First love (Pedri & Eric García)

Chapter 23

Laia had woken up a few times and heard Eric moving around the room. They had a day off but he sometimes couldn't sleep well so he got up to shower and then to leave the room. Eric didn't even notice she had woken up and by the time he looked back at her, she was already sleeping again. But the smell of coffee woke her up.

"Good morning", said Eric when he noticed her trying to open her eyes.

"Breakfast in bed?"

He nodded and leaned down to kiss Laia, who kissed him back and smiled. "I made you some coffee, brought some fruit and made only half-burnt pancakes".

"Perfect", she laughed, getting up and walking around the bed before stopping next to Eric to give him another kiss. "I'll go to the bathroom quickly and then we can eat. Thank you for this".

They were eating and chatting, laughing at silly jokes Eric made, when he froze. His phone beeped because he had a new text and he had seen out of the corner of his eye who was the person sending it.

"You ok?"

"Yes. It's just...the text I just got".

"Who is it from? Is it about Barça or...".

"It's a text from Pedri".

"Oh...".

Eric had told Laia about their almost fight and how they spoke after it. Ferran told her about it too while Eric wasn't around. He had been so excited about the possibility of his friends being friends again. It broke Laia's heart to imagine the text could be something bad.

"Are you going to read it?"

"I'm scared. It's so stupid but...".

"It's not stupid", she told Eric, placing her hand over his. "We can wait until later if you worry this will ruin our day off".

"I think not knowing and being anxious about it will ruin the day too".

"I can read it if you want to".

That made Eric hold the phone closer. The main reason he feared reading the text was it could actually hurt Laia more if it said something about her.

"I'll do it".

He took a deep breath and unlocked the phone so he could click on the notification. And smiled.

"What? What does it say?"

"He wants to meet with us and apologize".

"Really? That's great!"

Laia hugged Eric because she knew he was happy and would appreciate the hug. She also did it to hide the worry in her face. Eric heard about what Pedri said from her...he didn't hear the way Pedri said it. As much as she wanted to believe that Pedri had good intentions, she was still wary. But Eric was so happy, she wasn't going to ruin that for him.

After Eric texted Ferran to tell him the good news, they went back to their day off. To everything they had planned.

"I'll let you know when we'll meet Pedri, ok?", said Eric the next day when Laia was about to get in the car to drive back to Barcelona.

"Yeah. Should we meet at my place? So we don't have to worry about your parents being there".

"Sure".

Meeting at Pedri's would have also meant no one was around but...Laia still felt defensive over the whole situation, so she wanted the home advantage of being in her own place and not anywhere else. She would feel more under control there.

She also expected to have more time to prepare for it but Eric was so excited that the meeting ended up happening only two days later.

"Should I get any food ready for snacks or...".

"We'll talk first and if it goes well, we can move on to drinks and snacks".

"Ok", sighed Laia, trying to busy herself redoing her ponytail.

"Are you ok, Laia?"

"Yes. I just want this to go well for you. And Ferran, I guess".

Eric laughed. "And what I worry is about this going well for you".

"Well, being selfless is a good quality to have in a relationship so...".

The doorbell ruined their little moment and they took some deep breaths before walking to meet Pedri.

"Hi", he said, seeing them standing next to each other. It was hard. So hard to see them like that. To know they had what he wanted. But he had come in peace.

"Come in", said Laia. "Let's go to the living room".

She led the way and soon they were all sitting down and looking at each other.

"Should I start?", asked Pedri.

Eric nodded. "Please".

Pedri sighed. He had rehearsed the speech in his head so many times but he didn't have Laia in front of him then. She made his emotions change so much and so quickly.

"Laia...you were my first love. It hurt too much to think you used me, to see you back with Eric...I thought I could hurt you because I didn't know how to cope with feeling so much pain. But I was so wrong...God, I never deserved you".

Laia didn't know what to expect from this meeting but she didn't expect to feel the tears in her eyes after just a couple of words. Eric noticed how she felt and held her hand.

"Don't say that, Pedri", she told him softly before clearing her throat to talk a little louder. "You're a great guy. I could have loved you so easily. But my heart had always belonged to Eric. You'll meet the right person one day and she'll be the luckiest woman in the world. I know it".

"I already met that woman".

Eric stiffened and Laia swallowed before talking. "I feel honoured but...".

"I get it. It'll hurt for a while, though".

"Of course".

"But we could be friends in the future", he said, looking at Eric. "All of us. Just not right now. I need some distance. Seeing you two so in love with each other is like a kick to the stomach. You never looked at me like that...".

Eric noticed the pain in Pedri's face while he looked at Laia. How painful it was for him to confess all of this, so he interrupted him to help him.

"Take your time", said Eric. "But don't take too long. I miss my friend".

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, Eric", said Pedri before looking at Laia. "Or yours".

"We all make mistakes and...I talked to Ferran not long ago and he told me how choosing not to hate those who hurt you helped healing faster. Hopefully that's the case for you".

"Ferran always being so wise. It's that whole shark mentality thing he's obsessed about".

They laughed and noticed a lot of the tension disappearing. But still...it was too soon.

"Do you want to stay to have a drink or something?", offered Laia.

"I appreciate it but no. I really need the time but it just makes so much sense".

"What does?", asked Eric.

"You two together...if I had seen you together just once, I wouldn't have even tried. Be happy. And I'll try to be part of that happiness soon".

When Pedri left, Eric went back to the living room where Laia was still sitting down on the sofa. Eric couldn't tell what was going through her head but she seemed a bit worried.

"You ok?"

"Yes. But that was weird".

"It went well too...".

"I know, Eric. And I'm really happy you'll get your friend back".

"I'll be in the best company in the meantime".