Drunk In Love; Hector Bellerin

Chapter 5

Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef slices as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melts on your tongue served with sweet blue grapes.  Mother was really doing her best. The dining room was filled with intensity and the atmosphere was almost suffocating. I could only notice my brothers glaring their eyes at Hector who has been uncomfortably putting up a smile on his face, due to politeness. 

"So... Hector, how did you meet our sister?" Charles raised an eyebrow. 

"Well-"

"We have a mutual friend. We met at a party," I interrupted as soon as I noticed the troubled look which was drawn on Hector's face.

"Of course you did," Christian rolled his eyes and took a sip of the lemonade father had made.

"Sir, I must say, the lemonade is very good," Hector smiled.

Father's lips turned into a small smile and his eyes soften. He's always been making lemonades whenever guests arrive but none of them had complimented him about it.

"Thank you, kid. So anyway, how are your parents?" father asked.

For a while, Hector looked like he didn't want to speak of it.

"I was raised by a single mother. I'm doing what I do for her, actually." 

"You're a good kid, I'm glad my daughter got to meet a family oriented man like you," father smiled.

The rest of dinner was alright. Hector seemed to take everything well and even more shocking was how the family was more interested to know about him than our relationship. 

The night rides in on a horse of pure midnight velvet, beckoned by the stars under a the glow of a full moon. As the colors of the day rest, perhaps dream of the morrow, the hillside becomes its monochrome beauty, shapes that make an ever-changing, ever-present puzzle, question and answer united. In this night we all become one, from rock to plant to animal, one promise of life awaiting the return of the sun. I helped mother with cleaning the dishes, but slowly poking my head around the room to see if Hector was okay. In fact, he was. He was already in the living room with my brothers as they played a game of FIFA. 

"I'll finish this up. Here's some coffee for your boyfriend," mother uttered.

"My what?" I raised both of my eyebrows.

Mother giggled at how flustered I was. 

When I stepped into the living room, Hector wasn't there anymore. 

"Where is Hector?" I asked, clearly puzzled. He was here, three minutes ago.

"I think he's outside, probably at the porch or something," Cody answered.

I slowly walked towards the front door which led to our porch which was quite spacious. He must've went there to get some fresh air as we also had an area where one could sit down on a comfortable bench. But before I could reveal myself, I heard his voice, and then someone else's. As though, he was having a conversation with someone. 

"I don't know kid. When I saw the pictures of you and my daughter I was worried," father's voice became clearer as I inched closer to the window.

"I know. And, you have every right to be worried as well. I know I would've been worried if I was in your position. But Cleo, she's amazing. I met her in such a short period of time but she's helped me a lot. She's willing to go out of her way for me and I promise, I'll do the same for her. She's... she's like everything-" 

"Ah, Cleo, you're here," father blurted as I pretended to walk in, as if I wasn't eavesdropping earlier.

I looked over to Hector who sat at the left side of the bench as he smiled widely and said a soft "thank you" as I handed him the coffee. I watched as he took a sip of his drink, as the steam from the drink blow up to his face. I never realized how his skin looked beautiful underneath the pal moonlight. His chiseled jaw lifted with a proud, pleasant smile. His eyes a sparkling brown, so much like mine, and his soft, feather-like brown hair brushed away from his brow. He was charming and smart. The strong scent of white musk that he's sprayed on his clothes suddenly filled my lungs as he stood up to meet me before my eyes.

"I think I should be heading home," he says with a soft smile. His voice was different. It sounded as though, he didn't actually want to leave. Father left us alone before Hector would hop onto his car. I remained silent as the both of us walked towards the matte black BMW car of his. 

"Cleo," he says, turning his head to face me. For a while, my heart started to pound even quicker than before as his mouth spoke my name. 

I looked up to meet his eyes which were already fixed on me.

"Thank you for inviting me tonight. It's been amazing," he smiled. 

I merely nodded and left out a small chuckle.

"Thank you... for coming," I smiled. 

Our heads inched their way closer and I could already feel how wrong this situation could turn out to be. I didn't love him. And he... didn't love me. This was all pretend. 

I jolted my head back and remained looking down on the pavement.

"I don't want this to be more confusing than it already is," I said. I could see the shock and disappointment in his face as I uttered those words. 

"Good night," I added before I turned around to walk back into the house before I could feel a warm grip around my wrist. His fingers wrapped themselves around my wrist and pulled myself closer to him. 

 His eyes looked tremendously beautiful from this angle. An angle I never thought I'd come close to. He placed a hand on my back and pulled me into a kiss. A kiss so intimate that it still lingered around my lisps, even after we've pulled away. He kissed me and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below my ear, his thumb caressing my cheek as our breaths mingled. I slowly ran my fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between us and all we could feel was the beating of our heart against our chest.