Would You Fall Too?

Staring at Sergio’s front door, Emilie swallowed, trying to work up the nerve to knock. She knew that it would be a little strange, in the 3 months that they had been speaking, she had never once knocked at his door, but she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to get it over with, like taking a plaster off a cut, and she knew that she would lose her nerve if she walked away. Keeping her nerve had never been a strong point of hers. Taking a calming breath, she looked at the door again and moved to step towards it, only to back off slightly. “Come on Em” she murmured “It’s a door” she added.

“It is” Sergio’s voice caught her off guard.

Emilie jumped, her hand landing on her chest. “You scared me” she murmured.

Sergio smiled. “You’re standing on my doorstep” he mused, padding up beside her “It was a little bit of a shock for me too” he teased.

“I want…could we…?” Emilie stumbled out, a small blush on her cheeks.

Sergio nodded. “You want to talk?” he posed as he moved forwards, slipping the key into the lock.

“If you’re not busy” Emilie noted “I’d hate to be an inconvenience” she added.

Sergio offered her a smile and shook his head, pushing the door to his home open. “Emmy, you’re a lot of things, But you’re no inconvenience” he smiled, offering for her to walk in ahead of him. Emilie flashed him a hesitant smile in return and walked inside, trying to recall all of things she had worked out meticulously on the walk home. She had given it a lot of thought, the things she wanted to say to him, and she merely hoped she could keep her nerve long enough to get them out. One way or another, their friendship was going to change and she didn’t want to delay the inevitable.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Sergio posed as he placed his bag beside the door, his dark eyes looking up at her briefly.

“No” Emilie replied “I just came from coffee with Isla” she noted.

Sergio nodded his head. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure, Emmy? You’ve never visited me before” he commented, leading her through to the living room. He was curious, since their walk a couple of days previous, Emilie had seemingly been avoiding him, and he wondered just what it was he had done. He’d clearly said something or done something which upset her.

Emilie stared around his living room for a moment before she turned to face him, her breathing catching slightly.

“Em, you’re starting to worry me” Sergio half-teased as he watched her.

“I want to say something and I want you to let me get all of the way through it before you say or do anything, Ok?” she noted.

Sergio furrowed his brow, but nodded his head. “Alright” he agreed.

Emilie swallowed a little before she turned her eyes down to her feet, taking in a deep breath. “I’m not the type of girl people tend to like easily. I am sharp and I am sarcastic and I don’t tend to make friends easily but somehow I did it with you” she murmured, her eyes not once taking the plunge and looking up at the man who stood a distance away from her, his eyes on her. “I didn’t want to be your friend, I didn’t want to get to know you or spend time with you at first, but your sheer persistence persuaded me and I reluctantly let you into my life and I don’t know how to feel about it. I have walls, Sese, walls that I have built up around me for years and somehow…somehow you got through them” she mused.

Sergio furrowed his brow a little. “I don’t really understand what you’re saying, Emmy” he noted.

Emilie took in a breath. “I am saying that despite my efforts, I think I like you and I need to know, no matter how juvenile it is, whether or not there is any hope that you could like me too” she noted.

Sergio tilted his head slightly. “You like me?” he posed.

Emilie nodded her head, a shy expression on her face.

“Emmy, I don’t…”

“I shouldn’t have said it” Emilie interjected, sensing an impending rejection “I…I’m sorry” she spluttered before she made a move towards the door.

“Emmy” Sergio called as he followed her “Emilie” he added as she reached the front door.

“You don’t have to say it, Sergio” she commented, shaking her head gently “You don’t feel the same way” she added.

“I didn’t say that” Sergio insisted, his feet taking small and frantic steps towards her “In fact, I didn’t say anything. You butted in before I had a chance to” he added.

“You didn’t need to” Emilie shot back “No good sentence starts with the phrase ‘Emmy, I don’t’” she protested.

“How about, Emmy, I don’t know why you waited so long to tell me?” Sergio quipped, standing ahead of her “Or, Emmy, I don’t know how you haven’t seen that I feel the exact same way you do? Come on, Em, do you really think I would keep hanging around if I didn’t like you?” he posed.

“I am talking about the other kind of like, the ‘I kind of want to kiss you right now’ kind of like” Emilie noted.

“I am aware of that” Sergio commented “And my response is still the same. Emmy, the only reason I haven’t kissed you or made a move on you yet is because I didn’t want to scare you. Something clearly happened to you before, I don’t want to ask what, but I don’t want you to add me a pile of reasons why you think people are bad, so I opted to wait until you were ready. I didn’t think I was being so subtle” he noted, grinning.

Emilie furrowed her brow. “So you like me?” she posed, her tone a little baffled.

Sergio chuckled. “Did you not just follow that conversation?” he teased.

“I was just clarifying” Emilie mumbled, folding her arms over her chest.

“Well, it would appear that you like me and I like you and that we’re wasting time stood here talking when I could be kissing you” Sergio grinned, taking a little step towards her.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed. “You’re not pulling some joke on me, are you?” she posed, very aware of how close he was.

Sergio shook his head. “You think I would joke about this?” he smiled, his hands gently settling on her hips, making her jump a little.

“I don’t know, Sese” she murmured “I just don’t want to regret this” she added.

Sergio kissed the end of her nose, causing her to look up at him “You’re not going to regret me” he grinned before he gently tucked the hair out of her face, pressing their lips together for the first time and for what Emilie hope was not the last time.