EUPHORIA || L. MESSI

Part 15: Dates and Pleasures

a/n: a little shorter than most chapters, with minor steam at the end to make up for it:)

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Other than getting to see my little brother, the best thing about Troi coming to Barcelona proved to be his offer to babysit whilst Leo an I spent some time together. I was unsure to begin with, for Troi was only fifteen himself, and to look after a child himself seemed like an awful lot of responsibility. He brushed off my concerns, reminding me that he was more mature than I ever gave him credit for, along with joking that he needed some practice for taking care of our niece who was due to be born that day or thereabouts.

It took a fair amount of persuading, for I was incredibly reluctant to leave the teenager I was responsible for alone with a five year old, but Leo was so enthusiastic about the idea of us spending time together that I couldn't bring myself to let him down. His mum and dad were perfectly happy to take care of Thiago and Mateo, too. Thinking about it, we hadn't really had too much time to ourselves in our entire relationship, with me spending most of my time working on lessons and him having training most days - plus, we hadn't properly been out on a date as such since he told me he loved me. So, in the end, I agreed, telling Troi that I promised I'd be back before midnight. It was 5 when we left, giving us plenty of time together.

Leo had driven us back an hour towards his house, before stopping in a private car park of a small restaurant he claimed made the best paella in Barcelona. We were welcomed happily into the building, staff all greeting my boyfriend wildly, to which he returned the hugs, telling me he had been here many a time before.

One of the servers, an older lady whose name I learnt was Frances, joked at Leo about how it was unusual to see him there with company, for usually he went alone, prompting the footballer to introduce me.

"Frances, this is Avanna, my girlfriend." He smiled proudly at the title, and from where I had my arm linked in his, I gave his bicep a small squeeze.

The lady beamed at me, her smile being so catchy I found myself grinning back in, greeting me with a kiss to either cheek and some comments about how happy she was for Leo. "Lionel! She is beautiful. How on earth did you convince her to go out with you?"

My boyfriend laughed at her comment, shaking his head in amusement "Don't brush off my charms so easily Frances! Just because you wouldn't fall for it, doesn't mean others don't."

"I wouldn't fall for it because I'm old enough to be your grandmother." She laughed again, and the two of them stood smiling widely at each other "My, how I have missed you."

We were seated in a more private area of the restaurant, food coming quickly and hospitality being overall wonderful - and Leo wasn't wrong about the food being amazing.

After a calming meal in which we each discussed plans for the coming months, and spoke a little more about our childhood (Leo's being a lot more exciting than mine), we decided to make our way back to his, saying goodbyes to the staff. They all made comments about how well suited we were for each other, and as we left, I noticed the wide grin on Leo's face.

The ride home was possibly my favourite part up until that point. We had the radio on in the background, loudly singing along the all the Catalonian music that they played,laughing and joking with each other. It was a side to Leo I hadn't seen before, and the smile hadn't dropped off his face once. He was always cheerful, but there wasn't even one point in the night where I caught him without a grin. His happy demeanour didn't stop him from getting up to his old antics, with a hand on my thigh for most of the journey, teasing the hem of my black skirt so that I knew exactly what he had in mind for when we got back.