If It Gave Us Time

84: It’s Funny To Me

Pushing the car door closed, Gerard let out a quiet sigh, resting against it for a few seconds. It wasn’t overly late, with Barcelona’s first match of the New Year having kicked off in the early afternoon, he had gotten home early in the evening, but still he was hesitant about heading inside, not quite sure he had it in him to force a smile onto his face for Isla’s family after the poor performance that the team had put in.

It had become a regular occurrence, since Maddie had arrived, the weekly dinner that Eva and Daniel liked to schedule with their children had started to revolve more and more around Gerard’s matches for Barcelona, and whilst he liked the idea of Isla in particular watching when he played, it did mean that her parents and Rodrigo were often still around when he got back from home matches, something he didn’t particularly love when he knew the performance had been bad. They didn’t tend to talk about it, if the result wasn’t a good one, they did tend to skirt around it, but still their being there inconvenienced him slightly. After a game like the one the team had played that day, he wanted to do nothing but settle in for a quiet night with Isla and Maddie.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he took a few more seconds for himself before he pushed himself away from the car, reluctantly padding up the front path. Slipping his key out of his pocket, he pushed the door open before he stepped inside, quietly nudging the door closed behind himself before he stopped in the hall, frowning a little to himself at how quiet the house seemed.

Toeing off his shoes, he spared a quick peek into both the kitchen and living room before he padded up the stairs, stepping into the doorway of his bedroom before he stopped, his expression softening as he stare landed on Isla who sat on the bed, cuddling Maddie as she leafed through a magazine. Tilting his head, he watched the two of them for a second before he lifted his hand, tapping it gently against the doorframe.

Isla turned to look at him, a small smile on her face. “I didn’t hear you come in” she mused quietly.

“You never normally do” Gerard replied “Though, that’s usually because this place is full of people. What gives?” he quipped.

“You miss them?” Isla countered.

“No” Gerard quipped “But that doesn’t mean I am not surprised to see that they aren’t here. Is everything OK?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine” Isla replied “My papa’s got the flu and Rodrigo’s got the boys for the day so they had other plans. My mother dropped by a little earlier to drop off some food she’d cooked for tonight, but she didn’t stay for very long, meaning me and Maddie have had some wonderful quiet time” she added, smiling a little at the baby who sat in her arms, cooing happily.

Gerard followed her stare, smiling gently at Maddie for a moment, before he looked up, meeting Isla’s eyes. “Did you want me to leave you to it?” he asked “I mean, I can. I’ve got some things I could do downstairs if you’d rather...” he trailed off as Isla laughed quietly to herself, her fingers gently pushing her glasses up her nose.

“Are you laughing at me?” he posed.

“Not at you” Isla replied “I just think it’s cute when you get all flustered. I mean, for someone as confident as you are to get all flustered around me...it’s pretty funny to me” she added, shrugging nonchalantly.

Gerard, who’d moved to sit down on the side of the bed, smirked. “Do I need to remind you how many attempts it took us to actually have our first kiss because someone kept chickening out of it?” he quipped.

Isla laughed loudly, something which caused Maddie to stir a little, a soft sound falling out of her mouth. “That’s different” she countered, lowering her voice as to not disturb Maddie any further “You knew I was an awkward mess when you fell in love with me” she added.

Gerard rolled his eyes playfully, but didn’t say anything, instead opting to look down at the mattress, his lips quirking a small smile as he spotted the magazine that Isla had been reading. “Your mother only dropped off food?” he chirped, lifting the magazine into his hand.

Isla smirked, trying, and failing, to hide the redness that had appeared on her cheeks. “She did” she mused “Luna, on the other hand...” she trailed off, shrugging slightly.

Gerard shook his head amusedly before he turned towards the magazine, flipping through a couple of pages before he spoke again. “Anything good in here?” he asked.

Isla shrugged. “A few hints and tips when it comes to planning, but they’re probably only useful once you figured the basics out like a date or a budget” she mused.

Gerard was quiet for a few seconds, nodding his head slowly, before he looked up, his blue eyes mirroring Isla’s. “This summer” he announced.

Isla’s forehead furrowed. “Huh?” she spluttered.

“This summer” Gerard repeated “I mean, it’s still a good few months away, so there’d still be a lot of time to plan. You think it’s too soon?” he asked.

Isla opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying to think of something to say, before she shook her head, gently reaching up to push her glasses up her nose. “I’m just surprised” she mused.

“That I picked a date?” Gerard quipped “Nena, I did actually envisage us getting married when I asked you to marry me” he joked.

Isla smiled gently before she shook her head. “That you’d want to do it this year” she mused “I mean, we’ve just had Maddie, and we’ve only been engaged for a couple of months...I really thought you’d want more time” she added.

“Do you want more time?” Gerard asked.

Isla shook her head. “No” she spluttered.

Gerard quirked a half smile. “You sure about that?” he asked.

Isla nodded gently, a slightly bashful smile on her face. “I’m sure” she mused.

Gerard offered her a slightly dubious look before he turned back towards the magazine, flipping through a couple of pages before he shook his head. “Do you know any wedding planners?” he asked “I mean, as a wedding photographer, you must have met a few, right? Any recommendations?” he added.

“I knew a couple of good ones” Isla replied “But I think the best one I’ve worked with is an old friend of mine. You might have met her actually, we were friends when we were teenagers. You remember Meghan?” she asked.

Gerard thought for a second before his eyes widened fractionally, something which went unnoticed by Isla who simply kept talking. “I’ve worked at a few of the weddings that she’s planned and they were beautiful. I think she’d be our best bet” she enthused, her voice growing in excitement.

Gerard merely stared at his lap, something which caused Isla to prod his side. “You listening to me, Piqué?” she chirped, grinning as he looked up at her.

Gerard forced his best smile before he nodded. “If you think she’s the best...” he trailed off.

Isla grinned up at him before she leant forwards, carefully settling Maddie into his arms before she shuffled to her feet. “I’ll go and give her call” she gushed, skittering out of the room.

Gerard watched her go before he shook his head, wordlessly hoping to himself that Meghan was already booked elsewhere so that he wouldn’t have to reveal the past that he and Isla’s friend shared. It had been a long time ago, the few months that he and Meghan had spent together had been just after he’d returned to Barcelona, and it had quickly fizzled out, but he knew that it would still get at Isla. A combination of the ideas that he’d dated her friend, and had contacted Meghan and not Isla after his move back to the Spanish city, was something he knew would hurt her.
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Thanks to FootieJo for the comment :)