Stepping out of the shower, I let out a tired, relieved exhale as I rubbed my hair with a towel, making it damper with every rub against the wet strands of my hair. A ringing sound came from the laptop I had propped on the table of my hotel room. Looking at the screen, I saw Selia’s profile photo displayed on the center.

I slipped a shirt over my head before answering the call. Selia’ face popped in the window, smiling at me as I took a seat in the chair to face her.

“Hey Gabriel, how’s Japan?”

I shrugged. “Not bad, considering we hardly go out. Do you know that Chris was swarmed by fans when he went out to get takoyaki the other day?”

“Is there ever a trip that he managed not to get mobbed by fans?” Selia’s rhetorical question, coupled with an eye roll made me laugh.

After entertaining her with more details of my journey with the band, mostly consisting of concerts and shows, I reversed the question back at her. “What about you, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine, and business is great! Oh, also, David visited today,” her lips pursed when she remembered the incident. “He said my restaurant looked drab and needed a makeover.”

Selia’s stories were nothing unusual, but it did make me a little homesick. We had been on tour for months and it had been a while since I came back to Italy. The life of a celebrity was great for the most part, but I missed ordinary. Still, I enjoyed the tales she told me of herself and our mutual friends.

“Anyway… did you hear? Another guy asked Rainie out yesterday.” Selia tried to sound casual, but I could tell that she had been dying to bring this up. I wondered if this was the actual reason for her call.

“Ah. So, what did she say?” I said, attempting to make my voice stable and unaffected, but as usual, my heart beat louder in my chest, as it did whenever this happened.

“She said no, but that’s not the point,” Selia said crossly, giving up all pretense of casually bringing me a piece of news so she could berate me. “When are you going to ask her out? Do you really want a repeat of Charles – you hiding your feelings and suffering on your own while she’s in a relationship with another guy?”

“I don’t want to be the rebound guy,” I mumbled, although I knew by now it was a stale, sad excuse.

So did Selia, as evidenced by her loud snort. “It has been a year, Gabriel. Trust me, she’s had a lot of time getting over Charles. You won’t be the rebound guy. I’ve told you this a million times.”

For someone who had said this a million times, she did not sound bored of it at all. In fact, she was as adamant as always, even if more than slightly exasperated. “I’ll think about it,” I replied, as usual. Before she could prolong the conversation along these lines, I told her that I was tired and quickly ended the call. I wasn’t lying, either. I really was exhausted, and I would think about it.

Actually, I’d been thinking about telling Rainie what I felt for a long time now. As time passed, the thought of being her rebound guy grew less and less likely, but my fear remained. I was deathly scared that she would reject me, and I would end up ruining our friendship. She was so important to me that I’d almost rather remain friends than risk jeopardising what we had now. Almost.

~•~•~•~

“Do you even have to ask?” Nicola said indignantly, banging his hand on the counter so violently that his cup of tea rattled in the saucer. “It will be tuna season then. Of course I would be able to supply you with them. I’ll send you so much tuna your freezers won’t be able to hold anything else!”

“Ah no, no, that much isn’t necessary,” I tried to placate Nicola, who supplied me with seafood, not expecting him to react so strongly when I only asked him to send some tuna my way when the season for catching them rolled around.

Fortunately, my flaxen-haired saviour sauntered right through the door of the restaurant just then, saving me from Nicola’s inexplicable discontentment. I waved at him cheerfully, distracting Nicola and making him turn to face the newcomer.

“Gabriel! When did you arrive?” I knew better than to scold him for turning up unannounced by now. He rarely told me of his return, preferring to surprise me so I didn’t have time to prepare anything nice for him. After a while I stopped letting it bother me and just learnt to enjoy his sporadic visits.

“Last night,” he answered, patting Nicola on the back then taking a seat at the counter. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“Nah, we’re done here,” Nicola said, hopping off his stool. But before exiting, he turned back and asked me, “do you where David is? I heard he came back to town yesterday.”

“I think he’s in his office,” I answered as I prepared an espresso for Gabriel. “Why?”

“Ah, you know… I’m pretty sure I need Elena to do something for me around there,” he said with a mischevious grin, then pushed open the door so he could run off, no doubt to rope his sister into bumping into David somehow.

I chuckled at the thought while Gabriel raised an eyebrow, clearly not comprehending the situation. “Nicola is trying to get David to hook up with his sister,” I explained amidst giggles.

“Our David?” Gabriel asked incredulously, having a hard time believing that the sophisticated, fussy David we knew would fall for a happy-go-lucky girl with simple taste like Elena.

“Yeah,” I nodded with a smile. “From what I’ve seen, they seem to be really into each other. I don’t know why David hasn’t asked her out yet. He really should before someone beats him to the chase.”

Surprisingly, instead of looking happy at the possibility of two of our friends going out with each other, the news had Gabriel squaring his jaw and looking thoughtful. “Is there something wrong?” It was worrisome to see him grim and frowning like this, I could not help but ask.

“No, everything is fine,” he dismissed me with a wave of his hand. A few moments of silence passed while he stared at the door Nicola had passed through and I tried to figure out the reason he was looking so pensive. Then he turned around to face me, a determined expression on his face.

“Can I steal you away for a bit?”

“Huh?” I said, startled by his sudden question. “Uh, sure. I’ll just tell Marco I’m going out for a while.”

 That was how, ten minutes later, I was spending the afternoon taking a walk with Gabriel. At first I expected him to tell me what he dragged me out for, or say something, anything, really, but he hardly a word came out of his mouth, so we just quietly strolled mindlessly, enjoying the sights of the Venice afternoon. After the first thirty minutes, I stopped keeping track, but in the end, I couldn’t control myself from asking, “So, what’s up?”

Gabriel coughed, seemingly surprised even though he knew at some point he’d need to tell me the reason he dragged me out. I allowed him a few moments to hurriedly gather his thoughts, but when he opened his mouth again, he only said, “I thought we could go grab a bite to eat.”

“You brought me away from a restaurant to ask me to grab a bite to eat?” I asked incredulously, a little frustrated, but still mostly amused. It was endearing to see him flustered.

“Ah, no, I meant a bite of – of – gelato!”

Laughing, I let him steer me to the nearest cafe. Nowadays it was easier to become flustered around him, so most of the time I found it easier to go along with whatever he suggested rather than argue with him. It was all Selia’s fault that I always got tongue tied around him. Ever since she planted the idea in my head – just a few months after I broke up with Charles, actually – I found it impossible to imagine Gabriel as just a friend.

She didn’t even need to say much, just suggest that I went out with him, but that was enough. It was like  my eyes were opened to a new possibility where Gabriel and I weren’t just friends, but much, much more. And I found myself falling in love with the idea more and more every day. Found myself falling for him more and more with every message, every call, every visit. A part of me wondered how I could not have realised it before. Then I thought about it and knew that I had always loved him. Loved his smile. His laughter. His cheerful attitude. His gentleness. Everything about him, previously thought of just qualities of a great man, now something that I yearned to keep with me forever.

However, it was no use telling him about my feelings. Even though we were friends, I was painfully aware how out of reach he was. Gabriel was a celebrity. An idol, with legions of fans, many who were surely prettier than I was. More talented. More attractive. Just better and more deserving of him. There was no point in confessing to him when there was no way he felt the same about me. It’s best if I kept quiet and not make things awkward.

I couldn’t help stealing sideways glances at him as we walked with gelato in hand, though. Why was he looking so nervous? He obviously had something to say, but I couldn’t think of anything he wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with me. The curiousity was killing me, but I strived to keep calm and wait until he was ready to open up and talk.

Finally, after taking a first bite of his cone, Gabriel asked, “Do you think friends can be… more than that?”

“You mean become a couple?” Thinking about David and Elena, and how nice it would be if they did get together, I said, “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

Gabriel took another bite of his gelato, taking the time to swirl the sweet treat in his mouth so he could think of his next words. “Hmm… Selia told me that you rejected quite a few guys. Not up to dating again?”

At that question, I shrugged. Initially it was because I wasn’t ready after breaking up with Charles, but not long after that, it really was because I couldn’t imagine with anyone else but Gabriel. As stupid as that made me feel, I couldn’t help it. But I couldn’t tell him that. “Just not the right person, I guess.”

“How do you know if it’s the right person or not?”

I already know who the right person is. “Sometimes you can tell,” was all I allowed myself to say out loud.

“What about the times you’re not sure, would you give him the chance?”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s only fair.”

“Do you think… I’m the right person?”

His sudden question stopped me in my tracks. Dripping dessert forgotten as I tried not to read too much into it. “What do you mean?”

The nervous shuffling of his feet went completely unnoticed by me in my utter surprise, only hanging on to his every word. “I mean… would you go out with me?”

“Are you for real?” I asked, my voice raising an octave from excitement and disbelief, even after he nodded his head yes. “M-me? You want to date me?”

“I’ve been in love with you for God knows how long, so yes, you.”

~•~•~•~

A/N: Finally this series is coming to a close! A sweet epilogue coming up after this chapter!