The next few days were quiet with the five of us spending more time together than I would've thought for our miniature vacation. We ate all our meals together, or almost all of them anyways, and even spent time together outside of our meals. Rebecca and I were constantly dragging the three boys somewhere. Whether it was the pool or the movie theatre, they barely complained and everyone generally got along. It was finally the last day of the boat ride and Shaun and I were spending it together and alone for once. We'd only really gotten alone time together at night so this was a nice change. We were out on our balcony at sunset again.
"I still think you're more beautiful," Shaun told me.
"Stop, you're making my cheeks hurt from smiling," I giggled.
"Good," He kissed me gently. "How are you feeling love?"
"Loads better, thank you," I replied and kissed him back.
"I'm just glad you're feeling alright again," He said.
"It's not like I'm a huge physical part of the team Shaun," I smirked. "I'm only the linguist."
"Still very important," He argued. "We would've been toast in france without you."
"You would've been more than toast," I laughed a little and leaned back into him. "I almost don't want to leave."
"Neither do any of us but we have a world to save," He said. "If I had my way, we'd be spending the rest of our days in a beautiful hotel room in a country that doesn't speak English. The view would be just like this and there would be countless shops and things to discover, along with historical monuments and things."
"You just described Venice," I laughed fully now. "You don't think do you?"
"I try to as often as I can but the job takes so much out of me," He joked.
"Come on Shaun," I said and turned to face him. "I'm hungry."
"Whatever the princess wants," He grinned and we went to dinner.
We had skipped out on dinner with everyone else that night, not that anyone had protested. They usually left Shaun and I alone at night unless we told them we wanted to do something with them. Shaun told me he was taking me to the fancy restaurant on the ship. I took great enjoyment in kicking him out to the boys' room, bringing Rebecca to ours and planning to take an overly long time to get ready.
"You're so evil!" Rebecca laughed from where she was laying on the bed.
"I'm amazed you're even on the bed to be honest," I laughed and did my makeup. Rebecca quickly sat up and moved to the corner.
"This corner's clean right?" She asked.
"Yeah, I don't think we've used the corner for any acrobatics," I laughed and Rebecca just shuddered.
"This is why we leave you two alone," She pointed out.
"Good because we like it," I answered, continuing with my makeup.
"How do you do that so easily?" Rebecca asked me suddenly.
"What? Make up?" I looked at her in the mirror. "A lot of practice. Why?"
"I wish I could do that sometimes," She sighed.
"Come here, I'll teach you!" I smiled and turned around.
So I used my time letting her practice with my stuff while I did my hair. Nothing fancy, just waves. I occasionally corrected and helped Rebecca but she actually wasn't too bad with a brush. Eventually I had to attempt to get into my dress for the night. I undid the zipper and managed to slip into it but doing the zipper back up was a real challenge.
"Rebecca! Can you help me please?" I called from the bathroom. She ran in and zipped me up like any normal girl would for her friend. It reminded me a lot of getting ready for dances and things in school. This whole trip had made all of us feel like normal people, not even thinking of the crated animus in the boat's storage.
"The boys are getting restless," She giggled.
"Good, that means it's time to leave," I joked and slipped into my shoes.
Sure enough, the boys were standing out in the hallway. Shaun was looking drop dead sexy in a grey suit and white shirt. I also got the satisfaction of Shaun and Desmond losing their lower jaws to gravity when I walked out. I mean, I knew the dress looked good on me but I didn't think it was that good. Shaun and I just kind of stared at each other for a while until Rebecca brought us back to reality by knocking on the doorframe.
"Bloody hell," Shaun gaped. "I'm dating a supermodel."
"Shut up," I laughed. "You look just as good Shaun. Seriously, I almost fell over."
"Hush, you're lying," He wrapped his arms around my waist. I could finally look him in the eyes.
"I'm so glad you kept the glasses on," I told him as everyone retreated, leaving us alone.
"I didn't know you had such a thing for the glasses," Shaun smirked.
"They're only my favorite thing you ever wear," I whispered. "Especially if they're the only thing you're wearing."
"Stop or I'm going to tear that gorgeous dress and throw you on the bed," he whispered back.
"Now you need to stop," I giggled and pulled him by the hand. "I want food and got all dressed up."
"Like I said, anything for my princess," he said happily.
Dinner was normal. Well, as normal as two assassin's can make it. There was a little too much talk about historical Italy and all the inaccuracies found today but no one seemed to take notice. At least we thought they didn't until our waiter came back.
"How is everything?" He asked.
"Great," Shaun answered for us.
"How do you two know so much about ancient Italy?" He asked and refilled my water.
"Not quite ancient but we both study history for a living," I lied. Technically not a lie but still.
"It's just we never get such an attractive pair of people talking about hundred year old paintings and architecture," the waiter replied.
"Well we aren't exactly normal," Shaun said before the waiter left again.
"I don't like him," I said and ate my salmon. "He's too interested."
"It's the last night, you should calm down," Shaun told me. "You know we swept the boat."
"I know but I'm paranoid," I sighed. "What if this time it's you they take? What if someone dies Shaun?"
"Shhh love," He took one of my hands. "It'll be okay, we can handle ourselves."
"Like last time," I whispered.
"We're better prepared now," He replied and stared me in the eyes.
We finished our meal with idle chatter. Like what we were going to do when we got off the boat the next morning, how Desmond was doing and nothing important or interesting. After dinner I stalked off through the halls while Shaun tried to keep up, and I was even in heels. I must've looked pretty damn scary as people moved out of my way. Just when I was back at our door, Shaun caught me by the arm.
"Love, love wait," He pleaded and spun me around. "I know you're scared, and I know you will never admit that you're scared but we both know it's true. I will do everything and anything I can to protect you. We can save everyone else but I won't let them take you, not ever again. Okay?"
"Okay," I sighed and walked forward into his arms. He held me for a while until we decided to go into the room. "You're perfect, you know that?"
"Not even," He said and grabbed my hips. "You're the one who's perfect."
"Oh even farther from the truth," I laughed and ran my hands over his shoulders.
"Shhh," He hushed me and kissed me. Of course I kissed him back, I would be an idiot not to. I slipped his jacket off and let it fall to the floor before starting on his shirt buttons. His fingers quickly found the zipper on the back of my dress. Something about the way he slowly pulled it down had my skin on fire. I managed to get his shirt off before Shaun even had started to push the straps of my dress down. He pulled away when I got to work on his pants.
"Tess," He gasped. "Tess I can't."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"I can't sleep with you," He sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just how I was raised. Now I really might want to but I just… I can't."
"Aw Shaun," I cooed and put my hands on his neck. "It's okay. It's kind of cute actually."
"Stop," He whined. "I know it's not cute, it's insane but-."
"But it's you Shaun," I finished. "It's okay, we can do whatever you want."
"You're too bloody perfect," He groaned and wrapped me up in his arms.
"No, I just get you," I said and hugged him back.
"I'm tired, can we sleep please?" He asked.
"I did say whatever you want," I giggled as I slipped out of my dress and climbed into bed with Shaun. We just cuddled until we both fell asleep.