Would You Fall Too?

“Do you want me to go first?” Sergio posed as he carefully sat himself down on the couch, his dark eyes peeking at Emilie who had curled up away from him, her jumper wrapped around herself. She was nervous, it was written all over her face, but he didn’t want to let go of the progress he had made. The day before, she hadn’t even been able to look at him properly and now they were having a fully-fledged conversation, something he wasn’t going to let go of easily.

“Alright” Emilie murmured “What happened to you last night?” she posed, folding her legs up underneath her.

Sergio took in a breath before he looked down at his hands, closing his eyes. “I went out with my girlfriend” he murmured.

“The girl who always came by?” Emilie posed, recalling the pretty brunette who had frequented Sergio’s home in the past months.

“You keep tabs on me?” Sergio teased, looking up at her.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed a little. “Of course not” she replied firmly “I’ve just seen her around a couple of times. You do live next door” she pointed out.

Sergio flashed her a small smile before his mind drifted back to Pilar, causing him to frown softly again. “We’d been together for a while, a couple of years, and I really thought that we were in a good place. I loved her with all I had and so I made the decision that I wanted to marry her. I booked a table at her favourite restaurant, ordered a bottle of her favourite champagne and I waited for her to show up” he murmured, sparing Emilie a little look to ensure that she was listening. Much to his surprise, she stared right back at him, her sky blue eyes focused on him as though he was the most fascinating thing on the planet. Quirking a little smile, he fiddled with his hands before he spoke again. “She came, she looked wonderful, and I wanted to get it over with. Whilst she was reading the menu, I pulled the ring out of my pocket and got down ahead of her, I started to talk and then…she laughed” he murmured.

“Laughed?” Emilie squeaked, her eyes widening a fraction.

Sergio nodded his head. “She pulled me back to my feet, pushed the box into my chest, and told me that she didn’t want to marry me. After that, I found the first bar and got drunk, losing my front door key in the process” he explained.

Emilie listened to him speak, not missing the way his voice shook a little, before she edged towards him slightly, offering his arm a reluctant pat. “I…I am sorry” she stumbled out.

Sergio shook his head. “It’s not on you” he mused “I thought I knew what we were doing, where we were going, but I clearly misjudged it. She wanted different things than I did and I know that now” he rambled gently.

Emilie watched him, noting the way his eyebrows furrowed when he rambled, before she bit down on her lip. She wanted to distract him, it clearly hurt him to speak about the events of the previous night, but she simply couldn’t come up with anything interesting about herself to say. Wrinkling her nose in thought, she peeked around the room before it hit her. “I have a tattoo” she squeaked.

“What?” Sergio posed, sitting up a little.

“I have a tattoo” Emilie repeated gently “You told me to tell you something that not a lot of people would know about me and not a lot of people know that I have a tattoo” she rambled.

“Where?” Sergio poked, leaning back against the couch.

“It’s on my thigh, near the top, and nobody has ever seen it. Just me and the girl who put it there” she explained gently.

Sergio contemplated asking to see it, his curiosity sparked, but he opted against it. Emilie could barely look at him, he highly doubted that she would want to pull up her shorts to let him see it. “What is it of?” he poked.

“It’s a quote” Emilie mumbled “It’s from Romeo and Juliet. It says ‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves’. It’s one of my favourite plays, I’ve read it more times than I care to recall, but I love that quote and had it done a couple of years ago” she explained softly.

Sergio nodded his head. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” he mused “I kind of like it” he grinned.

“You’ve never read Romeo and Juliet?” Emilie squeaked.

“Do I look like the kind of guy who loves Shakespeare plays?” Sergio teased.

“You must have read it” Emilie squeaked “It’s the greatest love story of all time” she added.

Sergio noted the way her eyes lit up as she spoke about the book and smiled, kind of liking the way she lit up. “It’s not much of a love story. Form what I know, they both die in the end” he quipped.

Emilie shook her head and clambered off of the couch, padding towards the bookshelf. “I have a copy” she murmured, checking through the shelf before she came to a halt at the book, quickly pulling it off the shelf. “You should read this” she noted, handing it over to him.

“You want me to read this book?” Sergio quipped.

“You can read it, I think you’d like it, but you really don’t have to” Emilie murmured.

Sergio looked down at the book in his hand before he peeked back up at Emilie, noting just how beautiful she looked. “I can give it a look” he mumbled, pulling his eyes away from her “But only if you promise me that we can have another dinner after I have” he bargained.

“You want to have another dinner?” Emilie quipped, tugging her hoodie a little more around herself.

“This one has been nice” Sergio commented, quietly moving to his feet “And I know that you think so too, even if you don’t want me in your house” he teased, offering her another smile.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed slightly. “You’re not the worst person who’s been here” she mumbled.

“I’m almost touched by that, Emilie” Sergio smiled softly as he moved to collect his jacket “I’ll see you in a few days after I’ve finished this” he grinned, gesturing to the book which he held in his hand.

Emilie nodded her head, still slightly hesitant, but smiled nevertheless, a little less unsure of herself.