ɢᴏʀɢᴇᴏᴜꜱ
sum: Having a hazy memory about last night. Was it just a one time thing, or would he be the one to accompany you on your lonely nights?
word count: 4.3k
pairing: charles leclerc x singer!reader
warnings: Cringe, Translated French, bad writing (English is not my first language. ) and smut insinuation.
Spotify - Apple Music
ᴍᴀɪɴ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ
ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪ - ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪɪ - ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ᴀᴜ
"Alone, unless you wanna come along?" .
A ray of sunshine woke me up. I groaned, due to the headache I had to lay in bed. Closed my eyes again just in hopes so that I would fall back to sleep, spoiler alert: I didn't.
I was probably in bed for 5 minutes, till my headache was bearable, I decided to sit up. Legged crossed on the bed, I opened my eyes, first noticing a really nice home decor.
Home decor...
Where the heck was I?!
It was as if I was slowly downloading the data surrounding me.
Messy bed, my dress on the bureau, my heels tossed on the floor.
Not a hotel room, and I was using a mans shirt.
I stood up quickly, causing me to groan instantly. My head pounded.
But I shut myself up, deciding to go through one of the two doors on the bedroom.
I was in my underwear, only the black shirt was covering me so I wasn't fully exposed. As quietly as possible, I was almost on my tiptoes so I wouldn't make any noise.
What even happened last night?
I took in my surroundings, yup, this was definitely a single man's house.
Don't get me wrong, it was beautifully decorated, but you always notice this type of things.
The pool table, along with a mini bar, beside it a wide couch in which Charles was sleeping.
Holy shit, Charles!
The memories of last night came flooding into me... "Why don't we leave, would you like that?"
Leaving in a black car. (ironic, my brother is obsessed with motorsports and I can't even tell you two Car brands)
I was sleeping the whole ride, till he carried me into his house, I couldn't understand him.
At all.
I can't tell you if it was because of how drunk I was, or how charming he was. Ugh, I hated him for that, the way he'd touch me, but not the way I wanted him to.
He had me under his spell in just one night, and I can't even be with him.
I'm supposed to be in love with another.
_
"You're awake" a deep voice said. I had a book in my hands, it was in french. If it weren't for my French classes, which I missed every chance I could get, I wouldn't have understood anything. "Bonjour!" I said.
It was probably the worst french accent he has heard in his entire life, "Ah, vous parlez français ? Je ne te connais pas depuis un jour et tu es déjà plein de surprises !"
"Oui?" he started laughing at my stupidity, his contagious laughter making me do the same until my belly ached.
"I haven't laughed like that in quite a long time" I exhaled after we calmed down. He now laid down in the edge of what I assume is his bed, the sun hitting his face, making him look angelic. He turned to look at me, his eyes sparkled and I think I can't ask for anything more.
"I know I met you last night, but thank you so much for taking care of me, I know it wasn't easy with me being drunk." I half smiled at him.
"You look gorgeous when you smile like that, did you know that?"
I scrunched my nose, of course I was, and I wanted to say the same thing to him. Have you ever looked in the mirror? But I stopped myself, and got up from the bed. He followed my every move with his eyes.
"Should we get breakfast?" He couldn't stop looking at me up and down, and he just nodded.
It was as if this was my normal routine.
The first time I saw him, I did not know he'd had me on my knees.
_
"No, 'cause you were literally about to barf, and by some miracle you didn't and fell asleep"
"ugh, I won't be drinking that much next time" I had my head buried in my hands so that he couldn't notice my crimson cheeks. "Maybe next time you'll be the one taking care of me"
I looked up at him, and offered a smile. Haven't had this much fun with someone, since... forever. "I called Lando and he was as wasted as you, Carlos had to take him to his room, I guess the Norris know how to have fun, huh?"
"Oh my god, Lando!" I grabbed my phone and called him right away, Charles laughed, I guess he just realized how forgetful I could be.
"hmph?" I heard a tired voice from the other side of the phone. "I woke you up, didn't I?"
"yeah, is everything alright?"
"I'm alright, I just remembered you existed"
"Haha... so funny, love you too peanut. Oh! now that I'm awake, I gotta catch you up on some stuff!"
I was about to interrupt him, I would gladly hear gossip about what happened last night. But I was having breakfast with Charles, I couldn't leave him there alone eating…
But I watched as his phone buzzed, and I couldn't read the name, but it had a heart right next to it.
pfft, it must be nothing. But his smile got wider as he started speaking on to the phone. "... and then I was like, 'woah, is this really happening?!' and heck yes it was happening! Then..."
At some point, I stopped listening to Lando, and tried to focus on what Charles was saying on the other side of the table. Was he talking to a girl? Or why did he get so excited with a phone call?
Does he have a Girlfriend?
I didn't thought of it last night... but would that be so bad? There is nothing I hate more that what I can't have.
Maybe if he has a girlfriend I could get over this… whatever you wanna call it.
But… if he's single it would honestly be worst.
When I felt a small pain in my chest, I knew I had to stop overthinking. Why do I even care about what he does?
I have bigger things to worry about.
"So, yeah, basically we all ended fucked up and vomiting all over the place. But what about you, did you had any fun last night?" He chuckled.
"That sounds... horrifying and amazing Lando, and yes, I had the best night of the year" I was now looking at Charles, he grinned at me, and I copied his actions, I could feel the heat on my cheeks.
He left his phone on the table, and focused on his food.
"Told you!" a lot of movement was heard at the back of the call. "Oh, there's Carlos, I'll leave you peanut, call you later"
"See you Lando." I hung up
"So you had the best night of the year, huh?" Charles smirked. "C'mon, it was fun!" I answered.
"Of course, you spend most of it with me." He raised his hands to rest them on his head. With his gaze to the sky.
"I couldn't have had it any other way." He chuckled, his dimples showing off, making my heart beat faster, and my chest feel a warm and welcoming sensation.
_
It has been months. Months of calls late at night, whispering so Jake wouldn't find out.
If he ever payed any attention to me...
Every time my phone would buzz at around 11 p.m. I'd go to the balcony, or any other place where Jake wouldn't be around.
Quiet laughing, my stomach would turn over every time he said to me 'ma chou' or any time he'd speak in French or Italian, really.
He was truly and angel in disguise.
Was it wrong? Yes. Did we care? Not at all.
"When am I seeing you again?" He asked. I was in the sofa of the living room, Jake was fine fast asleep in my bed.
"Charles, I'm way too busy here, I'm barely able to leave my apartment , much less have the whole weekend to myself"
"Why don't I fly down there, hm?"
In my hands I had paper with chords and new lyrics for songs. But it was all a jumble, I didn't even know how it was going to work.
"I don't think that's a great idea. You need to practice for the next season, and I have to make new songs, which will take more than half of my day off-"
"Do you know how to play the piano?"
Piano?
"Uh, no, I never learned how to. I'm much more of a guitar girl, why?"
"You have no excuses, I'll be there by tomorrow night. Make some space for a piano at your home, I'm teaching you." I could hear him at his computer typing God knows what.
"IF you came, wouldn't it be easier to have a keyboard piano?"
"No, believe me, it is not the same. You'll love it, I promise" I smiled to myself, he will be here tomorrow night.
Wait, he'll be here tomorrow night.
"Charles, you can't come."
"Give me a good reason, and I'll cancel the plane tickets"
He already bought tickets?! shoot he’s fast
"Uh, my boyfriend is here, and you won't have a place to stay."
"I'm still waiting on that good reason, you know?"
"Charles-"
"It's not like I'm trying to flirt with you, am I?" We are playing a very dangerous game, we both know it, but I never thought we would get this far.
"Well..."
"we'll solve it once I'm there, goodnight ma ange." There are so many things that could go wrong. So many factors I should have said 'No' to, but those thoughts went out the window as my heart pounded knowing that he would come for me.
_
God, what am I doing, what am I doing.
3 a.m. and I'm still awake. I had his phone in my hands, I just needed his face to unlock it. I was so desperate to find what broke me months ago.
Messages, photos and screenshots. He even admitted it, but he said he would change. Am I dumb for staying? Yes. Am I dumb for giving him a second chance? Yes.
Now I'm paying what he did to me. Except I'm having the balls he didn't have to break up with me.
I just need the perfect excuse.
I tried to believe in him, I tried to ignore all my friends when they said 'paparazzi took pictures of him with another girl'
'That doesn't mean anything' I'd answer.
'But, he had his arms around her shoulders' They'd be even more concerned to the fact, that I did know it meant something, much more than just ‘something’
'He's like that with his family too.' normalizing everything he did wrong was all I knew how to do, well, ruining his reputation was always a choice.
He'd beg me to speak highly of him, saying that all the rumors where never true. But everyone knew they were. I'd clean his ass on social media so that his status wouldn't be broken.
All because I thought I liked him.
Now I'm paying the price. I should have broken up with him the second I saw the girl in our bed. My bed.
The second I saw him with flowers that were not meant to be for me.
The second I saw the photos all over the internet. I disappeared for months as not to be ashamed when people saw me. And the only one who should have been ashamed was him.
Charles treats me like a princess, heck, he makes me think everything is possible.
If he told me unicorns were real, I’d believe him!
I had to leave Jake. It's not like he was handsome or anything anyway.
It was probably social media who pushed me into believing we would be the perfect match.
Well, your sweet boy is a cheater. and I won't stand to it anymore.
I finally got it open, and the first few chats were girls.
unbelievable, yet not surprising.
This would have broken my heart, but oh, my heart was stolen by someone else.
Now all I felt was disgust.
I couldn't figure out if it was at him, for texting all these girls.
Or myself, for letting this happen.
I stood up and went to his suitcase and I started looking all over my apartment for things of his, everytime I found one I'd place it in his suitcase. I wanted him gone by this morning.
_
"So you're just throwing it all away?!"
"Did I, Jake, or did you?"
"You did, we worked it all out!" He raised his hands exaggeratedly.
"Oh heck no, why don't you tell that to all of the girls in your phone? I'm tired of this bullshit, I'm not being your little girlfriend just so that you look good in front of people!"
"As if you were important" He scoffed.
"You were always scared of that, I made myself look as if I were nobody just for you to show off! Believe me, everything you've accomplished is because of me, but I'm not even going to reproach you for that." I crossed my arms.
"Oh, I'm so so sorry miss universe, never knew you were important. Guess you'll have more songs to write about, thanks to me!"
What a dick.
He was now at the door with his suitcase, we both screamed at each other since he saw me in the living room with his stuff. He didn't even looked into my eyes, just started throwing shit at me.
As if it was all my fault.
Just wasted my last year there. Thank god it's over, I could now visibly breathe.
I closed the door silently. Locked it to never let him back in.
I looked into my apartment, and without his stuff all over the place... It made it seem cleaner, and as if this apartment actually belonged to me.
I played music all afternoon while remodeling the whole apartment, changing it to a way that I liked.
Months ago I wouldn't have thought moving on was this easy to do.
I guess all the love I had for him disappeared and I didn’t really noticed it did.
_
I've never felt so alive.
5 hours after a breakup, and I've never felt so alive. I called Lando, and told him about everything I kept from him.
He told me he was going to murder him, obviously joking (I think), but I told him I haven't felt this happy in years.
He said he was proud of me for getting out of that toxic relationship. Which made me cry, in the last few hours I have experienced I think every emotion a human could have.
I was watching a bit of what was happening on the internet from my Instagram. I told my manager that he can announce it when the time is right. But without any further explanations on why we weren't together anymore.
And so it was, it was one of the top themes of today, with only one hour of announcement.
How gossipy people are.
guilty.
I heard my home cell phone ring, the one that always rings when someone asks permission to enter my house.
And I knew exactly who was going to enter by my door any second. I rushed downstairs, and I opened the door he was there by the other side.
Looking charming, just as I remembered him. He held up his hand showing me a bouquet of flowers, with the same ones I told him a few weeks ago that I loved.
"So… the rumors spread out, can I buy you flowers now?"
He gave the flowers to my hand, hugged me with one hand around the waist and kissed me on the forehead.
"You have a goal, don't you?"
"I came to claim my prize, how am I going to do it if I don't put up a good fight first?"
I signaled him to come in, and he gladly did.
"Ah! Would you look at that?" Charles screamed from the living room, I was too busy looking for a place to put the flowers he gave me, so I didn't see what he was talking about.
These would look perfect here, I said to myself finding a plain white base I bought in Venecia, I never found a good purpose for it till now.
"You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk?"
Holy shit.
"Oh my, give that back!" I basically ran to him as I heard those words.
Now I know what he found, and it was hell of embarrassing.
In his hands, the sheets with my handwriting all over them, lyrics all over them.
But he kept going, walking quickly around the room so that I wouldn't take those papers away from him.
"I've got a boyfriend he's older than us. Hey, this sounds quite familiar doesn't it?" He mocked me. Oh he fucking knows who I'm talking about.
"Dickhead!" I said between laughters, I was already running out of air from running. I felt like a child, but in a good way. He just made it so divine.
He stopped to finally hand me in the papers with the lyrics, the sun was setting and it peered through my large window. I was looking down at my papers trying to figure out how much had he read.
I grab my chin to lift my gaze and look him in the eye. "You can say anything you want, ange"
Look down at his shirt to start talking. But he slowly brought it back up again. "To my face"
"What can I say? You're... gorgeous." He softly chuckled, I bit my lip.
I felt the moment stop, right here, right now.
It's just me and him.
His hand went to my jaw, caressing my cheek with his thumb. His other hand went to my waist. Mine went to his shoulders, and he finally closed the gap between us.
Sweet, simple and loving kiss.
_
I rushed through the hallways. My hair was a mess, the climate changing was finally hitting. Warmer breezes came so now I didn’t had to use cold weather outfits.
A black sparkly dress suited the occasion, I was finally presenting my project. The best of my career.
Finally reaching the office, I quickly introduced myself, since I was already running late.
My idea was not complicated at all, dark romance was in it.
Revenge was all written over it.
"This will totally be a hit, you made it again!"
"Thats so kind of you to say, thank you"
"It's well deserved, 4 months was more than enough for you to give us these amazing songs. Ugh, you're so amazing sweetie!"
None of it would have been possible if it wasn't for Charles. Most of the songs on my about-to-be new album were based from the piano. Later, in the studio, the arrangements were made.
Miracles do happen after all.
"Can't wait for what comes next." I shrieked.
"Neither do we, but you know this takes time, we can do a little more fixing and a lot a lot a lot of marketing. I can already see you on the hot 100 billboard" She smiled to me, and the team gave me thumbs up in approval.
Most of the time getting them to like one of my song, is quite hard, but I guess I'm getting their respect.
It all went as smooth as butter.
I excused myself from their office, eagerly waiting to get home.
The drive over there seemed like an eternity, but it was all worth it, getting out of the car I padded my dress so that the bottom part looked decent. Charles was waiting for me, before my meeting he had told me he had a surprise for me.
I finally opened the door, and soon my nostrils smelled pasta. Fresh pasta.
I physically relaxed, I realized I was home.
My eyes fixated on the piano, the one Charles bought so that he could teach me how to play it. That piano made miracles.
On top of it, fresh flowers were carefully placed in the edge, light pink popped from them. I smiled to myself, he must have listened when I told him my favorite color was pink.
I left my purse on the table, and decided to take a look at the kitchen.
There he was, my handsome man. He had an apron, with no shirt to cover him underneath. Some jeans, messy hair and his glasses gave him the final touch.
He had music on the background, and he was whistling to the melody while stirring the pasta, taking a close look at it so it wouldn’t burn.
He didn’t notice me, so I came up and carefully wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my cheek on his back.
His hand came up to mine, tangling our fingers together while the other kept stirring the pot, I smiled feeling his warm fingers on mine.
The next song played, a more upbeat song, and one of my favorites too.
I let him go, and he instantly turned around to see me, his sweet smile just made my whole day. His dimples were brighter than ever, and his eyes made my heart skip a beat.
I reflected his smile on my lips. He cupped my face and planted a deep desperate kiss, I chuckled in it.
“Ugh, I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea ma chérie” he said in between, I stretched my arms and wrapped them tightly around his neck.
He hold me and spun me around lifting my feet.
Laughter was in the air, the one feeling where he and I just existed, nothing else. Not media talking about my love life, not Jake calling on me at late hours at night, not his followers doubting about our relationship.
I did too, before he showed me all the love in the world. More than anyone has showed me in years, he showed me the stars and depths of the ocean with just a few weeks.
I needed nothing else, but him.
He stopped spinning, looked at me in the face, and removed a string of hair falling from its place. I can feel my cheeks burn, and it only took one look at him.
“Charles, you are the best thing that ever existed, you know that, right?”
I asked with concern, I want him to know.
To know he is my everything.
He laughed, warming my heart. “I know, you don’t need to say anything or do anything. I think- just think I love you” he whispered the end.
“I love you too.” I answered with the same tome he did. He caught my lips, deepening it. He almost desperately lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around his torso.
In a matter of seconds, I felt a knot forming on my lower stomach. I should feel ashamed of how fast Charles makes me feel this way.
Soft moans fill the room along with the loud music.
“You don’t have to do anything” He said in-between kisses, repeating what he said earlier.
“I want to” I replied, tangling my fingers in his short hair. He did a final push, so that I could feel how hard he was.
My heartbeat rate was seriously not natural at this point.
He lifted slightly the bottom of my dress. I did not stop him, so he continued.
Slowly, his fingers where so close at my sensible area, I could almost feel them.
I closed my legs so that I could feel a little bit of friction. He quickly opened them again, wider this time.
His lips left mine he devilishly smiled at me as he got on his knees. If I wasn’t on the table I, for sure, would´ve folded.
He trailed wet kisses on my thighs, taking his sweet time to get where I wanted him to. With his hands, he opened my legs even more, finally, his tongue touched the sweet spot.
-
I didn’t know what to do.
Charles along with Lando made a big party for my new album, it had just been out for a few hours, and It was trending everywhere.
Every. Single. Song.
My relationship with Charles was relatively new, the new F1 season started, and I’d travel with both of my boys.
We were currently at Monaco, just after Friday practice.
I decided to throw Reputation out to the world this day, because of Monaco. Here is where everything started, and here is where I wanted to celebrate it.
I wanted everyone to know who my heart belonged with, and it was not going to be a soft launch.
Charles came to me with two shots on his hand, he handed me one and passed his arms around my shoulders, joining the conversation I was having with my team.
“Here he is, the golden boy!”
One of them said, he smiled and kissed my forehead.
“Oh he is handsome! No wonder all those songs were written about you.”
“Thank you Janet, I’m sure he knows how head over heels I am for him by now”
I said embarrassed, the lyrics on the songs weren’t that saint. Not at all.
Besides, everyone here knew who I was talking about in those songs, they all knew who was by my side all along.
I quickly took my shot, and Charles followed. I excused us from the group, they all waved us goodbyes as my lover and I went to a much more private place.
“I’m so proud of you” he said, kissing me gently and lovingly.
“Couldn’t have done it without you” I said in between. I felt his smile on my lips. I caressed his cheek, feeling his short beard on the tips of my hands.
“So… can I tell everyone how good I make you feel? Cause I wouldn’t want anyone else taking my place.”
“I think they will all know who I’m talking about, mon bel homme” he laughed at the horrible accent I was carrying.
“Ma belle fille” Charles sweetly said.
-
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The Purest Things: Wingmen (Aaron Hotchner x Female BAU! Reader)
this is based on season 10 episode 10 “amelia porter”
Warnings: None. Pure Fluff.
A/N: I am so beyond obsessed with the mutual pining. Initially, this was going to be one part, but I have to slow burn the heck out of this, so it'll be a few parts. Enjoy!
The Purest Things Masterlist
august 2014
Bookend: "You meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet one person and your life is changed forever." – Love & Other Drugs
I walk into the jazz club, searching for Rossi. For the past year and a half, we have frequented this classy establishment, bonding over our shared passion for jazz and fine liquor. We come here every Friday unless the job keeps us away. It's a form of escapism that I have grown to cherish deeply. With a job like ours, finding something to look forward to each week, some semblance of a routine is crucial.
I stroll over to “our” booth, but instead of seeing David’s familiar face, it's that of the Unit Cheif. I throw my head back and laugh, “Of all the people I could have expected to see here...you were not one of them.”
Don't get me wrong; I'm not upset to find him here. I could never get enough of him. I see him nearly every day of the week, I have weekly movie nights with Jack, and Aaron and I have been to hell and back with each other over the years.
He shakes his head and smirks, “What can I say? I'm full of surprises.”
“So tell me Aaron Hotchner, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?”
“David Rossi, ” he emphasizes.
“So you’ve been recruited as one of his wingmen too huh?”
“Apparently so.”
“Well I'm glad you're here.” I slide into the booth next to him.
He glides his cup in circles along the tablecloth, “Me too.”
“May I pry?” I inquire.
He nods, “You may.”
“Why exactly are you here? Believe me, I'm thrilled you're joining us, but David and I have been coming here for over a year. Why'd he invite you now?”
His shoulders tense up, and then he inhales deeply, the tension releasing when he exhales.
“If I'm being completely honest, I think it has something to do with the fact that Beth and I are no longer together.”
“Oh my God, Hotch. I'm so sorry, I didn't know.”
Aaron looks up at me; the professional man, the profiler I'm so familiar with, is gone. Instead, he looks at me with the eyes of a vulnerable man, someone who loves so passionately and craves that same love in return. This isn't the first time he's looked at me with those eyes, and I pray that it is not the last time. If it were anyone else, the prolonged eye contact would deter me; my glance would dart in the other direction. But, for years, I have savored these intimate moments with him. I'm not exactly sure when this connection began or when it deepened to the awareness we now have of one another.
Most likely, it began shortly after Haley’s death, when I started to spend more time with Jack or those late nights working in the office with him. Maybe it was that time I brought him his favorite coffee and bagel to his house because I knew he wouldn’t feed himself otherwise.
(Aaron’s P.O.V.)
I gaze at her with utmost fascination. She is a mystery I have never been able to solve, a profile I cannot complete. She is whole, a pillar of strength for our team, her family, me, and Jack. Yet, there is a fear within her that mimics a young child scared of the monsters that are both imagined and real. She’s seen and experienced things that no one her age should have to witness. I can see through the worn expression on her face. She’s holding herself together for the sake of everyone around her, but inside she’s slowly falling apart. All I want is to help mend those crumbling pieces and hold her together. She doesn’t realize that she has been doing that very thing for me for the past four years.
In my life, I have had the opportunity to love deeply and freely. But two of those loves stand in realms of their own. The first time I fell in love, it was with an opposite. A precious, symbolic tale of love and loss.
With Beth, I did love her. She gave me the strength to feel something again after Haley died. I found the ability to move forward with hope and recognition that I deserve happiness once again.
The second great love came in the form of a mirror. We share an empathy, an understanding of the fundementals of life and love that shapes our individual values. I was far from perfect when we met; I was detached, damaged, and hopeless. I felt like I was barely a man. Truth be told, I won’t be perfect after the fact either. But, she gives me a sense of realness that I never perceived as possible. And since the day we met before I even accepted the actuality of my affections for her, I strove to better myself. Every day since, and for the rest of my life, I want to work every day to be the man she deserves and needs.
Awakening from my trance, I speak up, “I am grateful every day for the relationship I had with Beth. I truly did love her. I love her still for the person she helped me become. I realized, through her, that I can choose to move forward with my life.”
“You deserve to be happy, Aaron,” she interjects.
“Some time ago, Rossi came into my office encouraging me to start dating again. He reminded me that Haley wouldn’t want me to avoid moving on. Of course, my immediate instinct was to deny that I was guilty of just that. But he was right. He told me that I am no good to anyone when I’m miserable.”
She throws her head back and laughs, “Miserable? No, I wouldn’t call you that. Slightly uptight? Absolutely.”
I gasp, exaggerating a look of offense, “I’m hurt.”
She touches my arm, and I can feel my heart stop for a beat. Something about her touch elevated my heart and soul to another plain. It’s as if her small hand on my forearm revealed the certainty I had been searching for.
I chuckle, “Don’t worry. David and I came to the same conclusion.”
“Phew,” she breathes out a sigh of relief, “Good because I didn’t know how I was going to dig myself out of that hole....but please, continue what you were saying.”
I take a deep breath, “When you and I met I had already lost my entire world. Haley had just recently taken Jack, we were fighting constantly, and then...” I feel my eyes beginning to sting, and I realize that she hasn’t taken her grip off my arm once she squeezes it reassuringly.
“When Haley died, it felt like I was staring into an abyss. After the funeral, you found me alone, in some room that I had escaped to for some solace. But I didn’t feel any relief. And then, you came in. You sat across from me, and we just sat in silence. Somehow though, more was said in that silence than I had ever dared to utter out loud to someone. You didn’t know it then, but you saved me that day. You saved Jack too.”
I hear her short intake of breath and look over to see her lip beginning to tremble.
“Aaron...”
As much as I want to hear her melodic voice speak to me now, when I am most unarmed, a feeling that is entirely foreign to me, I have never felt so driven to yell from the top of my lungs a profession of love for this woman.
I begin to speak again, and I am immediately interrupted by Rossi, accompanied by the jazz singer hooked on his arm.
“La mia bella ragazza! Finalmente sei arrivato,” he says, kissing the top of her head. She blushes slightly, her eyes flickering to me briefly.
“You are a sight for sore eyes my dear. Is she not Aaron?”
I take a sip of my drink, glancing at y/n, her beautiful y/e/c sparkling back at me. How can anyone put into words just how beautiful she is?
I nod, “She is indeed.”
I’m suddenly made aware of the absence of her touch on my arm. How can someone’s touch both simultaneously have such a stronghold on you and also set you free? Regardless of the reason, I long to savor that feeling once again.
“Well,” she inches out of the booth, “I’m going to get a drink. Can I get you boys anything?”
We shake our heads in unison. Rossi suggests that his date join her.
He places his hand on my shoulder, “So? Any progress made?”
“I don’t want to overwhelm her. There’s so much I want to say. But I feel like I’ve put her through enough already. I’m an old man Dave. I’m a widower with a son. The damage I’d be asking her to cope with, the burden I’d be subjecting her to...”
David clears his throat and slips his phone out of his pocket. He swipes through some photos in his camera roll and lands on a photo of y/n and me. It’s from a cocktail party he hosted a few years ago. Jack, y/n, and I are sitting on the grass in Rossi’s backyard playing with dandelions. I can still hear their laughter filling the air: Jack’s squeals and y/n’s child-like giggles. We felt like a family. I would give anything to relive those moments of genuine bliss, to feel that sensation of being complete, heart, mind, and soul once more.
“Sometimes,” Rossi begins, “when people are destined to be together, their love grows over an undetermined span of time. It could be months, weeks, even years. You both may feel the shared pain of this rollercoaster called life and the hurt that comes from being separated from one another, but this helps you better grasp the priceless value and purity of the love you share. There is no easy road to love. Anyone who claims otherwise is doomed to be plagued by the mediocrity that is a false sense of security. The path you are on, Aaron is the one walked by the greatest lovers in history. In layman’s terms, don’t screw this up.”
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