A Summer Romance

Sitting on the stairs outside one of the many monuments they’d spent the morning visiting, arms resting on her bent knees and her brothers sitting not far away, Elina jumped slightly as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Shifting slightly and pulling it out, she smiled slightly as she saw the number on the screen.

Excusing herself, she stood up and accepted the call whilst brushing the dust away from her pants and walking over to the wall overlooking the harbour. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Fernando replied. “Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, a bit, actually,” she nodded as she leaned against the stone wall, picking at the ancient mortar. “I mean, it’s old buildings and stuff, but I’ve always found stuff like that interesting,” she admitted.

“So where are you?” he wondered.

“Right now, we’re at the Placa Alfons III,” she replied simply, glancing back over her shoulder to see if her parents were back yet. “Why? You thinking of joining us?”

“Are you there with your whole family?” he wondered, sidestepping her question.

“You scared?” she retorted amused, a wide smile spreading across her lips as she looked out over the bustling harbour.

“A little actually,” he confirmed simply. “But you’ll be there to protect me, right?” he repeated the words he’d uttered the previous evening.

“Of course,” she promised softly, realising just how much she’d been hoping to get to see him again.

“You sure that your family won't mind if I just show up unannounced?” he wondered, really not wanting to cause a rift or worse, an argument.

“They won’t mind,” she assured him. She wouldn't tell him, but she’d talked to her mother that morning, mentioning that she’d met someone and that he might want to join the during the day. Reverting back into a gossiping teenager, her mother had wanted know everything before she assured her that it would be no problem if he came out and joined them.


Crossing the town square some 30 minutes later, a smile spread across Fernando’s lips as he saw Elina standing between her brothers, hands in the pockets of her dark Bermuda shorts and a relaxed look across her face as the three of them seemingly listened to the older couple standing before them. As he approached them he figured that they were having some sort of discussion judging by the way they were all waving their hands about every now and then.

Getting closer to them, he was glad that she chose that particular moment to glance around and spot him, saving him the embarrassment of having to go up to them alone. Despite what he’d told her, he was a bit apprehensive about meeting her family, especially as it was far too soon to put a label on them and in all honesty too soon to meeting parents.

“Hi,” Elina smiled as she met him a couple of yards away from where her family was still conversing.

“Hey,” he smiled back at her, before leaning down and pressing his lips against hers in a quick kiss. Bringing her into a tight hug, he smiled into her soft hair as she wrapped her arms around him too and he took the opportunity to press a chaste kiss to the sensitive skin just below her ear.

A shiver of pure pleasure running up her spine, she smiled softly as she looked up at him and he easily took her hand in his, threading their fingers together as she shook her head slighlty and lead the way as they approached her family.

“You sure that they’re not going to mind?” he felt the need to check once more as they were getting closer.

“I promise,” she told him with a smile. “Don't be scared, they’re really nice, honestly.”

“You have to think that,” he retorted simply. “They’re your family,” he added frankly.

“Right...” she rolled her eyes at him. “There was a time not that long ago when I was still locking my bedroom door cause I thought Johan was going to cut off my hair in my sleep,” she told him pointedly, amusement sparkling in her blue eyes. “But I'm serious, they are really nice,” she insisted softly as they reached the group of four that were now her family.

“Alright,” he mumbled under his breath, feeling her squeeze his hand reassuringly.

Four pair of eyes already looking at them, Elina just smiled slightly as she glanced over at Fernando. “This is Fernando,” she introduced him in Swedish. “He doesn’t speak that much English, so be nice,” she ordered in a supposed to be threatening way but it failed epically with the smile across her lips. “You’ve already met my brothers,” she switched to Spanish as she glanced back up at Fernando, “Johan and Simon, and this is their dad, Erik and this is my mom, Marie,” she introduced them all.

“Hola,” he smiled shyly, and he wasn't a shy person when it came to his private life. He just didn't like being centre of attention, especially when the media was concerned, but otherwise he usually didn't have any problems with meeting new people. This however, was almost nerve-wracking.

A lot of hi’s and hello’s were said back to him, and Elina smiled up at him, silently telling him ‘see, they’re fine with this’.

“We were just going to have lunch,” she told him as nodded towards the restaurant just a couple of feet away. “You’ll join us, right?”

“I mean, if it’s okay with...” he began saying, only to be interrupted by a slender index finger pressed to his lips. “It’s more than okay,” she told him with a smile. “I asked you to come and my family won't mind.”

“Then I’d love to have lunch with you,” he smiled before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Great,” she blushed slightly, as she caught her mother looking at them from the corner of her eye. “Come one then,” she said as she began walking towards the small family-run restaurant, tugging him along with her.

Joining her family who had already been seated, he was happy that the only empty seats were next to each other and sitting down he found that her family seemed to be really nice, even if talking was a bit of a struggle as neither her mother nor her step-father actually spoke Spanish.

But lunch went off without much of a hitch anyway, the only trouble occurring when the adults were going to order, having realised early in the vacation that they couldn’t completely rely on their Spanish dictionaries. Reading the menu together, Fernando explained to Elina what certain things were when she didn't know, and in turn she translated it to her parents.

It was a different lunch, that was for sure, but he knew that he would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy it. If it was the actual lunch or more the spending time with Elina that was the best part he didn't want to dwell on, knowing that it would be territory they shouldn’t visit just yet...