The Space Between Us

74: Sit Down For A Second

“Are you OK?”

Amelia, who’d been staring into her empty bedroom, startled at the sound of Lionel’s voice before she leant back into him, accepting the hug that he had been moving to give to her. It had moved quickly. In the days that had passed since Amelia had agreed to go with him, a move to Paris had been arranged, and after that, everything else had fallen into place quickly, leaving the two of them stood in her apartment, sorting out the last of her things. She wasn’t taking everything. Less than half of the boxes that sat in the apartment were going to go with her, the other half would be moved into Lionel’s home, but it was still hard to see the entire place packed up. The last time she had looked around the place, and seen nothing but packed boxes had been in the immediate aftermath of her leaving Fernando.

Covering Lionel’s hands with her own, Amelia turned to offer him a slight smile over her shoulder. “It’s just a little weird” she mused “I have always kind of hated this place, but now it’s so empty, it’s strange” she added.

Lionel pressed his lips to her temple in place of an answer, something which caused Amelia to close her eyes, content in the quiet which lasted until her phone, which was tucked into the pocket of her shorts, chirped. Letting out a soft sigh, she slipped it out of her pocket and glanced down at it, rolling her eyes slightly. “This is something I am not going to miss” she quipped.

Lionel, who’d read the text over her shoulder, smirked as he pressed a kiss to her neck. “She just likes to know that you’re on your way” he quipped “I think it’s sweet that she’s always so excited to spend time with you and Lexi” he added.

Amelia offered him a playful glare over her shoulder, something which caused Lionel to grin back at her for a moment before they both felt the atmosphere change, the realisation that it would probably be a little while before they were getting ready to head to Felicity and Albert’s again settling in.

With a soft sigh, Lionel pressed another kiss to the top of Amelia’s head before he stepped out of their embrace, wordlessly offering his hand out to Amelia who took it and squeezed it, wordlessly reassuring him that she knew what she was getting into. She knew that he worried about her changing her mind. She had taken only hours to think things over before telling him that she wanted to go with him, and she knew that he was scared that, given more time, she could change her mind, but Amelia was almost certain that she wouldn’t. She wanted to be where he was, and no hurdle that they had come up against so far had convinced her otherwise.

~#~
After placing the last clean glass back into the cupboard, Lionel stopped in the kitchen doorway, his stare settling on Amelia who was sat with her back to him, her soft laughter filling his ears. It hadn’t been what Lionel had thought it would be. When Felicity and Albert had made a point of inviting them both over, he had been expecting something more sombre, but to his relief, that afternoon had felt like all of the others that he had spent in Amelia’s parents’ home.

The sadness was there. When Felicity or Alexa thought that no one was watching, the happiness in their faces receded a little, revealing the sadness that they felt about Amelia leaving, but they had worked hard to cover it, something which was a relief to Lionel. He felt bad. Amelia was happy where she was, and the only reason things were changing for her was because they were changing for him, and it meant that there was a knot in the pit of his stomach, one that he couldn’t shake. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that she was confident about what was going on, and that she wouldn’t have regrets, but he couldn’t quite shake the bad feeling that he had. He felt like he was asking too much of her, and he couldn’t help but fear the moment that Amelia started to think it, too.

“Can I get a hand with something?”

Lionel visibly startled, causing Felicity to laugh softly. “I didn’t mean to make you jump” she mused “I thought you’d heard me walk up” she added.

“I was lost in thought” Lionel said “Did you say you needed help with something?” he asked.

Felicity nodded. “There’s a couple of boxes in the spare bedroom” she mused “Amelia leaves things everywhere. You must have noticed that” she added.

Lionel huffed out a laugh. “I might have” he quipped.

Felicity smiled at him briefly before she started towards the stairs.

Lionel hesitated for a split second before he followed her up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. Looking around, he watched Felicity pick up a few things off of the end of the bed before she sat down, nodding towards the empty space next to her. “Sit a second?” she asked.

Again, Lionel hesitated, but he did move to take the seat, something which made Felicity smile softly. “Don’t look so worried” she chirped “I just want to talk to you. It’s nothing awful” she added.

Lionel nodded his head slowly. “Paris?” he asked.

“Amelia” Felicity corrected.

“Has she said something?” Lionel asked.

Felicity shook her head. “She wants to go with you” she said “She’s not going to change her mind about that. I think that, somewhere along the line, she realised what the rest of us saw. You’re a good thing, the two of you together, and she’s finally in a position where that’s not overwhelming to her. She loves you” she added.

Lionel quirked a wistful smile. “You really think that she’s not scared?” he quipped “Because, I am terrified” he added.

“Of course she is scared” Felicity mused.

“Then why is she doing this?” Lionel asked “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that she wants to, but just...just why? This is huge. I am asking her to move away from everything, and everyone, and I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that it’s not that far, and that everything will settle down eventually, but I just...How am I supposed to be enough for her, Felicity? It’s just going to be me, and her, and I just...” he trailed off when Felicity drew him into a soft hug. For a second, he resisted it, but eventually, he sunk into it, allowing Felicity to comfort him.

Felicity held onto him for a long moment before she drew back, offering him a soft smile. “I can’t promise it’ll be perfect” she said “In fact, the only thing I can really promise is that, at times it’ll be difficult, but I think...no, I know that you’ll figure it out. You’re amazing together, Leo. You’re both supportive of each other, and it’s so obvious how deeply you feel about one another. It’s not going to be perfect. You’re going to have moments where you don’t want to be there, and Amelia’s going to have them, too, but you just have to remember not to push each other away when it happens. She’s going because she wants to be with you, and you want her to be there. Always remember that, and you’ll be OK” she added.

Lionel’s eyes searched Felicity’s face for a long moment, searching for reassurance in her eyes, before he slowly nodded his head. “I am going to do everything I can to make sure that she’s happy” he said.

Felicity nodded. “I know you are” she mused “And that’s all I want to ask. Take care of my little girl, Leo” she added.

Lionel squeezed her hand gently. “I’ll do my best” he promised.