Bruised

15.

It was all a blur of faces until Leon was leading her through a pair of doors and locking it behind them.

She could still hear the quiet chatter of people outside, the low hum of music, as Leon pulled a seat over to her. She blinked, looking around to find herself in what looked like an office.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"My boss's office," he said.

"Are we allowed to be in here?"

"He won't care." Leon waved a hand. In the corner of the room was a duffel bag, which he heaved onto the cluttered desk, not caring about the papers underneath. "I don't like sharing a changing room with those morons. We can hide in here until everyone's cleared out now that my fight's over. He'll be busy closing shop."

Natalie said nothing, only watched as he took a towel and wiped himself before tugging a t-shirt over his neck. She silently mourned the loss of a view, but somehow, Leon in a loose tee was just as appealing.

He turned to face her and crossed his arms.

"Now," he said. "Why are you here?"

She swallowed. "I came looking for you."

"For me? Natalie, do you have any idea what kind of a place this is? You're not even legally allowed in here! And that guy—if I hadn't been there—"

"I was just looking for you!" Natalie interrupted. She didn't like that his voice seemed angry. Mostly, she didn't like that his anger was directed at her. "I haven't seen you in a week."

"So, you come here? Alone?" he exclaimed back.

Natalie frowned. She didn't come here to argue. She didn't expect the conversation to go like this.

She stood then, turning to the door.

"Fine, I'll leave then," she said.

She couldn't even take two steps before his hand was around hers again.

"No," he said. He sighed and she looked back at him. "I'm sorry. Don't go. I was just worried."

She frowned, fully turning to face him, and he continued.

"I didn't expect to see you here, and when I saw you with Dan, I just—I panicked."

He watched her carefully, his gaze so soft on her, she felt her heart skip a beat in the way she thought only happened in movies. She released a breath, unable to resist.

"It's okay," she said. "I shouldn't have come. I didn't expect it to be so busy tonight. I wasn't thinking."

"No. You came for a reason," Leon said.

She hesitated. He was right, of course. Sure, she hadn't seen him in a week, but they'd gone longer without seeing each other before. She'd made a decision to go looking for him tonight.

"You fought really well," Natalie said. She knew she was changing the topic. Leon knew too, but he let her get away with it.

"Of course, I did. My lucky charm was there."

Natalie warmed. "Don't be silly."

"I'm not," he said. He leaned back against the desk and Natalie suddenly felt very small sitting there in front of him. "I was tired. I thought my arms would fall off, but then I saw you and—I don't know. It gave me that burst of—"

"Testosterone?"

Leon barked a laugh. "I was going to say adrenaline, but yeah. That too, probably."

An embarrassed flush spread across her face. "I just meant—when you confronted Dan. I thought you were going to kill him."