Stuck With You
Rose entered the rehearsal room after a bathroom break. She had been crying. Giovanni could tell immediately. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was still trying to wipe away the final tear. She had been acting off all day but Giovanni didn't want to push her into saying anything she wasn't comfortable with.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Giovanni asked, slowly walking towards her.
"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, looking down at the floor.
Giovanni tapped her shoulder in attempt to get her to look up, "You don't look fine," he said with a concerned look.
"Well I am, can we just get back to rehearsing now?" Rose asked, taking a deep breath to try to compose herself.
"Yeah, if you're sure there's nothing wrong," Giovanni replied.
"I'm sure," she replied bluntly.
Giovanni decided not to push any further and the pair returned to rehearsing. Today they were working on Rose's posture and making sure she could hold the position all the way through the dance.
"Okay, let's go from the top," Giovanni said with energy hoping it would lift her spirits.
Rose walked glumly to her start position whilst Gio corrected her posture. As he adjusted her shoulders, he saw her eyes begin to fill up with tears. She was on the brink of crying. Rose looked away from him because she knew if she even made the smallest bit of eye contact with him, she would burst into tears. Giovanni stepped into her eye line so she had no choice but to look at him.
Giovanni pushed her arms down by her side, "Stop. We aren't going to carry on until you tell me what's wrong." He reached for her hand and as soon as his hand touched hers, she broke down crying.
Rose jumped into Giovanni's arms and pulled them both down to the floor. She sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder, her arms around his neck. There was nothing Giovanni could do except hold her, so that's what he did, stroking her back to give Rose some comfort. He held her so tight, scared to loosen his grip for even a second, planting kisses on her temple, forehead and in her hair. Giovanni could feel himself getting emotional too, seeing Rose upset completely broke him. His eyes began to well up but he managed to bring it back as he knew he had to be calm and collected for Rose.
After a few minutes Rose's breathing started to slow down. Her face still buried into the crook of his neck and Giovanni's lips still lingering on her temple. His shirt was damp from her tears, he didn't mind of course, but it still broke his heart that she was this upset.
Once Rose had calmed down Giovanni took her hand and led her to the sofa. He sat down beside her with his arm around her, still scared to break contact with her. His other arm was in her lap, both of Rose's hands fiddling with his fingers.
"So are you going to tell me what that was all about? It wasn't anything I did was it?" He asked sincerely. He knew she wasn't a sensitive soul but the thought of accidentally upsetting her was playing in Giovanni's mind so he had to ask.
"No. Of course not," she replied quickly. She hated that he even thought it was something he did.
"Then what is it? I don't want to push you into telling me anything you're not comfortable with but I worry about you and I told you once that you deserve every single second of happiness and I meant it. So I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you're okay."
Rose cracked a tiny smile. She knew that he cared deeply about her and just wanted the best for her, which was so sweet. No one had really cared for her like that before.
"Thank you. There's nothing wrong really. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed with it all, and I think pressure is just getting to me today. I saw a few articles before I came into rehearsal today and I think they're messing with my head a little. I try and be as positive as I can be at all times because I feel so lucky to be where I am but sometimes it can all get a bit too much, that's all."
"Don't listen to them okay? It's you and me and no one else matters."
"Nobody care!" Rose joked, as they both burst out laughing. Even when she felt completely defeated she still managed to find the energy to make fun of Giovanni.
Giovanni continued on, "But seriously, ignore them. I think what you're doing is amazing and you inspire me everyday. So no matter what the outcome is, it doesn't matter because you're incredible."
Rose smiled sweetly, "You're so sweet. Thank you. It's just hard to block everyone out sometimes," She replied.
"I know, so when you need to block everyone out, you look at me because it's you and me in this. No one else." Giovanni brought her hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand before carrying on, "You're not alone. I know it can feel like that sometimes, especially during the show but I'm here. For the rest of our time on the show and after. You're stuck with me forever."
"How will I ever survive?" Rose teased as she rolled her eyes.
"You're not funny." Giovanni replied, trying to look serious but it was only a matter of seconds before he broke his character.
After the moment of laughter had passed, Rose looked at him with sincerity and said, "Thank you. For everything"
Giovanni nodded and smiled sweetly, "I love you" he said sincerely. It was pretty clear that Rose was completely oblivious to how Giovanni felt about her but part of him didn't mind for now. It meant that he could confess his love to her subtly every day and they continued on without any awkwardness.
"I love you too," she signed back to him as she sprawled her legs over Giovanni's lap, her hands on his chest. Giovanni held her so tight, placing a final kiss on her forehead.
Rose hadn't quite plucked up the courage to say the words aloud on the off chance that Giovanni didn't mean it in the same way as she did. Which, of course, was not the case.