A/N: As per usual, I need to thank everyone for their awesome reviews. People have asked if the reveal about Columbia will be coming soon… and it will be, but it's probably like four to five chapters away. I want to infuse a little romance into the new few cities before the shit hits the fan. LOL

Melferd and mmwalker, I promise aggressive make up sex, just be patient. If it helps, there should be some more sex in the next chapter, as foreshadowed at the end of this chapter!

Enjoy!

BPOV

"Cara what?" asked Edward for the third time as he stared at a renaissance painting on the wall in confusion.

"Why aren't you listening to your headset? You paid like ten bucks for those," I sighed as I looked at him in frustration. "It's Caravaggio. The work is called 'David with the Head of Goliath' and it's a very important piece of work in Italian history and biblical history, I might add." Edward just nodded at me and moved over to the next piece. He was trying to annoy me by questioning every single piece of art he looked at and it was working beautifully. We had been walking around the Borghese Gallery for almost two hours now and Edward spent most of the time driving me mad. "Okay listen, you can always go back to the hostel if you don't want to be here."

"I want to be with you. It's just too nice of a day to spend it inside at an art gallery," pleaded Edward with a small pout. I was not giving in this time, I gave in on the boat in Greece and it was not happening now.

"If we left, what would we do? It's not like there are any beaches nearby. You just want to go lay in the sun for hours?" I stepped from the exhibit and walked down a long hallway with Edward on my heels.

"We don't even have to go far. There's a nice park right across the street. I'm certain there's a shady tree there calling our name. I'll buy us gelato," he added with a smirk. He knew I loved gelato and in Italy there were only two things that I found irresistible, Edward Cullen and gelato.

"We have two more exhibits to see, let's just see them and then you can get me gelato and molest me under the shade of a tree in the park, alright?" I said with a small grin. We finished up in the gallery half an hour later and I used my broken Italian to ask a woman outside the doors where the nearest place to get gelato was. She pointed us in the direction of the shop and Edward grabbed my hand quickly, pulling me behind him.

"This one is perfect," said Edward as he sat himself beneath a large tree in Villa Borghese Park. I sat on his lap and quickly took a spoonful of his gelato before he could notice. The tree we were sitting against overlooked a small lake in the middle of the park, and it was a wonderful view.

"If you're not going to share your gelato Bella, you shouldn't be stealing mine," he said in frustration as I laughed at him.

"I'll share a little bit of it," I said with a mischievous grin as I put a bit on my lip and kissed him deeply.

"What if I want more than that?" he asked seductively. I leaned in for another kiss, his hand reaching behind my neck and pulling me closer to him. Before I knew it, my gelato spoon was out of my hand.

"Hey, you're a cheater," I yelled at him as he took a big scoop of my gelato and ate it greedily.

"Mmm that was delicious. If I'm a cheater than you're a tease Bella," he state confidently as he kissed me again and handed back my spoon. "It was worth facing your wrath to try your gelato, it was very good." When we had finished our desserts, Edward grabbed my camera from my purse and quickly took a few photos of the lake and the park, followed by one of us snuggling together against the tree. We spent the next hour talking about our drastically different high school experiences.

"The public school system in Washington couldn't have been that bad Bella?"

"Says the guy who went to a private school and lived in a dorm on campus. You were probably the big man on campus right? All the girls were after you?" I was being factious when I spoke, but Edward blushed suddenly and I realized I had hit the nail on the head. "I was kidding, but I'm right aren't I?"

"Not all the girls were into me. There was a small faction of lesbians and feminists who never seemed to care much for me," he replied with a laugh. "But yeah, Jasper and I were sorta popular at school. A lot of girls were disappointed when Alice and Jasper started to get serious, even though I knew it was inevitable. He would come over when I wasn't home to hang out. At least he manned up and made sure Emmett and I had no problems with him dating her."

"How many girlfriends did you have in school?"

"I already told you Bella, I didn't have serious girlfriends. I dated and slept around, and that was it." I nodded my head in agreement and realized I shouldn't have asked that again. He was honest with me about his past, so I couldn't hold it against him.

"Did you date Jacob?"

"What? Hell no. Like I said, I haven't even talked to him in like three years. Our families were pretty close when I grew up, and then his mom died in a car accident and he shut everyone out. I have no idea why he wants to see me." Thankfully, we moved onto happier topics like school dances and prom, where Edward informed me he got so drunk and high he puked on his date's dress. "That's my boyfriend. You are so classy."

"I wouldn't have done it if you were my date. Mind you, I would have rented us a room and spent most of the night making love to you," he said with a big smile. "Speaking of renting a room, I was thinking that I could get us an honest to goodness hotel room in Paris, for our joint birthday celebration that we will be having." I nodded in defeat as his face lit up. We had discussed this on and off for two weeks now. He really wanted to do something special, which in my opinion meant pricey, for our birthday. His was in June and mine was in September, so we agreed to celebrate together in August before we flew home. He was so excited about it, I couldn't let him down. If there was one thing I didn't want to do, it was disappoint Edward.

"So it's set. We're staying in a hotel for the week we're in Paris. My father will be so impressed I got a hotel room," he said with a reluctant sigh. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek.

"You know I hate it right?" Edward just nodded his head and kept smiling.

After tonight, we only had one night left in Rome, so when we got back to our hostel, we hopped online and tried to find somewhere to go next. I checked my email and there was nothing back from Angela yet, so I was pretty disappointed, but there was one from Jacob. I decided to write him quickly to get him to leave me alone.

Jacob,

I don't know why you feel the need to repair our friendship now, but I don't think it's a good idea to see you when I am home in a few weeks. I will have way too much to do to get ready for college. I hope you have a good time at whatever school you go to.

Take Care,

Bella

That was short and simple. I think he would clearly get the message that I wasn't interested in whatever he had to say. I also noticed another email from my mother and realized I should give her a quick call since it was Sunday. As Edward checked out train schedules, I pulled out a calling card and stepped over to the payphone to call my mom.

"Hi Mom," I said casually as she picked up the phone.

"Bella, it's so good to hear from you. How is Europe? I am so sorry I missed your call last week," sighed Renee heavily. She sounded happy to hear from me but she also sounded tired, which concerned me a bit.

"I'm in Rome mom, can you believe it? It's awesome. Edward and I are having a wonderful time."

"That's brilliant Bella. Jacob was here last week looking for you. Did he email you?" she asked inquisitively. Great, someone else who just had to mention Jacob to me.

"Yes mom, he emailed me. I sent him one back just before I called you actually, so don't worry about it." Okay, so she didn't need to know that I basically told him to screw off, but I didn't care. She dropped the subject just like I thought she would.

"You got some stuff from Columbia about your dorm arrangements, apparently you're going to be rooming with someone named Rosalie Hale."

"Thanks for opening my mail mom. Isn't that illegal? Did Dad yell at you for it?" I asked in frustration. I had told them not to open anything while I was away, but my mother never seemed to listen.

"Actually Bella, your father opened it. He was worried there might be something inside that you needed to respond to before you got home. Everything is fine though. Where are you guys off to next?" My mom sounded a bit tense on the phone, but I was thinking hard about the name Rosalie. It sounded very familiar to me and I couldn't understand why. I tried not to worry about it too much as I listened to my mom drone on about a Tupperware party she went to with Angela's mother.

"I think we're going to head to Venice next. We need to make a decision tonight since tomorrow night is our last night in Rome. I am thinking of heading over to Spain or Portugal after Venice, but I need to discuss it with Edward first, we are taking it one city at a time."

"I hope you two are taking everything one step at a time and that you aren't moving too fast," she said nervously. I was almost expecting her to start telling me about the birds and the bees, but she stopped. "This isn't a long term relationship Bella, I hope you realize that."

"You are the only one that thinks that mom. Edward and I certainly don't. So, it was nice to talk to you Mom. I'll call again next Sunday," I said as I hung up and turned back to Edward with a forced smile on my face.

"Everything okay?" he asked sweetly as I sat back in the chair beside him and he rubbed my back gently.

"Yeah, everything's good," I lied.

EPOV

While Bella was on the phone with her mom, I checked out the train schedule and found us a decent train to Venice on Tuesday morning. I was about to book a hostel when she got off the phone and came back to sit beside me, looking rather upset, though she insisted she was fine.

"How long do you want to stay in Venice?"

"I think three nights is good. Then we can leave on the Friday for our next destination." I nodded my head and then googled a few possible choices while Bella sat beside me tapping her foot on the floor nervously.

"You can head to our room if you want. Once I've finished booking the hoste,l I want to send Alice a quick email, if that's okay with you?" Bella stood from her seat and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

"I don't take too long otherwise I might be asleep when you get there," she said with a sly wink before she turned around and headed up the stairs to our room. I checked my email the moment I was done and saw an email from Jasper and one from Alice. Interesting. It took Jasper almost a month and a half to finally send me an email, so of course I opened his first.

Dude, how is life in Europe? Lots of crazy shit has been going on since you left. Jessica got in a car accident two days after Alice told her you were dating someone. Since she's going to be fine, I decided to find the situation funny and have laughed about it at every possible opportunity. Emmett doesn't want to go back to Yale anymore and the shit has hit the fan with your grandfather, so that's been entertaining. Apparently he wants to move to New York and get a place with us, so I need to know what you want to do. On campus or off campus bro, you tell me. –Jazz

Great, Rosalie's probably going to school somewhere in New York and Emmett can't handle the commute to see her from Yale. I knew this was inevitable, I was just hoping to avoid it. I sent him a quick email back saying I didn't really care and that if Emmett desperately wanted to live with us than off campus was fine with me as long as I got my own bedroom. I opened Alice's email next and she mentioned some of the same items that Jasper had mentioned, but not everything was the same.

Edward,

We miss you around here. Our drinking games are not nearly as much fun with only four people. Emmett is leaving Yale and trying to transfer to Columbia to be closer to Rosalie, no surprises there. She's sharing a room on campus though, and I immediately feel bad for whatever roommate gets her.

Mom and Dad are heading to London next week, so you're lucky because you'll miss them before you get there to head home. They keep promising that they will be around for the end of year party before you and Jasper, and now Emmett, head to New York.

As for all the questions you asked in your last email, well, you are definitely over thinking everything. Bella obviously likes you otherwise she wouldn't be around. You aren't that easy to get along with, so she must definitely love you. I think you should stop thinking too hard about the future and just enjoy the rest of your time in Europe. It will be over before you know it.

Love You

Alice

P.S. I ordered the handbag directly from Louis Vuitton. You need to get to their flagship store in Paris to pick it up by August 20th, or else they will sell it to someone else. GET TO PARIS BIG BROTHER,

I sighed after reading Alice's email, but I knew she was right. I had to stop over thinking everything and do my best to enjoy the time I had left with Bella before we went our separate ways. I wrote Alice back a quick email telling her I flew out of London on the 19th, so there would be no trouble for me to pick up the damned purse. She was becoming a royal pain in the ass about this fricking thing. I hit send, shut off the computer and went to where I was supposed to be, with Bella.

The next morning we woke up and after our joint shower and breakfast, we headed to see the Vatican. It was really a sight to behold and I was glad Bella dragged me down here on our last full day in Rome. I probably took at least two dozen photos of St. Peter's alone. We spent a few hours wandering the grounds and checking out all the sights before deciding to the Modern Center to see the Trevi Fountain. We ended up having a quick lunch there before deciding to walk around town for a little while, just enjoying ourselves.

"So, Emmett's transferring to Columbia," I said casually as we walked hand in hand through Via Veneto, checking out some of the small souvenir shops. Bella looked over at me in complete surprise, but kept walking.

"Isn't he at Yale? Why would he switch?" she asked curiously.

"His girlfriend is going to Columbia and he doesn't want to be apart from her. Apparently last year was a wee bit too hard on him," I said with a laugh. Hard was probably an understatement. He was always being picked up by chicks at the bar and it took all his willpower to say no. I had spent too many a night listening to him tell me how hot some of girls were that he had to turn down. When he wasn't rejecting various women, he was worrying about the guys that were trying to hook up with Rosalie back at school. He made me and Jasper stick as close to her as possible, which wasn't hard since she and Alice are best friends and Jasper was always stuck to Alice's side.

"Oh… well it will be nice to have two more friends in New York." I nodded my head as we walked into a small store and Bella picked up a few small gifts and gawked at the price. "My lingerie cost less than this," she said with a frown as she put down a small ceramic trinket that she had been looking at. I shrugged my shoulders indifferently and dragged her from the store and back towards our hostel.

"Yeah, I suppose it will be good. He wants to move in with me and Jasper though. We had an on-campus room together, but now they're going to try to find us an apartment together, which will no doubt suck on such short notice," I said with a grimace as Bella rubbed her hand up my arm.

"Everything happens for a reason. It will work out just fine," she said sweetly as she kissed my hand and I flagged down the next available cab to take us to our room. It was just before five when we got back to our room and Bella checked her email, but had no new responses. She looked pretty disappointed as we climbed back up the stairs discussing what to do with the rest of our evening. Our train to Venice was due to leave at eight in the morning, so we both wanted to get to bed early. I ran down the street and picked us up some sandwiches for dinner, which we ate while dressed in our pajamas and sitting on our bed. It was very casual and Bella seemed completely back to normal. We lay in bed together and cuddled while talking about anything that came to mind.

"If you had a dog, what would you name it?" she asked me as she ran her fingers across my bare chest.

"I do have a dog. His name is Huxley. I didn't name him, Alice did, so don't ask where it came from. He's a Yorkie and is always barking. Personally, I can't stand the thing and I don't think it likes me much either. It's basically Alice's dog and the only people the dog likes are Alice and Japer. It's just weird," I said with a laugh as I recalled the crazy dog my parents insisted was for the entire family. Emmett and I laughed when they brought it home and it's been Alice's ever since. "What is your favorite Rolling Stones song? I love 'Salt of the Earth'"

"I have two… Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. They totally remind me growing up cause my parents were big Stones fans," she replied with a wistful sigh.

"I guess you miss home huh?" I asked as I ran my fingers through her long hair and then along the length of her arm.

"Yeah, I miss it, but it's good for me. Soon I'll be in college and even though it's closer than Europe, I will be away for a much longer period of time. I think this trip was a great way to get me adjusted to moving out on my own." I kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to me in our embrace. Her leg hitched up onto mine and I pulled the covers over us, so that we could get ready for bed. "Do you miss home?"

"Not really," I replied honestly. "I don't have a relationship with my parents like you do. Sure, I miss Alice and Jasper, but I'm not worried about them. We may be spoiled rich kids, but we take care of our own. Emmett, Alice, Jasper and I have been together through thick and thin. We always had each other's backs. Even now with Em's girlfriend Rose, she's just joined our group last year, but she was a perfect fit. My friends are my family. My friends and you," I said with a grin as she laid her head on my chest.

"If you could play any sport professionally, what would you play?" she asked with a bright smile and we immediately fell back into our easy questioning. I told her how I would like to be able to play Hockey, just because it looked fun and she laughed at me. After another hour of questions, Bella fell asleep nuzzled next to me. I whispered 'good night' to her and let sleep take me, finally feeling content for the first time in a few days.

We woke up a little bit late the next morning and quickly packed our bags before hailing a cab and heading to the station to catch our train to Venice. Edward grabbed a map of Venice from the station and we intended to review it while we travelled, but we both ended up sleeping on the train and before we realized it we were in Venice, four and a half hours later. We quickly dropped our bags off at our hostel and headed out to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Bella was extremely excited when we entered the building.

"She was married to Max Ernst and he was a great painter. I have a feeling I'm going to love it here," she said with a huge smile as I paid our entrance fees and grabbed a headset. We wandered for hours through some of the best works of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Paul Klee and Jackson Pollack. I laughed as we came upon another mobile by Alexander Calder and Bella looked up at me with a big smile, clearly remembering my desire to have an original Calder for a baby mobile eventually.

When we left the museum, it was already past six, so we grabbed a quick bite for dinner and took a water taxi back to our hostel. When we finally lay in bed that night, Bella was smiling from ear to ear.

"Something on your mind babe?" I asked as I fussed with my pillow in an attempt to get comfortable.

"I was just thinking about how great the past few days have been. I'm actually excited to head to Paris, even though I know you plan on spoiling me. I just have a feeling it will be really memorable," she said with a content sigh as she cuddled close to me and wrapped her leg onto mine. "Do you know where you want to go next? We only have like two and a half weeks left, so I was thinking we should head to Barcelona and spend a few days there. The train ride might take a while though."

"What about the French Riviera? You don't want to live it up like a rich snob?" I asked with a laugh.

"No thanks, you don't even want to do that so don't pretend you do," said Bella boldly as she reached her hand down to my side and started to tickle me tenderly. "Plus maybe we can take a night train, and try to have that train sex you so desperately want," she said with a wink. I nodded my head and then buried it in her neck, kissing her passionately.

"I think that is a great idea Bella. Great minds think alike."