The few men, disregarding a silent salutation, continued to stare at the two of them wild-eyed. Observing the couple draped in togae with the judgmental gaze of a disapproving grandparent. Zach could feel them forming their opinions about them from afar, and it made him wilt in discomfort. As soon as they rounded the corner onto the main street, escaping the eyes of the men, Zach felt many more pairs of eyes boring into him.

Pulling Liv a little closer, he knew he couldn't blame these people. If he saw two people walk around dressed in the fashion of 70 AD, he would stare as well. It was only natural, he told himself. People make observations. It's a casual assessment. They have done it since the days of tribal hunters, to asses if one is friend or foe, and part of that instinct will always remain. But did they have to do it so blatantly? 

"I never dreamt that I would walk the streets of Rome like this. I can just feel the history soak into my skin and the rough streets beneath my sandals." Liv sighed contently, shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun with her hands. She didn't seem the least bit bothered by the attention they gathered from bypassers, guiding Zach's focus to the ambiance of the architecture around them. The sandstone felt already warm in the sun's embrace, contrasting with the cool uneven cobblestone path that slowed every movement of his body down to relaxed beats as the sounds of a waking city ushered them to a small square at the end of a narrow street.

On the street corner was a small bakery, lined with the national green, white, and red colors. A line of locals and tourists alike streamed from the open window, before walking away with freshly baked pastries and cappuccino's in hand. The scene was enough to draw a smile from Liv's tired lips. It's right out of some travel blog, so perfect. "Let's get something to eat here," she chirped, adding herself to the end of the line.

Zach scanned the menu for the prices. "What do you want? A cappuccino and, what is a cornetto?"

"It's a croissant. But you can't have that." A husky male's voice answered, making both Zach and Liv spin around startled to see Amar standing behind them.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Liv almost screamed out.

Amar chuckled, "I saw you leaving the Domus, so I followed you to see if everything was okay."

"And you don't announce you're presence or anything?"

"Why should I do that if you don't see me?" Amar cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

"So that we know you are there. That is normal social behavior."

Straightening his navy blue tie, Amar cleared his throat before bowing slightly. "My apologies, Ms. Davis. It won't happen again."

With a slight wheeze, Liv playfully slapped his shoulder. "And stop the honorifics. We're all roughly the same age for God's sake. Just call me Olivia or Liv." 

The slightest hint of a smile tugged at the Amar's lips. Unlike his easy smile at the mansion, this one seemed warmer, more genuine.

"Do you want something as well, Amar?" Zach suddenly asked over his shoulder as he ordered their breakfast. Amar stepped forward and, in fluent Italian, began to converse with the baker rapidly before turning back to Zach and Liv. "Have you already forgotten your contract? You can only eat Ancient roman food."

Two flabbergasted faces stared back at him, making him add. "But don't worry, I've asked the baker for some sweet blackcurrant buns and pomegranate juice. I know it's not entirely accurate, but it will do for now."

"So, just to clarify." Liv swallowed a lump, "I can't drink coffee?"

"Correct," Amar confirmed as he handed both Zach and Liv a rolled bun along with the wine-colored drink. Taking a sip, Liv could almost taste her regret within that sour-sweet drink. Starting her morning without coffee would be like starting the day without the sun.

"Did you walk this way to see the Trevi Fountain?" Amar asked with feigned enthusiasm as if to somehow breathe some life into the gloomy expressions of the archaeologists. Zach chose to get some sweetness out of the blackcurrant bun instead, but Liv took the bate. "You mean the Acqua Vergine, the pure water fountain at the junction of the roads. It's one of the aqueducts that lead water into the baths of Agrippa."

"I did not know that," Amar confessed. "Shall I make a picture of you two at the fountain to commemorate this moment?"

Sparkling green eyes immediately flash towards Zach, who hardly had to look at Liv to know she really wanted to take a picture. And honestly, he wasn't opposed to the idea himself. It would be great to have a souvenir to show off once this was all over, and why not at the most famous fountain in the entire world. Joining Liv at the edge of the marble wonder, right beneath Neptune's majestic gaze, Zach could see more eyes turning towards them.

"Smile!" Amar instructed, before a brilliant flash of white, followed by a harsh click of a camera, blinded their eyes. Liv scowled and made a face to the tourist on her right while muttering obscenities under her breath. As the man with the camera turned away, a couple of kids ran up to Zach, pulling on his arm as their mother shoved her way past Amar, yelling, "Jimmy! Get closer to Cesar, honey!"

It felt like the floodgates were suddenly wide open. From every angle, people came up to them.  Chattering with excitement, some in English and some in foreign languages, Zach did not understand. And all throughout phones and camera's kept snapping one picture right after the other. People kept running up to them, hugging him too tightly, standing too close. Sporting a counterfeit smile, Liv hoped that the awkwardness that bathed the moment would be transient when her words of protest proved futile. Zach swallowed, breathing heavily then, unable to digest the flashing cameras and the untranslatable commands hurtled at them. It was the epitome of embarrassment!

Suddenly, Liv placed her warm hand over his heart, giving him a wink as she whispered in his ear, "just breath and whatever you do, don't let go."

Within seconds she dragged him away from the crowd. Her small fingers intertwined with his as she hoisted up her tunic and ran like the wind, elbowing them a path through the crowd. Zach could only hold on for dear life as his girlfriend dragged him along through a maze of buildings and winding side streets as the sky rumbled, and the first raindrops bounced off the cobblestones. Grey clouds began to smother the sun, transforming the bright day around them. Drops of rain beat against his skin, but it didn't faze him at all. His eyes were only fixed on the dainty sandals that splashed through the puddles before him, caking his sandals in the mud. He didn't care. He held on tight and followed that fiery hair that swept through the rain in a tangled mess like a boat following the light of a lighthouse. She wasn't scared. To her, this was a grand adventure.

Pulling him into another alley, Liv pushed Zach up against a wall, hiding them both from view. Her heaving chest pressed up against his. She shivered in her soaked tunic, but her expression was so bright, bringing out her inner sunshine through her smile. He wondered if she knew how much that smile meant to him, how much it made him want to embrace every inch of her. 

At this moment, here hidden in an alleyway in Rome, with cars rushing past and tourists making their way to the bars and cafes to hide from the rain, he shouldn't.

Wrapping the excess fabric of his woolen toga around Liv's shoulder, he placed a hand of her damp cheek, brushing the wet hair from her face. She chuckled in that way she did when she found something very romantic but was too embarrassed to show it. Rising to her toes, Liv pushed her lips against his, hands wrapping around the back of his neck and up into his curls. She pushed her lips in more firmly, and the wave that ran through her was intoxicating, making her head swim as she pulled back to take in his beautiful face. 

His gaze stayed locked with her, and at that moment, all the passersby melted away, the sounds of traffic muted, and it was just the two of them. But Zach's brown eyes darted to something behind her with a silent gasp. As Liv turned to see what he was looking at, she took in their ancient surroundings.

The alley was actually a deserted temple. The sands of time had only left the columns complete. Everything else had crumbled down into fragments of their glory days. The few rays of sunshine that broke through the darkened clouds shone in, illuminating the pillared alley, which made an eerie contrast with the white marble sculpture on the central altar.

"It's breathtaking," Liv exclaimed as she made her way to the altar. 

Zach glanced at the fragmented paintings which remained on the walls, "Who's temple do you think this would have been?"

"Judging from the statue, I would say, Bellona." Liv stated, "look at the flaming torch in her hand, and a sword in the other. Those are Bellona's attributes." Excitement bubbled up in the tone of her voice when she started to describe what the temple might have looked like back in the day, letting her imagination run free. "Can you imagine, children and their mothers praying her for their father's and husband safe return from war."

Zach added some facts and details here and there as he scanned the remains of the temple for the facts, and together they completely lost themselves in the illusion of a time long forgotten. 

If only that car alarm hadn't shattered the illusion, bringing them both back to the world that lay outside of the temple walls, the world from which they ran away. Liv could see Zach's eyes grow wide, his hands shaking as the realization of having to return hit him. "We could wait here a little longer, till it's not so busy on the streets anymore?" she offered.

"We'll have to get back to the Domus sooner or later."

"And we will. But there's no hurry. And once we're back, we simply won't leave it for a while. I don't feel like becoming a tourist attraction again." she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. 

"Neither do I. If you don't mind, I would just like to stay indoors," Zach admitted, still feeling shivers running down his spine as he recalled that suffocating experience at the Trevi Fountain. Liv interlaced her fingers with his, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry; I'll protect you."

A/N: The qualifiers of the first round of the ONC are know posted, and yes, When In Rome passed! 

I am so happy because I've now completed the first draft of the story and am happy with the way it turned out. There is still a lot of rewriting and editing to be done, but the story is at least finished. And for this chapter, I've taken a lot of inspiration from the actual city, so maybe I'll do a sort of real-life When In Rome tour after everything is done. Because you can actually see the sights I describe here....we'll not now, with the COVID-19 pandemic. But hopefully, one day! 

Thank you all so much for your support, I'd love to hear your opinion on this chapter and if you liked it, don't forget to give it a star to brighten up my self-quarantine days. Stay safe, and healthy everyone!

Wordcount: 8.162 words