We stroll down the quaint little street, the image of everything you see in romantic comedies of small town America, only here the streets are lined with stores like Balenciaga, and Ralph Lauren. We don't bother going inside any of them, Cilly doesn't even bother to window shop. I can't afford to buy her anything at the moment and she could not care less.

I however am not at all used to the idea of being broke. We stroll past Tiffany's and I seriously consider taking the last bit of what's in my account and buying her a new key. It dawns on me that I don't have enough, and now with the delay in the opening of the shop I won't have enough in time for Christmas. And it kills me, and irks me. I promised, and I intended for her to have It sooner rather than later.

Again she could care less, but I care. It doesn't matter that she can't be touched and all that shit, she cares about me and not what I can and cant give her materially.

Why the hell would I bring her out to one of the most expensive places in the world with no money? Oh because of the free nights in a five star hotel. But still, stupid idea.,

"Cupcake Making!" She drags me into a bakery, black and white décor all over, a glass case full of all types of pastries. I roll my eyes. "Hi! We want to make cupcakes!"

She looks excited, I play along, we make cupcakes. We leave the shop hand in hand eating them. I grin at her as she licks the frosting off the top of hers. She sticks her tongue out at me.

"I would be your cupcake if you would lick me like that."

Her mouth hangs open and she blushes before punching me on the arm.

"Dirty mouthed bastard."

We walk past a barbecue place and conveniently it happens to be Mexican night. It is not what I've come to expect from barbecue restaurants, which usually look like a wild west saloon. This is upscale like everything else in the town, but somehow no one stares at Cilly and I in our hipster attire. We're seated. I order chicken tacos and rice. Cilly gets a steak fajita. The waitress wanders away with our order. I stare across the table at her. She sips her water, her eyes on mine the entire time.

"Whats up?"

"Nothing."

"Is it Henry?"

"Who?"

She rolls her eyes and smirks at me.

"The boat guy."

"The fuck do I care about him?"

I scoff, she shrugs.

"I just thought you might be jealous."

I laugh. She looks taken aback.

"I? Me? Jealous of that...oaf? No. Just no."

"You don't have to be so smug about it."

"Oh but I do." My eyes meet hers. "Are you thinking about Henry?"

I sneer at her, she frowns.

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Good. So let's shut up about him then."

To my surprise she doesn't respond. She looks down at the table and I open my mouth to speak just as the food arrives. We eat in silence. We ride back to the inn in silence. She doesn't speak again until we get to the room.

"Do you mind if I look at my phone?"

I shake my head. She grabs it out of her bag and flops into one of the arm chairs at the foot of our bed. I head into the bathroom, hoping that once I'm out of the shower she'll be over this mood she's in.

No such luck. She's quiet until we get ready to sleep. I crawl in bed next to her, she wears shorts and her own shirt and lays alone on her side of the bed. I rest my head on her chest and wrap my arms around her, wondering why we don't always just sleep this way since this is how we end up in the morning.

"You okay Baby?"

I ask, looking up at her.

"I'm fine. Goodnight Haz."

I wake up alone again the next morning and expect her to come through the door with breakfast a few minutes later. She doesn't. She's gone for quite a while after I wake. I get dressed and pace the floor for a moment before noticing the note on the bed.

'Gone to take the boat out for a while. See you later. Cecilia.'

'See you later, Cecilia', not 'Love you Cilly.' It stands out in my mind as though it was written in red ink. I sit down on the edge of the bed and run my fingers through my hair as the door opens. She staggers in, giggling. My face contorts into a look of absolute horror. She's drunk. Its barely noon.

"HAZ! You FINALLY Woke Up!" She stumbles over and crawls onto my lap, then kisses me softly on the lips. "Whats wrong with him Haz? Hmm. I know you know, he tells you everything."

"What the hell?"

"Don't Be Rude. You Know What? Where's Harold? I cant talk to you when you're like this!" I move my lips but no sound comes out. "There you are Harold...Now you tell me, whats wrong with Harry? Why is he acting like a stranger?"

"Acting like a stranger?"

"Yes. He is not acting like my sweet Baboo! Remember that from Charlie Brown?" She giggles and rests her head on my shoulder, then suddenly stops and nuzzles her face against my neck. "Any way...you smell really nice. And he's not ok. Its my fault."

"Cilly."

"Damn it Harold Told You!"

"Cilly, why do you think I'm like five different people when you're drunk?"

"I love you. That's why." She kisses me again. "I don't kiss Haz or Harold, no matter what they tell you. I only kiss you ; Henry."

She holds her hand over her mouth and her eyes get wide. She slaps a hand over her forehead and falls off my lap and onto the bed.

"What?"

"I said it wrong. I meant Harry, I was just with Henry...and I might be a little drunk."

"Why were you with Henry?"

"A cause Harry, I went to row the boat. But when I got out he flirted with me again. He did. I hoped he wouldn't but he did, and I knew. I said I knew I had to tell Harry to myself because I knew it, so I was on my way to tell you. But then I knew you were already being a stranger, so I said 'oh boy. I don't want to tell him' . So I got drunk...I've been drinking downstairs for a while..."

I shake my head and look at her. This entire trip is a disaster. I call room service and ask for a pot of coffee, they send some up in a fancy glass pot. Cilly drinks it reluctantly. She takes a shower and comes out, looking almost sober.

"How do you feel?"

I ask as she tiptoes over to the bed and crawls in. She frowns.

"My head hurts." She mumbles. She watches me go back and forth across the room. I gather our things and put them back into our bags. "What are you doing?"

"This was a mistake, Cilly. We'll leave first thing in the morning. Get some sleep."

"I don't want to leave. We haven't done anything yet! We just got here!"

"We've done enough. I want to go before we get in an argument or breakup or some other crazy shit. I'd rather do that at home."

"Why would we do that Harry?"

I shake my head as I shove my clothes into a bag.

"I don't know why but we will."

She sighs.

"Just come lay down with me. You are stressing me the fuck out. I just want to be with you! Why cant you see that."

"You went looking for that guy because I said I wasn't jealous didn't you?"

I turn around and face her, she shakes her head no.

"I went there to clear my mind...I'm worried about you."

She isn't angry or defensive. She's speaking the truth. My face softens.

"About what?"

"This secret...its obviously eating you alive. Your acting so strangely....I still don't want to know but I can't imagine what it could be. And I don't know what else to say to make you understand why whatever it is, it just doesn't matter to me. I dont care what you did, or what happened, or why it happened or when. All I care about is you. All I need is you. It doesn't matter."

"It should."

"It doesn't though. Come here."

I crawl onto the bed and into her arms, she holds me there and kisses my cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you too. I want to stay here. We can do this. We can be normal and romantic and have fun like other people. I know we can."

I nod. She smiles.

"Sleep a little bit and we'll go out when you wake up."

She drifts off and I head down to the lounge, my brain swimming. I never considered the toll this could take on Cilly, my odd behavior, my guilt. Her feelings are so fragile and I forget to remember them at times, too caught up in my own to notice what im doing to her.

Driving her to get drunk in the middle of the day. Ruining her time off. I have never been this guy, needy and emotional. Its no wonder she doesn't recognize me.

And the truly bizarre thing is I could care less about the Henry character coming on to her. Its unimportant.

But she told me about it. She dreaded telling me but she did it anyway because being honest with me is more important to her than being right or perfect in my eyes.

It all comes back to the same thing. I will be this sad miserable shadow of myself until she knows about Kick and I, but then again no I won't because its hurting my Cilly.

And I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. I have to let it go. I have to get it out of my mind and I have to make her relax.

I head down to Sade's office and find her at her desk, looking over a book and taking down notes.

"Hello Harry! How is your stay so far?"

"I need to wow her Sade. What do I do?"

"Was your incredibly thoughtful gesture not enough for her...because if not I'm not sure there's anything you can do."

"I just want to do more for her."

She smiles at me. I blush and hang my head.

"Love is simple, Harry. A grand gesture is just that, a gesture, fleeting and only occasional, but love is...love is a declaration, everyday stated to the person in your actions and your words. If you want them to know how you feel; show them, tell them."

"It's not that simple. I want her to have romance and all that."

"What could be more romantic than you and her locked in the room together for an entire week? Love is simple. You and Cecilia; that is romance." She smiles at me, then reaches in her drawer and throws me a bottle of oil. "A massage. Try that. Simple, romantic, intimate."

She shoos me out of her office as she answers a phone call. I shrug and head back up to the room. Anything is worth a shot I guess, and I have no better ideas.

*two years ago*

"I missed you so much. You have to know that."

She smiled into their kiss as he stopped speaking to join his tongue with hers. She smiled wider as he pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"I know, Harry. Kiss me."

"Haz!"

She took his face in her hands and gently held it as she looked at him, happiness and admiration in her eyes.

"I missed you too Haz! Kiss me."

He did so happily. Her mouth was warm and wet and perfect. She tasted like cherry chapstick and bubble gum. He moaned into her mouth, her body lay rigid beneath him. She felt his passion for her, or at least could assume it from his response to her body, but she felt nothing.

"I love you so much Cilly."

She nodded her head as he moved down her neck. She held his shoulders.

"Haz..."

He immediately jumped up at the sight of the light purple bruises now visible on her neck.

"He Choked You?"

He asked, his voice filled with disbelief. She shook her head.

"He was drunk again..."

"And you tried to hide it with makeup....this is proof Cilly, we could get him with this!" She shook her head no, Harry sighed. "Why wont you let me help you? I just need you to be okay."

"All I need to be okay is you. I'm fine. Don't worry."

"He. Choked. You."

"It won't happen again." She ran a hand through his hair, then down his neck and to his chest. His heart pounded inside. She spoke calmly and softly. "Calm down. Tell me what's going to happen after we graduate."

"We're going to move to the city, I'll have a shop, you'll work for the times. We'll live in a penthouse that has enough height and windows that we can see every part of the city without leaving our house."

"And I'll be safe, and happy." She smiles at him, Harry scowls. "I want that life. I don't need Peter to go to jail. I just need that dream to come true."

"It will. I promise."