When We Were

Running her fingers through her messy hair, Emilia yawned into her other hand, trying to get herself comfortable again in the chair in which she had spent the night. She hadn’t slept much, with Luca having had a rough night with the pain in his arm and the confrontation between Isaac and Lionel still fresh in her mind, she had found it difficult to fall asleep, but she knew that she wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else whilst Luca was in hospital. Isaac had offered her the chance to head home, a few hours after he’d thrown his punch at Lionel, he’d ducked back into Luca’s room to insist that he’d stay with the little boy overnight, but Emilia had refused him. The hospital had been clear, even though Isaac worked there, the rule was that only one parent could stay overnight, and Emilia wasn’t about to leave Luca, even if she knew that Luca would have been perfectly fine with Isaac. She wasn’t going anywhere whilst Luca needed to be in hospital.

Stretching out her neck, she glanced towards the bed, watching Luca stir in his sleep for a few seconds before she heard the door open and close behind her. Twisting in her seat, she peeked over the back of it, her stomach dropping as she spotted the nasty bruise which marred part of Lionel’s face. Practically jumping to her feet, she made her way over to him, her blue eyes scanning his face concernedly.

Lionel quirked a faint smile at her worry as he dropped a holdall to the floor next to him. “Jordi said the bruising wasn’t that noticeable” he joked.

Emilia’s fingertips ghosted over the bruise, accidently prodding it which caused Lionel to flinch away from her slightly. “Sorry” she murmured.

Lionel shook his head, offering her a small, reassuring smile. “It’s fine” he noted “Jordi said it wasn’t broken, There’s just some bruising, but it’ll fade quickly. I’m fine, Emmy” he added as he watched her tentatively trace his bruise again.

Emilia nodded her head, pulling her eyes away from the bruise and up to his. “It’s early” she pointed out “What are you doing here? Where’s Maisie?” she asked.

Lionel smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist comfortably. “My mother’s with her back at the house” he noted “I know visiting hours aren’t until later, but I called ahead to see if I could drop by a little early. I figured you two might need a few things” he added, gently tapping the bag with his foot.

Emilia, who’d settled her hands at the back of his neck, looked down at the bag, a soft smile lighting up her face. “What’d you bring?” she asked.

“A few essentials” Lionel replied with a nonchalant shrug “A change for clothes for you both. Your phone charger. Some deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste. I even bought some of Luca’s comics. I figured he’d get bored eventually” he added.

Emilia just marveled at him, something which caused Lionel’s expression to grow a little bashful. “Did I forget something?” he asked.

Emilia shook her head. “It’s perfect” she cooed “I mean, we’re only going to be here for a few more hours, just until he’s had another assessment with his doctor, but it...it’s really wonderful. Thank you” she added as she gently pushed herself up, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

Lionel seemed to stiffen for a fraction of second under her kiss, but he did return it, slowly, almost shyly. Emilia allowed herself to linger in it. It was the first proper kiss that they’d shared since she’d told him about the kiss she and Isaac had shared, and she wanted to make it last just a little longer, knowing that there was still a conversation that still needed to be had.

Gently pulling away, she smiled at him softly.

Lionel gently tucked her hair off of her face, allowing his thumb to brush over her cheek. “Em...”

“Mama?” Luca’s sleepy voice cut Lionel off, pulling Emilia’s attention immediately towards the bed.

Taking a step towards it, she watched Luca blink his eyes open before she leant over, gently kissing his forehead. “Hi, baby” she whispered, gently brushing his hair off of his forehead.

“My arms hurts” Luca whimpered.

Emilia looked down at his bandaged arm sympathetically. “It’s going to hurt for a while, Luca” she mused “But I can go and find the doctor if you want me to. Leo can sit with you for a few minutes” she added, glancing back towards Lionel for confirmation.

Lionel smiled and nodded his head. “Of course” he agreed.

Emilia mouthed back a ‘thank you’ before she dropped another kiss on Luca’s head. “Leo’s got some of your comics” she announced “Why don’t you read one with him?” she suggested.

Luca nodded, something which caused Lionel to shuffle towards the bed, offering out the small pile of comics he’d bought with him. Luca thumbed through it for a few moments before he settled on one he liked, flipping it open as Lionel sat down next to him. Emilia hung back a couple of paces, watching the two of them talk and grin at one another, before she slipped out of the room, smiling gently to herself.

~#~
“How quickly did he fall asleep again?”

Lionel, who’d been tidying Luca’s comics back into the bag, turned at the sound of Emilia’s voice, offering her a little shrug. “Not too long after you left” he noted “He was halfway through explaining one of the pictures in his comic and he couldn’t stop yawning, so he just drifted off. I figured I should let him sleep, yesterday was quite a lot for him” he added.

Emilia nodded her head in agreement as she stepped inside, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

“You were gone a while” Lionel pointed out.

“Jordi works here” Emilia noted “So I know a few of the doctors, a few of the nurses through him. One of them stopped me in the hall. She’d heard about Luca and wanted to make sure that everything was OK” she explained.

Lionel just nodded, plopping down into the seat beside the bed.

They both allowed the silence to draw out between them, both momentarily lost in their own thoughts. It felt a little more awkward between them, with the knowledge that Luca was safe and sound, the shock of the previous day had worn off, and it had left them both a little unsure. They had to talk, Emilia’s kiss with Isaac, as well as the bruise on Lionel’s face were still undiscussed between them, but neither one of them seemed able to find a place to start.

Lionel watched Emilia, watching as she fiddled with her engagement ring, before he gently reached out, knotting his fingers through hers. “Is Luca going back to Isaac’s?” he asked gently.

Emilia shrugged, staring down at their hands. “I thought I’d leave that up to him” she mused “He was supposed to be with Isaac until we went back to Barcelona, and if that’s where he wants to be, I am not going to stop him. I mean, I’d love to have him home so that I can fuss over him, but Isaac’s more than equipped to take care of him. We’ll ask him when he wakes up” she added.

Lionel nodded, once more letting the silence settled for a few long moments, before he sighed. “We need to talk about Isaac” he announced quietly “And I mean really talk, Em” he added, fixing her with a slightly firm look.

Emilia nodded her head, not moving to look up at his face. She could feel his eyes on her. “I know” she confirmed.

“I want the full picture” Lionel clarified “I...I need the full picture so I can figure out where we go from here” he added.

Emilia’s head whipped up. “There’s doubt over that?” she asked quietly.

Lionel’s eyes softened. “He’s so clearly in love with you” he breathed “This tells me that, like I already didn’t know it” he added, laughing ruefully as he pointed to the bruise on his face.

Emilia’s eyes narrowed, warning him not to try and make light of what was happening.

Lionel exhaled a sigh. “I know you don’t want to hear it” he said gently “I know you’ll probably tell me what you’ve told me before, and that you’ll point out that I knew what I was getting into when we got together. Isaac’s Luca’s papa and he’s not going anywhere, and I know that, I respect that, but I don’t know if I can...if I can just ignore his continued attempts to insert himself between us. I know that you love me, Emmy, and I know that I love you, and that Isaac does too, but I don’t think I have the full picture of how you feel about him right now. I want it” he explained, each of his words carefully considered.

Emilia just blinked at him, missing the opportunity to respond when the door opened, allowing Isaac to step inside, drinking from a coffee cup. When he saw Lionel, his steps stuttered a little as he lowered the drink, but he didn’t say anything.

For a moment, no one did. Luca slept soundly, Emilia stared with wide confused eyes at Lionel and both Lionel and Isaac stared at one another, their eyes scanning over the other before Lionel finally broke the silence. “I should go” he breathed “I told my mama I wouldn’t be long” he added as he stood up.

“I’ll only be a few more hours” Emilia said, mimicking him.

Lionel nodded. “I’ll see you later, then” he mused before he padded out of the room, leaving Emilia staring after him, a sense of dread twisting in her stomach.