In the End

Grumbling quietly to himself, Gerard padded down the stairs, his ears filled with the repetitive sound of the doorbell which echoed throughout the house. It was early, with training not due to start up for a couple of days, Gerard had been keen to make the most of the opportunity to lay in for a little longer, and he was irked that he had been disturbed. It had been a long night for him, after he’d gotten home from dinner the night previous, he had struggled for a while to get to sleep, and he had been looking forwards to a quiet morning, something the person ringing his doorbell seemed intent on preventing.

Climbing down the last few steps, he stepped through the hall towards the front door before he pulled it open, rolling his eyes at the sight of Cesc and Lionel who stood on his doorstep. “I thought you were going back to London?” he grumbled, stepping out of the doorway in order to allow the others to step past him.

“I am” Cesc replied as he stepped inside “My flight is this afternoon, But I thought I could drop in on you before I left and Leo thought he could tag along. We even bought you breakfast so that you’d be more inclined to not just slam the door in our face” he teased, gesturing towards the bag of food which Lionel held in his hand. He knew that Gerard didn’t want them there, the look on his face as soon as he had pulled the door open had confided it, but he wasn’t about to take no for an answer, even if Gerard did put up a fight, he wanted to encourage the defender to let them in.

Gerard spared the bag a brief look, momentarily contemplating telling the two of them to leave, before he let out a sigh. “Go through” he mumbled “I’ll grab some plates” he added before he padded away, making his way quickly towards the kitchen. Stepping into the room, he gathered some plates and cutlery before he made his way back towards the living room, plopping down into an armchair a little away from the other two.

“Did we wake you?” Lionel asked.

Gerard, who’d moved to place some food onto his plate, shrugged. “I was kind of awake” he mused simply.

Lionel nodded his head quietly before he spared a brief glance towards Cesc, something which caused Gerard to shake his head before he let out a soft sigh. He knew why they were there, after the dinner that they’d all attended the night before, he had no doubt that they’d come to check up on him, and whilst he appreciated the thought, he merely wanted to duck the topic, not wanting to discuss Ariella and Adrian any more than was necessary. “You two really didn’t have to come here” he muttered “I’m fine” he added, his eyes dropping back down towards the plate in his hands.

Cesc spared him a slightly dubious look before he shook his head. “Gerard, last night...”

“It was fine” Gerard interrupted, his voice slightly irked “I mean, it was a little awkward, but that’s to be expected, isn’t it? I mean, she’s...she’s Ariella and Adrian is her boyfriend. It was always likely to feel a little weird to me, wasn’t it?” he babbled.

“Of course it was” Lionel confirmed gently “And that’s why we’re here. We just want to make sure that you’re doing Ok” he added. He knew that it bothered Gerard, even despite his attempts to put on a brave face throughout the previous night, he knew that seeing Ariella with Adrian had gotten to him, and he and Cesc merely wanted to make sure that he was doing alright, even if he knew that answer Gerard gave them wasn’t likely to be entirely true. They had wanted to give him the opportunity to talk about it.

Gerard scoffed at the word ‘OK’ but didn’t say anything, instead focusing his attention on the plate which sat in his hands.

Cesc and Lionel shared a look, allowing a moment of silence to pass between the three of them, before Cesc shook his head. “You know that you can talk to us, don’t you?” he mused “I mean, I know that what happened, it’s between you and Ariella, but...”

“What happened is that she dumped me” Gerard grumbled, grimacing a little as the word ‘dumped’ fell out of his mouth “After two years of trying to get together, after six months of actually being together, she dumped me, Cesc, and I...I don’t quite know if that’s something I am just going to get over. I love...loved her, I really did, and we managed to mess it up and now things are just uncomfortable between us and I don’t think either one of us really knows how to fix it” he added, a rueful smile playing on his lips.

Cesc shifted a little, moving a little closer to the defender, before he patted his shoulder sympathetically. “I know it’s a cliché” he mumbled “And I know how stupid it sounds right now, but you’ve just got to give it some time, hombre. It’s only been a few months” he added as reassuringly as he could.

Gerard sighed. “She knew what she was getting” he mumbled, pushing a hand back through his hair.

Lionel frowned. “What?” he asked.

“Ariella” Gerard noted “She knew how I was, we’d been friends long enough for her to know what she was getting into when we started to date, and I know I wasn’t anywhere close to being perfect, but I thought things were good between us. I thought we were pretty good together and now...” he trailed off, shaking his head as he mumbled the end of the sentence beneath his breath

Lionel quirked a sad smile before he leant forwards, patting the tall defender’s shoulder gently.

Gerard shifted a little at the feel of the reassuring pat before he shook his head. “Adrian seemed nice, though, didn’t he?” he mumbled.

Cesc and Lionel shared another look before Lionel nodded. “He did” he mused “I mean, not quite as nice as you...” he trailed off with a half-hearted smile.

Gerard breathed out a small laugh before he shook his head. “You can say you liked him, Leo” he quipped “I’m not going to be offended” he added.

Lionel offered him a dubious look, wordlessly asking if he was sure, before he nodded. “He seemed like a nice guy” he mused.

Gerard nodded stiffly. “I’m glad” he mumbled.

Cesc glanced at him, not quite believing him, before the sound of the house phone filled the air, something which caused Gerard to huff out a playful sigh as he pushed himself back to his feet. “That’s going to my mother calling for her weekly update” he quipped “I’ll be back in a few” he added before he padded out of the room.

Lionel and Cesc watched him step out of the room before they turned to look at one another, something which caused Cesc to let out a soft sigh. “You think he’ll be Ok?” he posed quietly.

Lionel merely shrugged. It had been months, after Gerard and Ariella had broken up, six months had passed, but still it weighed on the defender’s mind and it didn’t look as though it was going to go anywhere any time soon.