Hehehehehehehehe And y'all were worried he wouldn't show up! Come on! Lol

I'm so glad y'all are enjoying this so far.

So, as I'm typing this, my brother and his family are boarding the plane in Dublin to head to Rome. I just got a batch of pics from my SIL of them touring the Jameson plant/brewery. My brother and SIL are HUGE Jameson fans. Like, not even joking, it's their absolute favorite drink.

Also, a couple of people had commented on Bella loving to eat, or the information I'm adding in of her experiences. (Not in a bad way at all.) I'm a firm believer in experiences. Be that food, visiting historic places, learning new things, whatever. So if I can bring some of that into my stories, and let my readers know some of the places I love, food I love to cook or experience myself, then I feel like I'm bringing that to a new audience. So that if, for example, if someone hasn't been to Charleston or experienced southern food, some of y'all might be inclined to visit Charleston and have your own experiences there. It truly is a wonderful place to visit and there's just so much to do and learn. I think sharing that kind of information on whatever the subject matter might be, is a huge part of broadening your horizons.

Anywho, let's see what Rome has in store for our favorite couple, shall we?

Song credit for this chapter; 'How do I Live' by LeAnn Rimes

Previously…

Walking up to the front of the temple turned church, I see the unmistakable dome on the top with the dozen or so columns out front.

It's gorgeous.

"Wow…" I whisper as I'm still on the phone with Edward. "This is quite impressive…"

"It is, isn't it?" I hear over the phone, but also off to my right…

Chapter 12 - Rome

BPOV

I turn slowly, stunned and slack-jawed as I see a smirking Edward walking towards me, phone still to his ear, as he's just stepped out of a cab.

I just stand there, too shocked to move or form words.

Edward's here… in Italy… He's here with me in Italy…

Holy shit!

"Holy shit! You're here!" I finally jolt out of my shocked state, and run towards him, throwing my arms around his neck, wrapping my legs around his waist, and hugging the life out of him.

He just laughs as he wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly to him.

"I couldn't stay away. I wanted to come and experience, at least some of this trip with you. And I missed you. So I think that's a good reason to come." I can hear the smile in his voice again.

I pull back and stare at him. "God, I love you so much."

He smiles up at me, where I'm perched, with his arms still around my waist. "I love you, too." He kisses my lips sweetly, then continues. "We had some down time between houses we're working on, so this was the perfect opportunity. I couldn't pass it up."

"I'm so glad you came. How long do I get to keep you here?" I ask as he sets me down and we turn to start walking towards the Pantheon.

"Until you leave for Greece. Til then, let's enjoy this stunning city." He keeps an arm around my waist as we take in the gorgeous architecture.

I snuggle into his side as we tour the ancient temple that was almost two thousand years old, reading some of the information as we go. The oculus and dome blows my mind. It's NOT reinforced, so it's free standing overhead, and still standing after almost two millennia.

"Wow. Who would've thought that was possible after so much time?" I ask Edward as we both stare in awe at the coffered dome.

Edward is taking everything in with his construction eyes. "I don't know, but it's obvious they knew what they were doing when they built this. Actually, from the little bit I saw driving over here, the whole city looks incredibly built." He says as we take a walk around, looking at each of the niches lining the walls.

"Raphael's tomb…" I whisper as we come to a halt in front of it.

"It's not everyday you get to see the resting place of one of the great artists." He says from beside me. "This is so cool."

I smile as we keep going, and finally finish up inside the Pantheon.

We walk around the city some more, just taking in the buildings, stopping at some cute little shops.

"Alice would lose her shit seeing some of these fashion shops. I mean, look at this stuff!" I tell Edward, motioning to the plethora of fabulous high fashion articles of clothing.

She thought Paris was the fashion capital? Italy definitely is, too. But Alice would be more focused on Milan.

That doesn't mean it hasn't spread across the country.

"Oh I have no doubt. This stuff is amazing." He tells me, looking at a gorgeous lavender dress. "What about this? This color would be stunning on you."

I do love lavender, and the dress he's holding up is sleek, and classy, but has an understated nod to the history of Italy. Kind of like an ancient Roman dress, only shorter.

"Oh I love that!" I rush over and find my size, and hold it up to myself and turn to look in the mirror. "I'm definitely getting this."

I find a few other fun things around the store and pay for my purchases, then we head out again.

We make a few other stops, then make a detour by the hotel to drop off our haul. Edward told me that he had dropped off his suitcase at the front desk and they'd hold it until we got back.

Grabbing his bag, we make our way up to my room. As I'm unlocking my door, I'm trying to remember, and praying, that I didn't leave my room a total mess.

Thankfully I didn't. Just a few clothes I couldn't decide on from this morning when I was getting dressed, my guitar, and just a few little things here and there. Nothing major.

"This is a great room." Edward murmurs as he takes in the room and walks over to the window to see the view. "Wow. Now that's an amazing view of the city."

I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist with my head nestled between his shoulder blades.

"It is. But the one from my hotel room in Paris was so much better. I just sat there and stared at the Eifel Tower for hours and hours. I even fell asleep on the sofa a couple times, just staring out the window. I want us to go back there together. You'd absolutely love Paris."

"I'm sorry I missed that. It does sound like something I'd enjoy, from what you've told me." He turns around and faces me, bringing his own arms around me and just holds me to him. "What else is on the list while you're here?"

I look up at him and see the smile on his face. "Well, I wanna go to the Trevi Fountain. It's actually not far from the Pantheon we were at earlier. One day this week, I wanna go to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Maybe go to a few of the other churches around. They're really so gorgeous in this city. I know we used to go around to the churches in Charleston when we were younger, but they don't have anything on the ones here and in Paris."

"I will agree with you there. Just the couple we saw today were amazing." He says, as we both turn and look out the window again.

We take a little break from our exploring while we're dropping off our stuff, and we curl up on the sofa together, and just talk.

We decide to go to the Trevi Fountain and get some dinner in the evening.

Making our way back out to the streets of Rome, we grab a cab to take us to the Trevi Fountain area.

Once the cab stops about a block away, we get out and walk the rest of the way.

"Holy moly… Would you look at that!" I say, completely in awe at the actual size of the Trevi Fountain.

"That is just… unbelievable…" Edward seems at a loss for words next to me.

The fountain really is incredible. The pretty blue color of the water with the amazing and intricate carved stone scene all around it is just fabulous.

"It's so pretty…" I whisper at the sheer artistry that went into this place.

That's the thing about the true artisans of the past. They put the extra effort in to make things beautiful and long lasting. Which is why so many of these things were done so well. They put thought and great effort into their work. No short cuts, no half assed shit. Just hard work, and amazing, lasting results.

"You got a coin on you?" I ask him, wanting to make a wish.

"Sure." He digs in his pocket and produces two nickels, two dimes and two pennies. Handing me one of each and keeping one of each for himself. "Here. Right hand, over your left shoulder. Together?" He asks as we turn with our backs to the fountain.

I nod and count down. "3,2,1, toss!" We both throw our coins over our left shoulder, making our wishes.

The fact that he's given us both three coins for the fountain is very telling. Three coins means you'll return to Rome, find love and get married.

I found my love, I do hope we return here one day.

But most of all, I hope when we do return, it's as a married, happy couple.

I open my eyes and turn to him, seeing him smiling at me and reach up to kiss him, knowing that we're both on the same page.

/-/

Opening my eyes in the morning, I feel a strong arm around my waist.

I roll to my side to look at him as he still sleeps.

He's such a handsome man. His tousled bronze hair is still a mess, mostly because I kept running my hands through it last night. He's got a slight stubble going on because he hasn't shaved since he got here two days ago. There's a smile playing on his face, and I can't help but wonder what he's dreaming about.

I gently crawl out of bed and take care of things in the bathroom.

Walking out to the small living area of my suite, wearing just Edward's t-shirt I've been sleeping in, I sit down on the sofa.

Grabbing my guitar, I set to work on some more music that's been rattling around in my head. There's been several on my mind in the past few weeks since I left L.A.. Which just goes to show that getting out of L.A. is probably the best thing for me. I've been able to think more clearly and have had so much more inspiration in the last four weeks than I have in the past six years of being in L.A.

How do I,

Get through one night without you?

If I had to live without you,

What kind of life would that be?

Oh, I...

I need you in my arms, need you to hold,

You're my world, my heart, my soul,

If you ever leave,

Baby you would take away everything good in my life,

And tell me now

How do I live without you?

I want to know,

How do I breathe without you?

If you ever go,

How do I ever, ever survive?

How do I, how do I, oh how do I live?

Without you,

There'd be no sun in my sky,

There would be no love in my life,

There'd be no world left for me.

And I,

Baby I don't know what I would do,

I'd be lost if I lost you,

If you ever leave,

Baby you would take away everything real in my life-

I stop singing for a moment and write something down in my notebook.

It's then that I feel Edward's eyes on me and I look up and see him leaning on the door frame. He's got his arms crossed and a look on his face that's pure love and adoration.

"That was beautiful." He whispers as he walks over to where I'm sitting as I set the guitar against the side table beside me.

Turning back to him as he sits, I scoot over and curl up next to him. I feel his arms encircle me, then gently squeeze.

"Thank you. I hope you know it was about you." I tell him.

"I'm completely honored. I hope you know that I feel the same way, gorgeous. Now that I've got you back, I don't know what I would do if I lost you again. I feel like the other part of myself is put back into place since you came back." He says as he leans his head on top of mine.

"Me too." I say as I play with the string of his hoodie that he's thrown on.

"When did you start writing that one?" He asks.

"Well, I started thinking about it when I left for Paris. I puttered around for a while at night when I was looking out at the Eifel Tower. Then, I guess the fifth night I was there, I actually started writing it."

"You can definitely write a song, I'll give you that. The fact that you can sing them beautifully will give people a different view of you. Ya know?" He asks, and I nod in return. "You went out to be a predominantly rock n roll singer, but you have a beautiful voice. I don't know why you've hidden it over the years."

Thinking about it, it's hard to say for sure. "I guess I never trusted that side of my voice to carry me anywhere. There's so many naturally beautiful voices out there, but the rock scene didn't really have that many females. I think I mostly just targeted that niche and never thought about giving my normal singing voice a try."

He grabs the room service menu and starts looking it over. "Well, I think you should see where this new route goes. You might be surprised." He kisses my cheek and we decide on something for breakfast.

We spent most of yesterday just being lazy and staying close to the hotel. We still went to a few places, but nothing major.

Today, we're going to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. So, we enjoy our breakfast in our pajamas, then start getting ready for our day.

We grab a cab to take to the Colosseum since it's a little further out from our hotel.

Pulling up to the Colosseum, my jaw is on the floor.

"Holy Gladiator ring, Batman…" I whisper, completely in awe of what I'm seeing.

"You can say that again… This is spectacular." Edward says as we exit the cab and just stare at the ancient Colosseum.

It's really not what I was expecting when I thought of the Colosseum… but then again, it is. You automatically think of the movie Gladiator when you think of ancient Roman Colosseum fighting. But with the age and damage over the centuries, it's a lot more deteriorated than I thought it would be.

But it's no less impressive. Not at all.

We explore around the Colosseum itself for a little more than an hour, then head over to some of the other ancient ruins that are close by.

Once we'd researched some of the area before we came today, we found there's a lot of really cool ancient ruins to see right near the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Titus, the Temple of Venus and Rome, the House of Augustus, the Palatine Museum and Stadio Palatino, along with the Roman Forum.

These places are just insanely cool.

We spend the majority of the day wandering around these sites, and being in a state of complete wonder that we're where the ancient Romans once stood. And it feels incredible.

We've sufficiently worn ourselves out with the amount of walking we've done around the city today. So we make our way back to the hotel to freshen up, and I change into the lavender dress Edward had picked out. Then we set off to find some yummy food for dinner.

Side note: Italian food, real deal Italian food, is the best. We think we've had the good stuff back at home, but being here and experiencing it for real… Oh man, it is fantastic.

We walk down the street, hand in hand, just enjoying the night life of Rome. It's so romantic to see the beauty of this city.

Edward decided he wants to visit the Trevi Fountain again.

"I think…" Edward says as we're walking around the city after dinner. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Trevi Fountain is right over…" He looks in a couple directions, then points to our right. "there."

He pulls me along as he we see the lights of the fountain come into view.

"It's still so beautiful. Can we just hang out here for a little while?" I ask as we make our way over to steps and walk down.

He nods and we take a seat on the steps, and people watch and just look at the fountain.

I lay my head on his shoulder as we continue to observe our surroundings. It's so peaceful and amazing here. I'm so glad Edward knew to bring me back.

/-/

Walking down the hall to our hotel room, my hand in Edward's, I can't think of a better day that I've had. Or a week, for that matter. And I don't want him to leave the day after tomorrow.

We've talked and talked and talked over the last few days, learning more about who we are now as adults. Just adding onto what we already knew and it's making it all the more easier to be connected.

I love this man. I think I've made a pretty substantial decision about my life and moving forward with him. I don't want to waste time questioning what I want with him anymore.

He's what I want.

Closing the door behind me, I lean against it and just watch him as he drops the room key on the table and starts taking his jacket and shoes off.

He glances over at where I'm still standing and looks at me inquisitively.

I walk over to him and grab his hand in mine. I look in his eyes and see the love reflecting back at me.

"What's up, baby?" He asks as he takes my other hand, too.

I hesitate for only a moment, but ask him, "Is that offer still on the table?"

He thinks for a second and I see something click. "The one for you to move in?" I nod, then he goes on. "Absolutely." He says fervently.

I crash my lips to his and start pulling at his t-shirt. He catches on and pulls his arms up so that I can remove his shirt, then he's wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against him.

I'm not even slightly hesitant for this. Not with him. I know he'd never hurt me and that he loves me.

I go to unbuckle his belt as he starts pulling at the zipper on my dress.

We continue undressing each other and he pulls me towards the bedroom.

As we shuffle to the bed, him in his boxer briefs and me in my bra and panties, he stops me and asks, "Bella, are you sure about this? I don't want you to rush."

I look up at him and see the concern in his eyes. "I'm tired of letting him win. I made my choice to move back home. I want to start living my life again, and I want to do it with you. I'm done putting things on hold. You're what I want. I've always wanted you. Even when we were apart, I always knew, deep down that you were what my heart was missing. We're just picking up where we left off. Edward, I love you. That hasn't changed, and it's never going to."

He looks in my eyes for a moment longer before he crashes his lips back to mine.

He reaches around to the back of my bra and unhooks it, pulling the straps down my arms and throwing it across the room. He then eases me down onto the bed, kissing his way down to my breasts. Sucking one nipple into his mouth, he cups the other breast, sending jolts through my body and I moan. I run my fingers through his hair as he keeps up a pace of alternating between giving attention to each breast.

He starts kissing his way down my stomach, trailing his fingers along my ribs then my hipbones, making me wiggle on the bed. Looking up at me, he's making sure I'm ready for this. I just nod, then watch as he pulls either side of my panties down, then completely off me, flinging them along with wherever my bra is.

Kissing the inside of my thigh, he works his way to where I'm wanting him most. He lovingly, and painstakingly slow, finally kisses my pussy, letting his tongue run over it as he does. Then he takes his fingers, opening me up and taking a full swipe, making me writhe and squirm on the bed, moaning like I'm some porn star.

No, not switching careers right now.

He continues his assault on me, slow at times, then picking up his pace just to pull back again to hold off the impending orgasm I feel building.

"Edward, I swear if you don't knock that shit off, I might renege on agreeing to move in with you."

He looks up at me from his spot, quirks an eyebrow, then digs in, going deep, hard and fast, sprinting me to a shattering orgasm.

"Oh my god!" I shout as it rolls through me, and I arch off the bed, hoping this part is what lasts and lasts.

Dropping back to the bed, panting, with my eyes closed, I feel him kiss up my body again, stopping off at my neck and up to my ear, then finally to my lips.

I kiss him back, not caring where he just was, and feel his erection rubbing against my leg. I can't help but reach down to rub him, making him hiss into my mouth.

"I just remembered, I don't have any condoms." He says as he pulls back slightly.

I shake my head and tell him, "It's ok. I get the shot."

He seems hesitant. "Only if you're sure." He says, then seeing my responding nod, lines himself up, then slowly enters me, both of us groaning because it's been so long.

He starts a slow pace, pulling out then back in as deep as he can get.

I push on his shoulder, and he rolls us so I'm on top, and I grind my body against his. Lifting up and taking him back in, I feel the delicious tingles having him inside sends through my whole body.

He grabs hold of my hips and helps push and pull me along, swiveling my hips as he does. I cup my breasts as I continue my pace, pulling and twisting my peaks, moaning again.

This man has always made me feel incredible when we were together like this, and I'm so glad that it hasn't changed over the years we were apart.

I feel the build-up in my belly growing and I lean forward, placing my hands by his head and pick up my pace, making him moan loudly.

I lean down and take his lips with mine, swallowing his moans, and sharing my own with him as we both race towards our orgasms.

"Oh god, Bella, I missed you so much, it's actually painful knowing how long I've missed this with you." He moans into my mouth again, still with a firm grip on my hips.

I nod, knowing exactly what he means.

"Oh fuck, I hope you're close, cuz I can't hold off much longer." I tell him, feeling like I'm about to explode.

"I am. Come here baby, I want you to cum all over me." He says as he grips my hair, pulling me to him and kissing me intensely, both of our tongues fighting for dominance.

Hearing him say that makes the dam break and I feel myself fall over the edge and start chanting/moaning, "oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!"

I feel his build-up and explosion as he jerks inside me, cumming deep inside and moaning my name as he does.

I collapse on top of him, feeling completely drained, but oh so happy.

We're both panting messes as we lay there together, trying to calm down.

After a few minutes of catching our breathes, I break the silence. "Wow. That was better than I ever remember it being."

I feel him laugh under me, his chest vibrating under my ear.

"Oh that was definitely better than I remember." He reaches down and pushes my hair out of my face, then kisses my forehead. "Are you ok?"

I lift my head, folding my arms over his chest and rest my head on them and just look at him lovingly. "I'm perfect. I love you so much."

His answering smile is wide and goofy. He kisses me three times, then pulls me up, turning us on our sides so we're face to face, and just stare at each other.

We stay like that for a while, not speaking, not moving. I'm trying to memorize this feeling, right now, with him. So that when he leaves to go back home, and when I go back to L.A., that I can look back and know that I'm heading back towards happiness and love. That I am going to start healing.

That I'm going home.

A/N: Sooooo, we are kind of at the halfway point in this story... Anyone caught onto the four letter word?

Hope y'all enjoyed! Leave some love and I'll see y'all tomorrow!