I adore you

I watched Aria with an amused expression on my face as she scanned the floor for her left heel, limping around the hotel room. "I think I saw your shoe under the bed," I told her, grinning even wider when she shot me a glance. What I was able to see on her face was a mix of different feelings and, for once, I was sure I knew why too. We had finally flown to Los Angeles in order to spend the holidays with our families and while I was happy to get to see mine I wasn't happy to be in the city I hated so much, on the other side Aria was happy about the city but not so happy to stay in a hotel room, no matter if it was the best one. We had been officially a couple almost for a year now and it was the first time we both had to really compromise, I had agreed on spending Christmas Eve with her dad while she had agreed on not staying at her place, where that idiot of Gavin was living. I thought we were doing fine, but it was hard.
"I've already checked and it's not there," She replied and got onto all fours, wrinkling her dress while she looked under the antique dresser and I stared at the great view I had of her ass, wondering how long would it take for us to go back to our room so that I could take care of both our needs.
"You didn't look hard enough," I replied and when she looked at me, I was holding the shoe in my hand, sporting a smug look on my face. Every other persopn probably hated that cocky look, but Aria didn't and I was grateful for that.
"Oh," She said with her lips remaining parted just slightly, standing up and smoothing a hand over the dress. "You could have told me and saved me ten minutes from looking."
"That wouldn't have been as entertaining for me," I replied and lifted an eyebrow as she snatched it out of my hand and bent at the waist to put the heel on. "What, no thank you?"
"You're such a smart ass sometimes," She said back but grinned, hopefully enjoying my playful mood that wouldn't last long considering that we were about to see her dad, who, of course, hated me. I didn't like him that much either, but I was doing this for Aria who, side note, looked really nervous.
"Thank you." I grinned back at her and reached for my jacket, wishing we could get undressed all over again and spend the rest of the day in bed. Letting out a small sigh I walked to her, taking her hand in mine as I led her outside the room because if it was for her? She'd keep procrastinating.
She raised one eyebrow at me, "I wasn't aware it was a compliment." She commented shortly as we walked to the elevator.
"You have to be smart to be an a.ss." I shrugged nonchalantly, being silly in an attempt to distract her from her own thoughts which I didn't know but I knew they were stressing her anyway.
"Hilarious Sebastian." She said and finally smirked, leaning her body against mine once the doors closed and the elevator started moving. "We need to stop at my place before going to my dad." She added.
I tilted my head down, wondering why in god's name she was trying to make this day even worse than it could be. "Why?" I asked flatly, not hiding my annoyance. The thought of running into Gavin and Amelia? It sounded like a disaster I didn't want to be part of.
"I have my diamond earrings there." She explained nonchalantly, ignoring the change of tone in my voice but not looking at me either.
"We're already late Ar, we can't make that stop too." I reasoned out loud, guessing that being 30 minutes late was already enough to start the night with her dad with the wrong foot, as if I needed that. "Plus, you already look gorgeous, you don't need anything else." I added and tilted her chin up with a finger, gently forcing her to look into my eyes.
She bit down on her bottom lip, something that she always did when she was nervous, "Do I?" She asked in a quiet tone and I knew that the whole thing wasn't about the stupid earrings, but more about how she was trying to push back the moment she feared. She needed to be reassured, and that was what I'd do all night, biting my tongue and being as polite as possible.
I pressed a kiss on her lips before smiling, "Don't you always?" I winked at her as the doors pinged open and we made our way out the elevator, hand in hand. I could only wish that all the paparazzis were celebrating Christmas too, instead of invading my privacy. Fuck I hated Los Angeles.
"You said it, not me," Aria replied and grinned back at me, shivering at the crisp air.
"Uhm," I said simply and she only gave her head a slight shake that I noticed anyway. I knew how she hated that kind of answers, but there were moments like this one when I had too much thinking to do to give a better one. I hated unplanned things, and I had no idea of how we'd get through this night with her dad. "Did you grab the bottle of wine?"
She glanced at her small purse and then back at me, "Yes and then I keastered." I lifted an eyebrow at her before looking ahead of us again without saying a word, guiding the way to our rental car which the valet had just pulled up. "No, I forgot the bottle in the room... but I can always run back up there if you'd like."
"I'm sure he has a bottle already," I responded and she gave me a nod, knowing that her fathers cellar would make do for the night.
"It'd take me but a minute," She offered once more, it probably being just another way to buy time.
"Don't even think about it," I slid my hand down to her lower back and opened the car door for her, my eyes always glancing around on the look out for paparazzi.
She buckled her seat belt and followed me with her eyes as I walked around the front of the car and then slid in, closing my door behind me and pulling on my own seat belt.
"You're not even a little nervous?" She asked, the car inching away from the curb while I shook my head.
"I don't have any reason to be."
"True, but you two don't exactly like each other..." She trailed off, that putting it mild.
I shrugged, since it wasn't such a big deal in my opinion. I had never cared much about other people, if they liked me or not, there were just a few whose opinion mattered and her dad wasn't one of them. "What's new." I said quietly as I drove, hating the traffic that made me wish I had a bike or I could fly. The list of things I couldn't stand of LA was neverending. "We never got along, from day one." I added, remembering the first time I had met him and cringing. It wasn't that I didn't like him just because, I didn't like him as a person and I had no idea of how he had been able to make an amazing girl like my Aria.
She sighed and I caught her looking outside the window from the corner of my eyes, "You weren't exactly the perfect boyfriend every dad dreams about for his daughter." She pointed out.
I didn't even bother to argue about it, because it was true. I was hard to handle, even harder to like, and back then to our first time together I had been even worse. "And he's not the perfect father either, so I guess we're even." I replied in the same tone, her head turning in my direction to glare at me. I couldn't even start with all the reasons why I didn't like the man, but the number one would be that he didn't treat Ar like she deserved.
"If that's your opinion about my dad then I'm officially nervous." She said and even if I wasn't even touching her I knew that she was tense all over. I knew her like the back of my hand.
"It's always been like this and you know it." I reached for her thigh and gave it a squeeze, wanting to reassure her, "But don't be nervous babe. I already promised I'll behave and keep my opinion to myself. You have nothing to worry about."
"I hope so." She said as another sigh escaped her, her hand setting on top of mine.
I killed the engine before parking, finally turning around as I unbuckled my belt and leaned into her to lift her chin, "It will be fine." I said as I stared into her gorgeous eyes, then kissed her softly. Then something clicked. Literally. I pulled my head back and groaned when I saw a man snapping pictures not more than a few steps from the car. "Are you fucking kidding me." I muttered as I felt my blood going to my head, my temper about to get the best of me mostly because no one knew we'd be here. Except for her dad, of course, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had called the paps himself.
Ar reached for my hand again and gave it a squeeze, this time her trying to reassure me. "Don't worry, you look handsome as always," She smiled while a groan escaped me. I didn't find any humor in paparazzi but I appreciated her effort anyway.
"Funny," I replied quietly, my eyes like icicles instantly.
"I try," She replied and unbuckled her seat belt also. "Don't let it ruin your night."
I stared blankly at her, tempted to point out that there was nothing to ruin really, while she smiled at me instead. "Ready?" I asked finally, knowing that we had to face his dad and those damn paps sooner or later anyway and now was the moment.
"Yes," She nodded and we both climbed out of the car, her eyes looking past the paps and towards the front of her fathers house which was much too big for just one person. It reminded me of my own old house, it was all appearance and didn't really fit me, but it fit the city and its fakeness, which was something that I had learnt to dislike even more after spending years in my small and cozy house in San Francisco.
Ar dropped her hand into mine as we walked, lights flashing behind us as I quickened the past before I could lose it and smash one of those expensive cameras on the ground.
She smiled at me one last time, about to knock on the door when it was yanked open. "Aria!" Her dad enveloped her in a tight hug, her hugging him back with one arm since she still had the other hand holding onto me. "Pesky paparazzi," He added as we both pulled away, looking over her shoulder at the men still taking our pictures. I could only hope I'd never see the headlines about me or I'd really never come back to Los Angeles.
Ar's lips parted and she forced a smile at her father. "Hey dad," She said and then glanced at me from the corner of her eye as her dad's eyes followed.
"Sebastian," He said in a less enthusiastic tone, still smiling though, which wasn't really necessary. We both knew that this night would have been better if I had stayed in my hotel room. He held his hand out and Ar let out another breath as I shook it, both of us being civil, even if only for the time being. "Let's get you two inside," He pushed the door open and took a step backwards to make room for us.
We walked inside and he closed the door behind us, my eyes on Ar as hers wandered around, the move making me wonder when it had been the last time she had been here. Not that it really mattered, but she was the only thing I was worried about for tonight, I knew how much she cared about her relationship with her father even though it wasn't an easy one. "That's a nice Christmas tree dad, did you decorate it alone?" She asked, spinning on her heels to look at her dad with a smile on her face while I kept quiet, which was what I was planning to do all night.
He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he shrugged, "It came that way already." He explained quietly before he offered a smile back to his daughter, "Do you guys have one too?"
Ar bit down on her lip and shook her head, making me feel guilty since it was technically my fault if we hadn't been able to have one. "No, we're staying in a hotel." She said simply.
The man's eyes moved to me and his eyebrow raised just so slightly, "Why? Don't you have several houses in the city?" He asked, proving how I was on his radar but he hadn't done his homeworks well.
"I sold them all." I answered, the tone of my voice giving away literally nothing because that was the way I wanted it to be. As long as I let everything inside, we wouldn't have any problem and the night would go smoothly.
"Yours too?" He asked to Aria this time, his brow arching further as if he was waiting for the right answer or he'd be ready to say his opinion and, of course, point his finger to me to blame me for whatever there is to blame.
"No dad." She paused as she glanced at me quickly, taking a few seconds to find her words, "But Gavin lives there too and Seb and I wanted some privacy." She explained eventually, it sounding a lot like I would have said it myself.
"I guess it makes sense." He muttered, making it clear that he disagreed with our choice, too bad he had no say in our decisions. He let out a slow breath as he motioned to its right, "Dinner will be ready in a few moments, we can open a bottle of wine while we wait." He suggested as we followed him.
"I wanted to bring one but-" Ar started and I cut her off.
"I forgot it." I ended her sentence, taking the blame of something that had really no meaning, but still. She squeezed my hand and smiled at me, mouthing a thank you as I smiled back at her.
Her dad tossed his head over his shoulder to glance at us, "It's okay, I have plenty and it's the thought that matters, right?" He said in an attempt to ease the mood, but as long as I was in the room we didn't have many chances to relax completely.
"Of course. What are we drinking tonight?" Aria smiled at him.
"Let me worry about that," He walked over to where he already had a few bottles set out, grabbing one and cutting the foil off the top and then corking it. "Sit down. Get comfortable."
My eyes drifted towards Ar's and she shrugged, being the first one to sit down at the table. The real problem with her father wasn't just that he hates me, but it was that his relationship with Aria was a weird one, they weren't exactly a traditional family, and sometimes I had the feeling that there was a lot of awkwardness between them.
He walked back over to the table with the bottle in his hand, taking his time to pour the red liquid into all of our glasses one at a time. "Have you read any of the scripts I've sent you?" He asked out of nowhere and Aria shook her head while I wondered what he was talking about. Scripts?
"No," She replied and glanced sideways at me before lifting her glass to take a sip, the move a confirmation that she didn't tall me anything about any script. And that definitely pissed me off, because I thought we had a no secrets policy between us.
"I read through a couple of them. There are some great, Oscar worthy roles in there," Her dad continued. "You'd make my job a hell of a lot easier if you'd at least take the time to read them. Don't you agree Sebastian?"
Ar's lips parted and she looked at me before looking at her father again, "Can we talk business another time? It's Christmas Eve, dad."
"I'm curious what Sebastian thinks," He said instead and turned his gaze to me, probably guessing that I'd be on his side with this since I was obsessed with work. Only this was Aria's, not mine. "Don't you think Aria is wasting her time with the whole school thing?"
"No." I answered quickly since I didn't need time to think about it, my opinion was clear. "School is never a waste of time."
He raised one eyebrow slowly while I noticed Ar's body tensing, but I refused to look at her. If I did, her dad would see that something was wrong between us and I didn't want that to happen, I didn't want to give him a chance to undermine our relationship. "Not what I meant. She doesn't need school, she already has a job and-"
"I'm here dad, I can hear you." Ar cut him off in a tone that was as playful as forced, exactly like the nervous smile on her lips.
I took that time to sip my wine, my eyes carefully avoiding hers or his as I mentally counted to ten in order not to get mad at him for not supporting Aria and at Aria for not telling me anything about the scripts. All I could wish for was them to cut me out of the conversation again. "Do you want her to give up acting and stay home while you're around the world making money with your movies?" Ar's dad voice brought me out of my daze.
My head snapped in his direction since there I might have been biased towards him but his sentence sounded more like an accusation than a simple fact. "I have no say in what Aria does with her life. All I do is support her whatever she wants to do." I said in monotone, meaning it but thanking god that her decisions were always good ones. I didn't know how I'd react if she chose a path I didn't approve, then again she was my girlfriend for a reason and I trusted her judgement. Also I knew I had an influence on her, which helped a lot too.
"I'm just taking a break dad..." She trailed off, as if she wanted to reassure him some way and the more I thought about it the more I thought that he didn't have to be her manager, it just didn't work well. Not that I'd ever say it.
He took a sip of his wine as he shook his head lightly, obviously not approving. What a great christmas eve. "I was surprised Sebastian didn't let you act on his last movie too." He said nonchalantly, as if it was obvious that I should have had instead.
At that I couldn't help shooting Ar a significant look, before remembering that she hadn't told me about the offers she had gotten, so I bit my tongue as I broke eye contact and reached for my glass of wine again, refusing to say another word.
"You know how I feel about nude scenes," Aria said with a shrug. "Plus I'd never want you to see me naked, dad."
He snorted and tossed his head back, "Right. I forgot that you were directing that movie."
She winced a little at the tone he used when saying 'that' while I couldn't care less. His opinion about me or my movie counted zero to me. "The movie is looking great so far," She said honestly, shooting an encouraging smile at me while reaching for my hand. If I could, I'd drag her out by that same hand, the more we stayed there the more it felt like torture.
"Oh," He said with both eyebrows raised, scooting his seat back and standing up. "Well good for you. If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to grab the food out of the oven."
"Do you need help?" Ar asked politely as he shook his head.
"No, I can manage," He grinned before leaving us alone in the dining room.
"Sorry," She said under her breath, glancing at me.
"For your father or for not telling me about the movie offers?"
She looked annoyed by my words, and that only annoyed me more. "They were just scripts. I'm not interested in acting right now, so I didn't read any of them."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked in another monotone voice since that was still better than yelling.
"Because I hardly see you and when we're together, I want to focus on you... not on a script that I'm not even interested in," She said seriously. "It's not a big deal."
"Okay Aria." I said back just as flatly as before, it was the best I could do considering how annoyed I was. But we were at her dad's, a situation that alone was hard to handle, we didn't need to fight and make it worse...still, I couldn't pretend nothing happened, at least not with her.
"You're mad, aren't you?" She asked even though it wasn't really a question, her eyes staring at me as if she was waiting to see my reaction.
I turned my head slowly and stared back at her, asking myself if I was really mad. Truth was it wasn't the fact itself that pissed me off, but how she couldn't even see where the problem was. "No." I answered simply, not wanting to argue here or on Christmas Eve.
"Lies." She muttered under her breath and broke eye contact in favor of reaching for her glass to take a sip of her wine.
I resisted the urge of groaning or rolling my eyes, instead I set my jaw, wondering how now I was being the bad one when she was the cause of this stupid argument. "I don't lie. Or keep things from you."
"I don't either Seb. I told you, it's nothing." She went on, always too stubborn to admit anything. We could go on forever.
"It's not nothing." I retorted, this time showing my annoyance, "I thought we were telling everything to each other."
"I tell you everything instead." She repeated as she narrowed her eyes on me, the tone of her voice low but menacing enough.
"Except for the offers you got." I said back sarcastically, then snorted, "It would have taken 3 minutes to tell me Ar. Anyway, if you didn't it means that I'll start doing the same." I added bitterly. I always shared with her everything about work, hell she had been the one convincing me to make this movie, it's important for me to know her opinion even though it didn't necessarily mean that I always followed her advice, still. The fact that she didn't even bother to inform me was actually a big deal for me.
"Stop being so stubborn," Ar said back in the same tone as me when my eyebrows shot up.
"Stubborn?" I replied, "What exactly did I do? You're the one who didn't tell me anything about the offers. How am I the bad guy now?"
She took a deep breath, looking deep into her thoughts. "I'm sorry I didn't mention the scripts," She said finally, sounding honest but I got the feeling there was more than that. There had to be a reason why she hadn't told me me anything.
I blinked back at her with my face still stern and unreadable, "Alright." I said back simply, not feeling like saying more because it'd only lead us to fight more. "Alright?" She asked, not able to resist. I shrugged and was about to open my mouth when her dad walked back in, setting dishes on the table. "Are you sure you've got everything dad?" She asked, averting her attention back to her father.
"Just a few more in the kitchen," He shrugged it off. "I hope you two came with an appetite because I made enough to feed a small African village."
"I didn't know you could cook," She replied honestly, moving her eyes towards the food and then back to me, making a tiny effort to smile at me.
"I had to learn." He commented nonchalantly and forced a smile that looked a little sad while I guessed that it was because he had to be alone a lot. I didn't envy him but I couldn't pity him either.
Aria's smile got more genuine as she moved her eyes back to her father, "Everything smells delicious." She said encouragingly, being the good daughter that she always was, or at least I thought she was.
He nodded just so slightly before looking at me, as if he did it just because I was clearly silent and out of their conversation. "Do you cook Sebastian?" He asked and I had to admit that I appreciated that he was at least trying. Unless he was asking just to point out my flaws because, of course, I was no chef.
"Just enough to survive." I answered politely, my eyes on him while I spoke, "I've been eating a lot better lately, thanks to Aria." I added, glancing at her and forcing a smile myself. I was still disappointed over the scripts thing, but it'd be damned if I showed it in front of her father and not only that, she deserved all the flattery in the world because she was really an amazing woman. "She even cooked for thanksgiving, it was really good and impressing." I added.
Both of them looked at me as if I had grown a third eye and when I ignored them, they looked at each other instead. "Now I'm afraid I'm not good enough for your standards." The man said to his daughter in a playful tone as I cut myself off completely again, focusing more on my wine instead.
"Sebastian was just exaggerating." She said modestly, "I can't wait to eat." She went on, eyeing the food that was already on the table.
"I'm going to take some more then we can start." He explained quickly then disappeared.
I felt Aria's eyes on me and I glanced at her briefly as I brought my glass to my mouth again. "What?" I asked before taking a sip and enjoying the good wine since the company, my girl aside, wasn't my favorite.
"Nothing," Aria replied and shrugged my question away, only pissing me off even further. "I was just admiring your beauty and thinking about how handsome you are... how lucky I am," She continued with a straight face, her words beyond cheesy and there was a reason.
I kept my serious expression in place and shook my head slightly, "It's not going to work."
"What are you talking about?" An eyebrow shot up as she defended herself, "I'm being honest. Isn't this the time of the year where we say what we're thankful for?"
"That's Thanksgiving Ar," I answered. "You're a month late."
"It's never too late to appreciate what you have," She grinned at me before leaning closer and kissing my cheek. I didn't respond to it, so she kissed my forehead next.
"You're crazy," I replied before she even had the chance to pull back, our faces only inches apart.
"For you? Yes, yes I am," She kept grinning, being silly.
I let out a loud sigh but, eventually, I closed the small distance between us and kissed her lips as my arm wrapped around her shoulder to pull her closer. Every other time of the year I would have kept this conversation, correction, argument, going on for hours, but it was Christmas eve after all and we were at her dad's so I guessed that for once I could let go and go against my stubborness. "Next time won't be so easy." I said against her mouth as I broke the kiss, my eyes looking into hers. For a moment I forgot where we were and that her father was in the other room, maybe it was because all I really wanted right now was to be alone with her.
"There won't be a next time." She retorted, a grin widening her lips as she kept eye contact and set her hand on my chest.
"It'd better." I said seriously, "I want to know everything about you, no matter how meaningless it might seem."
Her grin turned into a teasing smile as she leaned her side against my chest and relaxed in my hold, "That almost sounds cheesy, if only you weren't so serious." She whispered, playing with the buttons of my shirt.
"I am serious." I sighed, hoping she'd never get tired of that just like I hoped she was taking me...well, seriously. We had kept so many things from each other already that now all I wanted was her to be open to me. In more ways than one. I brushed my nose against her cheek before pressing my mouth against her ear, "And I'm going to spank you so hard later tonight that your nice a.ss will get as red as Santa's hat."
She pulled her head back enough to look at me with an expression that was a mix of fake surprise and arousal, her lips parting slowly but her dad walked into the room again before she could say whatever was on her mind. Which was a shame. She pulled away from me quickly, looking slightly embarassed while I went back to my straight face.
"Don't let the food get cold. Eat up," Her dad motioned towards the mountains of food he had cooked as he let his eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us. I had no clue of how to read the expression on his face, both because I was bad at that anyways and I didn't know him enough to try. Or care.
Ar reached for the ham first, watching me from the corner of her eye and looking more relaxed than before. With her dad though, I never knew, last time I had seen him he was trying to get my woman and Mr Franco together. "Is this edible or will we all be sick tonight?" She flicked her eyes towards her dad and grinned, her plate already half full while she dished up some salad then potatoes and I followed, doing the same.
"You'll have to take your chances," He shrugged as he played along, while I focused on my food since I was obviously out of place. As long as Ar was happy, I didn't even care. "When's filming going to be finished, Sebastian? You two must be getting tired of Seattle. It's too damn cold there."
I swallowed and looked up at him, reaching for my glass with my free hand, "It should be by February if everything goes as I planned." I explained quietly, my tone the same I used everytime I talked about business, "And Seattle is not that bad anyway, we got used to the weather."
I caught Ar making a face with the corner of my eye but before I could even look at her fully, her father smirked at her, "You didn't, did you?" He asked, using a playful voice but annoying me anyway even though this time wasn't even his fault. He was pushing all the wrong buttons...I wondered how long I had before he started bringing up our breakup too.
She shrugged nonchalantly, "I like the city..." She trailed off.
"Only it's too cold, uh?" He ended her sentence while I suppressed the urge to sigh. Then again, it was no mystery that Ar didn't like cold places and her dad had to know it, but I couldn't help feeling slightly guilty for being the reason why she was currently living in Seattle. I was grateful for having her by my side though, I was really lucky.
She smiled honestly as I kept my eyes on her, "I've been to colder places. Like Norway." She glanced at me, her eyes telling a lot more than her words and I was sure that right now her thoughts were the same I was having, "It was amazing though, only freezing."
"It was a nice trip." I agreed, thinking that those weeks spent together had been really important ones. No matter how they had ended, our arguments, or anywhing else, without those days being with her so much I wouldn't have had the chance to realize how much I missed her when she was far from me.
He nodded simply and only god knew what was on his mind. I didn't want to know. "Are going somewhere else anytime soon?" He asked.
Ar shook her head while I nodded, "I'm planning to take Aria somewhere hot as long as I'm done filming." I said quietly and felt her eyes on me. I hadn't told her anything yet, but she had been wanting to go away to some tropical paradise for months now and we had always had to push it back because of my movie.
Aria looked at me and her eyes widened instantly, "Are you?" She asked, looking genuinely surprised. Maybe she had forgotten about it, or maybe she simply thought I had instead.
Her dad snickered while he dug into his food, a sound I didn't appreciate. "I hope I didn't blow your surprise," He went on, another mouth full of food. Thank god Aria was nothing like that man.
I shook my head, "Aria doesn't like surprises. I try to avoid them."
She grinned at me, "So then where are we going?"
"Up to you," I replied even though I already had a few places in mind. I knew what she liked and there was no one better than me at planning.
"I'll think about it," She snuck another chaste kiss on my cheek. "Thank you baby."