I. L'instant [H.S]

LII

"I will pick you up next Friday."

Stopping halfway up the steps to the front door, she turns around. "Really? Good." she smiles big.

I nod, not wanting to add much. I'm still reeling over what the hell I'm going to do next week when the day arrives and I have to actually face what's to come. There's still a lot of things I need to sort out but all I want to do is get a shower and drive straight to Emilia's house, it feels like I haven't see her in weeks even though it's been less than four days.

"I'll get a few things for the room." she adds as I walk back to the car.

"I already got a lot of things." I shake my head. "You don't have to."

She raises a brow at me, poking her hip to the side. "I will buy whatever I want."

"Fine." I shrug, not caring much if she spends too much in unnecessary shit. "I'm off. Goodbye, mum."

Smiling and waving me goodbye, I speed away from my mother's house and straight to my place. I already told Emilia I would pick her up in less than an hour. Shit. I shouldn't have spent so much time going about around so many stores but if I really want to have time to spend with Emilia, I needed to have everything ready at the flat so the only few things left are easier to deal with. The only part that's got me on the brink of loosing my shit it's how the fuck am I going to begin trying to explain all of this to her. I can't deal with that right now. The important bit is seeing her, soon.

But of course, Matt rings me just as I walk out of the shower. "What?" I reply, rushing through my closet.

"Mate! You're back?" he asks casually.

"Yeah, what do you want?" I put the phone on speaker and pull a tee and a knit on. "Matt?"

He takes his time but when he finally answers, he says. "Have you told her?"

"No. Is that why you're calling me?" he couldn't be more of a pain in my ass but I know he's right. "I'm in a hurry mate, I'll call-"

"Mate," he cuts me off. "She's going to-"

"I know! I know!" I shout from the end of the bed as I slip my trousers on. "Look, I will talk to her. I'm already fucking anxious enough for you to keep nagging me about it."

Silence follows but I don't have time to check if he's hung up already or not. I know he's right and he's been telling me to be honest with Emilia about it for the last few weeks because he knows how I feel about her and just how miserable it would make me if things didn't go right. Matt's known everything since the day I came back and even though it took him a bit to understand and come around, he forgave me. I don't know if it's going to be the same with Emilia, but the idea of her not talking to me for a week or so, like Matt did, is something I don't think I would be able to accept.

"Just relax, man." Matt says after a few seconds. "I know Emilia and I know you," he chuckles. "Everything's gonna end up fine."

"You really think so?" I look like a mental case sprinting around my bedroom to finish getting dressed. "She's going to be mad."

"Oh yeah!" Matt laughs. "She's going to proper loose it, there's no doubt. I hope she smacks the asshole out of you, too."

"Fuck off." I grunt, taking my phone and disabling the speaker. "I gotta go. Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime, mate." he sings with mirth but hangs up before I can curse him out some more.

I try ringing Emilia on my way to her flat but she does't pick up. As I'm parking right up front of her annoying neighbour's house since there's a massive jeep parked at Emilia's, I see someone walking out. For a second I think it might be Joe, looking to get his ass handed back to him again, but then I realise it's the square of a man I'd seen before. Emilia's brother. I've never been really good at greeting people I don't care about but as we're about to cross paths to one another, he stops and looks at me.