Run Away With My Heart

“Iker?” Olivia posed as she stepped into her apartment, setting her bag neatly on the side. It was late, after the press conference, Olivia had spent nearly all day at the office briefing the reporter that would travel to Malaga in her place, but she was glad to be home. It had been a long day and made to feel even longer thanks to the absence from work she had endured since her operation. Slipping her feet out of her shoes, she took a few steps along the hall before she paused at the entrance to her living room, her lips creasing into a soft smile. “What are you doing?” she posed, her blue eyes watching Iker as he padded around the room.

Iker, who had been preoccupied with his task, paused, looking up at her. “You’re back early” he noted.

“And you’re in my apartment without permission. What would you have done if I had come in here wielding a bat thinking you were some kind of burglar?” she teased.

“Firstly, even if you had a bat, you would not be able to win in a fight with me, and secondly, you probably saw my car outside. You knew I was here” he grinned, stepping towards her so that he could greet her with a soft kiss. Olivia held him close for a few seconds before she pushed him back, her hand lightly gesturing to the room around them. “What are you doing to my living room?” she murmured.

“I was setting up for our second date” he mused “I thought we could stay here, I cooked and everything” he added.

“You know you don’t have to go to any trouble don’t you?” Olivia mused as she placed her arms around his waist, hugging him gently “I would be happy with a bag of takeout, my fluffy socks and a romantic film” she added.

“I know, but those are things I always did with you. These dates are supposed to be special, they’re supposed to stand out and be memorable” Iker explained as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, gently pushing her against his chest. He knew that it didn’t really matter, whatever he and Olivia had was working for them, but he wanted to work at it. Their dates were supposed to be special, not something they did all of the time, and he kind of liked making the effort. He liked the smiles and hugs that Olivia tended to give him in return.

“You’re cute” Olivia mumbled, resting her head against his shoulder.

“You are too” Iker replied gently, kissing her head “And that is a why I want to make this sort of effort now that we are in the ‘more than friends’ category. I am trying to show you that whatever it is we have going on here is something I want to work at” he explained.

Olivia smiled. “I am glad you kissed me first” she noted softly “If you’d waited for me, we’d still be firmly stuck in the friendzone” she added.

“I’m glad I did it too” he mused softly “Now, instead of talking about it, why don’t you go and sit down in there and I will find the first course eh?” he noted, pushing her back slightly.

“First course?” Olivia posed.

“I made 3” Iker replied “So, I kind of hope that you are hungry” he added.

“Iker, you’ve known me for 5 years, has there ever been a time where I haven’t finished a meal?” she posed, an eyebrow lifted.

Iker chuckled. “No” he replied “And that is why we are so good together” he added before he pecked her cheek, moving back into the kitchen.

~#~
“Why didn’t I know you were this good a cook?” Olivia mumbled as she snuggled into Iker’s side on the couch, a small yawn falling out of her mouth. It had been a wonderful evening, Iker’s food combined with the polite conversation and soft romantic hum of music and hue of candles had made it easily one of the best dates Olivia had ever experienced, and she was still a little in awe of it all. She had never admitted it, as his best friend, there was no way she could question Iker’s ability to date, but part of her had been dubious as to whether he had the capacity to woo someone. Part of her wondered if boredom was one of the reasons his other relationships had failed.

“Because you never let me cook” Iker replied, placing his arm around her “Whenever you come over, you cook or order takeout and I don’t think in 5 years that you have ever tried my cooking” he added.

“Well, now that I know, you will certainly be cooking from now on” Olivia noted “That carrot cake was fantastic” she added.

“Well, thank you” Iker noted with a tinge of boastfulness.

Olivia rolled her eyes, but didn’t utter a word, instead opting to cuddle a little closer to him.

Iker noticed the proximity of their bodies and moved to lean down to her, pressing a light kiss against her cheek. Olivia made a small sound in surprise, but it was stifled slightly as he pressed a kiss to the other cheek, working his way slowly and teasingly towards her lips. Olivia’s cheeks warmed. They had kissed before, since the first one at the hospital, it had become a frequent occurrence, but still it made her blush. Part of her had a sense that this was going to end up as more than a kiss if she didn’t stop it. She knew that it had to happen one day, no matter how much they skirted around it, they were in romantic relationship of some sort, and that meant that one day, they would sleep together, but she wasn’t sure that that was the night. It was silly, sleeping together wasn’t going to change anything dramatically, but still she was concerned. A few kisses, they could ignore. A night together in bed, they could not.

Letting out a gentle sigh, Olivia placed her hand against Iker’s shoulder, lightly pushing him away from where he had been pressing light kisses and bites to the skin of her neck. “Iker” she murmured.

The keeper sighed lightly, but nodded his head. “It’s Ok” he noted.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t…” she noted, shaking her head lightly.

Iker smiled. “It’ll happen, Oli, you’ll be comfortable and I will wait for that. Baby steps” he noted, repeating the phrase that they had adopted to describe the pace of their relationship.

Olivia, feeling slightly reassured by his kind smile, kissed his cheek, thanking him lightly.

She was glad he could be patient with her.