"Oh, this place is beautiful," Hawk's Mom sighed for what felt like the thousandth time, but Sky didn't mind. On the contrary, it made her happy.

They were in one of her favorite places on Earth - The Roman Forum, a wonderful maze of cypress trees and stone pines, of ancient temples and crumbling columns, walls overgrown with weeds and wildflowers.

As Dad was working all day, it had fallen to Sky to be the guide, which was both easy and fun for her because she'd been here more times than she could count. Hell, the first photos of her in this place showed her as a tiny little thing in a baby carrier, sleeping peacefully against Dad's chest.

She drew some escaped strands of hair behind her ear and flashed Beth a wide smile. "It is, isn't it. Just imagine how it was 2000 years ago - so full of people and life, people from all over the world coming here, to the center of the world–"

"It's still kinda full of people from all over the world," Hawk noted, taking a sip of his water bottle. He looked a bit pale and he had dark circles under his eyes - maybe a sign of him still being jet-lagged and tired after the trip, not that he would ever admit it because it would be 'too pussy' for him or something.

"I know," Sky grinned. "That's what makes it amazing."

Hawk didn't reply but gave her a soft smile. Sky knew very well that under his badass Mohawk and the cool kid act he was a smart guy who still got the best grades. Okay, maybe he was more of a scientific, mathematical mind than a humanist, and even if he didn't share Sky's love for Ancient Rome, he was interested enough. Besides, Sky had a feeling he would have been happy today, no matter where Sky dragged him. Just being together was the best drug for both of them, and there was no denying it.

"Thank you so much for being our guide," Mrs. Moskowitz - Beth, Sky corrected herself - said, drawing Sky's attention off Hawk, who had just brought a water bottle to his lips and was sipping on it in a very distracting way.

"Oh, it's a pleasure," Sky replied with a smile. "Honestly. I love this place, and I'm happy to show you around."

"Still, I want to thank you. Without you, we would have been lost! You seem to know a lot about this place - is it all thanks to your dad?"

"Nope," Hawk replied in Sky's place. "I told you Mom, Sky got an A in history."

Sky blushed slightly, hearing his praise. "Well - I gotta admit that's mostly because of Dad too. It's impossible for him to shut up about history for five minutes, so I guess some things just stuck with me."

Beth hummed, giving Sky a soft smile. "Well, I'm glad."

"Besides, I've come here almost every year all my life. I know this place like the back of my hand." Sky shrugged. "Though last summer–"

She stopped talking mid-sentence. Last summer she had missed Rome because she'd been in hospital after her suicide attempt. That sudden memory pierced her heart painfully - how was it possible it had been a year already? She sucked in a deep, trembling breath. Stupid memories, lurking everywhere, always ready to ambush her when she least expected them, always trying to kick her down on the mat, to suck the life out of her.

"You okay?" Hawk asked, making Sky startle.

"Yeah, I'm fine… I just—" she didn't finish that sentence, but she didn't really have to. He knew what she was thinking about, he always knew. Silently he took her hand, their fingers entwined. Sky was grateful that he didn't ask more, that he didn't push her into talking, but his gentle gesture of holding her hand told her he was there for her in case she wanted to share more.

"Sky," said Hawk's Mom softly. "If you're not feeling good, we can leave—"

Sky shook her head and forced a smile on her face. "It's okay, I'm fine."

She didn't know if Beth realized what she had suddenly remembered, how much she knew of what had happened. To be honest, Sky wasn't quite sure how she felt about the fact that Dad had told Beth about her past - she got it that it had been necessary, but still, it made her feel ashamed.

She couldn't help but think that if Beth could, she would have chosen someone who wasn't a complete nut job, to be the girlfriend of her only son.

In front of her, Sky always felt like she wasn't good enough. And it wasn't because of anything Beth did or said - on the contrary, she was always super nice and kind. It was just a feeling, just something that had been born that first time Sky had kissed Eli in his room and Beth had walked in on them, and she had looked at Sky with such shock and disappointment, that something of it still stuck.

You have to stop thinking like that, Hawk had told her a dozen times, my mom fricking loves you.

Sky glanced at Hawk's mom - met the kind gaze of her blue eyes (the same as Hawk's) but quickly looked back down. She couldn't take the sympathy in her eyes, the pity.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Beth asked, laying a comforting hand on her upper arm. "We can leave, if–"

Sky shook her head.

"I said I was fine." That came out a bit more pointedly than she had meant, but suddenly she found it annoying that Beth was so clearly worried. As if she was scared that Sky would get some looney episode here, which was just stupid.

They were just memories. She wasn't going to let them drown her.

"Mom–" Hawk said, and Beth drew her hand away.

"Right," she said softly, and a short, awkward silence followed. It wasn't until Sky looked up and plastered a confident fake smile on her face, that Beth seemed to relax.

"Come on, let's continue," Sky said, forcing the bad memories away, forcing them into the darkest, deepest corner of her mind while widening the smile on her lips. "You haven't even seen the house of the Vestals yet, and it's one of my favorites."

Hawk's brows arched. Sky knew he saw through her act but was grateful that he said nothing of it.

"The house of the what?" he asked instead.

"The Vestal Virgins," Sky replied with a slow grin. She took the water bottle from Hawk's hands and sipped on it before passing it back to him.

Hawk's throat bobbed. "Virgins?"

"Don't get any dirty ideas," Sky smirked. "They were real badass bitches."

Beth's eyes widened a bit at Sky's choice of words, but Sky didn't really care. Beth already thought she was a nutjob so a curse here and there wouldn't hurt too much.

"Sorry," she said nevertheless. "I meant to say that they were a group of influential women who held high status in Roman politics."

"Well, that sounds interesting," Beth replied.

"It is," Sky assured. "And thanks to Dad, I have an insane amount of useless information about their lives. Let's go and I'll share it all with you."

She started explaining as they walked down the hill towards the House of the Vestals. It wasn't like she had to really think about it - the words just followed one another, the story of the temple and the women who guarded it, the eternal flame that wasn't allowed to go out, the influence those women had in the society - she knew it all by heart. Beth seemed genuinely interested and was nodding and asking questions, but Sky could tell that Hawk was distracted.

Maybe it was the fact he was still jet-lagged, maybe it was the heat - it was an exceptionally hot day, even for Rome - but Sky had a weird feeling that it wasn't just that.

Now that she thought about it, Hawk had been unusually quiet ever since arriving yesterday, as if there was something weighing on him. Almost as if he was hiding something behind his smile, just as Sky was now hiding her sadness behind her happy guide act.

There was something about Hawk that was… different than before. That was the only word Sky could think of. There was something different about him, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

She glanced at him, while still talking about the temple. He walked by her side, and he looked the same - his red mohawk was carefully arranged in sharp, angry spikes, he wore a stylish red T-shirt which color matched his hair perfectly, and a pair of black shorts, and when his eyes met hers, he gave her a smile. His eyes were the same too, big and blue and beautiful, full of love and kindness. His mouth was the same - that mouth Sky loved to kiss, loved to feel on the skin of her neck - his full, sensual lips, the red scar that ran from his nose to his mouth. Everything about him looked the same, his hand in hers felt the same, his scent of cotton and salt and boy was the same, but still–

Still, Sky couldn't shake the feeling that something was different. That something was wrong. And it made her lungs knit up in a tight knot so that it was hard to keep talking.

"And here we can see the remaining statues of the Vestals," Sky went on, her voice coming out a bit thin. She cleared her throat, pointing at the row of the marble statues in front of them, determinedly pushing off the lingering feeling of wrongness. She gripped Hawk's hand in hers, leaned slightly closer to him, and breathing in his scent eased her restless heart.

"Cool," he said and flashed her a smile as if nothing was wrong. As if it was only her imagination that the line of his jaw was stiff, his posture slightly tense, as if he didn't always look away when she tried to keep eye contact for more than a couple of seconds.

I'm overreacting.

It's probably nothing, he's just jet-lagged and tired and probably couldn't give a shit about the Vestals.

I'm just freaking out over nothing because we almost broke up.

"They lived extraordinary lives, really," Sky kept talking, turning her eyes back at the statues. "They had the right to vote, to own property - they even had best seats in the public games at the Colosseum–"

"We're gonna go there too, right?" Hawk asked, suddenly showing interest.

Sky turned to look at him, delighted. "Sure. I was thinking after this. It's right over there."

She pointed towards the direction she knew the Colosseum was, even if it was now hidden from view by cypress trees and ruins of temples and columns.

"That's awesome," Hawk replied grinning. "I've always wanted to go there."

"Be careful what you wish for," Sky noted. "I might make you wear one of those gladiator costumes."

His eyes widened a bit. "Wait, what?"

"Just messing with you," she laughed, but now that the image was in her mind, it was difficult to shake it off. Hawk would look so fucking hot as a gladiator - Sky knew he was a great fighter, and he had the body to show off. Just the thought of him wearing a sword and a helmet, some leather skirt that would leave his upper body bare—

And I'm the one who said we should take it slow!

By the look in his eyes, Hawk had followed her trail of thoughts. He gave her a sly grin that made Sky weak in the knees, and her cheeks blushed.

Luckily Hawk's Mom had walked a bit further and was taking photos of a statue of a Vesta with her phone, blissfully unaware of the conversation the teens were having.

"Just so you know," Hawk rasped, leaning closer to Sky's ear. "I'll wear the fuck you want. Baseball cap, gladiator outfit - just fucking name it and I'll wear it."

A small smile tugged the corner of her mouth. "Yeah?"

"Hell, yeah. If that turns you on, I'm in."

"You're forgetting something."

"What's that?"

"That we are taking it slow."

For a moment Hawk's eyes went serious, a shadow crossed his face, and there it was again, the gut-wrenching sense of wrongness, scraping at the edge of Sky's consciousness. But the moment passed, and the confident smile was back on Hawk's lips before Sky could say a thing.

"You wanna take it slow, then stop teasing me," he smirked, and his hands found her waist. He pulled her close, his lips brushed hers and Sky couldn't help it, her knees went wobbly and her breath got caught in her throat, her body betraying her by revealing her every emotion.

He kissed her slow and deep, his hands on her waist steady and gentle, his lips on her mouth so hot, so perfect. In a matter of seconds, Sky was burning - burning for his touch, burning for his kisses, burning for his love. Whatever it was that was wrong between them, disappeared when he was kissing her. When she was in his arms, everything was right, she belonged, the warmth of his body and his fast, heavy heartbeat in his chest was her home, his hands on the small of her back grounded her.

When he finally broke the kiss, she was highheaded and breathing fast and shallow.

"Fucking Hell, Sky–" he groaned, his lips brushing hers. "I wish there was somewhere we could go."

That made Sky grin. "Oh, you dirty boy - thinking about having sex at the sacred temple of the Vestas?"

"That another role play, you wanna try?" His hot breath fanned her lips. "Cause I'm in."

Sky released herself from his arms teasingly, and flashed him a wide grin. "I think not - it was punishable by death."

"Seriously?"

"Oh, yes–" Sky replied solemnly and started walking towards Hawk's Mom, who was still admiring the row of statues. "And it was brutal! Since it was illegal to spill the blood of a Vestal Virgin, a priestess who was found guilty of having sex was buried alive inside a wall–"

"Shit, for real?"

"Still want to try that roleplay?" she teased. "Doesn't sound so hot when I'm locked in a room inside a wall with a cup of water and a piece of bread and left there to starve to death, does it?"

And thus she was back in her guide mode, prattling on and on about the gruesome fates of the poor priestesses who had been found guilty of the greatest sin. Hawk slid a hand in hers, his hot, calloused palm against her own, and just listened as she talked.

When he held her hand, and she felt the sun on her face, these beloved dust-covered cobblestone streets under her feet, Sky knew that whatever it was she had thought was wrong between them, was only in her head.

Not much happened in this chapter, but hey - not every chapter can be about heartbreaking drama or steamy smut. Enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.