Medicine - T. Nott

thirty three

Song for this chapter: A Sunday Kind Of Love - Etta James

- - - - -

April 5th, 1998

The morning light is shining through the double doors leading to the balcony and casting slivers of sunlight all over the hotel room. My head is still resting on Theo's bare chest with his arms around my abdomen, the same way that we fell asleep last night. Theo is tracing patterns on the bare skin of my shoulder so gently that I want to go right back to sleep.

I curl closer to Theo and he tightens his hold on me, continuing to trace his fingers over my shoulder and upper back. He's so warm and I'm always cold.

"Good morning, la mia bella ragazza," Theo murmurs. He presses a kiss to the top of my head.

I smile, "Good morning."

"What do you want to do today?" Theo asks softly. His voice is still a bit raspy from sleep so I'm guessing he woke up only a bit before me.

Yesterday, we got lunch and walked around the area for a bit before we came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. After dinner, we came back to the hotel and cast muffliato.

"Stay in bed with you all day," I reply.

"I like that idea," Theo says.

I rest my arm on his chest and prop my head up with my hand so that I can look at him. "Or at least for a bit longer," I add. "Because I am a bit hungry."

Theo smiles at me and reaches over to brush my hair out of my face. "Whatever you want, Alex," He says. "Whatever you want, we'll do it."

I lean forward like I'm going to kiss Theo, and he leans in too, but I turn my head at the last second and dodge the kiss. I laugh as Theo looks visibly offended that I didn't kiss him.

"I hate you so much," Theo says.

He wraps his arms around me and tackles me back into the bed. The duvet gets tangled around us and we're both laughing. Theo ends up laying on top of me, propped up on his elbow.

"No, you don't, liar," I tease.

"You're right," Theo says. "I love you."

I grin at him. "Now that's more like it."

"Can I kiss you now?" Theo asks.

I pretend to think about it for a second. "Yes, you idiot," I say.

Theo kisses me. It's an innocent kiss but it still gives me butterflies. When we break apart, both of us are smiling.

I push Theo's hair out of his face. "I love you too," I say.

It takes us over an hour, but Theo and I eventually do get out of bed. We move around the hotel room while getting ready, both of us smiling whenever we cross paths.

I'm standing in front of the mirror over the bathroom sink, checking to make sure that I look okay when Theo comes in. He comes and stands beside me, watching my reflection in the mirror.

"You look beautiful," He whispers in my ear. Theo leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "You ready to go?"

We leave the hotel and walk out onto the streets of Amsterdam. There are tulips of all different colors blooming all along the sidewalk, filling the air with their sickly sweet scent. Theo holds my hand the entire walk to breakfast, which ends up being a small cafe along one of the riverbanks.

I order coffee and pancakes, and Theo orders tea and pancakes.

The entire morning I can't help but feel anything other than happy. We have two weeks away from everything and every one, two weeks to just be together and be one of those sickenly adorable couples that I used to hate.

- - - - -

After breakfast, Theo and I wander around the area going in and out of shops. It has started to rain but it's just a drizzle so it's barely noticeable as we duck in and out of stores.

In one particular boutique, I find a sage green dress that I decide I absolutely need. When I go to pay for it Theo pushes my hand and money out of the way and pays for it instead.

"You didn't need to do that," I tell him as we walk out of the store.

Theo shrugs, "I wanted to. Maybe you can wear it one of the days we're here."

I stand on my tip toes and press a kiss to Theo's cheek. "Thank you," I say.

Theo just smiles and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Anything for you, Alex."

We spend the whole afternoon shopping, and I end up convincing Theo to buy some new clothes that aren't all dark colors like the rest of his wardrobe.

As the day goes on, the clouds get darker and it continues to drizzle down on us. It looks like it's going to start downpouring any second now but Theo and I keep on going. We're still close to the hotel so it won't be the worst thing in the world when it starts raining harder.

I drag Theo into more stores, but he never complains, he just looks happy to follow after me.

There's a lingerie section in one of the boutiques so I go over to look because, why not? Theo raises an eyebrow at me and follows me. I can feel his eyes on me as I look through everything and find some things that I like.

I find a white lace set that is so pretty that it deserves to be shown off.

I hold it up for Theo to see. "Do you like this?" I ask.

"Do you like it?" Theo asks in return.

"Yes," I reply.

Theo grins, "Well, then I love it." He takes a step closer to me. "I'm buying it for you though."

"No, you're not," I argue.

Theo cuts me off by kissing me. I kiss him back then remember that I'm supposed to be convincing him and not the other way around.

"You're not buying me anything else," I say, tilting my head to the side so that his lips brush against my cheekbone.

"But I promised," Theo says.

I look up at him. "What?" I question.

Theo leans in and whispers in my ear. "Valentine's day," He says.

Theo pulls down my underwear so harshly that I hear a tear.

"If you ripped those, you're buying me new ones," I mumble into his neck, only half-joking.

"I'll buy you a thousand," Theo says.

"Oh," I say, my voice quiet as I replay that night's events over in my head.

Theo looks back and looks very amused at my reaction. "So technically, I owe you," He says.

I don't put up much of an argument after that.

Theo pays and we leave the store. It's starting to get late so we decide to head back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. Theo carries all of our bags and holds my hand.

We're about five minutes away from our hotel when it starts downpouring. All of a sudden rain starts falling from the sky in sheets, drenching Theo and me. Thankfully, I had already cast a charm on all of our shopping bags to keep them safe from the rain.

The rain drenches us within seconds and I can't help but laugh as I look up at Theo. He cups my face with his hand and leans in to kiss me.

I kiss Theo back as the rain cascades down on us and all over the city. I hold Theo's face with both of my hands as he kisses me. His wet hair is stuck to his forehead and my hair is stuck to the sides of my face.

When we break apart I push Theo's hair out of his eyes as he grins.

"What'd we do now?" I ask.

Theo laughs, "Run."

He pulls my hand and we start running through the deserted sidewalk. I'm laughing and the rain is soaking every single inch of my body by the time we reach the hotel.