Leo opened his eyes to so much light, it wasn't something he was used to as he always woke up on the dead of night. He shielded his eyes to give them time to adjust instead of just squinting.
He had to admit, it felt good to wake up after his body was well rested. He only frowned because Brady wasn't next to him, but he figured he hadn't gone far, with the muffled noises outside the door.
Freshening up took him less than five minutes because he was really desperate to see his boy. The closer he got, the better he understood that something was wrong. Brady was using a voice Leo knew so well, to anyone else he might have sounded normal but Leo knew him well enough to recognize the undertones of anger lying beneath every muffled word.
He immediately went on the offensive, ready to get rid of whatever was ruffling Brady's feathers so much.
What he didn't expect was for it to make his blood run so cold when he saw her. He couldn't move, just stopped where he was as their eyes finally locked. And the memories came flooding back, a whole swamp of them. Years of happiness and laughter and all the times they'd shared. How she'd always pick him up when he was down, she was always there for him through and through.
This couldn't be her in the flesh, maybe now that he had finally slept, his brain was conjuring up hallucinations.
"Lisa," he said, sounding as broken as he felt.
She stopped talking to Brady and looked his way. Her beauty never waned, he realized as she silently regarded him.
"I'll leave you guys to talk," Brady broke the silence.
Leo Linked two fingers with Brady as he passed him by. It lasted only about a second and it might have lasted longer, if Leo wasn't so distracted. Brady nodded and gave him a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, before walking away.
"Leo! How are you?" her eyes brought back all the care he was so used to receiving in the past. He closed his eyes almost as if he could feel it, her small hands soothing his back as they lay talking on lazy afternoons.
Lisa's excited tone changed when the look on Leo's face didn't falter or soften. "I'm really really sorry. I must have put you through a lot."
Yeah no kidding. "Why are you here? Why now? I thought you were happy somewhere," he said.
"Karma, mostly. I now realize what I did to you was really unfair. I shouldn't have broken up with you like that."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I want you to know the truth," Lisa paced further. "I haven't been totally honest with you, before I left you, I was already seeing someone else.
"You cheated on me?"
"I hate to admit that I did. He made me feel things I've never felt before."
Leo winced at the bruise to his ego.
"But it's not until I broke things off with you that I realized I couldn't let you go either. He told me he lost feelings for me and just left, with no explanation whatsoever and I finally got to know how much it hurt. Knowing I did that to you," Lisa shook her head. "I'm so sorry Leo."
Leo's entire body stiffened when Lisa's pulled him into a hug, his every instinct was to pull away but somehow he was frozen. So rooted to the ground he didn't even breathe. Instinctively, he reciprocated the gesture.
"Enough Lisa," he said calmly, even as he let her be.
He did miss it, but all he could think of in that moment was Brady. It dawned on him that he felt nothing even as she hugged him, she didn't fit his body like he did, didn't feel like him. Didn't smell like him, didn't make his heart race like Brady did with just a touch.
In that moment it dawned on him, he was in love. So much that his heart wanted to burst open. And it wasn't Lisa who made him feel that way. Compared to what he had felt for her, what he felt for Brady now was almost more than he could handle. It made her dim so much in comparison he acknowledged that he was free, from all the strings that attached him to her, from all the thoughts that weighed on him, questioning himself over and over what he'd done wrong and not being able to sleep because of her.
Finally, he pulled away from her.
"Tell me there's still a chance we can work this out, maybe we could–"
"There's no way we can get back together. I loved you, I really did. But I don't anymore. It's taken me quite some time but now I get it. I guess needed to see you to get over you. It really hasn't been the walk in the park Lisa. So in some way, thank you for coming here, but I've moved on, it just took me a while to realize it."
"But Leo, you do know that what we had was real right?" her eyes were close to begging.
"Not real enough for you to have stayed when I needed you. You should go," said Leo.
She looked defeated, so much regret in her face that it softened something inside Leo.
"I still think you're an amazing person but Lisa, but I don't love you anymore either," Leo actually smiled. He wasn't trying to revenge, it just came out the way it did.
She rubbed a hand against her collarbone, it always happened when she had a lot to say but couldn't say it.
"Is it him? The guy who seemed to hate me at the door?" asked Lisa.
"He's perfect isn't he?" Leo sounded so proud.
"I guess I owe it to you, to be happy for you," said Lisa. She didn't smile, but Leo knew she meant it.
"I hope you find happiness too, I'll never stop caring about you Lisa," said Leo.
"I know that Leo, you were always too good to be true," she replied. "I guess I'll leave you be, maybe we were never meant to be but don't you dare think you can't come to me for help ever okay? I still want you in my life, in any way I can have you."
Lisa opened her hands wide, "One last hug? For old time's sake?"
They hugged, and it was a long one, letting go of their pasts and all the memories they shared. Making peace with their realities. To part ways on the best of terms.
"I'll miss you, goodbye Leonard," she said, smiling.
Leo laughed at the joke they shared. How she'd call him Leonard from the Big Bang theory just because he wore glasses, he was extremely smart too. He'd really miss her, but in a good way. He could finally say that in confidence.
After she left, Leo needed to find Brady as quick as his legs could carry him. Brady needed to know. He had to tell him. He moved every inch of the apartment in less than five minutes but there was no sign of Brady. He panicked and his spirits began to dampen after he'd checked at least three more times. That was when his eyes landed on the piece of paper on the kitchen counter.
'it's okay, our time was up anyway' it read, in Brady's carefree handwriting.
Leo was sure if he wasn't supporting himself, his legs would've buckled. No...no...no, was all he could think.
He felt like he was drowning. How did he not notice him leave? Leo stood looking at the piece of paper for what came close to half an hour. Then he crumbled it up and flung it across the room with all the force he could muster.
It felt like it was happening all over again, he must have killed someone in his past life for this sort of lifestyle, it was the loneliest moment of his life, and he was sinking in a sea of feelings.
Even the room was spinning, but somehow, he got to his room.
Leo sat at the floor next to his bed the entire day, he didn't change, didn't eat, didn't shower. He just kept staring into empty space with nothing but big pretty brown eyes in his head. In a world where Brady didn't want him, he didn't want to imagine it. His heart was slowly breaking into a million little pieces and each piece hurt more than the last.
Our time was up anyway... It was all his fault, he'd started it and now this was what he had to go through. Just when he'd realized his true feelings. Maybe he just wasn't meant to be happy.
He couldn't call Brady. It happened once, it would happen again. He didn't want to hear it, the rejection. It would be too much. How did someone lose it all in a matter of minutes like he had?
It took him a while to notice that his phone was ringing, it was already getting dark outside and he couldn't understand how the day had flown so fast. Four missed calls.
Leo's heart was on hyperdrive. It was Brady.
"Umm, Leo?" He asked so innocently. A tear threatened to escape Leo's eye.
"Hm?" he replied. Saying more might have given away how pathetic he felt.
"You probably don't want to hear this, but I have to tell you," said Brady.
Leo didn't want to hear it. He couldn't, not right now, not tomorrow, not ever. The thought of Brady rejecting him, then eventually seeing someone else, sickened him and he wanted to puke.
The world where Brady wasn't his could not exist. Should not exist. He wasn't going to go through the past again.
"Don't," Leo drew in a deep breath and exhaled. "Don't say it. Please, just don't say it."
"Leo are you okay?" Brady's genuine concern hurt him further. He hung up the phone, it was too much.
"I love you so much," he whispered and only the walls were kind enough to lend him their ears.
Leo ran his hands through his hair in frustration for a really long time before he dialed another number and put the phone to his ear.
"It's not like you to call Leo, is everything alright?" Met asked in his usual deep voice, tinged with worry at the edges.
"I'm calling about the vacation you offered, if it's still on the table."
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I hope you guys remember when Met tried to get Leo to take some time off in chapter 11.
And hi! Anyone hate this chapter like I do?😭
I'll be back with an update soon! Thank you for reading ❤️