I Know I Was for a While

Lazily pushing his fingertips back through Camila’s dark hair, Lionel smiled gently to himself, his ears plied with the soft sound of her breathing as he watched her sleep at his side. He knew that they didn’t have much longer to themselves, with Lucille having insisted that she and Oscar would arrive as soon as they could that morning, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he heard the sound of the front door bell, but he wanted to make the most of the quiet, even if it was just a couple of minutes. He wanted to take a couple of seconds to marvel at how far things between him and Camila had come. He knew that it was still early, even despite the fact that they’d been official for a couple of months, he knew that their relationship was still very much in its honeymoon stage, but a small part of him wanted to fuss over how far they’d come, even if he was a little wary about getting too far ahead of himself. He couldn’t quite believe how well things seemed to be going for them.

Tenderly brushing her hair behind her ear, he felt his smile widen a little before he dipped forwards, pressing the lightest of kisses to her forehead. Leaning back, he checked that he hadn’t woken her before he shuffled away from her, moving to climb out of the bed. Stepping across the room, he moved to collect the pair of shorts that he’d left on the floor before he pulled them on, yawning softly into his hand.

“Are you sneaking out?”

Lionel, who’d been trying to straighten out his hair slightly, blinked a couple of times at the sound of Camila’s voice before he turned back towards the bed, a bashful smile spreading across his lips. “It’s my house” he quipped “Where would I sneak out to? My bedroom across the hall?” he added, his voice caught between shy and playful.

Camila, who’d been ensuring that the duvet covered her, rolled her eyes at his joke, but didn’t say anything, allowing a couple of beats of silence to pass between them before Lionel shook his head, a nervous laugh falling out of his mouth. Camila smiled a little at the soft sound before she shook her head, letting out a soft laugh of her own. “It’s not just me that feels a little strange, right?” she quipped.

Lionel shook his head. “It’s not” he quipped “I mean, last night was...it was wonderful, but this is a little...”

“Weird” Camila finished for him.

Lionel quirked a bashful smile before he nodded his head, agreeing with her. “It is” he mused “Do you want me to get out of here?” he asked.

Camila quirked a half smile before she gently reached her hand up, shyly tucking a few loose hairs behind her ear. “I didn’t say that” she mused.

Lionel tilted his head a little, something which caused a soft blush to spread across Camila’s cheeks before she shook her head, diverting her stare down towards the duvet which she clutched to her chest. “You can go” she babbled out quickly “I mean, if you want to, there’s nothing stopping you, I just thought...it’s still early and...” she trailed off quietly, her fingers wrapping the duvet a little more around herself.

Lionel watched her for a couple of seconds, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, before he shuffled back towards the bed, retaking a seat on his side of it. Climbing beneath the duvet, he rested his weight back against the headboard before he offered Camila a glance, something which made her roll her eyes before she shuffled a little closer to him, curling up against side.

Grinning, Lionel gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders before he tilted his head back, allowing a comfortable silence to settle over them for a few seconds before the sound of a phone vibrating filled the air, causing Lionel to roll his eyes before he shifted his weight, moving to collect his phone from the spot on the nightstand that he’d dropped it in the night before.

“Is it important enough that you need to answer it right now?”

Lionel, who’d been looking down at the phone in his hand, smiled a little at Camila’s comment before he shook his head, moving to drop the phone back into its spot. “It’s just my mother” he noted “I am sure that she can call back” he added, resettling his arm around her.

Camila, who’d been lightly tracing shapes against his stomach, nodded. “Any idea what she’d want?” she asked through a yawn.

Lionel shrugged, closing his eyes. “It could be anything” he noted “But it’s probably going to be about my plans for after the world cup. I mentioned to her at Christmas that I’d probably come back for a few days after Argentina’s last match of the tournament and she’s probably trying to make arrangements. She likes to make a fuss of me being there” he added, a playfully boastful smile on his lips.

Camila shook her head. “Are you going to go?” she asked.

“I think so” Lionel replied “I mean, nothing’s concrete yet, but I was thinking about it” he added.

Camila nodded her head, allowing a couple of beats of silence to pass, before Lionel spoke up again. “You could come” he suggested quietly, his dark eyes peeking down towards her.

Camila, who’d been happily tracing her finger over the pattern of the tattoo on his arm, stilled a little at his words, something which made Lionel shake his head, a familiar bashful laugh falling out of his mouth. “I didn’t mean to scare you” he mused uncertainly “It was just a thought. If you don’t want to...”

“You want me to?” Camila asked, cutting him off.

Lionel blinked a couple of times, surprised by the interruption, before he quirked a shy smile. “That surprises you?” he asked.

Camila merely looked up at him, something which made him shake his head, another soft laugh tumbling out of his mouth. “I love you, Mila” he breathed “I’m crazy about you, and of course I’d want to introduce you to my family. I’m excited about us and I can’t wait to share that with them, but if you want to wait, then that’s OK. We can take all the time in the world if you want to” he added warmly.

He knew what he wanted, with things between him and Camila going as well as they were, he had no worries about introducing her, and Oscar, to his family, but he didn’t want to push her into it, even if he knew that his family would love her, and Oscar. He didn’t want her to think that he was trying to make her take steps in their relationship before she was ready to.

Camila stared at him quietly for a few seconds, her dark eyes searching his face, before she gently shook her head. “They know about me?” she mumbled “About Oscar?” she clarified.

Lionel nodded. “They do” he confirmed.

Camila nodded her head slowly, mulling his words over, before the sound of the front doorbell filled the air, causing Lionel to shake his head, an amused sound falling out his mouth. “Saved by the bell” he teased as he pushed himself to his feet.

“Leo...”

“Think about it” Lionel interrupted, turning to look at her as he stepped towards the door “Just...think about it” he added with a small smile before he stepped out of the door, mumbling about finding a t-shirt before he answered the front door.

Camila watched him out of the bedroom before she gently leant backwards, allowing her head to fall back against her pillow. She knew that it meant a lot to him, the look on his face when he’d suggested it confided it, but still she remained a little apprehensive. It was a big step, meeting his parents, and Camila couldn’t help but hesitate a little, worried that a bad reaction from them towards her could cause a few bumps for something which had been going along smoothly.