Temptation

Roma

"No!" Cassie gasped and shot up from bed. She panted heavily as she tried to get her nightmare out of her head. She relived her father's death in her dream. Every detail of that day was so vivd, she was petrified. Feeling her movements, Ben woke up and looked over.

"Cass," his husky, tired voice said. She jumped a bit and looked at him. He started to sit up and turn on the bedside lamp. "Baby, what's wrong?" Cassie simply shook her head and closed her eyes. She opened the back up immediately when she saw her dad's blood covered hand wrapped in hers.

Then, she started crying.

"Hey, hey," Ben soothingly said, while pulling her in for a hug. "Darling, what is it? Did you have a bad dream?" She just nodded as her answer and hugged him tighter. "It's alright, it was just a dream," he assured.

She looked up at him with sad, tear stained eyes and cried, "But it wasn't. It was real. It was so real and I don't know if I can go through it again." Ben gently brushed back her hair as he asked, "Go through what again?"

She sucked in a shaky breath, then said, "The day my dad died. I told you he died in an accident, but I what I never told you...was that I was there. I saw him get hit by a truck and I held his hand until he died. He was covered in blood and it was so awful. My mom, she didn't even cry. She just told me to take a shower so I could get all of the blood off. I've never told anyone this, not even Anna."

Ben soaked this information in for a moment and was going to say something, but then she quickly said, "You know what, forget it. Forget I said anything. We're in Rome, we don't need this right now." He smiled at her efforts to move on, then said, "Whatever you want, my love. Why don't we start with going back to sleep?"

She nodded and he got her to lay down with her face in his neck and his arms completely wrapped around her. She did try to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes...she couldn't bare to see any of it again. So, she stayed awake; feeling the rise and fall of Ben's chest, hearing his rumbled breaths deep in his chest. 

Before she knew it, the sun was shining through their hotel window. Ben stirred awake around seven o'clock and looked down at her with a smile. "Morning, darling," he said, before giving her a kiss. "You sleep alright?"

She gave him a small smile and said, "Yeah." He ran his thumb under her baggy eyes and said, "I know you didn't. Come on, hop in the shower and I'll order up some coffee. We'll have breakfast somewhere else." Doing as he said, she hopped in the shower, then drank her coffee once she was out. 

She was feeling awake already. 

"Ready for a day of calories?" Ben asked as he locked the hotel door on their way out. "Very much so," she told him before grabbing his hand and walking down the hall. "Are you feeling better after last night?" He asked as they walked out of the hotel.

She let out a nervous laugh, then said, "Truthfully, I feel kind of idiotic. We can talk about it later, though. Right now, I just want to enjoy Rome." Ben respected that and held her close to his side as they walked around. He went to ask a man how much a piece of jewelry he was selling costs, but couldn't find the right words for it. 

"Mi scusi, signore, ma quanto costa?" He turned to Cassie in shock as she spoke perfect Italian to this man. "Per voi e tuo marito," the man said, "sette euro." Cassie turned to Ben and told him, "Seven euros for me and my 'husband'."

They both giggled a bit, then Ben handed him seven euros. The man gave him the beautiful piece of jewelry, then he gave it to Cassie. "For my love," he told her, "who can apparently speak Italian." She laughed and took the necklace that was made from the dry lava of Pompeii and carved into a flower. 

"Thank you," she sincerely told him. He gave her a kiss, then took her hand and continued to walk. They ended up at a quaint restaurant where they could eat breakfast. Ben couldn't help, but laugh when Cassie ordered spaghetti because of course she did. 

"I hope you don't mind that I get fat after this vacation," she said with a mouthful of spaghetti. Ben smiled adoringly at her and said, "I wouldn't care if you gained a thousand pounds and couldn't leave the house. I would still love you...especially after this picture."

She looked up and saw he had taken a picture of her stuffing her face with food. "Ben!" She gasped after swallowing her food. "Delete that!" He laughed, "Hell no! That's your new caller I.D."

After "breakfast", they walked around some more. They didn't want to go to every place they could since they had a few days here, but they did go to the Vatican and the Coliseum, both of which were absolutely breathtaking. 

"Look at this structure," Ben said as he got down and ran his fingers across the old cement. "This is stronger than anything we use today. Well, it was stronger." Cassie just smiled and watched him become a fascinated nerd. "You're cute when you're nerdy," she said as they walked out of the tour. 

He looked at her oddly and said, "I am not nerdy." She leaned up and kissed his jaw, then said, "You are and it's adorable." He leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. "I love you," he told her. She brought him down for another kiss, then said, "I know."

The moment the clock hit noon, every restaurant was starting to sell wine. When they went to get lunch, their server left them two samples of their best wine. Cassie just stared at it while Ben tried to explain to the waiter that they can't drink it. 

Luckily, this guy spoke English and understood, so he took it away. "Ben, please drink some of the wine here," she begged after the waiter left. "This is Italy, they have fantastic wine and I would hate for you not to try some."

It took a few hours of convincing, but Ben eventually did try some wine when they stopped for dinner. "Good?" She asked as she watched his eyes practically roll to the back of his head. "Bloody perfection," he told her. 

When he set his glass down, he took her hand across the table and said, "I have a few plans for our anniversary tomorrow. Hope you don't mind if I planned it ahead." She shook her head and told him, "Of course I don't mind. May I ask what we'll be doing?"

He shook his head with a sly smile on his lips. "You are something else, Mr. Cumberbatch," she told him as she sipped on water. "Only for you, my love."