Cassandre Potter: RIP Andy indeed. But that's all I'm going to say *sips tea*
Anyway, this chapter technically isn't a full chapter. Just some snapshots from Maggie's little adventure that sure won't please Aro :3 Anywho, didn't want to spend a whole chapter on the whole ordeal, as I want to get to get to the good stuff fast! Although, I must warn everybody that soon this story will be taking a darn turn. Also, these snapshots aren't meant to be in one day. They span multiple days. Enjoy!
The next morning, I was waiting outside the hotel like Andy asked me to. Sitting on a bench wearing a floral maternity sundress, sweltering in Italy's hot, summer sun. Good lord, I know I said I was getting sick of the rain back home, but this was ridiculous! I was going to have to get myself a fan.
Despite the heat, I sat there, mesmerized. I felt overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and even the smell of this wonderful country. Little children were running about, shouting, and I couldn't help but smile. I rubbed my stomach absentmindedly as I watched them play, letting my mind wander off.
Suddenly, I heard a loud purring sound that broke me from my reverie. Jumping slightly, I looked up. To my relief, it was just some guy on a Vespa. A guy wearing really tight jeans that made his butt look...No! Stop it! Shaking my head, I turned my attention from the attractive biker, thinking he would just drive past.
But I was wrong. Instead of going his own way, the guy ends up stopping before getting off his Vespa. Wait, why is he walking towards me? Shit, now I was getting scared. However, my nervous soon turned to shock when the guy took off his helmet. It was Andy! I felt my mouth drop as I slowly stood up from the bench. We slowly walked towards each other, or rather, I walked slower. God, he looked hot.
"Hey Mags. You ready?" Ready for what? When held out his helmet towards me, it finally dawned on me.
"Wait, you can't be serious?!" I peered over his shoulder and stared at the Vespa. He was kidding, right? I mean, there's no way we can both fit on that thing. The wise guy only laughed, and I gave him a side eye.
"Of course I'm serious. You've always said you wanted to go on a Vespa ride like Audrey Hepburn." Without warning, Andy grabbed my hand and pulled me to the parked Vespa.
"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down!" We came to a stop and Andy turned to look at me.
"What? Don't you want to go? I mean, you said wanted to see the sights."
"Not like this! I mean, do you expect the both of us to fit on that thing?" I gestured to the Vespa before putting a hand on my stomach protectively. "Besides, I don't think it's really safe...Hey! What are you doing?!" Suddenly, my vision darkened for a moment as Andy put the helmet over my head.
"Just making sure you're safe. And don't worry, I'll go slow." He took my hand again and dragged me to the Vespa.
"Hold on a minute! You don't even know how to drive one of these things!" Andy looked down at his feet, smiling sheepishly.
Rubbing his neck, he said, "Actually, I do. Ever since I saw you with that guy on the motorcycle, I decided to learn how." Wait a minute, when the hell did he see me with Marcus?
I stared at Andy, almost too stunned for words. "How did you know about Marcus and I?" My question came out barely a whisper as I felt the atmosphere around us fell somber.
Grabbing my hand, Andy sighed. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you. But when you left for Seattle, I thought I could bare it but I couldn't. A couple of weeks later, I had to drive up there to make sure you were all right. When I got up there, I couldn't find you at first. But when I was sitting in a diner, I noticed a motorcycle waiting at the stoplights, I noticed someone that looked like you on the back of it. I didn't think it was you at first, since the girl had short hair. But then I recognized the rose and moon tattoo on your ankle." Suddenly, he started to choke up. Wait a minute, was he going to cry? God, please don't let him cry in front of me.
I didn't say anything as I continued to hold his hand. I don't know why, but I squeezed his hand. And with that, the pained look on Andy's face disappeared as fast as it came. We didn't say anything as we looked at each other.
"So, what do you say?" After his revelation, I didn't know what to think. Or what to say. The rational part of my mind told me I was crazy for even considering getting on that Vespa. The irrational part of my mind, using Andy's revelation as bait, urged me to dive in headfirst, a la Audrey Hepburn style.
I was so close to telling him no, that I was not going to be a part of his little escapade, but Hannah's words from last night came back to haunt me. "Maggie, do something impulsive for once in your life." And that's what got me. I smiled slowly at him before getting on the back of the Vespa. Then something hit me as Andy turned the Vespa on.
"Wait a minute, you don't have a license to drive around here!"
"You're forgetting I have connections now, love." Swoon! I rolled my eyes. There was no doubt Georgiana's father had a part in this. I leaned my head against Andy's back as I wrapped my arms around his waist. I closed my eyes, taking in the blissful moment. "You better hold on tight, spider monkey." Wait, what? And before I knew it, we were sped off, zipping through the streets of Rome.
Never in my life had I been in a city, or country for that matter, so beautiful. I felt very small standing in the middle of St. Peter's square. And very claustrophobic at the moment. I've never seen so many people in my life! "Amazing, isn't it?" Andy and I were looking up at the obelisk that dominated the square.
"Uh, yeah? Although I don't see the purpose of putting a giant obelisk in the middle of the square."
"I don't know, but don't you think it kinda looks like a…" Andy leaned in and whispered in my ear. Suddenly, I felt myself turn scarlett and I turned to look at him, shocked.
"Andy!" The idiot only laughed.
"What?"
"What do you mean, what? How can you make a joke like that? I mean, the pope lives here!" I smacked him in the shoulder.
"Hey, you got admit, it was pretty funny." I could only roll my eyes as he rubbed his shoulder.
My mind began to wander as slowly wandered about, with Andy in tow. "So, what do you want to do now?" I turned to look at Andy, which was a mistake. As soon as I turned my head, a bright flash temporarily blinded me. Damn him! I wasn't expecting Andy to bring his camera.
"That." I scowled as he smirked at me. "What?"
"Can you not?"
"Why? I like taking pictures of you. It's not my fault you're beautiful." After he said that, we both blushed slightly, and I quickly turned my attention back to the obelisk. Andy joined me, standing next to me, quite awkwardly. We didn't say anything for awhile, as we gazed at the cross on top of the obelisk. "You wanna check out the basilica?"
Not wanting to pass up a chance to show off my knowledge from AP Art History from back in high school, I nodded. "Okay."
"Tell me again why we're waiting in this line?"
"I told you, it's a surprise!" I sighed in annoyance. That seemed to be Andy's motto for this whole escapade. We were standing in line in a portico of the Cosmedin church. I was so glad I bought myself a pair of sunglasses and a hat, because it was hot as hell out here. And standing in line to see God knows what wasn't helping. Good thing the line was moving quite quickly.
When we got up to the front, my mouth dropped when I saw what we came for. It was that mouth thing from Roman Holiday! I thought it was just a prop for the movie. I turned to look at Andy, who only grinned. "You knew about this, didn't you?!"
"I knew you would love it."
"But I thought that was just a movie."
"Nope, it's completely real. Even the legend surrounding it." I scoffed.
"Oh, come on! You really expect me to believe that, do you?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Andy's tone was almost seductive as he grinned at me, and I nearly melted. Suddenly, I was nervous. It wasn't really true, was it? I mean, that was just a prank Gregory Peck pulled on Audrey in the movie. "Well, go on."
Smiling nervously, I inched closer to the statue and timidly put out a hand and touched the edge of the mouth. But I pulled it back as quick as I could, as if the stone were on fire. Nervously chuckling, I looked at Andy and said, "Let's see you do it then, tough guy."
I could've sworn his smile faltered a bit. "Uh, ok." I watched nervously as Andy put his hand further in than mine. Everything was going fine until something pulled him in and he let out a shout, scaring me and the people behind us.
Screaming, I tried to pull out Andy as best I could. Whatever was holding him hostage let him go, and turned to look at me. I looked down and...WHERE WAS HIS HAND?! Holy crap, it was true! I let out a shriek. But as fast as I screamed, his hand popped out from his sleeve. That jackass! "Andy, you asshole!" I hit him in the chest as he laughed, putting an arm around me as we left the line.
We took a train to a beach in Fregene. It was nearly sunset, but it was still beautiful out. I was wearing a sleeveless, white sundress and Andy was wearing a loose fitting t shirt with shorts. As we were walking along the shore, I couldn't help but glance at him every once in a while. Was he working out? I had to turn my head away to stop myself from thinking the forbidden thoughts that had been popping up these past few days. I concentrated my gaze out into the ocean as I felt my hand brush up against his every now and then. And if I didn't know any better, I could've sworn he was doing it on purpose.
Suddenly, I heard a snap. I groaned. Not that damned camera again. "Andy, cut it out."
"What? I was only taking a picture of the sunset."
"You liar. You knew I was in the shot, and you still took the damn picture!" The fool only chuckled.
"You know me so well, Mags."
"Well yeah, we dated for 5 years." As soon as I brought up our past history, Andy fell quiet. I turned to look at him, only to find something surprising. He had a troubled expression on his face, as if he didn't know what to do. Tentatively, I reached out and grabbed his hand. "Hey, what is it?" He only shook his head.
"It's nothing."
"Don't be a moron, Andy. I know when something's bothering you. And there is something bothering you."
"Just forget it, Maggie!" I stopped in my tracks. He's never used that tone with me before. When he finally noticed I wasn't walking with him, he stopped and turned back to look at me. Noticing my hurt expression, regret immediately flooded his eyes. Andy walked towards me and grabbed both my hands. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, alright?"
"So, is there something bothering you or what? Because I know that look." Smiling softly, he pulled me closer to him. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"Don't worry your pretty head about it." I gasped softly as Andy kissed my forehead before resting his chin on my head. My knees nearly buckled and he pulled me closer, tightening his grip around my waist. We stood there as a music played a little farther down the beach, most likely a beach party. Soon, I could feel Andy and I slowly shifting back in forth in a slow dance. I knew this was wrong, but I couldn't help it. Old feelings started to bubble up to the surface as Andy and I looked at each other. What was that feeling in his eyes? It looked all too familiar.
Unconsciously, our heads moved closer to one another, and I felt my eyes shut on their own accord. I could feel my breath get caught in my throat as I could sense our lips were within inches of each other. When they barely touched, that's when I broke free from my reverie. I pulled my head back and looked at him. "It's getting late. We should probably head back." I could've sworn regret flashed in Andy's eyes as he frowned again. That look of confliction was back.
"Yeah, sure." Neither one of us said a word as we walked back up the beach, not holding hands.
"So, any big plans after the wedding? I mean, you're already in Italy, so why not just stay here?" We were sitting outside at a cafe, awaiting our lunch. Normally, I would feel uncomfortable talking about anything that involved Georgiana, but I was curious.
Andy nodded. "That's the plan. Georgiana wants to travel around Italy for a few days before touring more of Europe." I inwardly rolled my eyes. Of course she did. The bitch could afford it.
I took a sip of my iced tea. "Anywhere in particular?"
"Well, we definitely want to hit up Sicily." That caught my attention. I was obsessed with The Golden Girls. Sophia was my absolute favorite.
"Ugh, I'm so jealous." Andy smiled a little.
"I knew you would be. I know how much you love Sophia." I did my best impression of the Sicilian curse pose from the show, and we both shared a laugh.
"So, where else do you plan to go?"
"Well, there's Venice, Florence, Milan…" Of course Milan was on the list. It was practically the fashion capital of the world. And Venice, the city with the all the canals. I inwardly wished the wedding was there, so I could push Georgiana off a gondola. I smiled inwardly. Good god, I did sound a little like Aro. "There's also this little town we want to stop at before we leave. Some place called Volterra."
That caught my attention. Fuck! "V..Volterra?" Damn, I didn't mean to stutter.
"Yeah. Georgiana read about this clock tower tour and she really wants to go." No. No. No. No! Absolutely not! I had to somehow manage to convince him not to go. That is the LAST place I want him to be.
Trying to act nonchalant, I took another sip of my tea and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I heard some pretty awful reviews about that tour." Andy looked at me curiously.
"What, you know about it?"
"Sure. When I had to stop my sister from eloping with her boyfriend, we thought about doing that before we left, but we heard the locals talk crap about it" Andy scoffed.
"Oh come on. It can't be that bad." I reached out and grabbed his arm, holding it tightly.
"Andy, please promise me that you won't go to Volterra." His smile faltered.
"Why? It can't be all bad-" I tightened my grip on his arm, causing his eyes to widen.
"Promise me, Andy. Please, don't go there. That place is not what it seems." I don't I was ever more dead serious than I was now. "Please...For me?"
He looked conflicted, but there was no way he could ignore the look in my eyes. "Alright, I promise." I let out a sigh of relief as the waiter brought us our lunch. To my suprise, it was one giant plate of spaghetti. With meatballs. I looked up at Andy in surprise. I was in the bathroom when he ordered, and there was something devilish about his smirk. I was confused at first but then it hit me. A smile slowly crept onto my face.
"You didn't…"
"I did. I know how much you wanted to do this." I laughed as I picked up my fork. It wasn't long before we both got the same noodle on our forks. Pretty soon, we were both leaning over the table, our faces close together, only to be separated by a noodle. Remembering last night at the beach, I pulled back, breaking the noodle. I didn't want to make a bigger mistake I was already making. "Hey, why'd you do that for? Come on." Andy took another fork full, looking at me expectantly. There was no way he was expecting me to do this, right? When he didn't put his fork in his mouth, I was taken aback. Slowly, I took another fork full before putting it in my mouth. Coincidentally, we also had a shared noodle. Only this time, our lips actually touched. I blushed and looked down. Not knowing if I should be ashamed or not.
Aro POV
I immediately knew Margaret was in Italy when I was wandering about Volterra one night. Her blood was calling for me, like a siren luring unsuspecting sailors to their deaths. But it wasn't nearly as strong like I thought it would be. Carlisle wrote that she would be here in Volterra for a wedding, but my senses told me otherwise.
I felt extremely frustrated. Did Carlisle trick me into thinking she would be in Volterra? To settle things, I had called Carlisle, demanding to know why my mate wasn't in Volterra like he promised. My anger subsided when Carlisle admitted he knew nothing about this whole charade and inquired about it to Alice.
It seems there was a last minute change. The wedding wouldn't be in Volterra after all. Apparently my mate was 283 kilometers away in Rome. I instructed Demetri to track her down, following his every move. You won't get away from me now, you little minx.
It took some time, but I finally found her. But as soon as I set my eyes upon her, I felt whatever blood that was in me boil. She was with that boy! And by the looks of it, she was getting quite cozy with him, as he was with her.
I felt the rage inside me spill over, and in my anger, I took out unsuspecting human. After having Demetri dispose of the body, I continued to follow Margaret and that insolent boy around. In order to stop myself from unleashing destruction around Rome, I had Demetri stop myself whenever I felt close to the edge. Especially when we observed them at the beach, when that boy had the audacity to nearly kiss her, my mate. My Margaret.
There was no doubt he was going to have to pay for this. How dare he try to take what was mine! As we headed back to Volterra, I had to think of a way to exact my revenge. I had to show that boy who he was messing with.
And Margaret. Poor, poor Margaret. She would have to learn that she belongs to me. It took all my power, and Demetri, to stop myself from kidnap her and show her what it was like to be with a real man. But I had to bide my time. And soon, I shall have the opportunity to encounter Margaret again.
AN: Boy oh boy, somebody is PISSED! Looks like you're right scorpion22. It looks like Aro will make an appearance. And don't worry, I don't intend Aro to be as sinister for long. He's going to have to learn.