iluvshinjimina - Hope I made it clear in my email.
Dawnstar94 - I don't think of any of them being evil, it's just at this point of their lives, hormones are raging, the feud is raging. I'm still working on the sequel, there's a lot of stuff about it that I'm unhappy with at the moment.
So, the cat is out the bag, Romeo knows about Tybalt being with Rosaline. That saying is also kind of ironic since Tybalt is the Prince of Cats! But for now, has Gabriel's plan worked?
Rose was, at that moment, away from all the drama. Gabriel had invited her around, and given her a tour around his house. Angelo was out, so they were completely alone. Currently, he was playing the piano for her and it was beautiful. Occasionally he'd sing along.
"That's beautiful" she gushed when it had finished "What's it called? And who wrote it?"
"I did" replied Gabriel "But it's not finished yet, hence the gaps in the lyrics. So far, I've called it 'I'm A Better Lover'"
"It's wonderful. You're so lucky to be surrounded by all this music, and art. And you dance so well"
He smiled bashfully at her "You know, I think you're the first person who has ever complimented me on my interests"
Rose gazed at him fondly. He was such a sweet, beautiful person with such a fascinating bundle of knowledge about entertainment and culture, when you stripped away the bitter exterior.
"I don't understand why your father disapproves. You're obviously very talented. And it makes you so happy! You look so different when you play or when you're dancing. You act different too. Calmer, nicer. Do you understand?"
He laughed softly "I feel the same. I feel like I am a better person when I do so. I just wish I could bring that into my life"
"You will" assured Rose "It will get better. You can't live with Angelo forever. You'll get out of here, and you can go to La Scala and do what you want"
"I wish time would speed up until then" sighed Gabriel, leaning against the piano. All of a sudden, he was spilling out all of his worries about Angelo wanting to create a relationship with the other two daughters he'd abandoned, and how he hated Angelo spent more time working than with him, and how he had always felt so unloved and unwanted by virtually everyone, how he felt he had no control over his life, and all of his worries, to this girl. He didn't feel any shame at letting her see him in this state. She held him, and comforted him, and it felt rather nice. And at the end, he knew what it meant.
This girl belonged with him.
Not some nerdy, dorky, ugly Montague with bad dress sense and his teeth all wired up who hung around with a lovesick loser of a cousin and Verona's finest freak. Him!
Tybalt's malicious view of him stealing her simply for the thrill of being mean went out the window. Gabriel was in love, and he knew it. Tybalt didn't understand anything about love, but Gabriel did.
"I have to tell you, Rose" he breathed gently, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Yes?" she murmured back.
"I have fallen in love with you" he confessed, looking at her straight in the eye.
There was a silence.
"Me?"
"Yes"
Gabriel leant over and pressed his lips against hers. She tasted sweet, and she smelt nice too. It was a kind of flowery smell. Like her name.
He leant back, and waited for her response.
"Oh, Gabriel..." she sighed softly.
He waited.
"I love you too" she replied.
Gabriel smiled. His heart fluttered. Oh god, his heart was fluttering! It was a wonderful, marvellous sensation.
It was only then she uttered those words he didn't want to hear.
"But what will I tell Benvolio?"
"I could tell him, if you like" proposed Gabriel.
"No, it wouldn't be fair"
"But it would be easier for you. And I don't get upset by things like that"
"But he will! He'll be devastated, I mean, he told me all secrets, stuff he hasn't even told Mercutio and Romeo. We were so close"
Rose got up, and went to go and stand by the window. She leant her hands on the frame, looking out at the garden. Gabriel cuddled her from behind and nuzzled her ear.
"Just let me do it. It'll be easier and quicker. I'll tell him you've left him for me, end of. I'll say if he has anything to say to you, say it now and I'll tell you. Then I'll leave him alone. Or, I could just get Juno to tell him if you're worried I might be a little overly dramatic"
"It's not that. It's just, it's his cousin Romeo's birthday today, and he's off having fun with his family whilst we're petting each other. And it's my duty to end the relationship as I'm the one in it"
"Text him then"
"Gabriel!"
"Or maybe we could just leave it for now" said Gabriel, letting go of her "Perhaps I could fix us a drink, and then we could go up on the roof"
"You can get on the roof?"
"Yeah. I usually go up there. One time, Juno and I saw this news article about this boy who had painted a penis on his parents' roof and it was seen from space and on Google Earth. We were going to do it to wind up Angelo, but then we realized it was something Mercutio would do and so we didn't"
"Oh, God, that boy freaks me out. I'm terrified of him. I don't understand him at all. He's weird"
"Yep" said Gabriel, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of Angelo's liquor from the top of the cupboard. He led her through the house, up three flights of stairs, and then they were on the top of the roof.
"I can see the whole of Verona!" cried Rose.
"It's great. Look, there's where our land ends and where the Capulets start. When we were on my horse earlier I rode up to the boundaries and showed you. And over there is the Lancely's house. Helena is best friends with Hermia so I don't like her because Hermia stole my sister's boyfriend on her birthday. I mean, who does that? And she did it deliberately, she didn't love him at all. Over there is the Montague Ranch, right on the other end of town. You can even see the old defence walls of Verona, and the motorway to Mantua and Padua and the rest. Isn't it splendid?"
"It's amazing. Look, there's school!"
Gabriel unscrewed the liquor "Here's to us"
He took a sip, and then handed it to her and she took a sip.
"Oooh, it's sweet. Very sweet!"
"Just like you" said Gabriel.
"And you"
They sat down away from the edge, and then lay on their backs, staring at the clouds. Gabriel's heart beat was audible, and he thought to himself, he really did love this girl.