[M.E.] The Italian Job (Dom/Tash/Open)

[Dominic]

"Oh thank god", said Dom as he noticed that Tash was laughing. There were two ways that this could have gone. First, Tash got angry and killed Sam and him. Second, the way it turned out, she was amused and would go along with it. Dom actually kind of found the surprised wedding thing to be kind of cute. As far as pranks go it was really pretty harmless.

Dom realized he had been discovered so he left his cover and strode over to the two young women. He couldnt help but smile. He was looking at two very attractive women one of whom was the girl of his dreams, the other her best friend. He was on a beautiful beach with two beautiful women and he got to marry the one he loved. This was awesome. He would never regret coming to America.

"Tash mi amore you look stunning!", he yelled accross the sands to the woman he was about to marry. "Sam you did a wonderful job with the dress, my compliments to you and your mother, only an Italian mother could work such wonders!" he yelled to Sam.

[Tash]

She blushed again, furiously. Then blushed even more for blushing.

How the hell did he do that? Guys never flattered her to that extent. She was always able to keep her cool around them, be the one holding all the cards. It was good holding all the cards with guys - that way she got to call the shots and none of them could get the wrong impression. But Dominic. Oh that boy held one hell of a hand and she was dying to peek. But he'd always played it close to the chest and now he was slapping down all his Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks. One right after the other and she was left absolutely stunned. But she didn't altogether dislike it, she found. She protested out of custom. For her to go without a sound wouldn't have been in her nature: he expected no less of her. Go with the flow, but don't be quiet about it either. That was the Tash he knew because that was the Tash she was. And he....loved that Tash. It still amazed her, knowing that. She loved him. It amazed her that she was allowing herself to admit it.

She looked at him, tall and dashing. A real white knight in his white tux, those broad shoulders filling it out just fine and his angelic curls falling a little into his wolf brown eyes. Th-thump Th-thump Th-thump! Her heart squealed girlishly and she didn't have the heart to beat it into submission this time.

"Hey carogna!" She berates him jokingly. "Don't you know it's bad luck to see a bride before the wedding?!"

She met him halfway anyway, wrapping her arms around his strong neck with the joy of allowing herself to admit it even if she hadn't said it yet. Yes, yes she loved this young man. Even if this whole damn thing wasn't for real, what the hell? It was good practice. It was a run through. The real thing....they'd get there. She could feel it. Over Dominic's shoulder she cast Sam a wink.

She hated being tricked, hated the frilly dress, hated being sucked in by a big Italian family. And she was over the moon, the happiest she could remember being in a very long time.

[Dominic]

"Carogna, yourself missy... oooof!", he said as Tash flew into his arms.

She was sound and solid but light as a feather. She was so beautiful Dom almost lost his breath. She was used to holding all the cards it was nice to see her fold for once. He loved surprising her, probably for the same reason Sam did, just because it was so damn hard to do. She was the woman of his dreams, and he loved her more than anything in the world, not that he would often mutter those words when others were around he felt this might be an okay occasion.

"I love you bambina, and the dress!", he added the second part jokingly, he knew she hated it.

The whole dress thing really wasn't her deal.

[Tash]

"Palle!" She grouses, grinning away despite her vehement protests. The young Italian woman buries her face in his neck, immersing herself in his familiar scent to drown out the embarrassment to having been coerced into such a plan. She couldn't figure out whether to be indignant or grateful. And she hated not knowing how she felt. He complimented her dress. Face still planted in his neck, he muttered something furious and only half intelligible about male chauvanist invention designed to opress and objectify the divine female form.

God she loved him, but she couldn't say it because, dammit, he kept beating her to the punch. And it felt so inexplicably wrong to do the fairy tale thing and confess her love to him right after he did. If she did that she felt she might vomit. And Tash didn't like to go against her gut. She wanted the moment to voice her love to be uniquely hers, so she might properly express it for him. Giving him one last squeeze, she pulled away, letting her fingers trail slowly from his and giving him a soft little teasing smile.


"Bad luck, bad boy. I gotta go with Sam now, okay? You'll get to hold me again, soon enough, bello. I promise."

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam walked slowly toward them, letting the couple have their moment as they embraced. She felt like she was intruding on a private moment; like she was eavesdropping on someone through a keyhole. But at the same time, she felt thoroughly privileged, as she usually did, to be able to witness such a pure expression of love. Because that's what this was, she could sense it. No matter how Tash blushed and fought it, she was in love with this guy. Sam felt a small, warm grin slide over her face like hot chocolate. As she made her way over to the couple, she felt a small pang of jealousy creeping into her gut. Not for Dom or anything; Tash didn't have to worry about Sam trying to steal him away. Though she doubted Dom would want to even if she tried.

No, Sam found herself a tad bit jealous of what these two had. She wanted a connection with someone like that. It was strange. She'd never really cared too much about falling in love. Sure, boyfriends were fun - so were friends with benefits (she quickly pushed the thought of Damien out of her head) - but they weren't ever something she felt she needed to be complete. Watching them, though... she wondered what it was like.

"Come on, you two," she said, the smile still on her face. Not a trace of anything she was thinking showed on her face, except a momentary flicker through her eyes, almost imperceptible. Neither of them would likely see it.

"It's actually up to you, Tash," Sam admitted as the italiana pulled back. "It's your wedding." the smirk was reappearing on her face. "If you don't wanna walk down the aisle, that's your business. I told you, there's no one else here but me, and I don't care much." Sam had decided on a very private deal for a reason. The two of them weren't exactly public yet, and it wasn't Sam's place to make them so before they wanted to be.

[Tash]

As she surveyed her friend, Tash thought she caught a glimpse, a single frame in a feature film, of something heavy in the brunette's big hazel eyes. Very little escaped Tash's notice. If it was that brief, however, she reasoned, the problem must either be very small or Sam must be trying very hard to dampen the emotion that had colored her eyes momentarily in such a somber shade. If either was the case, it was best she left it alone. When people wanted to talk, Tash knew from experience, they would talk. Confessions always found their way out and into open air. Sam would tell her if and when she was ready. Now was not the time.

When they were some distance away from Dominic, Tash turned to Sam, clasping both the taller girl's hands and meeting her eyes.


"Sam. This whole thing is utterly ridiculous. It's horrible and random and - and I want to thank you. Thank you. Sorella mia."

[Dominic]

Dom loved this. He was having a great time. Tash in a dress, and not angry about it, it was a nice day out, and Dom was happy. However, he noticed something momentarily change in Tash's expression when she looked at Sam. Something, he knew, was up with Sam and Tash had noticed. Tash always noticed and she was always right, so Dom decided that the next time Tash was busy he would ask Sam if everything was okay. He knew that Tash always took a more "they'll talk when there ready approach" but Dom was different. Dom knew that sometimes it helped to just know someone noticed and cared. So he knew that Sam would say nothing was up, but to be honest finding out wasn't the point.

Dom realized Tash was no longer at his side. This happened she was damn quiet and extremely sneaky, almost like a ninja. So he wasn't surprised when she showed up twenty yards away at Sam's side.

"Dolare bambinas, wait up for me!", Dom yelled across the sand as he jogged to keep up.

[Tash]

Upon hearing Dominic's voice she paused and then laughed. Well that was stupid of her. The bride was supposed to walk down the isle, not the groom! He was supposed to already be there and she was the one who should be waiting behind.

Tash gave Sam's arm a little squeeze and flashed her a smile. She was still a little worried about her friend but clearly, the other girl didn't want to bring up whatever it was right now or she'd probably have mentioned it already. No, best set it on the backburner for now. There was a time for questions and this wasn't it.


"Hey, sorella. I should wait here, right? You take care of him....and yourself. My maid of honor's got to be gorgeous right?"

The almond skinned young woman gathered her skirts, which felt less ridiculous now than they had at first, and walked back to her little dressing room.

[Sam Ballerino]

Sam smiled as Tash took her hands. "I figured you two deserved it." When didn't love deserve something special? "Go back to the dressing room, wait until you hear the music play. It's just a boom box, nothing fancy... but tradition is tradition." Sam's eyes sparkled girlishly, and she allowed herself a little giggle. She watched Dom running over the sand towards them, and gave Tash's hands one last little squeeze before jogging a little to meet him halfway.

"You go wait by the arch," she said, pointing to the bridal arch standing alone on the beach. "She'll come to meet you, and... well, I'm sure you know how weddings go." She gave him a little grin and turned around to go back to the dressing room, where the boom box was stashed. As she followed Tash back, however, another figure came from behind the little makeshift dressing area; one holding a rather large and expensive-looking camera.

"Oh, ringrazio il dio, io ho pensato che steste andando mancarlo intero!" She called, sprinting past Tash to the photographer and engulfing him in a hug. "Tash!" She waved the girl over. "This is Amadeo. Old family friend. He's going to take some pictures for you today." Amadeo was very Italian - tall, dark skin and hair, and chocolate brown eyes. He smiled at Tash.

"Congratulazioni," he said with a little bow. "The groom is a lucky man. And as they say, casa senza fimmina 'mpuvirisci."

[Tash]

Tash grinned at Sam and headed willingly back to the bridal tent. Oddly enough, she was starting to feel okay about this. I mean, it was only a mock wedding and the groom was a guy she liked. No, she corrected herself, a guy she loved. Thank God Sam hadn't decided to use Nick for this thing. Thank God for small miracles. This was going fairly well and it was actually kind of fun. As she adjusted her veil she wondered offhandedly if Sam might have arranged a honeymoon for them. That would be too precious, just too precious. She and Dom had only been together once but if it only got better, like she'd heard....the green eyed girl smiled to herself.

Then Sam introduced her to Amadeo. He seemed nice enough, that wasn't the problem. No, the problem was the camera he had hanging around his neck. Her eyes bugged and she stopped mid response, turned, then bolted from the tent.


"Merde! Palle, Sam! You didn't tell me there was going to be a photographer!!!"

[Dominic]

"Hey cool a photographer!" Dom exclaimed.

He didnt know this was going to such a big deal. Of course he immediately thought of the honeymoon idea. He smiled to himself. Tash looked mad though. Oh crap here we go. She was going to protest and Sam and Dom were going to have to calm her down again. Poor camera guy he thought. Getting sucked into this.

"Honey, its okay we wont show them to your mom", Dom crooned.

[Tash]

Tash ran full into Dom, her attempt at escape foiled. He said something that involved the word 'mom' and a flood of hysterical Italian tumbled from her lips and she shook her head.

"Not find out? My mom? Dominic are you insane?!"
She snagged his wrist in one hand and stared up desperately into his eyes.
"My mom always finds out about family affairs. She called me about your visit the morning before you actually got there and I was so confused. I thought she was pulling a prank on me. And then you showed up and i realized she was just using her Italian Mama Psychic abilities. If there are pictures, she'll find them!"

Tash pulled away from Dom, glancing around like a hunted animal. Her gaze caught on poor confused Amadeo.

"Sono spaciente, Amadeo! It's nothing personal!"

[Dominic]

"Then tell her the truth bambina", said Dom.

He knew that she would protest, but he knew he had to do something. She never really did anything without a fight so hey he might as well.