Hey Guys! I know what you're thinking. Seriously? She expects us to still read her story after she didn't update for about four months? I'm really sorry about that, and I'm not trying to force anyone to still follow this. I can't promise the next chapter will be up that soon either (but definitely a shorter wait than this last one), but I'm determined to finish this story. Don't forget, I changed it so they'll be ending in Greece instead of back in Morocco. Sorry again for the wait, and enjoy!
**Derrick**
When I woke up to the sunlight streaming through the porthole and hitting my face, a smile instantly appeared on my face as I remembered the events of the evening before.
A rustling noise made me sit up as a piece of paper slid under our door. Cam emerged from the bathroom fully dressed with damp hair. He quickly scanned the schedule before handing it to me.
The Dreamer
Day 7
9:00: Wake up!
9:30: Breakfast
10:00: Walking tour of Historical Sites
1:30: Piazza Venezia (please buy lunch!)
3:00: St. Peter's Basilica
5:00: Free time
6:00: Board ship for dinner
9:00: Gladiator in the Yellow Lounge
11:00: Sweet Dreams! (Tomorrow: Agrigento!)
Day 8
9:00: Wake up!
9:30: Breakfast
10:30: Archeological Museum
12:30: Lunch
1:30: Church of San Biagio
3:30: Valley of the Temples (bag dinners included)
8:30: Reboard ship
9:30: Karaoke in the Green Lounge
11:00: Sweet Dreams (Tomorrow: Athens!)
"Dude! What's got you so smiley lately?" Cam asked, plopping down on his bed. He had an amused look on his face, like I-think-I-know-but-I-still-want-you-to-tell-me.
"Haha, I have a lot to catch you up on," I agreed, thinking back to sitting on the upper deck with Massie the night before. "How far back do you know?"
"Just that you were too busy to join me and Kemp for dinner last night," he responded, eyebrows raised amusedly.
"Well, I spent the whole afternoon with Massie," I began, and he smirked. "And we hung out by the leaning tower, and we sort of… ended up making out. And then she freaked out and had to go tell Claire, because she was afraid she was a horrible friend. But you know Claire knew what was going on the whole time, so yea." I looked up to see his smile had gotten a little more forced, and realized that while I finally landed my dream girl, he was still struggling a bit. I'd have to work on that. "Anyway, so of course by the time I caught up with her back here everything was all settled, so we went to that upper deck and hung out for the rest of the night," I finished. I couldn't stop the goofy grin as I remembered stealing kisses between sharing stories and stargazing. It had really been perfect. I don't quite know how, but she was turning me into gush.
"I'm so glad for you, man," Cam responded, and I could tell he meant it.
"Don't worry, Claire'll come around," I assured him before going to take a quick shower, excited about seeing Massie again.
**Massie**
I snuggled up to Derrick in the booth once I was done eating breakfast. He casually slung his arm around me as he ate the last few bites of his eggs and nodded at a story Claire was telling. I loved how comfortable I felt under his arm. I fit just right.
I watched Claire quickly glance at Cam as she got to the funny part of her story, and I saw Cam half-smile to himself. It was almost so quick that I didn't notice, but it started the gears in my brain turning at top speed. Claire giggled at a playful comment Derrick made, and Cam fidgeted in his seat. Now I was really paying attention. Derrick's hand started lightly stroking up and down my arm, and Cam became still. Claire shot Derrick a confused eyebrow raise before getting up to get more food. Did what I think happen just happen? Cam let his eyes dart to watch her while her back was turned, and quickly changed the conversation to how excited he was to be in Rome. I blocked out his rambling, and focused on the matter at hand. I was a horrible friend and ended up taking for myself the great guy I'd been trying to set her up with. I could fix this though, if I could get eher to see that Cam liked her. He hadn't done anything that screamed it, but my intuition was generally pretty good when it came to these things. I could see it in his eyes. Claire returned, sliding back into the seat next to him, and I saw how cute they would look together. It was a total contrast: her white-blonde hair, his almost black. She had soft, refined features, and he looked more rugged and strong. But it definitely worked. Claire had assured me she was more than happy with the way things worked out between me and Derrick, but I still felt bad. I knew things like this were partially why she was so shy around guys. But maybe with a little help from Derrick, I could set her up with Cam. If it would make her happy, that is. After everything that happened, I owed her that much.
**Claire**
I was so excited to be in Rome. I'd always had a thing for Roman and Greek myths growing up, and standing under the dome of the Pantheon simply took my breath away. We'd already seen the Colosseum, which had a bit too gory of a history for my liking, and the Roman Forum which the whole city was originally built around. I was surrounded by marble statues of eight gods and goddesses. I slowly walked around the building, taking my time to admire each statue and read up a bit on any history I hadn't learned about yet. Every once and a while I felt like I was being watched, but if I turned around, all I'd see was Derrick and Massie being adorable and whispering to each other. Once I thought I caught Cam looking at me, but it was too quick to tell for sure. Not like he had any good reason to be looking at me, anyway. All too soon we were ushered back out into the bright sunlight and told we had an hour and a half to walk around and buy lunch. Upon hearing that I turned around and marched back into the Pantheon. I heard Massie calling after me, but I didn't feel like playing third wheel all lunch and I did feel like absorbing in the magic that was this temple since I probably wouldn't ever get the chance to come back. I sat down on a stone bench and let the light shining in from the top of the dome wash over me.
**Cam**
I'd been hoping to get a chance to talk to Claire at lunch, but she disappeared before I got the chance. I guess I wasn't very good at hiding it though, because once we were settled at a table at an outdoor café, Massie shared a knowing look at Derrick before turning to grin deviously at me.
"I happen to know, Cam, that you have taken more than a platonic interest in my dear friend Claire," she began, eyes bright with excitement. I shot Derrick a glare, the traitor. "And I am more than excited to make this happen for you. I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier!" I wasn't entirely sure I wanted my fate in the hands of Massie, but she seemed genuinely excited at the thought of getting us together, and she did know Claire best out of anyone. "Now I'm not sure what you did to make her so cold to you, but I mean it might just be that I liked you and she knew you were off limits. But that's all fixed now," she fixed Derrick with an adoring look. It would have almost made me want to vomit if I wasn't so glad that it was aimed at him instead of me. I also was really glad Derrick hadn't spilled all the gory details of how I'd managed to make Claire so upset. Sure she knew she should stay away if Massie liked me, but I got the feeling that for once she was willing to go for what she wanted, and I screwed up too badly to let her. I tuned Massie out as she rambled about how great this would be, but caught enough to know she wanted me to try and get Claire alone at the Basilica this afternoon. I could do that, in fact I would have chosen to myself if I'd thought Claire would put up with me. We paid for our meal and went to meet the group, but Claire was missing. Mr. Myner looked really worried, and Ginnah was soothing him.
"I'll go get her," I volunteered, knowing exactly where she'd be. I raced away before anyone could respond, heading straight for the Pantheon. I walked up the steps and through the columns, into the temple. I spotted her right away. Her back was to me, but her hair was positively glowing from the beam of light streaming in from the ceiling. I approached her as quietly as possible, not wanting to shock her.
"Hey Claire," I whispered once I was behind her, and she whipped her head around. "Sorry to disrupt you, but it's time to head to the Basilica."
She let out a quiet sigh and stood up slowly. She took one last look around, a gentle smile gracing her lips and her eyes filled with wonder. Then she marched out of the temple ahead of me, not saying a word.
Thanks for reading guys! Happy Spring!
Hugs, Sky