If It Gave Us Time

Grinning amusedly to himself, Gerard allowed his fingers to whir over the screen of his phone, replying to the text that Isla had sent to him. it’d been a little while, after they’d had dinner together at his home, a few weeks had passed, and whilst there was no denying that things between them were still more than a little uncomfortable, they were slowly starting to get easier, something which thrilled Gerard, even if he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. He was glad that some of the tension between the two of them was starting to dissipate.

They still had their moments, on more than one occasion, one of them had said something which had upset or irked the other, but, to Gerard’s relief, those moments were becoming rarer, leaving more and more time for the two of them to get to grips with how the other had changed over the years. They saw each other frequently, whenever they had spare time, it seemed they were together, and Gerard had to admit that he was enjoying having Isla around again, even if they’d yet to discuss whether there was ever going to be anything more than a friendship between the two of them. For the time being, he was merely glad to have his friend back in his life again.

Perfecting the text he wanted to send back to Isla, he tapped send on the screen before he tossed the phone down onto the bed, allowing him to look up, startling a little as his gaze landed on Lionel who stood in the doorway, an amused expression playing on his features. “How long’ve you been there?” the defender spluttered.

Lionel shrugged nonchalantly. “Not long” he mused “Long enough to see you grinning at your phone like a teenager, though” he added impishly.

Gerard rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything, allowing Lionel to keep talking. “I’m guessing that that’s Isla” he quipped, gesturing to the defender’s phone which vibrated at his side.

Gerard simply shrugged, something which made Lionel laugh. “You know that I know it’s her, right?” he quipped “I mean, you’ve been texting her all day and you’ve hardly been subtle about it. Are you really going to pretend to be shy now?” he added as he stepped a little further into the room, moving to collect a pair of shoes which he had left at the foot of his own bed.

Gerard, who’d moved to pick his phone up again, watched Lionel across the room before he shrugged. “I’m not being shy” he quipped.

“Sure” Lionel returned, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

Gerard scoffed quietly, but couldn’t keep a small smile off of his face. “What do you want me to say?” he quipped “I mean, yes, the person on the end of the texts is Lala, and I’ve been talking to her a lot. We’ve been seeing a lot of one another in the last few weeks” he explained as he read Isla’s latest text, something which made his small smile grow a little.

Lionel, who’d sat down at the foot of his bed, watched the defender for a second, marveling at his smile, before he shook his head. “How are things?” he asked.

Gerard shrugged, not looking away from his phone as he composed a reply to Isla’s text. “It’s hard to tell” he mused “I mean, things are easier now. After I explained what had gone on between us, things got a little easier, and I am glad about that, but we’re still trying to figure things out, I guess” he added, sparing a brief look towards Lionel.

The argentine nodded his head slowly. “How is it being around her again?” he asked.

Gerard’s expression lit up. “It’s been great” he admitted “I mean, I can’t sit here and say it’s been perfect, we’ve both got a habit of saying stupid things to one another, but...but honestly? Being around her has reminded me how much I missed her” he added, his voice softening a little.

It was far from perfect, even though things were getting between them, it still felt as though they were walking on eggshells around one another, but still he was glad that things had worked out as they had, even if their reunion had been bumpy. Being around Isla again had reminded him just how much he’d liked being around her before.

Lionel quirked a half smile, not missing the way the defender’s face had lit up. “You still like her” he commented as he bent over, tying the laces of his shoes.

Gerard quickly shook his head. “Leo...”

“Oh come on, Geri” Lionel interrupted “Your entire face lights up when you think about her. You like her, it’s obvious” he added with smirk.

Gerard stared at him for a second, surprised that he’d interrupted him, before he shrugged his shoulders, pushing a hand back through his hair. “It’s complicated” he mumbled “I mean, she’s...she’s beautiful, and she’s smart, and she’s funny...in a lot of ways, she’s the same as she was when we were kids, but, as you’ve pointed out before, we’re not kids anymore. I liked her then, I really liked her, but right now, I think we’re both trying to get to know each other again. It’s something we’ve got to do before we can even think about...about that” he added.

Lionel was quiet for a few seconds, taking in the defender’s words, before he nodded. “Have you thought about ‘that’?” he prodded cheekily.

Gerard merely offered him an unamused look, something which made Lionel laugh before he stood up, patting the defender’s shoulder. “I only came up to tell you that coach wants us downstairs in ten minutes” he added “If you think that you can pull yourself away from your phone for that long, that is” he added with a grin as he left the room.

Gerard rolled his eyes at the argentine’s teasing before he felt his phone vibrate in his hand, something which pulled his attention down towards it, smiling a little at the text that Isla had sent to him, asking if he was going to be free the following evening. Moving to type out his reply, he took notice of the smile on his face before he shook his head, quickly informing her that he had nothing better to be doing the next night.