**Italian is bolded**

All week had been a whirlwind. Photoshoots, TV performances, interviews... you name it, we probably had it. Now it was time to do the photoshoots for Dolce and Gabbana. We would drive down to Rome to meet up with the photographer. Right now, though, it was five in the morning.

I had just gotten out of the shower, dressed in a simple crop top and denim shorts, and I was towel-drying my hair when there was a knock on the door.

Vinny groaned and flopped back on his bed. "Kevin said we had an hour..."

I answered it, and frowned. "Why did you come to our room?"

TOP was in front of me, his suitcase behind him. A pair of sunglasses were blocking his eyes. He shrugged. "I don't have a room at this hotel since we're leaving in an hour."

"Fine." I walked away and he followed me.

"No hello?" TOP chuckled when he shut the door.

"Hi." I muttered, flopping back onto my bed.

"You guys mind if I shower? That flight was ten hours."

"Knock yourself out." I yawned and shut my eyes, ready to catch an hour of sleep before we had to go.

I did end up falling asleep, but that was short-lived because I heard the weight shift on my bed. I cracked open an eye and groaned when I saw TOP sitting at the edge, freshly showered, now dressed in a jacket and jeans, his hair damp. He was casually on his phone, scrolling through something. "Do you really have to sit on my bed?"

"What?" TOP chuckled, looking back at me.

"You heard me." I scoffed and sat up.

"I did but I didn't understand you." TOP laughed. "You spoke in Italian. And you just had an accent."

"Shut up!" I growled, throwing my pillow at him. I stood. "This happens. It's like when you're in Korea for a long time. You have an accent."

"I do not." TOP told me.

"Yes you do." I sighed, then winced when I heard the sing-songy rhythm from the accent in my voice. "Just ignore it."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing." TOP smiled, watching me as I finished packing my stuff. Vinny was asleep on his bed, his snapback over his face.

"Stop." I said, feeling his eyes on me. I felt shivers go up my spine.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything."

I glared at him. "Yes you are. You're staring. I hate staring. So stop."

"You never used to hate it." TOP pointed out.

"Yeah, that was like two years ago." I faced him. "Now it just annoys me."

TOP chuckled. "Why would it annoy you?"

"Because you have no reason to look at me." I set my suitcase on the bed next to TOP.

"So I'm not allowed to look at a perfect ten? I think it'd be hard for any man to look away from you."

"I'm not a perfect ten." I shook my head. "You're just being stupid."

TOP scoffed, "You aren't a perfect ten? Natalia, have you looked in a mirror? Have you seen your ranking for Maxim?"

"I wasn't number one." I growled.

"Uh, you were pretty damn close! And this was your first year on it!"

"Just don't stare at me." I didn't know what else to say.

"I'm just saying. You loved it when I stared at you when we dated."

"We aren't dating anymore!" I exclaimed as loudly as I could without waking Vinny. "Stop it! You broke up with me. Now it's been two years. We're over it."

He watched me as I put my makeup bag into my suitcase. I looked at him, and lightly tapped his face with my hand. "Stop! I swear I will hit you harder."

"You may be able to do that, but you know what I can do?"

"What?" I looked at him.

"Overpower you." In an unexpected move, TOP grabbed me by my waist, his hands on my bare stomach since my top was short. I let out a surprised sound from his hands being cold and from not expecting him to grab me. He threw me onto the bed next to him, and immediately leaned towards me, hands not leaving my sides. He immediately began to tickle my sides.

"Top! Top! Stop!" I gasped, trying to hide my laughs. I pushed his hands away, but he kept at it.

"STOP!" I finally caught my breath. I grabbed both his wrists and held them above me, having the strength to hold him off me. "You can't do this to me anymore, okay? I need you to treat me like the others treat me. Like how you treat 2NE1 or Anika. And I'll treat you like one of the guys."

"Natalia, I think we both know we have a different relationship than we do with the others." He went to go change his hands so that his fingers laced mine, but I balled my hands into fists when his hands enveloped mine. He chuckled and shook his head.

I frowned at him. "Me and Ri's relationship went normal after we dated," Okay, that was a lie. "So ours can, too."

"You and maknae didn't have the attraction like you and I do. We are different."

I couldn't take his eyes searing into mine. "Get off."

He chuckled, and I bit my lip nervously. "I'm serious. Get off me."

"We haven't hooked up in Italy yet. I bet if we were quiet-"

"Seunghyun."I said sternly. I rarely called him by his real name anymore. "Get off. Or I will scream."

"Nat, you know you don't want to-"

"VIN-" I started to scream shrilly. TOP immediately covered my mouth and sat up so he was next to me.

"Okay, okay! I'm just messing with you, Natalia." He took his hand off my mouth and I sat up. He scrolled through his phone. "Want to hear something?"

"Uh, sure?" I nodded, looking at TOP and his phone.

He pressed play, and a familiar beat started playing. I snorted when I realized what it was. "Why did you and Ji do a remake of Bubble ?"

TOP laughed. "Major Lazer wanted us to. Do you like it?"

I listened to TOP's rap. His voice sounded deeper and more slurred in a way. It was actually pretty cool.

I nodded. "I like it."

----

"We have a few places we want to take photos at." The photographer told us in a thick Italia accent. "Our first will be on the streets of Rome. I want to get some individual shots, but then I want you two walking together." He smiled at us. "You two were once a couple, right? So it shouldn't be too hard. Let's have Natalia go first."

I nodded as Lola fixed my outfit. It was more of a daytime-look. Like a business casual: button-up lace-front shirt, high-waisted trousers, big sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat. I had a purse, too. I was not used to wearing this designer. It was freaking thinking how I had about $5000 worth of clothing on me right now.

"What size are you wearing?" TOP asked me.

I smirked happily at him. "Two."

TOP looked at me, shocked. "Really? How did that happen? You were a two in Korea years ago."

I crinkled my forehead. "Yeah, don't remember that. I told Hwang my target size and he's helped me get to it. I love it!"

"Lose anymore and we won't be able to find you." TOP joked.

"Alright, Natalia. Go rock it." Lola smirked as she touched one last piece of my straight hair.

The street we were on was more narrow and cobblestone, small cafes and shops on either side. I started walking as the photographer followed me and snapped pictures. He would tell me to stop, so I would and face him more, doing different casual poses. He told me to look into a window of a shop, so I did, putting my hand on the top of my hat. He took a picture closer to me, probably to accentuate the hat and glasses.

"Okay, I think we got enough solo shots of Natalia. Let's get you now, Top."

TOP nodded once and walked in front of the camera. I walked back to Lola and my brother, and we watched, walking along the cobblestone streets with the crew. I watched him walk around casually, every once in a while turning around to walk backwards.

"He still likes you." Vinny said next to me as we walked.

I looked at my brother. "Excuse me?"

He nodded to TOP onset. "Top still likes you, Nat. It's obvious."

I shook my head. "He just messes with me a lot."

Vinny looked at me. "Natalia. Come on. You don't think I heard his little conversation with you this morning in our hotel room?"

I froze and looked at my brother. He heard?

Vincent kept going. "He still finds you attractive and says your guys' relationship is different from everyone elses. He still likes you, Nat." He glanced at me. "Those times hooking up in the recording studios and else where probably didn't help."

My face was burning. "We didn't hook up that often!" I hissed.

Vinny chuckled. "You did more than you insist you did. Do you realize that me and Minzy have stepped into our apartment , heard you and Top , so left before the door could close behind us?"

"That was one-"

"Four times, Nat. Four times. I don't see why you didn't go to his place. He lives alone."

I shrugged. "Well, anyway, we haven't hooked up in months. Besides, I have Seungri now."

"You and Seungri aren't official yet."

I looked at my twin. The group had stopped to get some close up shots of TOP. "Are you telling me to hook up with Top?" I couldn't believe my ears.

Vinny shook his head. "No, I'm just going to admit that I don't like you with Seungri. He's a playboy and-"

"The media makes  him out to be a playboy." I corrected.

Vinny rose one eyebrow, giving me an obvious look. "Really, Natalia? Remember the Japan hotel scandal?" He shook his head. "I'm not saying to do that with Top, Nat. I'm just saying... When in Rome."

I scoffed and shook my head. There was no way. Absolutely no way.

----

Our next stop was Sicily, and to me and Vinny's disappointment, most of our extended family was out for the weekend. The only ones that were left was my dad's cousin Marcello, his wife Anneta, and their kids Mariella, Gianni, Gisella, Bartolo, and Carmina. Mariella and Gianni were twins, too, and a year younger than Vinny and I. Gisella was fourteen, Bartolo fifteen, and Carmina eleven. They were the cousins we were closest with.

Uncle Marcello was immediately accepting to letting us take pictures along the vineyard. He let us go at it and stayed out of our way for the most part. We had agreed to let Mariella and Gianni come with us since we were really close with them.

It was really remarkable to how similar we looked to the Sicilian twins. Our facial structure was really similar. Our differences were our height (me and Vinny were taller), our eyes (they had hazel eyes), their hair color (black), and body shape (they weren't as skinny as me and my brother).

"Alright, I love this spot." The photographer said when we stopped near the warehouse where the wine was fermented. In the background were the vineyards, the front being a tall white wooden wall, the boards made in a criss-cross stature so it looked checkered. There were grape vines intertwined, even some grapes growing on the vines. It was gorgeous.

I was wearing a tight sleeveless lace black bodycon dress and black stilettos. My hair was done in big waves, the lesser side of my part tucked behind my ear. My makeup was done smoky, my lips in a bright red.

TOP was wearing a white button up shirt, black vest, black pants, and black oxford shoes. His vest had a red rose pinned to the lapel, and his black hair was styled back.

Okay.. he looked really good.

"Natalia and Top, this is going to be a group of couple shots. Let's start out without the wine."

We walked out in front of the camera and did the basic poses, neither of us touching each other. At one point, we were even looking in different directions.

There were two old-looking white metal chairs in front of the wooden wall, as well as a matching table. At one point TOP had leaned back so he was sitting on the edge of the table, his hands gripping the edge, and I grabbed the back of one of the chairs and leaned forward, my profile to the camera so it showed off my shape.

I heard Mariella squeal off camera when I posed like that. "You look so perfect!" She exclaimed.

"Okay, let's get you guys to interact more. You two used to date, right? So it shouldn't be that hard." The photographer chuckled. "Be serious. TOP, take Natalia by the waist."

.

I stood, and awkwardly stepped over to TOP. He chuckled and looked at me. "Now you're going to be awkward?"

Counting how this is our first photo shoot together since we broke up, yeah. I wanted to say, but kept my mouth quiet. "Just grab me." I muttered, looking away.

I didn't even realize what I had said until everyone onset had burst into laughter.

My eyes widened in horror. "No! I did not mean it in any derrogitory way! I-I just-" I shook my head and tried to calm my burning cheeks.

TOP smiled, shook his head, but then put his hands on my hips. On impulse, I grabbed his forearm to push him off, but the camera man stopped me. "Perfect. Keep it like that."

So, I kept my hand on TOP's forearm and he kept his hands on my hips. I looked at the camera, my eyes wide and innocent, my lips pouted ever so slightly. Instead of looking at the camera, TOP looked off in my direction, like he was looking at something behind me.

We posed differently,  TOP's arm snaking around my back as we both face d the camera. I put my hand on his shoulder, my other hand on my hip. I turned my head more towards him, too, which he had done at the same time, so our heads were touching.

"You both are so natural at this!" The photographer exclaimed as he took pictures. "Let's go ahead and get the wine out."

Lola brought out two glasses of my family's white wine, and TOP smiled excitedly. "What I've been looking forward to all day!"

I sighed and shook my head. I put the glass to my lips and took a sip of the alcohol, letting the taste of red grapes and blackberries spread on my tongue.

God, I had missed this.

"Alright, we aren't doing that many shots with the wine. There are just two I really had in mind." The photographer explained. "Natalia, put your lips hard against the glass so your lipstick is on it." I did as he told me, and a red lip smudge was the result. "Great. Okay, you're both going to put the glasses to your lips. Face each other."

We did that, then took the glasses away. "Okay, now, Top, you're going to touch Natalia's bottom lip with your thumb, like you're wiping a drop of wine from her lips."

My stomach lurched. Why did we have to act so close?

The photographer stepped closer to get a closer shot, and I glanced at TOP when he stepped closer to me.

I couldn't' look at him.

I looked away from him and the camera, and parted my lips a tiny bit. I was proud of myself when I didn't flinch when TOP's thumb touched my bottom lip.

He was looking at me, but I still couldn't look at him.

---

"This day was too long." I scoffed when I stepped out of the hotel bathroom. We were at our Sicilian hotel after the photo shoot. Tomorrow, we would fly back to Korea.

I didn't bother to take off my makeup of wash my hair. I had just changed into a floral silk cami and matching silk sleep boxers, both from Aerie.

"You looked like you had fun, though." Vinny commented, sitting up on his bed as he scrolled through his phone.

I sat down and checked my own phone. Not one text, call, or Skype request from Seungri all day. Why? "Seungri hasn't talked to me all day..." I muttered, scrolling through Twitter.

It was silent, then Vinny let out an angry chuckle and shook his head. "I think this is why."

"What?" I asked, walking over to my brother. He held out his phone to me, and I let out a scoff.

Seriously?

Vinny had pulled up an article posted today about Seungri going out to a noraebong with a group of friends. I was fine with this, but my blood boiled when I saw the pictures of him and Japanese model Anna Kubo. They were holding hands, his arms were around her, and he even let her kiss him on the cheek.

"What the Hell?" I finally said after we had watched the video. What was this?

I thought he liked me. I thought we were going to take things slow.

But, then again, his words ran through my mind.

We aren't official yet, Natalia. I still need to take you out on a few more dates.

"It'd be one thing if this was out of the blue and he had no connections with anyone else, but now they're even bringing you up in all of this." Vinny sighed and shook his head. "I told you, Nat. He' a playboy."

I ignored my locked up throat and shook my head. "H-he said we aren't official, okay? He was probably drunk, too."

Vinny sighed again and shook his head. He set his phone down. "Whatever, Nat. I just don't want you hurt."

I stood and thought for a moment. How could I calm my angered nerves?

I walked over to the dresser, a gift set of wine from out family on top of it. I read each bottle until I found my favorite white wine, and grabbed it. "I'll see you in the morning." I told my brother when I walked to the door.

"Natalia, what are you doing?" Vinny asked, standing.

I opened the wine bottle with the opening, and took a drink right from the bottle. I looked at my twin. "You said it yourself. When in Rome." I opened the door.

"But we aren't in-" I slammed the door shut and walked down the hall before Vinny could finish his sentence.