[A/N] ok you can all murder me for uploading so late. I'm really sorry :( School has really been hectic lately, but I'm uploading two chapters. The other one is about 5k+ words long so I hope that makes up for everything. Here you go :D
"Ok everybody let's do a head count! Check if your roommate is with you and if everyone is here! We don't want to leave anyone in Paris now!" Signore Gustav told them as he went around checking people's name in his clipboard.
They were all outside the hotel waiting for their bus to the airport to arrive and everyone was feeling excited. They all enjoyed their trip to Paris but staying in a foreign place for Christmas made everyone feel a little homesick. Blaine and Rachel were waiting with everyone else and they were both holding hands, taking one last look at the area. From a distance, Rachel saw Nadia talking to Philippe.
"You'd think they'd actually keep in touch?" Rachel asked Blaine, pointing at the two.
"Well, Italy is not so far from Paris right? Maybe he'll come visit," Blaine said to Rachel, thinking about the two's future.
"Nadia likes him a lot. Did you know she slept at his place last night! I stayed up until 1am waiting for her until I gave up! She woke me up by her wild knocking this morning since she forgot her keys in our room," Rachel said, laughing. "Unbelievable girl."
"Wow. She really does like him doesn't she?" Blaine said sarcastically, earning a slap on the shoulder from Rachel.
After a few minutes, their bus finally arrived and everyone started to haul their bags inside. Upon seeing this, Nadia gave Philippe a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, and rushed towards them, looking rather sad at the moment.
"You seem sad Nadi. What's up?" Rachel said, looking at Nadia.
"Oh shut up Rach. You know exactly why I'm like this. I'm not gonna be able to see Philippe for about a month! But he did promise to stay in touch," Nadia said, smiling.
"You are so unbelievable," Rachel said, laughing at Nadia as she took a seat beside Blaine
They arrived at the airport after an hour. Everybody was in a state of rush as they entered the airport and checked-in their luggage. Rachel was feeling rather nervous again and Blaine did not forget her last fit at the airport back in Italy. He told Rachel to sit for awhile while he checked their bags in.
"Hey love, are you ok? Do you feel sick again?" Blaine said, sitting beside Rachel and running his hands on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous right now," Rachel told him, smiling. "Don't worry, I'm sure I won't react the way I did in Italy. I'm just so glad you're here. I feel safe," she said, looking at Blaine's eyes.
"Of course I'm here. I'll hug you all throughout the flight," Blaine said, enveloping Rachel in his arms.
"GROUND! Thank god!" Rachel said, happy that they were back in Italy. She really hated flying on planes, so being back on land was such a relief for her.
"I cannot even imagine how you were when you flew to Italy from America love. How did you even survive?" Blaine asked, humoured by Rachel's reaction upon their arrival.
"My two dads had to accompany me. They knew I couldn't make it alone, so they were really relieved when they found out that I would be flying home with you," Rachel said, kissing Blaine on the cheeks.
They drove for about an hour from the airport to Rachel's apartment, as Blaine decided to drop her off first before going to his own apartment. They were greeted by Aurelia, who was all smiles as she opened the gates to the apartment.
"Tisero mio! Welcome back!" she said, giving Rachel a big hug. "How was the trip? I assume you did not need to have your dads with you? Given that you have Mr. Handsome over here," she said, winking at Rachel and looking at Blaine.
"Aurelia! It's so good to see you! And yes, they didn't need to come to France. I have my love here," Rachel said, holding Blaine's hands.
"Buongiorno Signorina, I'm just here to drop off Rachel. I will come by later after lunch. I just have to fix my things back in my apartment. I'll see you two, Aurelia, love," Blaine said, nodding towards Aurelia and kissing Rachel on the lips.
"See you in a bit," Rachel said, waving goodbye as Blaine drove off.
After lunch time, Rachel found herself sitting on the garden with Blaine. They were both feeding the fish in the pond and just hanging out, staring at each other every now and then. It was really nice to be back to their second home, and spending time with each other was just one of their favourite hobbies.
"Did you enjoy France love?" Blaine said, looking at Rachel after tossing a small piece of bread into the bond.
"Very. I love the parts where we were all alone," Rachel said, smiling.
"Yeah those were my favourite parts too," Blaine said, holding Rachel's hand and squeezing it.
"The part by the balcony during Christmas Eve was my most favourite of them all," Rachel said, smiling at Blaine. She knew that it had to be his too, so she just stared at him with a smile on her face. After a few seconds, Blaine stood up from his seat and gave Rachel a kiss. He was really glad that she appreciated everything he did for her, and seeing Rachel happy just like how she was right now was enough for him to know that she loved him.
After a few hours of sitting by the pond and talking about random things, they were interrupted by Aurelia, who just came home from the market.
"In celebration of the return of you two here in Italy and as a late Christmas celebration, I shall prepare a simple dinner for us three! All of the other tenants have gone home already. Blaine, you're staying for dinner!" Aurelia said, cheery.
"Oh my god I almost forgot! Aurelia we have a present for you! Wait let me just get it from my bag," Rachel said, standing up and rushing back to her room.
Aurelia and Blaine were left alone in the garden. Blaine decided that it was best for him to at least help Aurelia prepare the dinner, so he went over at the kitchen and started helping Aurelia clean the vegetables.
"Thank you for inviting me for dinner Signorina," Blaine said to her, giving her a small smile.
"You two are like my children tisero mio, of course I would love to have you invited for dinner," said Aurelia, smiling back at Blaine. "And I must thank you Blaine. You have made Rachel a very happy person. I've seen her through her ups and downs and from it all, I can definitely say that you are the main reason of her smiles each and every day. I am really happy that you got together," Aurelia said to him, now starting to chop the vegetables Blaine had just washed.
"Believe me Aurelia, I should be the one to thank her. And I can't thank you enough for being her mother here in Italia. If it weren't for you, she could not have stayed here and wandered on the street where we crashed into each other. Thank you Aurelia. Really," Blaine said to her.
"I love playing cupid tisero mio. Although I don't believe you needed any of my help. But you are welcome," Aurelia replied.
After a few minutes, Rachel arrived carrying a white paper bag with black vines surrounding it. Blaine recognized the paper bag and knew immediately what was inside.
"Merry Christmas Signorina! From both of us," Rachel said, motioning to herself and Blaine as she gave the bag to Aurelia.
"You two! You know, there really is no need to give me a gift! Grazie!" Aurelia said, hugging the two of them at once. She quickly opened the bag and was surprised to see a beautiful tan-colored beach hat with a sunflower on the side. She immediately tried it on and was smiling at them and giving them a pose.
"We figured that you would like to have something that would protect your skin from the sun during the summer. Do you like it?" Rachel said, looking worriedly at Aurelia.
"It is beautiful Rachel! Thank you you two!" Aurelia said, kissing them both on the cheek.
It was thirty minutes after seven when they were all able to finish cooking and serving the meals for dinner. They cooked pasta, pizza, and buffalo wings to add a little American flavour to their dinner.
After an hour of chatting and laughing, Blaine took out the bottle of wine he bought on his way to the apartment and gave a toast to them all.
"To Aurelia, who has been a mother, a teacher, and a guardian. And to Rachel, who is my life, my love, and my everything," Blaine said, raising his glass towards the middle of the table. Blaine looked at Rachel for a long time. He really loved her. Her eyes, which sparkle at the simplest of gesture that he would give her. Her smile, which can make the darkest of his days light up like summer. Her voice, which sounds as if all the harmony in the world has been given to her that she could just make the flowers bloom. Everything about Rachel made Blaine happy, and being able to show her just that made him feel contented.
After a few minutes of nothing but chatting and eating, they were finally left with nothing on their plates. Signorina Aurelia was currently listening to the story of how Blaine gave Rachel the promise ring in the balcony during Christmas eve when she turned to Blaine for a question.
"So Blaine, when are you and Rachel flying back to Estati Uniti?" Aurelia asked Blaine as he was helping out in the cleaning of the table.
"On the 30th Aurelia, just the enough amount of time to adjust and reconnect with our families," Blaine said as he took the dishes to the sink.
"Oh I see. Well it has been quite a long time since the two of you went home. Will you be seeing each other there?" Aurelia asked him as she started wiping the table. Rachel was assigned to wash the dishes, but Blaine whispered to her that he would help her after he was finished with his task.
"Si. I will be driving over to Rachel's to meet her dads. And then we will be hanging out with both our friends. I'll be bringing my friends from Dalton and she'll be bringing her friends from McKinley and we'll have a small camping trip near the mountains in the state," Blaine said, smiling. He was really excited to introduce Rachel to his friends back in Dalton, and he was also excited to meet Rachel's friends from McKinley.
"Well that sounds like a fun trip. Now don't forget to watch out for wild animals! I want to be able to see you two back in Italy alive!" Aurelia said, pinching Blaine's cheeks. She really adored the couple, and she was really happy that it both worked out for the two of them.
"Don't worry Aurelia I won't let anything happen to any of us, especially Rachel," Blaine said, massaging his now sore cheeks.
"Do you want to take a walk after this or are you too tired?" Blaine asked Rachel as they were finishing the dishes.
"Where would we go today?" Rachel asked him, looking at his eyes.
"Well, I figured we should go visit Signor Dimitri. It's been a while since we saw him and it's still technically Christmas season, so I think we should go visit him. But if you're too tired then that's ok, there's always tomorrow," Blaine told Rachel, smiling at her.
"Yeah it HAS been a while since we saw him!" Rachel said, suddenly looking excited. "I'll just get my coat and we can head over to the fountain."
"Ok, I'll wait here," Blaine said, smiling as Rachel went to her room to get her coat.
"Signore Dimitri! How are you?" Rachel said, all smiles as she waved at Signore Dimitri. It really has been a while since they visited the man, primarily because of all the schoolwork plus their trip to Paris, so it was really nice to catch up with him again. As they approached the old man, he stood up and greeted them both with a huge hug.
"Ah my favourite couple," Signore Dimitri said as they parted from the hug. "How are you two? Doing great I assume?" he said to them, giving them a toothy grin.
"We're great Signore, we just got back in Italy from Paris," Blaine answered him, smiling at the old man.
"Paris! Well you must have had a grand time! Now what can I do for you love birds? Would you like me to play you a song?" he asked them, picking up his guitar from it's case.
Rachel smiled at the old man. She was reminiscing on the night Blaine took him to an apology date, and how in-love she felt as Blaine danced with him under the moonlight. This place was really special, and she was happy that one of the people who witnessed that moment was now here with them.
"Actually I was thinking if you would like to grab a coffee at the cafe with us. It's freezing here anyway," Blaine asked him.
"Well I would love that! Let me just pack my guitar and we can get going," Signore Dimitri told them as he started putting his guitar back in it's case.
After a few minutes of walking, Rachel recognized the route that they had just taken. This was the street leading to the cafe where she and Blaine had their first "date". Rachel was feeling happy at the moment because of all the memories that were flooding back to her that she gave the hand that was entwined with her a tight squeeze. Blaine on the other hand, who was talking merrily to Signore Dimitri, turned to Rachel and kissed her forehead. He knew exactly what she was thinking, for he was thinking of the same thing.
The coffee with Signore Dimitri was rather interesting. Rachel was shown an insight to waht Signore Dimitri was before he became a street performer. It turns out that he too used to go to the university both she and Blaine went to, but because of financial problems, he was forced to drop out from the music program. She now understood how Blaine and Signore Dimitri gets along so well. It is not only because both of them played the guitars, but because Signore Dimitri went through the tough times that Blaine was currently experiencing in his studies. Rachel spent most of the time in the cafe listening to the two men converse but she never felt out of place. Every once in a while Blaine would look at her and smile at her, or would gave her hand a small squeeze from under the table, or run his hands through her arm. He always made her feel important.
"Good bye Signore Dimitri!" Rachel said to him as she kissed him in the cheek. "We'll try to visit you more often after the winter break," she said, smiling.
"Good bye you two! Do visit me ok? And thank you for the coffee. I'll see you around!" he waved at them as he started walking towards the fountain.
And so Blaine and Rachel were left alone in a spot outside the cafe, looking at Signore Dimitri as he made his way back to his spot.
"We should probably call it a night," Blaine whispered, knowing that Rachel was still probably tired from the trip from Paris to Italy. Plus they haven't really had a good night's sleep in the longest of time, so now that they were in a proper break, they should probably start taking advantage of all the sleeping time they could afford.
Rachel yawned as she nodded to Blaine's statement. She was starting to feel rather tired from the hectic day they had, and she felt that hugging her pillows might just do the trick. So they started walking towards Rachel's apartment, Blaine humming as they walked.
"It's like a trip back down the memory lane," Rachel said to Blaine, resting her head on the shoulder as they walked.
"I know. Wasn't it great though?" Blaine replied, wrapping his arms around Rachel.
"I had a great time," Rachel said, smiling. "Thank you," Rachel said to him as they stopped in front of the gates of the apartment.
"I love you," Blaine said, kissing Rachel on the lips. He missed the flesh that was hers. It always made him feel warm inside, and as of the moment, a kiss was just enough for him. No physical contact of some sort. Not yet. He respected Rachel's boundaries, and he also adored her for those boundaries.
"I love you more," Rachel said, reciprocating the kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Blaine said as he kissed Rachel again, this time as a good bye.