Where We Are

Carefully pushing her hair out of her eyes, Maia moved to place some food down onto her plate, her mind still whirring with the conversation, and the kiss, that she and Iker had shared, It had been uncomfortable, when they’d first started to talk, she had doubted that they’d be able to get anywhere before it became too overwhelming, but she was pleased that they’d persevered, even if she knew that there was still a lot more talking that needed to happen between the two of them. She was pleased that they’d managed to get a few things off of their chests.

Moving to place the serving spoon down into the sink, she took in a soft breath, her mind flicking back to the kiss that they’d shared, a thought which had a fond smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. She had missed it, the feeling of kissing him was one of the things that she had missed most when they’d opted to end their relationship, and whilst she knew that things were still a long way from being fixed between them, she had enjoyed the kiss. It had been warm, it had been familiar, and a small part of Maia was hopeful that it was something she would have the opportunity to do again.

Smiling a little to herself, she shook her head before she moved to step back towards the counter, startling slightly as she spotted Iker stood in the doorway, an amused grin pulling at the corner of his lips. “Iker” she spluttered “What are you doing?” she added.

Iker shrugged. “I came to see if your offer of dinner was still good” he noted “What were you smiling about?” he added.

Maia’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink before she shook her head. “It was nothing important” she muttered.

Iker lifted an eyebrow in amusement, but didn’t say anything, instead simply opted to step passed her, moving to serve himself up some food. “I hope you don’t mind me sticking around for a little longer” he noted “I mean, if you’d prefer me to go...”

“It’s OK” Maia interrupted “Your company’s not so bad” she added, offering him a light smile.

Iker quirked a small smile at her joke before he stepped towards the kitchen table, settling his plate down before he took a seat. Maia mimicked his action, taking the seat opposite him, before the sound of her phone beeping filled the air around them, causing her to slip it out of her pocket.

“Is it anyone important?” Iker posed, watching as she read the text on the screen.

Maia shook her head. “My mother” she replied “She asked if I was available for a video call, but I told her that I was busy” she added, pushing the phone back into her pocket.

“You didn’t have to do that” Iker countered “If you wanted to talk to your madre, I could have gone” he offered.

Maia smiled a little at his offer before she offered him another shake of her head. “I speak to my mother all the time” she noted “I am sure that she can handle one night of not seeing me” she added.

Iker offered her a dubious look, asking if she was sure, before he nodded his head, something which caused a silence to settle between them. It wasn’t the first one, since Maia had dropped the news of her pregnancy on him, moments of silence between them had been frequent and often uncomfortable, and Iker knew that it wasn’t something which was going to change instantly, even if they had gotten a few things off of their chests, there were still things that needed to be said and he doubted the slight awkwardness that existed between them would be alleviated until they’d talked more.

“You OK?”

Iker, who’d been quietly pushing his food around his plate, lifted his head at the sound of Maia’s voice, offering her a small smile. “Why’d you ask?” he posed.

“I know that look” Maia replied “It’s your thinking face” she added.

Iker quirked a small smile, a little amused that she still seemed very aware of his facial expressions, before he shrugged. “I am thinking” he quipped “I mean, tonight...tonight’s been good, but I think we both know that there’s a lot more here that we need to talk about before we even think about trying to put ‘us’ back together again” he added.

Maia tilted her head. “Is that what you want?” she asked, her blue eyes briefly meeting his before they dropped down to her hands which fiddled nervously with her cutlery.

Iker watched her, not missing the nervousness on her face, before he leant over the table, capturing one of her hands in his. “I meant what I said earlier” he mused, knotting their fingers together “When I said that I...that my feelings for you haven’t changed, I meant it, and I want us to figure things out, but we both know that it’s not as simple as admitting that we messed up and agreeing to try again. We’ve still got a lot to figure out, even more so with baba on the way, and it’s something we need to be cautious about. Baba’s not an excuse to force this, Maia, we need to figure this out for the two of us, and that’s going to take time” he insisted, warmly skimming his thumb over the back of her hand.

He knew what it was that he wanted in the end, he wanted him and Maia and their baby to make a little family, but he knew that forcing things had the potential to simply make things worse. It was complicated, things between the two of them were complex and needed to be figured out, and Iker wanted to take his time, even if they did have a baby on the way. He didn’t want to push things forwards too quickly, not wanting them to fall apart.

Maia, who’d been watching the soft movement of his thumb, quietly mulled his words over before she lifted her head, her blue eyes peeking up into his darker ones. “You really think that we can figure this out?” she pressed.

Iker nodded, a warm smile on his face. “I do” he confirmed “I mean, I’m under no illusions, it’s not going to be the simplest thing we do, but I know what I want, Maia, and it’s us, and I want to figure it out. Don’t you?” he posed.

Maia hesitated briefly, something which made Iker squeeze her hand lightly. “If it isn’t what you want, just say the word” he murmured nervously.

Maia shook her head. “It...It is what I want” she murmured.

“It is?” Iker posed.

Maia nodded. “I meant it too” she replied “What I said to you earlier, I meant it too, and I do want us to try and figure it out, but it’s not going to be easy, Iker, especially since we’re only a few months away from baba coming along. Are you sure you don’t just want to wait until after they're here?” she asked.

Iker offered her a look, mulling over her offer, before he shook his head. “We’ve got time” he noted “Baba’s not due for almost six months, and we’ve got time to figure out if this, us, is possible. I want to take it, Maia” he insisted, lightly squeezing her hand once more.

Maia spared a look down at their hands briefly before she peeked up at him, offering him a small nervous smile. It was what she wanted, she wanted her and Iker to figure things out, and whilst she was nervous about it, she wanted to give it shot, even if it didn’t quite pan out the way that she wanted it to. She wanted to be able to say they’d given it their best effort.