"He was so sweet," I was telling Theo, "he said you were his idol and that he wants to be just like you when he grows up."

He gave me a smile, sat opposite me at the island table in my kitchen. I was on my second glass of the best white wine I had, while he was just finishing his first. I had also whipped up strawberries and whipped cream for us to share.

"You said his name was Daniel? Why's he in a wheelchair?" Theo watched me closely as I took a small bite from the cream covered tip of a strawberry.

"He said he'd been in a car accident," I shook my head, still feeling quite devastated for the young boy, "he also told me the doctors had said that he wouldn't be able to play football again. It was heartbreaking."

"You seem very taken by him," he pointed out.

"I am. I wish you could meet him, it would make him so happy," I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"We'll see. The world's a small place," he gave me a mischievous look, and I laughed gently.

"I've decided to go visit him tomorrow after my shift ends," I told him, taking another small bite of the sweet strawberry.

"Tell him I send my regards."

I sent him a smile, "it'll make him so excited."

Before either of us could continue, my phone began ringing in front of me on the marble counter. Both our eyes focused down at the caller ID.

"Who's Louis?" Theo asked, eyes back on mine in no time.

"Oh... he's, uhm... he's my brother," I felt incredibly upset all of a sudden. I hadn't had any type of contact with him in what felt like ages.

My family was very dysfunctional, and I barely kept in touch with any of them. My mother, a chronic alcoholic, had left us when we'd been young. My brother had fallen in with the wrong crowd later in life, and I hadn't talked to him since I left to go study. I still sometimes kept in touch with my father, but just talking to him reminded me of such hard times, it took a toll on me even when I loved him dearly.

"I need to take this, I'm sorry," I fumbled and grabbed my phone. Theo gave me a nod before I got up and made my way into the living room to answer my phone.

"Louis?" I answered the phone, my voice a little shaky. I feared he had gotten himself into more trouble, or something along those lines.

"Hey, S. It's been a while," he spoke. I had missed his voice and the old him.

"It has. Are you alright, why are you calling me?" I sat down on the couch, leaning my elbows on my knees while pinching the bridge of my nose with my free hand.

"Dad's birthday is in a few weeks. I thought it'd be nice to go visit him and celebrate together."

That was something I definitely hadn't been expecting for him to have called me for. The last time he had called me had been months ago, asking for money.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he sounded almost happy, "listen, I've been in rehab for the past six months. I'm clean. I have a job at a coffee shop."

"What?"

I couldn't decide if I should be wary or joyed with what he was telling me. I didn't trust him anymore, after everything. There was still a voice inside me convincing me he would return to his bad ways.

"Lou... I don't know what to say," I spoke quietly, a few tears brimming my eyes, "I'm so proud of you. I-I'd love to come celebrate dad with you."

He was quiet for a moment, before speaking. I hadn't the faintest clue what he looked like anymore, how he had changed, but his voice I would recognise anywhere.

"It's settled then. I'll call him and tell him we want to stop by for his birthday weekend, sounds good?"

"Yes, okay," I nodded to myself, voice almost a whisper.

"Hey S?" He spoke after a short silence. I made some sort of sound for him to continue.

"I miss you. We'll talk more in person... but I just need to let you know how sorry I am," he truly sounded remorseful. A tear slid down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away.

"Okay," I didn't know what else to say. Some of the things he'd done to me needed to be resolved further before I would be forgiving him. Maybe a weekend at my father's would really help.

We wished each other a good night and ended the call. I stayed sitting on the couch, just staring down at my phone. Had that really just happened? It almost felt surreal.

"I cleaned everything up, Scarlett," Theo's voice broke me out of my thoughts a few minutes later when he entered the living room, "is everything okay?"

I looked up to find him standing in front of me and gave him a soft smile along with a nod, "everything's fine."

He seated himself down beside me, body turning to face my side a bit, "are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm just a little confused and shocked, that's all. But happy. I'm happy," I assured him and placed my phone onto the coffee table in front of us.

I turned towards him, "thank you for cleaning up, you really didn't have to."

I felt like he was reading me as if I was an open book. As if his eyes were searing into my soul like there was nothing he wasn't afraid or unwilling to know about me.

"You don't have good relations with your brother?" He wondered carefully, arm resting on the backrest of the couch.

I looked down at my lap and shook my head with a small and bordering-on-sad laugh.

"It's complicated," I told him, not wanting to bother him with my boring life. Besides, none of even my closest friends knew all the details.

"Tell me."

I looked up at Theo and shook my head.

"You can trust me, you know?" He continued, raising his brows a little to prove a point.

"I know. I do trust you, it's just... I don't know," I let out a small breath, going through a small quarrel with the more afraid and conservative part of me.

"My mother left us when we were in kindergarten. She's an alcoholic, I don't know where she is today, but I'm assuming either dead or on the streets," I spoke honestly, relaxing immediately when he twirled a strand of my hair between his fingers, listening to me intently, "it was just my younger brother Louis, my dad and me from there on."

He nodded, patiently waiting for me to continue.

"Louis, he... he started hanging out with the wrong crowd at school when he was a teenager. He started doing drugs, committing small offences, things like that," I found myself telling him what even Linda didn't know, "when I moved away to study, he did call me up a few times asking for money. It got bad. Very bad."

Theo's brows were furrowed, making his dark features even darker in my dim living room.

"There was one time he threatened to cut me with a knife to get money for drugs... it's been a mess," I shook my head, "I lost contact with him after that, and we really haven't spoken. Until now."

"Why was he calling you now?" He then asked slowly.

"He says he's gone to rehab and is clean now. My father's birthday is coming up, and I guess Louis wants to reunite our family. Or what's left of it, at least," I explained, finding comfort in how he was watching me so closely.

For a moment we were both quiet, and I was resulted into looking down at my lap from his intense eyes. I let out a breath of relief, knowing I hadn't told him all the small details, but still what I had told had taken a huge weight off my shoulders.

"You don't seem too comfortable about the idea," he noted, and my eyes met his again.

"About what idea?"

"The idea of seeing him. You're afraid," his eyes studied mine, completely taking me aback by how well he could read me and my emotions.

"Yes, well... I don't want it to go badly, for the sake of my father. I don't want to see Louis hitting rock bottom again, I want to trust him, but it's hard," I explained, giving the gorgeous man in front of me a tightlipped smile.

"I can't imagine how much stress you've had to undergo since your mother left and your brother began going off the trail," he brushed a piece of hair behind my ear, "it's raised you up to be an amazing person, though. You're independent, kind and caring, selfless... you're as close to perfect as they come, love."

"You're sweet, Theo," I smiled gently, core clenching when his thumb ever-so-lightly brushed over my cheekbone, "thank you."

"I could come with you, you know?" He was then offering. My brows furrowed.

"To see your father for his birthday. You'd have me there, I'd have your back."

I shook my head, "it's a whole weekend, Theo. I'll be fine. Thank you for offering, though. Besides, you'll be off trying to win the Championships then."

He shrugged, a smile tugging at the sides of my lips, "you're right. Speaking of, the first games are here in London but most are in Russia. I want to fly you out to see me, we have a few days of rest between matches sometimes. It would be nice to have you come support me and spend a few days with me."

"You'd be flying little ol' me out to Russia?" I raised my brows at him. I already knew what the World Cup meant hospital-wise. Busy, busy, busy; mostly handling drunk football fans who have managed to injure themselves with too much fun.

"Yes. Just for one game, maybe? And we would also have the chance of being driven away from the city where the matches are generally held... see what else Russia has to offer us and spend time alone," he sent me a light grin.

"That sounds nice, I'll have to think about it," I told him, "I don't know yet how my schedule will be."

"I get that, love. It's very hard to plan much for the future with you," he shrugged, hand now moving down to my thigh.

I had unconsciously shifted closer to him, the space between us slowly vanishing as my knee was already resting on his thigh.

"It stresses me. Living in the moment is so much easier," I gave him a smile. I then leaned in to gently press my lips against his and cup his jaw.

"You're not coming onto me, are you?" Theo teased, murmuring against my lips, low voice causing my core to clench and need for him to rush through my body.

I giggled quietly, cupping his jaw more and kissing him with more pressure. He returned the kiss and shifted in his place swiftly so that he was on his knees, making me fall back onto the couch.

"I would never," I gave him a light grin when he pulled back enough to be able to situate himself between my thighs, supporting himself up with one hand by my head.

"For your sake, Tinker Bell, I hope you don't have an early morning," he began trailing kisses down from my jaw to my neck, sucking gently.

I ran my hands through his hair, letting out a small and almost breathless laugh.

I didn't have an early morning tomorrow, and knew quite well we wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

——

Hii loveliess

I'm having such anxiety over this book, I rarely write anything which doesn't have some kind of connection to my own life/surroundings.

This book is such fiction haha like I feel bad writing about Scarlett's family problems because I feel like I'll offend somebody when I can't write it deep enoughcos I can't base it on anything???

This will sound really silly, I hope you understand. And I just wanted to say hi at least!

So much love,

paula.