Chapter Text
Amelia was suddenly startled by the clanging of church bells from across the square, waking her from her long sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly sat up in bed and glanced towards the window, a small gap in the curtain letting a beam of the Italian sunshine into the bedroom of the apartment she was staying in during her trip to Rome. She’d arrived yesterday on a late-night flight and hadn’t even had time to unpack as she fell straight to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow of the king size bed. Of course, a king size bed might seem a bit too much for one person, but that was the thing. This wasn’t meant to be a solo trip originally, but Amelia suddenly found herself travelling to Rome alone after a series of unfortunate events from a few weeks ago.
It was the day of her university graduation; a day that should have been a happy occasion. But Amelia could tell throughout the day that something was off, particularly with her boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend) Adam. She’d spent the entire day gushing about what lay in store for them after graduation – a summer holiday of a lifetime to Italy, before starting their lives together as fully fledged adults, hopefully looking for a place to live as they both started jobs. But after the ceremony was when Adam dropped the bombshell that he’d been offered a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity at an accountancy firm in London and had been asked to start immediately, announcing that he would be moving to London the next day, leaving Amelia and her dreams of a perfect life together behind. Amelia insisted that they could make it work, but suddenly Adam had selfishly decided that she wasn’t worth it anymore.
“I feel like you’d just hold me back.” She remembered him saying to her as she stood there with tears in her eyes, frozen on the spot and not knowing how else to respond.
“But… but our trip to Italy…” she mumbled through tears, “Our future…”
“I’m sorry, Amelia.” He sighed, only a small hint of apology in his voice, before walking away from her forever.
So that was that. Amelia was single but not really ready to mingle. Of course, she spent a few days crying over romcoms and wine, feeling sorry for herself. After that her best friend Holly convinced her that she should just go to Italy by herself and forget about Adam. Go live her best hot girl summer life, or some cheesy nonsense like that. So, she did. A week and a half later Amelia packed a bag and left for the airport, hoping that a solo trip would be just what she needed to take her mind off all the crap that was going on at home.
Dragging herself out of bed, Amelia tiredly wandered into the kitchen of the holiday apartment and opened the fridge. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to find, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise to see that it was empty given that she’d arrived at 10 o’clock last night and it was highly unlikely that food had appeared in there by magic overnight. Yeah, I should probably go and buy some food she thought to herself. She’d slept so long that it was already almost lunchtime, and her stomach was rumbling due to the fact she hadn’t eaten since she was on the plane the night before. Heading back into the bedroom, she unzipped her suitcase and pulled out the first outfit she could find; a blue, gingham sundress with tan sandals. She got dressed and sat in front of the mirror, applying a small amount of makeup and lazily brushing her dark brown hair just enough so that it didn’t look like a bird’s nest anymore.
Grabbing her bag and keys on the way out, she left the apartment and headed downstairs, the warm sunshine hitting her the moment she stepped outside. She remembered reading about a small farmers’ market not too far from where she was staying, and that’s where she headed, taking in some of the scenery and architecture as she wandered the streets of Rome in the direction of the market.
The array of Italian delicacies that greeted her as she reached the market square was incredible and Amelia had no idea where to start. She walked up one side of the rows of stalls, passing stands offering fruit, vegetables, meats, and so much more, before stopping in front of a stall that sold traditional pastries. The lady running the stall greeted Amelia with a polite smile as she browsed the various items in front of her, trying to decide on one to have as brunch.
Suddenly Amelia felt a presence behind her. She tried to ignore it, but out of the corner of her eye she could see a shadow standing uncomfortably close to her. She shuffled sideways to try and get away from whoever it was, but they followed. The stall owner had her back turned at this point as she served someone else, so she couldn’t even subtly look to her for help. Amelia turned her head slightly and could see a tall man behind her. She swallowed nervously as she tried her best to move away from him, but where she moved, he would follow.
“Excuse me… could you… could you not stand so close please?” her voice was shaky as her heart rate increased. The man didn’t respond. Suddenly she felt him grab at the strap of her bag that was loosely draped over her shoulder, and she instinctively put a hand to her bag to try and stop him from taking it. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” she shrieked, even though this man probably couldn’t understand her. She tried to fight back and pulled her bag back towards her, but he wouldn’t let go. “Get off me! Someone help me!” she called out in the hope that someone would hear her cries for help.
With that, another figure appeared and pushed the man away from her with enough force that he let go. “Che cazzo stai facendo? Allontanati da lei!” the second man shouted, causing the man that had grabbed her bag to run away. She stood there, flustered, checking that everything she’d had in her bag was still there, and thankfully nothing had been taken. Her heart raced so much that she could feel it pounding against her ribs as she fought back tears.
“Are you okay, signora?” the stranger asked, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Amelia couldn’t find the energy to respond with words, so she just nodded and looked up at the man standing in front of her. Dark hair framed his face, and piercing brown eyes seemed to stare into her soul. He was wearing ripped black jeans and a low-cut white vest, which showed off a series of tattoos along his arms and chest, and her eyes were drawn to the one that read “Il Ballo Della Vita” that graced his collarbones.
“Come, signora,” he said, holding out his hand, “you look like you need a drink.”
“I…” was all Amelia could manage to say, the fear of what had just happened still taking over her body.
“It’s okay.” The mysterious man smiled reassuringly, “You can trust me.”
Amelia took a deep breath and did her best to pull herself together. “Thank you.” She smiled back at him, tentatively taking his hand.
“It’s no problem.” He replied, “I’m Damiano, by the way.”
“Amelia.” She answered, as Damiano, the handsome Italian stranger led her across the market square, hopefully away from any further danger.