Somewhere in Northern Italy

Chapter 7

Timothée and I went to a small riverside diner that made some of the best swordfish I ever had in my life. Timothée on the other hand, had the Chicken Alfredo.

"That has got to be one of my all time favorite pastas," I said to Timothée when our food finally arrived at the table.

"Oh, same here," he said, "I don't think I could function without having a good bowl of Alfredo every once in a while.

I giggled as he told me jokes about his family and fun stories about his childhood in New York.

"You know I've always wanted to see the big city," I said.

"You've never been?!" exclaimed Timothée, wide eyed at the remark. "Oh my god I have to take you sometime and show you around."

"Are all New Yorkers this proud of their city?" I asked grinning towards him as I watched his eyes light up at the thought of his beloved city.

"Pretty much yeah," he sighed crossing his arms with a thoughtful smile now deep in thought.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you proud of where you're from?"

"We'll it's kind of hard to be proud when there is absolutely nothing to do in your nowhere town."

"I'm still gonna go with you anyways," said Timothée with a warm smile.

When we finally finished our food, Timothée paid the bill. I could tell he was in no rush to get home, I was the same way. We started walking down the riverbank as the sun began to sink lower and lower into the sky.

After walking shoulder to shoulder, listening to nothing but the river creatures sing, Timothée said to me, "I've been thinking about when I first saw you."

"The coffee shop?" I asked remembering the day I first saw his face.

"No," he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows at his response.

"I first saw you by the riverbank a few days before I bumped into you at the coffee shop. You know? The river just outside of town?"

I looked up at the stars trying to remember if I had noticed him anywhere before the coffee shop.

"We were driving to set one day and we had to bring a bunch of equipment with us. I remembered seeing you standing by your bike. You were looking at us but I doubt you could see us because I was sitting on the other side of the car."

"Oh I remember that!" I exclaimed now remembering the mysterious black cars that made their way down the gravel road. "That was the day Palmer and I arrived in Italy."

"So Palmer's your twin brother?"

"Yeah, I mean he's got to be the best friend I've ever had. We've been there for each other our whole life... it's weird because he knows me better than I know myself... I certainly wouldn't be the person I am today without him."

"You know I kind of have the same thing with my older sister. You could tell how close we were from young age... we still are, I call her all the time, she calls me all the time, but I definitely get how influential a sibling can be in your life."

We continued in silence while occasionally looking towards the sky or the river.

"So you're working on a movie?" I asked growing tired of the empty space.

"Yes!" he quickly replied. "It's gonna be great! I'm so excited to share this one with the world."

"I guess you can't give me much information on it if you haven't even finished shooting it right?'

"I could pull a few strings," he said looking towards me with a smirk.

"Have you been in any other movies?" I asked. I already knew the answer to this question but I loved listening to him talk about the things he loved and had a passion about. It was nice to see someone care so much.

"Yes I have," he said raising his eyebrows while looking down at his feet. "I've been in Men, Women, and Children, Interstellar, One and Two, and a movie called the Adderall Diaries.

"Wow that's very impressive," I said surprised at the number of movies he's already done at a young age.

"I love to do this," he said with much sincerity in his voice. "I want to continue doing this and make it my job."

"I have no doubt you'll achieve your goals Timothée," I said looking him straight in the eyes. "I can tell you are passionate about this and I adore that about you."

As soon as I said that, he raised his eyebrows as a smirk began to form on his lips.

I began to grow nervous as I realized the effect my words had on him.

"You adore me?" he asked softly, now stopping and turning his body towards me.

I turned towards him but looked down avoiding eye contact with him.

A wave of heat rush through my body as I struggled to find the words to answer his question. The truth was that I did adore him. From the moment I laid eyes on him he was all I wanted. He was all I needed. The way we locked eyes in a crowded room. The way he smiled towards me. The way he held me in that alley. The way he kissed my lips. I knew I would never get used to his presence. My heart would always skip a beat when I heard his voice, experience his touch, or take in his scent. I wanted to tell him that he was more than someone I adored, but someone I needed in my life.

I lifted my head and looked towards Timothée, staring into his green eyes, "Yes Timothée... I adore you. I adore everything about you. You make me feel some type of way... something that I can't explain. I hope it's not too early to say this but... I really like you and I want to spend time with you. I want to be more than your friend."

My chest rose and fell retrieving the air it had lost to my nerves. He stared back at me, slightly taken back by the confession. I noticed his face begin to soften as I looked back down with embarrassment.

My nose began to sting as unwelcomed tears flooded my eyes.

"You screwed up," I thought, "it's over."

It seemed as if the river creatures grew silent, but my mind was screaming. I wanted to take it back... but I meant every word.

"I'm sor-" I began to say, but he had put his palm on my cheek, using his thumb to wipe the tear off my face.

"Please don't say that," he said in a half whisper. "I need you Eliza."

His statement caused me to look back up at him. I tried to search his facial expression for a lie, for any sign of false emotion, but I had found none. Now falling for him more than ever, his tender hand still resting on my face, our eyes focused on one another, taking in the moment while time stopped for us and only us. I felt him lean closer as I submitted myself into an intimate kiss. My arms resting over his shoulders and his hands holding the back of my neck and his arm around my waist.

Timothée gently pulled away and examined me once more. "I need you," he whispered, leaning in again kissing me with more passion than the one before.

We had found refuge and vulnerability at the bank of the river. Exchanging pieces of ourselves for a piece of the other. That night I learned that I had never known love before him. That night I also let in a great fear. What if he leaves and I am left with no one to love?