Prehalia's Demons(Completed) I #Wattys2019

30 I CAR RIDE

Surprising both of us, Kent actually laughs. I see that he has a really pretty smile which breaks the harsh lines on his usually scarily serious face. "Alright, Keely."

Leonardo moves around next to me, trying to find his spot of comfort and I feel his knee touch mine. Why, why, why.

I try to get my knee away from his but if I do it, it will touch Mr. Lawrence's and that would be a completely new level of awkwardness. One that even Keelian Samuels wouldn't dare to reach. So I keep still and I can see the smug smile forming on Leonardo's lips before he hides his mouth with his fist and continues to stare outside the window.

How much I want to strangle that guy right now. But the way his eyes twinkle when he grins, makes my heart flutter: there's something different about this new smile of his as it feels more real, more sincere and way more...human. It almost makes me want to kiss him. While I strangle him. Because he's still annoying.

"We still have two hours until Traum. Anyone here who needs to go to the toilet or grab something to eat-" Kent speaks up and Mr. Lawrence wakes up from his sleep with a snort. I can't help the slight chuckle that comes out of my mouth and Leonardo covers his own laugh by clearing his voice. That smooth idiot. I give him a short glance of acknowledgment and when I break it first, the smile on my own face spreads.

"Um, sir? Keely?" Kent tries again, when Mr. Lawrence goes right back to sleep, murmuring something under his breath. "Excuse me for interrupting-"

"You're not interrupting anything." We both state at the same time and look at each other, betrayed. I thought we had the mutual agreement that I'll be the one to speak up when we exhanged a look but I guess not.

Kent gives us a sour face that vaguely reminds me of a grin and turns around, starting the engine again. I can hear him sigh loudly but I ignore it. Still, it does remind me of where I am, who I'm with and what I'm here for, and I focus my eyes on the road in front of me, not paying any more attention to Leonardo. That's wrong. My sister is being held hostage somewhere and I'm flirting with this crazy guy? No way I can let myself spiral down that road again. There's absolutely no way I'm flirting with someone like him.

I'm so concentrated on not sparing Sanchez a look that I pick up a conversation with Kent. The guy seems to be decent, even though there's this obvious wall between us. He doesn't dare to talk to me freely, even though he does call me Keely.

I can feel Leonardo moving again, turning his back on me and I roll my eyes, still keeping the conversation with our driver going. Is this billionaire about to act like a sulking toddler?

I shake my head. I guess a teenager is a teenager and nothing can change that.

I feel as his knee presses against mine only a few minutes later, even though he's still giving me the cold shoulder. I look down, not being able to help the smile that emerges on my lips.

Even though he's wearing one of his expensive suits, just as always, he has his hair in a baby ponytail on the back of his head. He has always had a long-ish hair, but it's more than obvious that he hadn't cut it for a really long time now.

I see that there's a new stray hair that has fallen out of his neat hairstyle, so without making a big deal out of it, I use my finger and try to push it inside the elastic. No luck. I try again and this time I can see Leonardo already getting annoyed with my sad attempts. I flash him an apologetic smile and try a third time. He groans and pushes my hand away. I stay there, my grin still stuck on my face and my hands awkwardly sitting in front of my face, when he grabs the elastic band and slips his hair out of it. Then he pinches it between two of his fingers and still with his eyes glued to the landscape outside, he murmurs, "Just tie it all together again."