Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“How’s the sex?”

Esmé, who had been drinking her coffee, spluttered, her eyes widening a fraction as she stared at Ella. It had been a pleasant afternoon, after spending a few hours at work, she had been invited out to the park with her sister and nephew, and Esmé had to admit it made a nice change. As much as she adored Gerard, they spent 95% of their time in bed and Esmé wanted a little break, something Ella had been more than happy to provide her with.

“What?” she squeaked.

Ella rolled her eyes. “Don’t act so shy, Esmé” she commented, checking on her son who sat in his pushchair, chewing on his teething ring “You can’t pretend that you and Gerard aren’t at it every shot you get, not that you could be blamed. If I was with him…”

“Horrifying mental image” Esmé interrupted, shaking her head.

Ella scoffed. “Don’t act like that. We both know that your boyfriend is gorgeous” she mused.

Esmé nodded. “Of course we know that, I have met the man, but I really don’t think I want to discuss our sex life with you, Ella. I don’t think I want to talk about it with anyone” she commented gently, her cheeks pink.

Ella shook her head. “You’re 26 years old, Esmeralda, how can you still be embarrassed by the notion of sex?” she teased.

“I am not embarrassed, I just really don’t see the need to talk about it. We both know that I am sleeping with Gerard, what else could you possibly want to know?” Esmé mused, sipping her drink gently.

“You’re really not giving anything away, are you?” Ella teased.

“What do you want to know? Gerard and I…its wonderful” Esmé enthused gently “He’s sweet, thoughtful and romantic and I know these are things I knew about him before, but since that first night, everything’s just felt so much better. He makes sense, Ella, when I look at him, I can see we make sense and it baffles me slightly that I didn’t see it before….”

“Before Cesc” Ella finished, noting the way Esmé had stopped talking.

Esmé shifted a little in her seat, her hand shyly brushing her hair out of her face.

Ella shook her head. “You know that you cared about him, Esmé” she reasoned gently. She knew that Esmé was happy, she hadn’t stopped smiling since she and Gerard had been outed as a couple, but she felt the need to pull her back down to earth a little. Whether she still cared about Cesc or not, she couldn’t pretend that she never had. “You know that it is only because of one mistake that you’re not still with him right now, or even engaged to him” she added.

“Ella” Esmé complained gently.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, Esmé, not right now, but you need to keep your feet on the ground over this. Whilst you may still be in the honeymoon phase with Gerard, you need to be aware of the fact that it can all slip away. I doubt you thought that you and Cesc would break up before that night” Ella reasoned gently.

Esmé sighed gently. “What are you trying to say?” she murmured, fiddling gently with her coffee cup.

“I am just saying you can’t pretend that he never happened” Ella reasoned softly “And I am offering you a word of caution. You have a tendency to fall head over heels very quickly and whilst I like Gerard, and trust him, you should perhaps exercise a little caution” she suggested gently.

Esmé nodded her head gently. “I don’t want to screw up another relationship, Ella” she noted gently.

Ella smiled at her little sister and squeezed her hand. “You’re not going to screw up, Esmé” she assured her gently “You just need to get a little less giddy” she added.

Esmé offered her a sister a little look, but nodded her head, sensing that she had a point.

~#~
Hanging her jacket up in the hall, Esmé padded through towards her living room, her brown eyes widening a fraction as she spotted Gerard sat in the middle of the floor, a single red rose held in his hands. “What are you doing?” she mused as she gently set her bag down on the side.

“Being romantic” Gerard replied, a smile on his face “How was coffee with Ella?” he added.

“It was lovely. Why are you sat here with that in your hand?” Esmé giggled, trying to get over her surprise.

“I thought about sending a bouquet” Gerard replied, swiftly moving back to his feet “But then I thought, I was about as beautiful” he teased.

Esmé scoffed. “I’d have preferred the flowers” she teased gently.

“Flowers can’t do this” Gerard smirked before he leant down a little, pressing a light kiss to her lips.

Esmé smiled softly before she stepped away from him, kissing his cheek gently. “You’re very sweet” she commented gently.

“I know” Gerard smirked “Aren’t you a lucky girl?” he teased.

Esmé rolled her eyes gently before she moved towards the couch, kicking her shoes off. “Don’t you have something else you want to do? I can’t be the only person in the world you have to bother” she mused.

Gerard smiled and sat down beside her, wrapping arm around her shoulder. “I like bother you the most” he smiled.

Esmé giggled gently and leant her head on his shoulder, comfortable in his embrace.

“Are you not happy to see me?” Gerard mumbled softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Esmé shook her head. “Of course I am, Geri, you know I love seeing you, but it was just something Ella said when we were out” she noted.

“What did she say?” Gerard enquired gently.

“Just something about not getting carried away and keeping a level head. We’re new in this and she just wants me to be careful” she explained softly.

Gerard nodded his head softly before he placed his hand beneath her chin, causing her brown eyes to peek into his blues. “I want you to be careful, the last thing I want is you getting hurt all over again, but Esmé, I think we can afford to get a little carried away right now. It’s still so new, so fuzzy and wonderful, and I say we enjoy that whilst it lasts or before someone bursts our bubble” he explained gently. He understood Ella’s hesitation, it was one he didn’t doubt that Eloisa and Delia shared, but he wanted Esmé to relax. They were in a new relationship, one which they’d not tried before, and there was fun to be had in discovering its dynamics, something he didn’t want to lose immediately after it had been exposed to other people.

Esmé smiled softly at his sentiment and kissed the palm of his hand. “You’re right” she murmured.

“I usually am” Gerard smirked.

Esmé shook her head. “Scratch that. You should have sent the flowers” she teased causing Gerard to place his hands on her waist, leaning her into the couch whilst his fingers tickled at her side, earning a screech of laughter.

Gerard marveled at the soft sound and smiled. He was going to do whatever he could to make it work out right.