When We Were

Kicking off the pair of shoes that she wore, Emilia was more than a little relieved to plop down onto the couch, her head making an immediate move to fall backwards onto the cushions. She’d been wanting to get off of her feet for a while, after she had finished work for the day and collected Luca from his friend’s house, she had anticipated that she could relax whilst they waited for Isaac to show up and collected the little boy, but a phone call from Isaac had changed things. Instead of picking Luca up from her apartment like he usually did, he had wanted Emilia to drop the little boy off with him at the hospital where he worked, something which had taken longer than she had expected it would.

He’d been late, despite insisting that he would be waiting for them when they arrived, Emilia had spent almost an hour trying to keep Luca from running off, and whilst Isaac had apologized, it’d still irked her. She had been looking forwards to getting home from the moment that she’d walked out of her office.

Draping an arm over her eyes, she took in the quiet of the apartment, relishing it for a few seconds before the sound of the doorbell disturbed it, causing her to let out a groan in annoyance. Sitting up, she glared at the closed door for a few seconds before the doorbell sounded again, causing her to let out a frustrated huff before she stood up, shuffling towards the door before she hauled it open, her complaints dying immediately as she caught sight of the person on the other side of it.

Lionel quirked a crooked smile, watching her open and close her mouth a couple of times before she stepped across the threshold, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Lionel let out a small noise in surprise, but didn’t hesitate in wrapping his arms around her too, drawing out the hug for a few long moments before he pulled back, brushing her hair back off of her face. “Hi” he greeted softly.

“Hi?” Emilia prodded “That’s all you’ve got to say? I thought you weren’t getting in until tomorrow afternoon. You should have called or something” she added, her words rushed and excited.

They had had it planned out for a while, with the season’s first international break having arrived, Lionel was always going to make the trip back to see her, but still he’d caught her off guard. As far as she had been aware, his flight was due to get in the following afternoon, meaning that they’d have had that night and part of the following morning to spend together before Isaac brought Luca home.

Lionel laughed. “It’s called a surprise” he noted “I thought it would be romantic” he added, gently brushing his thumb along her cheekbone.

Emilia leant into his touch, closing her eyes as she felt his thumb brush across her skin, before she gently lifted her own hand, covering his briefly before she pulled it away from her face, gently knotting their fingers together. “You want to come in?” she asked playfully.

Lionel scoffed amusedly. “You think I’d take a flight to here from Barcelona just to say hi?” he prodded.

Emilia shrugged, flashing him an impish smile. “You might have done” she chirped.

“I didn’t” Lionel played along.

Emilia laughed gently before she tugged on his hand, pulling him through the door. Keeping his hand in hers, she leant around him to push the front door closed before she looked at him again, not quite able to contain the giddy smile which lit up her features. “You’re really here” she babbled softly.

Lionel gently pulled his hand out of hers, moving it to the back of her neck before he tipped her head slightly, allowing him to brush a soft kiss over her lips before he pulled back slightly, offering her a shy smile. “Yeah, I am” he cooed.

~#~
“I’m going to press play in ten seconds. If you miss the start, that’s on you” Emilia teased as she leant forwards on the couch, sparing a glance into the kitchen where Lionel stood, putting food onto plates for the two them.

Lionel laughed. “I’m coming” he replied “Besides, I thought you were hungry” he added as he padded into the living room, placing a plate of food into her hands.

“I am” Emilia noted as she pressed play on the remote before she leant back into the couch slightly “But I also really want to make the most of the time we’ve got before you make an excuse to head home” she added.

Lionel scoffed. “We’d barely been dating five minutes the last time I was here” he noted “It would have been a pretty bold move to suggest I sleep over and we both know that bold moves aren’t really me, Emmy” he teased shyly.

Emilia shook her head gently, keeping her eyes on the plate of food in her hands. “You could...stay tonight” she mumbled quietly, half hoping that he wouldn’t hear her “I mean, Luca’s at Isaac’s until Sunday, so there’s no need for you to rush off” she added.

Lionel just blinked a couple of times, causing Emilia to shake her head, her cheeks blushing pink as she poked at her plate of food absentmindedly. “I should have thought that through before I spoke, huh?” she tried to keep her voice light, but it was quiet and unsure.

Lionel shifted in his seat. “I’d like to stay” he announced quietly.

Emilia, who’d been pushing her fork around her plate, frowned. “Sorry?” she pressed.

“I’d like to stay” Lionel repeated “I mean, nothing has to happen, but...I’d like it” he added, offering her a faint uncertain smile.

Emilia’s eyes searched his face for a few long seconds before her face lit up with a soft smile. “Really?” she asked.

“I’ve missed being around you, Em” Lionel replied with a little nod “And I’d like to get as much time as I can with you before I have to leave again. I know that that sounds a little much, but...” he trailed off as he felt Emilia’s hand slip in his hair, steering him into a soft kiss.

Smiling against her lips, he felt Emilia pull away slightly before he tipped his head forwards, resting his forehead against hers. “It was harder than I thought it’d be” he mumbled “You know, the distance. I thought we’d...” he was cut off as Emilia stole another quick kiss before she pulled away from him completely, turning her attention back down towards her food.

“Emmy...”

“You’re here now” Emilia interrupted, turning her head to offer him a little smile “Let’s just enjoy that before we start thinking about everything else. Can we just do that for tonight?” she asked.

Lionel hesitated before he nodded his head, returning her smile uncertainly. “For tonight” he agreed.