Peanut

21. Crazy Cat Lady

The noise downstairs wakes me however I remind myself that it's a Saturday. Let me just get 20 more minutes of shut eye. I turn around and snuggle further into the bed.

"Ow, Just jam your knee up my crotch then." A voice wheezes above me.

Startled, I spring up on the mattress like a jack in the box and my eyes adjust to the low lit room. Winter solstice is not helping me right now. My eyes focus to see Leo under my covers with messy hair. Oh, now I remember.

"Do me a favour? Don't show up to my window drunk again. I thought someone was breaking in." I mumble sleepily.

"I like your voice being the first thing I hear."

Without thinking I ask, "So is what you said last night true?"

Nice Ophelia, go ahead and make things more awkward. While you're at it, why don't you go ahead and blurt out all you're secrets too? I can't help but still be curious though. Call me a fool, but I'd rather not have false hope.

"What did I say last night?"

"Oh, nothing important, it doesn't matter."

Nice save. No embarrassment, at least for now.

"Are you talking about me saying I like you? Or was it the part where I said that you're perfect? Or was it-"

I interrupted "Yeah I remember. I wasn't the one who was drunk."

"I'm sorry about that, I kind of blacked out and ended up here." Leo smiles sheepishly.

I nod and we sit in silence for a bit, the only noise being from coffee machines and customers echoing downstairs. It starts to get a bit awkward so I decide I may as well get ready. We have nothing else to talk about. He knows how I feel about him, he says he remembers what he said last night. He never said whether it was true or not but I'm not going to further humiliate myself by asking.

"Wait" Leo grabs my wrist when I rise to my feet.

I freeze and he continues, "You know we can't be friends anymore..."

I kind of already guessed that, there's no way we can go back to how we were before. I can't lie though, it hurts to hear him say that. I guess what he said last night was false. I've never really had a friend like Leo though. A friend who'd save me, who'd bring me snacks to cheer me up. A friend who's presence just brightened my day. I think I was lying to myself when I believed he annoyed me. I labelled Leo too quickly.

Leo opens his mouth to speak again, "We can't be friends anymore, because I'll always see you as more than a friend, I'll always want to be more."

Wait what?! I have no words, literally none. I may have forgotten how to use my vocal chords. I open my mouth multiple times however no sound emits. I struggle as Leo sits in front of me avoiding eye contact. I want to tell him I want more too. That I can't imagine us any other way. I want to tell him I'd like to be more.

Yet all my mumble jumble brain could come up with is, "I yike loo"

Leo lifts his head and gives me a confused look, mouth agape, brows furrowed. I face palm and thoughtlessly grab Leo's forearms.

" I mean, I like you. You know I like you."

Leo sighs an looks away again, "But you shouldn't, you deserve better. You deserve someone as smart as Einstein and as attractive as young Leonardo DiCaprio. Someone as successful as Bill Gates and as wise as Buddha."

I grab Leo's face and make him look me in the eyes, "I don't want them... okay maybe Young Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn't be too bad." I shake my head, "But I want you Leo Alberro."

"You do?" Leo asks.

I've never seen him so vulnerable. I simply nod my head maintaining eye contact. Leo wraps his arms around my waist pulling me closer and resting his chin on my shoulder. I also wrap my arms around him and we just sit in each other's arms and enjoy each other's company for some time until I hear Gray knocking on my door.

"Ophelia? You up?"

Me and Leo leap apart both with shocked expressions, mutually understanding that my brothers shouldn't know about whatever is between us. I scramble to my feet and begin pulling and pushing and then pulling Leo again in different directions.
We end up both stumbling over each other and the mess of books, blankets and wires on the ground.

"Ow! Why's there Lego on your floor?" Leo whispers.

"Shh, it's a Jasper trap." I hush, pushing towards the wardrobe.

"O? You okay?" Gray shouts from behind the door.

We both turn to the door and see the handle turning. I shove Leo with whatever clumsy force I can manage in the morning and slam the wardrobe shut right as Gray peeks his head around the door. I lean against the door "naturally" and hear Leo yelp behind it. I cough hysterically to cover his yelp.

"You okay?" He asks again with suspicion.

"Yeah, just... um, testing my wardrobe hinges."

I am the worst liar! Is there a school that teaches you how to make good excuses on the spot? That's the school I need to attend. I crack a fake smile to hopefully distract or excuse my odd behaviour.

"How much medication did you take?"

"Not a a lot."

"Well then. Dad told me to wake you up and now that I've done so, I'm gonna leave you to test your hinges."

I hum in response as he leaves.

"Test your head while you're at it." He remarks before shutting the door.

I sigh in relief and open the wardrobe to find Leo with one of my bras on his head.

"Help, it attacked me." He begs with wide eyes.

My face heats up and I snatch it off of his head and throw it back in the wardrobe haphazardly after Leo climbs out. Only then do I see my reflection on the mirror inside my wardrobe door.  My hair is frizzy, sticking out in different directions and my retainer still in my mouth. My eyes are still puffy and my nose still red from my cold. No way. No way did me and Leo have a moment while I looked like the crazy cat lady from The Simpson's.