luxe (sebastian stan)

Ten

The first week in Italy felt like a collage of hazy memories. All I could truly pinpoint was the fact that I was able to get an Airbnb in an apartment about twenty minutes from Rome and that Vanna and I were fucked with serious jetlag. Once we unpacked and decided on bedrooms, we went our separate ways and practically fell into comas for a good forty hours.

Then there was the depression we had after we were recovered from the jetlag. Our future was uncertain. We were stuck in a foreign country and our phones were our greatest enemy. Vanna cried the first few times hers rang as she saw Tom's name flash across the screen and I felt horribly guilty. I was guilty. I put us in this position. Even if it was for her protection, that didn't make her hurt any less valid and the turning in my gut refused to fade away.

I shed a few tears myself, but for opposite reasons. There was one day where Sebastian didn't call at all and I believed that Vincent achieved his goal in killing him. The silence was unbearable and I wanted to call him and ask him if he was okay. I wanted to hear his voice. My God did I need to hear his voice. I never knew I could miss the way someone talked so much, even Sebastian, the most annoying motherfucker of them all.

Eventually we accepted that this was our lives now and that we were going to have to get used to the fact that we were uprooted and the constant ringing of our phones. Once we were fully conscious and able to move from place to place without a bout of narcolepsy we started to plan out our stay here. We were in Italy, a country we always wanted to travel, for an indefinite amount of time. There was no danger here considering the danger forced us to go here, so we didn't have to be careful of our movements. Rome, one of our dream vacation spots, was a short drive away. If we thought about it, this was the perfect vacation, until you mixed in our constantly ringing phones.

I thought once Sebastian sent that text that it would be it, but no. It was like he had set himself an alarm to call me at certain times, probably hoping that his persistence would annoy me into answering. To be honest, it was a good tactic and there had already been about a hundred times where I thought about throwing my phone from the balcony.

"I'm all for ghosting men, but Jesus Christ this is killing me," Vanna whined as she picked up her phone, "I just wanna tell him I'm alright." "I know, but he knows you're with me. He'd probably pull some Jedi shit on you and you'd tell him where we are," I lowered her phone and declined the incoming call for her. Vanna exhaled sharply and smiled, "I'm flattered you think it would take Tom pulling Jedi shit on me to spill the beans. It would just take me seconds."

"Me too," I agreed, and looked out the window to where the balcony lay. The view was absolutely gorgeous and it took my breath away with each glance. However, I couldn't stop thinking about what the view would be like in Romania. Would it be just as beautiful? Just as sunny and clear? Would the clouds be as crisp and white and would the metropolitan area look just as slick even when bustling with crowds? Would I enjoy Romania more because of the company I'd be in or because of the country's natural beauty?

Vanna pushed her chair back and stood up. She walked in front of my view and extended her hand, gesturing for my phone. "Hand it over," she said, "I'm gonna put them in my purse and we're gonna go to Rome and enjoy our stay here." I handed the phone to her and stood up, brushing myself off. "We don't have a car, how are we gonna get there?" "Uber, duh," Vanna rolled her eyes, "Just because we don't have a car here doesn't mean we have to be completely isolated from everything. Get dressed, I wanna see the Coliseum."

"Aye aye, captain," I saluted while chuckling before heading to my room and getting dressed in something other than ratty running shorts and a hoodie (I put on better quality running shorts and a different hoodie). By the time I finished brushing my hair and putting it up into a ponytail, Vanna told me that the Uber was here and we left the apartment and went on our way to Rome.