I woke up the next day surrounded by satin sheets and a fluffy white comforter. The bedroom that Alex stuck me in was absolutely gorgeous. A mural of angels was painted on the ceiling and multi-colored ceramic tiles decorated the floor. A small fountain hung on the wall opposite of the bed and allowed a slight amount of water to trickle out onto the basin. Overall, the atmosphere of the space was relaxing and peaceful. I never wanted to leave it.

A few minutes later, I heard a loud knock on my door. Popping up my head from under the cream pillow, I looked around in a daze. Sleep still rested heavily on my mind and body at the moment. Gradually pulling myself out of the warm, cozy bed, I staggered over to the ten-foot tall door. To my surprise, Tristan stood on the other side, wearing nothing but a pair of plaid pajama pants. His entire upper-half was exposed, revealing his muscular arms and distinguished abs. There was a happy trail of fine hair that started from his belly button and led down to his navy blue boxers. They hung higher than his pants. I had to control myself from looking down and attempted to do this by gripping onto the wooden framing surrounding the door.

"Hey…" he murmured, pushing me backwards and playfully smashing me against the wall. Immediately, the smell of aftershave and cologne filled the air. His swift breaths made the hair on my neck stand on end. I clung to his sides, digging my fingernails into his skin. Tristan positioned his hand on the wall next to my head and groaned drowsily.

"How'd you sleep?" he whispered, as he rested his nose against mine and looked into my eyes. I swallowed with difficulty and inhaled deeply.

"Fine…you?" I answered in a hoarse voice. He just smirked, as his eyes traveled down my body. The pressure of his hand tantalizingly moving down my thigh, made my eyes flutter and my head rollback.

"What do you want?" I found myself murmuring, as Tristan grabbed onto my backside and massaged his fingers into the skin. My breaths cut short and my heart sped up. I was almost afraid he would hear the loud beating sound that had consumed the silence.

"I like your room…" he replied, pulling back and letting me slide down the wall. My legs were pure jelly and without his body pressed against me, I couldn't stand up on my own. Tristan paced around a bit, looking through the bureau that stood near the bay window. His entire backside was brawny and powerful. I found myself biting my lip so hard, that blood trickled down the corner of my mouth.

"My bedroom's kind of similar to this, except the bed is smaller…but, I guess I'll survive." Tristan leered at me and then sat down on the corner of the bed. I shakily got up from the floor, using the wall as my support.

"How long have you known Jessica?" His jagged gaze shifted over to my direction and stopped cold and dead.

"Why is that of any concern?" he muttered. I shrugged my shoulders and snaked my way to the bed. Sitting next to him, I placed my hands in my lap and self-consciously stared down at my bear legs. All I had on was an overly large t-shirt and underwear. The thought made me blush profusely and want to scoot away from the handsome life form situated next to me.

"Did she use to go to school with you or something?" I tried to reiterate again. Tristan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak.

"I've known Jessica ever since I can remember. We went to boarding school in London and roomed together during the first year of college…does that answer your question?" he spat in exasperation.

"Why are you raising your voice?" I asserted sharply, as I could feel the tension in the room begin to build.

"Because Rory…you act as if you have something to worry about!" Tristan thundered, as he summarily stood up. I followed suit and turned my body to face him. Half-clothed or not, I wasn't going to let this argument slide.

"It was just a question!"

"A question?" Tristan mocked, as he flung his arms out and shrugged his shoulders. I exhaled deeply and looked at him in utter aggravation.

"Do you have to be a jerk about this?" I hissed, as I took a few steps back and combed my fingers through my knotted hair. Tristan diverted his gaze up at the ceiling and shook his head.

"Admit it…you're jealous?" he stated bluntly. My eyes widened and my mouth fell agape, as I stepped forward and lightly hit him across the chest.

"Oh, get over yourself!" I shouted in anger. Tristan only bit his lip and let out a small, disconcerted chuckle. I knew I was working on his nerves too.

"Look, I don't want to spend my one and only vacation out of the year fighting over Jessica, alright?" He took one big long breath and crossed his arms about his chest.

"We dated a lifetime ago, if that's what you wanted to hear. It meant absolutely nothing and you're crazy, if you think I still have feelings for that girl!" he yelled, as his cheeks began to turn crimson.

"Oh, I'm crazy now—"

"RORY!"—Tristan cut in—"You're not listening to me…we're just friends…stop being so paranoid." With that, he turned around and walked out of the room. From down the hall, I could hear him shout:

"Be ready by eleven…that's when we're head' in out…" My hands shot to my hips, as I let out a sigh. Thoughts jumbled into my mind at a million miles an hour and steam seemed to be spouting from my head. This was going to be interesting…

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Tristan and I piled into one of Alex's many extravagant vehicles and didn't say a word to one another. I was still angry about how Tristan reacted to my questions. Yes, I might have appeared to be a little paranoid, but I wasn't jealous. Or was I? I thought to myself.

Alex had business meetings all day long and Bianca had to take Vincenzo to a friend's birthday party. What surprised me the most was when Jessica announced that she'd rather stay behind because of a "mysterious" illness she had developed. I wasn't at all disappointed upon hearing this though.

We drove for a while through some narrow streets that led into the city. Tristan finally decided to park the car on the side of the road, so that we could explore for awhile. We walked past small shops and dozens of vendors trying to sell postcards and key chains. I browsed around, picking up various objects and observing paintings.

Music was heard near one of the parks that we came across. An older gentleman with salt-and-pepper-colored hair came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the hand, spinning me into his arms. This act not only frightened me, but caught me off guard.

"Lei vuole ballare?" he inquired in a jolly voice. I shook my head, not comprehending what he was asking, as Tristan came to my side.

"Buon giorno… Che succede?" Tristan questioned apprehensively. I tried to back away from the man, but he grabbed my other hand and danced around in a circle with me.

"Gli ho chiesto di ballare!" the man roared, as he dipped my head back.

"What did he say?" I quibbled, as the old man twirled me about.

"He's asking if you want to dance" Tristan remarked, as he covered his mouth with his hand and smirked. I finally managed to free myself from the man and stumbled backwards, latching onto Tristan.

"What is he talking about?" I asked distrustfully, as I tightened my grip around Tristan's arm and buried myself into him. The old man walked up to me and motioned for me to follow him.

"No, no…I don't speak Italian…" I protested, as the man tried to persuade me to come with him.

"Tristan…tell him that I don't want to dance" I implored, shaking my head at the man. Tristan placed his hands inside his pockets and stepped forward. Then, he began a conversation with the guy, which ended with us following him anyways. We walked towards the center of park, where a music festival was taking place. All sorts of people came alive through their movements. I couldn't help, but smile at how much their dancing reminded me of making love. Just by the way the male would run his face down the woman's chest and seductively grip onto her when she twisted, made my heart leap.

"Do you'a dance?" the old man questioned in broken English. I didn't know how to respond and immediately felt uncomfortable.

"I…we really should get going—" I began, but the old man took my hand in his and led me through the crowd of people. Tristan slowly vanished, as I was pushed forwards toward a man in his early twenties. He was obviously Italian with dark brown eyes and short, wavy brown hair. I frowned nervously, as the old man motioned for me to step closer to the guy.

"You'a dance" he stated, using his hand gestures as a way to communicate. The young Italian looked down at me and smiled, as he positioned his hands in a dancing stance.

"No…I really should get going" I tried again, but the young man put his hand about my waist and started moving.

"It's easy…" he shouted over the loud music playing "Just move your hips from side to side and you'a should get the hang of it." When the man spoke, I could hardly understand the words because of his thick Italian accent. I moved my left foot forward and slid to the right with my right foot.

"That's it!" he bellowed happily, as I peered up at him and smiled. He had a very charming face. Stubble lined his chin and a beauty mark rested at the corner of his mouth. All of a sudden, we stopped moving amidst all the commotion around us.

"I am'a Dante…what is your'a name?" He leaned his face close to mine, intent on hearing every word that seeped from my mouth.

"Rory Gilmore" I announced loudly, shaking his extended hand. The center of his palm was smooth, but his fingers were rough. I assumed the texture was caused by manual labor of some sort.

"That man over there…" he yelled pointing to the old man who had led me through the crowd "…is my father." I nodded my head and flashed him a quick smile.

"Well, it was very nice to meet you, but I really must go." I turned to leave, but was stopped by a warm hand on my arm.

"You know, you're a pretty good dancer" he shouted, licking his lips. I shook my head and looked down at my khaki pants.

"I was terrible…" I muttered, diverting my gaze from his. Dante only laughed, as he took my hand in his. Bringing it up to his lips, he kissed my flesh ever so gently.

"It was an honor to dance with you, Signora." I smiled one more time and gave a little curtsey. My cheeks were turning bright red and my temperature went up a whole fifteen degrees.

"Until next time…" he hollered, as I made my way through the crowds of people. I looked back to wave goodbye, but Dante was nowhere to be found. My heart sunk a little and my smile began to fade. When I turned back around, Tristan was standing there.

"Hey, I was looking all over for you!" he yelled, pulling me in towards him.

"I was worried that something had happened to you…" His voice trailed off, as I looked behind me one final time. The only thing I saw were people dancing on the benches and the steps.

"I'm kind of tired. Can we go home?" I asked in a small voice. Tristan nodded his head, as he brought his arm around me.

"You okay?" he murmured in my ear, as he kissed the side of my head. I felt disoriented after the encounter with the young Italian I had just met; and that took my attention away from everything else going on around me.

"Rory…" Tristan echoed, as he stopped me once we reached the street.

"Is something wrong?" I kept on looking around me; searching for that familiar face.

"Yah…I'm fine…" I muttered, still a little distracted. Tristan grabbed both sides of my face with his hands and passionately kissed me. His soft lips crashed against mine, detaching and reattaching again. To torment me, Tristan nipped at my bottom lip and breathed in deeply. Now, my focus was all on him.

"Better?" he mumbled, pushing my body into him.

"Better" I answered, kissing him gently on the lips. My hands snaked down his back and rested on his sides.

"So, where'd you go all that time? That guy just kind of led you through the crowd and that was it." I rolled my head back and then, rested it on his chest.

"Can we just not talk about this right now? I'm really tired" I moaned in a whiny voice. Tristan ran his fingers through my hair and placed his chin on top of my head.

"Let's go then…" he asserted faintly. With that, he took my hand in his and led me down the street; my head rested against his chest the entire time.

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Hey Guys: Hopefully you liked the chapter:) If so, Review! The Italian guy named Dante will most certainly play a key part in the up coming chapters, just to let you know. Oh and something is going to happen to Tristan. I'll update when I can. TTYL

Brittany