dans une autre vie

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Selfish

"So, what happened now, Leo? Is everything alright?" Staffan said, over the phone. He has been hearing Leo's sigh for the past few minutes and he was bothered by how Leo took the burden on his shoulder.

"Carter's still not talking to me, he keeps ignoring me even though I'm reaching out to him. I think Michel will talk to him and will sort this out because I don't want to make this issue big enough. It's getting exhausting you know..." he sighed.

"Stop sighing, Leo!" Staffan exclaimed over the line and Leo startled, getting back into his senses. "Don't overthink, Leo. You've known it from the very beginning, right? That there's a consequence in this relationship and clearly on what you guys have, it's not healthy as it looks. The situation where you need to hide it, keep it a secret were one of the reasons that this relationship won't make you happy but when you talk about Mich and all the things you did, all you do was to smile and I'm happy for you. I'm not saying that you should break up with him, this is just a bit of friendly advice. I won't be saying this if I know you're not hurting. Do you understand, Leo?"

"Yeah, I do..."

"So what did I just said?" he questioned.

"Uh," Leo muttered, biting his lower lip. "It's—uh... that I should follow what's best for me."

"Not exactly what I said but it's fine," Staffan said. "I hope you'll have a great winter break and not like me who doesn't have a family to go home. But I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, Staffan. I'll see you soon!"

"I'm home!!!" Leo heard a familiar voice and it's from Rachel.

"Hey, I should go now. Talk to you soon!"

"Yup, goodbye, Leo!" Staffan said and hang up the call.

Leo decided to see Rachel back home so he went up and when he opens the door, his cousin surprised him and the fact that she's about to knock on his room.

"I'm hesitating whether to bother you or not, but I'm glad you're up." Rachel instantly locked Leo in her arms and she sprung tightly as they get closer to each other. "I miss you so much! Why didn't you or Carter told me that you'll be going back home today? What did I miss, Leo?"

Leo sighed, beneath those heavy breaths were the lingering thoughts of his secret with Mich.

"Uh-oh, I feel like there's a lot of things happened. Would you like to talk about it?" Rachel asked.

Leo shrugged off his shoulder, "I don't know..."

"Have you eaten your lunch?" She asked. "Would you like to talk it over lunch?"

"Sure..."

"Okay," Rachel holds his shoulder and notices how sad his reaction was. She lifts his head and looks directly into his eyes. "Whatever you're going through, you have us to share that problem. We won't let you go through it alone, okay? That's why we're checking on you every week because we know that you're still adjusting and getting used to these routines and now you're keeping this problem on yourself. If you can't handle it on your own, don't push yourself too much, okay?" Leo responded with a nod and somehow that made Rachel felt okay. "Okay, I'll just change my clothes and I'll be in the dining in a minute. You can go there as mom was already preparing the table."

"Thanks, Rach."

"No problem, 'cuz. That's why I'm your cousin so I'll be here for you. Now, go to the kitchen." She demanded.