Porn that was shot in the early 1900's was. . . interesting.

Lucas, Milly, Amalia and I stood in front of a black and white film where two woman were going to town on each other.

We hadn't been in the museum for long but I'd seen a lot more than I thought I would.

Milly and Lucas had already been told twice to be quiet. Still, they didn't know when to stop.

"Look how proper they are," Lucas practically shouted. Did he know what an inside voice was? "Like, they're doing the dirtiest shit and they still look polite."

Milly nodded in agreement. Amalia and I held hands and moved on to the next slide.

More black and white porn. I was starting to feel I would have been just fine never experiencing this place.

But whatever. Lucas and Milly insisted.

"Look at these birds using a damn strap on," Milly waved at the screen with marvel.

"Yeah and this chick is on the spit," Lucas put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Ya know, old people like to tell us that we're a fucked up generation but look at what this lot were up to."

Amalia and I wandered off when we saw the security guard approaching again.

The four of us continued through the museum and looked at all of the different exhibitions.

It was informative, that's for sure.

We were approaching the bounce house made of inflatable boobs but as we walked, we went through a room of large canvas sheet paintings.

Beside each painting was a picture of a couple covered in paint and underneath it was a small blurb of their story.

"Hang on," Lucas pointed at the walls with his free hand, his other was holding Milly's. "These look an awful lot like that new painting that's hanging in your room, Max."

I narrowed my stare at one of the canvas sheets and tried to look as if I had no idea what he was talking about.

Amalia's hand squeezed mine and I could see her staring at the floor as well.

"Did you—" Lucas gasped. "You fucking did. You did one of these paintings?!"

"Luc—"

He burst out laughing and slapped me on the shoulder. "What a fucking hero. Was it fun?"

Amalia scratched her brow and looked up at me with a small but amused smile.

"Let's move on, please?"

"Aw come on. I just wanna know if you'd recommend it? Was the paint cold? Did it stick to your nut hair?"

"Ooh," Milly winced. "That sounds unpleasant."

"No it didn't," I snapped. "Yes I'd recommend it. Are we done?"

Lucas sniggered and threw his arm around Milly. The two of them went ahead of us and I unfortunately caught their conversation. "Let's do that."

"Yeah we'll film it. What colour paint?"

Amalia leaned her head on my arm as we followed them. "You really don't talk about our sex life with your brother?"

"Hell no," I stared down at her. "I never have and I never will. It's none of his business."

"He just seems like someone who overshares. I wondered if it was different when you two were alone."

"He does overshare," I sighed. "I know way more about those two than I need or want to. But that's just not me. Our sex life is intimate and private. I don't feel the need to tell him that sort of stuff."

She nodded and I caught how she swallowed.

"I'm not ashamed of you," I quickly said, hoping she didn't think that was the problem. "I um— I just— shit. I hope you don't think that I don't want to boast about our sex— it's the best— I just—"

"Mi amado relax," she gave my arm a squeeze. "I understand. I just feel I should be honest. Sometimes when Ingrid and I chat on Snap, I tell her about the great sex we have. Because it's just— so good that I have to tell someone. And she's easy to talk to."

"Oh," I laughed and gave her a kiss on the head. "That's fine. It's a girl thing. It doesn't bother me."

She grinned and we wandered into a large room with a big pornographic bounce house where Milly and Lucas were jumping around with no shoes on.

"Come bounce on these titties, Max!"

Later on we sat around a pine table at a small restaurant.

The table was sat near an open fire place, the light was low and it would have been a nice romantic spot if I was alone with Amalia instead of across from Lucas and Milly who were arguing over whether to order an entree or save room for dessert.

"No you daft bastard. Entrees are the same food group as main. We need dessert. It's sweet."

"We can get both!"

"I don't have enough bloody room for both."

Lucas closed his menu and stuck his tongue out at Milly as the waiter came to the table with a notepad in hand.

Before he could even ask if we wanted to start with drinks, Lucas sat forward and smiled.

"Can we have an entree please. A plate of prawns and a bread and cheese platter. Oh, I'll have a Kombucha too please."

The waiter jotted it down before he looked at the rest of us. "Anything else?"

I rested a hand on the back of Amalia's chair and leaned in. "You want a drink, gorgeous?"

"I'll have a lemon, lime and bitters please."

Milly ordered a soda and pushed her hair behind her shoulder as she leaned back in the seat and shot Lucas a glare.

He looked at her and both of them locked in a stare down. He shrugged. "You don't have to eat the damn entree, woman."

"I'm allergic to prawns, Lucas."

His gaze went wide and he covered his mouth as he laughed with guilt.

"Fuck, that's right. Baby, I'm sorry. I blanked for a second. Dude," he shouted at the waiter who was on the other side of the small restaurant. "Cancel the prawns man."

The waiter furrowed his brows but nodded.

"Is it just prawns?" Amalia asked with her elbows on the table top. "Or seafood in general?"

"I can eat fish," Milly answered. "I don't like it all that much. But I can eat it. I react to prawns, crab, shrimp and lobster. That sort of thing. I get a rash and swell up."

"Huh," Amalia said. "Do you have an epi pen?"

"Yeah I do but I don't need it often. That sort of food is easy to avoid and I'm not allergic to it unless I touch it or eat it."

"Yeah," Lucas gave her an accusatory glare. "So how come I had to cancel the order? You could have just not eaten it?"

"I never told you to cancel the order," she scoffed. "You told me I didn't have to eat the entree and I said I'm allergic to prawns. Hence, I wouldn't be eating them."

"Well what was the hostile staring and grouchy bullshit for. You got your fanny flood again or something?"

Milly slammed her hands down on the table top and stared at him. "I've told you not to call it that. It's a period Lucas! And yes. I do.

"Aw," Luc pulled her into his side and started running his fingers through her hair. "Shower sex tonight then?"

She elbowed his side.

"I'm kidding. I'll give you a back massage. Relax and order a dessert for dinner."

Two people could not have been more made for each other.

"So, Amalia," Lucas said, still running his fingers through Milly's hair. "Still play softball?"

"Not so much," she said. "I'm at the parlour full time. The galleries part time. Max and I sometimes go down to the batting cage and hit a few."

She held my hand under the table and my thumb made soft circles on the top of her fingers.

The waiter delivered our drinks and entree and there was a break in conversation while we ordered our mains.

"Do you ever face discrimination, I don't know if that's the right word, but that sort of thing for being a woman at the parlour?" Milly asked, nibbling on her soda straw. "I mean, do people choose not to have you as their artist because of that."

Amalia tilted her head from side to side as she thought about it. "In the beginning I think it happened a little bit. But I was new so people were more familiar with Jimmy. It doesn't happen a lot now though. My client list is actually bigger than his at the moment."

"Did you do that sugar skull on your wrist?" Milly pointed at the Amalia's arm. It was rested on the table top while she clutched the bottom of her glass.

"I drew it. But Jimmy tattooed it on. I don't think I would have managed it upside down. I wasn't going to risk it anyway."

Milly admired it. It turned out that the girls dominated most of the conversation.

Which was a miracle because Lucas never shut up for that long. But as we left the restaurant after we'd eaten, Milly and Amalia walked ahead of us and continued to talk.

Lucas and I pulled our coats tight and tugged the collars up. It wasn't a warm night, that was for sure.

"You feeling alright?" I asked, wondering why he was so quiet.

"Tonight was important to Mills. She was a stressed out mess when you left to get Amalia from work this afternoon."

"How come?"

"She wanted to be able to get along with Amalia. She was nervous about seeing her after what we did. Yeah, it was over a year ago but she was worried that Amalia wouldn't be able to see her character past the shit we did to her. So I dunno, she asked me to shut up and let her get to know your girl again. She figures she's going to be around a while."

I smiled, staring down at the sidewalk. "I hope so."

The crowds weren't too congested at the moment. The weather was cooling down which lowered the tourists but it was Friday so nightclubs were opening and bars were filling up.

We kept watch on the girls who were a few meters ahead. A man that passed accidentally shoulder bumped Mills and Lucas' stance was immediate.

I don't think he knew he was doing it. His shoulders just became higher, his expression was murderous.

I grabbed the collar of his coat and tugged him to the side as the unsuspecting man passed. "Not tonight. Come on dude."

He exhaled a breath but didn't argue and kept on walking until he spotted a paparazzi on a store patio about ten feet up, snapping photos of the four of us.

Lucas stopped and pointed at him. "Bro, come here. I'll shove that fucking camera up your ass."

"Lucas," Milly sighed, storming towards him. She gave his chest a gentle slap.

"Do you have to pick a fight with everyone?" I pushed him so he kept walking forward.

Amalia watched me with concern but I smiled and gestured that she keep chatting with Mills. "Relax man. You need to stop popping off all the time."

"Those cunts don't know when to back the hell off," he snarled and kicked a carton of discarded noodles with his foot. "Have you read the articles about Abby? Lies, lies, lies and more motherfucking lies."

"The paparazzi don't write them, Luc. They just take the photos."

"No photos, no articles."

I sighed and decided not to argue with him. He wasn't wrong but he still needed to chill out and stop getting into altercations whenever he went out in public.

"How's Flynn? Is he still at the beach house?"

"Barely," he mumbled. "He doesn't want to be there. Abby's no contact order drops in a couple of weeks. He wants to talk to her on the phone. If she still doesn't want to be with him, he's moving out."

"She'll tell him she didn't mean it."

"I sure hope so," he shoved his hands into his pockets before calling to the girls. "Can we get a cab? My balls are ice."

We split off in the cab. Lucas and Mills were dropped at the four seasons near my apartment building before Amalia and I were dropped off at home.

She had no idea what would be happening when we woke up in the morning and I couldn't wait to tell her.

We got into bed and she snuggled straight into my chest. I still wasn't used to how incredible it felt to have her wrapped in my arms.

To feel her soft breath fanning my skin. To have her head tucked under my chin, the scent of her sweet spice surrounding me. She was everything I needed and I wanted her to know that.

In the morning, I got up, showered, packed a few last bits and pieces and then I lugged all of our belongings down to the waiting Uber.

The sun wasn't up yet and I wanted to let Amalia sleep until the last minute. It was cold here but from what I'd read and heard from Elias, the weather was pleasant in Spain at this time of the year.

So I was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a leather jacket with soft arms and a hood.

"Baby," I kissed Amalia's cheek and watched her lashes flutter before her tired eyes peeped open.

She rolled on to her back and stretched, watching me with confusion.

"Come on. I have a surprise. Get dressed."

"What?"

"A surprise. But we need to get going."

"What surprise?"

"That's the point of a surprise," I laughed and pushed the comforter back.

She was wearing her fitted long PJ pants and a long sleeve with a button up V neck.

Her bra-less chest was exposed due to the buttons being undone and I had to be focused so I didn't suggest we stay in bed a bit longer.

"Come on. Up and dressed, beautiful. It's a good surprise. I promise."

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Okay. I need coffee."

Despite being tired, she didn't take long to get organised. She showered and dressed into the spare clothes she'd brought in a little bag last night. While she was in the shower, I collected her PJs and ran them down to the Uber so I could shove them in her luggage.

We slid into the backseat together forty minutes later. She hadn't washed her hair so it was dry.

She wore black jeans, pink timbs and a pale almost white pink hoodie. Gorgeous as usual.

I promised her we would get a coffee soon with the intent of getting one at the airport.

The entire drive she prodded and demanded an answer.

"The airport," she mumbled as we pulled in. She watched the window, her brows furrowed and expression full of confusion. I had my phone prepared to take a video as per Bernie's request. "What are we doing here?"

I thanked the driver and slid out of the backseat. Amalia wasn't far behind. She followed me to the tail end of the car.

"'Max?"

With the phone filming in one hand, I popped the trunk with the other to reveal all of our luggage and grinned when her mouth fell open. "Happy birthday, beautiful."

"My birthday isn't for another four days," she mumbled.

I laughed. "I know. But this is your early birthday present. We're going to Spain."

Her head snapped up from the luggage, her full lips parted and her almond eyes widened with disbelief. "Spain?!"

"Spain."

"You and I are going to Spain?! Today?!"

"We are."

Her squeal was deafening as she ran forward and launched herself at me. I caught her thighs, holding them tight as she wrapped around me and buried her face in my neck.

The emotion was like nothing I'd ever felt. Knowing she was this thrilled, it was so worth it.

Then I realised that she was sobbing. I felt it in her chest and I heard it in her sniffling. I leaned back and held the nape of her neck with one hand as she wiped at her face.

"Hey, Amalia. You're crying?"

"Because I'm so happy," she blubbered and even with tears running down her cheeks, she was gorgeous. "Max, this is. . . I don't even have words for this. I'm really going to visit home?"

I nodded and felt my chest expanding with love for this girl. It hurt in the best way.

She sniffed and wiped her cheeks as she unhooked her legs and landed on the ground.

"You have no idea what this means to me, Max. You just— it's the most. I can't put it into words."

I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, swiped at a tear with my thumb and kissed her lips.

"You don't need to say it. I know."