Chapter Text
By the next morning, I had somehow managed to forget just how quickly our holiday was passing. Last night, I was thinking about it when I couldn't really fall asleep. It was a good thing that I forgotten about it and didn't stressed myself and had anxiety.
The morning started slowly, neither of us had any intention on getting out of bed. The sun had been shining into the room for quite a while when I finally opened my eyes. Bruce was still lying beside me, half-buried in his pillow. His shorter brown hair, which had some blond highlight streaks in it, was completely tousled from sleep. I carefully brushed away a strand of it from his face. His eyes opened immediately.
"Good morning." I said.
"Morning." he smiled and squinted at me.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"You know exactly how?"
"...I'm just looking at you."
"Exactly." he said and he moved closer to me, wrapping one of his arms around me. For a few seconds, we simply lay there together.
"We're going to the beach today, but only after a shopping spree." I announced.
"This holiday is exhausting." the singer joked.
"Aw, poor Brucey..."
"Thank you for your sympathy."
I kissed his cheek.
"Get up."
"No."
"Bruce."
"Okay."
After having breakfast, we went to have a quick shopping in one of the bigger supermarkets in Pula. We bought the ingredients for today's lunch, we agreed on zucchini risotto. Aside from the ingredients, we also bought some fruits and snacks and some other stuff we might need. Then we went back to the apartman.
"I can't wait to get back so we can go down to the pool and to the beach." Bruce said as we stopped at a red light.
"Yeah, the weather is quite hot already."
The way back to the apartment was enjoyable, after we left Pula, the lush green terrain came to our view. Beautiful pine trees were on either side of the road, along with oleander bushes.
"Should we have lunch first or go down to the beach?"
"I think going to the beach would be good first, then we come back to the apartment and make lunch, then relax a little bit and we go to the city for the cruise." the singer answered.
"Yeah, that would be good."
After getting back, we changed our clothes and went down to the beach.
The sun was already high up in the sky, and the sea was such an intense shade of blue that it looked almost unreal. The beach wasn't nearly as crowded as we thought it would be and the weather was pleasantly warm. After looking around for a few minutes under the pine trees, we found ourselves a nice spot to settle down, we spread our towels and the picnic towel we had. We simply enjoyed the fact that we didn't have anywhere we needed to be. Well...at least not yet.
"Oh the water's nice today." Dickinson said as he was standing at the edge of the water, wearing his sunglasses, looking at the sea.
"It's probably warmer than yesterday." the singer said as he walked into the salty seawater. It was truly warmer than both of us had expected and after some time it felt completely natural to be swimming together. Sometimes, we just floated near beside each other, and after that, we decided to race to a certain point. At least once I managed to splash him badly enough to genuinly caught him off guard.
"Oh..you're asking for trouble now." he said with a sly smile. I started smiling sheepishly.
"Oh, come on..I didn't start it."
"You absolutely started it."
"Hmm...prove it." I said.
The next thing I knew, I was laughing and trying to escape through the waist-deep water while he came after me. I laughed and I managed to escape.
"You're an idiot."
"Your idiot."
Later, we lay back down on our towels. The sun was warm against my skin, and the sound of the sea drowned most of the voices around us. For a while, neither of us said anything. The only sounds that we heard were the laugh of children and chatting of parents, other people on the beach and the sound of the waves and the birds. I closed my eyes.
"You know, I could get used to this." Bruce said and I opened my eyes. Bruce was still looking out to the sea, his sunglasses pushed high onto his nose.
"To this?"
"To this." he told me and he gestured vaguely around us.
"No schedules. No airports. No bloody hotel lobbies. Just the sea and the sun."
I smiled at him.
"Me too."
He glanced at me.
"Good."
"Vacation looks good on you."
"What does that mean?"
"You look happy."
There was no teasing in his voice this time. Just honesty. In reached for his hand and squeezed it.
"You do too."
"I know."
For a moment, we just looked at each other. Then Bruce kissed me. A slow, familiar kiss, the kind we'd shared countless times over the past couple years.
Soon, we went back into the water when we had enough of the sunbathing.
"We should search for some beautiful seashells or rocks." I told my partner. He nodded.
We dove into the water, in hope we could find some nice things. Soon, I found a nice empty shell, but I couldn't reach it.
"I can't reach it." I said to my partner after we got to the surface again.
Bruce dove under again and after a few seconds he came back up with two shells in his hand.
"M'lady?" he said as he showed me the two beautiful empty shells.
"Oh wow. Thank you so much." I said to him with a smile on my face and hugged him tightly.
-🌊-
Around noon, we started packing our things to go back to the apartment. Quick shower, change of clothes, a little packing and we were on our way to Pula. we didn't wanted to be late for the dolphin-watching trip we booked the day before.
"Okay, you got the tickets?" Dickinson asked as he closed the door.
"Yes." I answered as we went to the car which was parked near the apartment.
The drive to Pula was pleasant, warm, afternoon sunlight streamed through the windshield and the windows, the radio played quietly. Sometimes we talked, while other times we simply enjoyed bein together. When we caught sight of Pula, Bruce leaned forward.
"Ah, there it is."
"Yep."
"Think we will see a lot of dolphins?"
"Hmm..I'm not sure...the ticket lady yesterday said that there is a ninety-percent chance that we will see them."
"That's good." he said and I nodded.
We parked the car and we walked to the harbour. After checking our tickets, we stepped on the deck. The ship had two stories, we opted for being inside. Other people were on the top of the ship, there were several seats there too. We stepped inside and we were greeted with beige faux leather seats with tables and smaller doors separated the front and back of the deck. Through the doors, people could go outside to the front of the ship and to the back to sit down or stand to look at the sea.
We were guided by one of the women (who sold the tickets) to a table besides one of the windows towars the back of the ship.
"Oh, this is perfect. Thank you." I said to her and she smiled at us. On the table, there were two glasses with three different beverages: a bottle of white wine, Fanta, and water.
Soon, after everybody boarded, we pulled away, the city began to disappear slowly behind us. Bruce wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer. The sae was almost painfully blue. On our way to the Brijuni National Park, we saw several jellyfish floating near the surface of the endless deep blue water. We went outside and sat down at the front of the deck with other people. I sat in front of Bruce, his hand were on my waist. We enjoyed the sounds of the water and the afternoon sun together, in silence. Some commercial pop music sounded from the speakers, creating an even more summery vibe on the ship.
"Dolphins!" someone shouted and several people along with us looked in that direction.
"Where?"
Then, we saw them. A dark back broke the surface of the water and a smaller one followed.
"Oh my God." I said and Bruce's hand instinctively found mine.
"Look!"
"I see them."
One of the dolphins jumped clear out of the water.
"Wow, great jump." Bruce commented.
"This is fantastic." he added.
"Yeah. It's why we had to come."
"I know."
"Worth it."
"Definitely."
The dolphins stayed with us for a while, sometimes disappearing beneath the waves, only to surface again a few seconds later. Bruce was completely focused on them. After a while, though, I found myself watching him instead. He noticed.
"You're staring."
"Yes."
"...why?"
"Because you're cute."
"Cute?"
"Very."
"You don't tell anyone."
"...tell them what?"
"That Bruce Dickinson looked cute while watching dolphins."
"But..you do."
"That could ruin my reputation." he commented.
"Sorry."
"You don't sound sorry."
"That's because I'm not."
Bruce smiled and pulled me closer.
"Come here." he said softly and I rested my head against his shoulder. The ship rocked gently beneath us and the sun was getting lower in the sky.
"I love you." he said quietly, I looked up at him.
"I love you too." I smiled and kissed him.
By then, the dolphins disappeared, but neither of us minded. We had seen them. Together.
As the sun sank lower on the sky, we went back to our table inside and the crew slowly began setting up dinner for us, the passengers. Soon, the smell of fish mingled with the salty sea air and the warm evening breeze and simple plates were placed on the tables, on each one a freshly grilled fish and some vegetables as a side dish. There was also bread. It looked perfectly fine at first glance...
"Well, this is something." Bruce said, looking down at his plate.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes, quite." he answered and nodded. We both started eating. The fish was surprisingly good. It was simply prepared, yet was delicious. The only problem was that if was full of small bones so it was quite hard to eat and we had to go slow. Dickinson ate quietly for a while before leaning back with a satisfied expression.
"It is quite good but I don't think I'll eat the whole thing...there's a lot of bones in it.
"Yeah, that's how fishes are, usually." I joked after swallowing a bite of fish meat and Bruce rolled his eyes but he was smiling.
While eating, every now and then, Bruce looked out at the sea before looking back at me.
"Hm..this was a very good idea."
"The boat trip?"
"The whole thing."
"I'm glad."
"Me too." he said and he found my hand under the table and laced his fingers with mine.
Suddenly, a piece of bread went flying overboard and a seagull immediately swooped down after it. My partner watched this happen and he looked at me.
"Well..." he started and I laughed.
"Oh no..I know exactly what you are thinking." I said as I looked at another passenger tossed a small piece of fish over the side and three seagulls immediately went after it. Within minutes, the sky around us was filled with seagulls, circling and calling loudly as other passengers were throwing bits of bread and and fish into the air.
Bruce leaned towards me.
"Give me that."
"What?"
"The fish."
He handed me a piece and I broke off a small chunk and tossed it through the open window. A seagull swooped down and caught it. Bruce's eyes lit up.
"Oh, that was brilliant."
"Yout turn." I said and he took a piece of bread and aimed it dramatically, then threw it. It went nowhere near the birds...instead it disappeared somewhere behind the boat. I stared at him...he stared at me.
"Don't."
I started laughing again.
"I'm sorry...you just...missed."
"...it was the wind." he said.
"Yeah, of course it was."
Bruce grabbed another piece.
"This time." he said and he threw it.
"The bread sailed through the air and was immediately snatched by a seagull. Eventually, we started giving the birds little pieces of fish too. Everytime one came close to the window, Bruce pointed at it.
"That one." he said, breaking off another piece of fish, handing it to me.
"Your turn."
With that, I tossed it out. A seagull swooped past our window and caught it perfectly. Bruce looked at me with exaggerated disbelief.
"Show-off."
"You're just jealous."
"I am.." he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Still worth it."
I glanced at his plate.
"Are you going to eat the rest?" i asked and Bruce looked down at his half-eaten fish. Then at me. Then back at the fish.
"No."
"Good."
We both looked towards the window and we saw that another seagull was circling above us, hoping they would get a bite. Bruce picked up another small piece of fish.
"Dinner is served." he said and we laughed out loud.
-🐬-
Not long afterward, the ship slowly turned back towards Pula. Bruce kept one arm around me while I leaned into him. The sea glowed gold outside around us. The lights of the harbour grew closer as the sky became almost completely black, reflecting only the lights of the boat and the distant lamps along the shore.
"Are you tired?" my partner asked softly.
"Yeah."
"Me too."
When we finally docked, we got off the ship and started walking away from the harbour, to the parking lot. We walked alongside the palm trees, which were sitting in ceramic plant pots on the pavement.
"I love palm trees. They are soo beautiful!" I exclaimed as we walked past them.
"Yeah, they look nice." Bruce said, smiling at me.
Pula looked completely different at night. The air was still pleasantly warm and there were plenty of people out walking through the streets. Suddenly, Bruce stopped.
"How about some ice cream?"
"Now? I think it's late for it, to be honest with you."
"It's after dinner."
"I would rather not call that dinner." I said.
"Fair."
We found a gelato shop and a few minutes later we were both walking around with cones in our hands. Bruce immediately wanted to try mine.
"Want some?"
"Yes."
He licked mine and let out a soft 'hmm'.
"Stracciatella. My favourite." I said.
"Yeah, I get it why you like it. This one is especially really good." he told me.
I also got to taste his and it was good too, he ate a pistachio one. The city was getting quieter around us and after the busier parts of the day, it felt nice just to walk beside eachother, eat ice cream and not have to worry about anything. Every now and then, Bruce squeezed my hand. When we reached the parking lot, we found the car, got in, and headed back toward Banjole. The drive was much quieter this time, the radio was playing softly and the Croatian landscape passed by outside in the darkness. After a while, Bruce glanced over at me.
"Good day."
"It was."
I took his hand when we stopped at a red light.
-🌺-
By the time we got back to our apartment we could both feel how tired we were. We left our shoes by the door and went getting ready for bed. Soon, I could hear the shower running in the bathroom. I changed into my pyjamas and got into bed. A few minutes later, Bruce appeared. His hair was slightly damp and his face showed tiredness. Bruce climbed inside beside me, turned off the light and almost immediately moved closer. He wrapped an arm around me and I curled up against him, rested my head on his chest.
"Comfortable?"
"Very much." I said, smiling.
For a while, neither of us said anything. I could hear his breathing and feel him slowly relaxing beside me. One of his hands lazily moved up and down on my back.
"Good night."
"Good night." he said, kissing my forehead.
"Love you."
I smiled and closed my eyes.
"Love you too."
It didn't take long to fall asleep. We eventually fallen into a dreamless sleep, as if there was nowhere else in the world we needed to be.
🌺tbc🌺