Say You Want Me

Please, don't leave

The sleep was so deep that they would never remember what they dreamed.  At least once in a few months they felt the good part of being loved.  But the ringing of one of their cell phones started to ring, warning that the day had to start.  Stefani was the first to wake up, noticing that it was Bradley's phone that was ringing, lost under the clothes on the floor.

"B, your phone."  Stefani said as he also started to wake up.

Bradley sat on the bed still asleep, looking for the thing that insisted on playing an insistent noise, and he didn't even look at the screen to see who was trying to disturb him at that time.  It was already 10am but they were too tired to function before midday.

"Hi, hello."  He answered, quickly combing his hair to look more awake.  He feels Stefani's lips on his shoulders and smiles.

"Just tell me one thing, where are you?"  The voice on the phone was far from happy.

"Irina."  Bradley swallows. Stefani stops kissing him.  "I'm at Stefani's." His body stiffens, regret falling on the bed in a grace they already knew was going to happen.

Irina laughed sarcastically.

"Just what I thought."  She says to herself.  "We broke up five minutes ago and you're already in her bed."

"Ina, listen. I thought..."

"No, Bradley. I'm tired of this and we don't have anything else to solve. I just called to say I'm leaving, I packed some bags and I'm taking Lea with me."  Bradley got up from the bed, his back to Gaga, so nervous that he felt his fingertips tingle.

"Wait. No. Irina, don't do this now. We need to talk or it's going to be a mess, Lea and the paparazzi..."

"I already did. And I don't care about the paparazzi, Bradley!"  She said angrily overflowing with his words. "I don't fucking care! Fuck them and fuck you" She hangs up and Bradley glares at Stefani.

"I need to go."  He starts to put on his clothes, without even thinking.

"Babe, don't."  Stefani takes his hand, stopping him from doing what he is doing. "Tell me what's going on first."

"She's taking Lea." Bradley is interrupted by another ringtone. This time it's Gaga's.

"Fuck." She swears under stress as she quickly reaches for her cell phone and answers it. "Hi, Bobby."

"What did you do? Where's Bradley?"

"He's with me. What happen-"

"Stefani, the photos of Irina leaving his house with bags are already on the internet. This shit is going to be a mess to clean."

"I-" Stefani glares at Bradley who is already dressed and typing quickly on his cell phone. "Bobby, we're sorry. We didn't think she would do something like that."

"Of course. Oh, my God. Please don't search for your name online. I'm meeting with the PR team in a little while. We'll need some luck. And oh, don't let anyone see Bradley leave your house. I'll be calling you soon. "

He hung up the phone leaving Gaga with nothing to think about.

"It's ok."  Stefani finally says as they hurry down the stairs. She wears a white robe. "You can stay here, B. And we will solve everything, we need to calm down."

"We can't, Stef. I'm sorry, but I can't stay here-"

"Why?" She interrupts him. "Because your girlfriend left? We're fucking grown ups."

"Because of Lea! She took Lea, Stefani."

The silence takes place between the two.  He looks tired and sad, strangely different from what Gaga saw last night.  She is devastated and scared, afraid to lose him again.

"I know Lea comes first, I'm not close to taking her place and I don't even want to. She's your daughter, but I'm scared."  Stefani vented, staring at her own foot on the stairs. "We were doing so well last night, and something tells me that you won't be back after you walk out that door."

Silence again.  Bradley comes closer and hugs her.

"Last night was special."  He says.

"But here you are, walking away and leaving me alone again. We need to find a way to fix this."  She raises her face to maintain eye contact. "Irina has already done what she had to do. Everyone been talking about the three of us on the internet for a long time, she leaving your house is nothing."

Bradley releases her.

"You can't run around breaking people's hearts, Bradley."

He looks at her for a moment.

"I just need to talk to her. You can see that it wasn't all resolved just by the way she just called me, as if I still owed her an explanation. I need to do this so that I can stay here with you. I'm sorry, I really am."

He strokes Stefani's cheek with his thumb and kisses her forehead.

"I don't want to go, but I feel like I need to do this."  Bradley continues.  "I'll be back."

"When?" She asks full of doubts, questions that could not be answered. Her heart sinking in her chest with every second that Bradley stood there in front of her.

He shrugs indecisively about what to say, his posture more tired than before.

"Only time can answer us."  He strokes her hand and kisses her forehead, tears ready to come out at any moment.

Stefani says nothing, just presses her lips together and nods.

It was the end. She had nothing else to do. Bradley felt her hand slip between his fingers and he left to try to save what was left of them.