Beyond the Sun

I slid my sunglasses on and took his hand as we stepped off the plane, descending the stairway provided and walking toward the airport. He smiled widely over at me, and we only stopped when he had to fish out our passports from the front pocket of his carryon. Other than that, it was a quiet, uninterrupted walk inside. No one knew we were coming, so there wasn’t a slew of paparazzo waiting for us on the other side of the doors.

Seeing this, Brian decided to pull me closer, gently touching his lips to mine before pulling away, slipping his sunglasses from where he’d tucked them into the collar of his shirt, sliding them on over his eyes. I grinned up at him- maybe we wouldn’t be disrupted this time. Not to say that our first honeymoon, which had been a trip to Niagara Falls, had been completely disrupted, but there were still some pictures that had appeared in magazines- mostly of Brian and I at the falls with red circles around him and I to point out who we were. Not to mention countless articles questioning a rock star’s ability to remain happily married for as long as Brian and I had been.

We stood at the baggage claim with the other travelers, and I couldn’t help but watch them as they conversed- some of them in Italian, others in German, and some in French. I smiled to myself- it was good not being in America for a while. I just knew that the next two weeks here would be perfect.

Brian gently kissed my temple as the baggage began to arrive, and I let him release my hand and move closer to the carousel so that he could grab our suitcases before it became too hectic.

A few people saw the way we interacted and sent warm smiles in our direction, but for the most part, they didn’t snoop. Only a few of them asked me why we were here, and they’d smiled kindly after hearing my answer.

After collecting our luggage, Brian led me outside, hailed a cab, loaded our luggage into the trunk, and then held my hand as we rode to our hotel. When we arrived, I couldn’t help but smile to myself- beachside Venice hotel rooms weren’t cheap, but they were exquisitely beautiful, or so I had been told by the man that seemed to want nothing but life with someone like me.

He pulled his suitcase up to the room, and I pulled mine, my other hand still holding on to his, and he only let go to open the door.

Too quickly, we set our luggage aside, and then I was in his arms. I grinned up at him as he held me close, and then he pressed his lips to mine. I let my arms wrap around his neck, ravishing the feeling of his mouth moving softly on mine, holding myself as close to his warm body as I could. I had to admit, it was bliss, being in another country with a man that millions of girls around the world wanted more than they wanted pictures of him.

He pulled me closer, and then effortlessly fell back onto the double wide bed, laughing as I shifted so that I was beside him. “So.” I raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“I think…” I said mysteriously. “I think we need to make sure this bed doesn’t feel forgotten.”
He grinned. “I think we’ll be paying plenty of attention to this bed, love,” he said, giving me a gentle kiss and chuckling a little. “In fact, it might get as much as…no…our bed gets much more than that…” He seemed unperturbed by this revelation, and he shifted us once again so that he was halfway above me. “Like now.” He flashed a smile. “What do you think will happen next?”

I unzipped his pants and slid from beneath him, glancing back to see his stunned face as I trotted off to the bathroom.

“Aw, hon, that wasn’t fair…” he whined, and I heard the distinct sound of a zipper returning to its proper place. “You know…it’s a good thing you…”

I peeked through the door, grinning. “Love you so much? Have claimed you for good? Gave you some last night?”

He smiled impishly. “Yeah. That.” I laughed, and he scratched the back of his neck. “Still…my zipper? Why couldn’t it have been yours?” I rolled my eyes. “What?”

“Because then, you’ll think I’m easy.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, and I squeaked and let my eyes widen as he came toward me. “Oh, I’ll show you easy,” he teased, and then he joined me in the bathroom, somehow landing us in the bathtub, and I couldn’t help but break into a fit of laughter, leaning against him as I shifted for a little more comfort. “Okay, so that didn’t go as planned,” he mused, and he seemed less amused when I covered my mouth to attempt to hide my giggles. He raised an eyebrow at me, tugging me closer. “Quiet you,” he said with a grin, taking my hand and kissing my lips before attempting to look serious.

“Or what?” I managed.

“Or I’ll actually show you easy.”

I bit my lip, and then I couldn’t help it. My body shook with laughter, and it was uncontrollable. I buried my face in his chest, and he sighed, wrapping his arms around me. I knew he was smiling, too, though, because when he kissed the top of my head, I could feel his smile, and I let my hand slide across his torso, curving at his hip, as I continued to fight for control over my laughter.

“I didn’t know I was that funny,” he said, and I shook my head. “I’m not? Aw, thanks, babe, love you too.”

I lifted my head from his chest, looking up at him, still laughing. “It’s not that you’re- you’re funny, but you’re just so…so damn confident…I couldn’t- I couldn’t help it.”

“I think you had a few too many on the plane, love.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and then my expression calmed. “I didn’t have anything alcoholic, Mr. Wino. Purely Coca-Cola….which might actually be the reason I’m so hyper…” I thought about that for a moment, and then I attempted to get up. I found it impossible. “Brian?”

“Yes, love.”

“I can’t get up.”

“Really?”

“Really. My genius husband thought he could have his way with me, and it got me landed in this tub.”

“Well since we’re here…”

I rolled my eyes, laughing fit gone. “Brian, I am not going to have sex with you in the bathtub. What will the room service girl think?”

“Honey. We’re in Europe. That’s normal.” He flashed a smile, obviously convinced that he had a point, and I simply quirked an eyebrow at him. “Okay. So weird white stains on the floor might scare somebody, but...it’s our honeymoon,” he whined, and the eyebrow remained raised. “Alright, alright. Let me get up, and then I can help you.”

I waited as he got up, and then when he offered his hand, I took it, giving him a kiss as a reward before trying to get him out the door. He glanced back at me, confused. “Later. I promise. But right now, I need to make myself look pretty. You’re taking me out tonight to earn what we might do here.”

“But you’re already pretty,” he said, and that made me smile, even though he was totally fighting the one small reason I had not to shove him on the bed and give him what he wanted. I let my expression become a bit more puppy dog-like, batting my eyes and everything, and then he gave in. “Okay,” he said, and I let him claim a kiss before closing the door after him.

I turned to the counter, thought for a minute, and then peeked my head out the door. “Honey?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

I tried a small smile that totally gave away my mistake. “Can you get my makeup out of my suitcase for me?” I batted my eyes , and I watched as he unzipped my suitcase, digging through it for a minute, then waited as he brought the small makeup bag I’d packed over to me. “Thanks, love.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I promise. We’ll make good use of that bed tonight.”

He cracked a smile before plopping down upon and stretching out on the subject of our conversation. “We better.” He then picked up the remote, beginning the ritualistic flipping of channels before I closed the door again.

Men.

“Twice.”

I rolled my eyes, choosing not to comment, and I heard the television blaring something in Italian, and even though I didn’t understand it and Brian probably didn’t either, he didn’t seem to mind, since he kept it on that channel.

I continued to work on my appearance before slipping out of the bathroom to grab something I’d bought with Brian’s credit card on a shopping trip with Val.

Ten minutes later, I was at his side, and his arm was around my waist.

“Wow,” he said, sliding his arm around my waist as I picked up my sunglasses. His lips gently met the side of my head, and then he added, “You should wear red more often.” I blushed a little, looking up at him, and he smiled.

“I do wear red, hon,” I told him, and he shook his head, leaning in for a kiss- he’d begun to crave my lips as much as I craved his now.

Chuckling, he replied, “No, I mean you should wear red that you can wear in public more often.”

I smiled. “You like it, huh?” He nodded. “You should. Your credit card bought it.” He rolled his eyes, and I let him lead me out of the room, to the elevator, out of the hotel, and down the street. “Do we have an idea of where anything is?” I asked him, and he shook his head. “So we’re wandering the streets of Venice with no reference point?”

“Relax, hon,” he said. “I’m fairly certain we’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, sure…wow…look at those clothes…” He snickered, and I kept my gaze on the window as we kept walking. “We have to go there before we leave. I mean, seriously…”

“You’ve been hanging out with Val too much,” he said in a playful accusing tone. “Of all the things Italy has to offer, you want the clothes…” He sighed. “It’s a good thing we have money, I guess.” I could hear a slightly begrudging tone in his voice- he hated shopping (the day with McKenna had pretty much been forced) but he was so good at pretending to enjoy it.

“I like the way you say ‘we’,” I teased, bringing him off the subject of spending his money. “It’s so cute.”

He raised an eyebrow at me, sliding his arm from my waist so that he could take my hand instead. “After a year and a half, you’re still marveling over the way I say ‘we’?” I nodded, and he shook his head, astounded. “You amaze me.” It had, at least, earned me a kiss on the forehead, and I walked, content, at his side until a hole-in-the-wall spaghetti and pizza parlor caught his eye. “Ready for that Lady and the Tramp moment?”

“Lady and the Tramp…?” I questioned, and he gestured to the place across the street. When my eyes fell upon it, I smiled warmly, and he gave my hand a squeeze, pulling me across the street. Nobody really saw us except for the man that ran the restaurant we’d chosen, and he greeted us, arms wide, a smile on his face.

I could tell right away that Brian didn’t know a touch of Italian. Not to say that I did, either, but it was still amusing to watch his face as the restaurant owner carried on about the two of us, gesturing toward and smiling at me a lot, talking about plates for two that were served on one plate. At one point, he said something like, “Spaghetti for you and the bella amore, yes?” but I wasn’t sure, since I didn’t know the language and I had, like an idiot, left my translation book at the hotel room.

Eventually, we ordered, and we sat together in front of the little restaurant, at a table that looked like a normal-sized version of the one Lady and Tramp had once shared, and Brian kept our interlaced hands on the table, smoothly stroking my hand and the both of us speaking softly to each other. He watched my eyes as though he was hanging on my every word, and I could feel the urge to pull him closer growing more and more until-

The chef came out to us, holding a plate of spaghetti, coated in a layer of textbook tomato sauce and meatballs, and set it before us, giving us each a fork. I smiled at him, Brian smiled at me, and then he left us to our food.

Smiling a little sheepishly, I picked up the end of a noodle, and Brian did, too, the both of us completely disregarding the forks that had been given to us. I sucked on my end, consuming it bit by bit, my eyes on Brian’s the entire time, and then the noodle began to tighten. I smiled.

He smiled too, and the shine reached his eyes.

Eventually, the noodle met its end, and I let Brian take the bit that still connected us. After he’d swallowed it, I wiped the tomato sauce from his lips as he wiped mine, and then I kissed him softly. He kissed me back, and then he pulled away, touching my face.

“I love you, Heather.”

I grinned as he said the words. “I love you too, Brian.”

“Was that the perfect Lady and the Tramp moment, or would you like a second try?”
My hand found his, and he kissed my knuckles. “Let’s not ruin the moment, okay, stud?” He nodded, and then we both picked up our forks, eating together in almost complete silence.

Of course there was conversation, but it never really lasted, and when we spoke, it was soft, almost as though we were in bed or something. It wasn’t like our relationship had reached new heights or anything- we were pretty much as close as we were going to get- but there was that feeling of being complete that reminded me I was building a life with the right person. And of course I thought a little about how things would have gone if the paparazzo had shown up- flashing cameras ending the perfect first day of our honeymoon, annoying Brian, causing problems, annoying me, making us leave our dinner…I just knew it wouldn’t have been pretty. And I felt bad considering it, but being the wife of someone as well-known as him had kind of brought along with it that particular train of thought.

I didn’t mind.

As long as I had him, it didn’t matter.