a cute lil chapter for you guys.

•••

"– just dropped me off at home then left," I said, picking up the coffee cup between my two palms. "I haven't heard from him in three days. He keeps dodging my calls and texts."

Isaac, Leo, and I left for Paris two days after he kissed me. I've tried approaching him so many fucking times to try and talk to him, but he'd make up some bullshit excuse to avoid talking to me. He spent most of his day in our gym or at Nick's house. Even Dylan became suspicious that something happened between us, but until I could actually talk to Isaac, I repeatedly told him that everything was fine.

The plane ride was tense. He still sat beside us and Leo separated him from me. Although he did entertain the kid, he continued to ignore me. Whenever we had eye contact, his eyes would widen and he would snap his head in the opposite direction. I was surprised he got into the same taxi as we did. He just made sure the driver dropped us off at the right address, then drove off with him.

I've tried calling him, texting him– I even had a taxi drive us all the way up to his training facility. Like the child he was, he ran off at the sight of me, ignoring his coach's screams. Aren and Nelson told me Isaac had told them what happened, and that I should've listened to them a week ago. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't accept that we were a 'married couple'.

I glanced at Leo, who was still blowing on his hot chocolate to cool it off, "I just don't know what to do at this point," I groaned, leaning back into the couch in the coffee shop.

Dean sipped his hot coffee and pursed his lips as he swallowed the drink, "For somebody who likes you so much, he's making it exceptionally hard for you to tell him you reciprocate his feelings."

"So you do think he likes me?" I asked, tapping Leo on the knee before looking at the cup. "It's warm enough for you to drink now, baby."

Dean blinked and looked around the café like he was searching for something he lost, "I thought we already established that." He said in a questioning tone, giving me an incredulous look.

"I mean, the words never came out of his mouth," I explained, rubbing my thumb over the cup's handle. "I'm just assuming that he has feelings for me."

"He already basically told you," He told me. "By kissing you."

"Yeah, but what if he did that because he was sexually frustrated or something?" I voiced out my thoughts, ignoring the glare a tourist shot me at my words. I glared right back at her, making her eyes widen while she scurried away.

Dean's face scrunched up in confusion, "So you're telling me, the guy put his life on pause for you; stopped his workout to go shopping with you; took care of your child while you had an anxiety attack all because he wanted to have... physical relations with you?" He asked baffled by my response, whispering the last part so that Leo wouldn't hear him.

I snorted at his attempt to make his words as kid-friendly as possible, "Well, when you say it like that, you make it seem like an absurd thought," I replied, taking a sip of my warm cappuccino. "Yeah, no, that doesn't even sound like Zachy."

"That's because it is absurd," He retorted. Then, he sighed and shook his head, "Amber, Isaac kissed you because he likes you. Why would he risk a lifelong friendship to... do the dirty?"

"Do the dirty?" I repeated, lips tugging up into an amused smile.

His cheeks flushed pink as he stole a quick glance at Leo, who was happily chewing on the marshmallows. He had asked to have them on the side so they wouldn't melt, "I don't feel comfortable saying the word in front of a three-year-old, okay?"

I brushed my son's hair away from his forehead and dropped a kiss there. He angled his face up at me and gave me a grin which I returned. I knew Leo missed Isaac– he'd never gone this long without talking to either of us. Even when he was away for a match, he always video called me, and Leo would steal the phone to talk to him.

"I understand," I said, directing my smile to him. "So, what do I do about Isaac?"

He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought about it, "Well, he's obviously ignoring you because he's afraid of rejection– you didn't kiss him back, so he thinks you don't like him back. I think you just have to corner him somewhere you know he won't be able to run away."

"You're a fucking genius, Dean," I said a grin etching onto my lips.

He blinked at my language, eyes flickering between Leo and me, "Leo's going to grow up to be a male replica of you." He concluded, referring to how many swear words I incorporated into my vocabulary.

My son's head snapped up at the sound of his name, glancing at me with raised eyebrows. I smiled down at him, wiping the chocolate from the corner of his lips with a napkin, "That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

•••

Dean and I walked back to the building together. He told me all about how his movie was going. I'd gotten so used to seeing the tents and crowd of people outside my office, I knew having them leave would be weird.

Talking to Dean again felt good– it reminded me of the days when we used to date. We treated each other like therapists; I'd tell him all about my problems, or him me, and we'd try to work through it together. His crew was moving to film in a location outside of Paris, where their studio was, since all the scenes that took place in this setting were done and dusted.

It was too early to put my plan in action and I'd been so productive I had managed to finish all the work I missed out on the first day I came back to my office. I was sitting in front of my desk, staring at Leo as he played around with the action figures he had. I pursed my lips at the sight, suddenly remembering how I decided that daycare might be a better option for him.

"Leo?" I called out. He glanced at me and tilted his head questioningly. I patted my lap, "Viens-ici, mon cher."

At the invitation, he jumped off the floor and ran towards me, arms open wide so I could catch him. I grinned when he flung himself onto me. I lifted him onto my lap and set him down so he was facing me. I fixed his shirt and stared at him.

"So, I was thinking," I started, smoothing down the shoulders of his t-shirt. "Would you like me to put you in a daycare?"

He blinked once and furrowed his eyebrows, "C'est quoi ça?"

"It's a place where you can make friends and play all day, but not in an office with me. I drop you off in the morning, and pick you up when I finish." I explained as simply as I could.

He grinned, "Like Coco and Cece?" He asked, shaking with excitement.

I hesitated before shaking my head, "Kind of. Your cousins go to kindergarten; that's more like school. They have teachers to teach them things but they can also run around and play. Daycare isn't a school."

"I want to go to where Cece and Coco go!" He exclaimed, a smile on his face. "They told me they have a lot of fun."

Papa did enroll me in kindergarten when I was around Leo's age, so it didn't seem like that bad of an idea. Leo was pretty smart for his age. He was perceptive, retained information quicker than the average three-year-old, and loved learning new things. Papa used to say that he knew I was a 'smarty-pants' since the age of three, which is why he decided to put me through two years of kindergarten before I went into grade one. It was also easier for him since it meant he could focus on his work in the mornings, and on me during the evening.

I swallowed thickly, sad at how quickly my baby was growing up. It felt like I first saw him yesterday. I knew this would be good for him, though. I wanted him to be safe, and I was convinced that he was only safe with me or Isaac. I saw things from a new perspective, though. Keeping him with me all the time probably wasn't healthy for him.

"D'accord, mon cher," I said, smiling at his eager figure. "I'll start looking for one. We can visit them, and then we'll choose one."

He threw his arms around my neck and pulled me in for a hug, his knees digging into my thighs, "Merci, mama."

"Of course, baby," I replied, kissing the side of his head. "I just want what's best for you."

He untangled his hands from around my neck and placed a sloppy kiss on my cheek. He then made a move to get off my lap but paused. He sat back down on my thighs and pursed his lips before glancing up at me.

"Mama, can I ask you a question?" He questioned, voice soft. I nodded in reply, encouraging him to ask me whatever it was he wanted to. "Is Zachy mad at us?"

My lips parted as I tried to come up with a reply for him. I didn't want Leo thinking Isaac was ignoring him– he was just dodging me. Leo was always with me, so he obviously wouldn't be able to spend time with him without approaching me first.

Leo saw my hesitancy, "I heard you tell Uncle Dean that he was ignoring you. Cece only does that to Cody when she's mad at him."

"Isaac isn't mad at you, honey," I replied, raking my fingers through his hair to brush it back. His curls just sprung back up at the action. "He's just embarrassed."

He titled his head, "Why?"

"Well," I breathed out. "Do you remember when you tried to kick a football into the goal but missed?"

He nodded, knowing what I was talking about, "I didn't like that." Leo was so embarrassed he immediately ran away from Isaac and hid behind my legs.

"Well, Zachy did something like that," I explained. "I... saw it happen, and now he doesn't want to talk to me about it." He frowned at the explanation and looked down at his hands. "Do you miss Zachy, baby?"

He instantly nodded in response. I sighed– Isaac was going to get an earful once I cornered him. I glanced at the time; he should've been out of practice by now. I picked up my phone from my desk to send a quick text to Aren and Nelson before looking down at Leo.

"Do you want to go surprise him, mon cher?" I asked, my smiling when he nodded again, enthusiastically this time. My phone buzzed with a text from Aren.

Time to talk to that fuckwit.

•••

Isaac lived in a very luxurious penthouse I've rarely visited. We usually spent most of our time at my apartment, at Fashionistique, or out at a restaurant or something. I've only come here a handful of times, and they were mainly to visit Nick who stayed over when he visited his younger brother. The security guard let me through since I was on the list of people he permitted to go up to his apartment.

The idiot would never see this coming.

The elevator dropped Leo and me off on the highest floor. The entire hallway only had two doors facing opposite each other. I knew Isaac's was the door on the right. Leo stood in front of the door, shooting me a thumbs up. I'd explained the plan to him, and he understood every word of it.

Sure, maybe Isaac could slam the door shut if he saw me through the peephole– but he'd never not answer if he saw his 'little man'. I winked at my son and rang the doorbell before pressing my body against the wall by his door. I was far away enough so he wouldn't see me, but close enough to jump out and barge into his abode if need be.

I heard his footsteps as he neared the door. He paused for a bit before the click of a door could be heard. Leo instantly grinned when the door opened, "Hi, Zachy!"

"Leo?" He replied incredulously.

"Can I come in?" He asked in his adorable voice.

"Where the fuck is–" He poked his head out of the doorway, looking at the direction I most definitely didn't hide in– I wasn't stupid enough to hide in the direction of the elevators. I inched closer towards the door, and he snapped his head in my direction. His eyes widened comically at the sight of me and he stepped back into his house, ready to shut me out. Just as he was about to close the door, Leo dashed in and I jumped out, sticking my sneaker-clad foot out so the door wouldn't close.

"Oh no, you don't." Knowing he lost the battle, I heard him sigh as he opened the door, "Hey, Zachy." I grinned, taking a step forward so he wouldn't be able to shut the door.

He ran his tongue over his teeth and narrowed his eyes, "What do you want?" He muttered.

"A glass of water would be great," I chirped, patting his bare chest with the back of my hand as I walked past him and into his house. A few seconds later, he slammed his door shut as I made my way into his living room. Leo was already sitting on the couch, and I outstretched my hand for a high five. He slapped my hand as I took a seat next to him, placing my purse on my lap as I looked around the room.

He had an L-shaped leather couch, a one-seater facing the short side of the long couch. In the center of the room was a glass coffee table with a pack of lentil chips thrown onto it. A flat-screen TV was mounted onto the wall, and pictures framed it. There were pictures of him and Nick; him, Nick and Alex; me, him and Leo; and a shitton of pictures of his mom with him as a baby and a grown-up.

A few minutes later, Isaac walked back into the room. He handed me a tall glass of water wordlessly and gave Leo a plastic cup filled with orange juice. I smiled at the action, but he just narrowed his eyes at me and took a seat on the one-seater, AKA, the seat furthest away from me. I stared at him, finding his brooding demeanor amusing.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "What do you want?" He repeated.

At least he was talking to me.

"I wanted to discuss the crush you seem to have on me," I replied, my smile widening when he scowled.

"What are we– five-year-olds?" He responded, averting his gaze from me.

My eyebrows rose, "So you don't deny it then?"

His eyes slightly widened at the realization, but if I wasn't paying attention, I wouldn't have been able to tell, "I didn't confirm it either," He chose to say.

I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior. I opened my purse and pulled out Leo's iPad. Handing it to him, I cocked my head to the side, "Can you please go play with this in the kitchen, baby? Zachy and I need to have a talk."

"We really don't," He mumbled, but I ignored him. Leo nodded in understanding, happy to have his iPad in his hands. He jumped off the couch and ran away to try and remember where the kitchen even was.

I placed the purse to my side and scooted across the couch so I was sitting closer to Isaac. He watched the action through glassy eyes.

I straightened my back, "Why did you kiss me, Isaac?"

"Does it matter?" He replied jaw clenched as he stared back at me. The corners of my lips tugged up at his response. "You didn't kiss me back. I got the message loud and clear."

I blinked, grinning as I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, "Does Zachy have feelings for me?" I taunted in a sing-song voice.

His scowl deepened and my grin widened, "Fuck off," He mumbled, expression guarded. I could still see the faint blush that made its way onto his cheeks, though.

"Can we talk about it?" I huffed, slowly growing annoyed by his fear of rejection.

"What's there to talk about?" He snorted, averting his gaze to the pictures surrounding his TV.

I knew that this could go either one of two ways. He would either behave like a mature adult and try to discuss everything with me, or he'd act like a child and refuse to listen to anything I had to say. If he was going to act like my three-year-old, then I was going to treat him like one.

"Okay then," I said, pretending to be frustrated as I stood up. I smoothed my clothes and bent down to pick up my purse. "If you don't want to talk about your feelings for me, then I won't talk about my feelings for you." I huffed, turning around to leave to the kitchen.

Maybe I should've become an actress.

Just as I was about to call for Leo, I heard some shuffling behind me. I repressed a smirk as he yelled, "Wait– the fuck did you just say?"

I put on a stoic expression and turned around to face him, surprised to find him stood up, staring at me with wide eyes. I raised an eyebrow, "I thought you didn't want to talk about it." I repeated his words mockingly, lifting my chin so I looked him straight in the eye. "I don't want to waste my time if–"

"No, no!" He blurted, stopping me from walking away. He took a seat on the L-shaped couch, right in the spot where I was sitting. "I'll listen, I promise."

All children behaved the same, I swear.

Sometimes, I wondered how he was Nick's brother, but when he behaved the way he did, I didn't doubt that they shared the same DNA. The trick always worked on Nick, my niece and nephews, and Leo. Sometimes, it even worked on Dylan.

I thinned my lips, pretending to contemplate whether I wanted to talk to him. I dramatically dropped my purse onto the couch and took a seat a meter away from him, noting the relieved expression on his face. I angled my body so it was facing his, "Why did you kiss me, Isaac?" I repeated my question.

He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth and reached a hand to rub the back of his neck, "Okay," He stressed, looking at the couch as he said the next words. "Maybe I do have feelings for you, or whatever."

I smiled widely at the confession. I rarely got to see Isaac so flustered about something, and the fact that he felt this way all because of me made me feel happy. I inched slightly closer to him making him snap his head up to look at me. He looked like a teenager confessing he liked his crush, and the sight was adorable if I was being honest.

"Well, Zachy," I breathed out, my cheeks hurting from smiling. "If you bothered listening to me this past week, you'd know that I have feelings for you too, or whatever." I imitated him, rolling my eyes at the last part.

It took him a second to process what I said, but when he did, the familiar shit-eating grin I was oh-so-familiar with plastered itself onto his face. His eyes widened, twinkling with delight at the knowledge that I felt the same way he did.

"But..." He trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why didn't you kiss me back?"

I blinked– how did I like this idiot?

"Gee," I started, my words dripping with sarcasm. "What would you do if your lifelong friend suddenly kissed you out of nowhere? I didn't realize I had feelings for you until after Rose knocked some sense into me."

He grimaced at my reply, "I'm sorry about that. I should have asked you if I could kiss you first," He said, making me grin at his statement. Suddenly he sat up straight, smile back on his face as he stared at me with pure elation, "So..."

I scooted closer to him, our knees knocking with each other as my grin widened, "So..." His hands crept onto mine, and he wrapped his fingers about mine. I glanced down at them before looking at him, raising an eyebrow.

His smile didn't falter for a second when he asked, "How about we make the whole 'my love' thing official, then?" His eyes darted over my face for any sign of hesitancy.

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Zachy?" I feigned a gasp, placing a palm over my heart at his words. The pit of my stomach fluttered at the question and I felt ten times as giddy as I did when I won the custody battle.

He shrugged, "Only if you want to," He replied, a knowing smirk on his face. "I want to be able to tell people we're actually together when they assume that we are."

People had a habit of presuming that Isaac and I were dating. It happened everywhere we went; we've even had complete strangers compliment us, saying we looked super cute together– especially when Leo was around.

"I want to hear you ask me properly," I joked, sitting up straight to ready myself.

He rolled his eyes at my request, taking my hand that was on my chest in his. He held both my hands up to his face and looked me dead in the eye, "Would you, Amber Amity, make me the happiest man in the world, and allow me to call you my girlfriend?" He asked, lips brushing over my knuckles as he spoke.

"Yes!" I exclaimed giddily, grinning from ear to ear as I tore my hands from his, throwing them around his neck as I pulled him in for a hug. His arms materialized around my waist as he pulled me closer to him, my stomach pressing against his. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the scent of his shampoo and pure happiness that made me feel woozy.

Since the way we were sitting made the hug slightly awkward, I moved one of my knees over his legs so that I was straddling him. I pulled away from the hug and stared at my boyfriend. His smile was as large as mine was, if not larger. His hands remained firmly on my waist he stared back at me.

"You have some apologizing to do, Zachy," I told him. "Leo was pretty lonely without you. He thought you were angry at him."

I went to move my knee so I could get off of him, but he moved his hand from my waist to press down on my thing. I raised a brow at the action, "Can it wait for a second?" He complained, jutting out his bottom lip to pout at me. "I kinda like this position."

"Aww," I cooed, patting his cheeks. He smiled at the action, "You're cute if you think you're not going to say sorry to Leo right this second." His smile faltered at my words. He rolled his eyes, picking me up by the waist to place me beside him as I yelled for Leo. I shot him a grin when I heard my son's footsteps, indicating he was making his way back to us. He returned the smile before turning around to face Leo, who was staring at us expectantly, iPad in hand.

"Hey, little man," Isaac started. Leo's eyes narrowed at his words, making my boyfriend do a doubletake. "Come here."

"Are you still embarrassed?" Leo asked, not making a move to approach him. I stifled my laughter when Isaac's eyes went wide.

"What do you mean 'embarrassed'?" Isaac questioned, glancing at me suspiciously. I just shook my head and shrugged, pretending like I had no idea what my son was on about.

"Mama said you were ignoring us because you were embarassed," He explained– of course, he'd rat me out, I still hadn't taught him how to be discrete. My boyfriend glared at me and I blew him a kiss in response. His expression softened as he glanced back at Leo.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you, little man," Isaac apologized outstretching his arms for my son. Leo jumped at the action and ran towards him. Once he was on Isaac's lap, the latter asked, "How can I make it up to you?"

Leo thought about it for a bit, "I want to watch Spider-Man." He announced.

"Whatever the little man wants, the little man gets," Isaac humored him. He stood up, arms around Leo, to go and get the remote control. I watched two of them interact with each other, feeling my heart warm as Isaac handed Leo the remote, showing him how to turn on the TV. Once it was on, my two men made their way back to me. Isaac sat right next to me and Leo crawled onto my lap as the former looked up the movie Leo wanted to watch.

Once the movie was on, Isaac threw his arm over my shoulder, pressing me up against his side. Leo fell asleep an hour into the movie. With my head buried in the crook of Isaac's neck, we continued watching Tom Holland act as a superhero. He'd rub patterns on side of my arm and occasionally glance down at me to make sure I was enjoying the movie. Leo's head rested on my lap as his body spanned across the couch.

"I'm glad you barged into my house to talk to me," Isaac whispered, eyes twinkling as he glanced down at me, the credits on the movie rolling down the screen.

"You're pretty stubborn," I snorted, leaning away from him to pinch his cheeks. "But I'm glad that I 'barged into your house' too."

He slapped my hands away from his face with a small smile. I looked down at my baby, realizing how late it was. I made a move to stand up so I could pick him up and leave, but Isaac's grip on my shoulder tightened.

"Don't go," He whined, widening his eyes with a pout. "Spend the night."

My eyes crinkled when I chuckled at his request, "Woah there, buddy," I answered, patting his chest with my palm. "Have some class. You literally just asked me to be your girlfriend less than three hours ago. Take me on a date first."

He rolled his eyes at my sarcasm, "You know that's not what I meant," He drawled, gazing into my eyes. With a soft smile, he said, "I've got a guest room Leo can sleep in."

"Do you have a room for me?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

He grinned at me, "You'll only find out if you spend the night." He replied, waiting for me to agree.

"Well, it is too late for me to find a cab in the streets," I trailed off, returning his grin. "I get dibs on the right side of the bed."

"There is no right side," He snorted, shooting me a goofy grin. "The twin bed I've got reserved for you has one side and that's the middle. Let's hope you don't roll off, my love."

•••

– 30/07/20

EID MUBARAK YOU GUYS!!!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 (the ship has sailed)