It all seems too beautiful to be true, but fortunately Victoria wakes up the next day still feeling the reality of yesterday on her skin. She remembers the Englishwoman's touch all over her body, her lips resting on every corner of her body and the sounds in the room as they share such moments together. A small smile tugs at her lips, comfortable in the sheets against her bare skin and feeling safer than ever with Max's arm draped over her stomach, holding her close.

If that's a dream, she certainly doesn't want to wake up. She rolls over with her eyes still half closed and her fringes blocking her vision, silently admiring the image of Max sleeping peacefully beside her, her hair covering part of her pale face. She gently strokes the scar on her brow and the one near the corner of her eye, which becomes more noticeable every time the brunette smiles and her eyes narrow. Victoria can't help but kiss the girl's lips with intense tenderness, trying not to wake her, but failing to do so.

Max stirs with the Italian girl still in her arms, and sighs a little when she stops feeling the movement next to her. The brunette opens her eyes slightly, almost shyly, and smiles, causing Victoria to caress the small dimple in her cheek. "Sleep, you little devil," Max murmurs huskily, pulling her closer to her, and Victoria obeys, totally entranced.

It is already close to ten in the morning when the Englishwoman opens her eyes for good. Victoria's warmth is no longer at her side, but she checks that she is hugging a pillow, and pouts at the girl's absence. However, she rubs her eyes to see clearly, and sees a vase of flowers on the bedside table: blue flowers exactly, her favourite, and smiles when she sees the card tucked among the flowers.

you probably don't remember, but i promised you all the blue flowers in the world. here come the first ones. vic :)

Max bites her lip and comes closer to smell their scent, wondering where the Italian woman got them from, and how she knew they were her favourite. She concludes that she saw them in the hospital and reminds herself to repay her for that detail. She dresses quickly, putting on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that smells of Victoria, impatient to meet the Italian somewhere in the house.

She finds her in the kitchen, her back to her, stirring something Max can't see with a spatula. "I could get used to this every morning, you know?" Victoria startles a little, giving a squeak, but relaxes in the Englishwoman's arms when she hugs her from behind and plants a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks for the flowers, by the way. How did you know those were my favourite?"

"Your mother mentioned it when you were in the hospital. She said Louis brought them and I heard you liked them better," Victoria grabs her cheeks and presses her lips to hers, smiling afterwards. "I'm glad you liked them. Those are a present for being so good to me."

"Oh, so you're saying I will have to earn the next ones?" Max raises her eyebrows playfully.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Then thank god I'm willing to work for them," Max murmurs close to her neck, turning her around and holding her around the waist, surprising Victoria, who simply lets go as the Englishwoman kisses her deeply.

"You're so cheesy," the blonde giggles as they pull apart. "Breakfast will be ready in a bit."

"I'm going to head to the shower quickly then."

And what's promised is promised, because Max reappears in the kitchen in barely ten minutes, with a towel drying her hair but in the same clothes as before. She again plants a kiss on Victoria's cheek, who is already seated in front of her pancakes and scrambled egg. "I'm not an expert cook, but the boys left to do the shopping. Today we have to go to the studio to rehearse for the next concert. Do you think you'll be alright here on your own?"

"Sure, don't worry. I'll amuse myself with Damiano's Play Station, but don't tell him anything," Max winks at her, and Victoria pretends to put a zip in her mouth.

"We'll take Chili to my place before we go to the studio, so you don't have to take care of her while you're here. Do you need us to fix something for you before we go?"

Max frowns jokingly. "Vic, I'm older than all of you. I think I'll be able to make myself a fried egg for dinner and not starve to death if you haven't arrived by eight," the Englishwoman comments sarcastically, earning a nudge on the good arm from the Italian. Suddenly Max hears her phone ringing in her room, and gets up with food in her mouth quickly in case it's her mother. "I'll be right back!"

With the sound of her feet running and crashing on the floor she is unable to hear the doorbell ring. Victoria is surprised, because she knows her friends carry keys, but she shrugs anyway and unlocks the door in case they're carrying too much groceries to open. She freezes in place, seeing Connor standing in the doorway, phone in hand and a look of doubt in his dark eyes. Victoria clenches her jaw, but reminds herself to pretend she doesn't know anything, and with that thought in her head she tries to be as polite as possible.

"Connor? What are you doing here?" Her blood boils in her veins, but she smiles uncertainly.

"Hello, Victoria. I've come to see Max. Her team told me she'd be at this address, so..."

Victoria turns around when she hears footsteps behind, and sees that Max is even more surprised than she is. The smile freezes on her face, unable to comprehend what's going on, but she reminds herself that she still has to pretend that Connor is her partner, because the boy doesn't know that Victoria knows, let alone that she's really with the Italian now. Swallowing saliva, she moves closer to the boy, leaving a short kiss on his lips, though neither of them seem to be concentrating on it, which Victoria is deeply grateful for before averting her gaze.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were working."

"I've been given a couple of days off, and I thought maybe I could come and visit you. I've missed you so much," the boy admits, wrapping his arms around Max's figure, who stands still for a few moments, but forces herself to hug the boy, feeling enormously guilty that Victoria has to witness this.

"I'd better leave you two alone. I have to clean up the house before the boys come home," Victoria excuses herself, clearly sad and pursing her lips.

Connor nods, and as Max turns away from the door, he steps inside. The Englishwoman glances back, hoping Victoria is still there, but there's no sign of the Italian, and she feels her heart tearing. She turns to Connor with an angry look. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Let me explain, okay?"

"They sent you, didn't they? It was Martha, just like she made you send those fucking messages too, wasn't it? It's probably a lie that you got days off too," Max spits, and holds back the urge to punch him as she tells him all that.

"The days off thing is true," Connor mumbles to avoid the ears of others. "But yeah, she bought me the ticket. I don't know how they found out I have days off, or my work schedule, but it all fits with the flights."

"Because you signed a fucking contract, Connor. You've given all your details and now they're on to you. Shame a lawyer doesn't know about that, isn't it?"

Connor dodges her gaze, somewhat hurt. Though Max is oblivious to it, Connor understands the girl's resentment and pain, and regrets all the upset he's caused her, because he had truly grown fond of her, perhaps more than Connor could ever have imagined. He knows that if he had been honest with Max from the beginning, the girl might have forgiven their origins, and maybe they would have been able to start fresh, with the truth in front of them, but now it was too late.

"You know why I was sent here, but I want to use my days here to explain everything to you. I'm not just here because Martha told me to, I also want to give you the explanations you deserve," Connor almost pleads with his eyes, and for moments Max forgets how angry she is with him and the pain he's caused her. "I'm only staying for three days. I have a room at the Astoria, about ten minutes from downtown, and they've rented me a car so I can get around town. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do, Max, but you and I both know they'll be watching us."

Max scoffs, crossing her arms. Away from Victoria's gaze she doesn't have to pretend to loathe the idea of having to go out with Connor by her side, at least after everything he did to her, because she knows that under different circumstances, things would be very different. Maybe she wouldn't even have realised how she really feels about Victoria, maybe she would never have been able to confess it to her and become as happy as she has been the last few days. With one last look she decides that she doesn't forgive him, far from it, but if she's going to do that, she has to at least think that thanks to Connor, in part, she's with Victoria.

"Let me get the stuff and we'll go out."

Connor nods, visibly relieved, and waits with his jacket in his hand, admiring the room with distracted eyes. Max pinches the bridge of her nose as he walks, and sighs in exhaustion when she discovers that Victoria is in her room, almost as if she's waiting for her.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Victoria wants to know, shouting between whispers and with her arms folded across her chest.

"I know as much as you do. They must have sent him for publicity, because it's been too long since we've had pictures together," Max explains to her in the same tone of voice, searching through her wardrobe for something to wear.

"Are you going out? With him?"

"I have to, Vic. It'll just be a few pictures," she promises. "Besides, he says he wants to explain things to me. I know there's nothing to explain, but it's in my best interest to have a cordial relationship with him if things are going to stay this way."

"And how long are they going to go on like this?" Victoria wants to know, frustrated.

"I don't know, Vic. Please don't get upset. I'll be here tonight. He'll be gone in a few days, and then it'll be like nothing happened. It'll be you and me again," Max takes her hands, and forces Victoria to look at her. "Look at me, please. I'm with you, Vic, only you. The one I love is you, I don't care what it says in the papers. I love you," she whispers with her forehead pressed against her, sealing her words with a kiss.

"And I love you. All right, you do what you have to do. I'll be waiting here for you."

"Tu sei la migliore," Max murmurs close to her mouth, repeating that she loves her and kissing her deeply. Victoria is surprised at how easy it is to fall at this girl's feet, and she tries her best to forget everything.

The Italian watches as Max slips out of her arms, only to take refuge in Connor's again.

"I'll drive carefully, I promise," Connor whispers when he sees Max clutching her seatbelt. She gives him a sidelong glance, surprised by the softness in his voice, and nods weakly as the villa fades from view. "I'm sorry about all this, I guess my company here is the last thing you want here. I've seen your pictures, and you seem happier since you've been here."

"Getting away from everything for a while has more effect than it seems," Max admits. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"I'll leave the car at the hotel and we'll go out for a coffee, if that's okay. I'll tell you anything you want over it," Connor looks at her at a stoplight, the Rome she saw with Victoria yesterday transforming into something very different with Connor by her side. "I want to start by apologising to you, Max. I didn't have time to do it enough times in person, but I really want to do it. At no point did I mean to hurt you, I didn't mean to play games with you. There's no point in forgiving me, because I was aware from the first moment what I signed up for, but I didn't think I was going to be as fond of you as I have been all this time. I didn't expect you to be the way you are, so lively, so genuine, and I suppose that's why I agreed: because I thought you would see it as superficial as I do. But I liked you from the start, I can tell you that. You're very different from what I would have expected when I first met you, Max."

Max doesn't look at him, but stares out the window, her eyes glazing over. She hates that feeling of being used and yet she's empathetic enough to put herself in Connor's shoes and see that she's not capable of hating him even when she has every reason to. "You've lied to me and used me for so long that I can't believe you anymore, Connor."

"I know, and I'm so sorry for betraying your trust like this. It's really my loss the most, because you don't deserve someone like me in your life. I didn't come here to fix things, Max, because I know it would take a miracle to get you to trust me like before, but if we have to do this for God knows how much longer, I want us to at least be honest with each other and get along. This time, right from the start."

"And what's the point of all this now?" retorts Max.

They are out of the car in a matter of minutes. The girl puts on her sunglasses in an attempt to go unnoticed through the busy streets of Rome, and Connor guides her through the people by putting his hand on her back. Her efforts to hide are in vain, because suddenly a couple of paparazzi emerge from who knows where, and start taking pictures of them from afar. "Why are they taking pictures of us now, how do they know where we are?"

Max speaks barely without moving her mouth. "Because Martha has taken it upon herself to tell them you'll be here. Or isn't it obvious? God, we're going to be all over the fucking place now."

"Let's go into a coffee shop. They won't be able to follow us there, and we'll have enough privacy for me to tell you everything."

The Englishwoman is reluctant, but in the end she listens to him, because between the paparazzi or Connor, if she's honest she still prefers the latter's company. They reach a coffee shop a little further away, situated between two less noisy and narrow streets, so they think they are more sheltered from the crowd there, which is more than enough for Max.

"I'll tell you everything from the beginning. Martha and I met when I was interviewing to join another firm. I was going through a rough patch, and I thought I could make more money there. Soon after I found out that the firm had some big clients, including the Sony record label, and that's why Martha was there. She came out of the office just as we were doing the interviews, and I don't understand why she approached me, but she still did. I was the youngest of the bunch, so I guess she was looking for someone naïve and with little knowledge of the industry. When she introduced herself and offered me to have to meet a famous person and go out with them, I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I instantly refused, I didn't understand anything that was going on, it was like I was hallucinating. Then she told me the figures for the contract, and it was like she understood perfectly why I was there," Connor runs his hand through his hair, visibly stressed. "I needed that money, Max. And I still do. There's a lot of us at home, and it's just me working. My mother has to stay behind to take care of my younger siblings, and mine is the only income coming into the house. With what Sony paid me at the beginning, I was able to pay the rent for a whole year. You don't know the relief I could see on my mother's face, Max. I felt like I could finally pay her back for everything she had done for me, the sacrifices just to get me into law school. And all that just to meet you and have a good time with you. It seemed so simple to me that I forgot that the other side also had a say in the matter. But really, Max, I didn't mean to hurt you. I liked you right away, I could feel a connection with you instantly, and I was surprised that in such a short time I could like you. But I couldn't tell you the truth, or it would ruin everything: both my family and my relationship with you. Of course, it was all a mistake. I made a mistake and didn't think about you, and I should have. I should have told you this from the beginning, I don't know if things between us would have worked out, but at least you wouldn't have hated me. I can't stand that."

Connor looks away several times, hiding behind the deep colour of his coffee, and Max almost feels sorry for him. She knows what it's like to go through financial hardship, she's experienced it herself with her mother, and she also knows that she would have done the unthinkable to give her mother everything she would have needed. She feels a doubt in her heart, as if Connor's story is justification enough, but she suppresses the gesture of reaching out to put her hand on the boy's arm, who looks at her, finally. "I didn't know you were going through all this. You've said before that you couldn't afford some things, but I didn't know it was to this extent. If you had told me about this from the beginning we could have come to some agreement. I could have helped you without us having to go through this."

"I didn't want to be pitiful. I wanted to build something real with you, even though it was all a contract. I admired you and I really liked you, Max. And I say that in the past because I'm aware that there's not going to be anything more between us. But I would like you to know how sorry I am and how much I regret not being honest with you from the beginning. In you I found a friend, despite the short time we've known each other."

"We would have found some way, Connor. Understand that I can't pretend nothing happened. Right now the only thing that binds us is this thing we've signed that we don't know when it will end."

Connor nods, swallowing hard. "I know. I don't want to put any more obstacles in your way, I want to make things easy for you for as long as we have left together. If you don't want to keep in contact with me anymore, I'll understand. On the other hand, if you can still give me a chance, I'd like it if we could at least start from the beginning and become friends. You're someone very special, and you deserve everything good that can happen to you, and if I can contribute something, I'll be more than happy to do so."

It's close to eleven o'clock at night when Victoria hears keys in the door. Her room is the one closest to the entrance, so in the silence of the night it is easy for her to make out the sounds. The keys fall into the bowl at the entrance with regret, Victoria can almost guess the face of her girlfriend: sorry, tired and with only one goal: go to bed. So the Italian girl leaves the room, only to find herself face to face with Max.

Victoria instantly notices two things: that she smells of cigarettes and that she seems to have been crying. "Max? What's wrong?" She forgets everything for a moment, because the girl in front of her is very different from the one who left the house this morning.

"I'm tired," she mutters. "There were paparazzi everywhere, they were asking us questions and taking pictures, and I've had to smile and say I was fine when all I wanted to do was come home to you. I haven't stopped thinking about you all day."

The barriers Victoria has set up throughout the day come crashing down with just a few words. She has avoided looking at social media because she knows she would hate the image of her girlfriend and anyone other than her, especially a person who has hurt her so much. She also tries not to let Thomas, Damiano and Ethan notice her anger, frustration and jealousy. Rehearsing is good for her, it helps her escape from reality, but the rehearsals end and the four of them return to a house without Max, to an empty house, and Victoria locks herself in her room without another word.

"You've been crying," Victoria whispers close to her. "Has he done something to you?"

Max repeatedly shakes her head. "No, he hasn't done anything to me. We've spent the day talking, he's told me the truth and I've listened. I can't hate him, Vic," Max blinks several times to hold back tears. "I'd love to be able to do that, to be that kind of person and forget about it all so easily, but I can't. God, why do I have to be such a softie?"

The Englishwoman laughs a little through her tears, and the blonde smiles for the first time in hours. "Anyone would wish they had someone like you in their life. You're a good person, Max. But I don't want him to hurt you, you've had a hard enough time because of him."

"Nothing's going to happen. We've agreed that we'll both act like adults and that we'll stick to what the contract asks us to do. He's not going to come between us again, Vic. I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky I am to have you by my side. You care for me, you respect me and love me, you are good for me, Vic. You don't know how much I love you."

Victoria grabs her cheeks and kisses her softly, feeling the tears on her skin. She wraps her arms around her, her skin bristling as it comes into contact with the Englishwoman's, who places a short kiss on her bare shoulder. "Come on, let's go to bed. I'm going to cuddle you until you fall asleep, and then a little bit more, okay?"