When You Close Your Eyes

Sparing a soft look towards the door which stood ahead of him, Lionel let out a soft sigh, his stomach twisting at the thought of seeing Isabelle again. He knew that he couldn’t avoid it, even if they were about to break up, he knew that he couldn’t duck away from it, but a part of him wanted to, even if it was a little silly, part of him wanted to put the conversation off for a little longer.

Pushing a hand back through his hair, he briefly contemplated heading back up the stairs before he shook his head, quietly nudging the door which led to the living room open. Hesitating for a second, he spared another soft sigh before he stepped into the room, his dark eyes settling on Isabelle who sat on the couch, talking quietly to Shakira. “Isa?” he posed, his voice a little uncertain and quiet.

Isabelle, who’d been quietly conversing with Shakira, startled a little at the sound of his voice before she lifted her head, offering him a timid smile. “Hola” she greeted softly.

Lionel admired her soft smile for a couple of seconds before Shakira stood up, pulling his attention towards her. “I am going to leave the two of you to it” she mused softly “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask” she added before she stepped towards Lionel, offering his shoulder a light squeeze before she ducked out of the room, pulling the door closed with a soft thump behind her.

Lionel watched after her for a moment before he flicked his attention back towards Isabelle, an awkward expression on his face. “Isa…”

“We don’t have to talk” Isabelle interrupted softly, her blues fixed on her feet “I just wanted to drop off a set of clean clothes for you. You left quite abruptly last night and I figured…”

“I am sorry, Isa” Lionel interjected softly.

Isabelle, who’d been staring at her feet, furrowed her forehead at his words before she looked up, her blue eyes mirroring his darker ones. “What?” she squeaked softly.

Lionel shifted his feet a little before he shook his head. “I…I shouldn’t have left like I did” he stuttered softly “I asked you to talk me and when you did…I shouldn’t have left” he babbled softly.

Isabelle blinked a little at his words before she shook her head. “It’s OK” she noted softly “I mean, I hate that you left like that, but I get it. What I said, it must have hurt you” she added, peeking up at him softly. She knew that she had hurt him, the look on his face when the words had fallen out of her mouth had made it clear that her words had stung, and whilst she hated that he had left, she understood it, even if she had spent most of the night awake, she knew why he had walked away like he had.

Lionel mulled her words over briefly before he nodded his head softly. “It did hurt” he noted softly “But still…”

“I’m sorry” Isabelle murmured softly, cutting him off “What I said…I didn’t mean it that way, and I hate that you thought that I did. I know that you’re not like that, Leo, we’ve been doing this long enough for me to know that, but I…I just worry sometimes” she babbled, her cheeks tinting a little pink.

Lionel admired the soft hint of colour on her cheeks before he took a couple of steps forwards, his fingers lightly brushing a few loose strands of blonde hair off of her cheeks. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about” he murmured softly “You never have” he added gently.

Isabelle ducked her head a little, something which made Lionel smile, a little amazed that he still had the ability to make her shy. “I’ll admit, things right now do seem to be hard work between the two of us, but you have to know that I have no intention of just giving up and letting us go, Isa” he mumbled, his forehead resting gently against hers “I love you” he added, pressing the briefest of kisses against her lips.

Isabelle startled a little, not quite expecting the soft kiss, before she quirked a soft smile. “You know, I still get all giddy when you say that” she mumbled, her voice caught between shy and teasing.

Lionel smiled. “I love you, Isabelle” he repeated softly “And, I don’t know about you, but I do kind of like us, even if it hasn’t been fantastic for the last few months, and I don’t know that I am ready to let that go. We’ve still got a lot of talking to do, and we still need to be careful around your parents, but I want to work on this. I want to try and figure us out” he added, gently tucking some of her blonde hair behind her ear.

Isabelle mulled his words over briefly before she peeked up at him, her teeth gently nibbling on her lip. “You’re sure about that?” she posed quietly.

“Completely” Lionel responded firmly “I don’t want us to look back and think that we could have tried harder” he added.

Isabelle offered him a slightly dubious look, wordlessly asking if he was sure, before she nodded her head. “Ok” she murmured softly.

Lionel allowed the soft sound of her voice to hang around them for a couple of moments before he quirked a soft smile. “Ok?” he posed, his voice bright.

Isabelle offered him a shy smile before she nodded her head. “I kind of love you too” she mused softly “And if you want to figure us out, then I do too. I just don’t want this to become about going through the motions, Leo” she added, sparing him a soft look.

Lionel admired the soft expression on her face before he nodded his head, wordlessly promising that he wouldn’t let it happen.

Isabelle offered him another uncertain look, something which made him chuckle softly before he ducked into her, stealing a soft kiss. Isabelle startled, slightly caught off guard by the kiss before she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close for a couple of seconds before the sound of someone clearing their throat reached them, causing her to duck back, her blue eyes peeking towards Gerard who stood in the door way, a playful smirk on his face. “I hate to interrupt” he quipped “But, as happy as I am to see the two of you kissing and making up, we do have to get to training in the near future, Leo” he added, offering the argentine an impish grin.

Lionel rolled his eyes a little before he nodded. “I’ll be right with you, Gerard” he mused.

The defender nodded his head before he ducked out of the room, affording Lionel the chance to steal another soft kiss before he pulled away from Isabelle. “I do have to go” he mused softly “But I will see you later, right?” he added.

Isabelle offered him a small smile before she nodded. “I’ll see you at home” she quipped softly.

Lionel offered her a boyish smile before he moved to pad out of the room.

Isabelle watched after him for a couple of seconds before she shook her head, a soft smile playing at the corner of her mouth. She knew that it wasn’t fixed, one good conversation wasn’t anywhere near enough to fix things between the two of them completely, but she hoped that it was a start, even if they had a long way to. She hoped that they figured things out.