i gotta feeling ;; bri

[gabriella nicole of england]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #af9390 solid; border-bottom: 10px #af9390 solid;] i see sparks fly ( WORDS ) 1036 ( TAGGED ) ROMEO VALENTINO OF ITALY ( STATUS ) COMPLETE Gabriella’s grin grew at Romeo’s self-titling; ‘bad boy’ indeed, not very many people had the ability to convince her to skip, especially with so little effort. Bri had to admit that she hadn’t seen much of the prince’s troublemaking side so far, if he was as badly behaved as the rumours would lead her to believe. Everything about their current situation should have been screaming for her to keep a safe distance, but Bri felt relaxed for the first time since the when she and Romeo had talked a month ago. His notes had been cute; she had to admit despite her normally cynical nature. She twisted her diamond studded bracelet around her wrist, unsure of what to do with her hands now that she’d discovered how ineffective trying to tug her skirt down was. “I don’t get it. You don’t seem anything like what people say about you.” Trying not to wince at her own tactlessness, Bri did the only thing she could think of and laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that, it’s a good thing! I just meant… well it was a nice surprise.” Still chuckling nervously, she pulled a stray strand of hair back behind her ear and bit her lip. Thankfully the slightly awkward moment –for her anyway- passed quickly as they began talking about home. Fortunately Gabriella wasn’t sentimental about things like that, so she was able to talk about such matters without getting overly soppy. She did miss the green-ness of home though, and all of the refreshing rain they had each year. As Romeo’s talking turned to Aubrey for a moment, Bri caught herself watching him almost more closely than was polite. She wasn’t staring exactly, just carefully observing and cataloguing him expressions as he mentioned his current fiancée. His eye roll certainly hadn’t escaped her notice, and a pleased feeling ran through her stomach. Ah yes, she did remember now -Aubrey was a difficult person to forget after all. Her parents had made her greet the guests, when all the brunette had really wanted to do was escape. The memory was pretty hazy except for a few details: Aubrey’s ridiculously shiny hair, ungracious attitude –which Gabriella had returned as much as she was allowed under the watchful eyes of her parents- and the way that the gorgeous-even-then Romeo had been looking at the Belgian princess. There had been an eager, almost cocky aspect to his gaze, nothing like the way he was looking at her now. His eyes were usually soft and gentle, despite their icy blue-green colour when they looked at her, or mischievous, which wasn’t all that surprising given the playful side of his personality. Immediately picking up on the hint in his words, Gabriella seized on the topic with renewed enthusiasm, glancing sideways at him. “You definitely should come back. But without Aubrey this time.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the thought of not only having him visit her home –alone, but getting to show him everything interesting about it. “You’d have way more fun, I guarantee it. We British know how to party.” She playfully exaggerated her accent, and the look on his face made her laugh. “I know this place that sells the most scrummy chocolate truffles ever!” The shop she had in mind sold the best chocolate truffles of anywhere, and Bri had actually stumbled upon it by accident when she’d snuck out of the palace one time. Her mother had been hosting a boring charity event of some sort, and instead of going like she was supposed to, Gabriella had slipped out over one of their garden walls, hopped on the tube and started walking. Thankfully the day had been rainy, so the fact that she was wearing a hoodie with the hood up combined with how few people were about meant that she hadn’t been recognized. She had, however made friends with a coffee shop owner who had sold her a box of the richest and creamiest truffles Bri had ever tasted. Oh, what she wouldn’t have given to have had some in her bag right now. The bang of the door startled both of them, since they’d thought they were alone. Apparently that hadn’t been the case, but as Gabriella sprang up and spun around she didn’t see anyone through the door. How strange. Even stranger was how Romeo had positioned himself in front of her, blocking her view with his broad shoulders and tall body. Something inside of her softened slightly at the protective gesture, and Bri found herself beaming at him despite the slightly worrying circumstances. Who would have an interest in watching the two of them? They hadn’t been doing anything wrong… besides being alone together when it wasn’t exactly proper for them to do so, as her mother would have said. And skipping class, which was so minor for Gabriella it almost hadn’t made the list. “Spying? Bloody hell, shouldn’t they be in class?” She said it with a lighthearted laugh, straightening his jacket around her shoulders and picking up her bag. It was a good thing she did because within a second Romeo had grabbed her hand and was pulling her down the steps. As Romeo’s palm met her own the unfamiliar fluttering of butterflies started in Bri’s stomach. In a way she was grateful to whoever had interrupted them, because the temperature wasn’t the most ideal for her attire and anything that led to the Italian prince holding her hand was alright in Gabriella’s book. “Alright, I’m game. Lead the way.” His long legs gave him the advantage as she found that she was barely able to keep up until they abruptly rounded the corner, her laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. They were headed in the general direction of the dorm rooms and dining hall, both of which were pretty close to each other. Gabriella almost laughed again at the thought of what her mother would say if she were to invite Romeo –or any boy except Dante- into her room. The dining hall was probably the safer bet considering the fluttery feeling in her stomach, but the question was if she would play it safe or not. Mybad, we’re still in mid-October, so she doesn’t have Todd at this point! *facepalm* Darn, we’ll have to do that another time I guess XP You can send them wherever you choose from here, or we could start wrapping it up and get started on a February thread? Totally up to you! table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0

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[romeo valentino of italy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 520px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] SHE WAS THE PUREST BEAUTY BUT NOT THE COMMON KIND Tagged: gabriella nicole of england Outfit:here Status: complete. that's okay!! we can finish this one up and then i'll start the february thread, if you want Romeo shrugged, unable to hide the smirk on his lips. "They all like to believe what they hear and stick with it," he explained, trying not to laugh at the adorable way she was struggling to not be embarrassed. "I let my past mistakes form my reputation, and they obviously haven't bothered trying to look more into it, so why should I let them get to know me? It's much easier to hide behind the reputation I already have." He wasn't sure if that made any sense, but it seemed like a good enough plan. Why bother trying to please everyone when they didn't care to see any other sides of him than the ones they already knew about? Romeo was certainly a smartass, certainly a rebel, certainly a charming and funny guy -- but obviously there was more than met the eye. "And, it can be fun, having everyone think you're some mystery. They must think I do nothing but smoke and commit small criminal crimes while wooing girls into bed with me," he said with a loud laugh at that image. Oh, he definitely smoked plenty and he definitely got into trouble often and flirted with plenty of girls, but it wasn't like that was all there was to him. It was fun hiding behind the mask, though, and easier than trying to explain himself to others. Now he just got off scot free because it was "who he was" and he had a "reputation for it". He smiled, a pleased look crossing his face at Gabriella's immediate agreement. Well, that didn't take much thought or hesitation -- which meant she enjoyed his presence enough to want him to visit again. This was some food for his growing crush, and he ran a hand through his messy hair out of slight nervous excitement. He didn't want the crush to deepen too much if she didn't feel the same way -- he would certainly pursue her, but he didn't want to waste his time if it seemed like she wasn't interested from the beginning. He knew the difference between uninterested and pretending to be uninterested -- girls who pretended always had a certain gleam in their eyes while their faces remained passive, and they always leaned in a little closer than an uninterested girl would. "I can imagine," he said, nodding in agreement. But then she was talking about truffles, and Romeo's mind began to wander. Truffles. Damn he loved truffles. Italy was home to some fine, fine chocolate truffles, and Romeo always had plenty of them when he returned home for the summer. But the best truffles were far too rare and expensive for Vineheart to stock up on, so the school only served the dessert on occasion, much to Romeo's dismay. Did Bri know Romeo loved chocolate truffles to a fault? Did she know more about him than she let on? His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered this, and then a smile broke across his face. "All you have to do is say truffles, and I'm in," he said, suddenly very hungry for something sweet. It was another hour and a half before lunchtime, so he wasn't about to eat his lunch early in the dining hall, but a nice cookie or brownie sounded delicious currently. Which was why, when the door closed suddenly and they were forced to leave, Romeo had the perfect idea. Why not share some dessert with her? A girl who was interested never refused that, Romeo knew that for certain. He rolled his eyes lightly in her direction, pulling her closer to him and out of the door's view. "Shouldn't we be in class?" He countered in a low whisper, having to bend closer to her to be heard, therefore causing the space between them to get smaller. He grinned mischeviously at her for a moment and then took off, grabbing better hold of her hand so it would be easier for her to keep up with his fast pace. He was almost guilty for walking so fast -- it wasn't his fault he was tall -- but he was enjoying the feel of her hand in his, so he didn't feel that bad. Around the corner was a stone path along the wall of the Academy that led around the entire school, but this direction would lead them to the secret doors of the dining hall. Romeo had discovered these doors during a rather quick getaway from the ground guards back in third year, and boy was he happy when he'd found his way into the dining hall. All that running away made for one hungry boy in the middle of the night. Two minutes later, Romeo was holding the narrow door open for her and then he slipped inside the dark, dank room -- it probably used to be some kind of storage room back in the early nineteen hundreds, but since the improvements on the size of the kitchen, there was no need for this room anymore. It was a straight way to the kitchens, though, and Romeo's stomach was growling for something sweet. He walked forward a few steps and jiggled the doorknob a few times; after the third jiggle, the door cracked and Romeo pushed on it to reveal the nice, sizeable back of the kitchens. A wonderful smell met his nostrils -- roasted chicken, was it? -- but he knew the desserts would be on the far left from where they were standing. He took hold of Gabriella's hand again and with his free hand put a finger to his lips, a signal for her to stay quiet. His footsteps were soundless on the tile floor as he crept along the wall of the kitchen, and excitement took over him when he spotted a nice, big bowl of brownie and ice cream mix. Delicious. Romeo looked around a quick moment and then snatched the bowl away, pulling Gabriella back into the dark room and back outside, where if they continued along the path, the outside gazebo would be. Once they made it to the gazebo, he sat down on the picnic table underneath and set the bowl on the tabletop. Utensils were already set out on the picnic table and he grabbed two pairs, handing one to the English princess. "I know my way around," he gloated with a proud smile. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[gabriella nicole of england]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #af9390 solid; border-bottom: 10px #af9390 solid;] i see sparks fly ( WORDS ) 1163 ( TAGGED ) ROMEO VALENTINO OF ITALY ( STATUS ) COMPLETE Gabriella could see his point of view about just allowing everyone to keep on believing that he was this heart breaker bad boy, and she didn't blame him for taking the easy way out. While she'd been quite a troublemaker the previous year it had been a while since she'd done anything openly rebellious, mainly because she was toeing the line in an effort to make her parents reconsider her impending marriage. The whole summer she had been forced to wear an engagement ring on her left hand, but the minute she'd found out about Dante and Vivien was the minute it was removed from her hand and shoved in her sock drawer. There was no way she could stand to look at it right now, let alone wear it. So long as she didn't leave campus there was no one who would be interested in taking pictures of her, so no one needed to know she wasn't wearing it any more. The wicked way in which Romeo talked about his 'pretend' life made her grin at him. The idea of him living like that was entertaining, but only because he was so obviously not interested in it. Feigning shock, she gasped and put her hand on her chest in the same manner the prissy royals did. “You mean, you don't just smoke, commit crimes and woo pretty girls?” The expression only lasted an instant before her feigned affronted attitude was replaced by giggles and another big grin. The thought of him bedding other girls bothered Gabriella, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. It wasn't any of her business who her friends decided to sleep with or not, nor was she entitled to the small but painful stab of jealousy at the thought. Hopefully her laughter masked the seriousness in her eyes, keeping her feelings safe from the boy who read her body language so well. At the mention of truffles, Bri easily noticed the way her companion's expression suddenly turned suspicious. It wasn't his most flattering look; she definitely preferred his devilish smile or the cheerfully thoughtful one he got when he talked about things that mattered to him, like his country or his horse. She wasn't about to let him know that the last time they'd served truffles in the dining hall she'd been there enjoying the sizeable plate she'd snagged when the Kings had shown up. Wherever the group of five -or six, depending on the week- went, chaos was bound to ensue, and they'd caused so much fuss with their entrance that she hadn't been able to ignore their presence. Bri had sat and nibbled as the group had approached the dessert tables, seeing the way Fred behaved like his typical idiotic self with Dante joining in, Ric rolling his eyes at them both and Sebastian brought up the rear in his typical silently watchful way. Romeo had interested her because instead of goofing off or being loud, he'd made a beeline straight for the truffles and snagged a whole plate for himself. One of the prettier girls in their year had said hello when she was passing by and the boy had been so focused on the chocolate it hadn't looked like he'd even responded. At the time Gabriella had rolled her eyes and chalked it up to 'boys and their food' but now it was obvious they were a soft spot for him. She made a mental note that if they ever fought, truffles would make the perfect make out up present. Her thoughts were interrupted with a sharp jerk on her arm, and the whirlwind trip to the dining hall was over within a couple of minutes. Ordinarily Gabriella would have been worried about making sure nobody saw her being pulled around school grounds by the Kings heartthrob, but she was so concerned with trying to slow her heartbeat back down it didn't even cross her mind. For that one instant, their faces had been separated by only a few inches of oxygen, she'd felt his warm breath on her face, and her heart had started galloping in her chest. It's pace still wasn't completely normal by the time Romeo had held open the door for her, and she hoped against hope he couldn't hear it, especially when he turned and put a finger against his lips, drawing her undivided attention to his lush looking mouth. By some miracle she managed to nod her understanding and tear her eyes away from his lips. She had followed him blindly into the dark space; not the smartest idea considering what would be said if they got caught. Then again, they were two of the most stealthy and rebellious people at Vineheart, so she wasn't overly concerned. Besides, she had faith that Romeo's charm would be able to talk them out of just about anything. Within less than a minute, the dark blonde haired prince had returned to their black as pitch room, and she tried not to stumble after him when he grabbed her hand again. “Apparently so,” she commented when she realized he'd known just where to go. Maybe there was something to be learned from this carefree prince. Then they were off and running again, but the large bowl he was carrying didn't escape her notice, and she wondered what he'd stolen from the dessert table. Speaking of tables, the one he'd apparently chosen was a safe enough distance away that they wouldn't be recognized unless someone went so far as to approach them. The silverware was already on the picnic table, and as they sat down, Bri looked at the bowl and licked her lips. “That looks fantastic. Let me guess; brownie ice cream?” It looked amazing, and if they were going to skip class they had to do it right. Ice cream was definitely a good choice. Quickly unfolding her napkin and placing it on her lap, Gabriella grabbed her hair and pulled it over one shoulder before using her spoon to scoop a bite out of the bowl. “Double dipping's okay right?” she asked, grinning angelically. After shoving the spoon in her mouth upside down and swallowing the ice cream she closed her eyes in ecstasy and almost hummed with pleasure. It was just so good. And this would be a good indicator of their friendship, and if he wasn't a fan of sharing a bowl, Bri had no problem having it all to herself. “You're okay with double dipping, right Romeo?” Now she had her own mischievous expression on her face, and yes, okay, okay, she was flirting a teensy bit. It was so wrong of her, but it was so much fun she wasn't sure how to stop. Besides, it was all his fault for starting it by writing that stupid, cute note in class! Sorry, I completely spaced and forgot this was here. Never fear, I won't forget again. Wrap it up in a couple of posts? Ooh! She could get a phone call from her mom about wedding plans and awkwardness ensues? table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0

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[romeo valentino of italy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 520px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] SHE WAS THE PUREST BEAUTY BUT NOT THE COMMON KIND Tagged: gabriella nicole of england Outfit:here Status: complete. sure! i'll get their hangout thread up in a few days Romeo grinned at her joke and merely shot her a wink in hopes that it would answer with question in a shroud of mystery. He did do a lot of what everyone thought he did, but not to the extent that they seemed to believe. In fact, it had been a good few months since he'd been extremely drunk, and that had been in the company of Leon over the summer when his Austrian best friend had visited Italy. He wished he could have been continually drunk the week spent in Belgium to meet with wedding planners and legal advisers and whatnot regarding his marriage to Aubrey, but thankfully on his return Leon had shown up with the finest whiskey one had to offer. Romeo usually preferred fine wine, but he'd needed that whiskey to get that horrid trip out of his mind. Consequently, Aubrey had also needed to clear her head because that was when she'd made her trip down to Mexico, and where Elise, her former servant, had first met Alaric, a fellow King of Vineheart. The two were now engaged, which Romeo thought kind of odd, but to each his own, he supposed. Ric seemed happy, and though he generally steered clear of Elise -- she didn't really have a soft spot for him at all -- he figured she was happy as well. But how could one be in an arranged marriage and be happy? Ric's life seemed to be swell at the moment despite his sudden engagement to a girl he barely knew, and yet Romeo was so bitter about his engagement it was a wonder he hadn't developed lung cancer just yet from the vast amount of packs of cigarettes he'd been going through recently. Dante was unwillingly engaged...his friend Bethany was unwillingly engaged...what was with all of these arranged marriages? Was this not the twenty-first century? The act of arranged marriage was practically medieval at this point, and yet countries were still pitting their children together like trade. Romeo's parents were certain he would fall back in love with Aubrey -- as if he had been in love with her in the first place, yeah right -- and wouldn't even listen to his protests. Was this punishment for being Italy's wild child? No, certainly not, for even his eldest brother was arranged to be married. And yet, his was working out just fine. Romeo would be dead before he allowed Arietta become entangled in a mess like this, though; he didn't admit it often, but his sister was special to him, and he'd be damned if their parents shipped her off to another country as well. The close proximity to Bri had not gone unnoticed, though on the outside he'd seemed unfazed -- even suspiciously so -- by it all. He swore he saw something in her eyes when he'd told her to stay quiet, but he hadn't been so sure; he'd think on it later. By the time they made it to the picnic table his mouth was drooling for the bowl of ice cream and he nodded at her question, the eagerness obvious in his eyes. He watched her situate herself for a moment, amused by the proper way in which she was sitting, and he scooted the chair closer to the table, ultimately bringing the chair closer to her. Hey, if they were going to share, they both had to reach the bowl, right? Romeo was about to answer her question with a snarky answer when she brought her spoon to her lips and licked the ice cream clean off, momentarily distracting him. Shit, he thought to himself, unable to keep his gaze from dropping to her lips. She was doing this on purpose. She was definitely doing this on purpose. Bri was making the simple act of eating a bowl of ice cream look damn sexy. Fortunately, his expression remained nonchalant, but his eyes had definitely widened. Again she asked whether double dipping was acceptable, and what he wanted to say was something entirely inappropriate just to get back at her for being a tease, but instead he grinned mildly and dug his spoon into the bowl. "Single dipping is for prudes," he said in a playful tone, bringing the spoon to his mouth and letting the delicious flavor envelop his senses. Okay, so maybe he was insinuating a thing or two, but she definitely started it. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[gabriella nicole of england]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #af9390 solid; border-bottom: 10px #af9390 solid;] i see sparks fly ( WORDS ) 753 ( TAGGED ) ROMEO VALENTINO OF ITALY ( STATUS ) COMPLETE Romeo's wordless answer, complete with bad boy wink was enough to pique Gabriella's interest. She decided against prying, since they'd been keeping things pretty light so far, and she liked it that way. Light was good and Bri enjoyed being able to laugh with him. “I agree completely,” she said with a grin. “And we definitely aren't prudes.” They didn't need to be serious all the time. Her tongue wet her lips again, careful not to miss a drop of the icy deliciousness as she stole another spoonful. Bri had been so completely focused on the ice cream that she hadn't even noticed the look on Romeo's face as she ate. His comment elicited a gentle laugh from her though and the brunette ran a hand through her hair in a slightly flustered manner. There was just something about the Italian prince that threw her off balance, and in this case it was necessary to stop eating in order to maintain her composure. Gabriella could only multi-task so much after all, and Romeo made her insides turn to mush and her brain go A.W.O.L.. All of a sudden 'God Save The Queen' began blaring from Bri's backpack, causing her blood to run cold. With an upset groan she left her spoon in her mouth, leaned over and pulled her phone out of it's pocket. One of her hands pulled the utensil out of her mouth and set it on the table with a sigh. “Oh no,” she said in an 'why is this happening to me' voice. The lit up screen confirmed what she'd already known; it was the Queen herself calling. “I have to take this, excuse me.” Her expression was regretful and a little worried as she pushed her chair away from the table and walked a few steps away from Romeo before pressing the Talk button. “Hey Mum.” Her mother began speaking with barely a greeting, starting into a discussion about the wedding reception meal options, which had been conveniently e-mailed to her laptop for when she returned to her room. They conversed for a few minutes -with the Queen doing most of the talking- as Gabriella's expression grew more bored and more irritated. When her mother tried to segue from talk about the meal options to the subject of Dante and Vivien though, that was the end. “You know what, I'll take a look at your e-mail as soon as I'm back in my room. I'm in the middle of something and I'm being rude.” Manners were one of the few reasons her mother would understand, since the Queen had tried to force Bri into learning the lessons of being a proper lady early on in life with little success. There was a pause for a few seconds -sweet relief to Gabriella's ears- before Mieke spoke in a feigned disinterestedly calm voice, asking where she was and who she was with. Gabriella's eyes locked onto Romeo's and she worried her lip for a second before answering. “I'm just studying mum, with Victor. I told you about him, remember?” She was pretty sure she'd mentioned him in passing once or twice in the past month to her parents, especially since the two of them were partners for the semester long project in one of their classes. “But I should probably get back before I miss too much, so I'll call you later, alright? Cheers.” It was with no small sense of relief that she pressed the end call button on her phone, setting it heavily on the table and sitting back down. It was cool enough outside that the ice cream had barely started melting during the time she'd been on the phone, so after grabbing her spoon again Bri piled a massive scoop onto the utensil and into her mouth. Followed by another, and another. Satisfied that she'd caught up to Romeo, her eyes stayed glued to the bowl between them. “Sorry about that. My mum can be... high maintenance, especially when it comes to these stupid wedding plans.” It was disgusting how happy and excited her mother was about the whole thing, but given how social the Queen was and how much she loved planning dinners, parties and events it wasn't much of a surprise. If the celebration had been for anyone else Bri might have been able to work up some enthusiasm, but with the way things currently stood, all it did was depress her. Enter the awkwardness if you wish, stage left! table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0

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[romeo valentino of italy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 520px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] SHE WAS THE PUREST BEAUTY BUT NOT THE COMMON KIND Tagged: gabriella nicole of england Outfit:here Status: complete. sure! i'll get their hangout thread up in a few days This was nice, he decided. He really enjoyed spending time with this princess, something that would probably amuse everyone else. She was quick-witted, intelligent, with a shroud of mystery about her that he just couldn't ignore; perhaps, he thought, he'd met his match, someone who could challenge him equally. This was enough to pique his interest, that was for sure. Plenty of girls threw themselves at Romeo everyday -- it was hard to be modest about that factor at this point -- but none of them were very interesting, not like the English princess sitting in front of him. All of the girls at Vineheart were attractive, coincidentally, but attraction only went so far as a good hookup; to really catch Romeo's attention, one needed to play the game harder than he did, and from the looks of it, Bri was a real winner. Why wouldn't he want to get to know more about her? Why wouldn't he pursue at least a friendship with the girl? She was, after all, one of his best friend's fiancé. A factor which seemed to bug him a bit, admittedly. Moments like these, though, were always short-lived. The inevitable interruption, this time around, came in the form of a national anthem, and his eyes drifted down to her phone, the source of the ringtone. He found it slightly amusing that she'd chosen God Save the Queen as her ringtone, but when he realized it was her mother, the Queen, his eyes widened and he sat back in his seat, watching the issue unfold. Gabriella looked weary, standing there off to the side, obviously listening to whatever information her mother was giving her. Romeo couldn't help but let his eyes follow the curve of her slim, athletic legs, shown off by the short length of the blessed school skirt. She was still wearing his coat, he noticed, and he thought he rather liked the look on her. Sweet school girl uniform with a touch of bad boy leather jacket...kind of hot, actually. A smirk was still on his lips when he caught her next few words -- something about Viktor and studying. His eyebrows rose at this, but he remained quiet, not wanting to jeopardize her conversation that obviously had nothing to do with him. Clearly she felt she had to lie about whom she was with, and Romeo vaguely wondered why; would her mother punish her for hanging out with someone other than the few people she usually hung around with? Or did she just not want her mother to ask any questions? He was still thinking on this when she returned to the table, immediately stuffing her face with the ice cream that had been left untouched for the past five minutes. Bri then explained the purpose of the phone call and Romeo nodded slowly, bending over to take a final bite of what was left of the dessert. "No worries," he said. He'd been through plenty of that all summer, and even now, occasionally, he got texts or calls from his parents giving him updates on the planning. He usually just ignored their calls and listened to the voice mails later on, and deleted the texts they sent. He'd certainly be punished for it come Winter Break. "However, we must get back to studying. You know who our biggest competition in this project is? Those two princes, Romeo and Leon. But especially Romeo. He's extremely handsome, don't you think?" Romeo teased, pretending to be the Slovakian prince, doing his best to imitate the prince's suave, polished mannerisms. Of course, Viktor would never say any of that, but that was the point -- he was just trying to take a dig at her funny little lie. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[gabriella nicole of england]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #af9390 solid; border-bottom: 10px #af9390 solid;] i see sparks fly ( WORDS ) 753 ( TAGGED ) ROMEO VALENTINO OF ITALY ( STATUS ) COMPLETE Sharing a bowl of ice cream was probably a bad idea. If anyone saw them... well, it wouldn't be good. It wasn't a huge concern though since pretty much everyone was in class, and those who weren't would not be likely to sit outside, given the chilly temperature. Gabriella was more grateful than ever to have on the coat Romeo had given her. Aside from the functionality of being so warm, it smelled absolutely divine. The scents consisted of warm wool, cologne, and then the smell that must have been Romeo himself. Wafts of the wonderful aroma drifted past Bri's nose as she listened to her mother's chatter, leaning on one leg and twirling a curl of hair around her finger absentmindedly . The phone conversation felt like it was going to go on forever, so she cut the Queen off as soon as she could with an arm crossed across her body in boredom. After what felt like an eternity Bri was finally allowed to hang up in irritation, and she quickly returned to the table where Romeo was sitting and watching her. She tossed the phone back into her bag, making sure to turn it off before doing so. No more interruptions and she could just relax and enjoy her time with Romeo. Upon returning to the table, Gabriella moved her chair closer to Romeo's, just a little. She wanted to be closer to him again, like they had been on the stone steps. As she sat back in her chair her knees accidentally-on-purpose bumped his and she smiled crookedly. “Sorry about that.” Hopefully he would understand the double meaning to her words and that she was mostly apologizing for the awkward and embarrassing phone call. Bloody hell, he had a wonderful smile. Paired with his playful and sparkly eyes it was positively brilliant. This was the smile that girls swooned over and threw themselves at him for. Well, that and the rest of his body... Gabriella blushed as she remembered imagining what it looked like in class earlier. She'd heard in the girls washroom once that he was muscular and very, very fit which made sense given the sports the prince played. It definitely wasn't territory her mind should have been roaming around in, but the attraction she felt for the Italian prince was undeniable. He was handsome, funny, smart and oh-so-charming. He could be quiet or loud depending on the situation, and there was something about his mischievously sparkly eyes that made her insides turn to mush. In a word, Romeo was brilliant. Of course, she couldn't tell him so. Not ever. Just like she could never tell him how utterly sexy his Italian accent was. Gabriella's hands fumbled to do up the buttons of the leather jacket partly due to the chill, but mostly because of how flustered she was right now. She gave her skirt an ineffectual tug, trying to cover her legs but it was useless. The material slid up her thighs another inch or so when she sat no matter what she tried to do about it. They'd almost completely finished the ice cream at this point which was just as well because with the thin layer of snow on the ground and the chill in the air, hot chocolate might have been more appropriate. After managing to get the bottom button done up she stopped and gave up despite the temperature. The snow, which had stopped several minutes before, had lightly fallen in big fluffy flakes that apparently hadn't melted from their hair. Bri admired the way the snow looked against Romeo's hair, enjoying the dirty blonde colour immensely because it was so different from her own dark hair. Talk turned to the project for their European History class, and Bri inwardly groaned, knowing that he'd surely say something about the excuse she'd given her mother. It wasn't that Romeo was predictable but rather that it was too good of an opportunity to tease for him to pass up. Sure enough he did end up saying something, although not what she'd expected and Gabriella found herself grinning again for the first time since her phone call. “I don't think anyone is competition for us, Victor,” she drawled out the name, eyes sparkling playfully at the prince. “But you're right, I bet Romeo will try to use his good looks to get what he wants. Undoubtedly he'll try to charm the pants off any girl who gets in his way too.” It was true that probably half the girls in their class would love the chance to jump in bed with the good looking Italian prince. Gabriella tried to tell herself that there was no reason for that to make her angry or jealous but telling herself didn't help the feeling much. He wasn't hers to be jealous over, so these feelings needed to stop. Now. Her mouth quirked into a smile as she noticed that they were down to the last bite of ice cream. Some guys would give it up to the girl simply because she was female, but Gabriella was rather hoping Romeo would fight her for it. All in good fun, of course. “So who gets the last bite?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow and trying to be cute. NOTES NOTES NOTES! table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0

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[romeo valentino of italy]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 520px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] SHE WAS THE PUREST BEAUTY BUT NOT THE COMMON KIND Tagged: gabriella nicole of england Outfit:here Status: complete. so sorry for the wait Romeo gave a wave of his hand, indicating that the interruption was not a big deal. And it wasn't, really. She was expected to take a phone call from her mother; he'd be far more surprised had she not decided to answer the call. He just wasn't particularly fond of the topic of her impending marriage, for some reason, and he could clearly see that she wasn't so fond of it either. Still, he found it rather odd that she seem a little embarrassed that he had to have heard remnants of her conversation at all -- perhaps it was just because her engagement was a private ordeal and he was somewhat of a stranger. Or, though he wasn't so sure about this thought, maybe she didn't like him hearing about the engagement because there was something in the air between them, something unidentifiable. But that seemed a bit silly, considering they'd only really known each other for a few weeks now. Maybe it wasn't crazy, though. It was certainly something to think about and to watch for, if anything. He was rather in tune with women, but so far she was proving to be a bit more complicated than the norm -- nothing surprising there, he'd just have to work a little harder to try and understand her and pick up on her body language. Men in general didn't really do body language but his mother had always taught him to pay attention to a woman, and that meant reading between the lines. Then again, that advice had sent him straight into the playboy reputation...was listening to his mother all that wise, this time around? He grinned and lifted a brow, leaning back far into the chair and setting his feet up onto the available chair next to him. He looked relaxed and at ease, but he was feeling a bit fluttery on the inside at her teasing words. "Are you saying you agree that Romeo is extremely handsome? Do you find him charming and attractive?" He asked, knowing it was an uncomfortable question and excited for her reply. Romeo didn't think it was arrogant to know he was good-looking; there were only so many times you could be told something of the sort and not listen. But he didn't try and manipulate the girls at the school because of it; he preferred trying to be charming and funny. When you had charm, looks didn't even matter, they were only an added benefit. Or, that's what his father had once told him. His eyes followed her gaze to the bowl of ice cream and he watched her carefully, trying to predict just what she'd do. He could give her the ice cream easy, but it looked so damn good that naturally he wanted the last piece as well. The gentlemanly thing to do was to let her have it. And perhaps he would be a gentleman. However, something in her question and in her expression told him that she wanted a challenge, and so he would, of course, oblige. "We could compete for it," he suggested, his lips curling into a smile. "Thumb war?" So maybe he wanted a chance to touch her, but did that matter? The warmth of her body was radiating through him and he was itching to get a little closer. It was cold outside, after all. Besides, she wouldn't back down from a challenge, would she? Not when she practically suggested it. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[gabriella nicole of england]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-color: #343434; padding:20px; border-top: 10px #af9390 solid; border-bottom: 10px #af9390 solid;] i see sparks fly ( WORDS ) 748 ( TAGGED ) ROMEO VALENTINO OF ITALY ( STATUS ) COMPLETE Thank god the humiliating phone call was over. It was the third time today that the Queen had found time to call her second child and Gabriella was beginning to wonder how her mother was even finding the time to do so. It wasn’t like royal parents could be idle, not when they had parliamentary proceedings to attend to and a country to run. In some places royalty had become just a figurehead for the government, but that wasn’t the case with England at all. The British King was very involved in the running of government and her mother was ordinarily either at his side or planning events for one of the various charities she supported. Ever since the engagement though, Bri had been finding that her mother was hovering more and more as time went on. Each week was progressively a little more controlled, and it was absolutely driving her mad. Maybe that was the reason she’d decided to rebel this morning and run off with the resident heart breaker. Or well, part of the reason anyway. For some reason she wished that Romeo hadn’t been close enough to hear any of the conversation regarding her impending marriage. There was no concrete explanation; she just didn’t like the way her insides twisted at the thought. He hadn’t seemed to mind overly much though and had in fact made a joke about her lie. So it hadn’t been her most attractive moment, but that Romeo was laughing at all was definitely a good sign. That he was making jokes about it was all the better and she grinned over at him for a second before putting on a falsely exasperated face. “What is this, the ninth degree? Am I being charged with something officer?” Alright, so she was dodging the question, but it hadn’t been a fair one to start with. Given the current circumstances they were both in it had been extremely inappropriate of the Italian prince to have asked that at all. Gabriella was beginning to realize that his directness and honesty was something she liked the most about him. “Besides Victor,” she began, holding up one hand and ticking off a finger for each sentence, “A, Romeo doesn’t care what I think because Romeo doesn’t care what anyone thinks. B, there’s more to people than looks and charm, as you already know, and C, if he’s looked in the mirror lately he’ll know the answer all on his own, without me having to say so.” She smiled at him smugly and smoothed her shirt, enjoying the silence as her words sank in. Romeo could hardly have been expecting her to admit that he could charm the pants off a nun and that he was so devilishly handsome that her insides flip-flopped and burned every time she caught sight of him. It was wrong; she wasn’t supposed to be developing a crush on one of her fiancée’s best friends! Not when she was pretty much as unavailable as unavailable could get. …then again, maybe that was the reason he was so interested in the first place. Clearly the prince enjoyed a good challenge as much as she did, if the mischievous sparkle in his stormy coloured eyes was any indication. Was he… flirting with her? The suggestion of a thumb war was so ridiculous sounding that Gabriella couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t a girly giggle or a small chuckle either but a full out wonderful laugh. “A thumb war it is then, if you think you can handle it.” She winked playfully at him and pushed the sleeves on his coat up slightly. It was so warm and smelled so good Gabriella was seriously considering never giving it back to him. Link, ever. The spoon was transferred from one hand to the other and she gamely held up her free hand as an offering. She pushed the bowl slightly away from the edge of the table and planted her elbow firmly on the flat surface. Bri was one of those people who were always ready for anything, always game to try something new or ridiculous. “Or are you just another pretty face?” Her laugh told him that she was only kidding and meant no harm, and her cheeks pinkened slightly as she realized what she'd just admitted to him. The way she’d just caught Romeo looking at her only served to heighten the anticipation, and she really, really wanted to hold his hand. It was wrong –oh, so wrong- but there it was. The call from her mother only served to spur Bri on further, as did the way the corner of Romeo’s mouth was turning up right now. DAISY!!!!!! IT'S BE WAY TOO LONG! table by CALIFORNIA DREAMING of CAUTION 2.0

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