This chapter is just bits and pieces - the vacation in Rome is nearing to end, Jackie and Sam have a peculiar appointment, they argue and they kiss - and maybe finally get some things done.

No smut, because I'm saving it for later, lol.

As always - I'm so happy that you are here, still reading this NEVER-ENDING fic. Please let me know what you think about this chapter.

When Jackie woke up, Sam was gone.

His side of the bed was made, his jeans and a T-shirt from the nearby chair missing.

Jackie sat up with a pang of worry, the absence of Sam like a hole in her chest.

Oh my God, if he's left me-

But his duffel bag was still on the floor next to the bed, his cellphone on the nightstand. Jackie forced herself to calm down, to take a deep breath.

He probably just went for a walk.

While brushing her teeth and staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, Jackie tried hard not to worry.

She had been quite drunk last night. Drunk of the night, of Rome, drunk of wine and Limoncello and Sam. And she had been talking so much shit - about mountains and diamonds - and about Raphael, that much she remembered, about Raphael and the fact that he was a vampire and that once upon a time she had found him rather charming.

Jackie rolled her eyes to herself and spat the toothpaste into the sink.

Gods. I am an idiot. No wonder Sam was so annoyed.

She couldn't blame him for being pissed. After all, they had been together for about a month, and already in this time she had almost gotten him killed by a golem, had beheaded his classmate in front of him, and told him that her ex was a vampire whom they needed to kill.

If he had even half a brain, he was indeed taking a walk now. A walk that would take him as far away from her as possible.

But if he wants to leave me… then why did he make love to me last night? Why did he kiss me so gently, why did he hold me in his arms as I fell asleep?

Her skin still remembered how his hands had felt, as he had peeled off her dress, those fine, long-fingered hands on the burning skin of her back, as he had pulled her close. His lips on hers in the darkness, moving on the skin of her neck, his hot breathing on her overly sensitive skin. The way his voice had got caught in his throat and come out raspy and broken when he had moaned her name again and again and again as if it wasn't a name at all, but a prayer.

Last night's lovemaking still left her breathless. And yes, it was love-making now, not just fucking, and it was still new to Jackie. So different, and oh God, so much better than anything she had experienced in her life before Sam.

She heard the door of their hotel room opening, as she was brushing her hair (an impossible task), and her heart took a leap.

"Sam?" she asked, laying down the brush.

"Yeah."

He knocked on the bathroom door and she opened it, the smell of freshly ground dark coffee already revealing to her where he had been.

"You got us breakfast?" she asked and noticed the paper bags he was carrying. "You shouldn't have-"

"You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up," he said and bent down to kiss her.

She loved the fact that he was so tall. She loved the taste of his kiss - peppermint toothpaste and salt and Sam. It made her heart flutter as she wrapped her arms around his neck, eased her fingers into his thick hair.

He groaned into the kiss, his lips opening, his tongue meeting hers. Jackie wanted nothing more, than to feel his arms around her, his hands on her skin again, just like last night, she wanted for him to lift her up and push her against the wall, his narrow hips between her thighs, the arcs of his hip bones, the tightness of his abdomen pressing against her own, Oh God, she wanted his lips devouring her neck, she wanted him inside of her so deep it would make her see stars-

"Jackie-" Sam broke the kiss, his chest heaving. "Coffee-"

"I need you more than I need coffee." she breathed, snuggling closer to him. But he couldn't put his arms around her, he couldn't even touch her for he was indeed still holding the brown paper bags in his hands.

"It has lots of milk and sugar," Sam said, still sounding a bit throaty. "And extra dark roast. Just as you like it, right?"

Jackie inhaled the scent of the coffee that lingered around them, and her mouth watered.

Damn, that boy knows what he's doing.

"Fine," she said. "Let's have coffee first."

Sam would never get used to the sickening feeling of free fall that teleporting with Jackie was. It always left him dizzy and feeling like someone had punched him in the gut.

He couldn't help a groan, which drew Jackie's attention to him.

"You okay?" she asked, still holding his hand - and even in a moment like this, he felt his heartbeat reacting to her closeness.

"I'm fine," he said, clearing his throat. "Where are we?"

He eyed their surroundings - a dimly lit room, walls full of dark wooden shelves that were packed with piles of all kinds of fabric, a large table nearby on which were needles, thread, scissors, and balls of wool. There was a dressmaker's half-body mannequin standing in a shadowy corner, which wasn't creepy at all.

"Is this-?" Sam started, but at that exact moment a door at the other end of the room opened, and a man walked in. He was old, had Einstein's hairstyle and a bent posture. His skin looked like crumpled brown paper. Yet, when he looked up and glanced at Sam, his eyes were dark, sharp, and observant.

"I see you have arrived." the old man said with a surprisingly young voice, which held a thick Italian accent. "Buongiorno, Bella!"

"Buongiorno, Matteo!" Jackie replied, and let go of Sam's hand. She reached to embrace the old man heartily, exchanged kisses to both cheeks, making Sam feel a bit uncomfortable.

"So, Jacquelin, you bring guests? Is this the young gentleman I have heard so much about?" The man - Matteo - asked, taking a look at Sam under his bushy, white eyebrows.

"Yes, he is," Jackie said, with a rather smug smile. "Sam Winchester - meet Matteo, my tailor."

Sam arched his brows. "Your tailor?"

"Yes!" Jackie grinned. "He is the best. Like seriously the best. He's been dressing me since…"

Jackie brought her slim index finger on her lips and frowned, trying to calculate, but Matteo finished her sentence.

"Since the 1920s, cara mia," he said. "That red silk gown you wore to the ball that winter - exquisite! Bellissima!"

"Since the 1920s?" asked Sam. "Like, for real?"

With his white hair, Matteo clearly was a senior citizen, but he sure didn't look like he was over 100. Except if he wasn't a human.

That made Sam give an inward groan.

Great. Maybe he's a vampire too. Like Jackie's ex - Raphael.

Sam had almost managed to forget that little detail, but now it was again fresh in his mind like a punch to his gut, and he couldn't help feeling the wrongness of it.

If Jackie noticed his uneasiness, at least she didn't show it. She was still all smiles and pure excitement was making her almost hop on her feet.

"I used to live here," she explained. "After World War 1 - which I very much wanted to forget about, and still do, if you don't mind me saying. Anyhow, Rome was awesome back then - so much fun, so many parties! So many opportunities to dress nicely!"

"So, that's why we're here." Sam gathered. "To get you a dress."

A dress made by a vampire tailor.

Not that Sam didn't enjoy watching Jackie in pretty clothes, but still.

"No hon," she replied with a smirk. "We are here to get you a suit."

"A suit?"

"Yes! You are graduating in one week, and you have absolutely nothing to wear." Jackie said. "And do not argue, I checked your wardrobe."

"I have my prom suit," Sam noted, somewhat offended.

"It won't fit you, babe. You've put on some muscle since then, I think. Those shoulders-"

"All right, fine." he felt a blush creeping on his cheeks, as Jackie was checking out his shoulders - and Matteo the vampire tailor was nodding by her side, his eyes on Sam's frame also. "But can't I just get one next week? I mean-"

"Babe, we're in Italy!" Jackie exclaimed. "You're not leaving without a suit. And a shirt. And some ties, I think. Or what do you say, Matteo?"

"Chiaro, Chiaro." the old man gave a series of sharp nods, his eyes still on Sam's body. "I have the suit ready, and two shirts to go with it. Aspetta un momento-"

"You ordered a suit for me?" Sam asked as Matteo wandered off the room muttering to himself in Italian, and Sam found himself alone with Jackie again. "From that guy? Without asking if I wanted one?"

He couldn't hide the tense tone of his voice, and the smile on Jackie's slips slowly died.

That sight made Sam immediately feel like a jerk.

"I... " Jackie started. "I just thought-"

"You checked my wardrobe? And contacted this guy-" he paused. "Just- How did he know my size?"

Jackie glanced down, all signs of her happy mood now erased. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her floral 1950's style dress.

"I sent him your measurements."

"You measured me?"

"While you were sleeping one night."

"Oh, come on-" Sam paused mid-sentence. "If you don't like the clothes I wear, you could've just told me so."

Like a slap on the face he remembered the day she'd been in Paris, and when returning to him, she had commented that the French dudes in suits made her horny. Apparently, she hadn't been joking after all.

"This is not about the way you dress," Jackie replied, now sounding a bit tense too. "I happen to love your jeans and T-shirt looks. You know I do - it's fucking hot."

He turned his eyes back at her.

"Then what is this about?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you. You know. I wanted to give you a gift, something nice, something you couldn't have gotten yourself."

"Because I don't have the money?"

"Again?" Jackie snorted. "How many times do I have to tell you this isn't about the money? I don't care about money! I only happen to have it now, because you made me sell all the invaluable junk in my safe! I wanted to give a gift to my boyfriend, but Hell, if I'm not allowed to do that-"

At that moment the door opened again, and Matteo walked in holding a suit bag in his crumpled old man's hands. He glanced at Jackie with his dark eyes, then at Sam, and frowned with his snow-white eyebrows.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked. "We can reschedule-"

"No," Jackie said, with a wave of her hand. "This time is perfect.."

Sam didn't say a thing, just stuffed his hands deep into his pockets.

"Just try it on," Jackie said, turning her gaze back at him. "If you don't like it, fine. I'm not gonna force you to take it."

Matteo made a sound that was half laugh, half snort.

"Ragazzo Mio," he said. "I have been dressing gentlemen for over 150 years. I guarantee you shall like it."

"I guarantee that I will like it," said Jackie. "Just try it on, for me."

The suit fit like a glove. There was no point in denying it.

And to think that Dean used to call these monkey-suits.

There was nothing stupid in the way he looked, nothing ridiculous. With the suit on, he looked even taller and slimmer than usual, the cut complementing his muscular frame, bringing out the wideness of his shoulders, the narrowness of his hips. The material of both the ivory shirt and the dark suit was luxurious - comfortable and classy at the same time - and the green shade of his silk tie drew attention to his eyes.

He looked years older. The man looking back at him in the mirror was a grown-up, a respectable law student, not just a high school kid.

"Oh, wow," said Jackie, swooning. "You look dashing."

Sam couldn't help a small smile in the corner of his lips. "Dashing?"

"Real eye-candy," she said, and Sam blushed.

"I have to admit-" he cleared his throat. "That it's not bad."

"Not bad?!" Matteo cried out and muttered something that sounded like a litany of curses in Italian. "Jacquelin, you tell this boy-!"

"Hear him out, Sam," Jackie stated with a soft tone. "You look smokin' hot."

Sam turned around in front of the mirror, noticing not only the suit but also the way Jackie's gaze was gliding on his body, her cheeks blushing slightly as she was clearly undressing him with her eyes.

She smirked as her glance stopped on his ass - which was very nicely presented in these rather slim trousers.

"Is it not…?" he asked. "I don't know, a bit tight?"

"Nonsense!" Jackie exclaimed. "You Americans and your weird loose-fitting suits. That's how a suit is supposed to fit. You look like a Greek statue!"

"Come un dio romano," Matteo noted.

Sam wasn't quite sure how to feel about the fact that a centuries-old guy - a vampire? - was checking out his butt.

He chose to ignore it, instead concentrating on the way Jackie was looking at him.

Her eyes were deep and dark and dreamy - she looked at him as if he was something amazing. As if he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. As if she saw him as he was meant to be, as he was going to be, after he graduated, after he got into the law school, as if she could see him as he was going to be when they lived together in Stanford, had a home of their own, when he was a lawyer with his own firm and tons of money-

Money, he could - and would - use on Jackie.

With a jolt, he realized how petty he had been before. How childish.

Jackie loved him. And she wanted to give him this amazing gift, that was so much more than just a suit - it was a window into their future.

How was he going to say no to that?

He met her gaze through the mirror.

"I love it," he said. "I'd like to keep it." and after a heartbeat: "Thank you, Jackie."

She grinned and it was like sunshine in his heart.

Sometime later they were walking back to the hotel, the suit was now packed in a bag that Sam was carrying on his shoulder. Jackie was walking by his side, her high ponytail bouncing on the beat of her brisk steps.

"So… about that tailor-?" he asked, as they were passing a cafe, people sitting on the porch with small cups of dark espresso, the scent of strong coffee filled Sam's senses.

"Matteo?" Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"What is he? A vampire?"

Jackie burst into laughter, so loud that people sitting on the terrace turned to look.

"A vampire? Gods, no!"

Sam was a bit embarrassed. "He was clearly old. And not a human."

"Yeah, but I don't know what he is," Jackie replied, giving him a sideways glance. "Just that you know - it's very rude to ask that of someone."

"So-" Sam stepped aside to let a bright red Vespa pass, then took a couple of hurrying steps to catch up with Jackie. "To be clear - you've been getting your dresses from that guy for like 80 years, and you don't even know what he is?"

Jackie shrugged her slender shoulders.

"I don't really care what he is," she replied. "He makes the most amazing clothes, and that's all that matters to me."

"Okay," Sam replied. "But still-"

"You want to know if you need to hunt him?" she asked, a bit pointedly.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"He's not hurting anyone," she said and glanced at Sam, her green eyes suddenly serious. "On the contrary - he's making people happy. He's bringing joy to the world. Is that a crime?"

Sam had to admit she had a point.

"No, it's not," he said. "And I'm not Dean - I'm not gonna go shooting at some guy just because he's not a human."

Her eyes softened. They stopped at the red lights, the cars and Vespas rushed by, horns honking even if it was Sunday morning instead of a rush hour. The sun was already high up in the sky, and Sam was glad he had changed back into his jeans and T-shirt, instead of keeping the suit - even if Jackie had looked mighty disappointed when he had taken that off.

"I think he has some elf blood in him," Jackie said after a short while, her eyes in the traffic. "You did notice his ears, did you not?"

He had not. Not under that Einstein's hair.

"Elf blood?" he asked, incredulous. "Elves exist?"

"Oh, you sweet summer child." Jackie laughed. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But enough of that now - we've got things to do."

The day was turning into a night, and Rome with all its wonders was now only a distant memory in the back of Sam's mind. The day had been long, it was already dark, the sky was like a canvas of black velvet, high up above his head.

"What is this place?"

The wind almost took his voice, even if he had been shouting. They had appeared from the thin air into this black mountainside, into this scenery with no trees, no flowers, nothing living as far as Sam could see. There was only the wind, so ferocious, that Sam feared it would take them, blow them down this unearthly mountainside, send them spinning into their deaths.

He couldn't see the surrounding landscape. Only a ring of clouds, far below him. And the mountain, all black sand and stone - and at some distance - a crater, that burst fire, and lava into the air that was thick with the smell of brimstone.

Jackie turned to face him, the hem of her bell-shaped summer dress flapping in the wind around her bare legs, the strands of her hair partly hiding her face from his eyes.

"Mount doom." she cried, over the howling of the wind.

Mount doom?

She had once said that all the stories were true, but Sam was pretty sure she hadn't meant Lord of the Rings. Still, this mountain was unlike anything he had ever seen.

He could feel the soil under his feet trembling as the mountain roared, heat radiating from the ground into his feet, even in this ice-cold wind.

"Is this… Vesuvius?" he asked. "Are we still in Italy?"

"This is Etna," she replied, stuffing her hand into the pocket of her dress - and taking out the diamond. The sight of it made Sam feel like he had swallowed a block of ice.

He remembered it on Jackie's palm, that night when he had killed the golem. When he had almost lost Jackie.

It was freezing up here - Sam shivered in his T-shirt, the skin of his arms on goosebumps, but Jackie didn't seem to notice the cold. Only the burning of her cheeks told of emotion - which one, Sam couldn't tell.

"We're here to destroy the diamond," Jackie shouted. "This is why we're here, why we came to Italy in the first place."

Sam felt a pang of worry in his chest.

"How?" he had to raise his voice for her to hear him. The constant cry of wind made speaking impossible, it was so hard to stay on his feet.

Jackie flashed him a devilish grin.

"When in doubt - toss it into a mount." She laughed. "Wait here!"

And with that, she disappeared - and reappeared high up in the air, right over the roaring crater.

"Jackie-!" Sam cried, but in vain - there was no way she'd hear him over this wind. In horror, digging his nails into his palms, he watched her free fall through the air, the couple of seconds that felt like an eternity. She reached her arm, opened her fist, and let something fall, a small, black item that reflected the light of the volcano as it went spinning down into the kettle of fire, into the burning heart of the peak.

It was over in a heartbeat. She reappeared next to him, her chest heaving with fast breaths, soot, and ash on her face and hair, one of her shoes was missing and her beautiful dress was all stained with black, the hem of it in burnt holes - but she was laughing.

"Done!" she cried. "The diamond is gone and Raphael can go fuck himself!"

"You are insane!" Sam shouted back. "That was crazy-"

But his hands were on her shoulders, and he pulled her near - her shivering form in his arms - she smelled like smoke and sulfur and she was laughing into the kiss. His fingers dug deep into her ashen hair, her lips were hot even in this freezing wind and they opened to him - and he kissed her, kissed her like there was no tomorrow, didn't stop kissing her even when feeling the now familiar tug of teleportation in his gut.

That night in the hotel room, Sam could not sleep.

He kept seeing it over and over again in his mind, on his closed eyelids.

The sight that had burned its way into his brain - Jackie, free-falling through the night, a burning flame high up in the dark sky.

He heard her unearthly laughter among the stars, over the raging wind.

That was how he would remember her for a long time to come.

A star in the sky.

That was how he would remember her after - when all of this was over, after this time of love and wonders that slipped through his fingers like water, after everything went to Hell, after she died and he was alone, he still couldn't stop seeing it.

Her light burning through the darkness.

Now go and review, guys! Let me know what you thouthgt.

In the next chapter, we'll have Sam's graduation party - which is NOT going to go as smoothly as they could wish for, lol. 'Cause, when do things ever go as planned? And what's going to happen after that? Is Jackie ever going to make it to Stanford with Sam?