You Loved Me Once

“They couldn’t have called?” Lionel posed as he shuffled into his sweatpants, his eyes fixed on Alba who stood across from him, pulling on a pair of shorts. It had been a few minutes, after David and Annabella had arrived at Alba’s door, the couple had ushered themselves off to her bedroom, wanting to make themselves slightly more decent before they talked, but Lionel was a little desperate to avoid it. He knew what was coming, one look at David’s face told him what to expect, and he wanted to get out. He knew that David and Annabella had every right to be angry, after the way he had treated Alba at the end of their previous relationship, he would have been surprised if they had been anything less than furious with him, but he didn’t want face it, not when they were doing so well.

“I imagine that calling would have probably spoiled the surprise” Alba quipped as she tied her hair up “I think they wanted to catch us off guard” she added as she moved to collect her glasses from the end table.

“You still wear those?” Lionel noted, watching as she slipped the frames up her nose.

Alba shook her head. “It’s 5 in the morning” she commented “I cannot be bothered to put in my lenses. I merely want to get out there, get this over with, and go back to bed. Do you think we can handle that?” she posed curtly.

Lionel studied her face for a moment before he sighed, nodding his head. “They’re not going to be polite, you know that right?” he quipped as he stepped towards her, his fingers lacing through hers.

“I’ve met my papa before, Leo” Alba quipped “He’s not here to coo and fuss. He wants me away from you and he’s here to insist upon it” she noted softly.

“And you?” Lionel posed “What do you want?” he added as he leant forwards, his forehead gently resting against hers. He knew that it wasn’t going to be pretty, David Nunez had always been particularly protective when it came to his two daughters, and Lionel was expecting the worst, but he wanted Alba to reassure him, even if she had only recently insisted that she loved him. He wanted to hear her say that she was where she wanted to be.

Alba smiled. “I want this” she mused softly “I want you” she insisted.

Lionel grinned back at her before he stole a quick kiss, pulling away just as Annabella stepped through the bedroom door, her blue eyes narrowed on the couple. “Your papa would like to see you, Alba” she commented.

Alba nodded. “I imagine he does” she noted “You couldn’t keep him away, mama?” she posed.

Annabella sighed. “You don’t think I tried?” she posed “Alba, the last thing I wanted to do was come here and fight with you over this. You’re 28 years old now and more than capable of making your own decisions, no matter how stupid or naïve I think they are, but you know your papa. As soon as he saw those pictures of the two of you all over one another…”

“All over one another?” Alba scoffed “He’s my boyfriend, he kissed me. It happens” she added.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Alba” Annabella sighed “I just wish…why did it have to be him, sweetheart?” she posed, her eyes glancing towards Lionel who stood behind his girlfriend, his arms folded over his chest.

Alba shrugged. “How could it be anyone else?” she posed softly.

“He hurt you” David’s voice snapped from the door way “He broke your heart, Alba, and I cannot fathom why you’d want to be near such an arrogant and selfish…”

“Papa” Alba cut in.

David shook his head. “We would like you to pack your things, Alba” he noted.

“What?” Alba squeaked.

“Your things” David repeated, his voice even “We want you to come home and get yourself away from that man” he spat.

Lionel scoffed. “She’s not going anywhere” he insisted.

David’s expression tightened. “What?” he posed.

“She’s not going to leave Barcelona, Senor Nunez” Lionel noted “Her life is here, her job, her friends, she’s not just going to give that up because you want her away from me. She’s not some child” he insisted.

David clenched his jaw. “She is my daughter” he noted.

“And she is my girlfriend” Lionel retorted “I know that you don’t trust me, Senor Nunez, after what I did, I am slightly amazed that you’ve not hit me yet, but you cannot make her decisions for her. Alba’s a grown woman, and you cannot make her leave just because you don’t approve of me” he insisted, his voice slightly firmer than even he had been expecting.

David scoffed.

“He’s right, papa” Alba commented as she stepped forwards slightly, cutting off her father’s view of Lionel slightly “I am not going anywhere” she added.

“You’re better off at home, Alba” David noted “You’re better off without him” he added.

“Am I?” Alba posed “Papa, I appreciate that you are trying to look out for me, but I am not going to leave just because of this. I know you don’t believe me, but I am happy, papa” she insisted softly. She knew that yelling would get her nowhere, David was more stubborn than she was and would inevitably win if they ended up yelling at one another, but she wanted to appeal to his more sentimental side. She knew her father, all he wanted was to see her happy, and with Lionel, that was what she was.

David eyed his daughter for a second before he shook his head. “That’s not enough, Alba” he insisted “I trusted him, I believed him when he told me that he loved you, and I cannot let myself trust him again, not with you. You broke her” he spat, his eye glancing back at Lionel.

“Senor Nunez…”

“Do you have any idea what it was like to watch her fall to pieces?” David snapped as he took a step forwards, ushering Alba out of the way “She spent a month at home, crying over you. Do you have any idea what that is like to watch?” he snapped.

Lionel shook his head. “No, sir, I don’t” he noted “And I will never find the words to apologise enough for what I did, but your daughter and I…it’s not going to end just because you want it to” he insisted.

David clenched his jaw slightly before he turned his attention back towards Alba who had shied away slightly. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” he posed, his voice a little undecipherable.

Alba, who was messing with the arm of her glasses, nodded.

“He’s not good enough, Alba” David muttered.

“I think that is my decision, papa” Alba noted softly.

David shook his head. “I don’t understand how you could be so naïve, Alba” he muttered “He promised you the world and he threw it back in your face and you’re just going to go along with him?” he spat.

Alba sighed. “It’s what I want” she insisted “He’s what I want” she added, her hands reaching for Lionel’s which took hers hesitantly, offering it a soft squeeze.

David eyed their hands for a moment before he shook his head. “I think you’re making a mistake” he muttered “And it is not one I can support. He’s going to hurt you” he insisted.

Alba merely shifted, her blue eyes fixed on her feet.

David snorted. “Don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart all over again, Alba” he muttered before he moved to leave the room, Annabella on his tail.

Alba watched her parents out of the door, a sniffle falling out of her mouth.

Lionel, who stood beside her, tugged on her hand, pulling her into a hug. Alba startled a little before she buried her face into his shoulder, her petite frame shaking a little as she cried into his shirt. “They’re wrong, nena” Lionel mumbled as he brushed his hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her “I am not going to mess this up again. This is where I want to be” he insisted, but Alba merely sniffled in reply, not quite believing that her father had simply turned his back on her.