WE'VE BEEN SCARED to touch each other since the night we decided to make Saturday our day of confession. We've only touched on set, where we are Brandon and Ivory, two lovers that never ever stopped loving each other, and will never be apart again. And after that, we return to our daily routine of trying to be friends even though we both know it's a lie, a big lie. I hate this, I hate not being able to touch him, but after what happened the night we decided, the way his hands trembled and his lips fumbled when he kissed me, I can't help but wonder what could be so bad that we might never have a chance. We're almost wrapping up, and I'm excited. Lee's excited too, he's excited to go back to hockey in the new season and I'm excited to be able to attend fashion shows and photoshoots. Neil's excited too, he's no longer terrified that Lee and I might ruin this whole production process. If anything, I'd say he's rooting for us, which is almost terrifying.

Deena still hates my guts, even though we have to play best friends on camera. And honestly, I don't really have the strength to put up with her negative energy so I just ignore her. The other cast members have been super cool nonetheless, and we usually get together after a long tiring day, to swim and play pool and chill. It's been a fun experience. We have a few scenes left to fill and we're excited to be done and also sad that we're all going to move on and work on something else.

It's Saturday. And my eyes flutter open to meet golden brown hair and inked skin. My heart thunders at the thought of the confessions today, but I still find myself touching his hair and caressing his face. His eyes flutter open and his grey eyes pin me with a cute sleepy look.

"Morning," he half yawns and I can't fight the giggle that escapes me. "Like what you see?" He teases and I attempt to withdraw my hand from his face, embarrassment causing a flush on my cheeks. Lee stops me before I can, kissing my palm and knuckles. A slight shiver runs down my spine.

"We need to head to Milan for the Concerto stuff," I breathe and his eyes blink up at me.

"Concerto, right," he squeezes his eyes shut as he rises to his feet and heads for his hotel room.

The moment he steps out, my eyes burn, with tears threatening to stream down my entire face. He's usually showered in my bathroom, but today he's showering in his, he's also moved some of his stuff back to his room. Does that mean he's completely lost hope in us? Because I haven't.

It takes us a complete hour and half to get ready and head to the airport. This goes completely out of the context of our contract, but then again it's just today, we'll be back tomorrow. I catch Lee staring at me a couple of times on the drive to the airport, but he looks away immediately, making my heart hurt so much. The tears once again threaten to betray me, but I fight them. I was stupid to think I was ready for this, I hope I get the time to talk to Doctor Harley before the Concerto starts; or Liz, or Sam, or Jason. God, I'm such a mess.

☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎

Milan is a beautiful city, known for being the global capital of industrial design, fashion, architecture and the almighty Porta Nuova in the north-east. Tour guides and tourists swarm the airport and of course, people taking selfies and pictures. Lee's eyes brighten as he takes in our new surroundings, our eyes meet and we share a glance. And then he surprises me, walking towards me while the attendants carry out suitcases away to our designated hotel.

"Milan is beautiful," Lee gushes like a kid on Christmas.

"Yes it is," I smile, scanning the place with my eyes.

"You know Alex is from here, and he doesn't act like it," He chuckles. "If I was from here I'd never be in Seattle," He says and we both laugh.

A group of girls probably around the ages of seventeen and twenty walk towards me, fangirling so hard. I honestly can't deny the genuine smile that spreads on my face as I take pictures with them and sign their journals. Lee stands by the side and the girls also take pictures with him, one girl even made a joke about him being jealous of his famous girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

My heart literally shatters and Lee looks away from me, and I don't miss his nervous gulp. We say goodbye to the girls and we head to our hotel.

Our outfits for Jodie's event at the Teatro Dal Verme are already set in our rooms. My mouth waters at the thought of Lee in a three-piece suit and I gulp. I sleep the afternoon away, my heart thundering and my breathing totally uneasy.

I wake up to find Lee staring at the dark starry night through my window. Yes, I chose the room with the most spectacular view of Milan.

"Enjoying the view?" I breathe and he turns to me.

"Milan is beautiful," he walks towards the bed where I lie under white covers. "But you, you are anything and everything more," He smiles.

"You've been weird to me all day and all week," I blurt out and his fingers tuck my messy hair behind my hair. "Why?" I whisper.

"Because I'm scared, I'm fucking terrified," his gruff laugh warms my senses. "Because I'm trying to accept that I might lose you after tonight, and before you say anything, hear my confession tonight, okay?"

"What about my confession, are you ready for that?" I ask.

He's silent for a few beats, before he nods, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Get dressed," he whispers. "We can't be late for Jodie's first public performance,"

"I need privacy," I chuckle. "I don't want you to see my dress until we're about to leave,"

"Yes ma'am," a chuckle breaks free from him and he leans in, our lips touch for a few seconds, and then he walks away. My makeup artist comes in with a set of other people to get me set.

It takes approximately an hour to get me dressed and all dolled up. I'm wearing a dark green satin one shoulder prom dress. My make up artist takes one last look at me before setting me free. Lee and I would be leaving with bodyguards today, because we don't want to get jumped by fans. Fans have speculated that because half of the Seattle Kraken would be here tonight- with the exception of Nick and Brittany of course- there is a relatively high possibility that Lee and I are going to show up tonight. They have no idea how right they are.

My breath is knocked out of me when I set my eyes on Lee. He hasn't seen me yet. He's wearing a two-piece suit, dark green to match my dress. I've only seen him in a suit at formal occasions in Seattle, but I could never walk up to him. Seeing him like this, close to me, is something I don't want to ever forget.

"Look at you," he grins, his mouth hanging at the sight of my dress.

"Look at you," I breathe as he walks towards me.

Bodyguards surround us and we take that as our cue to refrain from any sort of physical touch. I can already feel that this is going to be a long night.

☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎

"Kimberly," Alex Clayton gets my attention the moment we get down from the car. Alex and I share a brief hug and I can't say how surprised I am.

"You're here?" Lee gasps in mock horror, and quickly recovers.

"Welcome to my city," Alex nods. "Permission to show your girlfriend around?" He asks and I meet Lee's gaze with a smile.

"Permission granted," Lee smiles, leaning to kiss me on my cheek. "Hey, Alex, have you seen Jo?" Alex freezes at the sound of her name but he quickly recovers.

He gulps before he answers with a far look. "She's inside, she's a little freaked out," He turns to me, lending his arm and I take it.

"Behold, the Teatro Dal Verme," He says and I smile, looking to where we have a great view of the theater. It's such a beautiful building, and I'm too stunned to say a word so he continues.

"The Teatro Dal Verme is a theater in Milan, Italy located on the Via San Giovanni sul Muro-where we stand- on the site of the former private theater the Politeama Ciniselli." He pauses, searching my face before he continues. I'm just in awe of the place anyway. "Designed by Giuseppe Pestagalli to a commission from Count Francesco Dal Verme, and was used primarily for plays and opera performances throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries." He says, his eyes focused on the building.

"So it was an opera house?" I can't help but ask.

"Yeah, an opera house actually, now it's used for concerts and events like these," he sighs, his eyes beaming with pride.
"It actually opened on 14 September 1872 with a production of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots and just like that, it became one of Italy's most important opera houses. During its golden years the theater saw the world premieres of Puccini's Le Villi on 31st May 1884 and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci on 21st May 1892." He says. "Oh and It also saw the Italian premiere of Lehár's The Merry Widow on 27th April 1907."

"I'm gonna pretend I know what you're talking about," I giggle and pins me with a stare. "What?!" I can't help giggling at his straight face. "You're doing great as a tour guide, continue," I smile.

"And I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," he says and I laugh. "Anyway it was originally a 3,000-seat theater, surmounted by a large cupola, constructed in the traditional horseshoe shape, with two tiers of boxes and a large gallery which alone contained more than 1000 seats,

"Severely damaged by America during World War II, and partially rebuilt in 1946 and was then used in the 1950's for musicals and then in 1998, it was rebuilt into what you now see here," he beams at me, a slight smile spreading across his face. "Now it has 200 seats in the Sala Piccola and 1420 seats in the Sala Grande, where you will be watching Jodie perform,"

"That's incredible, it went through a lot and it's still standing," I fold my arms.

"Let's take you back to your boyfriend, shall we?" He gives me his arm again and I smile as I take it.

"So what's the deal with you and Jodie?" I ask as we walk and he stiffens.

"It's not something I like to talk about," he forces a small smile and then he keeps his focus onward.

"You're a married man in love with someone else, Of course you wouldn't want to talk about it and that's okay, I'm sorry I asked,"

"It's okay, Kim," he sighs and I see a look on his face, a look I'm all too familiar with, not from him but still,

"You did this for her," I state and we both stop walking.

"No she earned it," he releases a slight chuckle. "I just sent out invitation cards," I chuckle this time around.

"Of course you did," I smile.

"Kimberly, what you're talking about is so much bigger than you," he sighs. "And I don't want you to know, so um-"

"Kimmie!" Lee calls for me as He walks towards us.

"Did you see her?" I ask.

"Yeah, she's scared but she's gonna kill it, and everyone's here including Liz," he smiles as Alex drops my hand.

"Let's go meet them," I smile as Lee takes my hand.

"You coming?" Lee asks Alex who responds with a small shake of his head.

"I know a place where I can get a perfect view of the performance," He says and Lee nods. "I hope you enjoy your time at the Teatro Dal Verme,"

"Of course, thanks for the tour and ancient stories," I smile and he nods, walking away before Lee can say anything else.

"Ancient stories?" Lee raises a brow with an amused look on his face.

"We will meet at the Sala Piccola, when the show is done," I tell him and he chuckles, and I don't miss the gulp of his throat.

"I leave you with Alex for a few minutes and you're Italian all of a sudden," he chuckles.

"Alex might look cold sometimes but he was warm to me I guess, he rubbed off on me in a second," I smile.

"Let's go see everyone," he smiles back.

☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎

I missed everyone so much. I mean I don't really know them the way I know Aaron and Liz but I still missed them. Liz embraced me the moment she saw me, and Aaron followed suit, mumbling something about how he doesn't trust Junior with babysitters but he had to be here for Jodie. Terence is here too, and he pulls me into a warm hug. And let's not forget Diane and Yvonne, both ladies flew in from Paris to be here for this. Jason and Sam couldn't make it, and that's okay, I'd see them when I get back to Seattle. I'm really just happy to see everyone, really happy.

I sit next to Liz as the show starts. And trust me when I say it's the most incredible sound I've ever heard. According to a man behind me, it's a Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, "Straßburg", K. 216 (1775) by Mozart and it's got everyone in the room staring and gushing in awe of her and the orchestra behind her.

A huge applause is heard from all 1420 seats in the auditorium and it's then I realize that the room is packed and that Alex is not watching from here. Jodie's eyes brighten when she sees us and Liz ends up screaming and cheering louder than everyone.

Lee and I lock eyes in the midst of the crowd and I take that as my cue to say hi to a few people and make my way to the Sala Piccola.

My breath hitches as I approach the 200 seat theater. And I find Lee there. Just when I thought I was going to have more time before we both dropped our designated bombs. I guess not.

Lee walks towards the stage and I follow behind him. When we're both standing on the stage, he takes in a few deep breaths.

"I wanna go first," he chokes out. "And please don't stop me,"

"Lee-" my breath trembles. This is it. This is really it.

"I don't know if you remember, but my mom was sick,"

"Yeah, and eventually you told me she was fine and we- um, ended," I breathe.

"Yeah, yeah, my mom's fine, I'll talk to you next week," he rushed to end the call and my heart skipped a beat.

"Lee," I breathe as my head starts spinning. "That's not what happened, is it?"

"You took me to family dinner at your parents place in Seattle once and they didn't like me, and they never planned on liking me," he blinks and a test drops, he rubs his palms together. "Anyway, mom was- she had a tumor and we had to undergo surgery and some other scary stuff," he gulps and my eyes begin to water. "My asshole dad had stopped sending money so we couldn't afford it," he half-laughs. "But there was a way-"

I don't like where this is going.

"I'd just caused a huge fucked up scene by beating an opponent to a pulp and landing him in an ICU-"

"Yeah because he tried to have his way with me, Lee you're saying so many things at once-" my throat closes up.

"I'd given up on getting drafted, no one would have wanted a failure like me on their team, that meant I couldn't be able to give you the life you deserve, I couldn't have a future with you and my mom was dying and I was- everything was happening at once and I was freaking out," he gulps. "Your dad asked to meet with me," he says slowly and I back away from him. "And then he made me an offer," he gulps, pain clear in his eyes.

"What kind of offer?" My voice breaks.

"He was going to help me with my mom's surgery, put in a lot of good words for me and pay a couple of assholes so that I could get drafted, but I needed to do one thing......."

"What was it?" I can barely hear my voice as my head begins spinning again and my eyes betray me by releasing a flood of tears.

"I needed to break your heart."

A/N

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Lee just dropped a bomb.

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The song is Let Her Go - Passenger

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DISCLAIMER: every information seen here about the Theater in this chapter was gotten from Wikipedia.