In Xiumin’s room he and Chen were both skimming through various tourist guides trying to agree on a destination for their holiday. Chen was sat cross legged in the middle of the older boy’s bed, surrounded by unopened books and leaflets, the floor of the room was already littered in discarded options leaving Xiumin sat at his desk, using his laptop to look up hotels and prices in the various places Chen suggested.

“How about Brazil? We could see the Pantanal Marsh and the Cristo Redentor? Oh and the Copacabana beach, sounds exotic and fun right?” Doing a quick search Xiumin shook his head at the idea as he look at pictures of the swampy mess Chen was somehow interested in.

“Ew, you want to travel all that way to look at damp mud and a statue?” Sighing heavily Chen dropped the tourism booklet he was holding into the rejected pile of the floor and picked up another random one from the bed.

“Ok, so that’s a no to Egypt, Greece, Sweden, Zambia and Brazil.” Scribbling the countries name on his personal list if wrongfully dismissed ideas Chen doodled a little broken heard beside it in the hopes Xiumin would see it and feel bad enough to change his mind so they could go see the marshes together. Instead the older boy tapped away at his laptop for a while before turning the screen to face Chen. A picturesque cottage sat near the edge of large shimmering pond stared out of the screen as Xiumin spoke.

“Italy! It’s be amazing. We could go to the Trevi fountain together, visit the Uffizi Gallery, we could even go to the Ponte Vecchio” Still flicking through a guide to holidaying in Spain Chen spoke half-heartedly.

“The Ponte what?” Tapping away again Xiumin walked to Chen and sat behind him, reaching around the teen to place the laptop in front of him , Xiumin rested his chin on the younger boy’s shoulder and pointed to his screen. Frowning a little Chen looked at the picture of an old looking bridge with a bunch of windows and lights on it and skimmed over the snippet of information next to the picture.

PONTE VICCHIO (Old Bridge)

Famous 14^th century bridge, built by Taddeu Gaddi and home to medieval Folrence’s gold and silversmiths, is still paved with jewellers’ shops today

...Blah blah blah...

Only bridge across the river Arno to be spared German bombing during WWII.

“So seeing a marvel of nature like the Pantanal Marsh is out of the question but a pile of stones is interesting?” Xiumin flicked through a few different pictures as he spoke to the teen, trying to make him understand.

“It’s an incredible historical landmark.” Rolling his eyes a little Chen swapped the Spanish guide for an American themed one.

“Sorry, a really old pile of stones, my bad. Ooh, the Grand Canyon.” Stretching his legs out either side of Chen’s Xiumin leant into the teen a little more and gently took the leaflet from him so he could play with the boy’s fingers as he whispered softly beside him, still resting his chin on the teen’s shoulder.

“Just picture it, you and me, the beautiful Italian landscapes, strolling through the town centre, the smell of bakeries and the sounds of people ideally bustling by” Relaxing into Xiumin and letting his head loll back a little Chen closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself enjoying Italy as Xiumin continued to paint a perfect picture. “Seeing one of a kind masterpieces at the galleries, visiting the Trevi Fountain to throw in a coin,” as he spoke Xiumin lifted Chen’s hand with his won and mimed gently throwing together. Xiumin mimicked the soft sound of water splashing and Chen couldn’t help but giggle a little at the dorky actions. Quickly quietening down again the boy let his hand drop as Xiumin run his hands up the boy’s arms, down his sides and to his thighs. “they say if you do you’ll definitely return to the ‘Eternal City’ so we could do it together.” Rubbing the pad of his thumbs over the teen’s thighs Xiumin paused his story to face Chen and trail a few kisses over his jaw line to the base of his ear. Softening his voice even more he pushed one of his hands under the material of Chen’s t-shirt to traces his fingers over the skin there while still massaging the boy’s thigh with the other hand. “Just imagine, I could be in one of the most beautiful places in the world, with the most beautiful person in the world,” Chen felt his face flush at the older boy’s soft touches and sweet words but ignored it, concentrating instead on how good it felt to have Xiumin so close. “and you could be in one of the most beautiful places in the world while being spoilt the entire time.” Xiumin continued working over Chen’s body as he spoke and the younger boy could feel himself getting hard. He dipped in and out of paying attention to what Xiumin was saying but heard enough to be pretty sure that Italy was only place he wanted to be.

His breath a little heavier than it should have been Chen replied quietly, his dry lips before the hushed words pushed passed them.

“Ok, you win,”