STORM

-thirty-

Closer to noon, Storm and Gabriella decided to go to Carmela's, Storm's great aunt's, café. It was mostly a way to relax a little before the awaited tense conversation with Joey. Seeing as the café had a calming atmosphere, they thought it would be perfect.

It didn't take long for Carmela to notice them when they strode into the café, hand in hand. She brightened and stopped what she was doing, waving them over.

"It's so lovely to see you two again! How are you two doing?"

"We're good. How you've been, Carmela?" Storm asked.

"I'm doing just fine, darling. How is my favorite couple doing?"

Instinctively, Storm squeezed Gabriella's hand, making her heart flutter. She glanced over at her, eyes darting over her features before remembering Carmela had asked a question.

"We're good," Gabriella settled with.

"And have you told Joey yet?"

"We will today," Storm affirmed, nodding determinedly. However, Gabriella didn't miss the slight tremble in her voice.

"Okay, well I hope it goes as planned. Joey's a sweet boy, he'll come around. What do you two want to eat?"

They said their orders and Carmela insisted on it being on the house. She was a stubborn woman, so eventually, the couple gave in.

For a little bit, they held some small talk before Carmella said, "anyway, I'll leave you guys to go eat now. Au revoir, mes chers."

"Au revoir, Carmela. Merci encore."

"De rien, Gabriella. Enjoy your day."

While it wasn't as hot as it was peak summer, the sun was still casting a comfortable warmth upon them. More bearable than it was then and warm enough to be able to bask in it. Taking their food and drinks with them, they found a cozy table for two outside on the patio.

"How are you feeling?" Gabriella inquired when they were alone, sipping on her drink.

"Nervous. I just can't get over the fear that he'll be pissed and it'll ruin our friendship. But I'm not having second thoughts, I want to do this."

Gabriella gently took her hands from underneath the round table and drew little circles with her thumb on Storm's wrist. It had been an ongoing conflict since they got together, so Gabriella was relieved that the burden of him not knowing would finally ease.

"When were you getting that coffee with Alana and her friend?" She hadn't even planned to say that, it just slipped out of her tongue.

The brief moment of relaxation snapped and Storm tensed again. "I thought we were dealing with that after."

"I know, but maybe it's better if we settle that before we face Joey. I know it got a bit suddenly heated the other day, but I wanted to apologize for that. It's not right, I should, I do trust you. I know you're over your exes. I don't want to mess up our relationship with a lack of trust and communication. I want us to have mature conversations about it and I'm sorry for lashing out like that at you. It wasn't your fault that you didn't see me like that at first and I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was mad at you for that."

She eased up again. "No, I should have consulted you immediately. I don't want to mess this up either and I didn't love them like that, Gabi. This is new for me, all these feelings. I was interested in them, of course, but I never truly fell in love. If you're not comfortable with it, I won't get that coffee. Or if you'd rather come with, I'd love to introduce you to them too. Alana is cool, but there are really no feelings between us anymore and never will be."