Leo
I felt as if I'd stopped breathing when she suggested we take a break. I don't know when I became so dependent on her, but I was desperate to have her stay with me. I didn't even know why I was acting that way, but I couldn't control it.
What am I supposed to do if she leaves me?
All I did when she wasn't in my life was sit inside a room all day, in front of a screen. Sometimes I wouldn't eat all day and wouldn't get any sleep, trying to track people down or hack what Ares told me to. It helped me cope.
But now I had someone else who helped me cope and she had no idea how important she was to me. I was happy when I was with her. We fought a lot, but when we didn't I was so happy.
"Snap out of it" I heard a voice.
I was immediately put out of my thoughts of Tessa and I looked at Nate who was glaring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"I said, are you going to tell Ares?"
"Tell me what?" I heard another voice and became nervous immediately.
I looked at Ares leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and a questioning expression.
"Well, I have to walk my cat"
"Nate, you don't have a cat and cats don't-"
But my efforts didn't matter because he was already running out the door.
I hate him with all my heart.
"So?" Ares questioned.
I sighed, "There is a lot you should know"
He walked in closing the door behind him and took a chair putting it right in front of me before taking a seat.
"I'm listening" He said looking straight into my eyes.
So I told him everything. From the moment I met Tessa to the fight last night. I didn't go a lot into detail about my feelings. I mostly focused on what he needed to know as our boss and my best friend.
When I was done he was still looking at me with the same expression. Both of us were silent for a couple minutes and I was afraid of how he would handle it.
Until he finally broke the silence.
"You should've said so, dummy" He said smiling and patting my cheek.
"Huh?"
"I have to admit, I'm hurt you thought I would just use her and not care about your feelings. Not to mention she means a lot to Serenity too" He said, "Leo, you, Nate and Serenity are basically the most important people in my life right now. How could you think I would hurt you like that?" He asked. I could see he was offended, but he was right. I just didn't want to take any risks when it came to her.
"I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight. Everything is just so complicated" I said and sighed.
"I mean I understand since I didn't talk about what happened with me and Serenity at first" He said, "But I need you to trust me more from now on. I've told you before, I am not just your boss, I am your best friend too. If one day you want us to forget you work for me and want me to act like your best friend only, then I will"
I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I wouldn't have to hide it anymore and I had Ares to help me.
Not that I couldn't manage, but a little help would be nice.
"But let's be honest I knew from the moment you told our men to guard her house" He chuckled standing up and walking to the door.
I felt my face getting hot, "Oh" I simply said, not knowing what else to say. He chuckled once again at my reaction and left the room.
________
I wanted to see her today, just to make sure things were okay after the fight. I was hoping she hadn't reconsidered about us staying together.
I texted her asking her is she wanted to go out with me tonight after her father goes to sleep. I waited and waited, but I got no reply and I was starting to get worried.
Is she trying to get back at me about the text?
That's probably it.
I went back to work. I didn't know why it was taking me so long to track down the dude. I was so distracted I just kept looking around the room half the time I was "working". I wouldn't even realize it until after half an hour.
But today I also had a weird uneasy feeling. Maybe it was because Tessa hadn't replied, but I had a bad feeling about it.
I didn't know how long it was until I heard my phone ringing. I immediately picked it up without even looking at the caller.
"Tessa?" I said hopefully.
"L-Leo"
There was something wrong. I could tell from the sound of her voice.
"Can you c-come get me, please?" She said, her voice cracking.
I didn't have time to ask what happened. I wanted to be where she was and comfort her. I asked her the address and she told me.
How did she end up there?
"Can you stay on the phone with me?" I asked as I got my things ready.
"Yes" She said.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" I asked as I got into my car.
"I-I" She couldn't even finish the sentence.
"It's okay, sweetheart it's between you and me"
"You should come see it yourself" She said.
I raised an eyebrow. What could be so bad?
"Okay" I said, "Are you safe?"
"Yes" She said her voice trembling.
"The place isn't far I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?"
"Okay"
I kept her on the phone. We didn't really talk. I could just hear her breathing that was too harsh at first, but it eventually calmed down.
"Okay, I'm here. Want to tell me where you are exactly?" I asked getting out of my car.
She gave me directions and when I got to where she was I was shocked to see what was in front of me.
There was a man next to her on the floor, bleeding out. She was pressing hard on his wound with a cloth, but what got my attention was the knife next to her.
I tried to keep calm for her. She was obviously upset and looked very unsettled. Who wouldn't be?
"Please tell me we can do something" She said looking at me.
The guy was definitely bleeding a lot but he was holding on and the knife was too small to cut really deep.
"Alright, let me make a call"
"No! How-I-"
"It's okay, Tess. No one will know" I said and walked a little further from them.
I called Nate, because I knew Ares would scream my ear off.
"I hope that it's interesting, for your own sake" He said as soon as he picked up.
"Oh it's very interesting"
________
"Well, you two are definitely made for each other" He said when he looked at the scene. Tessa didn't react to it. She was holding on to me for dear life. She was shocked from what she had done. I knew the feeling. She refused to talk about it for now.
"Shut up and do what you have to do" I said.
He rolled his eyes, "Fine. Come help me"
"I have to go help Nate for a bit, okay?" I told Tessa. She nodded and sat down on the ground.
We both picked him up and carried him to Nate's car, "I can't believe I'm getting my car dirty" He said. The man groaned as we lowered him on the seat, "Shut up" Nate said and turned to me, "What kind of couple activities is this?"
"Tell Ares I did it and that he works for the man we're looking for and I'll ask Tessa questions, okay?" Nate nodded, "And don't let anyone touch him. I'll do all the work"
"Got you. Oh and I've already send someone to clean up" He said and got into the car.
"Thank you so much, man" I said.
"No problem" He smirked before driving off.
I sighed and went back to Tessa, "Hi" I said sitting next to her, "He's okay. Don't worry about it"
She reacted so bad to something that wasn't even close to murder. How is she going to react when I tell her what I do?
"Do you want to go to my apartment, get you cleaned, get you something to eat-" I stopped when I saw her nodding, "Okay"
I stood up and held my hand out for her to take. She took my hand and stood up.
The whole way there she wouldn't speak to me or look at me. She seemed deep in thought and guilt. The worst part was I knew exactly how she felt and I couldn't admit it in front of her.
We arrived at my apartment and she immediately went into the bathroom.
I sighed, but I heard the bathroom door open and saw her peeking at me, "Can you come with me?" She asked quietly.
"Of course"
Her clothes, her hands were covered in blood and she couldn't stop staring at it.
I stood behind her, facing the sink before taking her hands in mine and putting them under the water and rubbing them to get the blood off.
"It's okay" I whispered when I saw her upset expression and kissed her cheek.
"Are you not disgusted by me?" She asked.
"Of course not"
"Why not? He could've died because of me" She said looking at me in the mirror.
"I will never be disgusted by you"
"He just-he was trying to take me" She said.
"Take you?"
"He is working for the man who's after me I think. I mean it makes sense. He was trying to kidnap me"
My eyes widened.
Good thing I still have security around her house.
"I was coming back home after going out and I noticed someone following me so I started taking random turns because I didn't want to lead him to my house. Next thing I know he was attacking me and tried to kidnap me. I had a knife on me for protection because I was paranoid last night and I-"
"So you just defended yourself?"
"Yes, but-"
"No buts. You did nothing wrong" I said and turned her around to look into her eyes, "He could've succeeded" I realized. Even though she was safe in my arms now, I felt uneasy, "He can die for all I care."
"Leo!" She gasped.
"You did what you had to do"
"I could've taken a life. Aren't you upset with me?"
I rolled my eyes, "No, stupid. All you did was keep yourself safe"
She looked down, "You're right, I guess" She said, "But I still feel like a monster"
Fuck. If you react like this with a simple cut, how will you react when I tell you everything?
I put my hands on her shoulders and looked her right in her deep brown eyes, "You're not the monster here. He tried kidnapping a teenage girl. You defended yourself"
"That doesn't give me the right to kill him"
Yeah she will totally freak out and run away from me when I tell her.
"You didn't kill him and you still feel guilty. You're not a monster. A monster wouldn't feel guilty"
"It's just upsetting. Seeing someone fight death because of you"
"I know"
That's where I fucked up.
"You know?" She questioned.
"I-I mean I can imagine. It sounds terrible"
"Have you ever hurt someone like that?" She asked.
I hesitated. I couldn't answer that. what was I supposed to say? Yes, I've seen people fight death because of me.
Fight death and lose.
"I won't be mad. Your hesitation says everything. I just want you to trust me"
I nodded, "Yes"
"Thank you. You probably have your reasons, so I won't ask you"
I was beyond thankful for that.
"Although I would want you to trust me enough to tell me" She said rolling her eyes.
"One day" I said looking at the floor. I couldn't handle the look she was giving me, "You didn't do a bad thing, Tessa. Actually, now that I have him, he is very useful" I couldn't help but smirk at the thought. I couldn't wait to make him regret ever even thinking of hurting her.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"We can get information out of him" I said.
"How?"
Fuck. I said too much again.
I wanted to trust her and tell her everything, but it wasn't the right time.
"Leo?"
"I'll just ask him"
She glared at me and crossed her arms, "What are you going to do to him?"
"Nothing. Trust me a little, okay?" I said putting my hands on her waist.
She sighed, "Fine. Now get out so I can shower"
I left the bathroom and went to the kitchen hoping to find something to cook. I liked it a lot when she was here.
I could get used to this.
She didn't talk much after her shower or after I had a shower. I guess she was still processing everything and it was completely normal, so I gave her some time to think and didn't push her to talk.
"Do you want to watch a movie?" I asked after we ate. I ended up ordering take out because I didn't know what to make.
She simply nodded and I stood up and walked to the living room with her following me. I sat on the couch and patted the spot next to me. She sat down there and leaned her head on my shoulder as I searched for a movie.
I couldn't help but smile at her small gesture. It probably wasn't much to most people, but it was to me. It made me all warm inside.
"Thank you for being here for me" She said.
I turned to look at her in question, "You don't need to thank me. Of course I will be here for you. Always"
All of a sudden she took a seat on my lap and snuggled close to me. I was surprised. In a good way. I was happy, so happy that she wasn't shy around me.
"What movie are we watching?" She asked nuzzling my neck. It felt so good to have her close like this. So good that holding back was torture, but she was vulnerable right now and I couldn't take advantage of that.
"I don't know, I think it's some romantic-" I trailed off when I felt her soft lips on my neck. I gulped trying to ignore the feeling it caused me, "Tess, stop that-ah"
She was sucking on my Adam's apple. I didn't know why she was acting that way, but I loved it and hated it at the same time. Loved it because it felt so good and hated it because I knew we had to stop at some point.
She put her hands on my chest and readjusted herself on my lap, moving her hips around.
She doesn't have a clue what she's doing.
"Tessa" My voice came out barely over a whisper and I put my hands on her hips to stop her.
She stopped and looked at me with an innocent look in her eyes. Did she really not know what she was doing?
"I just want to be close to you and forget about what happened" She said.
I didn't know if it was right or not, but if that's what she needed right now then I would give it to her. I would give her anything.
"Okay" I said nodding and cupping her face with my hands, "Anything you want, sweetheart"
She looked a bit flustered as I brought her close even though she was the one who started this.
I leaned in and kissed her soft lips. Her presence and closeness usually calmed me down, but I couldn't calm down when her hands were slowly sliding up my shirt and touching my abs. She was hesitant about it at first but now her finger was tracing my lower abs and it was making it hard for me to breathe.
She slid up higher on my lap and I pulled back, my lips still touching hers, and put my hands on her thighs harshly to stop her from moving, "Don't move" I groaned. It was taking everything out of me to stop her. I could just let her, but I didn't want this to happen between us like this.
"I'm sorry" She said. She looked a little worried that she did something wrong.
"It feels good, Tess. Too good" I said trying to reassure her.
"Oh, this?" She asked innocently and grinded on me. I hissed and threw my head back a little. I was trying so hard to not get ahead of myself.
This is torture.
"I said don't move" I said slowly, "This is for your own good"
"Well I just want to get comfy" She said trying to hide a smirk and did it again.
I held the back of her thighs and threw her on the couch, getting on top of her, "Not joking anymore, are you?"