ice breaker » a. griezmann

10 // the talk

avery

Antoine had invited me to come to his house that morning. He said he wanted to talk. Kaia was at home, so I couldn't just invite Antoine there to have a serious talk.

My lips still tingled at the thought of his on mine, and I assumed that was what he wanted to talk about.

The taxi driver drove me to Antoine's house, and I paid him with a little extra.

Antoine's house was undoubtedly big, but this was the kind of big that wasn't cocky and screaming 'show-off'. It was the kind of big that was still like a home all the same.

The front gate was left unlocked-for me, I supposed-and I walked right onto the porch, where the huge white doors stood tall in front of me.

The door opened before I could ring the bell, revealing Antoine in a gray t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, along with his undone hair. "Hey, come in," he stepped aside to let me in and closed the door behind me.

"You have a beautiful house," I said, because I didn't know what else to say. I felt nervous. I always did whenever I was around him, but maybe it was just because I kept being struck by his beauty.

"Thanks. Doesn't matter though because it doesn't feel much like a home," he started walking inside, so I followed.

"Why's that?" I was still following him further into the house, until we reached his living room. But he didn't stop there. He went to the kitchen instead.

"I don't know. Nothing feels like home to me anymore," he shrugged and opened the fridge to grab a bottle of orange juice. "Breakfast?"

"No thanks, I've already eaten," I turned down his offer. "So, why did you summon me here?" I tapped my fingers on my thigh nervously.

"Because your apartment isn't available?" He asked back, taking a sip of orange juice straight from the bottle.

"You know what I meant," I said lowly.

"Well, I'm growing even more distant towards my friends. Including my teammates," he sighed and put his bottle of orange juice down on the counter top. "I may have told them to back off of me, and they actually did. Now I don't know what to do, and you're the only person I can talk to about this. Besides Koke of course."

"You told them to back off?" I asked as a reassurance.

"Oops. Habits," he shrugged and started walking towards his living room, and I followed behind him.

"If you want to feel better, then you need to learn how to let people in," I reassured him after the many times he rejected people's offers to help in so many different ways.

"I've never let people in," he slumped down on the couch in his living room.

"It's all up to you. I'm not pushing you to do anything," I stood across him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

He sighed heavily after thinking for a long time. "Fine. I'm gonna start by letting you in. On everything," he said, his blue orbs finally looking up to meet mine.

"Uh..." I surely wasn't expecting him to do that, just like I wasn't expecting us to kiss the other night. But he was acting like the kiss didn't even happen...

"Well? I told you I would tell you when I'm ready, and I am. Do you want to listen or not?" He asked, his face softening a bit.

"Yeah sure," I said, still standing awkwardly in front of where he was sat down.

"Well? Sit down then," he beckoned for me to sit down next to him, even though there was a lot of space on the other couch. We sat down facing each other, our elbows propped up on the head of the couch. "So, let's just get to the point. I'm going to tell you everything, but not many people know about this. Some of the boys know, and my siblings know too of course."