canirove - Tumblr blog

canirove · 1 day ago

Text

Roman Holiday | Chapter 2

Previous chapter | Next chapter (coming out on Friday)

Masterlist

“He can't be the prince. He just can't, that's impossible. What would someone like him be doing at that party? Nothing, because it wasn't him, just a posh boy who happened to resemble him.”

That's what I've been telling myself the whole night as some kind of mantra after getting home from the party. That the man currently sleeping on my sofa after struggling to go up the stairs of my building without making noise and wake up my landlady, isn't Prince Joseph.

“Holy mother of Jesus” someone says after a loud bang is heard.

Someone, or Declan.

“What happened? Are you ok?” I say after getting out of my bed the fastest I've ever done it and running to the living room.

“Yeah, yeah” Declan says. “I was trying to get myself a glass of water without making too much noise, but I hit that box full of books and it fell.”

“I'll get you that… water” I say, trying to control my gasp as he turns to look at me. He is… he's almost naked. He is just wearing his underwear, and with the messy hair and kind of sleepy face, he looks like he just came from shooting a Calvin Klein ad. Because his posh ass obviously wears Calvin Klein (no pun intended).

“Ella, are you checking me out?”

“What?”

“You are checking me out, aren't you?”

“No, I'm not.”

“Sure” he chuckles.

“I'm not” I insist, finally managing to look him in the face. Because I was definitely checking him out. “What about you?”

“Uh?”

“Are you checking me out?”

“Yeah” he shrugs.

If he's almost naked and just in his underwear, I'm kind of the same. I'm just wearing a thin tank top with no bra and my knickers, which thankfully are one of the cute ones since last night I put them on just in case I ended up going home with someone. Which I actually did, though not in the way I expected.

“Well, I… Umm…” I say, feeling my cheeks starting to get warm.

“Gabriella?” someone says from the other side of my apartment's door. “Gabriella, are you there? Are you alright?”

“Who is that?” Declan asks.

“Shhh!” I say, quickly moving to where he is and covering his mouth with my hand, his only reply being an arched eyebrow. “That's my landlady, and she doesn't like it when I bring men home” I whisper. “I actually am on my second strike, so if she catches me with someone again, she is kicking me out.”

“Fi fran fu fa.”

“What? Oh, sorry” I say, moving my hand from Declan's lips. My hand… has been… on Declan's lips.

“She can't do that” he whispers. “That has to be illegal.”

“Tell that to her”

“Gabriella?” she says again, this time knocking on my door.

“Go hide in the bathroom. And don't make a single noise, understood?”

“Understood” he nods.

“Mrs. Ceretti! Good morning” I say, opening the door.

“Oh, Gabriella. Finally. I thought something had happened to you. What was that loud noise? Are you alright?”

“I am, thank you for asking. But some of my books, not so much" I chuckle. "I was still half asleep and hit a box full of them that I had forgotten about.”

“I see… Are you alone? I think I heard a man's voice.”

“Oh, no. That must have been the news. After hitting the box I sat down on the sofa, didn't see the remote control, and the tv turned on on its own and it was a bit loud.”

“The news” she snorts. “They only talk about that stupid prince visiting the city. All royals are nothing but leeches, you know? We should bring back the guillotine and get rid of them” she says with a disgusted face. “Anyway, be careful, Gabriella. And you still haven't paid me this month's rent.”

“I will next week, I promise. Thank you for worrying about me, Mrs. Ceretti” I say, giving her my best smile.

“Yeah, yeah” she says as she starts going down the stairs.

“Have a nice day!” I say before closing my door and resting my forehead against it.

“Forget about what I said earlier” Declan says behind me. “I can see her kicking you out for having a man in your house after what she said about royals.”

“Told you” I reply, turning around to face him, once again doing my best to not gasp when I see his naked torso, and his arms, and that fluffy hair and... “Anyway, how are you? Still feeling sleepy?”

“Just a bit. I think whatever they put on my drink has worn off.”

“Good.”

“Thank you for helping me last night, Ella. Not many people would have done that for a complete stranger.”

“Yeah, well…” I say, looking down at my feet. Again, why am I going shy? “Do you still want that glass of water?”

“Please.”

“Cool” I say, moving towards the kitchen and still not looking at him. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, Ella.”

“So, umm… Are you hungry?” I ask him while he drinks.

“I actually am, yes.”

“Then let's make some breakfast… Or not” I say after checking my cupboards. “Unless you are in the mood for a salad, I think the only breakfast related thing I can offer you is tea that has been here since I moved to Rome two years ago.”

“A London girl who doesn't drink tea?” Declan asks, faking a gasp.

“Yeah… My mum has always said that when it comes to food and drinks my Italian blood takes over.”

“Oh, yes. Last night you said that your dad was Italian. But since you don't have anything else to offer me, and I think I'm going to stop drinking tea for a while… Why don't we go out to have breakfast?”

“What?”

“I mean, I don't know the city, but I'm sure there are places you love going to or that you would love to check.”

“A few, yes.”

“Then let me buy you breakfast, Ella. I think it is the least I can do after what you did for me last night.”

“I… Ok, fine. Let's go” I say after thinking about it for a few seconds.

It's just breakfast. What could go wrong?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Gabriella!”

“Mrs. Ceretti! Hi!” I say when Declan and I walk past her door as we leave the building. She was definitely waiting for us.

“I thought you said you were alone.”

“And I was.”

“Then who is he?” she says, pointing at Declan.

“Oh, this is… my cousin Will!” I say, remembering what he had said last night when we met. “He's visiting from London and stopped by to invite me to have breakfast with him.”

“I didn't see him go up the stairs.”

“Well, he definitely used them to go up to my apartment like five minutes ago” I chuckle.

“And people have called me an angel many times before, but last time I checked I still didn't have wings” Declan says, giving her his best smile, one that makes my cheeks feel warm. “It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. My cousin has told me that you take really good care of her.”

“I try to, but she doesn't make it easy” Mrs. Ceretti says, giving me a disapproving look.

“Well, my aunt still is very thankful for everything you do. Truly.”

“If you say so…”

“Anyway, we have to go, we don't want to be late” I say. “Have a nice day, Mrs. Ceretti.”

“It's been a pleasure meeting you, ma'am” Declan adds, kissing her hand and making her… smile.

“Good to know there still are gentlemen out there” she says, still smiling. “Have fun and behave yourself.”

“We will. I promise you” he replies.

“How did you do that?” I ask him once we are outside the building.

“Did what?”

“Make Mrs. Ceretti smile! I think that was the first time I've seen her do it since I met her!”

“What?” he chuckles.

“I swear it, Declan! How did you manage to charm her like that?”

“I don't know” he shrugs. “I was just being myself.”

“Charming, you mean.”

“If you say so…” he smirks, making my heart skip a beat. Wait, what?

“I… Let's go. If we don't leave now we will definitely be late for breakfast, and I am getting hungrier by the second” I say, starting to walk and focusing on where we are going to try and forget about what Declan just made me feel.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This place is amazing, Ella. No wonder you had always wanted to come” Declan says once we've finished eating the best breakfast of my life.

“It is, isn't it? What won't be so nice, tho, will be this” I say as the waiter leaves our bill on the table and walks away. “I don't want to look at it.”

“I'll do it” he says, picking it up. “Oh, this is nothing.”

“Nothing? How many numbers does it have?”

“Three.”

“Oh... my God.”

“It's ok, Ella. I'll… shit.”

“Shit what, Declan? Why that face? What happened?”

“I… I forgot my wallet” he says with an apologetic smile.

“You what?” I say, raising my voice and making some of the people around us look our way.

“When I left last night I forgot to grab my wallet. And my phone.”

“Bloody hell, Declan. I can't pay for this. I've been struggling a bit lately because of unexpected events, and I haven't even paid my rent yet. This is too much!”

“I… I'm sorry, Ella. I thought… I… I'm sorry.”

“Yeah” I say, trying my best to not start crying. I can already see myself living under a bridge.

“I have an idea” he says after a few seconds in silence.

“Paying with your Gucci shoes? I don't think they'll accept that.”

“Not paying.”

“What?” I laugh.

“Let's go, Ella” he says, getting up from his chair.

“Are you being serious?”

“Deadly. C'mon on” he says, offering me his hand. “The waiter has gone inside the restaurant, he isn't looking this way.”

“But Declan, if they catch us…”

“They won't. C'mon.”

“I…” What is worse, living under a bridge or going to prison? “Ok” I finally say, taking his hand.

“Try to act normal.”

“As if I wasn't about to leave without paying, you mean?”

“Exactly” he says with his best smile, something that definitely doesn't help.

“Declan, if this goes wrong…”

“It won't. Just keep walking, Ella.”

And as we make it to the end of the street and are about to turn the corner…

“You!” the waiter shouts.

“Run” Declan says.

“What?”

“Just run, Ella” he says before basically dragging me behind him, the waiter still shouting at us.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This way!”

“Shit” I say as I stumble when Declan pushes me inside a random building, the door closing behind us. “What are…”

“Shhh” he says, putting a finger over my lips and pushing me against the wall, trying to hide us.

And while I could be thinking about the fact that we have two people from the restaurant where we had breakfast running after us, or how I may end up in jail, I can only focus on Declan's chest against mine, his heart beating as fast as mine. On his finger touching my lips. On how close his face is to mine, allowing me to see that he has freckles on his nose, and especially on how his hand is on my hip, his fingers touching my skin and making it burn since my t-shirt has gone up with the push.

“They are gone.”

“What?” I say, my lips brushing against his finger and sending electricity down my spine.

“The guys from the restaurant. I think they are gone” Declan says, his finger finally leaving my mouth as he takes a step back.

“Oh” I manage to say, suddenly missing the way his body felt against mine.

“That was quite exciting, wasn't it?”

“What?” I say again.

“Leaving without paying and then all the running through the streets of Rome. It looked like something from a movie!” he chuckles.

“You can't be serious, Declan. What if they had arrested us?”

“They would have set us free after I made a phone call.”

“A phone call to who? And how can you be so sure?”

“You ask too many questions, Ella” he says, the smirk on his face showing that he remembers saying that same thing last night.

“Well, I want to know more about the guy who has me running around Rome while being chased after not paying at one of the most famous restaurants in the city” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You don't need to know more about me. You'll probably won't see me again after today.”

“What? Why do you say that?”

“Too many questions, Ella” he repeats. “Let's just enjoy our day together. Please” he says pouts.

“Only if you promise me we won't do anything illegal. Again.”

“I won't” Declan says with that smile that keeps getting me in trouble and making my stomach do funny things. “What should we do now? Maybe something cultural? What about visiting the coliseum? I've only seen it from the outside.”

“The tickets to go inside are too expensive.”

“Shame. Then what about…”

“The Fontana di Trevi is not far from here” I say. “Checking it is free if you manage to walk past all the tourists.”

“Then let's go” he smiles, taking my hand on his once again.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“There you go” I say, putting a coin on Declan's hand once we find a free spot after fighting against a horde of tourists. Though most of them were quite nice, probably charmed by Declan's smile and his perfect manners. He is the poshest person I've ever met, and I crossed paths with a few while living in London.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Throw it on the fountain, of course! But there are some steps you must follow before doing it.”

“Before throwing a coin?” he says, looking at it.

“First of all, you must be giving your back to the fountain” I say, grabbing him by the shoulders and making him move. “There, perfect. Now you must throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder.”

“Why?”

“I don't know” I shrug. “And, this is how the legend goes.”

“There is a legend?”

“Too many questions, Declan” I say, rolling my eyes and making him laugh. “Anyway, this is how it goes. If you throw one coin, you will return to Rome. If you throw two coins, you will fall in love with an attractive Italian. And if you throw three coins, you will marry the person that you met.”

“Ok… Then I'm gonna need two more coins.”

“What?” I chuckle.

“I want to come back, fall in love with an attractive Italian and marry her” he smirks.

“Will you also have her running around Rome because you haven't paid the bill at a restaurant?”

“Jealous, Ella?” Declan says, arching an eyebrow.

“Of what? Of ending up in prison?” I snort, focusing on getting his coins to not look at him. I'm pretty sure I am (once again) blushing.

“Of not being the Italian woman I will marry.”

“No” I say, putting the coins on his hand, the touch once again making me feel things. “Now let's do this before someone takes our spot. I can see a group of tourists coming our way.”

“Are you throwing a coin too?” he asks me.

“I am.”

“And what are you asking for?”

“If I tell you it won't work. Remember, right hand over your left shoulder.”

“Right hand over your left shoulder” he repeats.

“One, two… three!” I say, closing my eyes and throwing my coin. And no, I'm not telling you what my wish is either.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This has been one of the best days of my life, Ella.”

“You're welcome” I smile as we walk towards my apartment.

“Sorry about how it started, tho. I promise you I will pay for our breakfast as soon as I make it to the… home” Declan says.

“Thank you. I don't want them showing up at my door tomorrow because they recognised me on a security camera or something” I chuckle.

“That won't happen. And we've made it” he says, stopping outside my building. “Again, thank you for today, Ella. I will never forget our visit to the Fontana, all the pizza and gelato we ate both for lunch and dinner, that cheap bottle of wine that actually was quite good, all the small shops and little corners you showed me, or when that dog almost killed me.”

“Declan, it was a chihuahua” I laugh.

“The most deadly dog ever” he says, trying to look serious but starting to laugh too. “Today has been perfect, Ella” he says, taking my hand on his. “I wish this could be my life. You, I, this city…”

“Yeah” I say, focusing on the way his thumb is caressing my knuckles.

Because today has been perfect.

Time has literally flown by, and I can't remember the last time that happened with a guy. Or the last time I laughed as much as I did with Declan today. Or when the guy I was with actually listened to what I was telling him no matter how stupid my anecdote was. I've just felt so comfortable with him. So at peace. So… like myself.

“Good night, Ella” he says as he closes most of the space between us, his free hand moving to my face, caressing my cheek.

“Good night, Declan” I manage to say while everything in my body is freaking out and behaving in a way I think I've never felt before. From my face burning, to my stomach flipping, to my knees feeling like jelly.

And when his lips touch mine… Well. When that happens, I can hear myself gasping before definitely having the best kiss of my entire life. And I've had many over the years.

“Good night” Declan whispers before letting go of me and once again making me miss him. All of him.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“This is crazy” I say to myself as I make it to my apartment. “You've known him for 24 hours, Ella. You barely know anything about him. He may even be Prince Joseph and not just a random posh guy! You can't have those feelings for someone like him. You just can't” I say, taking off my shoes once I'm inside. “You just can't. I can't. Because it is crazy and… what?” I say when someone knocks on my door. “Please don't let it be Mrs. Ceretti” I say when they knock again. “Please, please, please… I'm coming!” I say when they keep knocking, kicking my shoes to the side to not trip with them. “Good night, Mrs… Declan? What…”

But I'm not allowed to say anything else, to ask him what the hell is he doing here. And why, you may ask? Because he is kissing me, his hands cupping my face. And if that kiss downstairs had been amazing, this one has nothing to envy.

“Declan, what are you doing here?” I ask him when we break apart to catch our breath.

“I couldn't leave, Ella. I couldn't leave you. Not yet” he says before closing the door with his foot (definitely waking up Mrs. Ceretti) and kissing me again, walking us both towards my room.

Will I regret this tomorrow? Most likely. This is my third strike.

But right now, I don't care.

Right now, I only care about Declan's lips on mine and his hands all over me.

Right now, I only care about him.

#declan rice #declan rice x reader #declan rice fanfic #declan rice imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

7 notes · View notes