deep blue eyes // Antoine Griezmann

Chapter 52 - Best Big Brother

As I'm about to enter the living room again with my arms full of snacks, I suddenly stop in the doorway when I hear low murmurs coming from the room. I lean in further to listen.

I immediately recall the last time I eavesdropped, and how badly that all turned out for me. I catch my breath. Now me and Antoine are back in a state of understanding, after the talk we had in the woods after his birthday celebration, about a month ago. Since then, we've been a lot more clear with each other, and have been communicating more. Our relationship has benefited from it. But remember the drama with Phil Foden and all that, I immediately feel guilty for eavesdropping, which is not a natural reaction for me.

I'm about to stop and just walk in with the food like I normally would, but decide against it when I catch a bit of Gale's stern words: "Listen, Antoine. I just know how sweet my sister is. She doesn't like to let it on, but she's soft. She's delicate, and I don't want you to hurt her. All I'm saying is that you better not break her heart."

Yeah, never mind. I'm totally eavesdropping.

Antoine responds, "Of course I won't! And I know. She's independent, and that's fine. But I want to be there to be her support, and take care of her, whenever she needs it. I swear I really think I love her. And she's gorgeous, of course, but I mean her heart. I love her personality and her jokes and her interests and her sweetness and her wild side and everything about her."

A heavy sigh escapes Gale. "Just don't hurt her. Respect her boundaries, follow her rules. Be honest with her. If she's going to have a boyfriend, that's what she needs. I'm sorry I'm so wary. I just know there's a lot of bad guys out there that use girls, and it gives me an uneasy feeling that this all came out of just some stupid crush my sister had on a stranger. I just know a good boyfriend is important. And though I love Sage, she can be naive. I need to be able to trust you. And..." I peek in the door frame to see Gale leaning in closer to Antoine. He looks him directly in the eye as he adds in a rougher tone, "If you dare hurt my sister, you better be aware that you won't be doing that without getting a piece of me."

So Gale is just being an overprotective brother? Giving Antoine man-to-man talk about how he's supposed to treat his sister?

I suppose I don't mind. In a way, it's sweet to see Gale cares so much. Although I'm sure he is just being overprotective. I know I can trust Antoine. I have confidence in him. I know he'd never intentionally hurt me, and would apologize every time he makes a mistake.

I watch, seeing, though, that Antoine stays steady, not wavering for a moment at Gale's implied threat. Instead, he says simply, straight forwardly, confidently, and firmly, looking Gale right in the eye, "Good thing I don't have to be afraid of that. Because there is no way I'll ever break Sage's heart. She's too precious to do that to. She is a jewel. My jewel."

At these words, Gale finally seems to be satisfied. He nods approvingly, leaning back, crossing his arms. Meanwhile, I lean against the door frame to keep my balance from my spinning head at those sweet words from Antoine.

If I could, right now, I would run to Antoine, throw my arms around him, and kiss him.

But instead, I continue watching, silent, frozen, as Antoine says, "Well, Sage is taking a while... Wasn't she just getting food? Want me to go see what she's up to?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Gale nods, clearly much more relaxed- back to his regular casual demeanor.

Just as Antoine is about to stand up, I take that as my queue and walk in, saying, "Here's the food, boys. Sorry I took so long. I just saw there were some texts from my friends wishing me happy birthday, so I kind of got carried away with answering those." I'm amazed at how easily that lie flows out of my mouth, without any hesitation or thought. In reality, Elizabeth is the only one of my friends that even knows my birthday- I've never told the boys what it is. 

I set the food down on the coffee table, and Gale, of course, immediately digs in. I sit down next to Antoine and lean on him, linking my arms around his. He smiles, putting his arm around me, and kisses my forehead, whispering into it, his lips moving against my skin, "How's my Sage?"

I grin and snuggle in more. "Great." After some time, just sitting together, silently watching the television, I finally say, "So, Gale? Didn't Mom say something about a surprise or something for me before she left the room...?"

"Oh, yeah!" he grins. "Aw, Sage, you're gonna love this..." He reaches in his pocket as me and Antoine watch, before pulling out three pieces of paper, and holds them out for me.

I lean away from Antoine to see the papers, and my jaw drops as I barely just gasp. "What?! No way!"

"What is it?" Antoine asks softly, leaning over my shoulder.

"Three tickets to a OneRepublic concert!" I squeal. "Gale, how?! What?!"

My brother grins. "You're eighteen. I know that's one of your favorite bands. Me, Mom, and Dad all pitched in for you to get a nice, big, grand gift for your eighteenth."

"I forgot all about my birthday, and you guys did this for me?!" For some reason, I feel like I want to cry. My voice cracks a bit as it softens, and I wipe at my eyes, blubbering, "Ugh... Gale... Thank you so much... You're going to make me cry..."

He grins teasingly. "Ah, typical crybaby Sage."

Antoine's strong arms from behind me wrap tighter behind me, and I can feel his warm breath on my ear as a light chuckle escapes his mouth. I lean back more into him as I say to Gale, "But... why three tickets?"

He shrugs, grinning. "So you could bring a couple friends. It'd be no fun alone, right?"

"Gale!" I laugh still in such shock. "You literally are the best big brother anyone could ever have. You know that, right?"

He grins and says jokingly, running his tattooed hand through his hair, "Uh, duh!"

I laugh and throw my arms around him in another embrace of thanksgiving.