoring the urge to roll her eyes at her BFF's snooty efforts she laughed, "Umm that's great and all Jazz but where exactly is here?"
At this Gabe stepped closer to them all and smiled, "Were in Rome Aim," he told her gently.
Amy stared at him with wide eyes as she gazed around her again with a new light, "You mean-?" she cut off.
Gabe nodded, "Home of the Vatican girl; actually it's more of a city in a city or something like that and we'll get to see it all."
Amy stared at him in astonishment; she couldn't believe that she was actually here in Rome! She had always wanted to come here felt it like an insane urge; almost like an itch that she just never could scratch it seemed. Now looking around and breathing in the old musty scents she sighed in happiness.
"So can we look around?" she asked curiously.
Gabe gestured down the street, "Lead the way; we'll be right behind you."
Smiling she turned around and carefully headed down the alley in her sneakers. They crossed another narrow street when they hit the end of the slight hilly street and crossed over until they hit a crowded street filled with shops and people talking, laughing and milling around all the stores pointing excitedly to items on display in the glass fronted windows. Her eyes gleamed as she took this all in.
Glass windows gleaming in the hot afternoon sunlight as she gazed into the shop windows; laughing and pointing her and Jazz went from store window to store window exclaiming over all the pretty items that caught their eyes. Gabe and Lance merely rolled their eyes but followed around like good sports anyways as they listened to the two girls. It came to an end when Gabe pretended to be one of them hopping from foot to foot with his hands pressed against his mouth as he pointed excitedly into a glass window. When Jazz and Amy saw what he was pointing at they stopped and merely stared at him in disbelief while Lance threw his head back and let out a loud bark of laughter.
Gabe was dancing like a little kid in a candy store…coincidentally in front of a candy store. 'Well more like an ice cream parlour,' Amy had to conclude to herself as she stared at the shop. It was quaint with a large cone in the front of the ice cream display, little chairs and delicate tables dotted the inside that looked like it could hold 10 people at the most. There was a table or two outside as well. Rolling their eyes at each other they all stepped into the small parlour as Gabe ran up and smacked his hands and nose onto the protective glass in front of the counter.
Amy laughed at that, "Gabe it's just ice cream," she said to him soothingly.
Gabe slowly turned around to stare at her in astonishment his mouth slightly opening at a seemingly loss for words. Lance snickered evilly behind them and Amy frowned at him as she stared at him puzzled. Lance merely brushed her off and said, "I feel sorry for you."
Cocking her head to the side she asked him, "Why?"
Lance merely pointed behind her and she turned around. Shrieking in surprise she jumped a foot back in the air and collided with Lance's toe as the poor warlock behind her yelped and began to rub his abused foot. Gabe was standing in front of her glaring with his honey brown eyes seeming to spark slightly. Even his hair seemed to bristle.
"Just ice cream?" Gabe asked quietly.
Amy shrugged sheepishly and pointed at the ice cream, "Am I missing something maybe?"
Gabe spluttered at her, "Amy it's only the best kind of ice cream in the world! I mean its gelato! How can you not understand the significance of this?! I mean it's so thick and creamy and-"
"Yes Gabe make love to the ice cream already it sounds like your already half way there anyways," Jazz intoned from behind Amy.
Amy couldn't help the slight smirk that spread across her lips at this and Lance began to laugh even harder from behind still rubbing his foot. Gabriel merely raised an eyebrow and Amy heard a loud crash from behind followed by a heavy groan. Turning around quickly she saw Lance sprawled out on the floor wincing at the fall.
Amy spun around back to Gabe and planted her hands on her hips as she glared at the trickster. Gabe merely gave her an innocent puppy dog look and pouted at her, "What?" he asked seemingly trying to be as innocent as possible.
"Gabe don't even get that tone with me I know you did that," she said angrily jerking back her thumb at Lance. Unbeknownst Jazz was lightly prodding Lance with her foot lightly to see if he was alright. That made Gabe smirk but then quickly mask it as he saw Amy's still angry expression.
"Pft prove it," Gabe said as he waved his hands at her.
Amy rolled her eyes, "Gabe that's not the point! You can't just-"
"Can I have one scoop of your chocolate delight and-"
"Oh forget it he's not even listening to me now," Amy muttered as she turned around and glanced down at her friend as he slowly got up. "You ok Lance?"
Lance merely rolled his eyes and scoffed at Gabe's turned back; "He's a dick," he muttered to the both of them.
Gabe flipped him off from behind but otherwise did not turn around to address any of the issues. The three of them merely slumped out of the parlour and walked to one of the small tables that sit outside the ice cream shop. The three of them sat in comfortable silence as they contently watched the tourists and other passers-by with a lazy interest; well except for Amy that is.
She stared in wide eyed fascination at the buildings that towered over them and the rough cobble stone streets under foot. There was a large statue in the middle of the square with roads branching off farther and farther into the city. A large cathedral stood towards one end of the square imposing a dark shadow that swallowed large crowds of people who stood in its intimidating structure. On the other hand not far from where they sat was a restaurant. People laughed and mingled under its white canopy on the outside as a little white dog wove around their feet and chairs constantly begging for handouts. She could smell all the different and delicious aromas wafting out from inside and out.
Suddenly Gabe plopped into the seat right next to her startling her from her reverie. Glancing over at him her eyes bugged slightly at the massive display that he was guarding possessively in front of him. A huge mountainous tower of ice-cream graced the inside of his bowl and it even made her stomach clench at the sweet display in front of her. Lance snorted and shook his head at this while Jazz's nose wrinkled slightly.
"What is that monstrosity Gabe? It looks like you barfed the rainbow out in that bowl and then some," she said to him snidely.
Gabe opened his mouth in protest, "Well I can assure you that it's ten times better than what you make it sound like; and because you were just so rude and insensitive you're not getting any!"
"I don't want any of your bloody ice cream!" Jazz shouted as Lance said quieter, "You're calling her insensitive?"
Gabe raised an eyebrow at him as if saying, "duhh."
"Yet you dropped me on my ass because you couldn't take a joke," Lance chuckled at him.
"That wasn't me," Gabe merely stated politely and thus began to dig in to his ice cream.
Amy swore that she could feel her stomach lurch at the sweet display and always seemed to wonder how Gabe could actually stomach all the junk he ate on a continuous basis. He was a supernatural being but hey….he ate a lot! Watching him lick his spoon of all traces of the thick cream she began to wonder things; things like what would he taste like if she actually kissed him, would he be sweet? Or maybe slightly more daring than that. She was becoming so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that she had dazed off somewhat and her eyes had become glazed over. She came to when she jumped slightly startled at the hand being waved in front of her face. She stared at Gabe with wide eyes as he raised an eyebrow at her questioningly and took the spoon out of his mouth so that he could speak to her.
"You ok Aim? You looked kind of dazed there and you seem to be turning a bit red. Are you feeling ok?" he asked her in all seriousness.
Amy clapped one of her hands to her cheek and could feel the warmness of her skin as she felt herself blush. Looking over she caught Jazz's knowing eye panicked. Jazz discreetly pointed upwards at the sun and Amy suddenly knew what to say.
"Oh yeah I'm fine Gabe…I'm just probably hot from the sun," she told him smiling slightly while she acted as best as she could that that was the reason behind her redness.
Gabe still seemed worried as he put his spoon down in his bowl, "We can go Amy if you're not feeling well or you need a break, sometimes travel like that is hard on the body the first time. Or if you want I can take the feeling away from you," he offered her gently.
She was in slight shock that Gabe would willingly leave his bowl of ice cream behind for her for the simple fact that maybe she wasn't feeling good.
'It's not like he would find me very interesting probably anyways in that way. Jeez I'm being stupid about this and reading way too much into the situation. He's just concerned as a friend…nothing more. Besides what would someone like him want with someone like me?' she thought to herself dejectedly.
Gabe frowned slightly and she instantly began to panic slightly.
'Wait calm down girl it's not like he can read your mind or anything,' she told herself again laughing at her stupidity.
"I'm fine Gabe really, just finish your ice cream and maybe we can still walk around for a bit," she said to him smiling in order to try and put the trickster at ease.
Gabe studied her for a moment longer; then slowly and, it seemed somewhat reluctantly, picked up his spoon again and slowly began to eat; although not with as much enthusiasm as before. Her stomach clenched at this; forcefully she looked away from him and back across the crowded square.
After a few moments Gabe pushed the bowl back. Jazz, Lance, and Amy all stared at the bowl in shock then looked at Gabe slightly scared to ask. The bowl in the middle of all of them had over half of the ice cream in it still.
"Umm Gabe aren't you going to finish that?" asked Lance somewhat hesitantly.
Gabe merely shook his head. He had such a thoughtful expression on his face and yet, it seemed somewhat sad as well. Looking up at them he suddenly beamed out of nowhere.
"Well I say that we show Amy where were all sleeping while we stay here," said Gabe with a wink.
Jazz squealed and clapped her hands, "Yes let's please! O-M-G Amy you're going to love it!"
Amy blinked at the both of them, "I'm sure I'll love it guys," she replied to them hesitantly.
"Ok well what are we waiting for?" Gabe asked a big grin taking over his features. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
Before Amy could blink she was standing in a luxury apartment. Floor to ceiling length windows adorned the whole wall before her. The living room was all designed with modern comforts in mind. A large fireplace with a flat screen TV mounted on top of it dominated the wall. The kitchen was all newly done up in wood of dark mahogany with stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops with a bar type set up for people to sit at one of the counters. A formal dining area gave them even more extravagant views of the city below them. That's what took Amy's breath away. She could see the Vatican dome looming high over St. Peters square and had to cover her mouth in awe at the sight.
Never once did she actually think that she would be able to see this kind of sight. Jumping slightly she looked behind her at the person who had put his hand on her arm. Lance smiled down at her.
"What do you think girl?" he asked her still beaming. It seemed that her amazement and awe had made him begin to start laughing.
"I-I-I just…umm I don't know what to say guys," she said stuttering slightly at the magnitude, "wait how are we going to afford to stay here?"
At this Gabe burst out laughing and clutched his side as if he had a stitch.
"Oh Amy you make me laugh girl, I'm a trickster; do you honestly think I can't get what I want?" he asked her raising his eyebrows.
"Gabe but that's lying," Amy said to him as her eyes scrunched in disapproval.
Jazz rolled her eyes, "Honestly Aim he's done worse."
Gabe raised his eyebrows nodded his head, pointing at Jazz like she had a legit point to saying this.
"Gabe…" Amy began.
Gabe huffed and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, "Ok Amy if it makes you feel better I'll leave a very generous tip; fair?"
Amy pondered this for a second, "Ok sounds good I suppose…"
"Good!" Gabe proclaimed loudly, "now you should really check out your rooms I've left no expense untouched for you girls," he told them winking.
Jazz grabbed Amy's hand and towed her away from the two of them. Glancing over her shoulder she gave him one more suspicious look before she disappeared as Gabe gave her a kissy face. Lance rolled his eyes but came to lean against the couch that Gabe had sat in.
"You're not actually going to pay the hotel are you," Lance said to him without phrasing it like a question as he looked down in amusement.
Gabe looked at him as if affronted that he would even ask, "No."
Lance snorted and shook his head.
A/N: it's always great to hear from you all so I would feel awesome if you left reviews and tell me what you think. I take what you say seriously and constructive criticsm is always welcome :) it's good to be back!