My eyes flutter open, only to be blocked by something wispy and dark covering my eyelids. I roll slightly trying to bring my hand up to clear the debris that lay on my face only to find its stuck. Peering over slightly to my right, I find Sofia, her hair strewn wildly over my face and her body on top of my arm, Jacob the other side of her, his legs resting on top of hers, his face planted firmly in the pillow. My pillow, in my bed! The sight makes me chuckle as I try and roll Sofia off my now numb arm, at least she's a heavy sleeper... and a heavy snorer. I sit up looking over at my two best friends, this exact scene reminds me of a typical Sunday morning at our Islington residence. We all end up in one of our beds, Sofia usually hungover, binge-watching some shit reality program. I shake my arm trying to regain the feeling in it. Today is a new day... today is the day.

I roll out of the bed, Sofia still snoring like a bloody earthquake and tiptoe to the bathroom turning the water on in the shower. I step in, revelling in the stream of heat that trickles across my Sunkissed skin, I may be genetically tanned, but I probably should have applied that extra bit of sunscreen on my face yesterday.

After me and Colton reconciled yesterday, we spent the rest of the day crossing off items on Sofia's itinerary and collecting several cute polaroids. Colton made me throw a coin over my shoulder into the fountain, then we went and got gelato from one of the nearby stands, it has to be said I was appalled with his choice... coconut... bloody coconut. That's vile. At first, I was hesitant to eat anything, it's bad I know, I'm trying desperately not to fall back into old ways but Colton practically shoved it down my throat, making sure to cover my nose in it first. We then spent the rest of the afternoon riding about the city on electric scooters. We zipped down the cobbly backstreets and around the numerous squares, Rome has to offer. The Italian sun fully exposing my freckles as the breeze pulled the loose strands of hair back off my face. We scooted about until sunset where we found a restaurant in another rustic square to watch the sun go down between the historical buildings. By the end of the night, it was like five long time friends just laughing and having fun, Jayden was so easy to get on with even though he's a massive idiot sometimes and being friends with Colton again felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The fact he even flew my two best friends out here to cheer me up, he's a big softy inside and shows that actually, he does care about me. My stomach tingles thinking about it... stop for the love of God. Friends. That is what we are. That is the only thing we can be.

Once I've finished in the shower I throw on a pair of joggers and a grey oversized sweatshirt, brush my wet frizzy hair through and wipe the leftover mascara from under my eyes. I peep my head around the corner into the room where the two sleeping beauties are now lying across each other, the duvet thrown across their legs. Shaking my head I grab my room key and head out of my room, in direction of the hotel garden. I shut the door quietly only to jump out of my skin when Jayden jumps up behind me,

"Morning Sugarrr" He shouts in my ear. I thump him in the chest nearly shattering my bones, he's just as muscley as Colton.

"Calm down feisty, where you off too?" He asks flipping the cap on his head backwards.

"I was just going to go to the garden and write, what about you? You're up early," I eye the white carrier back he swings in his right hand, "What's in the bag?"

"Well I was actually just on my way to Colts, he text me earlier asking to bring breakfast supplies," He raises the bag to my face, " I believe he's trying to... cook?" We both share a look, the boy can't even make peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

"You wanna come see this fiasco and maybe get something to eat in the process?" He asks waving a spare key card in my face, I nod and snicker, watching Colton cook is far more entertaining than sitting in a garden. We sneak up to his door and carefully push it open. The sound of Colton singing along to a Cher song really makes me laugh, I stifle it by biting on my hand, Jayden doing the same. We crawl along the floor until we're behind the kitchen island.

"If I could turn back time..." He sings,

"IF I COULD FIND A WAY!" Jayden and I jump up from behind the island screaming the next line. He jumps dropping a frying pan on the floor letting the bang echo across the marbled surface. Me and Jacob double over in laughter, grabbing the kitchen stools to keep ourselves from falling.

"You idiots!" Colton shouts, clutching his bare chest. I take a second to compose myself, my eyes roaming over his sculpted abs, my heart thumps wildly at the sight, he catches me staring,

"You got a bit of drool there doll." He says leaning over the counter, idiot.

"You wish Hemmings," I say leaning closer towards him, we both narrow our eyes oddly finding ourself in some kind of stare off. He wiggles his brows nearly making me lose my composure, hell if he thinks he's winning this.

Behind us Jayden coughs, "Wow I see what Sofia means by sexual tension... it is rife." He whistles, Colton tenses up coughing as he turns back to the stove quickly.

Hah, I won.

"Didn't picture you as a Cher fan CJ?" I inquire taking a seat in the stool next to Jayden.

"You haven't seen the half of it. When he was six he sang 'Believe' for a school talent show... fucking Believe." He cackles to himself as Colton launches a spatula at him,

"Can't be any worse than my rendition of 'All by myself' when I was eight," I shudder thinking about the number of flat notes in that home video, "What are you doing anyway? I honestly didn't think you... could cook...?" Jayden shakes his head violently then pretends to gag.

" Yeah I can't" He turns around with a sheepish smile, scraping pieces of charcoal off the bottom of the pan. I roll my eyes,

"Sit down shirt-boy" I instruct wandering over to the stove, "What do you guys want?" I pull out a selection of ingredients from the white carrier bag, to be honest, there's absolutely nothing useful in here. I shoot Jayden a look,

"What? They were in Italian, how the fuck am I supposed to know what they mean?" He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Pancakes okay?" I ask evaluating the items, they both nod eagerly like dogs,

"Danm girl you know the way to my heart." Jayden sings reaching for my hand, placing a kiss on top. I giggle as I start weighing out the flour, placing it into a large bowl.

"What happened to Cher?" I pout, noticing both boys are watching me mix the dry and wet together.

"You want music?" Colt asks I nod, shoving him my phone across the counter gesturing for him to pick one of my playlists. He connects it to the Bluetooth speakers and outcomes Games by Demi Lovato. I sing along as I start pouring the batter into a hot pan, it sizzles away on one side, thickening up.

The boys chat away whilst I hum to the music, flipping the batter that's now firmed up, browning under my spatula. I put plates on the worktop getting ready to place food on them.

"One of those plates better be for me." A loud croak sounds from the living room. Jacob walks in, Sofia on his back, sunglasses over her eyes.

"Holy shit we really are in an episode of the walking dead!" I exclaim watching Jacob place her in a stool, only for her to collapse on the marble island top.

"You know, I'm too fucking hungover to even think of a suitable comeback for you Giovanna."She mumbles out of the arms burring her head.

"Well, that's what happens when you insist on drinking three bottles of wine in one night," I inform her, under my breath.

"I shared them with Jacob!" She tries to protest.

"Oh shut up Sof I had two glasses!" He slaps his hand down defensively.

"Ugh I hate you both," She whispers, her hair falling all over her face, she obviously made no effort to brush it. I pour some more batter into the oiled pan and walk over to Sofia hairband in hand. I pull her hair back into a messy bun like I do most mornings she's hungover.

"Love you," She whispers before collapsing,

"What would you do without me ay?" I push the half-cooked pancake around the pan listening to it sizzle and scream. Its been so long since I've cooked us all breakfast and to have new additions makes my heart swell slightly, I feel warm and fuzzy listening to them laugh about nonsense behind me, my friends. A smile spreads across my face as I plate up a mix of chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes.

"You look, gorgeous babe!" Sofia praises from my bed as I do a small turn in my green silk spaghetti strap dress.

"You sure I don't look too fat? You can see all my rolls in this." I scrutinise, running my hands down the fabric.

"You are so sexy and so beautiful... and I'm sure Coltons going to love it," Jacob whispers pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Why would I care if he likes it or not." I turn quickly nearly breaking my neck in the process. I don't care, I've dressed to look professional and fancy for dinner with my dad.

"Sure okay," They snicker together. I roll my eyes, dragging my straighteners down my hair, clouds of steam evaporating from the ends. My hands shake dragging a brush through the odd knots that have just appeared. I have no idea what to expect tonight, I don't know anything about my dad or his life here, I only have an address and a time and a Colton to keep me calm. Calm. Remember to breathe.

"How you feeling?" Sof stands up pulling my hair to brush it from the back,

"Fine." I lie. I am anything but fine and she knows it. My palms are clammy and won't stop shaking, I feel like I'm going to vomit, my temperature blowing hot and cold every second, right now I'm hot. Really hot, my skin is burning. My stomach winces in pain, panic making a home in there.

There's a loud knock at the door, Jacob and Sofia scramble over each other trying to reach the door handle first, Sofia wins the race yanking the door open.

"Well good evening sexy," She drawls, shit he's here. I run my hands down my dress again and quickly powder my face avoiding the thin line of highlighter on my cheeks. Deep breaths.

Sofia leads Colton into my small room, dressed in slick black suit trousers and a crisp white shirt. The top two buttons undone giving him a more relaxed look, his bulging biceps making the sleeves look too small and his hair's lightly slicked back all except one strand which swoops down onto his forehead, laying in between his crystal eyes. Wow. If my skin was on fire earlier it's like the walls of hell right now. My stomach flips when he sends me a wink, his long curly eyelashes brushing against the top of his cheekbones. He stands in the doorway running his eyes up and down my body, heat flashes through his eyes. He outstretches his hand taking mine in his grasp, a silver Rolex perched on his right wrist and a single string made friendship bracelet on his left.

"Miss Lastra, you look gorgeous," He kisses the top of my hand, my cheeks scorching.

"You clean up nicely Mr Hemmings," I giggle placing my hand on his chest to straighten out the top of his shirt. His cologne attacks my nostrils making my muscles relax.

"You ready to go doll?" He questions peering down at me. I take a breath and nod, my trembling hand still on his chest as he kisses my knuckles lightly.

"You okay?" I nod again finding myself at a loss of words, I know Sofia and Jacob are watching us right now and I'll bet an earful later but CJ places his hand on the small of my back sending tingles up my spine. He leads me out of the room into the hallway, he slips his hand into mine and pulls me down the corridor towards the lifts.

"It's gonna be okay Spiller," He winks again squeezing my hand, and just like that I feel myself relax, a small smile etches across my face. It's going to be fine right?

Small orange lights flicker illuminating the dark pavement as Colton unlocks the massive matte black G-wagon sat outside the hotel,

"You're driving? I question as he walks around to the driver's side, I've never seen him drive, we always have cars take us places.

"Yeah, thought it might be nicer... hop in." He says jumping into the driver's seat. I hoist myself into the vehicle as Coltons imputing the address to the satnav.

"Buckle up Sweetheart." He smirks pulling away from the curb.

We speed through the centre of Rome watching families gathered around small tables sharing bread and olives, girls on the back of mopeds their hair blowing in the breeze, fairy lights illuminating the back streets clad with old bricks and cobblestones. Rome is beautiful, probably my favourite place I've been to. It's so calm and exciting, cultural and beautiful. I lean my head on the door with the city whizzing past my eyes.

"You okay?" I turn to Colton whose glancing over at me as we sit at a traffic light.

"Yeah, just kinda scared I guess." I keep my eyes trained on the red stop sign but I can still feel his eyes lingering on me,

"Its okay to be scared about this and it's okay to feel confused Gigi, just take everything as it comes and don't panic!" I finally meet his eyes, they sparkle under the low streetlights, I smile slightly and nod. The light turns green and Coltons eyes are forcibly turned back to the road, "And if you feel uncomfortable just say the word and we'll be out of there." He says sternly changing gear, I watch his hand travel back to the steering wheel.

"Okay" I whisper turning to the screen in the middle of the dashboard, connecting my phone to the Bluetooth and hitting play on my most recent playlists, Stone Cold comes blaring through the speakers. Colton chuckles,

"I'm starting to see a theme, like fifty per cent of your music is Demi Lovato." He states furrowing his brows.

"She's my favourite singer..." I mumble suddenly shy, "Well one of them..." he shakes his head as I start to belt the chorus, not caring if I hurt his eardrums in the process. By the end of the song, I'm in my fully acting mode, dramatically thrashing my head back and clutching my heart, Colton snickers,

"You know, you amaze me every day," He says placing a hand on my knee, the contact sending goosebumps over my skin although I make no effort in removing it as we reach the motorway. Colton relaxes more into the chair leaving one hand on my knee and the other resting on top of the wheel, he even looks gorgeous when he's driving, I admire his eyes as they glance at the semi-busy road ahead. His bicep bulging under his white shirt that stretches at the seams when he grips the wheel tighter going to overtake the car in front. He's a danm fine driver.

His thumb wanders across the bottom of my thigh but flys straight back to the steering wheel when I squeal. Burnin up by the Jonas Brothers fills the space, atrociously I blurt out each line, I can see Colton laugh at me until he starts to join in at the chorus... I stare at him stunned. As if he couldn't get any more attractive... he's singing the fricking Jonas Brothers with me.

" I'm slipping into the Lava." I screech

"And I'm trying to keep from going under." Colton retaliates just as badly. We speed down the motorway screaming to the Jobros like teenagers, I can't decide whether this is more shocking or hilarious. I scream the lyrics watching him half keep his eyes on the road and half look over at me. The song ends and I'm left trying to catch my breath in between gaggles of laughter.

"Uhm... what!" I laugh turning to him, still finding sheer bliss in this moment.

"What... a guy can't like the Jonas Brothers?" He raises a brow at me and smirks, I know he wouldn't voluntarily listen to their music, "My sister liked them when she was younger, I might have gone to one of their concerts... a few times with her." I giggle more at the thought of baby CJ in a crowd of fangirls.

"I can just imagen you belting your ickle heart out to lovebug," I snicker.

"What a fucking bop," He taps the steering wheel to the melody, "The real question though is... what kinda girl are you? Kevin, Joe or Nick?" He wiggles his brows at me.

"Joe... but Nick is ugh gorgeous!" I groan, I've always been a Joe girl but Nick is a very close second.

" No way! I'm a Kevin girl, he's just so cute and dreamy! So underrated!" He mocks, although I'm sure he's fifty per cent serious.

We continue through the more rural parts of Italy, me playing a selection of the best Jonas Brother songs, Colton reluctantly joining in with Lovebug, sucker and SOS.

The car starts to slow to a more moderate speed as Colton pulls off the main road into a fur tree-lined driveway. I stop singing and immediately tense up. Colton turns the music down and moves his hand back to my knee.

We drive down the long winding tree track to meet two intense black steel gates, a man pokes his head out from the small security booth beside them.

"Miss Lastra, please follow the driveway up past the fountain, someone will be there to greet you." He says in a stern Italian accent. The gates open slowly, I furrow my brows at Colton as if to say what the fuck is this place.He shrugs putting the car in gear and moving us forward slowly.

What the fuck is this?

We turn the corner past the gate and follow the drive round which has now become gravely, the crunching under the tires makes my hair stand on ends. Soon enough a massive country estate house style house comes into view. Lined with probably about sixty windows and three massive balconies, next to it several acres of freshly moved lawn. Colton drives around and stops in front of the six-foot spouting fountain, carved with Greek gods and vine leaves.

CJ helps me down from the monstrous car, keeping his hands tight on my waist, he gives me a quick wink before taking my trembling hand and leading me towards the porch where two suited men stand in tuxes. I freeze, unable to adjust to these luxurious surroundings.

"What the fuck." I mumble earning a squeeze from Colton,

"Come on, you've got this." He tugs on my slightly leading us towards the open doors.

Hey guys! Hope you're all good! Please please please remember to vote if you enjoyed the chapter! I felt nice to there's a double update! Keep scrolling!

I've also added a playlist in the characters aesthetic chapter which I'll be adding too nearly weekly! It's just songs which have Inspired the chapters or characters!

I wonder what's going to happen at Gigi's dads?

Thanks for reading!
Iz x