You Loved Me Once

“On a scale of 1 to 10, just how annoyed is she?” Lionel posed as he watched Eva step into the kitchen. She had been gone for a while, Lionel assumed that it had taken a lot to calm Alba down, but he was a little curious. It had been a long time, since they’d broken up, he didn’t recall having seen Alba face to face, and a part of him wanted to, no matter how likely it was that she merely knocked him back. 5 years was a long time to go without speaking to the friend he’d had since he was a child.

Eva, who’d moved to pour herself a glass of water, shook her head. “If I were you, I’d steer clear” she warned gently.

“She’s still upset?” Oscar posed, a small frown on his face.

Eva scoffed. “Wouldn’t you be?” she countered “They were 3 weeks away from the happiest day of their lives and someone just changed their mind, without so much as a reason. She has every right to still be upset” she insisted. She knew that it seemed petty, 5 years was a long to hold a grudge, but Alba was well within her rights. She hadn’t done anything wrong, she’d been the perfect girlfriend, and she had every right to still bear a grudge. Within a moment, Lionel had tossed away years of friendship for no apparent reason.

Lionel sighed.

“She’s going to stay?” Oscar posed.

“I had to bribe her with dinner and a shopping trip tomorrow, but she says she will, just as long as I keep the two of them apart. She agreed to be civil” Eva noted.

Lionel shook his head. “You shouldn’t have sprung this on her, you know that, right?” he posed.

Eva nodded. “I do” she confirmed “But what choice did I have? If I had told her you were going to be here, she would never have come” she noted.

“Then you should have avoided inviting me” Lionel countered, shaking his head “She’s your friend, she has been for longer than me, and you should have just asked her. I should go” he insisted softly. He didn’t want to cause a problem, not so close to his friends’ big day, and he was more than happy to step aside. It meant a lot to Alba, being there for Eva, and it was something he was more than content to let her have. It was the least he could do for her.

“I want you here” Oscar insisted.

“You have tons of friends, Oscar, you have a brother too. You could get by without me” Lionel insisted.

“Neither one of you is leaving” Eva noted “It’s been 5 years and whilst I don’t expect that she will forgive you, I do trust her to behave herself when you are together. She’s 28, Leo, not 6, and I doubt that she’s going to want to cause a scene” she explained gently.

“I still think I ought to go” Lionel mused.

“You’re going to stay” Oscar noted firmly.

Lionel offered him a slightly dubious look before the sound of footsteps on the stairs caught his attention, causing him to turn and watch as Alba padded down the stairs, a light summer dress hugging her waist before it spilled over her legs. It hadn’t escaped him, just how good she looked, but he doubted she would want to hear it, especially not from him. Any words he said to her were likely to be greeted with a scoff or a comment that he had no retort to.

“I thought we were going, Eva?” Alba posed.

“We are. I just need a second to change” Eva noted before she stepped out of the room, quickly tailed by Oscar who mumbled an excuse.

Lionel watched the couple depart before he flicked his attention to Alba, not missing the way she stared at her feet. It was a tell of hers, once she had had since they were children, and he knew it meant she was uncomfortable, something he hated. “Alba” he murmured.

“I don’t want to hear it” Alba murmured, shaking her head quietly “I don’t want to listen to insist that there is no need for this to be awkward or whatever little apology you’re going to offer. This month is going to go by a lot quicker if you and I merely don’t say a word to one another” she insisted.

“And how is that going to work?” Lionel posed “We’re the best man and maid of honour, people are going to expect to see us communicate at some point” he noted.

Alba shook her head.

“Alba, it’s been 5 years” Lionel protested gently “Can’t you at least look at me?” he added, his tone a little desperate.

Alba scoffed. “Look at you? I don’t even want to be in the same country as you” she spat.

“Alba…”

“You don’t get to tell me how I get to feel about it, Lionel” Alba cut in “5 years or 5 minutes, I am entitled to be pissed at you and you have no grounds to tell me otherwise. I just want to get through this month, Lionel, and then I want to go home and pretend that you don’t exist again” she insisted.

Lionel sighed softly, his ears ringing with the cold tone that accompanied his full name. It had been a long time since Alba had called him ‘Lionel’.

“I am going to ask you this once, and then that is that. Do you think you can just leave me be for a month?” Alba posed, peeking at him slightly. She knew that it wasn’t going to be as easy as she made out, avoiding each other was going to be difficult, but she didn’t want to leave him unclear. She didn’t want anything to do with him and she highly doubted that she would again.

“It’s not that simple, Allie” he noted.

“Alba” she corrected coldly “You will call me Alba” she insisted.

Lionel nodded. “Alba” he noted “It’s not that simple” he added.

“It is for me” Alba noted “I’ll smile for the pictures, pretend that I can stand being near you, but I don’t want to talk about you, or about me, or about our past” she insisted.

“Alba” Lionel sighed “It’s been a long time. Perhaps talking will…”

“You said all you needed to say when you left me 3 weeks before our wedding” Alba interjected “You told me that all those years I spent with you were a waste of my time and that was that. There’s nothing else that needs to be said” she insisted before Eva stepped back into the room, informing her that she was ready to leave.

“Are we clear, Lionel?” Alba noted.

“We’re clear” Lionel agreed.

Alba nodded her head stoutly before she linked arms with Eva, following her out of the room.

Lionel watched her go and shook his head. He needed to talk to her, even if it was the last thing she wanted, he needed her to know just how sorry he was, but he doubted that she would make it easy. Just one look at her told him that she was about to make things more and more tense.