Please note, there is a tense shift here. I didn't plan it, but the chapter came to me partially formed, and it was in past tense.

It was warm the day they left. They stood on the deck, waving at Josh and Michelle on the dock. Jenn sighed happily and leaned her head on Orli's shoulder, still smiling and waving at her best friends, even though their faces were being rapidly reduced to mere spots as the ship moved smoothly and silently out of the harbor. When their faces were no longer visible even as tiny specks, Jen allowed her arm to drop to her side. The smile on her face she turned up to her new husband, who, to her mild surprise, was waiting for her gaze to meet his. He kissed her softly, like he'd been doing every five minutes since the two had been legally declared "husband and wife." He seemed, Jen mused, to be trying to reassure himself that she was still his, that it wasn't all just a dream.

Not that she minded. At all. She, too, sometimes had trouble believing it all; it was so hard to believe her good fortune. Orlando Bloom, worshiped or at least admired by roughly half the people on the planet, had looked past everyone in the glamorous life he led, to reach for Jennifer ("Jennifer Who?" the world repeated, dumbfounded), Jennifer of Nowheresville, U.S.A., Jennifer, ordinary everyday girl. That, to Jenn, said a lot more than any words he could speak ever would.

They had met and dated under casual, almost coincidental circumstances. That famous Orlando Bloom would ever propose to not-so-famous Jennifer Trayan was enough of a miracle in itself, to Jenn. She could not believe it would ever have come to this.

And yet, it had. Orli had told her the night of the wedding that he had tickets for a three week cruise, stopping in the Caribbean Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda, to hit the highlights Jenn had had no idea that Orlando had planned anything, especially something that she hadn't agreed to, but at the same time she was thrilled because she couldn't have planned a more ideal honeymoon if she'd been given a lifetime to try.

And now here they were, in first class of an elegant ocean liner. A gentle breeze played across their faces, picking up Jenn's hair and flirting with it. In the distance, a seagull screeched, but the grating sound reached their ears as a comforting noise associated with the open ocean, bringing back fond memories of childhood trips to the beach. And everywhere there was a faint but invigorating smell of the sea. It was that mild but consistent ocean scent that took the final step in convincing Jen that she was not dreaming.

I could stay here forever, she thought dreamily. Is there any greater paradise than this?

Well… yes, there was. Jenn snapped abruptly back to reality as she suddenly became aware that Orli was tugging gently but insistently on her hand, and, she judged from the slightly amused look, mingled with traces of affectionate impatience, on his handsome face, he had been for some time.

"Sorry," Jenn said sheepishly as she allowed herself to be pulled across the deck to the cabins behind them.

Orlando led Jen down a hallway carpeted in a deep, mahogany red. Various paintings lined creamy beige walls. Tall, thin lamps, designed to resemble fancy streetlights, but with beige lampshades to match the walls, gave the whole hallway a soft, warm, welcoming glow. Jenn found herself drinking it all in eagerly, not wanting to miss a thing. Her eyes were wide with awe and delight. Orlando watched her, amusement in his eyes. "Like it?" he asked with a gently mocking laugh.

"I love it! It's so amazing," Jenn breathed.

Orli smiled and continued down the hallway, stopping at last at a door marked A33 (even the door, made of a dark wood and polished to perfection, was a marvel in itself, Jenn mused). Orli presented Jenn with a brass key engraved with the room number before turning to insert its duplicate in the lock on the door. After a moment of fumbling, the door sprang open.

If Jen had been stunned by the breathtaking elegance surrounding her before, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. The room before her eyes was colossal. A king-sized bed lay against one wall. Already neatly made, it boasted a simple, patterned cream quilt and many fluffy pillows, a contrast to the deep mahogany of the headboard. Matching nightstands displayed identical alarm clocks, brand-new Bibles and lamps, already lit and complete with beige lampshades. A landscape painting of a lake was portrayed over the bed.

Directly across from the bed was a wooden mahogany dresser. A phone lay perched on its left corner; a lamp matching the two on the night tables graced the right. A beautiful jewelry box sat in the middle; over two dozen showy pieces of jewelry, clearly visible through the glass windows of the jewelry box, sat winking benignly up at the couple as they caught the light, waiting for further use. A gilt-framed, full-length mirror lay to the right of the dresser, in a corner of the rectangular-shaped room.

To the left of the door was a desk that matched the rest of the furniture in the room. A desk lamp in pale beige sat in the upper left hand corner, and a great stack of the ship's finest stationery sat next to an assortment of pens.

Directly across from the door, on the other side of the room, was a vanity table, complete with dozens of brand-name cosmetics and lights winking around the mirror. Jenn saw herself in the mirror; her mouth was open in shock.

Jenn stepped into the room, barely noticing the carpet (a deep, rich red), the walls (a soft, creamy sort of beige) or the elegant fan that hung from the ceiling and somehow held its own in the room full of overrated elegance (not that Jenn minded it). What did catch her attention, however, was the white door by the vanity table. She walked over to it and pushed it open.

It led, as she had expected, into a bathroom. Her immediate thought was that she could spend her entire honeymoon in this bathroom and be happy the whole time. Unlike the main room, filled with soft beiges and creams, the tiled floor and painted walls were a blunt white. A toilet was separated from the rest of the room by an enclosing wall and another door. Two sinks were set beneath yet another mirror. Two cups, multiple bars of scented soaps, several brands of toothpaste and a few toothbrushes graced the white countertop. A quick inspection of the wooden cabinets underneath revealed multiple tissue boxes, brushes and some mild medicines, including Advil, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Midol and something that looked like pills to counteract seasickness. The bathtub, Jenn thought, more closely resembled a swimming pool and had several kinds of bubble baths perched around its edges. A rack of fluffy white towels and washcloths lay next to it. Jenn noticed, looking to the left of the bathtub, that the separate shower had three steps leading up to it; it was raised above the ground level. Then she realized that the bathtub/swimming pool was connected to the shower by a glass door, and one could just climb up out of the tub and into the shower. Must be some crazy new invention, she thought. Although not at all sure she would prefer this to a regular shower, Jen was always ready to try something new and exciting, so she registered no comments or complaints. The whole room, she noticed now, was awash with the soft glow of a golden chandelier.

Jenn stepped back into the bedroom, noticing one plush velvet chair in a corner by the bed, and two others in the opposite corner. She sank gratefully down into the one closest to her, noticing another door as she did, and assuming it led into an enormous walk-in closet.

Orli took the chair next to her, sweeping his arm out to indicate the room at large. "So… home for the next three weeks. Think you'll survive it?" he teased.

"Wow," Jenn managed. It came out as a breathless whisper. "I… wow."

Orli laughed. "You want to lie down awhile before dinner?" he asked; they had, after all, had to get up at five to be on the ship by eight.

Jenn was very open to this idea, and indeed tried unsuccessfully to stifle a huge yawn, before plopping herself down on the endlessly soft bed. Within five minutes she was sound asleep.

Orli chucked to himself and, not at all tired just yet, began to move some of his clothes into the closet (their luggage had been brought up earlier, by the ship's bellhops). I think this trip will be all right, he thought reflectively as he hung up his fifth suit. Jenn had begged him not to take so much, but Orlando, who had been on fancy ships before, knew better than to show up at every meal every day in the same tuxedo. He'd also packed a few extra dresses for his wife, so that she could hold her own against the admittedly overrated but ever-present glamour of the other women in first class. Granted, his reasons might seem, and probably were, superficial, but he just didn't want the other ladies to scorn Jen; he knew how heartless they could be.

For the next three hours, Jenn slept hard while Orli finished unpacking his belongings, moved on to Jenn's and paced restlessly when there was nothing more to do. I guess Jenn didn't get much sleep last night, he mused as he glanced at his slumbering wife, who hadn't stirred since she first fell onto the bed.

Suddenly, Orli found himself trying to smother a yawn. With a sigh of weary resignation, he lay down on the bed next to Jennifer, wrapping an arm around her and drifting off to sleep himself.

A few hours later Jenn awoke suddenly. For a moment she panicked, forgetting where she was. Then she relaxed, remembering. But alarm set in again almost instantly, as she recalled that dinner was at 6:30 in the dining hall. Since they were nowhere near an island destination, of course, grand dinners (with multiple courses) would be served each night, and while Jenn had heard that there were some nice restaurants (and some fast food restaurants) here and there around the ship, she thought it would be nice to see what food the chefs of this splendidly elaborate ship had to offer. She checked her bedside clock: a quarter to six.

As she relaxed once again, Jenn realized that Orlando had fallen asleep beside her, his arm around her. She smiled and carefully rolled over to face him, gently shaking him awake.

"Wha-what?" Orli mumbled groggily. His eyes glazed over and then refocused on Jen. "Oh. Hello. Did you finally wake up?"

"No," Jenn answered, playfully sarcastic, "I'm still asleep."

Orli grinned and sat up (he looked so young and vulnerable and adorable at the same time with those pillow creases on his cheek, Jenn thought idly). Like Jen, one of his first thoughts was the time. He knew how much it meant to his wife to eat in the dining hall the first night of their honeymoon. Upon learning that it was now ten to six, he jumped up and started rummaging through the closet for one of his nicer tuxes.

"Wow," Jenn commented, impressed. "You've unpacked already?"

"All of my things, and some of yours," Orli said, almost apologetically. "Hope you don't mind," he added with an impish grin.

"Not at all," Jenn assured him, pulling herself upright. "In fact, I'm grateful. I must have been pretty boring to talk to when I was asleep, huh?"

"Oh no," Orli began melodramatically. "If you woke one day and found you had no voice, I would happily spend the rest of my days looking upon your face and seeing your endless beauty, which will never fail to mesmerize me. I could sit for hours on end, counting every eyelash, stroking your silky smooth cheek, gazing into your soulful hazel eyes, in all of their exquisitely captivating beauty…"

"You've already used that word," Jenn informed him, interrupting. "That's a major no-no. First rule of poetry: never repeat yourself with words like, say, 'beauty,' unless it emphasizes or reiterates your point, not just because you can't think of another word." Seeing Orli's dumbfounded look, she explained, shamefaced, "I learned that from a certain- poetic- mutual friend of ours. Anyway, if you would like my advice… You are an amazing actor, and you have great looks going for you-" she tried to stifle a giggle as she watched her husband's expression change from flabbergasted to smug as he patted down his already-neat hair, neat, despite the fact that he had slept on it and hadn't yet brushed it, "-so leave the poetry to our dorky friend the bumbling idiot."

Orlando, who had initially looked slightly hurt, burst out laughing. " 'Bumbling idiot'? And who, exactly, assigned the poor girl that nickname?"

"She came up with it all by herself," Jenn said defensively.

"I'm kidding. It doesn't really surprise me though, I must say." Abruptly changing the topic, Orli asked, "Think it's time to get ready for dinner?"

"Yeah… hey, I've been meaning to ask you. What's with all the cosmetics and jewelry?"

Orli smiled, a bit sheepishly as though he knew Jenn would disapprove. "Well… I talked to the nice people in advance… This is all for you."

Jenn struggled with an unpleasant combination of strong gratitude, guilty pleasure and considerable annoyance. "Just because you have all this money doesn't mean you have to spend it all on me. Are you trying to make me feel bad?"

Orlando was genuinely shocked. "Of course not! I just thought you might like…" He cut himself off as he noticed that Jenn was smiling. "Oh, don't do that!" he cried in exasperation.

"Don't do what?" Jenn asked innocently.

"Don't talk at me like you're all mad and get me thinking I've offended you somehow!"

"Okay, okay," Jenn relented. "I'm sorry."

Orli relaxed and felt his own mouth melt into a smile. "So you aren't mad, are you?"

"Of course not," Jenn assured him. "But I just don't want you spending all this money on me, especially because I don't have as much to give you."

"But I want to," Orli murmured, cupping one hand behind her ear.

Jenn's initial affectionate annoyance faded. She smiled. "Oh, all right. Maybe I'll yell at you more later," with no intention of doing so, and Orli knew it. He returned her smile, with renewed feeling, then strode over to the jewelry box on the dresser and pulled out a matching necklace, bracelet and earring set. A gold rose dangled from a short, thin gold necklace chain, as well as from an equally thin bracelet band. Gold, dangling earrings ended in identical roses.

"Oh, they're beautiful!" Jenn breathed. "They would go so well with that slinky black dress- the full-length one with spaghetti straps and a somewhat… low… neckline."

"Yeah, I know the one," Orlando answered, his eyes lit up with a mischievous twinkle and the corners of his mouth turned upward in a devilish grin.

"You're awful!" Jenn cried, not meaning it at all. "Anyway, the problem is, I didn't pack it."

"Sure you did," Orli said cheerfully.

"No I… oh Lord, what did you do?" she demanded suspiciously, cottoning on almost immediately.

"Me?" Orli asked, all innocence. "I would never…"

"So tell me, just how many dresses did 'I' pack?" Jenn interrupted.

"Umm… oh come one, they looked lonely in your closet," Orli tried to explain. "But seriously, I just thought… I've been on big, fancy ships before, seen how overvalued fancy dresses are, seen how snobbish some women can be if they see you twice in the same dress…" he began, knowing any reason he gave would sound incurably superficial.

Jenn sighed, would-be anger melting away like ice cream on a hot July day.

"You're not mad, are you?" Orli asked anxiously.

"No." And it was the truth. Although Jenn did feel that Orli's trying to explain his reasoning would sound shallow, at the same time she understood him. Anyway, the jewelry in her hands would perfectly complement her understated black dress and matching heels. She shook her head and went into the bathroom to change. When she came out and sat down at the vanity table, she was only mildly surprised to see that Orli had already changed into his best black tux. Jenn shook her head again as she put on loose powder, light pink blush, a small amount of black eyeliner with gold glitter eye shadow and a coat of mascara. She smiled at herself in the mirror as she applied nude lip liner and rosy pink lipstick, finishing with a matching coat of gloss. Orli came up behind her, grinning. "Ready to go yet?" he teased. "Or do you need another hour or two?"

"I know people who take longer," Jenn muttered, thinking of her bet friend, who tended to use roughly half a dozen eye shadow colors to create a different look every! single! day!

Orlando laughed at the miffed look on his wife's face, guessing her thoughts immediately. Smiling as he offered an arm to Jenn, he led the way down the hallway and to the dining hall.

"Someday I will learn my way around this ship," Jenn informed her husband.

"Yeah… I'm thinking, maybe in the fourth week of our three-week honeymoon?" Orlando suggested, unable to keep a straight face for longer than about two seconds.

"How long did it take you to learn your way around this particular ship?" Jen wondered. Orli had been on this ship once before.

"Only a few days," Orli answered seriously. "It's overwhelming at first, but there's a pattern to it, really. The souvenir shops are all that way-" pointing in one direction "-the nice restaurants are all in the same area, the pool, spa and sightseeing deck- not that there's much to see out in the middle of the ocean- are all near the stern of the ship…"

Jenn listened as he droned on, even though she forgot it all almost before she heard it. To really remember anything, she would have to see it herself.

Jenn barely noticed that Orli had stopped walking until she saw the engraved sign that read "Dining Hall."

"Shall we?" Orlando asked grandly, and he pushed open the door to the hall.

It was every bit as breathtaking and magnificent as Jenn had come to expect. New white tablecloths covered long, candlelit tables, with a soft chandelier over each table. A bouquet of red roses provided a centerpiece for each table. In the background, an orchestra played softly.

"Absolutely gorgeous," Jenn murmured, mostly to herself.

Orli heard her. "Not as beautiful as my girl," he responded, giving Jenn yet another quick peck on the cheek.

Dinner was enjoyable; they worked their way steadily through multiple courses as the orchestra continued to provide constant background noise. When the last dessert had disappeared, everyone danced. It didn't take long for an admiring crowd to form around Jenn and Orli, a dynamic dance duo if ever there was. And after dancing, the couple went back to their suite and fell into bed, exhausted from the excitement of a long day.

The second day was much the same as the first: relatively uneventful compared to what was in store. Jenn visited the salon after several hours swimming, and for awhile she and Orli just walked throughout the ship hand in hand, the envy of every eye with their classic good looks and the obvious love emanating from them. And as they walked, they talked.

Jenn started the first conversation with, "Remember when we first met?"

"Yeah," Orli answered, gazing straight ahead as though looking right into the past. "It was a cast party for Black Hawk Down. I remember, Michelle was there because she and Josh had been dating since he started filming Pearl Harbor…That's how they really met in the first place… Anyway, Josh invited her along since I obviously wasn't good enough company," he continued with a good-natured smile, "even though she wasn't much of one for parties, and I had asked her a few days before if she had any lonely female friends…"

"Lonely!" Jenn repeated, indignant. "I was not lonely…"

"Just someone in need of company," Orli teased, amused by her reaction.

"Were those the exact words you used? 'Lonely female friends'?"

"Umm…"

His hesitation said it all. "And all this time I've been thinking I should be grateful," Jenn muttered, but she wasn't really annoyed. She'd had her suspicions to begin with; Michelle had told her that Orli had asked her to bring Jenn along, and when Jenn asked if he'd asked for her specifically, Michelle went conveniently deaf and left the room. "Anyway," she continued, determined not to let that annoying word, "lonely," get to her, "She called me two days before the party and instructed me to get out and buy a dress, because I had 'a party waiting to be attended and a star waiting to be met,' as she put it. So of course I completely freaked out, but I managed to find a decent dress in time. Then, the night of the party…"

"You were standing all alone by the bar," Orli broke in, "because Michelle went off to… mingle… and incidentally I was the first person she bumped into. She gave me a nudge… actually, she gave me an elbow in the side… in your direction."

"Never was one for subtlety," Jenn commented dryly. "Anyway, I saw you coming and I got even more freaked out than I'd been about finding a dress. All I was interested in was finding the nearest exist… or at least a women's restroom…"

"Hey!" Orli interjected, hurt.

"Oh, don't take it personally. I was just absolutely convinced I would say something stupid, or that I might have something stuck in my teeth, or bad breath or something equally disastrous," Jenn said reassuringly. "It wasn't you at all."

Mollified, Orlando continued the narrative. "I walked up to you and said, 'Hi.' And you…"

"Couldn't get it together," Jenn interrupted. "I was just thinking, what am I supposed to say to that? And this little rational part of me suggested saying hi back. But the rest of me said oh, come on, he must've heard that a million times before. Be creative. Be original. And the sensible part of me was thinking, there's really nothing creative about greeting someone who walks up to you. And then this third part of me broke in, wondering, did he just feed me a pickup line? What if he doesn't really care about me, what if he just wants someone to… oh Lord, I never should have let Michelle talk me into wearing this dress, it's far too low, I bet everything is just hanging out, what if he's just trying to take advantage of me… Do I look like a hoe? Maybe that's the only reason he ever said anything to me at all, because I look like some dirty tramp, fresh off the streets. And meanwhile, the logical part of me was insisting, just say 'Hi,' he's starting to stare, my gosh, just say something, it isn't really that hard. But that third part of me was utterly convinced that you could see right down my dress, and maybe you… And the second part of me was still trying to come up with something clever to say, something wittier than 'Hello'…"

Orli couldn't hold it in any longer; he burst out laughing. "You did look as if you were undergoing some painful internal struggle," he chuckled. "Mind you, that dress was low, but I couldn't see anything, I swear, and I wouldn't have look even if I could."

"And the rational part of me just kept arguing with the 'he's-just-trying-to-seduce-me' part, and I opened my mouth and said…" Jenn continued, ignoring his interruption.

Orli was practically having convulsions, he was laughing so hard. "You said, 'Hi, what kind of a pick-up line is that? Despite what this dress might be telling you, I am not a slut…'"

Jenn groaned in remembrance and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed.

Orlando managed to stop laughing just long enough to fall down on a nearby bench and reassure her, "Actually, I probably would have made Michelle set us up together even if you'd just said 'Hi' and we'd had a normal conversation, but with that I decided hey, I like this girl. She's got spunk. So don't be too embarrassed, even though I will never forget that…"

Jenn managed a laugh, face still beet red. "So it wasn't all bad, huh?"

"No," Orli answered firmly. "It was definitely not all bad." He pulled her close and kissed her, this time with unrivaled passion. "In fact," he continued when they pulled apart at last, "it was the best thing that could've happened to me…"

"I'm a dork," Jenn mumbled, speaking to her knees.

Orli didn't object. "But you're a lovable dork, which is better than being normal and boring."

Jenn changed the subject. "Remember our first date?"

"Oh Lord, how could I ever forget? We doubled with Josh and Michelle and went to that fancy restaurant…"

Jenn laughed. "And I was counting on both of them to be there if it got awkward, but they were so wrapped up in each other that they weren't much help."

Orli laughed. "Josh told me afterwards that they noticed everything, though. Lil' Devil over there told him not to help us out because she thought it would be, er… amusing… to watch us struggle to find something, anything, to talk about. Which they did. Although they were pretty busy with each other…"

Jenn laughed and picked up the thread of the story. "We were sitting there watching them, and I don't know about you, but I was wishing we could be that easygoing and open with each other someday. Meanwhile I was aware of you sitting beside me, and I could practically feel you, you were so tense. I was even more nervous than during the cast party; I was thinking, he's probably only doing this because Michelle knew I liked him, and he's friends with Josh, so they convinced him to come along just to make me happy…"

Orli grinned. "And you were just so wrong. What I felt almost radiating off of you was that you were nervous! I thought maybe you were intimidated by me, or wishing you were somewhere else, because you felt obligated to be nice to me, since I was the one who said I wanted to see you again."

"And we never really said much. I excused myself after awhile to use the lady's room…"

"And Michelle left right after you, and Josh and I had a talk. I said, 'Help us out, man!' To which he responded, 'I'm under strict orders not to help out in any way, because Michelle wants something to tease Jenn about. Find something to talk about yourself.' And I practically shrieked at him. 'WHAT?' Half the people in the restaurant turned around to look at us. 'Chill, Orlando!' Josh cried. He looked alarmed. 'All right… But don't tell Michelle. Ask her what she thinks about Lord of the Rings (it had just come out recently by that time), and then…' this smile started tugging at the corners of his mouth and I wondered… 'Ask her what annoys her most, after you get talking awhile.' 'Why?' I asked, confused. 'Because,' Josh answered, 'well, you'll have to hear what she says first, but if she says what I think she will we should be in for an enjoyable argument from the girls.'"

"Does that make me too predictable?" Jenn worried. "As I recall, you did ask me that, and Michelle and I were arguing for about fifteen minutes straight."

"Nah," Orli responded reassuringly, "Josh is just too smart, I guess. So what happened with you and Michelle in the restroom?"

Jenn laughed in remembrance. "I was sitting against the wall, talking to myself about what an idiot I was. When the door opened after about ten seconds, I figured it was Michelle. She came in absolutely glaring at me and she asked, 'What is your problem, Jen! You have wanted to meet this guy for for-freakin'-ever! And now that you get the chance, you sit there like a complete LOSER and say NOTHING!'"

"Was she really that mad?" Orli asked, surprised.

"No," Jenn answered. "She's just like that. She wasn't mad at all, just a bit annoyed. And, being who she is, she decided to yell. Anyway, I just looked at her and snapped, 'You're not even helping us get started! Find something for us to talk about why don't you! Break the ice!' And she looked at me and said, 'Oh Lordy, Jenn, do it yourself! I took a solemn oath not to help you out…' I didn't let her get any further. 'WHAT?' I cried. 'I'm a sadist,' she answered with perfect sincerity. 'I like watching people squirm. Character flaw,' she added casually. 'But as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, talk about the cast party or something. I mean, hello? It's the only place you've ever seen each other. Good common ground. Duh,' she added, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which I guess it was. So we both went back out and sat down again."

"And I turned to you and said, 'So what do you…' at the same time that you asked, 'So did you enjoy that cast party?' And Michelle was right, for once; it was good common ground," Orli commented. "And after that we talked about Lord of the Rings, much though I despised that since I hate thinking about my own movies…"

"And then you decided to ask what bothered me. And I said, 'Well, people who think they know everything in the world, people who are completely full of themselves, people who are annoyingly calm under any circumstances, people who follow you into restrooms to yell at you because you can't find anything to talk about with a guy you just met,' glaring pointedly at Michelle…"

Orli smiled. "And Michelle started talking about annoying people who nag her for weeks and months on end to meet people, and then won't talk to them when she finally sets them up…"
"I could've killed her," Jenn groaned. "There she was, blurting out that I had wanted to meet you forever, and acting like it was no big deal, like you weren't even sitting right there listening to every word!"

Orlando laughed this time. "And when I looked over at Josh to see if this was what he meant he was sitting there trying not to burst out laughing, and I found myself trying to hold back a laugh…"

"You failed. Miserably," Jenn informed him. "And when you laughed, Josh started laughing, and Michelle barely kept a straight face…"

"And you were just sitting there blushing and I heard you when you muttered, 'Michelle, I am going to kill you.'"

"You heard that?" Jenn cried, horrified. "You must've thought I was awful."

"Nope," Orli contradicted. "I could tell Josh was used to this sort of thing because he had predicted it so well, so I decided I had better get used to it too, because I wanted to see you again…"

"Wow," Jenn commented. "If it had been you saying everything I said those first few dates, I would have run screaming in the opposite direction the first half-chance I got."

Orli laughed and continued reminiscing. "Our second and third dates we doubled, too, but on our fourth date we went out alone… remember?"

"Yeah," Jenn said dreamily. "We went to see one of those mushy romance movies, and we were laughing at it the whole time, straight through the serious parts, because it was so sad that it was hilarious."

"And afterwards," Orli continued without missing a beat, "we went down to the beach. They had one of those little shops down there, and we bought some Hawaiian Ice and walked along the beach, hand in hand…"

"Under a moonlit sky," Jenn finished. For once the two were making some halfway decent poetry together, even if it was rather cliché. "And nobody else was around, just us."

"And then it suddenly started to rain," Orli began, "one of those light drizzles that becomes a downpour within seconds. And that's how long it took for us to get absolutely soaked."

"But we didn't care," Jenn remembered. "I had curled my hair that night but it didn't bother me that it came down, because I was with you, and it didn't matter to you."

"And then we got caught up in the moment," Orli whispered, caught up in the very memory himself. "And…"

"We shared our first kiss," the two recited in unison.

"It was like fireworks exploding," Jenn declared. "Everything, even the waves breaking against the sand, was so magical in that instant."

"Should we relive it, then?" Orli asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes, but he was serious.

"Haven't we been the past few days?" Jenn questioned, half-joking but glad to consent.

Orli smiled. "I suppose," he answered when they broke apart. "Hey, remember when we went to Las Vegas because we wanted some time to ourselves without Josh and Michelle?"

Jenn grinned in remembrance. "What a vacation! This was something else that had happened after we got engaged, so we couldn't go anywhere without your fan club chasing after us-"

"It wasn't all my fan club," Orli objected, glaring but not angry.

"And we were staring at a fountain, pretending we didn't see anyone and that we weren't well-known, and you turned around and there was this little kid like, right in your face! And you lost your balance and fell into the fountain…" Jenn continued, ignoring the interruption.

Orli started laughing. "And when you reached your hand in to help me out, I pulled you down with me."

"And we got out, to about two hundred tourists taking pictures!"

"And when we got home two weeks later, Josh and Michelle came out to meet us and said, 'Something you two have to tell us?' And Michelle was holding a copy of Entertainment Weekly, with us, dripping wet, sprawled all over the cover!"

"And some fool had written this ridiculous story about us and it was all Michelle talked about for a week! You have no idea how much I wanted to kill her," Jenn cried.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Orli teased. "But that wasn't the only thing that happened in Vegas. Remember, we rode the Manhattan Express roller coaster together? And when you got off you looked like you were about to be sick and you almost barfed on Brad Pitt, who just happened to be there."

"I almost did," Jenn repeated. "So I actually didn't." Despite apparent indifference to the memory, she was blushing. "And why was he there anyway? He just happened to be?"

"They were filming Ocean's Eleven," Orli reminded her.

"Figures," Jenn muttered and changed the subject. "Hey, remember when we went to that esteemed professor's house for dinner and his youngest daughter put out her mother's 'special occasion napkins' when she was setting the table? And their older girl, who was about eleven, kept hanging all over you, with love in her eyes…" Jenn finished dramatically.

"Oh, shut up," Orli said good-naturedly.

"And that's not all," Jenn continued, determined to embarrass her husband like some of these memories were embarrassing her. "There was that time we went to Wal-Mart, and this whole group of teenage girls recognized you right away and they all started screaming over you. One of them, as I recall, ran off to buy one of those ten-dollar engagement rings and ask you to marry her. Another said she wanted to have a baby with you, and if it was a boy she was going to name it Orlando, after you, and if it was a girl she was going to name it Amy, just because that name means 'love' and she wanted you to always remember her love for you. And a third girl began begging you to love her, saying she was different from all those worshipful drooling fans of yours because she really cared about you as a person, and she wanted to be with you forever, and maybe she couldn't afford to buy you a diamond ring, but she had the love in her heart, worth more than that…"

Orli finally cut in, blushing only slightly. "And then I just shoved you forward and said, sorry kids, I'm engaged."

"And they started attacking me," Jenn finished indignantly, "like it was my fault they were pathetic losers and you liked me more than them. And you never apologized."

"I did too!" Orli contradicted. "Many times. But I will again if that's what you need to hear."

"Nah," Jenn decided. "I know."

And on it went, for hours on end.

The honeymoon passed by in a blur. Every day there was someplace new to visit, different places to shop and take pictures and most of all, make memories. Each night Jenn and Orli watched the sun go down from a different romantic beach, each night reliving their first kiss like there would never be another one. And each night, there were more memories, more remembered times to be shared once again. And each night, there was them. And that was what mattered the most.