Love Stitches

I have something to blame this on

Hazel's POV

"Woah" is all I can say right now looking at the Eiffel tower before me.

I bend my head as much as possible to take in the view and watch the tip of this tower. I notice Elliot just laugh it off. He then tilts his head and gestures me to follow him.

I mindlessly follow him to the stairs and we start climbing.

"Thank you so much, Elliot. Though I miss Savannah, I am having good time for myself" I smile.

"Your daughter, is in good hands. So loosen up a little bit and have fun while you're still here" he smiles.

I move closer to him. And I hate to say this but I am scared of heights too. I know we are still climbing the stairs but that doesn't make any less of my anxiety levels.

He looks at me and lets out a smile and smirk combined expression.

"Okay. I am scared of heights. And there you go, all the chance to tease the heck out of me" I tell him but still don't move far from him.

"I didn't know that. Fear of closed spaces, heights and what else? Fear or Elliot Montgomery?" He asks.

"Ha ha ha ha. Not so funny. And that's it. Closed spaces and heights" I say not looking anywhere and just focus on the steps before me.

"Okay. Tell me about this. What do you think about pineapple on pizza?" He asks.

I look at him and scoff,"are you seriously asking me that right now Elliot Montgomery?"

He laughs at it and I guess we have climbed around hundred steps already. And I know that there must be more of them because this is Eiffel tower we are talking about.

I don't want to see what is down yet. Not too high but I just don't want to.

"Just tell me what you think about it" he asks again and I roll my eyes. This man has gone mad or he just want to see me suffer.

"Pineapple on pizza is gross! Pineapple should not and do not belong on pizza" I almost scream as we still keep climbing on the stairs.

"That is not true. You just have a weird opinion. That's just it" he says and I look at him.

"Oh really? Are you one of those psychos that combine the sweet and sour pineapple with Savory and cheesy pizza?" I ask him.

"Well, are you the one who likes to induce salty caramel into almost all the desserts and call it amazing?" He asks and for a moment, I am taken aback.

"You want a debate now, Mr. Montgomery?" I ask and he shrugs with a smirk.

We both talk about pineapple on pizza and we just connected that to team ketchup drizzle or team ketchup dip and this person has controversial food opinions.

"You dip your fry into ketchup not because you like it but because you don't want ketchup on your hands? You eat the ends of French fry just bland like that?" I ask him.

"That is exactly what I just said" he pauses and looks at me,"now close your eyes"

"What? Why?" I ask in confusion.

"Close your eyes Miss Hazel Torres" he smiles and I just close my eyes.

He holds my hand and I notice he is guiding me somewhere. I trust him and keep walking. We take a left first and walk straight. The cool breeze feels so good when it touches my skin.

I hear people all around me and their voices speak in many different languages and not just one.

"You ready?" He asks and now I hear him from behind me.

"Yeah. What now? You brought me a pizza with pineapple as the topping?" I ask him and he chuckles placing his hands on my shoulder. I feel a shiver and not because of the cold breeze.

"Open your eyes" he whispers in my ears and I open my eyes slowly.

"Woah" I whisper and take a step back and bump into his hard chest.

I keep moving back but he is so strong that he doesn't even move an inch. I am now standing on the Eiffel tower and seriously so high.

How did we even climb these many steps away?

"Face the fear, Hazel. If Savannah turns out to be an adventurous girl, you are going to miss out half the fun she is going to have" he tells me.

"Now," he whispers and we take another step closer to the railings.

I look at the city before me and it feels so good. With Elliot's presence, I don't feel the same anxiety anymore. I try my best to calm my nerves.

Elliot slowly moves back and then to the side of me. And when I look at him and smile, he smiles back.

"Just telling you, I don't like pineapple on pizza either. I just debated to make sure you don't pay attention to your surroundings and keep calm about climbing the stairs" he chuckles.

"Thank you so much Elliot" I whisper with a smile.

"But what about-"

My sentence is cut short when the crowd squeals a little. Elliot and I look around for that and I spot a proposal happening there. Are they seriously?

When the guy who is kneeling down pulls out a box, the girl looks like she is about to go crazy.

"Say yes! Yes! Yes!" The crowd chants and I start screaming too.

"You are mental" he chuckles but I see he is enjoying this moment too.

The girl finally says yes and the crowd cheers more for her. Soon, everyone got back to their own lives again.

I video call Savannah. Elliot and I talk to Savannah, Josh and Rebecca.

"You both in this frame look like a couple at honeymoon" Rebecca says and I look at my daughter.

"I am sorry I didn't mean it that way. It was supposed to be a joke" Rebecca says noticing Savannah's presence.

"It's okay. It was a joke anyway" I chuckle it off and talk casually a few more minutes before it was time to hang up.

"That was awkward thank goodness Savannah didn't notice the tension" I huff as soon as the call ended.

"Yeah" Elliot whispers.

Almost half an hour later we decide to just do some shopping, have dinner and call it a day. The fashion show is tomorrow and we are excited about it.

At the shopping mall, he takes few for Josh, Rebecca and Savannah too. Which is a kind gesture. And asks me help to pick something for his mom. He told me that she has an obsession with knitting so I chose a kit that is better than anything I came across.

I shop for Savannah, Jaylen and Ameya and for Josh and Rebecc's unborn child too. I then realise I shopped for the kids and Elliot says I am such a mom.

While at dinner, he apologises for the remark Rebecca made and I tell him that it is fine.

We go with the chef's menu and Elliot orders a bottle of wine for us. I guess I badly need one.

"We are going to drink in moderation because we have a fashion show where Modish is going to showcase" he says and I nod in agreement.

The chef's menu comes with various varieties and a three course meal that I don't know the names of.

But I only know that I am enjoying this. We gulp wine and we both talk about how gross it is that people feel the need to put layers of silicone under their skin to look pretty.

Now I realise, in both Elliot's and my opinion.. true beauty lies in acceptance. Accept who you are and accept that you look good in eyes of yourself. And everything feels beautiful about you.

We get so lost in such topics that we don't really realise that we finished two bottles of wine. Thankfully this restaurant is a part of the hotel we are currently staying in.

We laugh at each other for no apparent reason and we laugh again and again until we reach the room. Well, we accidentally stumbled into another room that looks identical to ours and they were having s*x.

I laughed it off but Elliot with alcohol in his system is somehow funnier than the usual Elliot. Because he freaking called the man a small d**k and asked the girl to run.

Too bad they didn't know English, they just shouted at us and threw us out of their room. Elliot still shouted at her to run away though.

Again, the next time we thankfully land at our own room and we fall on the couch looking at the city before us through the glass walls.

"You know what we need?" He asks and I see two Elliots at the moment.

"What?" I ask him.

"Some more wine" he says and chuckles like a little child.

"Yessss" I scream and I notice he walks to the phone thing and mutters something in Spanish.

"You know snapish?" I ask him.

"Huh?"

"Snapish. Wait.. snapish. I mean Spanish" I laugh at my own drunk state and he laughs a little more.

"I can manage. I have been here six times so far and all for different reasons" he says and I nod a little more than I should.

I know I am going to be wasted but when Elliot pours me another drink, I don't deny. Letting myself loose for once is exciting and I am having fun.

So I clink my glass with Elliot's and we both chug almost half the glass of wine at once. Then we laugh at each other.

"You know, I once had a dream" I tell him.

"About?" He asks.

"That you and I were kissing. Isn't that so strange" I laugh again but I don't see him thinking that it is funny.

"What? This is the part where you laugh" I say as I take another sip of the rich red wine.

"I don't find it funny" he says and I look at him with so much of curiosity. I mean, what does he mean by saying he doesn't find it funny?

"And why don't you find it funny?" I ask him again and he is now looking intently at me.

"Because that is what I dreamt of everyday since a month" he whispers and my breathe hitches in my throat.

It is as if suddenly, I forget that we use words to speak. And I don't seem to recall what words I should be using right now.

"What?" I ask him.

"I don't know if this is love or not. I don't know if this is because of you or me. But I only know that I want to know how it feels to-" he stops and looks at me again.

"To what?" I ask him again.

"To do this" he whispers and before I know, he pulls me to him holding the back of my neck and places his lips on mine.

I try pulling away for the first few seconds but when he is stubborn, I slowly start to enjoy the kiss. I know I will be blaming the alcohol when we both wake up tomorrow. But ever since that dream, I want to actually feel how his kiss feels like.

So when I move my lips against his, he throws the wine glasses away and pushes me onto the couch and before I know, he is on top of me and we are furiously making out with each other.

"This is wrong" he whispers pulling away.

"Yeah it is" I whisper and pull him down to me again and we kiss each other.

In a swift movement, our positions change and now I am on top of him and he is gulping his own saliva as he looks at me. I don't know what came over me. I know I like Elliot and I know I can blame this on alcohol.

So I grind myself on him and he moans pulling me closer to me and biting my lip to muffle our sounds.