Burn Us Down

“Olivia?” Gerard said quietly, his hand gently tapping at the door frame which led into their bedroom. They’d not said anything. After they’d gathered the twins and left her father’s house, the car ride back home had been silent, and whilst Gerard had wanted to talk, he’d opted to give Olivia some space to calm down before he pressed the issue.

She didn’t need to say anything for him to know that she was devastated. The expression on her face when Melissa had suggested that she might not even attend their wedding had been easy to read, even for someone who didn’t quite know her like he did, and he had wanted to afford her the chance to digest what had happened before he asked what she wanted to do about it. He hadn’t been entirely surprised by it. Melissa had proven time and time again that she was selfish and she didn’t care who she hurt, but whilst he’d expected her to kick up a fuss about Nicolas’s lack of invitation, he hadn’t thought that she would go as far as to suggest that Nicolas was more important to her than seeing her little sister get married.

Olivia, who was curled up on her pillow, quirked a reluctant smile. “You don’t call me Olivia” she mumbled “It sounds weird” she added.

Gerard offered her a pointed look, something which caused Olivia to shake her head, curling in on herself a little more. “I don’t want to talk about it” she mumbled.

Gerard quietly walked over to the bed before he crouched down, gently pushing her hair back off of her forehead. “This isn’t something you can just ignore” he said softly “She’s your sister, Livy” he added.

Olivia squeezed her eyes shut under his touch, tears trickling down her face. “Some sister she is” she muttered “I’m asking for one day, Gerard. One day where she could just…just be happy for me, and she can’t even manage that. She looked at the invitation and instead of commenting on the date we’ve chosen, or the fact that we’re getting married in Paris, she just complained about how we’d not included Nicolas. How selfish is that?” she asked, her eyes opening again to look into his.

“Completely” Gerard replied, his hand rubbing gently circles into her back.

“I knew she’d make a fuss” Olivia continued as though Gerard hadn’t spoken “But I just…I don’t know, maybe I was naïve” she added.

“In thinking that maybe your own sister could realise that your wedding day was perhaps more important than her own drama? That’s not naïve” Gerard noted “You deserve better than what she’s done, Livy” he added.

Olivia’s eyes scanned his face before her expression crumpled again, something which caused Gerard to lean over, softly brushing the tears off of her cheeks as he kissed the side of her head. “I’m so sorry” he whispered.

Olivia reached for him, cuddling into him as she cried quietly. “She’s my sister” she said “My mama is already not going to be there. And now Melissa too” she added.

Gerard didn’t know what to say to soothe her, so he just rubbed circles into her back, hoping that his being there was doing something to make her feel at least a little better. He didn’t know how to fix it. Melissa could apologise and insist that she did want to be there when he and Olivia got married, but it wouldn’t change the fact that her first instinct had been to bail out just because Nicolas wasn’t going to be there. She’d hurt Olivia and whilst he was sure that she would regret it, he didn’t quite know what was going to be enough to make Olivia forget it.

Leaning his head down again, he kissed her temple softly, something which made Olivia sigh gently, her fingers twisting in the material of his t-shirt. “Tell me it’s going to be wonderful” she whispered.

Gerard smiled sadly against her temple before he met her eyes again. “It’s going to be amazing” he breathed “You already know how beautiful the hotel is. When I booked it, they sent a bunch of pictures of the gardens and you know how spectacular that will look. You’ll have a wonderful dress, and your papa will be so proud of you, Livy, when you walk down that aisle. I’ll be at the end of it, of course, and I’ll be so happy to see you. The girls will be there, too, in adorable little bridesmaid’s dresses. It’s going to be wonderful, Olivia. I promise you that now. I will make sure of it” he insisted.

Olivia smiled up at him softly. “I believe you” she said.

Gerard smoothed her hair back again, smiling down at her. “She’ll regret it if she isn’t there, Livy” he said gently “I’m not going to weigh in. She could come and apologise, and if you want to accept that and have her there, then that’s your decision, but if she doesn’t, and she chooses to miss it, then she’s the one who’s going to regret it. I don’t want you to think that you need to make amends. You’ve not done anything to be sorry for” he added.

Olivia nodded her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Gerard’s thumb replaced her hand, brushing the loose tears off of her cheeks before he kissed the skin gently, mumbling soft words of reassurances as he peppered her face softly. Olivia closed her eyes, relishing the light touches, before she spoke quietly. “I love you, Gerard” she murmured “So much” she added.

“I love you, too” Gerard replied.

Olivia let out a slightly shaky laugh. “You remember the first time you said that?” she prodded. She was determined to lift the mood which had settled around the two of them.

“Of course I do” Gerard boasted impishly “It was in your apartment, first thing in the morning. We were making breakfast and you were trying to pretend that I wasn’t getting on your nerves by being in the way. You were trying so hard to not be annoyed and when you finally went to snap at me, I told you that I loved you. That stopped you” he added.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

“You didn’t say it back, either” Gerard continued “You just sort of stared at me like I was insane. It hurt, Livy” he teased.

“I got it out eventually” Olivia replied “And I’ve been saying it for nearly six years since. I think you get the idea, don’t you?” she prodded.

Gerard kissed her. “I do” he replied.