Lena

I stood against the French doors, a smile on my face. "Well, good morning."

I could feel Josiah's smile as he brought his coffee cup up to his lips. "Good morning."

"Someone's up early," I said, "you beat me."

He nodded towards the sunrise. "It was so beautiful, I had to watch another."

"You could've woken me," I said, cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked back at me, placing his coffee cup on the table next to him. I brushed my nails against his skin and walked over to the railing, leaning against it.

I could feel his eyes on me.

"You don't have anything on under that robe, do you?"

I looked back at him, bracing my elbows on the railing.

"I know your body better than anyone," he said, resting his chin in his palm, "there's nothing under that."

"I was about to get a shower," I said, looking back towards the sunrise.

He was relaxed in his chair. Shirtless, grey sweatpants, and his legs spread. He knew that picture could've driven me crazy.

"Come here."

I looked over my shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Come here," he said, his jaw taut.

I gulped and turned around to face him, trying to hide how nervous I was. I wasn't sure what was about to happen.

I stood in front of him, my breathing heavy. "I'm here."

He leaned forward, placing his hands in the curve of my waist. I felt every inch of me light up, and I let out a breath.

He untied my robe, ripping it open to see my bare body beneath. He pulled his hands away from me, his eyes fixated on my naked body on full view.

He pulled me close, his hands loving, and not needy, like they usually were. He was being gentle, trailing his hands down my sides, and tracing the parts of my body that were reachable.

He pressed a kiss to my stomach, massaging the inside of my thigh. I gripped his hair, biting down on my bottom lip. "Jo."

His hands were getting more needy with each second. He trailed them up my sides and to my chest, pressing sloppy kisses to my skin.

"Jo, baby," I whispered, leaning my head back. My robe fell off of my shoulders and my backside was now on view for everyone to see.

I don't think you have a lot to worry about, it's six A.M., Lena.

I was getting lost in the pleasure, letting out a quiet moan as he continued to feel my body.

His head fell against my stomach, soon enough, and he dropped his hands. I looked down at him, chewing on my bottom lip.

"Walk away," he weakly whispered, his jaw flexing.

"Jo-"

"Walk away, Lena," he said, grabbing my robe from the ground.

I sighed, grabbing the robe from his hands. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his head, raking my fingers through his hair.

He cleared his throat and pulled away from me, trying his hardest to avert his attention back to the sunrise. "Go get your shower."

I nodded, slipping back into my robe as I walked back inside.

~*~

Jo

"Why didn't you tell me you were in Italy?"

I squinted up at the sun behind my sunglasses, my jaw taut. "No reason."

"Josiah," Mom scolded, "I'd like to know when you fly out of the country. That'd make me feel better."

"Well, I've been here for a few days," I said, "so."

"You're not making it better."

"Mom, I'm almost thirty," I said, "I'm grown. Way past it."

I grabbed my beer and tipped it back, tuning out what she was saying on the other side of the phone.

"Did your father know?"

I shrugged, as if she could see me. "Hell if I know."

"Josiah."

"What, Mom?" I chuckled out, "I'm having a good time. I was instructed to come to Italy. I didn't just up and leave for the hell of it."

"Oh yeah? Who instructed you to just up and fly to Italy?" She asked, "your subconscience?"

"Something like that, yeah," I said, watching as Lena made her way back to the table.

"Promise me one thing, and that's that you'll stay safe."

"Got it, Mom," I muttered.

"Say it," she said, and I could basically feel her cross her arms over her chest.

"I love you," I said, making Lena smile as she sat down.

"I love you, too," she said, "tell Lena I said hello."

I hung up, clearing my throat.

"Alessandra?" She asked.

I nodded, looking away from her.

"You don't have to do that, Jo," she said.

"Do what?" I asked, my hand wrapped around my chin.

"You know," she said, shifting in her seat, "turtle up. Go back into your shell, get distant."

"I'm not, Lena," I said.

"This morning-"

"You looked great, and as your husband, I decided to make you aware of that. Yes, it went pretty far. No, I didn't want it to."

She picked around at her food. "I'm just saying. We don't have to go back to square one after one second of intimacy."

"Lena, I haven't felt you in ages," I said, "it felt new, all over again."

She looked at me from under her eyelashes.

"And with that feeling comes me wanting to be gentle," I said, "and..."

I trailed off, shaking my head.

"Say it," she quietly said.

"That hasn't been my strong suit," I said, shrugging. "I'm not a gentle man. I lack impulse control."

"I knew that much," she said.

"I just can't get too comfortable," I said, shaking my head, "not when I know I can't have the satisfaction."

She smiled a soft, genuine smile. "You're really taking this seriously."

I stood up, shrugging. "Gotta make you fall in love with me again."

I walked over to the pool and she turned around in her chair, watching as I dove in. I took my time in coming up from underwater, but flipped my hair away from my face and wiped my eyes as soon as I did.

I folded my arms on the concrete, my chin resting on my forearm. "You should come swim."

"Who's going to watch over our stuff?" She asked.

I shrugged, pushing myself off of the side of the pool. "The universe. And no one's down here."

She giggled and stood up, capturing my attention when she pulled her dress over her head gracefully.

She had her back turned to me, so I snuck out of the pool. I chuckled and threw her over my shoulder, jumping in the pool with her in my arms.

"Jo!" She screamed, but her voice was muffled as soon as we hit the water. I chuckled and came up from underwater, wiping my eyes.

I watched her gracefully come up from the water, a smile on her face as she slicked her hair back. Every move she made seemed to be in slow-motion, and she held every ounce of my attention.

"I'll get you back for that," she muttered, throwing her arms around my neck.

"Yeah?" I asked, gripping her hips tightly.

"Yeah," she giggled, wrapping her legs around my hips.

I held her close, the water rippling around us was the only sound. No one was at the pool, considering it was the daytime and people that came to Italy didn't come to just stay at their hotel all day.

"Thank you," she whispered, nestling her face in my neck.

I rubbed her back, nodding.

She began to pull away but I held her against me, shaking my head. "Not yet."

I could feel her smile against my skin as she tightened her arms around my neck. "Okay."

~*~

Lena

I walked out of the bathroom, giggling at the sight of Josiah holding a wine bottle up to his lips. "Jo."

He grinned. "That's my name."

"Yep, you're definitely tipsy," I said, reaching for the bottle.

He smiled a broad smile. "No, I'm not."

"You are," I said, gently grabbing the bottle from his hands. I placed it on the bedside table, rushing over to my side of the bed.

"We're going to leave that alone for the rest of the night, okay?" I giggled, turning on the TV.

He leaned his head back against the headboard, his eyes locked on me.

"What's that look for?" I asked, smiling as I flipped through channels.

"Well, one," he laughed out, "you're not going to be able to understand this. It's all in Italian."

"Context clues," I grinned.

"And two," he began, looking down at his hands.

I looked over at him, biting down on my bottom lip.

"You're really beautiful, L," he said, a smile pulling at his lips.

I smiled. "You're drunk."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "and I-I could be so drunk I couldn't see straight, and you'd still be beautiful. The most beautiful woman in the room."

"Penelope Cruz is on TV right now. Wanna rethink that one?"

I giggled, but looked over at him when I didn't hear laughter. My laughter died down and I just cleared my throat, shaking my head.

"No," he whispered, looking over at me.

I sighed, tilting my head over. "Can you be so sweet when you're sober?"

He leaned his head back, chewing on his bottom lip. "I've tried."

"I know, baby, that was a joke."

He cleared his throat, his jaw taut. "I am so sorry."

I looked over at him, turning off the TV. "For what?"

"This went to shit because of me," he said, looking over at me, "I was-"

"Jo, it takes two people," I said, "to make a marriage work and to make one not work."

"No, no," he began, and I could tell he was about to go into a spill, "Lena, all you've ever done is be there for me. Throughout it all. And I-I wasn't there for you. I wasn't ever there for you. I didn't know what you were going through, because I wasn't there for you."

"That's not true," I said.

"No, it is," he said, and I saw Josiah King do the one thing I hadn't seen him do.

He broke down. A tear fell from his eye.

"Jo," I said, grabbing his face, "hey."

I wiped his cheek and he wrapped his arms around my middle, resting his face in my chest. "I missed you so much."

I rubbed his back, chewing on my bottom lip. "Jo."

"I'm trying," he whispered, "I hope you know that."

"I know, baby," I said, nodding, "I see it. Every day. I know you are."

"And I love you," he said, looking up at me.

I bit down on my bottom lip, pulling him into me yet again. "I love you, too."

~*~

hii babes!! how is everyone? 💕

i hope you're all doing well and having a great day <3

did y'all enjoy this chapter? again, just jo and lena, but i feel like this chapter was probably one of my favs of them :)

the first section... whew GAVE ME BUTTERFLIES

are y'all ready for Italy to be over or do you want more? lmk

also follow me on ig so we can talk!!! ive been talking to a lot of u guys and it's awesome <3

ok ily guys and i hope you all have a great day!!

all my love,
jay <3