Love Me Until My Heart Stops

“You really need to think about getting out of here, Esmé” Gerard commented as he scanned around the apartment, his nose wrinkling slightly. It wasn’t awful, much like it always was, Esmé’s apartment was near spotless, but Gerard didn’t like the idea that she was still cooped up in it. It had been a couple of days since she had officially ended things with Cesc and with a few days of holiday, she had opted to take the away from Barca, and away from Gerard who was still trying his hardest to make sure that she was alright. She didn’t want to talk about it, Gerard knew it, but that didn’t mean he was merely going to pretend that it wasn’t happening. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was grieving for her relationship and Gerard wasn’t going to let her go through it by herself, especially when she had so willingly stepped in when things with Shakira had gone wrong.

“I’ve thought about it” Esmé mumbled, her finger picking at threads on the throw she wore over herself “And I have opted against it. I appreciate the check-up, Geri, but right now, I want to wallow” she mumbled.

“I said the same thing to you” the defender replied, sitting at the foot of the couch.

“What?” Esmé sighed.

“When Shakira and I broke up, I said that to you. Do you remember what you did?” Gerard posed, shifting her legs so that her feet rested in her lap.

“Gerard” Esmé complained, tipping her head back.

“You slapped me around the back of the head and told me to stop being such a moron” he quipped, a little grin pulling at the corner of his lips.

“Are you going to do that to me?” Esmé posed, sitting up once more.

Gerard laughed, but shook his head. “Of course I am not, I am nowhere near as outspoken as you are, Esmé. But I am done letting you sitting around and mope about a man who isn’t even worth your time. He’s the screw up, the one who made the mistake, and I am done with you acting like this is your fault. It’s not” he explained simply.

“You don’t know that” Esmé reasoned.

“Esmeralda Silva, I know you” Gerard grinned, watching as her nose wrinkled at the mention of her full name “And I know that no matter what you did, it provides no justification for what he did. You were a wonderful girlfriend, I know it and you know it, and you need to get that through that skull of yours” he insisted, earning a small laugh from Esmé. She knew that he had a point, about ninety percent of the time, Gerard was right, but just listening to him ramble made her laugh. He sounded a lot like she knew her father would have sounded if he had been saying the same thing.

Gerard noted the soft sound and grinned. “That’s a sound I like to hear” he enthused.

Esmé shook her head. “You have a knack” she commented.

“It’s a gift and a curse” Gerard replied dramatically, earning another snicker from the brunette.

“Have I thanked you today?” she posed, pulling the blanket a little closer to her.

“For what?” Gerard replied, his index finger tracing the tattoo of the Barcelona crest which sat on the inside of her left ankle.

“For being the most wonderful best friend a girl could have asked for” Esmé quipped.

“You don’t have to thank me for that” Gerard dismissed with a shake of his head “Especially since you did the same for me” he added.

“That was different” Esmé quipped.

“How so?” Gerard smirked “I was with a girl I considered to be the love of my life, we were happy, and then the shit hit the fan and we broke up. How exactly does that differ from what has just happened between you and Cesc?” he teased.

“Your girlfriend didn’t cheat on you” Esmé quipped.

“Your boyfriend didn’t merely decide that you were no longer good enough” Gerard countered, smirking.

Esmé rolled her eyes. “Are we seriously having a debate over which one of our break ups was more miserable?” she quipped, laughing a little.

Gerard feigned thinking for a moment before he nodded. “You’ve officially brought me down to your level of moping, thanks Esmé” he scoffed playfully.

Esmé shook her head. “You were the one who chose to come here” she returned “I was quite happy moping by myself” she added.

Gerard shook his head, his face growing a little more serious. “You can’t stay here forever” he murmured “I know what it feels like, but I know in the end, stopping thinking about it was the best thing I did. I am not saying that getting over it is simple, god knows it isn’t, but I am saying that going back to work will be good for you” he added.

“Does everyone know?” Esmé questioned gently.

“Leo knows” Gerard confirmed “And he heard it from Javier who’d heard it from Andres. I can only guess that the others know too” he added.

Esmé nodded her head. “Did they say anything?” she posed.

“Only that they wished it hadn’t happened to you. Esmé, they might have known Cesc longer than they have you, but that doesn’t make what he did less awful. No one I know is on his side” he explained, offering her hand another squeeze.

Esmé nodded her head softly. “You have a game tomorrow night” she noted.

“We do” Gerard confirmed “How about, you come back to work tomorrow, watch the game, and then on Thursday night, I will treat you to a Cesc-free night out. We could do whatever you wanted to do” he offered.

“You really don’t have to do that” Esmé dismissed, shaking her head.

“Yeah, I do” Gerard countered “When I was in the state you are now, you took me to a theme park, even despite your fear of rollercoasters and your hatred of fried food. You did it for me, and I want to return the favour” he quipped.

Esmé rolled her eyes. “I didn’t do that so that you would do it for me” she returned.

“I know” Gerard smiled “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it” he added.

Esmé shook her head, but couldn’t stop herself from smiling, something which made Gerard grin too. “That’s a yes, right?” he grinned, his finger poking the side of her lips. Esmé giggled and nodded her head. “Good” Gerard commented “I am glad that you agreed” he added.

Esmé smiled. “You’d not have given up until I did say yes” she pointed out.

“That’s probably true” he admitted “But it is the right call. I know it seems really shit right now, I remember the feeling distinctly, but it does get better just as long as you take things one day at a time. You’re never going to forget it, what he did, but you’ll learn to live with it and I want to help with that because you helped me to do it” he mused.

Esmé smiled softly and leant forwards, kissing his cheek softly.

She wasn’t quite sure what she would have done without him.