Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“You know you look beautiful, don’t you?” Gerard murmured as he placed his arms around Esmé’s waist, holding her against him. It had been a few weeks, over a month since Esmé had made the trip to London to put a final end to things with Cesc, and since then, they’d gone from strength to strength, something which made the defender more than happy. It seemed effortless, when Esmé was around, Gerard seemed to be a more content individual, and he knew that that was a feeling he wanted to keep around for a while. It was still taking some getting used to, with Esmé living with him, it had taken a few days for them to come back down to earth, but since November had faded into December, they were good and everyone around them could see it.

Esmé, who had been neatly wrapping gifts, rolled her eyes a little, a small smile filling her features. It wasn’t uncommon, since she had moved in him, Gerard had become more and more affectionate, and it made it almost impossible to complete the simplest tasks, something which never failed to make her smile. It was a little clingy, the pair of them seemed incapable of going ten minutes without talking about the other, let alone touching them, but she didn’t mind. They were comfortable, happy, and she wanted to make it last for as long as she could before things started to get in the way again. Shaking her head, she craned her neck slightly and pressed a kiss against his lips. “You’re very sweet for saying so, but I still need to get these presents wrapped. My Madre’s leaving tomorrow night and I want to make sure that she has them” she explained.

“Remind me why your madre is flying out to Brazil for Christmas” Gerard murmured as he moved to lay down behind her, his blue eyes trained on her figure.

“Because she wanted to visit my abuela and my abuela couldn’t make the flight. I’d have gone too but…”

“But you had a better offer” Gerard smirked.

“That, and my madre wanted to go for the two weeks, Christmas and New Year’s, and you lot have a game on the 30th” Esmé reasoned.

“If you hadn’t have taken those days off to go to London, I am sure Enrique would have been more giving when it came to time off” Gerard teased, gently nudging her back with his foot.

Esmé shook her head. “It’s not like I am going to be alone for Christmas is it?” she reasoned, sticking another strip of tape to the festively decorated paper.

Gerard smiled. “You’re not” he confirmed softly “But you know that my parents are probably going to want to spend at least a little bit of time with us” he added.

Esmé nodded her head hesitantly. It wasn’t like it was the first time she had met his parents, in the 5 years that she had known him, she had met them numerous times, but it felt slightly different to her. Being his friend was one thing, being his girlfriend was an entirely different thing all together. Gerard watched the timid movement of her head and sat up, his legs shuffling to sit either side of her whilst his arms settled around her waist. “You know that they already adore you, don’t you?” he mumbled as he settled his head in the spot between her shoulder and neck, snuggling up to her.

“I know that they adore your friend Esmé” she reasoned, finishing up the parcel that she had been wrapping “Your girlfriend Esmé is a different prospect” she added.

Gerard shook his head. “You know that that’s not true” he mused, ducking his head to press a kiss against the thick material of the sweater she wore “They didn’t just like you because you were my platonic friend, they liked you because you’re a clever and witty girl who can make anyone smile” he explained.

“You’re biased” Esmé returned.

“True” he admitted “But I know that you’re freaking yourself out over nothing. Do you honestly expect that in the last 4 months I haven’t spoken to my parents about the prospect of them coming to see us?” he quipped “Esmé, they’re as thrilled as your madre is about the prospect of us and whilst they remain a little hesitant about your past, one look at us should be enough to convince them that it is nothing more than a slight qualm that they needn’t worry about. We’re pretty great together” he enthused, leaning up to press a kiss to her cheek.

Esmé blushed. “Only pretty great? For you, that’s understated” she teased.

“I was trying to be modest” he mused.

“That’s not the man I fell for” she smirked.

Gerard chuckled, his chest vibrating against her back. “Are you nearly done wrapping?” he posed, his lips nipping at her neck.

“I haven’t wrapped anything for my abuela, and I have wrapped 3 presents for my madre” Esmé returned.

Gerard let out a small groan. “Why’d you have to be so nice?” he muttered “If you just liked people less, I would not have to wait right now” he muttered.

Esmé snorted. “When did you get so whiny?” she teased, moving to collect another gift from the bag which sat just off of the side of the bed.

“I am not whiny” he retorted “I just like it when you and I…”

“You’re whiny” Esmé interjected, shaking her head teasingly.

Gerard shook his head. “Then I must ask what it was about me that made you fall for me” he quipped “Because if I’m whiny and have troubles being modest…”

“You make me smile” Esmé replied simply, her hands still contently wrapping the gift which sat between her legs “You have an amazing knack for timing, you can hug me like no one else can, and that’s all without mentioning just how handsome you are. It’s not rocket science why I fell for you” she shrugged.

Gerard listened to her words before he carefully leant forwards, shuffling the half wrapped present back into the bag at the edge of the bed.

“What are you doing?” Esmé mumbled, tilting her head to look back at him slightly.

“What do you think I am doing?” he smiled “You said your madre leaves tomorrow night and that means you can wrap them tomorrow morning before we go and see her. Right now, your whiny boyfriend would like more of your attention” he added before he ducked down, pressing his lips to hers in a way that made her head spin a little. It was still new, the way things were between them was still slightly unfamiliar, but she could see herself getting used to it. He had a knack, a skill for saying the right thing, and she had to admit, whilst it proved a distraction, she couldn’t have wished for a better one.