Hello, my readers! Busy, busy week. But it's all worth it, because here's your next oneshot! This was so much fun to write and I can't wait for you guys to read it.

Alright, the summary; all Scott Hoying wants to do is take his boyfriend on a romantic date in Italy. That romantic date just so happens to take place aboard a gondola. Which may or may not be in danger of tipping over. A little boy/boy slash towards the end, nothing too major. This story is mostly fluff.

Thank you for your favorites, follows, and reviews! Read away!


Everything in Italy looked like a beautiful painting; the sky was a clear, bright blue-indigo, the grass a lush emerald, the buildings an appealing tan. The people were nice, some smiling at the group when they tried to speak barely passable Italian (barely passable was being generous. Kevin tried to say "How are you doing sir?" which really turned out to be "I like eat blue chocolate goats because sun." The beat boxer knew had had said something weird when the man he was attempting to talk to began to roar with laughter), and the many whom understood them were kind enough to point them all in the right direction if they expressed that they were lost (trying to find their hotel was a little difficult). And to top it all off, everybody was in a great mood.

Really, how could the day start off any better?

The five of Pentatonix were walking down the brick-like road, with Avi and Kirstie in the front, Mitch and Scott in the middle, and Kevin hanging back so he could observe with awe. Not that the rest of them weren't, but it was just that the beat boxer was fascinated by everything, especially Italy and its cultures.

The baritone had been gazing at Mitch, his face holding a content smile as he watched the brunette's dark brown eyes light up at every new thing he saw. Mitch noticed after a few minutes, bumped the side of his hip against his boyfriend's in a playful gesture, and waited until the blonde's giggles had mostly subsided before standing up on his toes to give him a light kiss.

When Mitch pulled away, he grinned. "Today is so great, Rebecca." He grabbed Scott's hand and linked their fingers together. "You and I should explore later. And eat dinner at that one restaurant that smelled like lavender on the outside and had that huge flower on its front door, did you see it? Or ride a gondola. I've always wanted to do that."

Scott, with his mind jumping ahead to all the things that not only he and Mitch would get to do together but all of the things Pentatonix would do together, concluded that oh yeah, the day could start off better.

The group continued to navigate themselves the best that they could, occasionally taking a wrong turn or a few steps west instead of north, but eventually they reached the front doors of their hotel (the outside colored a burgundy that was both harsh and bold, with hydrangeas and lilies pouring out of the flower boxes that were attached to every window). Scott took a moment to breathe in the heavy scent of the colorful plants; his head, previously fogged from the kiss he had received from his boyfriend, immediately cleared.

Little did he know that the effect would not last very long; for when they had walked into the modest-but-neat-and-clean inside of the hotel to check in and were waiting in a line to get their room keys, Mitch leaned on Scott and gave him another peck on the cheek.

"Stop distracting me, Mitchie. It's rude." Scott said, lifting his eyebrows and making sure his tone was teasing. In response, the countertenor merely rolled his eyes.

"I'll distract you all I like. What are you going to do to stop me?" Mitch taunted. A smirk was working its gleeful way across his sharp features.

The baritone bit his lip like he had to think deeply. "I don't know...maybe I should tickle-" Before he finished his sentence, he was already reaching for the brunette's ribcage, knowing that it was his most sensitive spot (for reasons he would never, ever tell Avi or Kevin or Kirstie or anybody, for that matter) and Mitch was already peeling himself from Scott's side and moving out of the way.

"That's not very nice!" The countertenor swatted at the blonde's fingers. "I swear, if you tickle me right now in front of all of these people-" Scott looked around; it was true, there were curious/confused Italians in the lobby whom had paused in sipping their coffee or eating their breakfast to watch the current spectacle. He hadn't realized just how loud he had been talking until now. "-I will not do anything romantic with you all week."

"Wait a minute, does that mean-"

"You got it. We won't share a room."

"Unfair!" Scott protested even though his hands returned to his sides at Mitch's request.

As the two continued to banter, Avi smiled kindly at the receptionist (who, thankfully, was bilingual) and said that yes, they'd like three rooms please, and no, they wouldn't prefer the room that reeked of cigar smoke from the previous patron, but they'd still really like that room, and alright fine, they would wait until the staff could rid the room of the odor, and would you mind telling the group where to sit and wait and also for how long they were to do so?

The receptionist, a well-spoken Italian with straight eyebrows and amber eyes, replied in accented English, "The waiting room, over there, to your left. I would guess maybe...twenty or thirty minute wait? Yes, that sounds right. Come up to the desk in about one half hour to get your room keys all at once. Thank you sir."

The bass sighed, nodded, and turned around to the rest of the quintet. His deep, solemn voice immediately silenced all of their conversations. "C'mon, you guys. We have to wait for our rooms."

It seemed as though the mood of the group visibly depleted. Scott frowned, thinking back to several minutes beforehand when he had thought the day was excellent. Though, he guessed that they were slightly upset now because they were tired and jet-lagged, not because they were honestly mad about the delay of their room. They all trudged over to a waiting area off to the side (which was actually quite nice, with it's warm gold walls and shining wood floors).

"How long do we have to wait?" The high-pitched ring of Mitch's tone said from the baritone's side.

"Thirty minutes." Avi said back. He launched into a brief explanation of the cigar smoke, ignoring Kevin when the beat boxer poked at his arm. "...so we're supposed to wait here." He stopped talking for a moment, jabbed at Kevin's arm, and continued with raised eyebrows. "Maybe we should plan what we're going to do until the concert. Any ideas?"

Kirstin's remark was half-serious, half-joking. "Sleep?"

Scott made a disinterested noise even though he partially agreed with her. "We should do something fun." He glanced at Mitch. "Eat at that restaurant you were telling me about? Or maybe walk around some more. There's so much to see here, guys, and this is our first time in Italy. And it's only..." The blonde briefly checked his watch. "...12:09. Plenty of time to do something interesting before we conk out in our rooms."

An idea was beginning to bloom at the base of Scott's mind as he recalled another activity that his boyfriend had asked that they do. He opened his mouth to suggest it, then sealed his lips. The idea was growing into something more than just a friendly whatever-it's-not-that-important-but-it's-something-to-do-and-we're-in-Italy kind of thing. Scott remained silent as he mulled over the start of a plan.

Meanwhile, outside of the baritone's bubble of intense thought, the sole beat boxer tapped his dark finger to his mouth, contemplating. "I saw this really cool old knick-knack shop across the street and a few buildings down. Let's go see what stuff we can find in there."

Avi and Mitch said at the same time, "Sounds good." The mixture of their voices that so strongly contrasted each other made the quintet's shoulders loosen as they laughed a little.

The bass hoisted his heavy bag in his non-dominant hand effortlessly. "That store you saw is making me curious. Do you think we could leave now and get our rooms in an hour or so?"

Scott had been observing his friends closely. Now that he thought about it, Avi and Kevin did look pretty cramped in the spacious waiting room, despite being surrounded by the calming presence of their friends. He suddenly felt as if he was being suffocated by the stuffy warm air, and his previous ponderings involving Mitch, candles, and the hour of midnight began to evade him.

"How about this," The singer blurted. "Kirstie and Mitch stay here and wait for our rooms. The three of us go out and to the shop and find a nice place to eat. Then we bring back lunch and take the longest naps of the century. Yeah?"

"You don't want me to come with you?" The small countertenor asked, trying to mask the slight hurt he felt at the exclusion. Scott instantly recognized what his partner was conveying and leaned down to give him a soft kiss.

When he pulled away, the blonde nuzzled the shorter man for a moment before saying, "It's not that I don't want you to come, Mitchie. I want you to stay here because you look exhausted as hell and you need rest. Plus Kirstie would be here all alone-"

"-ooh, we can do our nails! And go over those lyrics we were talking about-"

"-so therefore you should stay." Scott finished. He pressed his lips to Mitch's forehead reassuringly.

After thinking about it for another second, Mitch nodded. "Okay. Bring me some bread and pasta, babe?"

"At your command, my queen." The baritone bowed low. A grin was evident on his face the moment he straightened. Avi handed his bags to the waiting mezzo, who shot him a playful smile, and the percussionist set his own belongings on the floor at the feet of the Queen himself.

Three of the five members of Pentatonix bid their goodbyes, quickly exiting the hotel as fast as their feet would allow them to move. Kevin almost gasped once they stepped onto the stone road, reveling in the fresh, non-stuffy air. Sunlight beat down on them, warm and comforting.

"I felt so cramped in there." He announced as the trio started their journey to what the beat boxer had called 'the knick-knack shop'. "I think we have to walk a few more houses down, guys..."

Avi gestured to the river set before them. "Ride a gondola on the water if you don't like tight places. There's plenty of room on the water."

"Riding a gondola does sound cool. We should do it while we're here...because we can really only do it in Italy." Kevin murmured. "What do you think, Scott?"

As they glanced over, both vocal instrumentalists noticed a change. The blonde had a certain expression on his face that made his two friends suspicious. It was Scott's I'm planning something face.

"Uh oh. Scott's planning something. What's up, brother?"

Smirking in anticipation, though only with a little wickedness, Scott replied steadily, "Oh, nothing. By the way, if you wake up and hear Mitch yelling and shouting death threats, it's because I'm planning on taking him out into the middle of the night. So don't worry too much. And in order to yank him out if bed, I'm going to need your help. Are you in?"


"Can I uncover my eyes now?" Mitch grumped. He would be shivering his skinny ass off if not for the fact that his insane boyfriend stood directly behind him and radiated warmth like a heater. He should've brought clothes that provided the heat themselves, except, oh right, he'd been shaken awake and practically dragged out of his own motherfucking hotel bed in the middle of the damn night, therefore he hadn't had the opportunity to.

No effing wonder.

Scott wrapped his arms around the brunette's waist. He was close to jumping up and down with giddiness. "You can open them now."

Not expecting much, the smaller singer allowed his hands to fall. His dark brown eyes, even darker at this time of night, widened considerably and he gasped.

In front of him was a long gondola, something that he had always wanted to ride, with soft white and pink lights strewn across it. Sitting in the middle of the thin boat, carefully placed, was a single purple hydrangea standing proudly. There were also several candles, though they had been lit and covered with great caution. A faint rose scent worked its way around the small floating area, causing the countertenor's previously coiled nerves to sooth. All in all, with the buildings adding their gentle yellow hues and the blanket of stars set above the pair, the arrangement was beautiful.

Since his boyfriend was only staring in silence, Scott's brain immediately kicked into panic mode. "Um. D...Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Mitch breathed, pulling in more of the rose smell. Spinning on his heel, he smiled and hugged the nervous blonde tightly, whispering into his ear, "I love it. It's perfect."

Scott squeezed his boyfriend back. "Good. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Mission accomplished. I had no idea. How'd you do all of this?"

Kevin and Avi. I owe them big time. The man with blue eyes thought. He was now determined to pay his generous friends back one day. For now, however...

He grabbed the brunette's hand. Jutting his chin in the direction of the gondola, he said, "Wanna ride?"

Five minutes later, the pair were floating in the middle of the river, gazing up at the constellations and eating the picnic-like snacks that the baritone had thought to bring along, hidden beneath the seats. Mitch laughed when Scott threw a strawberry in the air and tried to catch it with his mouth, watching as the fruit bounced off of his cheek and landed in the water with a plop.

"The fish will get it." Scott proclaimed in a tone that oozed confidence, not at all worried that he might've just contaminated the river for forevermore. Nope. It was not eating away at the edge of his conscious. No, sir.

It was right then that Mitch pointed up at the night sky, asking that his partner look, see, those ones connect to make an Aquarius, oh, and that one is Orion. And duh, the Little Dipper is right there silly head. And in that moment, his boyfriend's eyes shining, his mouth parted, his expression happy and righteous and the moment as perfect as that very morning, Scott could not resist and had to kiss him.

Mitch was startled at the swift movement, barely restraining the automatic urge to balk, but within the following seconds he relaxed and slipped his hand around Scott's neck. The baritone's own hands wrapped around Mitch's waist as they had on shore, but this time it was different. This time his grip was seeking and greedy.

Their legs became tangled when Mitch attempted to lock their ankles together (actually, that was a lie. He was really going to bring his leg up to rub a specific spot on his boyfriends body that was starting to demand much of his attention) and the smaller man ended up underneath Scott, their mouths still attached.

The brunette sighed when the other singer moved his lips from his face to his neck, letting a beautiful whine escape when Scott bit down. The blonde's right hand seemed to have melded with his partners waist as he sucked the pain from his bite and Mitch twisted his head so the baritone could have more room. Hot breath danced across his razor-sharp collarbone.

But lord, Mitch had forgotten how good Scott was with his mouth. Pleasure fogged his vision and made his short body tremble with want as warm lips painted butterfly kisses all over his skin. Right about then was when the countertenor decided that Scott's pants needed to come off. Along with the rest of his clothes. But that was all in due time.

His thin fingers hooked on one of the belt loops of his partners jeans. Scott, surpised and definitely turned on by the bold nonverbal request, groaned and shifted his weight to the side.

Wrong move.

The gondola began to tip over ever so slightly. The pair froze in their positions, waiting and curious as to what that creaking noise was. The gondola tilted further. Suddenly Scott noticed how weirdly unbalanced he felt.

"Mitchie, we should probably-"

Yet his warning came too late; the long boat continued to tip and tilt and rock to one side until the side the singers were leaning on couldn't support their weight any longer and-

The gondola flipped over.

And they fell into the ice-fucking-cold water.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" Scott yelled, his timbre cut off once his head went under. He heard a similar noise exit Mitch, until it too was silenced. The blonde furiously kicked and moved his arms, breathed deeply once his head resurfaced, and instantly looked around for Mitch.

No other head bobbed up for the next ten seconds. Scott was seriously debating diving down into the freezing water to search for his companion, but soon noted that he didn't have to, for the brunette broke the water and gasped like he was starved for air. The small mans teeth started to chatter as his baritone swam over to him.

"M-M-Mitch!"

"S-S-S-Sc-Sc-" Mitch couldn't even say a simple word, the cold of the water had settled so deep into his bones. However, he smiled when Scott hugged him close to warm him up. Their upturned gondola began floating away, disrupted by the waves all of their splashing had caused.

The countertenor was the first to speak on the matter. "N-N-No mo-o-ore g-gondol-l-la d-dates at n-night, o-o-o-oka-y-y?"

"O-okay." Scott agreed. "M-Mitch?"

"Hmmm-mmmm-mmmm?"

"I l-l-love y-you. I-I'm s-s-s-sorry."

The brunette kissed his boyfriend with cold lips as a sign of forgiveness. He knew the blonde was going to feel guilty for days or possibly weeks. It was better to let him know that Mitch wasn't mad now rather than later. "S'oka-y-y. L-Let's g-g-go back to t-th-th-the hotel."

And underneath the stars, which still shone as brightly as they had not one minute ago under much different circumstances, the two swam to shore as quickly as they could. Mitch rattled all the walk to the hotel room they would share.

Mitch once again made Scott promise there would be no more freezing gondola dates in the middle of the night. Two minutes later the pair reached the front doors of the hotel, the brunette gave his favorite blonde one more peck on the cheek, and they trudged upstairs. Soaked clothes and all.