Give Me Your Heart

Wrinkling his nose a little, Gerard blinked his blue eyes open, his nose plied by the soft scent of food which emanated around the room. It was late, after the match the previous night, he had opted to spend the night in Riley’s hotel room as opposed to his own, and whilst he was a little surprised that he had been able to sleep in, he was grateful that Riley had left him to it for a little while. He knew that there no changing it, no matter how disappointed he was, there was no way he could change the outcome of the match, but the pain of the defeat hadn’t dissipated entirely and, for a little while at least, he wanted to keep a low profile.

Sniffing a little, he sat up in the bed and looked around for a second before he spotted Riley in the door way, Alexander sat happily in her arms. “I thought you’d wake up if you could smell food” she teased gently.

Gerard, who’d moved to stretch a little, quirked a small smile before he pushed himself to his feet, moving to collect the pair of shorts he’d stowed on the dresser the night before. “What time is it?” he posed.

“It’s almost 10:30” Riley noted “I figured you’d want to hang out here for a little while before we head over to your hotel to…” her voice trailed off as she spared a nervous look towards her feet, something which made Gerard shake his head.

“You can say it, Ry” he noted “Before we go and get my stuff so that we can go home” he added gently.

Riley offered him a slightly dubious look before Alexander let out a small squeak, causing her to smile gently. “I think someone would like to say good morning to his papa” she mused as she carefully stepped towards Gerard “He’s missed you” she added as she moved to place the little boy in his arms.

Gerard watched her for a second before he flicked his attention to Alexander, offering the baby a warm grin. “Hola, little one” he grinned brightly.

Alexander stared up at him before a lazy smile appeared on his face, something which caused Gerard to press a soft kiss against the top of his head, cooing to him gently in Spanish.

Riley admired the two of them for a second before she moved to take Gerard’s spare hand, carefully leading him through towards the other room where she had set the plates she had ordered from room service on the table. “I figured we could eat and then head back over to your hotel to get your things. I’ve not looked into flights back to Barcelona yet, but I figured, even if we can’t get one for a couple of days, you could stay here” she noted softly.

Gerard, who was still happily cooing to Alexander, looked up at her for a second before he smiled. “You know, you don’t have to walk on eggshells around me, Ry” he quipped, not missing the slightly uncertain expression on her face. It wasn’t new, after he’d arrived at her hotel room the night before, she had appeared a little unsure of what to say around him, but he wanted to offer her a little reassurance. Despite the fact that the defeat still hurt, he was OK and didn’t want Riley to feel nervous around him. He merely wanted her to be herself around him.

“I know” Riley noted “I just don’t want to keep going on about it” she added.

Gerard smiled a little before he reached his spare hand out, tugging her a little closer to him. “You’re fine, nena” he insisted softly.

Riley offered him a slightly dubious look, something which caused Gerard to tug on her hand, carefully guiding her into a kiss. “I’m glad you’re here, Ry, more than glad, and you can rest assured. I am going to be fine” he mumbled as he pulled back, offering her a small smile.

Riley admired the look on his face before she pressed a kiss against his cheek, mumbling something about being glad she was there too.

~#~
“How much stuff did you bring?” Riley quipped as she sat herself down on Gerard’s bed, her blue eyes watching as he folded his clothes into his suitcase.

Gerard, who sat on the ground ahead her, shrugged. “Enough for a little over a month” he quipped, folding up another shirt “I didn’t want to be phoning home after a couple of weeks to ask you to send me some more underwear” he added with a half-smile.

Riley shook her head before she moved to her feet, collecting another pile of his shirts from inside the dresser. “I can finish up in here” she noted softly “Why don’t you go and get whatever you left in the bathroom and then we can get out of here” she posed.

Gerard offered her a small look before he nodded his head, moving to pad towards the bathroom.

Riley watched after him for a moment before she sat herself down on the ground, neatly folding his shirts and placing them into his suitcase before she turned around, emptying out the next drawer. Filing through the pairs of unworn socks, she neatly folded them before she came across a brochure which had tumbled out of the drawer along with the rest of the content.

Shuffling the clothes aside, she picked the brochure up before she tilted her head to one side, her blue eyes widening a little as she studied the topic of the catalogue. It wasn’t something they talked about a lot, after her reaction to his drunkenly admitting that he wanted to marry her, the topic of an engagement had been something they’d avoided, but just one look at the brochure in her lap confirmed that it was still on his mind, something which had knots in Riley’s stomach. She had little doubt that they would get there, after they’d gotten back together, things between the two of them had been wonderful, but still she was a little wary. It had only been a few months and, despite the fact that they had a son together, part of her was still hoping to take it slowly.

Eyeing the brochure for a second longer, Riley blinked a couple of times before the sound of Gerard’s footsteps reached her, causing her to quickly stow it inside of his suitcase before he ducked back into the room. “You almost done in here?” he quipped, a grin on his face.

Riley was quiet for a second before she quickly fixed a grin on her face. “I am” she confirmed “You nearly ready to get out of here?” she posed as she pushed herself to her feet.

Gerard nodded his head. “I am” he confirmed “I’ve just got to check out and then we can go and collect Alex from my parents. I was thinking we could have movie night” he enthused as he moved to zip up his bag.

Riley nodded her head. “That sounds great, Gerard” she mused, trying to keep her voice calm and assured. She knew that they’d have to talk about it, the last thing she wanted was to watch him get down on one knee only for her not to be sure of what to say, but for a little while she wanted to put it off, not wanting to cause them a problem.