In The Darkest Hour

Part Two - Chapter Eight: Talking Things Through

Isla panted lying in bed next to Gerard, it all seemed so unreal and she hoped that her parents hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t gone home that night; Gerard had been rather persuasive in keeping her in bed with him.

Gerard drew Isla back to him, he couldn’t keep his hands off of her and he knew that he would have to let her go; a fact that he wasn’t ready to face just yet.

“I love you,” Gerard murmured softly kissing Isla, he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes; he had never felt this content before and he hoped that things were finally starting to look up for him.

Isla was what he wanted and he wasn’t going to let her go again, Gerard had done all of that and he was sure that they could make this work.

“I love you too,” Isla whispered cuddling further into Gerard’s arms, she felt like she was at home and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to walk away from this.

Gerard smiled knowing that he would never get tired of her saying that to him, he had waited eighteen months and finally things had gone his way; he just hoped that it stayed that way.

“When was your madre meant to bring Milan back?” Isla asked peeking at the clock, she prayed that Dev had distracted her parents since they weren’t going to be happy if they found out that she wasn’t home.

Isla didn’t want to tell them yet that she was now dating Gerard, they had made it official last night and she was going to wait a few weeks before she told them.

“She did… left rather quickly though,” Gerard teased with a smile on his face, Isla had been rather vocal and he knew that there was no way his mother hadn’t heard them.

Isla blushed knowing what Gerard was talking about, she couldn’t believe how loud she had been and felt a little bad for Montserrat since she would have found their clothes on the floor.

***

“How are we going to do this?” Gerard asked handing Isla some toast before he climbed into bed, he had no intentions of moving too much today and was glad that he had the day off.

Isla looked at Gerard, she had known that this talk was coming but she had been sure that he would wait for a while before bringing it up; she had an idea that it was more down to his deserve to not lose her.

“I’m happy to do long distance for you Isla,” Gerard reassured leaning back against the headboard, he would do anything to make Isla happy and he knew that moving back to Barcelona wasn’t going to be easy for her; he could only do so much to protect her.

Isla also now had an entire life set up in Australia and Gerard would no intentions of forcing her to come back if that wasn’t what she wanted; things had been peaceful during the last two weeks in Barcelona and he hoped it stayed that way.

“Geri,” Isla whispered shaking her head, it wasn’t fair to him and she knew that, she hadn’t been so sure about what she was going to do and she had been very determined to return to Sydney no matter what when she had come to speak to him but now that had changed.

Isla had found what she had been missing about Barcelona, it had a long time since she had felt like this and she knew what she had to do.

“I want to come home,” Isla said staring at Gerard, this was always going to be her home and she had been away from it for long enough; she had to come back and she hoped Gerard would be okay with that.

Gerard smiled at Isla, he hadn’t been expecting her to want to come back for him; he knew how she had felt about Barcelona and he would do anything that he could to support her.

Isla was certain to get her job back at the hospital, Montserrat had done a wonderful job there and Gerard would do anything to make her feel right.

“Only if you’re sure amor,” Gerard murmured nibbling on his toast, he didn’t want Isla to make this decision just because they were dating; he wanted her to be happy and she would have never stayed if they weren’t together.

Isla smiled and leant forward to kiss Gerard, she loved that he wasn’t trying to force her but she knew what she wanted; she might take some time to feel right about Barcelona however she wasn’t sure that she could do this without him.

“I’ve been away for long enough,” Isla whispered allowing Gerard to hold her close, she wasn’t going to change her mind and she was coming back to Barcelona; even if she had no idea on how she would break the news to her parents about any of this.

Isla could only imagine how Tracy and Theodore would react not only to the news that she was now dating Gerard but she was moving back to Barcelona; she doubted that they were going to be happy.

Tracy and Theodore seemed convinced that Isla should stay in Australia, they didn’t care that coming back might make Isla happy only that things went the way they wanted; they were still convinced that she should marry Dev.

“You’ll live here?” Gerard murmured moving the plate to the bedside table, he kissed Isla and pulled her to sit on his lap; he stared up at his girlfriend knowing that he would happily have her back here with him and Milan.

Gerard knew how much his son missed Isla, he was almost as bad as his father when it came to Isla; the three of them were a family that had been apart for too long.

“If you’ll have me,” Isla replied smiling, she didn’t want to live with her parents not when she knew that they would only try to force her to do something that she didn’t want to do.

***

“You look happy,” Montserrat mused when she dropped Milan later that day, she looked at her son knowing that he was alone now and she guessed that Isla had gone home to help her parents with their impending ceremony.

Gerard nodded his head cuddling his son, he wasn’t going to deny or hide how happy he was with the change in events; he had a feeling that his mother would be happy for him.

“I take it has something to do with what happened with Isla,” Montserrat said a little concerned, she knew that Isla had a boyfriend from Australia and she prayed that the two hadn’t done something stupid since Dev didn’t deserve to be hurt.

Gerard nodded his head, he had so much to tell his mother and he couldn’t stop smiling especially knowing that Isla was going to have her things shipped back as soon as possible.

“She’s my girlfriend madre,” Gerard stated proudly, he looked at Milan and he knew that it was good for them; they had waited long enough for this moment.

Montserrat was silent for a moment taking in her son’s expression, she sighed sure that she was missing something and she moved to stick the kettle on wanting answers before she gave her opinion.

Gerard had been through so much as had Isla, Montserrat wanted them both to be happy and that couldn’t happen if Isla was still dating Dev and cheating on him.

“Madre,” Gerard murmured shaking his head as she ushered him into the living room so that they could sit down and talk; she wasn’t going to let this go until she had all the details.

Gerard loved his mother and he knew that she just wanted him to be happy, he finally had everything coming together for the first time in a long time.