In the End

Lightly stirring the pan of food which sat on the stove ahead of her, Ariella allowed a tired yawn to fall out of her mouth, her ears filled with the silence which echoed throughout the house. It was early, after the conversation that she had had with Gerard the previous night, she had found sleep difficult to come by, and after a few hours to tossing and turning, she had merely opted to get up, almost certain that she wouldn’t be able to get her mind away from the defender for long enough to get any more sleep.

She hadn’t been expecting it, with her having told him that she wanted to give him some space, she had anticipated that the next time that they spoke would be after she arrived back in Barcelona, but whilst his appearance had caught her off guard, she had to admit that she had been pleased to see him, even if their conversation had managed to keep her awake. A small part of her had merely been glad to be in the same room as him again.

Yawning quietly, she moved to pull her dark hair up into a messy ponytail before the sound of footsteps reached her ears, causing her to peek over her shoulder, her blue eyes settling on Jacob who stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “You’re still here?” he quipped through a yawn.

Ariella, who’d turned back towards the stove, breathed out a small laugh. “Good morning to you too, papa” she replied.

Jacob, who’d moved to pour himself a glass of juice, smirked a little at her joke before he padded towards the table, taking a seat beside it. “What time did you finally get to sleep last night?” he posed “I mean, I heard the door close after Gerard left. Did you get a lot of sleep?” he posed, trying to tactfully approach the topic of what had happened between his daughter and the defender. He knew that they had spoken for a while, a little after he had opted to turn in for the night, he had heard the defender leave, and he was curious about what they’d talked about, even if he knew that it wasn’t his business. He wanted to ensure that Ariella was alright.

Ariella quirked a small smile, amused by her father’s lack of subtlety, before she stepped towards the table, slipping into the seat opposite him. “You know that you can just ask, right?” she posed.

Jacob let out a light laugh before he shook his head. “I don’t want you to think I am intruding” he mused “I mean, you’re a grown woman now. You probably don’t want to talk to your papa about boys” he added.

Ariella smiled to herself, like she had thought of an amusing response, before she shook her head, offering a reassuring grin to her father. “I don’t mind” she insisted gently.

Jacob offered her a dubious look, wordlessly asking if she was sure, before he nodded his head. “Alright” he quipped “What was your ex-boyfriend doing on my doorstep, Ella?” he asked.

“He came to talk” Ariella replied, her blue eyes settled on the table ahead of her “He was in town for the match with Atletico and he thought he’d come by so that we could talk. I mean, I don’t think he had a clear plan of what he wanted to do when he got here, and I sure as hell didn’t know what to say to him, but we...we had a pretty good conversation” she admitted, a slightly bashful smile toying at the corner of her mouth.

It hadn’t been the easiest conversation, with both her and Gerard being nervous around one another, the talk that they’d had had been littered with awkward jokes and pauses, but she was still pleased with how it had gone, even if Gerard departed back to Barcelona. It marked a step forwards between them, one that she hadn’t thought that they were going to make. She knew that it wasn’t just going to slot back into place, after the mess that she had made of their relationship the first time around, she knew that she had a lot of work to do in order to prove to Gerard that their relationship was what she wanted, but their conversation had left her hopeful that Gerard wanted to try again.

Jacob noticed her smile before he gently shifted his foot, nudging it against her leg. “It was that good a conversation?” he asked curiously.

Ariella’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink before she gently reached her hand up, brushing a few stray brown hairs off of her face. “I think that it was a good conversation” she admitted thoughtfully “I mean, we talked about what had happened, and about...about the possibility of something happening next” she added, her blue eyes hesitantly meeting her father’s for a split second before she dropped them back towards the table.

Jacob tilted his head. “You talked about getting back together?” he pressed, his voice caught between curious and surprised.

Ariella merely nodded her head, something which caused Jacob to frown. “You’re not excited about that?” he pressed.

“Of course I am” Ariella replied quickly, shaking her head to dismiss the notion that she wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of her and Gerard trying again “I mean, you know how I feel about him, papa, and the idea that he hasn’t ruled out us...us trying again, it’s good news, but I...” she trailed off, mumbling the end of her sentence to herself.

Jacob glanced at her for a moment, studying the expression which had appeared on her face, before he shook his head, his hand moving to take a hold of hers which fiddled with the tablecloth nervously. “What happened, happened, princesa, but it’s gone now and you can’t change it. The important thing is what happens next. What do you want to happen next, Ella?” he murmured, squeezing her hand gently.

Ariella glanced down at their hands, allowing his question to hang in the air for few seconds, before Jacob shook his head, squeezing her hand once more. “You can’t keep hesitating, Ella” he insisted, his voice caught between encouraging and frustrated “You can’t keep shying away from things just because they’re scary or complicated. That’s a mistake you’ve made before, and if you make it again, then there’s not going to be a third shot with him, a guy I know that you know you’re crazy about. He wants to be with you, Ariella, and the only question remaining is whether or not being with him is something that’d make you happy. You either love him and want to be with him or you don’t. It’s really not that hard to figure out” he added firmly.

He wasn’t surprised by her hesitation, ever since she had been a child, she had been overly cautious and hesitant, but he wanted to push her, not wanting to watch her lose something with someone he knew that she cared about a lot. It had been obvious to him for a while, even before she and Gerard had started to date, Jacob had been pretty convinced that he would one day find himself addressing the defender as his potential son-in-law, and he didn’t want to watch Ariella let him slip through her grasp again. Chances were, she wasn’t going to find someone quite like the defender again.

Ariella stared down at the floor quietly, mulling over his words, before she nodded. “I love him” she mumbled quietly.

Jacob smirked. “What was that?” he pressed.

Ariella looked up at him. “I love him, papa” she repeated, a soft smile appearing on her lips.

Jacob admired her smile before he nodded, grinning back at her. “I know you do, princesa” he mused warmly “Now, maybe you ought to do something about it. I’d start by heading upstairs and checking flight times” he added.

Ariella looked at him, hesitating for a split second, before she nodded, something which caused Jacob to push himself up to his feet, wrapping her in a tight hug. Ariella flinched in surprise, caught off guard by the hug, but returned it warmly before she pulled away, almost jogging up the stairs, something which made Jacob laugh to himself before he shook his head, hoping that Ariella took his words to heart. He knew that it wasn’t like her, diving into something headfirst wasn’t something which came naturally to her, but he knew that it was a risk that she had to take if she didn’t want to lose Gerard. Her hesitation and nervousness had cost her once and he knew that if she let it get to her a second time, then that would be it for her and the defender.