Slow Dancing in the Darkness

Resting his head back against his pillow, Lionel turned his head, his brown eyes peeking at the brunette who slept soundly beside him. It was early, normally it was Gabriela who tended to wake up first, but with an early meeting with Shakira scheduled before he went to training, he knew that he had to get up. Things were starting to come together, he’d found a nice venue and started work on invitations, and he was grateful for Shakira’s help. With the days ticking by, he needed someone to help him out if he wanted to get it done on time and the blonde woman seemed to be the perfect ally. She knew Gabriela and knew what it was she would like.

Sparing a yawn, he carefully kicked the comforter away from himself and sat up, stretching his legs and arms with a small groan.

“Leo?” Gabriela murmured, her voice heavy with sleep.

Lionel jumped a little at the sound of her voice and turned around, offering her a small smile. “Buenos dias” he greeted gently.

Gabriela blinked, a soft yawn falling out of her mouth. “What are you doing up?” she posed, just about stifling another yawn.

“I have a meeting” Lionel noted “And then I have to go to training. Are you going to be ok here?” he posed gently. He felt a little bad about lying, since he had gotten back from Barcelona’s pre-season tour, he had been telling little white lies to her whenever he needed to meet someone with regards to his plan, but he knew it would be worth it in the end. He could only imagine the look on her face when she saw what he had prepared for her.

“Another meeting?” Gabriela posed “Is there something I need to be concerned about?” she posed.

Lionel shook his head. “Not at all, Ela” he assured her gently “I’ve just got something I need to sort out and it means going to a few meetings here and there, but I promise, Ela, there’s nothing to be concerned about” he noted. He didn’t blame her for being slightly suspicious, after Elliot and the way he had lied and hurt her, she had every right to be wary about him sneaking around, but he wanted her to trust him. He wasn’t like Elliot and he knew that Gabriela knew it too.

Gabriela offered him a slightly dubious look, something which made Lionel shake his head. “I promise you, Ela” he murmured as he looked into her eyes “There’s nothing at all for you to be worried about” he added.

“You’ve been going out a lot more recently” Gabriela murmured “You can’t blame me for being a little dubious” she added.

Lionel shook his head. “No, I can’t” he noted softly “But I can ask you to trust me, Ela. You know me now, and you know that I am not going to do what he did. I just need to keep this to myself for a while and I need you to have faith in me. Can you do that for me, Ela?” he posed gently.

Gabriela chewed on her lip, her blue eyes slightly hesitant.

Lionel sighed. “Querida” he murmured as he leant a little closer to her “Ela, trust me” he noted, his brown eyes mirroring her somewhat hesitant blues.

Gabriela nodded her head slowly. “Ok” she agreed gently “But if I…”

“You won’t” Lionel insisted with a smile “Ela, everything is good for us” he noted before he pressed a little kiss to her lips.

Gabriela leant into his kiss and closed her eyes, hoping that he was right.

~#~
“Are you alright, Ela?” David mused as he placed a mug of tea down ahead of his sister, flashing her a small smile. It had been a spur of the moment decision, David had been in Barcelona on business and he hadn’t been able to resist the chance to see his little sister. It’d been a while since he had seen her and he wanted to check in on her, after the Elliot fiasco, he wanted to spend more time making sure that his baby sister was alright.

Gabriela, who had been staring at the ground, nodded, a forced smile on her face.

“Lala” David noted, a frown on his face.

“It’s nothing” Gabriela replied, shaking her head.

“Gabriela, I know you” David noted as he sat down beside her “And I know when you’re not Ok. So, we can dance around the topic and pretend that you’re OK, or you can be honest with me and let me help you out” he noted firmly.

Gabriela offered him a slightly dubious look before she sighed. “You’re going to think I am being stupid” she murmured.

“I promise I won’t” David noted.

Gabriela shook her head. “It’s probably just me” she murmured gently “After Elliot, I have a hard time just putting faith in someone, and Leo…He’s acting odd, Davi” she murmured.

“Odd?” David posed.

“He keeps telling me he’s going to meetings” she murmured “That was Eli’s favourite excuse to not come home and I am a little worried. I know I shouldn’t be, I should trust him, but for me, that’s hard” she murmured gently. She felt bad for not believing Lionel, as he pointed out more often than not, he was nothing like her ex-husband, but still it played on Gabriela’s mind. He was keeping something from her and she doubted she would feel entirely comfortable until she knew exactly what it was that he was up to.

David stared at his sister for a moment before he sighed, wrapping an arm around her. “Lala, he’s not the same as Elliot” he murmured.

“I know that” Gabriela refuted “But to begin with, I didn’t think Elliot had it in him to do what he did. I know Leo’s not like him, or at least I think he’s not, but I can’t help but be a little nervous” she murmured.

David peeked at her and carefully rubbed her back, trying to offer her some sort of comfort. He hadn’t known Lionel long, they’d only met on a couple of occasions, but he doubted that the argentine could hurt Gabriela like Elliot had. The way his face lit up when he talked about his wife spoke volumes and David was sure, even after only a couple of meetings, that Gabriela was worried for no reason. Lionel loved her far too much to mess around on her. “He loves you, Lala” he assured her gently.

Gabriela nodded, mumbling that she knew he did.

David sighed and rubbed her back again, making a mental note to talk to Lionel before he left Barcelona.