deep blue eyes // Antoine Griezmann

Chapter 32 - Honestly Honesty

Antoine continues to embrace me for a few seconds in silence, before saying so softly, it's nearly a whisper, in my ear, "You know, I've only dated two girls."

"Really?" I smile softly. "I would've thought so much more, based on your looks."

He smiles. "No, only two. And those two are you and Rachel."

"Oh, wow. So Rachel was a first?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. Because you're a second. Rachel made me cry too, you know."

I lean back to meet his eyes, still slightly wet. "Really?"

"Yeah, but you're the first girl to make me genuinely cry real tears of joy. You know that? You're such a light to me, that you made me cry tears of joy. Tears of joy, Sage. Just because of what you said..." He wipes his eyes, but continues, getting another voice crack, "No one has ever said something to me like that... I just..." he sighs. "Thank you..." He gently wraps his arms around me again.

We sit quietly like that for who knows how long, before Antoine's mother comes in the room, and puts an arm on her son's back. I look up to see a big smile on her face as she says, "Aren't you two so sweet?"

Antoine looks up at his mother, leaning away from me with a sheepish grin. "Mom..." he mutters.

"Well," She places both of her hands on her hips. "Pizza's ready, so come to the table and get it, lovebirds."

I grin as Antoine rolls his eyes. He holds his hand out to me to help me up, and even though I obviously can get up myself, I still take it, embracing the idea of all the gentlemanly service he has been offering to me so graciously.

He brings me to their large dining room, where there are two seats with plates in front of them, set. This is foreign to me, because in my family, my parents have never bothered to ever set the table in any way whatsoever for us. It feels like I'm eating fancy tonight.

"Sage, what kind of pizza would you like? There is cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, sausage pizza, and olive and pepper pizza. Antoine, you just want plain cheese, right?"

"Yes, thank you, Mom," he says, grabbing both our plates off the table. "And you?"

"Uh, I'll have pepperoni, thanks," I nod to him, getting settled at the table. I don't want to unfold my utensils out of my napkin just yet, not exactly knowing the traditions of this family and their meals.

Then Antoine comes back with our plates, and his mother follows, holding two other plates. "You two, do you want to eat alone, or is it okay if me, Dad, and Theo join? No pressure either way- understand if you want alone time."

Antoine looks to me to answer, and I shrug, saying, "I don't mind if Mr. Griezmann, you, and Theo eat with us. I want to get to know Antoine's family if I'm going to be dating him."

She smiles with a nod, seeming pleased with my answer, and mutters to herself, "What a sweet girl you are," before leaving the room to call for her husband and younger son.

I glance at Antoine, seeing that he's not eating yet, so I wait, a bit impatiently, considering the strange amount of hunger I feel within me.

Finally, the three walk back into the room, and they sit down at the table. On one side of me is Antoine, and on the other is Theo. He does nothing but a quick glance at me.

Mr. Griezmann asks a question in French, and Antoine responds with a nod, sounding slightly annoyed, before Mr. Griezmann nods with a simple, "Oui."

Then everyone folds their hands, so I do too, as Antoine says, sounding kind of bored, "Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen." I lift my head and am about to start eating, before Antoine continues, in French, and it becomes clear to that he's repeating the same phrase, but in French.

This is so weird to me.

Finally, he finishes, and everyone starts eating. I have never done that before, ever, in my whole life. I guess his family is Christian... or something.

The pizza is delicious, and it's hard to get the proper balance between eating politely and stuffing it all in my mouth as fast as humanly possible. I don't think I do very well, but nobody really seems to mind or notice.

"So, Sage," Theo grins as I look over at him.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Want me to tell you what Antoine has said about you?"

"Oh no..." Antoine mutters, his face pinkening. "Theo..."

"Yes!" I grin, seeing his embarrassment. "Tell me. Please."

He nods, then says, "Well, when I first found out who he liked, I questioned him about it, and he ended up spilling all the embarrassing things about you that he loves. So, I gotta tell you what he said, because I remember."

I grin. "Go on."

"Okay, so first he started with saying how gorgeous you are. These are all basically his words, by the way. So he said that you're so hot, and that he loves to just watch you, and the way you do basically everything. He described how your hair is always perfect, and your eyes always sparkle. He said to me, 'Sometimes I just want to kiss her so bad, but I know she doesn't like me back.'"

I glance at Antoine, who is picking at his pizza, looking down, completely red in the face and embarrassed.

Theo continues, "He said he loves to talk with you, and that you're hilarious, and that he just wants to be close with you, but he's worried you wouldn't want to let him in, or that sometimes he annoys you or bothers you, or seems obsessive. But here is when he really started to get sappy, alright?"

Antoine says, "Oh no, Theo..." at the same as I say, "Alright, go on."

"So he started saying how you're like his only light, and whenever he's feeling bad, he just has to see your face, or even just hear your voice, and his day is brightened. He said he didn't know what love really was, until he met you. He said that sometimes you just look so sad or tired, and that he'd love to just comfort you, and hold you in his arms, and tell you it's all okay, because he's there. He wanted to kiss you on the cheek and pick you up after a football game, or hold your hand on long walks into the sunset with you. He kept going on, explaining all these super sappy things, but then his eyes started to water-"

"Theo, stop," Antoine rolls his eyes, but there's slight urgency in his voice now.

But Theo shakes his head, much to my approval, and continues, "His eyes started to water, and he tried to make it look like he wasn't close to tears when he said, 'But so many people love her, and I know I'll never be good enough for her. I'm sure she doesn't even look at me that way. I'm not even sure if we're really friends at all... It's just so hard, Theo, because I want to be hers, and she to be mine, so badly, because I love her, but I know that will never, ever, happen, and it hurts...' That's what he said to me, probably shortly after he broke up with that annoying Rachel girl."

I stare at Antoine, hardly believing that he would say and feel all those things. Not caring one bit about his family being there, I embrace him, forcing his eyes to meet mine, just for a second, before I lean up, holding his cheeks, and kiss him.