And I Love Her

Chapter 17 - Mend

"About?" He steps back into the dining room.

I begin to remember that first night he cooked for me and the laugh we had during dinner, how I was slowly but surely falling for him.

"About us," I bite my lip. "I wanted to straighten up somethings... Closure, if you will."

Neymar frowns and pulls out the chair he was sat in before.

"You start," he almost sighs.

"Did you have something in mind?" I chuckle at his response.

"Nothing," he says sternly. "I just didn't think we needed to have this talk. I thought we were on the same page."

"What page is that?" I sit back.

"The page where we are over each other?"

"Was that a question?" I chuckle some more. "Yeah, the page where we're over each other."

Neymar tries to smile at me and I give him a grin back.

"The page where we have accepted that what we had is now in the past," I begin. "It was all very lovely and amazing, but now it is gone-"

"Forever."

"It's gone," I ignore his comment.

I had to ignore his comment. I still care.

"I-It's gone and we have each accepted it. We're moving on with our lives, our love lives, and growing out of each other," I finish.

"That seems just about right," Neymar says.

But I can tell when he's lying.

"Yep," I say. "I still want you in my life, no matter what. I want you and I want Davi. I want Caro, Leo, Gerard, Marc, Dani-"

"We all want you too, Kat," he reassures me.

"And I can't have those people in my life the way I want to if you're not in it. I honestly care for you very much."

"I care a lot about you too," Neymar says. "I care for your well being and happiness."

"As long as you're happy, Neymar," I say.

"As long as you're happy," he says back. "Was there a need for this?"

"This what?" I ask back.

"This talk."

"I just thought we should mend things, you know," I admit. "I-I kissed you by accident back in New York and I feel like something is lingering between us, kind of..."

"Well," Neymar gets up. "That's just our attraction," he leaves towards the kitchen with the plates again.

I get up and follow him.

"And I thought that'd be gone after this... Talk."

"You thought our attraction would be gone after we patch things up?" He laughs.

"Well-"

"That's not how it works," Neymar interrupts. "If it's there, it's there. Unspoken. If not, then leave it be, don't trigger it."

"You're acting like it's dynamite," I almost chuckle.

"It's more like a time bomb," he says. "You know how couples have that last hurrah?"

I look at him questioningly.

"Sex."

"Oh," I barely manage to speak.

"Sex after a break up- last hurrah."

"Yeah, well, I'm not having sex with you-"

"I know," he smiles. "That's what your little talk was about."

"What?" I cross my arms.

"Instead of sex you chose to talk it out," Neymar says then shakes his head. "You disappoint me Katalina," he finishes up in the kitchen and begins to head out. "You really do."

"I am not disappointing!" I shout out after him.

He steps back into the hall to face me and quiet me down.

"I am not disappointing," I repeat again, this time whispering.

"If you say so," he laughs back at me and I begin to chase him down the hall.

The next morning Neymar, Davi, and I have breakfast out back by the pool before we get going to the airport to catch my flight back home to New York.

"Butter?" Neymar offers me and I shake my head.

"Thank you, though," I say in between bites.

"Why are you leaving so soon?" Davi asks.

"I have to get back to work, sweetie," I explain.

"Don't worry, Davi," Neymar says. "We'll see her soon."

"How soon?" Davi asks.

I take a sip of my juice and put the glass back down on the table to try to answer him.

"Maybe when you get out of school," I answer him.

"Yeah," Neymar adds. "Maybe then, if you get really good grades, Kat will visit you and mommy in Brazil."

"Or," I look at him questioningly. "If you get really good grades, I can come back here to Barcelona and visit you and daddy."

"Davi can you go bring me another, uh, fork please," Neymar says.

"You have one," Davi says.

"Another one, please," Neymar reiterates.

"Okay," Davi complies.

"What was that?" I ask as soon as I hear the glass doors slide open.

"I was just thinking about our talk, we should move on-"

"I said I wanted you in my life," I stop him.

"Well, maybe I'll be busy," Neymar defends his previous statement. "You'll get to see Caro and Brazil again."

"Come with, then," I say.

"I'll think about it."

"Are you okay?" I finally ask.

"Did you come to Barcelona to go to Madrid right after and visit James?" Neymar asks.

"Got it!" Davi comes out back cheering with a fork in hand.

"Thank you," Neymar smiles and leaves a kiss on his son's forehead.

"Um," I begin. "No, I'm not going to Madrid to visit my cousin... Jamie."

"Why not? Isn't she sick and you wanted to tell her how you felt about her... in case something happens?" Neymar plays along.

"I wasn't planning on doing it now," I clarify. "I came to Barcelona to visit some old friends and the city, but most importantly to visit you two because I love the both of you."

Neymar's expression changes.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I was just thinking about that last night so I guess... I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, right Davi?"

"Mhm," the kid answers with a piece of toast in his mouth.

"I-It's okay," I say. "It's fine."

I don't know if the fact that Neymar got mad about James surprised me just a bit or not at all.

"We love you too," Neymar says.