We had been at Eli's for about an hour when Ale began to get impatient. She wanted to leave and the fact the she was looking at her watch every 5 minutes made it very obvious. Eli was oblivious though, deep in conversation about their recent family trip to Ibiza, she had no idea about her daughters growing frustration. That was until Alexia finally spoke up.
"Lo siento Mamá, but we need to get going before it gets dark"
"Oh of course, I'm sorry Hija... I lost track of time" Eli quickly apologised before standing up and starting to clear the table.
I followed, carrying my coffee cup into the kitchen and placing it on the side next to Eli.
"Thank you for the coffee Eli" I smiled.
"You're welcome darling, it was lovely to see you again... I hope you'll be back soon" She said, wrapping her arm around me and bringing me into a side hug.
"I hope so too"
Once we had said goodbye to Eli and collected Nala, we headed outside to Ale's car. I climbed into the passenger seat and placed Nala on my lap, the little pup was still as exited to see me as she was before. Once Ale had got into the car we headed towards the beach, the same beach that we used to walk Nala at almost everyday before I left.
I was excited to spend some time alone with Ale, but also nervous to tell her how I was feeling. I knew that she was most likely feeling the same way from the conversations that we had had over the last couple of weeks, but it didn't make it any easier, I was just rubbish at talking about my feelings... always had been
We soon arrived at the beach and after parking the car we made our way down onto the sand, letting Nala off the lead to run freely and chase after her favourite ball as we walked.
The longer we walked the more my emotions rose up in my chest, the words almost falling out of my mouth as I desperately tried to hold them in until the right moment. I was watching Nala playing in the shallow water in an attempt to distract myself when I was suddenly brought back to the moment by Alexia's hand reaching out for mine, holding it gently as we walked. I turned my head to look at our now intertwined hands, my emotions suddenly calmed down with the feeling of her warm hand on mine. Alexia's hazel eyes met mine, sending me a soft smile before looking forward again as we carried on walking.
She didn't say anything, but that small gesture told me so much, just like the first step all of those years ago. Ale was never one for big romantic speeches, she would just do small things to tell me how much she loved me, like the holding my hand, placing her hand on my leg or climbing into bed and wrapping her arms around me.
We had been walking for about 10 minutes when I couldn't hold back my emotions anymore. I had been wanting to say this since the moment I left for Manchester and I couldn't wait any longer.
I stopped walking, not able to put one foot in front of the other until I had got my emotions off my chest. Alexia slowly turned around as she felt my hand trailing behind her, before stopping and looking into my eyes.
"Are you ok?" She asked, taking a step closer to me and squeezing my hand tighter than before.
"Can we sit down for a minute?" I asked, gesturing down towards the sand.
"Yeah, is everything ok? is it you're ankle?" She asked, her voice beginning to sound worried.
"Everything is fine Ale" I said, releasing my hand from Ale's and sitting down on the warm sand.
She didn't sit down with me, so I reached up for her hand, giving it a gently tug towards me.
"Come and sit with me Ale" I mumbled quietly, looking up into her hazel eyes.
As she sat down next to me I pulled her hand into my lap and intertwined our fingers, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm my heart rate before I began to speak, because I knew once I did I wouldn't be able to stop.
Just as I was about to start speaking, Ale opened her mouth and a few quiet words began to escape.
"Please don't..." She mumbled as she looked off into the distance.
"D-Don't what?"
"Tell me you that can't forgive me... that you don't want to go back to being us again."
Hearing Ale's words I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She couldn't be any more wrong. I had forgiven her and I did want to go back to how we were.
"It's not funny Isy..." Ale continued, clearly confused by my sudden laughter.
"I'm sorry Ale" I chuckled again.
"I don-" Ale began, but I couldn't let her continue.
"Just listen to me, okay?"
Alexia nodded at me, pressing her lips together in a flat line, telling me she wouldn't say anything else.
"I love you Alexia Putellas Segura and I have done every day for the last 5 years. Even after everything that happened, I never stopped loving you. I didn't necessarily like you during that time, but I never ever fell out of love with you, I don't think that that is even possible. You are the only person that I have ever loved Ale and you are the only person that I will ever love. I want to go back to us, back to how things were, back to how things should have been. I want to go back to how things were before I left, I don't want to start at the beginning again Ale... I don't want to waste anymore time."
I couldn't get my words out quick enough, part of me wondered whether she had understood a word that I had said as I had spoken so quickly.
That part of me soon disappeared when I felt Alexia's hands on my face, one placed on each cheek as she pulled me closer to her, before her lips crashed into mine. This kiss was different to the one we had shared in the car last week, this one was more passionate and it had so much more meaning.
After what felt like hours Alexia pulled away, resting her forehead against mine while gently smiling at me, both of our breathing was still heavy from the moment that we had just shared.
"I love you too Isy.. more than you'll ever know" Ale said, pulling me into her chest and placing a gentle kiss on the top of my head.
We spent the next half and hour or so watching the sun set over the horizon, neither of us feeling the need to say anything else, just enjoying being in each others arms again.