For the 2019 Nyotalia Event: Day 2 - Home / Travel
The distance between Paris and London might not be that much in the grand scheme of the whole wide world, but it was considerable enough that their encounters were few and far between.
Yet, modern technology had made it easy to keep in touch, maybe not every day, but texts, calls, photos and videos could all be exchanged to keep each other posted, to talk about everything and nothing at all, to love each other.
When they got around to planning to physically see each other, they made sure it fell in a way they could spend most of their time together, even if they couldn't always get as long off to do so.
Still, over the years, as common as travelling had become between them, Alice could never get used to flying. She disliked the airport, disliked being compressed in a small space with a lot of people, disliked the stress that accompanied it all.
But she loved Gabrielle, so she could put up with it, just for her.
The woman on her left sneezed, and Alice would have shifted a little more to the right had some twat not decided to manspread himself all across the available space. Debating whether she could get away with being rude, Alice consoled herself with the thought she would soon be with her girlfriend.
It was only an hour, she thought primly, hugging her jacket a little tighter around her chest. They hadn't even taken off yet, but everyone seemed to finally be seated, even after some lady had thrown a fit about why her bag had to be in the overhead bins.
The intercom crackled on to announce they had to wait until a delayed flight had landed.
Alice slumped in her seat and prepared herself for the worst possible scenario.
As it turned out, they were filed out of the plane again to wait at the gate. Alice didn't bother to listen to the whys and hows. She sent Gabrielle a text and was almost immediately bombarded with sympathetic hearts and emojis.
They messaged back and forth, just silly strings of conversation where Alice made remarks about the people around her and Gabrielle begged her to stop describing clothing like some abstract alien concept.
Finally, after what felt like forever, they were ushered back into the plane, back between Miss Sneeze-a-lot and Mister I-have-a-tiny-dick-so-I-must-compensate-in-everything-else (one of which was distinctly less poetic, but frankly Alice didn't think men inspired particularly poetic thoughts to begin with), and hopefully an hour-ish away from Gabrielle.
Text me when you land! 🌹💖💝💕✨
Just before she turned her phone off, Alice sent one heart emoji in return.
Alice almost dropped her suitcase when Gabrielle took a running start at her, flinging herself around Alice's neck with little care for their surroundings.
"Oh, Christ!" Alice fumbled, wrapping one arm around Gabrielle whilst trying to keep a firm grip on her suitcase.
"Oh, dieu!" Gabrielle teased. She leaned back to brush Alice's bangs from her eyes and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, respecting Alice's dislike for PDA.
Alice smiled, broader still as Gabrielle took her hand and lead her to the car park, her small Renault an almost welcoming sight as they stuffed Alice's small suitcase in the bonnet (admittedly due to a lot of items already making their home in Gabrielle's large apartment).
Once they had both climbed inside, Gabrielle caught Alice's chin between her fingers and leaned over to kiss her, and Alice indulged her, sighing into it.
"I love you," Gabrielle said, turning on the ignition.
"Je t'aime," Alice replied with a smile, wanting nothing more than to be home—because Gabrielle's apartment was as much a home to her now as her own if not more so.
Gabrielle grinned and stole one last kiss before she reversed from their parking spot.
The drive through Paris took both too long and not long enough. Gabrielle filled the car with chatter about mundane things: what had changed in Paris since Alice had last been, a little gossip about her workplace which she divulged with a glimmer in her eyes, as if she was sharing the secrets of the universe with Alice and only her, what she had all planned for them to do together.
When they finally arrived home, and Gabrielle had taken it upon her to carry Alice's luggage, Alice couldn't help but just take a deep breath as Gabrielle tossed her suitcase somewhere in the bedroom.
"Welcome home, mon petit lapin," Gabrielle cooed, wrapping Alice in another overzealous hug.
"Yes, yes, glad to be." Alice kissed Gabrielle softly, happy to have her Parisienne back in her arms. Deflating slightly, she rested her head against Gabrielle's shoulders. "I hate flying so, so much."
"I know you do, darling." Gabrielle ran her fingers through her hair soothingly. "I'm so glad you're here now. I've missed having you near."
Alice sighed as Gabrielle pressed kisses into her hair and practically melted as her girlfriend's fingers ghosted along her sides. "Gabrielle," she murmured, "Je te veux."
Gabrielle paused, leaning back to find Alice's eyes. "Now?"
Impatiently, Alice lifted her arms to begin unbuttoning Gabrielle's top. "No, next week." She pressed her lips against the exposed skin, muttering an exasperated, "Honestly."
Gabrielle laughed, then sighed as Alice continued her ministrations.
As they stumbled into the large bed, Alice's bag quickly shoved off and forgotten, Alice knew there was nowhere she'd rather be than with Gabrielle.
Gabrielle still lay asleep as Alice stirred, lazily rolling over to press against her girlfriend, fingers following the curve of her breast before drawing nonsense threads against Gabrielle's skin.
Alice watched how her lashes quivered against her cheeks, hair splayed haphazardly around her head. There was something angelic about Gabrielle in the light of the late afternoon sun, but then again, there was something angelic about Gabrielle always. Her graceful movements, her smooth skin, silky hair, warming smile, her bright eyes—nothing compared to them.
Alice had tried. Through rhyme and rhythm and meter and prose, but nothing she wrote could ever come close to the reality that was Gabrielle Bonnefoy. She couldn't capture the feeling her hands had on Alice's skin, nor the shivers and the sighs and the moans.
Gabrielle was something entirely unobtainable by pen and paper. Too free, wrapped in skirts and scarves and design. Gabrielle was someone who shouldn't be captured.
Pushing herself up against the mattress, Alice pressed a kiss against Gabrielle's lips fondly, then rolled over to get out of bed—or attempted to anyway, until Gabrielle's arms wrapped themselves around her waist and the Parisienne pressed her face against Alice's side with a quiet moan.
"Stay," she whined, long and drawn-out.
It was kind of cute, kind of really annoying, so Alice opted to roll her eyes and press against Gabrielle's arm to attempt to dislodge her. It didn't work, and Gabrielle blew a raspberry against her hip in retaliation.
"Oh, shush you," Alice muttered, brushing back Gabrielle's fringe with fond fingers. "Unless you want me to attempt dinner, I propose we dress up and eat out. My treat."
Gabrielle laughed softly, letting her arms fall from around Alice. "Very well. I'd better take us somewhere very expensive. None of this 'my treat'-ing."
Alice had long since learnt that there was no dissuading Gabrielle once she had set her mind to something, unless Alice stooped to heinous tactics which generally involved coy glances and a loss of clothing, though that hardly worked after they had already had sex.
They showered and dressed, and perhaps they should have done the showering separately because Gabrielle could be incredibly distracting, but eventually, after Gabrielle had fussed both over her own as well as Alice's immaculate appearance, they drove to one of Gabrielle's favourite restaurants.
The evening was spent on catching up on the things they hadn't yet had the chance to tell each other, drinking too much wine, warm laughter and even warmer familiarity.
During the desert, as Gabrielle twirled her spoon in the air while retelling something funny that had happened at work, slipping between French and English as she giggled, Alice reached over and placed her hand over Gabrielle's wrist, smiling lovingly as Gabrielle's twinkling eyes met her own curiously.
"I've missed you so much, Gabrielle," Alice said, so sincerely that Gabrielle blinked, smile softening as Alice switched to French to add, "Je veux venir vivre avec toi."
"Ici?" Gabrielle asked, confused.
"Yes." Alice glanced at her lap, free hand playing with her napkin. "I have been thinking about it a lot. I love you, and I hate being so far apart from you. It's definitely not a decision I can just make obviously, but I would like to, maybe, have it open to discussion."
There was the gentle noise of Gabrielle placing her glass on the table, and then she lifted Alice's chin, looking unusually serious, yet mostly wondrous. "You want to live here, in Paris, with me?"
"Yes." Alice has been thinking about it for months now, had been looking at jobs and exchange programs and anything that might give her a solid anything in Paris. "You know I don't care much for my job in London. Not like you care about yours here. I thought it would maybe be a nice opportunity. You know, once I had something set up here for myself."
Gabrielle's fingers twitched and she opened her mouth, only to close it again, taking back her hand and pressing it against her mouth to muffle a huff of laughter.
Alice felt mildly insulted and stabbed her cheesecake with a little more force than the pastry deserved. It wasn't as if she had asked Gabrielle to marry her, nor had she made any strange suggestions. It was perfectly normal to discuss moving in together with one's loved one.
Grumbling, she glowered at Gabrielle, who finally seemed to have caught on to Alice's souring mood. She waved her hand soothingly, leaning over to tap Alice's nose teasingly—if not in an attempt to placate.
"You have such an unromantically romantic way about yourself, mon chou," she said, voice still lilted in laughter.
"Well, I apologize for making such an outlandish suggestion," Alice said.
"Not so." Gabrielle rubbed her stocking-clad foot up Alice's calf. "I would love for you to move in with me."
"I hear a but."
Gabrielle cocked her head in confusion. "I did not fart?"
Alice opened her mouth, recognized that twinkle lighting Gabrielle's eyes, and kicked her instead. It just made Gabrielle laugh. Years of actual confusion over expressions, from either side, quickly turning into old jokes either sometimes still fell into, made Alice roll her eyes in mock exasperation, snorting as Gabrielle stuck out her tongue.
"But," Gabrielle continued, "what will you do here?"
"I've been looking around." Alice leaned over to feed Gabrielle the last of her cake. "I could probably enrol in university here."
"And do what?"
Alice sighed. "I don't know. It's been more of a thought than an action so far."
Gabrielle smiled, taking Alice's hand, and, after wrenching the fork from Alice's unforgiving fingers, kissed along her knuckles. "That's okay. Just asking. I would love it if you came to live with me. Most of your stuff already does."
Alice laughed. "It would only be fair."
"Naturally," Gabrielle agreed. "I can ask around as well. And we could probably arrange to meet with some counsellors at different universities here too. We have time."
"That we do." Days and weeks and months and years of time, by all means. So even if they couldn't find something now, it wouldn't mean the end. Their relationship had lasted the strain of many years of long distance so far, and even though Alice would have to return to England in five weeks time, they would continue to love each other from afar.
They did end up sharing the bill, mainly because Gabrielle refused from some romantic point of view and Alice didn't have it in her to argue against that pout and those eyes and that low-cut dress—
And when they arrived home, when Alice brushed her teeth and Gabrielle shimmied behind her to grab something from the cabinet, giving Alice's butt a little squeeze as she did, Alice really knew this was where she belonged. Especially so when Gabrielle returned to wrap her arms around Alice's waist, just to hold, pressing a soft, chaste kiss to her neck.
They swayed a little, even when Alice bent forward to spit into the sink. Wiggling a little, Alice turned in Gabrielle's arms and kissed her, laughing as Gabrielle mewled, brushing their noses together before slipping from her grasp to slip back to the background and settle underneath the warm duvet, pulling it up to her nose.
"Warm?" Gabrielle asked as she wormed her way up to Alice, cold toes pressing against her calves.
"Mostly." Alice pressed a kiss to Gabrielle's hair where she had now nestled herself against her. "Much warmer anyway when you're here."
So warm, the soft little giggle that Gabrielle sighed made Alice glow, knowing that it was she alone who could elicit such soft little noises in the quiet hours of the night. They were hers alone, and she intended to keep them forever.
"Love you, mon coeur," Gabrielle murmured, fingers finding Alice's and intertwining them, dozing off not soon after.
Alice smiled and curled her free arm under Gabrielle and pressing her that much closer to her. "Je t'aime, my lovely."
ive missed my gals,,,
Translations:
Oh, dieu - oh, God (exclamation)
Je t'aime - I love you
Mon petit lapin - my little rabit (endearment)
Je te veux - I want you
Je veux venir vivre avec toi - I want to come live with you
Ici - here
Mon chou - my sweet bun (endearment)
Mon coeur - my heart (endearment)