Still in Rome, lol! (Not me, but Jackie and Sam)

I don't really have that much to say about this chapter, except that I am so happy that writing feels easier again. I'm also super thankful for everyone who is here, still reading this (never-ending) fic.

Oh, and I based this chapter on one magical night I had in Trastevere with my husband a lifetime ago. That beautiful restaurant really exists - though for the life of me, I cannot remember its name.

It turned out that the plan for the night was to have dinner in Trastevere. To Sam's great relief they didn't walk there but instead took a taxi, for Jackie claimed to be too tired to teleport and that she didn't want to accidentally lose parts of their bodies into the void between worlds.

It suited Sam - after all, he was rather fond of his body parts.

The taxi drive should've been a short one, but the traffic was insane, the narrow streets full of cars, vespas, bikes, and pedestrians. Tourists filled the alleys and squares by the Tiber, enjoying the numerous cafés, bars, and restaurants that seemed to be the thing of this area.

Jackie was pulling her hair as they were running late, but Sam didn't mind. He watched the scenery in a dream-like haze, realizing that he was one of those tourists, just a regular guy on his way to a date night with his gorgeous girlfriend and that for once in his life he didn't have to do anything but to just sit back and enjoy. To breathe in that crazy scene in front of him, to drown himself in the sounds of this wonderful, wild and breathtaking city that vibrated all around him.

The only thing that made him a bit nervous, was their driver. Never in his life had he heard anyone honking the horn that much! After the car almost hit tourists crossing the street - the young woman pushing a stroller barely managing to jump to the sidewalk as the taxi screeched by - Sam started to hope they'd get out of the car soon. Even if it meant more walking.

"Finally!" Jackie muttered as they climbed out of the vehicle half an hour later. "I'm fricking starving!"

Sam eyed the ancient building in front of them and suddenly felt a bit nervous again. He wasn't used to fine dining, nice restaurants, or stuff like that - and this place seemed to be a lot more expensive than the diners where he was used to eating with Dean and Dad.

But Jackie was beaming by his side, her radiant smile lighting up her face. She gripped Sam's hand, and the warmth that spread from her to him eased his fears.

"Come on babe, let's go in," she said. "Before they give our table away!"

And Sam followed her in.

They had a table outside, in the backyard that was surrounded by a wall that looked like it was at least from the middle ages, vine, and ivy creeping up the weather-worn stone almost hiding it from view. And to Sam's great relief, the restaurant wasn't nearly as fancy as he had feared. The wooden tables and chairs were clearly old and odd, and even if there were white tablecloths, the overall atmosphere was relaxed and cozy, as if this wasn't a restaurant at all, but rather someone's home. The candles at every table were spilling molten stearin to old wine bottles that served as candlesticks.

The food was incredible, and they ate three courses. With her fluent Italian, Jackie ordered a bottle of red wine - and when Sam commented on the fact that he wasn't 21 yet, she laughed it off and told him that the drinking age here was 18 and that he should stop worrying so damn much.

"Besides, the Romans drank wine from the day they were born," she stated and poured him a full glass. "So suck it up, and drink."

So he drank with her, and the wine got into his head. The night was as dark and sweet as the wine, and by the time they had finished their desserts and the waiter had brought them a bottle of Limoncello (it's on the house, he had said), Sam was more than a bit drunk.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Jackie asked, leaning closer to Sam, taking his hand. "Isn't this the best night of your life?"

She had the night in her eyes, her dark pupils were full of stars and galaxies and Sam knew she was right. He still felt her touch on his body, the way she had wrapped her legs around his waist as they had made love in the shower, he still tasted her kisses on his lips. The limoncello was sweet and sticky on his tongue, and he wanted nothing more than to take Jackie back to the hotel, lay her down on their bed, pour that sweet liqueur on her naked belly, and drink it off her skin.

This was the best night of his life. Except for one thing.

He let his fingers entwine with hers, the warmness of her palm against his.

"What is it?" Jackie asked, noticing his momentary silence. "Is something wrong?"

"I just… I feel like I should be the one giving you these things," he admitted. "Taking you on vacation and stuff. Not the other way around."

Jackie gave him one of her smiles that lit up the whole world.

"And you will! Come on, you'll be this fancy pants lawyer with a ton of money and you're gonna be buying me so many diamonds I won't know what to do with them!" She laughed. "It's just for now. You're a student! And I have money. So why not use it on you?"

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "It's just that…"

"I get it," Jackie said. "You want to be the guy. You want to be the one to pay for all this stuff. But really, babe-" she took a sip of her limoncello. "If it makes you feel any better, this isn't that expensive."

"It's not?" Sam asked. "'Cause to me the Hotel looked pretty pricey."

"First of all - teleporting is free," Jackie said. "And yeah, the hotel is a good one, but I just happened to get a 75% discount."

"You just happened to get a discount?"

"I never pay full price, babe," Jackie said with a smirk. "Call it a habit."

Sam lifted a brow.

"Seriously? You used your Jedi powers to get a discount?"

"Still not a Jedi. And hey, I'm not robbing the place or anything. I am paying."

"Whatever," Sam noted drily. "Sorry I asked."

Jackie was silent for a short while.

"Is this going to be a problem?" she asked then, suddenly serious. "'Cause if it is, I need to know."

Sam shrugged.

He didn't know what to say. Who was he to be all holier than thou? He had lived most of his life on stolen money - Dad had never had a real job, he had always been living on credit card scams and stuff, which made him practically a criminal. So what if Jackie used her gifts to pay less? Was it really that big of a deal?

But still.

At least Dad had used stolen money to do good. Sam had to admit that he had saved a lot of people. Instead Jackie…

No matter how desperately he was in love with her, he knew she wasn't exactly a saint. The fact that she used her telepathic abilities to get hotel discounts or to pass people in a line, just didn't feel right to him.

And yet - Jackie had taken him on this insanely romantic and awesome holiday, and he was going to be a bitch about a thing like this? Like Hell.

"It's fine," he finally said. "It's not a big thing."

"But you want me to stop doing it."

Damn. Why did she have to see through him so easily?

Sam shrugged. "I just want a life that's not based on crimes."

"I'm not breaking any laws, you know."

She took her glass and sipped on the limoncello, which brought Sam's attention suddenly to her mouth, the perfect bow shape of her upper lip, the fullness of the lower one. With a flash of desire he remembered how it had felt to kiss her in the shower, how those lips had opened for him, for his tongue to enter-

His throat tightened.

He wanted to kiss her so badly, even at a moment like this. Especially at a moment like this.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just-" he forced his eyes off her lips and met her gaze. In the flickering candlelight, the green of her eyes was suddenly dark, full of shadows, the red of her hair the same color as the flame of the candle.

"You just want to be normal," she said. "I understand. But hon, I'm never going to be a normal girl. I told you that from the start."

Her words wrenched his heart, the sadness behind them felt like a dagger through his sternum.

"I wouldn't change a thing about you," Sam said. "And I'm super thankful that you took me here. I've always wanted to see Rome, and-"

"And it is amazing, right?"

"-and I just wish I'd be able to give you things like this. That's all. I wish I could buy you vacations and dinners and diamonds today. Not ten years from now."

Something softened in her green eyes.

"Babe - I don't really need diamonds, you know?" she said. "I still have that cursed one."

"The black Orlov?"

"Yeah." she turned her eyes down and took a rather big gulp of her liquor. Sam was pretty sure limoncello wasn't supposed to be drunk like that. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about it."

"Oh. What about it?"

"It's the reason we're here in Italy. I've found a way to destroy it for good."

Sam waited for her to go on, but she had suddenly grown very serious. The night wind played in her hair, the shadows moved under her high cheekbones, in the hollow of her neck. The waiter came to collect their plates, but Jackie sent him away with a swift movement of her slender wrist.

"You want to talk about it?" Sam finally asked, after a small eternity.

"I probably should. We're going to do it tomorrow. It takes us on a little detour."

"To where?"

Jackie made a smirk. "To Mount Doom, darling."

"Mount Doom?" he laughed. "Seriously?"

"You'll see."

A small silence. Jackie refilled her glass.

"But there is something else I need to tell you." she paused. "The guy I was supposed to sell the diamond to-"

"Oh. You said he's not happy that the deal is off."

"Yeah. Well. That was putting it mildly." Jackie admitted, with a sour face. "He's really pissed off."

"So you think that destroying the diamond is gonna stop that?"

She gave a shrug. "Well - if the diamond is gone, he can't harass me about it anymore, can he?"

"Well, I don't know-"

"You don't know this guy. As long as I have it, he's gonna be a pain in my ass."

Something in her voice told Sam, Jackie wasn't telling him everything.

"Sounds like you know him well."

Another silence. Jackie cast down her eyes, shadows hiding them from Sam's gaze.

"He's my ex-boyfriend." she finally said, so silently that her voice was almost lost in the chattering of people at the nearby tables.

"Oh."

Sam's throat bobbed. The taste of jealousy on his lips was bitter. It wasn't like he didn't know that Jackie had had boyfriends before him. Of course she had. But to know that she'd been in contact with one of them this recently…

Now he wondered if the furious texting he'd seen her doing all afternoon was about that.

"When were you gonna tell me?" he asked.

"I'm telling you now."

He wanted to snap something at her, something sharp like the pain he felt in his gut when thinking about Jackie with another guy, but he held his tongue.

There was something in her eyes. Something sad, frightened, resigned. Like she was afraid.

"I know it was stupid." She said after a short silence. "I never should've contacted him. But I had the diamond, and I knew it was something he had wanted to possess for ages, and I just… I don't know."

"I thought you'd never had a serious relationship," Sam said, suddenly remembering Jackie telling him so. She had also told him she had never been in love before - now he wondered if any of that had been true.

"It wasn't serious."

"Just serious enough so that you wanted to give him a diamond you almost died stealing?"

"You don't understand." Jackie snapped and again emptied her glass.

"No, I don't. Because you're not telling me."

"And I should tell you all about my ex?"

"It's you who brought him up." Sam said silently. "And I still don't understand why."

"Because…" Jackie worried at her lower lip. "Because, if our trip to Mount Doom won't shut him up, I might have to kill him. And I could use your help."

Whatever Sam had been expecting, it sure as Hell wasn't this.

"You… what?"

"He's an asshole. A narcissistic asshole I might add."

"Jackie, come on! We can't kill a guy just because he's an asshole!"

"Would it help, if I told you that he's a vampire?"

A fucking vampire?

Now Sam regretted ever touching the limoncello. He felt like this conversation was one big black hole where he kept falling into.

"Was he… like that, already when you-?"

Jackie made a face. "Well, yeah."

"But-!"

"Hey, I was going through some hard times. And he was very charming - before it turned out that he was batshit crazy."

"Oh, okay," Sam said, sounding a bit more sarcastic than he would've liked to. "So I guess that makes it alright."

"You're awfully judgmental tonight," Jackie commented. "Vampires are people, you know. They are not all crazy killers."

"Oh, so they are people now. Right."

"Might I remind you, that not a week ago your brother wanted to kill me because I'm not a human," Jackie said, her tone suddenly venomous.

"That's totally different."

"Is it though?" Jackie shrugged. "Anyways, you don't have to scold me. I have regretted ever letting him in my life, for these past 100 years. And I will regret it for at least another 100 to come. It's me, who has to live with the things he... "

She stopped, turned her eyes away, and suddenly Sam noticed she was holding back tears, and all the anger, all the annoyment he had felt melted away.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching to touch her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You know that Joe didn't speak to me for 15 years because of Raphael?" she asked, her voice trembling. "I almost lost my sister because of that insanity. I don't want to lose you because of its shadows."

Her words pierced his chest.

"You're not going to lose me," he said. "I love you."

She was silent for a small while and drank some more of her limoncello before answering.

"You know what I think?" she said then, her voice soft and silent as the night around them. "I think you will love me a bit less every time I tell you a thing about my past. And slowly those little things will build up into a huge mountain of things, and that mountain will finally kill your love for me. And then, one day, you will be the one telling some cute and perfectly normal human girl about the crazy ex who you regret ever meeting."

"That's it," Sam said, and stood up, throwing his napkin to the table.

Jackie's eyes widened, he saw tears in them.

"Sam-"

"That's enough limoncello for you."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm going to take you back to the hotel now," he said, very clearly. "And there I'm going to show you exactly how much I love you. So that you'll never have to say things like that to me again."

He held out his hand for her - and hesitating only for a couple of heartbeats, she took it.

Let me know if you want to read of the ways Sam's gonna show his love, lol! We already skipped the shower sex, for I'm not sure if we need another smut chapter in this fic.