Honey, I'm Home

Me: Have you landed yet?

It was 7:38pm. Pedro's flight was due to land at 7:30 and I hadn't heard from him. It's only been a few minutes, Eleanor, give the man chance! I tried my best to focus on the TV, but all I could think of was seeing Pedro. It had been the longest we'd gone without seeing each other since we met and it felt like years, when it had only been just over a week. It made me think about how much harder it would be when he was away filming for months at a time. I checked the time again, 7:58pm. Surely he'd have landed by now? My heart started to pound in my chest. Was he alright? Did the flight land safely? Being fuelled by anxiety, I decided to check the status of his flight. He'd sent me his flight number yesterday so I could track it. When I opened the link, it said it had grounded at 7:33. I tried not to overthink but I just wanted to know he was OK.

Me: I'm a little worried. Are you OK? X

I was about to start another episode of Friends when my phone buzzed on the table. It was Pedro!

"Hey!" My heart was in my throat as I answered the phone.

"Hey honey. I saw your texts, thought it would be easier to call." Pedro's voice was raspy.

"That's OK. Are you OK?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I just got ambushed at the airport. Couple fans saw me, so I had to stop to take photos, sign a couple things."

"Ohhhh, makes sense. I thought something had happened! I panicked."

"I'm all good, baby. I can't wait to see you. I'm in the car now, so I'll be with you in the next 20 minutes."

"God, I am so excited to see you." My heart beat quickened. "Are you happy to come to mine? It's fine if you wanna go home and chill out. I understand."

"Go home to a lonely quiet apartment, or go to my incredibly hot girlfriends place and see her and touch her and kiss her and hug the shit outta her? Hmmmm hard decision I'll have to get back to you on that one."

"Just hug and kiss me?" I teased, feeling the heat prickle through my body.

"I'm in the car with a driver, babe." Oh shit! "I'd rather stay with you."

"OK, well let me know when you're close please."

"I will. I'll see you real soon. Love you baby."

Soon, the door knocked. He was here. I ran to the door and swung it open, revealing my dream man. Dressed in jeans and his purple Lakers shirt and a fur lined jacket, my heart soared. I jumped into his arms and squeezed him to me.

"Honey, I'm home." He giggled into my neck as I continued to squeeze him close to me. Inhaling his scent, absorbing his touch. He was really here.

"Ugh, I love hearing you call me honey." I brought my head back to look at that perfect face. My heart raced every time he called me honey. It was my favourite pet name for me.

"I've missed you." He smiled at me as he walked into my apartment and shut the door behind us. He kept me in his arms as he leaned in and kissed me. The feeling of his soft lips on mine and the scratchy-ness of his moustache against my skin were a heady concoction. The simple pain and pleasure of sharing kisses with him, and it felt amazing. I moved my hands and positioned them on his cheeks as I deepened the kiss.

"My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my chest. I've never felt like this before." I confessed against his lips.

"Felt like what?" He smiled sweetly at me.

"Like so much love for someone it feels like I could burst. Like I can't fucking breathe when I look at you. It hurts." Pedro responded by squishing his lips back onto mine and kissing me hard.

"I get it. I really get it. I've tried for so long to not fall in love. But it's so easy with you. I really love you, I hope you know that. I hope I show you that."

"All. The. Time." I said in between kisses. He finally placed me down on the floor. "I'm so excited you're home. I've got a couple of surprises for you. Do you want to shower first?"

"Saying I smell?" He teased as he jabbed me with his elbow.

"Of course not! I just thought you'd wanna shower and get comfortable but fineeee!" I jabbed him back then hugged him tightly. The hug was cut short when Pedro grabbed my head in his hands and pulled me back to look at him. He didn't say anything, he just stared at my face. His eyes traced every line and mark on my skin, and I felt my cheeks blush. "What?"

"You." He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "That fucking face. Gorgeous." Pedro grinned at me, full beam. The corners of his beautiful eyes creased as his smile lit up his whole face. I crashed my lips onto his, grabbing handfuls of his hair in the process. The gesture made Pedro moan into my mouth. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, making my body tingle. 

"Fuck me, please." I whimpered against his lips.

"Eleanor." He broke the kiss and looked me in the eyes before he ran his nose down the length of mine. "Now?" Without saying anything, I moved my hand to cup him through his trousers and gently squeezed his erection as I darted my tongue back into his mouth. The suddenness of my actions silently letting him my urgency for him. I needed him. "Baby." He breathed.

"Let me show you how much I've missed you." I dropped to my knees in front of him and pulled back my hair into a ponytail and secured it with a hair tie.

"Fuck! Fuckkkk! You're gonna be the death of me." Pedro licked his lips as he watched me unbutton his jeans. "I can't think. There's no blood in my brain right now, it's all gone south seeing you on your knees for me." He panted. Once I'd freed him from the restraints of his denim and briefs, I positioned myself on his tip. Our eyes interlocked as I took his tip in my mouth and gently sucked. The hollowing of my cheeks made Pedro gasp and breathe, "Fuck."

"That was, ugh, ugh, that, fuck. The best welcome home ever." Pedro wiped away the hairs that had got stuck to my sweaty forehead. I leant into his touch, wanting to absorb every interaction with this man. "Shower?"

"Can I show you something first? Then we can shower."

"Together?" He raised his brow, emphasising those magnetic brown eyes.

"Only if you promise to do my back?" I challenged, copying him and raising my brow.

"Promise to do you from the back? Challenge accepted." He twisted my words as he pulled me into him and peppered my face with kisses. "Come, show me what you wanna show me so I can take you in the shower!" He smacked my ass and linked our fingers together.

"Come!" I started walking towards the bedroom. As I approached the door, I turned to see Pedro grinning at me.

"Taking me to your bedroom, I like where this is going." He flirted with me.

"Shut up! No sex, just wait!" I let go of his hand as we stood in the middle of the room. "So, ugh, I don't know why I'm so nervous. Basically, you've been spending a lot of time here and I love having you around. This isn't me asking you to move in, but I'd like you to move some of your stuff in. So that when you stay, you never need to bring an overnight bag, and so I have plenty of your things here. I made space in these two drawers so you could put your socks, underwear, pyjamas and stuff like that in there. As you can see, I've already brought you a could pairs of pyjamas, and some boxers, you know, to start you off. And," I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the walk-in closet I had. "This section is for some of your clothes. Again, I brought you some T-shirts, start of your collection and I think you'd look good in them. Nothing fancy or expensive. Just some nice colours that I think would suit you." I turned to see him staring at me, giving nothing away. Shit. Fuck. "Give me something to work with, Pedro?" My heart was in my mouth. Shit, had I gone too far?

"I don't know what to say." He stood still, still nothing giving anything away.

"Have I gone too far?"

"Absolutely not. I'm just, I-I-I, I'm just a little bit lost for words. That you'd do something like this. For me. That you want me here. That you want me to share your space with you. That you care about me so fucking much you made me my own drawer and started to fill it for me."

"I got you your own toiletries in the en-suite. In the left side of the cabinet. You always moan that my toothpaste makes your mouth feel weird so I brought a tube of the one you like, and it has your own mouthwash and deodorants, the one you always wear, it smells like you. I love it. And your own hair brush and moisturiser, albeit not La Mer but nice enough. Oh, and your toothbrush and-" I was cut off by him lunging towards me, grabbing my face in his hands and kissing me more deeply, more passionately than he ever had. He poured everything he had into the kiss and I did the same.

"I'm so in love with you." He breathed as he kept my head in his hands. His eyes burnt into me. I felt like I was going to pass out. "I have my own drawer and my own fucking toothbrush. You really care about me, don't you?"

"It's all I want to do. Care for you. And make you happy."

"You do both of those things, so well. So much. I'm in awe of your capacity to love." He kissed me again, short and sweet. "You were nervous to show me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I thought you'd think it was too much too soon."

"Eleanor," He breathed into a giggle. "I'd fucking move  you into my apartment with me in a heartbeat. Knowing that we shared a space, that we had a place we shared together. That I'd always come home to you, I want that. The only reason it's not happened is because you want space and I get that. But just so you know, you are the only reason I've not asked you to move in with me. When you're ready, we'll do it."

"Did you see I framed that picture of us from our first date? It's on the fireplace. I'd Pedro-fied my apartment since you've been away."

"I love you so much." He leant forward and kissed my forehead tenderly. I was aware that he'd be leaving again in a few days for a whole month, so I leant into his kiss and savoured every second. "Let's go shower baby."

"I can't wait." I pulled away and set about pulling clean underwear and pyjamas from my drawer and lay them out on the bed. Pedro watched my every move. "What?"

"You're so cute. You always lay out your things on the bed before you shower. I dunno why, I just find it endearing." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me his heartfelt smile that I saw often. It warmed my bones.

"I'm going to lay yours out too. Which pyjamas do you wanna wear? I really like the navy checkered set!" I pulled out the navy T-shirt and white and navy checkered pants.

"If you like it, I'll wear it."

"I brought you boxers and briefs. I know you sleep in your boxers though, so here you go." I lay them out on the bed and smiled sweetly at him, letting him know I was ready for our shower. Though my actions were innocent and simple, Pedro lunged towards me. He crashed his soft lips onto me, gripping my face like his life depended on it. His thumbs gripped my face, softly but firm. I placed my hands on top of his, trying to steady myself whilst he kissed all the air out of my body. The urgency and need in his fiery kiss sent me over the edge. "What was that for?" I breathed against his mouth.

"How the fuck did I get so lucky?" His eyes remained closed as he ran his nose down the length of mine. When we were tip to tip, he opened his gorgeous brown eyes and stared into the core of me. "You have no idea what you do to me. How much I need you."

"Well, you've got me." I raised my hands and mirrored his pose, both of us gripping each others faces. My heart sank watching him lean into my touch.

"Please let me have you forever. Please. Never leave me."

"Never ever. You're stuck with me forever."

"God, you make me so happy." Suddenly I was pulled against his chest. My head forced against his chest by his big hands, holding me close to him. "Let me just enjoy this. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." We stood in silence, just gripping onto each other and enjoying the silence. After a couple of minutes, he pulled back and asked, "Can I get you naked and in the shower, now?" Unable to resist his cheeky grin, I smiled at the man I loved and allowed him to take care of me in the shower. He tenderly washed my hair and cleaned my back, all the while he stole gentle touches and kissed. Pedro always made me feel loved.

"Eleanor? Eleanor!" Pedro's voice boomed from the bedroom as I checked on our dinner. I'd made spaghetti, a favourite of ours.

"What?" I was draining the spaghetti when Pedro whined again.

"Come here!"

"What's wrong?"

"Just come here, Eleanor!" I could hear a giggle in his voice and was curious to know what he was up to. As I reached my bedroom door, I saw the door open ajar. Pedro's head peeked out, grinning.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but smile at his grinning face.

"Where did you get these pyjamas from?"

"H&M, why?"

"I think they need to check their sizing!" He burst out laughing and opened the door to reveal him wearing his nighttime attire. The trousers came above his ankle, and the T-shirt was slightly cropped, showing off his oh-so-happy trail. The image instantly made me erupt with laughter.

"Oh my god! OH MY GOD, I CAN'T!"

"You got the sizing right, I checked the tag. There's no need for them to be this short! And I'm average height!!"

"Please rip the tags off. Please keep them. You look so funny!" My comment made Pedro grab onto my arm and join in with my fits of laughter. "Let me get my phone!"

"Nooooo!" Pedro called after me as I started to run back to the kitchen. I could feel him on my heels as I made it back and grabbed my phone before he could.

"Please let me take a photo of you!"

"Are you going to post it to social media?" He tried to be serious as crossed his arms, which made the material of the top rise higher. His lips quivered as he tried to hold back the laughter. It was too much and I was crying with laughter, again. "Eleanor!"

"Yes I'm going to post it. How could the world not wanna see this?" I brought my camera up to capture him in frame. "Smile!" Pedro didn't. Instead, he mock angrily pouted with his hands on his hips. "Gorgeous!" I uploaded the picture to my story with the caption,

'Average height man... except in H&M'.

Within seconds, the photo was being liked and commented on.

"Come 'ere." Pedro spoke over my shoulder as I was dishing up the food. I turned to see him padding towards me, phone in his hand. He annoyingly got changed into another pyjama set that fit him perfectly. Thought I wouldn't complain when I saw how tight the T-shirt was across his arms and torso. "When I was in New York and I was missing you, I was looking through my phone, through my pictures. I've got so many of you that I love and I've got pictures of us from the premiere but they're all paparazzi shots. We never take pictures together. So we're gonna change that."

"You're cute when you want to be." I stroked his bicep as he smiled down at me.

"I try." He pouted and wiggled his shoulders. "Now come on, get in." He held his phone up and we posed together.

"Delete that one." I demanded, trying to delete it myself before Pedro snatched it away.

"No way! You look so hot!"

"I look like a frog!" I moaned, trying to encourage him to delete it.

"A FROG!" Pedro roared with laughter as he gripped onto my arm. "I won't post it, but I'm keeping it to use as blackmail."

"You don't need to blackmail me for anything. You know those pretty eyes of yours could make me do whatever you wanted to." I wasn't lying.

"Nice try, Parker." He scoffed, causing me to look at him confused. "Using your charm to encourage me to delete it. Not going to happen." He sweetly kissed my lips.

Pedro settled on a photo of us together. I was laughing into the camera, whilst his hand pressed our faces together, our cheeks squished together. It perfectly captured every moment with him; happy and goofy. He uploaded it to his Instagram feed with the caption,

'Home ❤️‍🩹'

Which made me giddy, though I wouldn't tell him. There was something about him posting me to his grid, rather than his story, that made me feel a little bit happier. Stories were 24 hours, his grid was permanent- unless he removed them. I felt it was more personal. As I forked food into my mouth, I found myself checking the comment section of his upload, anxious and curious to know what his fans would say about me. Most were telling Pedro how much they loved him, or happy he looked. Which was a far greater compliment to me than anything they could have said personality about me, though I appreciated their sweet words.

'Pedrito looks so happy... I AM SOBBING!! 😭'

'Ugh, you guys are so cute plz stoppppppp I'm on the floor!'

'Eleanor makes Pedro so happy and that's all we want for our husband! 🫠🥹♥️'

The last comment made me laugh. I decided to like that comment and end my scrolling through the comment section.

"What are you laughing at?" Pedro asked when I put my phone down and readjusted my position on the sofa.

"Just a comment on your latest post on Instagram."

"What did it say?" I watched him fork some spaghetti into his mouth. Everything that man did was magnetic.

"Saying that I make you happy, which is cute. But they called you our husband. I love that!"

"Our husband!" Pedro belly laughed as he reached for my arm.

"Great, isn't it!? I'm going to start calling you that on my posts of you."

"I'm grateful that you're OK with all of this." Pedro put his empty plate on the table and came over to me. "I really don't know how I got so lucky with you." He leant across and placed a tender kiss on my lips. The sincerity of his words and the tenderness of his kiss made me moan.

"I feel the same about you. My dream man." My words caused a grin to erupt on his face.

"Me? Not Harry Styles." His response made me roll my eyes. "Noooo, just admit it. You love me more than Harry Styles."

"I do."

"Just admit- wait... you actually did admit it? I thought I'd have to protest a lot more than that!" He rested his chin on my chest as he looked up at me. "Gosh, you're so pretty. So gorgeous. I'm obsessed with you."

"What are you after?"

"Nothing." He tucked his head under my chin and lay on my chest. "I've just missed you. I've missed this."

"I've missed you too." I ran my hand through his soft curls, watching each one bounce back to life. "You have such amazing hair."

"It's all thanks to Mira and Coco." His voice rumbled through his body and I felt it against my chest.

"Does Coco go everywhere with you?"

"Yeah. Only for work though. Like all my work related projects she does."

"So she went to New York with you?"

"Yeah. Cos it was for work." He looked up at me confused. His eyes darted across my face as if he was trying to figure me out. "Why?"

"Just wondered."

"You've never wondered before. Is everything alright?" Olivia's words came back to me. Pedro being annoyed at me for having Matt at work was nothing compared to this. Suddenly, I felt angry.

"Yep. Fine."

"You're not fine. What's wrong?" He leant on his elbow as he stared directly into my face. "Nothing is going on between me and Coco."

"I didn't say there was."

"You didn't, no. But I can tell you're thinking about it."

"I just think it's a little weird, that's all."

"Weird? How so?" He sat up. The sudden change in atmosphere between us was the cause of the shift in dynamic.

"Just that you fly her around the world with you. Just to do your hair."

"She does my make up, too."

"But it's still weird. Surely there's a department already on sets for those things? On the films and the shows you do? But you bring your own?"

"Yeah? We get along well and she understands me. She knows how to work with me."

"I bet she does."

"Eleanor, what's gotten into you? What's caused all this?"

"I don't know. I just don't understand. I don't want to understand. You do whatever you need to do." I got up from the sofa and picked up our plates. I walked into the kitchen, aware of Pedro following me. I could sense his eyes burrowing into me.

"Eleanor. Are you OK?" He stood next to me as I washed up our plates. His arms crossed as he looked down at me.

"Would you ever let me become your hair and makeup artist?" I stopped mid scrub to stare at him. I wasn't sure where this angry outburst came from. But I couldn't control it.

"You wouldn't want to do that. I'm an asshole at times. You know that. She knows that. I can be difficult."

"So no, you wouldn't?"

"No I wouldn't." His response made me angry. He knew it did. Because he grabbed my wrist and forced the plate out of my hand and into the sink. "Eleanor, stop. Please. Look at me." I begrudgingly did what I was told. "No, I wouldn't pay you to be my hair and makeup artist. I pay Coco for that. But that doesn't mean I don't want you. That's her job. That's what she wants to do as her career. I pay her to do her job. I'd pay for you to come everywhere with me so I could be with you all the time. But I wouldn't expect anything from you. I wouldn't need to pay for your services. Because you're my girlfriend. I just want you. Whatever the price." I fully understood what he was saying. But it didn't make me feel better.

"Alright then."

"Stop it, Eleanor. Either talk to me about what's going on in your mind or don't talk to me for the rest of the night." His sharpness made me quickly turn my head to look at him. "I am not arguing with you anymore. So you either tell me, and we'll talk through it. Or we don't talk."

"Honestly, I don't know where this has come from. It's just annoying. You get mad at me for Matt. But he's only doing his job. And a friendship came from it. You fly Coco all around the world and you expect me not to be angry. But expect me to allow you to be angry over Matt."

"Right." He nodded. "Right, yeah I get it. I understand. I can't argue with that. I guess, well, I know how you must have felt when I made comments." He continued to silently nod his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I just did that." The realisation of what I'd done hit me and I felt guilty.

"That's OK, it's alright. I'd rather you talk to me than not talk to me."

"It's not alright. I don't want to be one of those girlfriends."

"What do you mean?" Pedro crossed his arms and stared intensely at me.

"You know. One of those crazy girlfriends that you bitch about to your friends. 'Yeah my girlfriend is such a bitch, she just starts on me for no reason'. I don't wanna do that. I don't want to be that person."

"Wait, Eleanor. You're not. Please don't ever think that. I'd never call you a bitch. Even if you were going off on me for whatever reason. There would be a reason for your feelings. Even if I didn't agree with it. But that doesn't make you crazy, or a bitch." His words were soft and understanding. And it hit me hard. I was in a healthy relationship for once. I couldn't think of anything to say. I was too focused on the man in front of me who understood. Who didn't realise how wonderful he was. "Are you alright?"

"No." I breathed, trying not to cry. "I think I'm going to cry." Before I could say anything else, tears filled my eyes and spilled onto my cheeks. I cupped my face, not wanting Pedro to see me upset.

"Baby. It's OK. Why are you crying?" His arms were around my shoulders. One hand was cupping my shoulder, keeping me close to him. The other was on the back of my head, tendering stroking me.

"You. You, Pedro. I wish I could find the words to tell you how much I'm in awe of you. How grateful I am of you."

"You don't need to. I know how you feel about me. You show and tell me all the time. Are you OK? What's happened for you to feel this way?"

"I'm not sure. I was talking to Olivia a few weeks ago, about us. I'm sorry. We tell each other everything. I didn't go into detail, I just said we'd been arguing because you didn't like me seeing Matt outside of work. And she mentioned Coco, again I tell her everything. And she said that was worse. And so tonight, it just popped into my head and I couldn't shake it off. Olivia didn't accuse you of anything by the way, she was just trying to support me. But those jealous feelings just came from nowhere. You've never gave me reason to be jealous of any woman. I know how you feel about me. But I worked so hard on not being that person anymore. I feel like I've taken a step backwards. I don't want to be her anymore. I'm trying so hard."

"Baby, honey. Listen to me. You don't have to try to be anything. Whatever you are, whatever you feel, I'll still love you." Ouch. My heart.

"You don't know that. You can't promise that."

"I do and I can."

"No you can't. My last relationship started off like this. Well, not this good. Even our worst days were better than the good days I had with him. I have never felt like this in my life. So happy yet so scared. Because I'm terrified I'll do something to fuck up and lose you."

"Eleanor, you're talking to the man who almost lost you because I felt the exact same way."

"You didn't almost lose me. You never could."

"When you say that, Eleanor, how are you so sure you'd never leave me?"

"Because I just know. It's just a feeling. I just know nothing could make me leave you."

"Well that's exactly how I feel. So please believe me." He pulled me into him again and kissed the top of my head. "My darling. Your heart is too kind and full of love for this world." The irony was not lost on me as the thumping of his heartbeat pounded against my cheek. The man with the biggest heart, who just emitted love to everyone he met. "Shall we watch a film in bed? Have a cuddle? You've gotta be up early in the morning."

"I er, I was trying to keep it a secret but I've actually booked the next few days off work. I wanted to spend time with you before you left again."

"You're going to get fired soon, you're never at work!" Pedro teased as he moved his hands from my shoulder to my waist. His grip tightened as he looked down at me.

"I thought the same. Originally I asked if I could just work from home so I could be with you. Josh said yes but then asked when you were back and I told him. I thought he was going to say I couldn't work from home because he knew I'd get nothing done with you being home. But he actually surprised me. He was like, "why don't you take some time off to spend with him before he goes again? You don't want to be held down by work when you've got limited time with him.""

"That was really good of him." Pedro was still not a fan of Josh but I could live with that.

"He's alright when you get to know him. Plus I worked so hard when you were away. I stayed over pretty much every night to make up for being ill so I think they understand. I need to book my holiday off for my birthday soon. I forgot. Good job that I have Christmas off already. Having to take extra days off just to factor in jet lag isn't ideal."

"I'm sure they appreciate what you do to be with them baby." He kissed my head as I cuddled into him. "What would you like to do tomorrow then?"

"Well," I looked down at him, wanting to see his reaction. "I've actually already planned the next few days. I hope you don't mind."

"What do you mean you've planned it?" A wide grin spread across his sleepy handsome face.

"I wanted to surprise you before you left me again."

"God, I love you. What are you surprising me with?"

"If I told you, that wouldn't be a surprise!" I started to giggle at his silly remark. "We can have a lie in tomorrow. But you'll need to go home and pack a few things at some point tomorrow."

"Wait? Where are we going? We're going away?"

"Yep. Somewhere quiet. Nothing international. So just your usual attire. And something easy to move in. Some joggers or shorts or something. Oh, and we have dinner reservations tomorrow at that new tex-mex place. It's a bit fancy, so you might to grab something for that."

"Where are we going, Eleanor?" He scooped me into his big arms and moved so he was on top of me. His breath was hot against my face as he stared down at me.

"A secret." I bit my lip as I looked into the brown eyes that made my whole body ache.

"I can't wait to spend time alone with you." He smirked, his eyes darkened. He moved his hand to stroke the expose skin of my stomach. His fingers moved way too slowly down my body, causing me to wiggle and worm under his tender touch. My skin prickled at his touch. "Do you want to have sex with me?" His voice was innocent and heart achingly sweet, but the darkness of his eyes and smirk let me know the dangerous adventure I was about to agree to participate in.

"Elle, babe? Are you OK? You seem tense." Pedro's hand was on my back, this thumb soothing me back and forth. He looked incredible - dressed in dark blue jeans, a navy button up shirt that exposed enough of his delicious chest and neck and boots. He wore his thick black rimmed glasses, which were a personal favourite of mine. His hair was bouncy and slightly slicked back. I was obsessed.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I wasn't. I was so nervous. The first surprise of his trip was here and I hope I'd managed to do something he would love. "Will you go in first?" I asked, holding back so Pedro could lead the way. He looked at me and narrowed his brows, before taking the lead. We approached the front of house staff and I told them that I had a reservation under Parker. She grinned at me, then smiling softly at Pedro and asked us to follow her. Still sensing my nervousness, Pedro followed her and linked my hand tight as he lead us through the restaurant. I'd asked for a private table at the back, and was relieved when I saw that's where we were heading. We turned the corner and Pedro stopped in his tracks.

"Surprise!" The cheerful union filled the room. Pedro's face dropped.

"What?! WHAT!?" Pedro's head darted between me and the table of his family. His two sisters and their partners all congregated around a large oak table. "What's going on!? What have I done? Am I in trouble?" Pedro's comments made everyone in the room giggle. "Was this your idea?" Pedro looked at me. Suddenly, all eyes were on me and I felt my cheeks redden. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. I tried to speak but air caught in my throat so I nodded. Without a care in the world about his families eyes on us, he turned to me and kiss me hard on my lips before he breathed a "thank you" against my now sensitive lips. The look in his eyes was genuine. He was grateful.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come here!" Javiera stood up and opened her arms for her brother. Sheepishly, Pedro let go of me and skipped over to his sister and wrapped her up in his arms.

"Eleanor, come here." Pedro beckoned me over. Thankfully, Lux had started to chitchat so the focus wasn't on us. I reached his side and felt at ease when he wrapped his arm around my neck. The other still round his sister. "Javi, this is Eleanor. Eleanor, -"

"We've met Pedro." Javiera laughed at Pedro, then smiled at me. It never failed to blow me away how much she looked like Pedro. Well, Pedro looked like her. Pedro looked between us, confused. "Eleanor picked us up from the airport. We've been for coffee, had dinner together too."

"You have?" Pedro looked at me and grinned with pride.

"Yeah. We thought it would be best to get to know each other when you wasn't around. So we could plot against you." Javiera smacked her hand off her brother chest.

"Not you as well? She's already worked her charm on Lux." He playfully rolled his eyes.

"She can't help being a charmer, can you Eleanor?" Her comment made me goofy grin.  "She's a gorgeous lil thing, Pedro. I am very proud of you."  Her sweet remark made me and Pedro smile at each other. I did it. I'd finally cracked this family.

"How did you manage to pull this off?" Pedro asked me as we were all enjoying the food. I watched as he brought a napkin up to his mouth and wipe. His long fingers gripped the napkin over his puckered lips. A simple gesture that made me swoon.

"Lux came round for dinner one night when you were away and she was saying how Javiera was going to be in L.A the end of this week for a magazine article thing and was wondering if she was around. She asked about me apparently, so Lux asked if the three of us wanted to go for dinner. You already know I was so nervous. So she made a group chat with the three of us. We started to plan something. Then I mentioned that if she could come earlier, and stay for the week, we could surprise you. She loved the idea. Javiera came in on Saturday. I picked her up from the airport. Me, Lux and Javiera went for dinner Sunday. I was so nervous."

"I knew you were nervous about meeting Javi. She's like the boss of our family. But she clearly loves you too. I'm not surprised." He forked more food into his mouth and I watched in awe. "Everyone does. You're a magnetic force, honey." He smacked his lips together as he grinned at me. "You look so beautiful."

"I wish I could find the words to describe how you make me feel. I could just stare at you all day. I am so happy when I'm with you." I gently squeezed his thigh under the table with my left hand as I used my right to sip my rosé. I felt Pedro's muscles tense under my touch. "You alright?" I mischievously smirked at him, knowing how he had reacted to my touch. He side eyed me and smirked. I moved my hand a cm up his thigh and squeezed again.

"Thank god for this seating arrangement." He mumbled into his wine. The table was square, with each couple at each side. No one directly next to us. It gave me the confidence to continue.

"Do you want me to stop?" I squeezed the same spot again.

"Nope. You won't go much further anyway."

"Are you challenging me?"

"I'm daring you." He raised his eyebrow arrogantly at me then continued to eat. I waited for him to join into the conversation before I raised my hand further up his thigh again, so it was the highest it could go and squeezed my nails onto his skin. "That's, er, that, yeah yeah Dad would love that." Pedro cleared his throat then subtly looked at me. He leant across and whispered in my ear, "Well played, baby." He placed a firm kiss on my ear then moved so his arm was over the back of my chair. I retreated my hand as we sat and made idle conversation around the table.

"When are you back from Spain, P?" Lux asked Pedro.

"July 24th. Just before Eleanor's birthday. But I think we're going straight to England, aren't we?" He turned to look at me.

"Well, I need to check I can get the time off work but yeah I so." I smiled back at him. I found that smiling at him was involuntary. It just happened. You couldn't look at his face and not smile.

"Yep. Going to meet her family. I'm so fucking nervous. She's made such a good impression with you lot, I'm hoping I can do the same."

"You'll be absolutely fine. They're already so excited to meet you." I held his hand across the table to reassure him.

"You'll be fine, Ped. Annoyingly, everyone who meets you loves you." Lux commented. With that remark still lingering in the air, I decided to push it one more time. I moved my hand over his crotch and squeezed firmly but gently. The gesture made Pedro choke on his spit, making the whole table turn to look at him. "You alright?" Javiera's husband laughed. I couldn't remember his name.

"Yeah, just something, in my throat. Felt like I was being squeezed!" He directed the last part of the sentence to me and I was nervous that someone would pick up on it. But thankfully no one did. Javi, the true maternal figure she was, quickly poured him a glass of water. He sipped the cool liquid and winked at me. He won. He always did.

We had only just crossed the threshold of my apartment when, within seconds, Pedro grabbed me fast and pulled me against him. I didn't have time to think before his lips were on mine. His one hand gripping my head against his, the other hand snaked around my waist as he kissed me passionately.

"I've wanted to do that all night." He grinned in my face. All wide and toothy and full of love. "You have no idea what tonight meant to me. To have all the people I care about, the ones I love the most in the same room. Thank you, baby."

"You deserve the world." I hugged myself against his chest, wanting to absorb his scent. To have him close to me.

"Eleanor?" His voice was low against my chest.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him and saw him staring down at me.

"I am so in love with you." I swallowed hard. The words hit hard.

"I am so in love with you, too."

"No, I am so in love with you. My body hurts when I look at you. Like every part of me aches because I just want to be consumed by you."

"Are you purposely trying to make me cry?"

"That's never my intention, but you do love to have a cry. One of the many reasons I love you."

"You love me because I cry a lot?"

"I love you because you are so emotionally connected to everything and everyone. Because you care so deeply about everything you come into contact with."

"You're just trying to make me feel better for being a big cry baby."

"Why the hell would I need to do that? There's nothing weak about being emotional. It all comes from a place of being strong for too long. I'm in awe of you."

"Whats going on!? You're definitely out to make me cry."

"I promise I'm not." He walked us over to the breakfast bar. "It's just... I guess, I feel... fuck!" Though he wore a small smile on his face, I could see he had tears in his eyes. "I guess I'm the one crying for a change." I moved to stand between his legs as he took a seat on the stool. He draped his arms around my waist as I looked down at him and cuddled him. "When my mom killed herself, I lost a whole chunk of me that I was so convinced I'd never get back. And it took years to figure out it was the part of me that was capable of receiving love. I knew I could give love. Endlessly. In huge amounts. All my family, my friends, I could feel how much I loved them every single second of every single day. And I knew they loved me. But I didn't feel it. It wasn't because they didn't make me feel loved, I just became numb to feeling that happiness, that bliss that being loved brought. And I blamed her, you know-" His voice broke. I'd learnt that when Pedro opened up like this, it was best for me to stay quiet. To listen to him. So I ran my thumb over his cheek and did my best to smile at him, even though my heart hurt. "I blamed her for making me miserable. Because I was so miserable without her. I loved her so much. And she left me." I felt that. "And I knew I would never left anyone love me and leave me again. I couldn't do it. And I was doing so fucking well. I'd learnt how to deal with those feelings. I learnt how to push the jealousy aside when I saw my friends find the one and settle down. I pushed it to the black hole I'd created. Then you came along. And the minute I saw you, I could feel that hole start to shrink. And I know that sounds so cheesy and cliche but it's true. I'd never felt that way. Seeing the way you looked at me, the-the-the hole started to close. I was healing and I didn't know." Pedro leant forward and placed a kiss on my stomach through the material of my top.

"I was so fucking nervous, you know. Asking for your number. I have no idea what I'd have done if you had said no. I am so grateful you said yes to me." He squeezed me as he smiled gloriously at me. "The night you let me take you out, I was so nervous. So fucking nervous. I felt sick. And I told myself that when I saw you, I'd be ok and the nerves would disappear. But they didn't. They got worse. Because you were opposite me and you were laughing and nothing was ever better than that. I've grafted my ass off for years to be someone. You made me feel like someone as soon as you looked at me. I've busted my ass to be where I am today yet the pride I felt when you laughed at something stupid I said has been unmatched. And when I walked you home. And I kissed you. And you let me. In the rain. I felt like I was in a fucking movie. Life has never been better since I've had you. You make me feel loved. You make me feel love. And I no longer have that black hole. Just endlessly amounts of love. Everything I am today, right now, is because of you. I learn from you. I lean to you. In everything. You are so special, baby." His mouth twitched before he shyly smiled. Then the tears came.

"Oh, my Pedro." I grabbed his head and held it against my chest. His chest rattled as he sobbed and I felt it all. Every tear, every emotion he was going through. It was healing. He was healing. "I am so so proud of you." I grabbed his head in my hands so he had no choice but to look at me. "Everyone sees it. You. All that you are. Your friends, your family, your fans. You are so universally loved because we see what you do and who you are. What your capable of. I read the comments. I see what they say about you. And yes, whilst we all see that you're the hottest guy in the world," I playfully rolled my eyes which earned me a Pedro giggle, the best sound in the world. "People talk about the person you are. How you radiate joy and love. How caring you are. How supportive of everyone you meet. And as a woman in a world full of shitty men, you'll never know how much that means to me. To all the women who love you. Because you keep our hope alive that we're seen. We're heard. We're important. We matter. And on my shitty days where I battle with that, you fix me. I'd never take you for granted. I am so lucky to have you." I planted a firm kiss on his red, tender lips. "Are you OK?" My thumbs stroked his tear stained cheeks.

"I am, baby." He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the feeling of my thumbs on his cheeks.

"Would you like to go to bed? You can choose a film."

"That sounds perfect." He pouted his lips in my direction, and I of course had to oblige. Who could deny this man a kiss?

We were in the en-suite; getting ready for bed. My heart soared seeing Pedro going into his side of the cabinet and pulling out the toothbrush and toothpaste I'd brought for him. He grinned at me through the mirror, obviously feeling the same.

"Look at us." He smiled before he put the brush into his mouth and starting scrubbing at his perfect teeth.

"Like a proper couple." I put my mouthwash into my mouth and swished it around as we continued to stare at each other through the mirror. I quickly rinsed my mouth and set about doing my skin care. We continued to occasionally stare at each other through the mirror, taking it in turns to instigate a smile to the other. My phone buzzed on the side, making us both jump and giggle like children. "Who is it?" I asked Pedro, who was nearest to my phone. He tapped the screen.

"My sister. Asking what moisturiser you use and if you use anything on your eyelashes? What the fuck does that even mean?" His confusion made me laugh.

"Here, send her a picture of this!" I handed over the tub of my moisturiser that I couldn't live without. "And I don't use anything on my eyelashes. I was just blessed with them. But I know there's a serum everyone is raving about, so I'll send her the link."

"You talk to my sister?" He asked as he typed out the response to Lux.

"Yeah, pretty much every day. She's my sister now." He smirked as I dabbed my eye cream under my eyes and smiled.

"I love that." He beamed at me. "Did you have braces?" I could see him stare at my teeth.

"Nope. I was lucky. Oli did, though. He moaned the whole two years he had them. He has the most perfect teeth I've ever seen now."

"But you were lucky to be born with all the perfect genes?"

"I'm far from perfect!" I grabbed my spot cream and applied it to the few blemishes I had.

"You are. And so are your teeth. They're so straight!"

"Nope, this one is slightly wonky." I pointed to the one on my bottom row that had always made me feel so self conscious.

"That's literally nothing. Look at mine!" He grinned, showing me every single tooth he had.

"Best smile in the world. Perfection. 10/10!" I leant up and kissed his mouth. "Let's go to bed, please."

"My favourite words..." He smirked as he smacked my ass and followed me to the bed. I took up residency on my usual side of the bed. I watched Pedro grab the remote control from the side and stand in front of the TV as he loaded up Netflix. We were waiting for the Netflix logo to finish buffering when he turned to me. "You are so cute. And so sexy at the same time."

"Oh yeah, sat in bed with no make up and my spot stickers on. Stunning!" I scoffed as I rolled my eyes at his stupid comment.

"Beautiful. Always. Eleanor." He turned back to the TV and started scrolling. I watched the muscles in his back twitch as he pressed the buttons on the remote.

"What we watching?"

"I fancy a Nic Cage film. You know, cos he's the best."

"Ugh." I grabbed my phone, knowing I'd have no interest in whatever film he put on.

"Wait," He turned sharply, "Did you just groan?"

"Yeah. Not really a fan of him."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said I'm not really a fan of him."

"I'm sorry, WHAT!?" Pedro spat. His compassion for Mr Cage made me giggle.

"I just don't think he's that good..."

"I want a divorce. Is it too late to back out of this now?"

"Unfortunately. Are you saying that if it's between me and Nic Cage, you'd choose Nic Cage?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying." He replied as he crawled into bed next to me. "Come here," he opened his arms for me to slide into his side. "Don't be falling asleep now." He kissed the top of my head.

"I'll try my best." My best was almost 10 minutes.

The next morning, we had breakfast with Pedro's family at the small cafe down the street from Pedro's apartment. It was one of our favourites. It was lovely and wholesome. Till we all argued with Pedro on who was paying the bill. We all agreed to pay our way, but Pedro being Pedro insisted he paid for us. The ways in which that man needed to care for the people he loved never failed to surprise me. We went back to his apartment and he packed a weekend bag, all the while trying to ask me where we were going.

"It's just somewhere quiet. Away from the city. It's a long drive. So I've put some snacks in the back. And I've got the best playlist lined up." I said as I climbed into the drivers seat.

"How long is the drive? How much Harry is in the playlist?" Pedro asked as he strapped himself in.

"Almost 8 hours, hopefully shorter. And enough Harry songs to get us through. I've put songs you love in there too. And I've brought your iPad in case you get bored."

"Sitting in a car, watching you for 8 hours? How could that ever be boring?" He smiled at me as he squeezed my thigh.

"I'm sure you're about to find out!"

"Are you going to be OK driving for 8 hours?"

"Yeah, it's not my first rodeo, my love. And nice try, but you can find out where we're doing when we get there." I leant forward and pouted my lips for a kiss. I connected my phone to the car system. I loaded up maps and clicked play on the playlist. The first song made us giggle.

"Isn't this from Shrek?" Pedro asked as he giggled at my dancing.

"Yes sir. Arguably one of the best soundtracks ever!" I replied as I passionately sang and danced to the absolute hit that was Accidentally in Love. Half way through the song, I turned and saw Pedro not so secretly recording me. "What are you doing?"

"Just capturing a moment I wanna be able to rewatch forever." He smiled as he started tapping on the screen. I knew Pedro, and I knew that video was going to end up on his Instagram. Later I found out he posted it with the caption,

'I'm in love... with the girl who puts so much passion into performing the Shrek soundtrack.'

5 hours into the drive, we stopped off at a service station. Pedro had been asleep for the last hour, which made me feel better. He was always on the go and got very little sleep, so it brought me comfort any time that man got to rest. Soft snores echoed through the car and over my music. I had turned it down, but found it hard to concentrate on anything unless I had music on. Coming to a standstill made Pedro stir and wake up.

"Hey sleeping beauty." I smiled at his sleepy face. With his eyes half open and his face fluffy and cute, he grinned back.

"Hey baby. Sorry for falling asleep." He rubbed at his eyes and it melted my heart.

"Don't be. You need to rest and my smooth driving obviously helped you fall into a deep sleep."

"How much longer do we have?"

"Maybe like 3 hours, at most. I just need to stretch my legs and grab some coffee. Do you wanna eat?" I leaned over to the back seat and grabbed my bag.

"I'll come with you." Pedro was already unbuckling his seat belt before I had chance to protest. We got out the car in unison and in the time it took for me to lock my car, Pedro was already at my side with his hand extended for me to take.

"Such a gentleman." I smiled as I proudly took his hand in mine. We strolled over to the service station, hand in hand, on our ways to get cheap burgers and coffee.

"Lake Tahoe? You've brought me to Lake fucking Tahoe?" Pedro noticed the sign as we entered the district. His tone was weird and I couldn't work out if he was happy or not. I turned my head to see if his fave was giving anything away. "I've always wanted to visit here. It looks so beautiful."

"Me too. I thought we'd have everything we'd need for a few days. Beautiful scenery, open water. A cabin in the woods out the way from people."

"It's perfect. You're perfect. Thank you baby." He leaned over and squeezed my thigh. A short while later, we pulled up to the makeshift driveway next to our cabin. It was more beautiful in person than on the website. A brown brick building with wooden accents. The steps up to the door were cobbled with a hand railing that was encased in fairy lights. The sun was beginning to set, which made the lights sparkle like glitter.

"Gosh, this is gorgeous!" Pedro's eyes twinkled like the fairy lights as he stared at the building. "And I get to keep you here, all to myself for the next few days."

"The perfect place for you to murder me, isn't it?" I walked around the car and hugged Pedro.

"Not my first thought. You watch too many true crime shows." He wrapped his big arms around my shoulders. "I was thinking of how many different surfaces I could have sex with you on."

"It has a hot tub. I think that's the perfect place to start." I mischievously grinned at him. As soon as I saw the hot tub on the website, it was the first thought I had.

"Oh we are absolutely doing that. Thank you. For all of this. You are so thoughtful..." He stopped mid sentence to look down at me. His face twisted with concern. "Wait. This, this must have cost quite a lot. Places like this aren't cheap!" He grabbed my shoulders and looked at me head on. He always grabbed me like this when he needed to coax the truth out of me.

"Urm, it was within the budget I was looking at." I tried my best to not give anything away.

"Eleanor. Did this cost a lot?" Pedro hated me spending money on him.

"Not as much as you think."

"It better not be more than $500!" He was serious. I swallowed hard. "Eleanor."

"Yes?" I couldn't look at him in the eyes, so I proceeded to stare at the little piece of hair that had fallen onto his forehead.

"How much did this cost?"

"A little over $600."

"Eleanor!" Pedro sighed as he let go of my shoulders. "Baby, I love you. And I really appreciate all this. I really do. But that's too much."

"No it's not too much! I really-"

"That's so much money!"

"And you're worth every penny. I would never spend that kind of money in the city. But I wanted to spend time with you away from everyone. Just for a few nights. And I wanted to treat you to something nice. You're always doing something nice for me. I wanted to do the same for you."

"Pizza and beers at home would have been fine." His tone was clipped and made me stop in my tracks. "I'm really sorry, that sounded super ungrateful of me. I promise I'm not ungrateful. I just don't like you spending money on me. I wanna spend money on you. Buy you anything you want. Treat you to all the nice things."

"And I want to do the same for you. How you feel about me, how you wanna shower me in things, how you wanna take my to nice place and buy me anything I want. That's how I feel about you. I wish you understood that."

"I do, baby, I do. I'm trying. Anyway, thank you. Really. Thank you." He grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me hard. "Shall we go inside?" I nodded my head in response. We emptied the boot of the car of our bags and Pedro followed me inside the cabin. "This place is gorgeous. Wow!" The heigh ceilings and decor was stunning. The pictures didn't do it justice.

"It really is. This is so dreamy! I wanna live here." I put my bags down and stood to take it all in. Pedro was soon next to me, arm draped over my shoulder.

"Would you like to live somewhere like this?"

"Urm, maybe! I've not thought too much about where I'd see myself settling down. I don't want a big place. I don't want a garden, I don't want the maintenance and I'm not very green fingered. I'd like something with a nice view. A pool. A nice patio so I could host pool parties... what?" Pedro was staring and grinning at me the whole time, which made me stop in my tracks. His mouth curved into a happy frown.

"Sometimes I feel like I've dreamt you up in my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I never wanted a relationship so I didn't have an idea of what my dream woman would look like, if I even had one. Or what my future would look like. But when I met you, I started getting these feelings, these ideas. I knew as soon as I saw you that you were my dream. But I'd think about what house I'd see us in one day or what car we'd share or what where we'd settle down. Everything you just said, the No garden, the nice view... they're all things I thought of when I thought of our future home. The way we think the same. The way we want the same. In every way, in every sense of the phrase, you are my dream girl. And I feel so lucky."

"I love you so much. So so much."! I cupped his cheek and brought his face close to mine so I could steal a kiss. Pedro's grip on my waist tighten as he deepened the kiss, making us both moan in unison. "You're making my legs buckle."

"Good." Pedro mumbled before his lips were back on mine. "Hmm, I love that we have this place to ourselves for the next few days. No one around. No one to hear you scream and moan my name. We can be as loud as we wanna, baby." He mischievously lipped his lips as he broke the kiss to look at me. "And I'm most definitely gonna make you scream."

"Ughhhhh!" I threw my head into the crook of his neck as my fingers gripped his shirt. "You will be the death of me."

"You did say this was a great spot for me to kill you. Death by sex, that's how I'd like to go."

"Stop! You're not gonna die. Ever. You have to live forever. I don't want to be in a world where Pedro Pascal doesn't exist."

"I reckon this old man has a couple more decades in him!"

"Enough talk about death. What shall we do? It's pretty late. I'm hungry. My back is killing from driving so long..."

"You're starting to sound like me complaining about your back."

"Maybe I've spent too much time with you."

"And lucky for you, you'll get to spend the rest of your life with me and I can't wait!" He kissed my temple. "Shall we go shower and eat? Then an early night. Though I can't promise we'll get much sleep."

"It's like you read my mind."

The next morning I woke up to the room being illuminated by the bright summer sun. The sheets hid our naked bodies that were intertwined together. Pedro was still fast asleep. His light snores echoed around the room and harmonised with the birds cheeping outside. A slither of sun caught his jawline, illuminating the collection of brown and grey hairs that peppered his chin. Even in his sleep, he shone bright. As much as I wanted him to sleep, I was eager to touch him. So I did. My fingers instantly going for the mass of curls that stuck out in every direction.

"Morning babe." Pedro grinned, though his eyes remained closed. "That feels good." He moved his head onto my exposed chest, allowing me to get a better angle to run my nails through his curls.

"Did you sleep OK?"

"Like a baby." He breathed against my skin. His hot breath made my skin tingle. "You smell so good." He nuzzled his nose into my breast. The softness of my boob caused him to open his eyes and look down. "Oh hello." He nipped at my skin, causing me to arch my back. "God I love your boobs!" He brought his hand up to cup me, all whilst he kissed and nipped at my skin.

"Wasn't last night enough for you?" I teased, feeling my body come to life watching him toy with me.

"Nope. Never enough. I want you all the time." He ran his tongue over my nipple. "Can I fuck you?" The ache for him erupted in the pit of my stomach.

"Yeah. But we've got plans this afternoon. So you can't be too long."

"What are we doing?" He asked quickly before his lips were back on me.

"I want us to go on a hike." He stopped and looked up at me through his lashes. "Don't be like that. It overlooks the lake. It'll be worth it when we get to the top."

"I thought this was going to be a relaxing trip where I could fuck you whenever I wanted."

"You can!"

"On the top of mountain with people around doesn't get me going, Elle."

"Well you can have sex with me now and when we get back." I went to say more but his hand found my neck. His grip tightened a little, but he was as gentle as he ever was with me.

"Shhhh. No more talking." He kicked my legs apart through the sheets and placed himself on top of me. "From this point on, listen to me. Feel me. Concentrate on all of me. My voice. My touch. Got it?"

"Got it." I mumbled, which caused Pedro to raise his eyebrow at me. The sight of him could make me explode on the spot. His finger touched my lip, silently telling me I'd already failed. So I just nodded my head and took his finger into my mouth. My hollowed cheeks around his digit made him groan and thrust himself into me.

"Gosh, this place is stunning!" Pedro mumbled as we started the last incline to the top. He moaned when we first started, saying he didn't want to spend hours walking when we could just go to the beach. But 30 minutes into the walk, he changed his mind when he saw the views we got to enjoy.

"I told you it would be worth it." I ran my hands down my thighs. "Anyway, your turn to ask me a question." We'd been taking it in turns to ask each other questions. Whilst we believed we knew each other quite well, it was nice to learn all the little things about this man. I'd learned we both hated milk, the worst date he went on was when he was in school and he dropped popcorn and his drink all over the girl in the cinema, the weirdest dream he ever had was him babysitting aliens and if he could travel back in time to any year, he'd go to the 1920's.

"Your dream dinner party - dead or alive."

"Urm easy. Bowie, obviously. I'd have to go with Prince, Jeff Buckley, Roy Orbison, Bowie and Harry, of course."

"Of course, Harry! Thanks for my invite!" He playfully nudged my side.

"I'm sorry! Of course you'd be there!"

"Yeah yeah! As what? The servant?"

"Have you ever met Harry?" I asked, trying not to spend too long imaging the two of them together.

"I have not. We were both at the Venice film festival last year but I didn't see him until I was leaving."

"Oh my god, I am so jealous! Would you ever invite me to one of those events if he was there?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I'm scared some guy will run off with you one day. I can be pretty stupid, but I'm not stupid enough to basically hand you over to Harry."

"Harry would never go for me you're fine. Please invite me."

"Of course he would. Obviously he would, look at you. So nope, not happening. I'll tell him you said hi though." His comments made me roll my eyes and pout like a child. Pedro grinned at me and proceeded to tell me his dream dinner guests, "Prince, Tina Turner, Nic Cage, you, even though you didn't choose me! Not sure on my last one."

"You only chose me because I didn't choose you and you couldn't think of your last two!"

"I did not!" He mocked, then gave himself away when he giggled. He put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me to him as he placed a kiss on my temple. A piece of my hair got stuck to his lips. "Bleh! You can keep this!" He removed the hair and smoothed it down.

"I think I'm gonna cut my hair off."

"Do it! It'll look nice."

"I used to have it shorter and I miss it."

"You'll always be pretty, regardless of what you look like or how you have your hair." He grinned at me. I smiled back, knowing I was the luckiest person to have this man to share my life with. To always make me feel good. To always love me.

We finished the hike and made our way back to the lodge after complaining we were tired and hungry. We showered separately, knowing we would delay getting food if we showered together. Pedro suggested we used the outside oven to make pizzas and sit in the hot tub. I commented that eating pizza in a hot tub didn't seem very hygienic but Pedro said he thought it would be fine. Thought I was almost certain one of us would drop a slice into the water. So we did just that. Ate pizzas in the hot tub with beers. Pedro looked delicious, his hair all tousled and messy after his shower. I watched the water bubble at his chest as he took his beer bottle to his lips and sipped the cool liquid. He caught me staring at him and shyly smiled. His dimple made an appearance and completely swept me off my feet.

"Why are you staring at me? Do I have food on my face?" He placed the bottle on the side and wiped at his fluffy beard.

"Nope you're fine. I'm just observing you.  You really are perfect."

"I'm far from perfect babe..."

"No but you are. I could literally just sit and watch you all day. You have no flaws. And you're the nicest person ever. Always so sweet and considerate. And you always say the right thing, the nicest things. To everyone. You are a dream." He placed his hand over his heart as he took in my words.

"It means a lot that you'd say such nice things about me. They mean so much coming from you." He reached for my hand and I glided through the bubbles to him. I sat on the seat next to him, allowing our bodies to touch and be tickled by the frothing water. "There's been a series of events in my life that made me think that this would never be possible for me. To have someone love me so wholeheartedly. I'll never know what I did right to deserve you. But I'm so thankful you're here. With me. And you always will be. Because I am a jealous asshole and even if you left me for someone else, I'd hunt you down and do whatever I could to get you back."

"That sounds very serial killer-ish of you, Mr Pascal." I sipped my beer and smirked at him. Knowing this man needed me made me feel whole. Because I needed him too. In the same way.

"Maybe I am a serial killer." He raised his devilish right eyebrow at me, causing me to giggle hysterically.

"I would believe you if you didn't do everything in your power to make sure I never get hurt. Don't think I don't notice that you carry me over the sand at the beach so my feet don't burn, or when I get parcels that you cut the tape for me so I don't cut myself on the scissors. Or all the times where you hover your hand above my head whenever you wait for me to get into the car so I don't whack my head. Or the other night when you lunged across the kitchen and closed the cupboard door when I almost turned and walked into it. I notice all the little things you do to protect me." The shy smile and the glistening eyes made another appearance as he stared at me. "I notice and I appreciate everything you do for me. I recognise that I have the best boyfriend in the world."

"You do. And I have the hottest girlfriend. It feels so weird when I call you my girlfriend out loud." He sipped his beer again. There was something about the simple gesture of him putting the bottle to his mouth that made the fire in the pit of my stomach to ignite.

"Why's that?"

"Because it feels real. You know when you're a kid and you have a crush on a celebrity and it's all in your head because you know you have no chance? It feels like that. I remember seeing you in Starbucks and I was waiting for my coffee and you were on your phone and I had this thought of "imagine being able to call that woman your girlfriend"? I was so sure you'd have a boyfriend and that someone was waiting for you and he'd come in and greet you with a kiss and he'd get to call you his girlfriend and I'm not sure if I'm making any sense here?"

"You are, don't worry." I held onto his wrist that gripped the beer and silently encouraged him to continue.

"I know you're my girlfriend. I feel what I feel for you every day. I know how it feels. But when I say it out loud, it's like this whole new level. Like letting the world know you, are my girlfriend. I'll shut up I know I'm not making any sense!"

"I know exactly what you mean." I leant forward and placed my lips onto his, offering a gentle but meaningful kiss. My slightly damp hand cupped his cheek as I kissed him as tenderly as I could.

"That gave me butterflies." He looked into my eyes and confessed as he bit his lip. "I love you so much."

"I love you so much." I kissed him again before asking, "Can I fuck you in this hot tub?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Gone had the angelic expression. His eyes darkened and his smile has transformed into a devilish smirk. "Ever since you stepped into the tub in this tiny black number," He pulled at the waistband of my bikini bottoms, "Looking so god damn hot, I knew I'd have my wicked way with you in here. Come, sit on me." He offered his hand so I could reposition myself on him. "Fuck, I'm so hard." Pedro's face was full of excitement as I placed myself on top of him. "Can we stay here like this forever?"

"We might end up a bit wrinkly, my fingers have already gone all prunish!" I showed him my fingertips. He grabbed my hand, kissed my palm and placed it over his heart.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" I nodded as I felt the fast thuds through his chest. "My old man heart can't take this. Having you, looking like this, on top of me. So are you gonna fuck me, before it actually gives in?"

"I quite enjoy having you around so let me make sure that doesn't happen." I moved Pedro's hand into the water to help me untie my bikini bottoms. He never broke eye contact as I positioned myself on his tip and let myself sink onto him. The slow movement caused us both to moan out.

"Fuck, this. This is, this is the fucking best, fuck! Ugh, fuck." He threw his head back and watched me. Seeing what I did to him was all the encouragement I needed to put on a performance for him, as I made a show of taking off my bikini top. The noises and compliments I received from Pedro drove me crazy!

As we stepped out the hot tub, Pedro wrapped a towel around me and kissed my forehead. His lips were soothing against my heated forehead. My arms were trapped against my side and he hugged me tightly and started to dance with me on the spot. His goofiness made me belly laugh as he dipped and weaved me around and I followed helplessly. The sudden noise of my phone ringing made us both stop and stare at each other.

"Who's that?" Pedro asked.

"Well, I won't know till I answer." I kept the towel around me as I shuffled to answer the call. It was Oli. Fuck!

"Hey Elle."

"Hey Oli. Is everything OK?" The sudden rush of anxiety caused my throat to close.

"Everything is fine. Perfect, actually. I just called to let you know you're an auntie..."

"Oli, fuck off! What?" My reaction caused Pedro to stare at me concerned.

"He decided to come two weeks early but he's doing great. His name is Theodore. He's 6 pounds, 3 ounces and he is the most perfect baby to ever exist. I'm so in love, Elle."

"Oli, stop!" Pedro nudged my elbow as I started to cry. "My brother and his girlfriend have had the baby!" I mumbled to him. "How's Jess? Is she OK?"

"She's doing amazing. Honestly, Elle. I'm in awe of her. She's superwoman. I don't think I've ever loved her more. She's gave me the best little boy ever. I can't stop crying when I look at them. I've never felt a love like this!" Hearing my big brother talk about his family made me emotional. Oli was never shy when it came to expressing his feelings. It was one of the many reasons I loved him so much. It brought me so much joy hearing how happy he was.

"Oli, I wish I was there. I'll be over as soon as possible. Can you send me loads of pictures and video call me every day? I wanna see him now! Show me!"

"I need to go back into the room so I'll text you some pictures. But, congrats Auntie Elle. Theo can't wait to meet you." My heart!

"Oli! Stop! I can't stop crying! I love you and Jess and baby Theo so so much!"

"I've gotta go. I love you sis. We all love you." He hung up and I allowed the tears to flow.

"I'm a fucking AUNTIE!" I lunged into Pedro's arms as he wrapped me tight to his chest.

"Congrats, auntie Elle. He's the luckiest little boy in the world to have you by his side."

My fucking heart.