In the End

72: I Like It Too

Quietly sliding the door closed, Gerard padded across towards the small table, his eyes settled in the laptop which sat on its surface. It was early, with the time difference between Barcelona and Los Angeles where he and the squad were, he had had to get up earlier than usual to take a call from Ariella, but he didn’t mind skipping out on a few more minutes of extra sleep, even if the squad had arrived at the hotel late the night before. It’d been a couple of days since he had had the chance to speak with Ariella and he was looking forwards to it.

Ruffling his hair slightly, he tried to straighten out its wayward strands before he plopped down into the chair, scanning his reflection briefly in the screen of his phone before the sound of a call emanated away from his laptop, something which made him grin gently before he moved to answer it, his smile widening a fraction at the sight of Ariella and Toby who’s faces were quick to fill the screen. “Hi” he breathed after a couple of seconds.

“Hi” Ariella mimicked, an equally wide grin spread across her face.

Gerard stared at her for a couple of seconds, just admiring her, before he shook his head, pushing his hand back through his hair once more. “It’s good to see you” he mused “I mean, I know it’s only been a couple of days since we last talked but...” he trailed off, laughing awkwardly to himself.

Ariella giggled at his awkwardness before she shook her head. “You alright?” she posed.

“I’m fine” Gerard replied “It’s just early. We didn’t get to the hotel until pretty late last night and I had to wake up pretty early so that I could catch your call. I’m just not very awake yet” he explained.

Ariella tilted her head. “Do you want us to call back?” she asked “I mean, it’s still the afternoon here and if you want to...”

“I want to talk to you now, Ella” Gerard mused, cutting her off.

Ariella offered him a slightly questioning look, asking if he was sure, before she nodded her head, offering him a slightly shy smile as she gently tucked her hair behind her ear. Gerard watched her familiar nervous habit with a soft grin before he cleared his throat, breaking the brief moment of silence which had passed between the two of them. “How’s things there?” he asked, trying to spark a conversation between the two of them.

They didn’t have anything overly important to talk about, with their wedding plans progressing slowly, he knew that any decisions that they had to make were likely to be discussed in person when he returned to the Spanish city, but he wanted to keep talking to her, even if they didn’t speak about anything in particular. He merely liked hearing her voice and seeing her smile. He knew that it was a little silly, with him having been in America for a little under a week, they’d spoken most days, but still he missed her and Toby, even if he had seen them more than once. He still more than looked forwards to the conversations that they had via phone call and video chat.

Ariella, who’d moved to smooth out Toby’s dark hair, offered him a small shrug before she looked up slightly, peeking at the camera through her eyelashes. “Things are OK” she mused “I mean, the weather’s pretty amazing and we’ve spent a lot of time in the garden and at the park, which Toby loves by the way. My papa came over for a couple of days at the start of the week and we took Toby to the aquarium, which he seemed to enjoy, but other than that, it’s been pretty quiet. My madre keeps dropping by with wedding ideas and both Antonella and Daniella keep hinting at us going dress shopping at some point in the near future, but I think we’re still a little away from that. We’ve not even decided on a venue or a guest list yet” she added, smiling at her own words.

Gerard’s expression instantly brightened at the sight of her grin. “I thought you’d want to design your own dress” he noted “I mean, you design them all the time for other people. I thought you’d be pretty excited about getting to do it for yourself” he added.

“I am pretty excited about it” Ariella mused “But I am not sure which style will suit me best so I figured I could go and try on a few to get some ideas before I come up with a few preliminary sketches. My boss is already pretty excited about getting the chance to make my dress” she fussed excitedly.

Gerard marveled at her for a few seconds, admiring her warm smile and the excitement in her voice, before a dull thumping sound reached his ears, causing him to frown slightly before he lifted his head, catching sight of Lionel who stood beside the window, tapping his wrist. Sighing, he shook his head gently before he glanced back towards the laptop. “Lo siento” he mumbled “I think I woke Leo up and he doesn’t look too happy. I should probably go” he explained.

Ariella rolled her eyes, but nodded her head, offering him another soft smile. “I get it” she mused “But let him know that I am a little upset that his grumpiness ruined my phone call” she added teasingly.

Gerard laughed. “I will do” he mused “And I will call you tomorrow. We’re here for a couple of days before we fly home so I should be able to call tomorrow afternoon your time” he explained.

“I’ll look forwards to it” Ariella mused “But until then, adios from both me and Toby” she added, gently waving the little boy’s hand.

Gerard grinned and waved back. “Adios” he mused “I love you both” he added.

“We love you too” Ariella chimed before she hung up the call.

Gerard stared at the blank computer screen for a moment before he lifted it into his hands, shuffling back into the hotel room from the balcony.

“You know what time it is, right?”

Gerard, who’d moved to place his laptop back down into his suitcase, smirked at Lionel’s grumbling before he lifted his head, looking towards the argentine who’d climbed back onto his bed, his eyes sleepily scanning his phone. “I do” he mused.

“And your girlfriend knows that there’s a time difference?” Lionel grumbled.

“My fiancée” Gerard corrected “And yes, she does, but it’s been a couple of days and I was excited to talk to her” he added as he plopped down onto his own bed.

Lionel’s expression softened slightly at the defender’s words before he quirked a small grin, something which Gerard caught quickly, his eyebrow raising slightly in surprise. “What are you smiling at?” he quipped sheepishly.

“I’m smiling at you” Lionel replied “I mean, I know I can’t be the first person to have pointed it out, but you look really happy lately and I like that” he added nonchalantly.

Gerard smiled. “I like it too” he enthused.
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Thanks to Jayme112234 and mslou1 for the comments :)