Would You Fall Too?

“Where are you going?” Rene posed as he watched his brother step down the stairs, fully dressed despite the fact it was only just 7 in the morning. It had been a few days, since Emilie had walked out, Sergio hadn’t spoken to her, but he wasn’t about to let it continue. It was Christmas morning after all and he knew that she had no plans to spend it with her family or Isla.

“I’m going to see Emmy” Sergio replied, his hand gripping at the hand of the bag in his hands.

Rene tilted his head. “Why?” he posed.

“Because it’s Christmas morning and she’s my girlfriend. I want to wish her a merry Christmas” he noted simply. He could tell that his family weren’t fond of her, after the way she had walked out, his mother in particular had been vocal about his ability to find someone who could cope better, but it didn’t faze him. He wanted Emilie, he had done for a while, and he wasn’t going to let one mishap or one disagreement ruin what he had worked so hard to perfect.

“You know that mama isn’t fond of her” Rene commented, sipping on his coffee.

“Last time I checked, Mama isn’t the one who’s dating her” Sergio replied, carefully lifting his keys and slipping them into his pocket “Look, I know she didn’t make the best first impression, but once you get to know her, Emmy’s the sweetest and most wonderful woman I’ve met and she makes me happy. Ok, she’s not like Pilar, but given the way that things ended there, it’s better that way. I love Emilie, I do, and if you all could get used to that, I’d be grateful” he explained before he stepped out of the front door, closing it quietly behind.

Rene watched after his bother and sighed. He knew that Sergio had a point and he wished that the others could see it.

~#~
“I’m coming” Emilie muttered as she skittered down the stairs, her ears doused by the repeated ringing of the doorbell. It was still early, with her plans with Sergio have been scrapped, Emilie had planned on a lie in, but whoever was at the door clearly had other ideas, something which irked her slightly. She felt awful, walking away from Sergio had been the worst thing she could have done, but in the moment, it had seemed like the right call. She wasn’t going to be welcomed into the family, the way his mother looked at her and spoke like she wasn’t even in the room made that abundantly clear, and Emilie merely didn’t want to be a problem. In her mind, his family was far more important to him than her and she didn’t want to get in the way.

Wrapping her sweater around her a little more, she pulled the door open, her complaints dying on her tongue as she spotted Sergio who wore a kind smile. “Hey” he smiled.

“H…hey” Emilie spluttered “What are you…?”

“It’s Christmas” Sergio interrupted with a small shrug “I couldn’t not see my girlfriend on Christmas morning. Can I come in?” he posed gently.

Emilie swallowed, but nodded her head, allowing him to step inside. “Aren’t you supposed to be next door?” she posed quietly.

“It’s early” Sergio replied “Only my brother was up and I figured you would be. I didn’t wake you, did I?” he posed.

“No” Emilie lied gently.

Sergio smiled at her softly before he offered out the bag which he held in his hand. “These are for you” he noted gently.

Emilie reached out and took the bag from him, offering him a small smile. “You didn’t have to get me anything” she noted softly.

Sergio snorted. “What kind of boyfriend would that make me?” he posed gently.

Emilie shook her head. “Sergio…”

“Emmy, I am not just going to let you dump me” he interrupted gently, his eyes peeking up at her briefly “I get that you were overwhelmed the other day, I understand that, but you can’t just dump me, Emmy. I’ve not done anything wrong” he insisted gently.

“You’re not the problem” Emilie murmured.

“And neither are you” he refuted “Emmy, I don’t care what anyone thinks of us, it boils down to this. I love you. You love me. That’s all that is important” he insisted.

Emilie listened to him carefully before she shook her head gently. “It’s never going to be that easy” she murmured “It’s been months and I can’t even bring myself to take off your shirt without shaking. You don’t need to be held back by me” she muttered.

Sergio shook his head and moved closer to her, his hands gently cupping her face. “You’re not holding me back” he insisted “You’re doing nothing of the sort. I want to make this work, Emmy, and I will be as patient as I have to be to make sure that you are OK. I don’t want us to fall back into what we were before, where we barely spoke or acknowledged that the other existed. What we have going on here is a good thing and I don’t want to lose that, mi amor” he explained softly, his forehead gently resting on hers.

Emilie closed her eyes, relishing the closeness for a second, before she carefully pulled away from him. “I don’t want you to hate me” she murmured.

“Never” Sergio promised.

Emilie licked her lips gently before she levelled her blue eyes with his dark ones. “I think I want to break up” she murmured.

Sergio’s eyes widened.

“I…I believe you” she insisted “When you say you love me and that you want to make this work, I believe you, but I can’t…I can’t do it to you. You deserve someone who can give you everything you give them and that…that’s not me” she explained carefully “I don’t want to fall back to where we were either, but I don’t think I can be the one who gives you what you’re looking for. You deserve more than me and I am done pretending that that’s not true” she mused before she carefully pushed herself up onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

Sergio placed his arms around her, holding her close, before Emilie pulled herself away from him. “You should go” she murmured as she opened the door for him.

Sergio swallowed, unable to find the words to refute what she had said.

“Te amo, Sese” she murmured as he stepped out of the door.

Sergio stared blankly ahead of him, jumping a little when the door shut with a thump, before he mumbled out the same phrase in return, not quite believing that it was over with.