A/N: Just a heads-up: School has started and I am taking five classes. There will be some gaps between chapters. Second, I spent some time describing their clothes. This was for my purpose. I am practicing describing clothes. Again, I researched Rome to the best of my abilities, but of course it may be wrong or I twisted it for my purposes. I worked really hard and would love to see reviews. Was it good enough? Did you dislike it? Let me know. Now enjoy chapter 19 of Living Life With Chelsea.

LINE BREAK

They were all a bit bleary-eyed the next morning. Elisa had told the maids to wake them at 6:30. In the morning. Elisa wanted to make sure everyone had time to get ready for their 8 am limo ride to Rome.

"Stop breathing so loud Mac!" Amy snapped, "Idiot."

One thing about Amy: not a morning person.

"Bitch." he bit back.

Yeah, Mac? Not so much either.

Chelsea had been to enough sleepovers with them to know that this could get real nasty, real fast.

"Stop it! Now!" she said firmly, the last thing they needed was for their gracious hosts to hear Mac and Amy's morning potty-mouths.

They glared at her, but both knew that she was serious.

"Wow." Matt said, raising his eyebrows in the bickering duo's direction.

"Wow." Nathan said, only his proclamation was solely intended for the pile of chocolate-chip pancakes set in the middle of the table.

The others came down, Angelic last, looking perky and awake. Not even Allyson was that sunny this early in the morning.

"Morning!" Angelic exclaimed.

Amy groaned and held her head in her hands as though she had a headache.

"Can you please turn down the happy until at least 9 o'clock?" she said.

Angelic laughed.

"Come on guys! We are going to see ROME!"

"You've been there before Angelic." Chelsea pointed out, yawning.

"Not for a while. Shopping, hello?"

Amy's face, which was slowly getting ready to meet her plate, jerked up.

"Shopping?"

"Later." Elisa said, coming into the dining room, "First we are going to visit the Capitoline Museums."

Chelsea loved history; actually the whole group did, so the museums would be amazing to see.

"What about shopping?" Amy and Angelic said and the same time.

"There will be some time." Elisa said with a smile.

Chelsea had never been much of a shopper, neither were Allyson and the guys. They all hoped for a limited amount of time. But it looked like Elisa was on the shopper's side, so they would have to see.

"Are you excited Pascal?" Allyson asked in her gentle manner.

Pascal looked startled, obviously not expecting anyone to pay him any attention.

"Um. Yes."

"I know. Me too." Allyson said happily, as though Pascal had actually entertained a conversation with her.

Although, Chelsea considered, Allyson had always been able to read between the lines.

After Chelsea finished eating, she went upstairs to get dressed. Elisa had warned them that it would get pretty warm So Chelsea chose her dark jean shorts, a baby-blue sleeveless shirt that said 'Be Brave, Fight Like A Girl' and her simple white tennis shoes. She threw her hair up in a ponytail and clipped it up. Pink feather earrings and a pink beaded bracelet later, she was ready to go. She grabbed her purse and went and knocked on Amy's door.

"Hey, Amy-"

"Go away! I'm not ready yet!" Amy yelled.

Chelsea stepped back and decided to try talking to someone considerably less vicious at the moment. She knocked on Allyson's door.

"Come in!" Allyson sang out.

Chelsea stepped into the lavender room. Allyson was dressed in white drawstring shorts, a pink shirt, pink tennis shoes and had on black twisted rubber band bracelets. Her long blond hair was being curled at the moment.

"Aren't you excited Chelsea?" Allyson asked.

"Yeah, my stomach is going crazy." Chelsea answered with a laugh, "I'm still getting used to the fact that we're here."

"Me too." Amy said, from the doorway.

Chelsea crossed her arms and glared at her friend. Amy rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Amy said.

"Humph." Chelsea responded.

Amy was in a red spaghetti-strap shirt with a white see-through shirt over it. She had on military-green capris' with brown boots. She had on red hoop earrings and a necklace that had a pair of red lips dangling from the chain. A camo purse hung from her shoulder. Her hair was held up with red chopsticks.

"You look great Amy." Allyson compliment, finishing her hair.

"Thanks, you look-cute." Amy tried to decide how to label their friend's simple fashion sense.

"Ready?" Angelic poked her head in the room.

"Pretty much." Allyson said, grabbing her purse.

"Great." Angelic said, moving so they saw her outfit.

Chelsea was instantly jealous at how easily anything made Angelic look like a model. She'd be worried about losing Matt to her, but thankfully he was her cousin. She wore short ripped jean shorts with a brown belt, a yellow scooped-necked shirt and red flats. She had on an exotic looking necklace and numerous beaded bracelets. Her long black hair was swept aside on one shoulder with a hair tie, a yellow flower behind her ear.

"Aww man." Amy whined, her thought's aligned with Chelsea's.

"What's wrong?" Angelic asked.

"Nothing." Chelsea said, "Let's meet up with the guys."

The guys were already waiting for them at the top of the staircase. They all looked great as well.

Mac had gone for his blue Hawaiian shorts and a blue shirt. He wore those black shoes he never tied and his sunglasses were set up in his spiked up white-blond hair. He was cleaning off his glasses with his shirt.

"Tourist much?" Amy teased.

He rolled his eyes at her.

Matt's skater style black hair hung in front of his eyes as usual. He wore faded blue jeans, a white shirt and a black vest and his black and white checkered shoes. He looked so amazing, Chelsea had trouble breathing.

Pascal was wearing tan shorts with a red shirt that had designs on it and a blue shirt over it. He wore brown tennis shoes too. His short hair was gelled.

Nathan wore jean shorts with a black and white striped shirt. He wore black sandals and left his hair a mess as usual. Dog tags dangled from the silver chain around his neck. They were replicas of the ones his brother wore overseas. He only wore them when he was worried.

"Is Tommy-?" Amy couldn't finish.

"My mom just called. We don't know where he is right now." Nathan said tightly, trying to keep it together.

Matt and Mac each put a hand on Nathans shoulders, the girls just held him.

"We don't have to do anything today." Angelic said carefully, not exactly sure what was going on, but knowing it was serious.

Nathan shook his head and disentangled himself from the girls.

"No. Just keep me busy."

Angelic squeezed one of his hands and nodded.

"You kids ready to go?" Luca shouted from the first floor.

"Are we?" Allyson asked delicately.

Nathan smiled and hugged their most sensitive friend.

"Let's go to Rome." he said with a smile.

They all cheered and went out to the limo.

"Come on Alberto!" Matt called out to the driver, "So much to see, so little time."

LINE BREAK

Just the ride into Rome was like going through a museum on wheels. Chelsea was in awe of the vineyards and gardens they passed as they left Castel Gandolfo. It got even better as they hit Rome. Old buildings, fountains and street shops were everywhere.

"Oh my god, best day ever." Chelsea gushed.

"We've just started out Cara Mia." Matt laughed, "You might want to hold off on that label."

"Oh, whatever." Chelsea sighed happily, "What was that building we just passed?"

Allyson flipped through her book, but was beat out by another voice.

"That was the Temple of Jupiter. It was founded around 509 BC to honor the arch-god. It was said to have resembled the Pantheon." Pascal recited.

They all stared at the guy who hadn't said more than two words to them.

"It speaks." Amy said, blinking.

"I- well, thank you." Chelsea said, glancing over at Matt.

"Aha, there it is." Allyson said, jabbing her finger on a page in her guide book, smiling brightly at Pascal, "You are absolutely right. Wow."

Pascal nodded stiffly and turned his attention out the window.

The driver opened the little window between them and the driver.

"We will be arriving at the Capitoline Museums in five minute Ladies and gentlemen."

"Thank you Alberto." Elisa said, "Girls, keep your purses close, boys, watch out for your wallets. Nathan dear, do you have everything?"

The others laughed at their forgetful friend as he found his wallet under the seat.

Alberto pulled up to what looked like a super big hill/driveway. They climbed out. Amy took in the size of the hill.

"Can't you take us any further Alberto?" she whined.

Chelsea elbowed her friend for being lazy.

"I'm afraid not Miss Palmer." the elderly man said with a smile, "There is no place closer."

"We will call when we are ready." Luca said.

"I'll be ready Mr. Caparelli." Alberto bowed slightly, got in the limo and drove off with a wave.

With an exaggerated sigh, Amy followed the others up the ramp.

"This ramp is called the Cordonata." Allyson read as they hiked up, "It is guarded by the statues of Castor and Pollux."

She giggled.

"What horrid names."

"Be careful reading and walking." Angelic warned, snickering, "Ask Pascal. He has walked into poles, walls, fallen into fountain-"

"I think that is quite enough." Allyson said coldly.

They were quiet. Allyson had never taken a tone like that to anyone. Even if they deserved it.

Allyson took Pascal by the arm and walked away.

"What is this, Twilight Zone day?" Amy asked, "First Pascal speaks, then Allyson gets a backbone. What's next? Is Mac going to have a chance in hell with-"

Chelsea put her hand over Amy's mouth.

"Enough."

They finally reached flat ground. It was a big circle area lined with white lines circling a white sun that had a statue of a man on a horse in the middle.

"Emperor Marcus Aurelis." Pascal commente, continuing to shock them.

Chelsea and the others snapped pictures.

"Let's go to the building on the left first." Allyson pointed, "Palazzo Nuovo. It was designed by Michelangelo."

"It was designed chiefly for sculptures." Pascal added.

Allyson sent him a smile. Chelsea almost fell over when he smiled back.

They entered the two story building. Chelsea was afraid to breath, everything looked so fragile. Matt took her hand.

"I don't want to lose you." he said.

Chelsea chuckled and kissed his cheek. He was so sweet.

After passing many statues, each laced with their own history, they reached a courtyard, lined with statues as well including a large man lounging, a cloth covering a certain part of his anatomy. Shells and what was either foam or bubbles surrounded him.

"This is a talking statue." Amy read from the pamphlet they were all given at the entrance.

Nathan leaned forward close to the face.

"Hello strange almost-naked man." he said.

Mac yanked him back.

"Not literally!" Mac said rolling his eyes.

"'Talking statues' refers to the fact that this statue was used for political satire." Pascal said, the other's shock over him lessening, this was obviously his 'thing', "This is Oceanus, the river god. Also called Marforio."

"Made in first century BC out of Roman marble." Amy continued, "In 1645 it was enclosed by the creation of the museum around it."

They moved to the second floor. The girls rolled their eyes at all but Pascal as the guys got silly about the parts of anatomy openly and proudly portrayed on many of the statues.

"Grow up." Amy snapped, slapping the back of Nathan and Mac's heads.

Chelsea glared her boyfriend into behaving after they passed a female statue.

"Boys. Honestly." Elisa said as Luca whispered something to Mac that made him turn red.

Chelsea's favorite part of the second floor tour was the Hall of Philosophers. They were busts of scientists, politicians, and literary figures.

"Let's get some lunch before we see the other building." Luca said.

"Yes!" Nathan cried, then slowly said when they stared at him, "Not that I'm not having fun or anything."

They walked to a nearby café. Chelsea's phone rang. She excused herself and moved away to answer.

"Hello?"

"Good morning Chels." her dad said.

"It's one o'clock here daddy." she giggled.

"Oh! Your mother told me about the time difference. I forgot. Sorry."

"It's ok. We're on a lunch break. Getting ready for work?" she asked.

"Actually no. Your grandpa gave us the morning off to have breakfast with him and Jenny. Said he had something big to tell us."

"I hope he's ok." Chelsea bit her lip in worry.

"I'm sure he's fine. What illness would challenge your grandpa?" her dad chuckled.

Chelsea glanced back at her group. She watched Nathan play with his dog tags. She turned away.

"Dad?"

"Yeah sweetheart?" he said.

"When you do go into work, can you do me a favor?"

"Depends." he said cautiously.

"Can you look for any news on a Thomas Hallsey?" she asked.

"Hallsey. Isn't that Nathan's last name?" her dad asked in return.

"Yes." she said carefully, "Please daddy, Nathan is so worried."

Her dad was silent a moment.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you!" she breathed.

"I can't promise anything." he warned.

"I know."

Amy started to shout to her.

"I gotta go dad. I love you. And thank you. Bye."

"Love you too Chelsea, bye."

Chelsea hung up with a smile and joined her friends. If anyone could find anything out about Nathan's brother, her dad would be the one to do it.

LINE BREAK

Gibbs looked at all the people sitting around him. They were all apprehensive, he could tell. It wasn't like him to up and call a breakfast meeting. Jenny squeezed his hand and Ducky smiled at him supportively. They were the only two who knew what this was all about.

"Boss, are you - are you sick?" Tony finally asked.

Gibbs shook his head.

He looked around once more.

Tony. Tim. Ziva. Damon. Jimmy. Abby. Sarah. Tara. Jenny. Ducky. All so important to him. He supposed he'd just better get on with it. They were looking more worried.

"I have decided effective immediately, to retire from NCIS."

He'd never heard silence quite so loud. (Totally took this phrase from a Taylor Swift song and I have been dying to use it.)

"You're not moving back to Mexico are you?" Abby asked in a small voice, breaking the silence.

"No Abby, my life is here." he assured her, smiling briefly in memory of Mike Franks.

"What-what'll you do?" Tim asked.

Gibbs shrugged.

"Work more in my basement. Spend time with my grandkids, with Jenny, whatever else."

"Gibbs, I know you love a good case." Ziva said, frowning, "You will get bored, I know you will."

He gave them all a grin.

"I'm sure I'll be free enough to," he gave a fake cough and leaned back in his chair, "consult."

A smile appeared on Ziva's face.

"Yes. Consult." she said, images of Mike Franks lending a helping hand flashing in her mind.

Gibbs looked over at Damon, who was sitting there stoically. Gibbs knew he was upset. He turned to Tony, who he had considered kind of a first-born son.

"Will you be team leader Anthony?" Gibbs asked, using Tony's full name in order to get the heaviness of the request across.

Tony swallowed and nodded. He hated the idea of losing Gibbs as a boss, but this was something he had been working towards his whole career. Abby was crying along with Sarah.

"I'm not dying." Gibbs teased lightly, "What was it I told Kate Todd? 'The second B stands for Bastard.' I'm a tough old bastard."

They laughed.

"We'll miss you." Jimmy said as things sobered again, "At NCIS that is."

"Thank you." Damon blurted out, looking startled at his own outburst, "Just- thank you."

"Totally!" Abby cheered, holding up her glass of orange juice, "To Gibbs, my silver haired fox!"

"To Gibbs!" the others shouted.

LINE BREAK

They enjoyed the second part of the museum, the Palazzo dei Conservatori. It had paintings like Caravaggio's St. John the Baptist and statues depicting Remus and Romulus' beginning with their wolf mother. They did some shopping, and then Alberto drove them back to the Caparelli's. After eating a huge dinner of top-notch steak, potatoes, and more, Chelsea was exhausted. When she got to her room, her phone rang.

"Daddy?"

"Hey there Chelsea, I have some news." her dad happy voice rang out.

"Yes?" she said expectantly.

"Well, first, your grandpa's fine. Just retiring."

"Whoa." Chelsea couldn't see her grandfather being the type to retire.

"And I also have news, very little news, on Nathan's brother."

Chelsea let out a little squeal.

"I knew you could do it!"

"Don't get too excited. Like I said, very little. All I can tell you is that Thomas Hallsey is alive. Anything else is classified."

"Oh, daddy, that will make him feel so much better. Love you, bye."

"Bye Chels."

Chelsea threw her phone on her bed and ran down the hall to Nathan's room and knocked on his door. There was no answer.

"He's on the terrace." Pascal said, passing by.

"Th-" Pascal was already gone. He was so strange.

Chelsea opened the terrace door quietly. Nathan was in a lounge chair, staring up at the starry night sky. She sat in the chair next to him.

"He always told me that we saw the same stars. Like watching the same TV channel in different rooms." Nathan said in a serious tone that didn't seem to belong to the goofy guy she knew.

He jingled the tags.

"It's silly."

"No, it's not. Not at all." Chelsea said, sitting up and facing him, "Nathan, I talked to my dad and he did some things on his computer. He could only tell me one thing. Tommy is alive."

Nathan sat up quickly.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes." Chelsea said, smiling and raising her right hand, "I promise you as one of your best friends."

Nathan grinned and jumped up. He gave her a big bear hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Thanks Chelsea, you're the best friend guy could have. I have to call mom."

Chelsea laughed as he tripped running into the house.

"You are pretty amazing."

Chelsea jumped.

"Sorry."

Chelsea looked up and over at a third floor balcony. Pascal was sitting there, holding a guitar.

"I did not mean to startle you." he said.

Chelsea chuckled.

"Don't worry, Mac and my sister scare me all the time."

Pascal didn't answer her. He just began strumming on his guitar, singing softly. Chelsea didn't quite know what to do, but found herself lying back and drifting to sleep to the melody.

She was woken up by a shake. It was Amy.

"I love you Chelly!" Amy hugged her tightly, "Thank you for helping Nathan."

Chelsea stood and stretched. She looked up at the balcony.

"Where did Pascal go?" she asked sleepily.

"Pascal?" Amy looked confused.

Chelsea shook her head. Must've been a dream.

"Never mind. Your welcome." She hugged Amy, "Goodnight."

She fell asleep, a melody playing in her mind. If all that wasn't a dream, there was more to Pascal than any of them knew.