for the sake of the story cali -> newyork is a seven hour journey.
Leo's Pov -
23rd of December - 1 month and 23 days later
"Leo... I consider Belle my soulmate. But Belle doesn't consider me hers. For her, it's you. Ever since that first day. I mean just take a look at her every once in a while when she's with you and that says all the answers you need to know." She sighs and takes a sip of her tea.
"Just promise me you won't leave it too late pretty boy. I lost Oli for a dumb ass reason. Don't lose Belle for something similar. Wether you're ready to tell her about your feelings or not, it doesn't matter. Be there for her." I lean against the fridge and stare her down.
"Beth, why do you choose to do this to me." She avoids my eyes.
"Pretty please, Belle is so boring when she is in a bad mood. I need you to lift it. Maybe stick it to her real good this weekend, she's had a dry spell. And not to be even more of a bitch but it's not like you have any better plans, with your dad an all." Ah Beth, forever sugar coating her words.
"So you can join Jules in Florida, maybe your dad in a corporate meeting? Or.. you can join your very super cool friend Beth in California." She does a little jazz hands and points to herself. "But Belle and I.. I mean we haven't even talked for months."
She groans and stands up. "Have you not listened to a word I said. Listen to this sentence. She has let her self get close to three guys in her life, Cole, Sam and... you. Don't be another name that she tells her future children on how much she hated your stupid guts." I hate when Bethy is right, which is always.
~~~~~~~~~
Later
Belles Pov
"Leo... what are you doing?" He shrugged and patted the passenger seat. "We are going to California." I sat in beside him and stared straight ahead.
"But we are broken up...?" He nods and then puts the keys in the ignition. "Sweetheart, I made a promise to you five months ago that I would go home with you for Christmas. And correct me if i'm wrong, but you still don't know how to drive. So i'm driving you. Any further questions?" This man had to be joking.
"Leo..." I groaned and rub a hand over my face. "We still have to talk." He turns on the car and drives out of the parking space. "Yes. And now we have a delightful seven hour journey, to do just that."
He turned on the radio and paper rings played into the silence. It stayed quiet like that for a whopping four minutes before I broke. "I'm not mad at you for missing my birthday, or kissing someone else, especially because we aren't together."
"Let me explain both... because I fucking hate miscommunication." I turn down the music and he continues.
"I never kissed that girl. I said hi to her and chickened out, haven't even looked at another girl since." I smiled and looked at my lap. He's cute or whatever.
"My birthday...?" He turns the corner onto the highway and sighs.
"Uhm... I went to go see my dad, he was pretty mad about the whole newspaper thing. Scared that if I got signed off I'd be able to earn my own money. Which meant I could stop getting income from him and he wouldn't be able blackmail me into not saying anything about our past." Damn it. I'm an idiot. A literal idiot.
"So basically... I'm an asshole?" He laughs and turns up the radio. "Nope. It was just a stupid move on my part for not saying anything." I feel a weight practically lift off my shoulders, he didn't want to kiss the girl.
But he did, want to go to my birthday. "Oh and for the record, I know I say that you're not allowed to get jealous. But jealousy is a basic human emotion, if a little hypocritical. I don't blame you for it." He looks at me and I look back at him. "Darla, my boss always said that to me."
For the first time in 4 months I don't hate him. Not that I ever, truly hated him. But i'll do anything to push him away. Because he deserves better then me. I'm not good enough for him. I know it, he knows it, hell even his dad knows it. And i'm sure my own mother will agree when we see her in a couple hours.
I start paper rings again and he doesn't protest, just smiles when I look out the window at the snow falling down throughout New York.
~~~~~~~
"Shit. I didn't know it would be snowing this bad." Leo complains while trying to use the window wipers. "Yeah it always snows really bad around this time." He looks at the snow and then back to me. "Ya think?"
"Ass." He laughs and turns into the estate. "So... Kelly. She bakes?"
"Yeah. Beth's mom, Denise helps her run it. Especially when my wonderful mother takes stints in rehab. But Lily, Oli, Tom, David, Beth, Beth's moms and of course baby Ben will all be here. So it's gonna be a day of very awkward hugs."
He groans and steps out of the car. "When did you say Beth, David and Oli are getting here?" Beth would rather throw herself off Brooklyn Bridge then share a car with Oli so she dragged David along with her.
"Oli is driving down later with Beth and David. Then Lily, Tom and Little Ben are driving down together. But don't worry, I have plans to keep us busy until then." He raises an eyebrow and passes me my suitcase.
"What kinda plans...?" Secret plans...
"All will be revealed. Don't worry i'm sure you'll love them." I winked and pushed open the door. My moms house was actually quite nice compared to what it used to be.
When she used to drink insane amounts it looked awful, but she kept it prim and proper now. Since she went to rehab after that New York runaway fiasco, she has stayed relatively sober with slip-ups here and there. But wether she was drinking or not... total bitch.
Hates family and hates when we come visit, but Lily insists we should all get together at least once a year. Which I suppose makes sense.
"Mom! We're here."
"We?!?" She shouts in from the kitchen and Leo sets our bags down. "Yeah I uhm... brought my boyfriend." I can practically hear his mood lift behind me, yet I choose to ignore it.
"Did you guys have a good drive." My mom walked out, her hair had become a more silver color then what I last remember. But she still looked like my mom.
I read once that the thing about having an alcoholic parent, is an alcoholic parent does not exist, simply an alcoholic who could not stay sober, long enough to raise their kids.
And sure my mom was fine now, but i'd never forget the shit she put me through when we were younger.
"Belle. It's been so long." She smiled and brought me in for a hug. Thankfully she didn't smell of alcohol, so when Leo hugged her I didn't feel embarrassed.
"Did you guys get a room at the inn?" I stepped into the living room and took off my jacket. "No but uhm... we will get one later tonight, when David gets in. Oh yeah can Beth and David stay in me and Oli's old rooms?"
"Oh sure, they look exactly like last year. Cant bring myself to throw out anything." She rubs her hands on her jeans and gestures for us to sit down.
"So.. How did you two meet?" Leo sits on the couch and I sit beside him on the arm of the chair. "We met at my job."
"Ah yes, that Darla lady." Leo smiles at me but doesn't put an arm on my waist like usual. And I just know that it's because I flinched. I would flinch when Cole came near me, but Leo wasn't Cole. At all.
"Okay you two, I'll let you explore the town until Lily gets here later. I cant wait to meet my grandson. Speaking of... how's Lizzy?" Beth had a lot of nicknames. Including Lizzy, Bethy, Beth, Eliza, Liz, Liza and of course her two least favorite nicknames by Oli, Carlton and Eizabeth.
"Call me once they arrive, I want to be here for dinner." Mom hugs me again and shoos us out of the house.
Once we stand on the doorstep he looks at me. "So, show me around.." Ha, he's hilarious.
"Nah. This area fucking hates me, you don't remember all the whispers? I know you lived far from school but surely you had to have heard them..." He raised an eyebrow and gets into the car. "Hates you? Enlighten me."
"What did you do sweetheart?" It's not what I did. "Nothing. Cole on the other hand, well once I tried telling them what he did, they didn't believe me. Classic 'believe the golden boy, since he loves Jesus and can do wrong'."
"Oh yeah, I vaguely remember that..."
He stays silent and turns on the car. "I'll beat them up if they even try give my girl any weird looks."
~~~~~~~~
"Okay, here are your ice skates." He looks at the skates and then back to me, then to the ice rink and right back to me. "Ha. You are fucking hilarious if you think I'm doing this." I shoved on my own skates and he watches me slowly.
"I'm not doing this." I took one from him and attempted to put it on for him. "Too bad Maxwell. How about you get to decide what we do tomorrow. But today, I make all the decisions. "
He smiles and helps me put on the second skate. "Fine, but tomorrow I decide what we do.." I look at him because my brain can't help going there, at the same time as I painfully remember he thinks the exact same way. Dirty.
"I didn't mean it like that..." I laugh and stand up. "Oh yeah, whatever you say buddy." He rolls his eyes as I put out my hand.
Yet he doesn't take it and I know exactly why. "I won't bite."
"Eh... yeah but... well..." Oh god he's gonna make me say it. "I promise I won't flinch either." It only hit me that we haven't even talked about that whole situation.
I think i've gotten over the 'exhausting' comment. Although it may have hurt like a bitch, I know he didn't mean it.
"Okay..." He reluctantly takes my hand and lets me lead him onto the ice. "It's freezing." He puts an arm around my shoulder as I guide him along the ice. "That's okay, just keep clinging on to me like a monkey and you'll be just fine."
He pokes me in the side and tries to pull away from me. "Yeah no. You need to accept that you are actually shit at something."
"Give me time to adjust. So quick to judge princess." I let him try to stray away from me and watch as he skates slowly towards the edge.
"You are doing it all wrong Maxwell." He looks at my legs as I do a little spin on the ice, trying to avoid the groups of people. "Give me two to three business days and i'll be right on that." I sarcastically smile and skate back over to him.
"It's just practice... princess." I mock and he groans. "Don't act like you don't love when I call you princess."
"Whatever." He smirks and grabs back onto my hand. "Y'know Leo. If you keep touching me like this I might just think you like me." I tease and he continues his attempts of skating.
"Don't kid yourself sweetheart, I've always liked you, it's just hidden in times you piss me off." Fair enough.
~~~~~~~
"So, David where are you from?" David passes me the wine and looks at Lily. "Boston. My brother has a garage up there that I work at in the summer." Tom grabs some of the plates off the table.
"I worked in a garage for a couple years before meeting my fiancé here." He kisses Lily on the top of her head and she smiles at him. "So what about you two then, when did you guys get engaged." David asks and she shows off her amethyst engagement ring.
"Well... He proposed in our home that we renovated, very private, lots of candles. It truly was amazing." I watch the two interact as if they've been friends forever.
Looking and observing the table is quite entertaining. Beth and Oli shooting each other annoyed, angry little glances. David and Lily smiling at each other. I see Leo looking at me through my peripheral vision, being painfully obvious might I add.
Little ben licking at his baby food and then... my mom. Sneaking a sip of wine. "So then your wedding would be in the New Year?" Lily nods and looks at Tom. "Yeah, hopefully if all goes to plan then sometime in Februar-"
"-Uhm mom." I cut off Lily from talking and stare at my mom. "Easy on the wine, please." She stares back at me and puts down her wine.
"Belle... I'm allowed a little sip of wine every now and then." I guess that's not totally unreasonable, but with her... you can never be too cautious.
"But mom..." She waves her hand and takes a big gulp of wine. "Oh Belle be quiet. No one asked for your opinion at the table." I try not to lose my cool even though the urge to explode is raging at the minute.
If it isn't clear already, my love language is physical touch. But Leo knows me a smidge too well, specially when he slips his hand on to my knee under the table. Giving it three light squeezes.
"Mom... I just think that you should take it easy."
"Belle. Just shut up please. I'm your mother, you can't tell me what to do." Lily shot me a warning glance but I couldn't stop.
"Y'know mom. I read this quote once and it said... 'my mom didn't fail me, the world failed her and I was just collateral damage.' Was your intention for me, Oli and Lily to be collateral damage?" She shook her head and stood up, banging the wine on the table.
"Don't bring up the past Belle. I'm better now." I look down at my food, slipping my hand onto Leo's. "But you are still drinking. You promised me you wouldn't."
"I AM YOUR MOM. I CAN DRINK WHEN I WANT." The room went silent and I stood up with her.
"Don't lie to yourself, You are in every sense a mom but in no way a mother." She blinked a couple times and walked calmly out of the room, dragging the wine bottle with her.
David, Beth and Tom left the room, taking Ben with them.
"Belle. Was that really necessary?" Lily whispers under her breath as Oli looks at me warily. "Yes. I never got to tell her how pissed off I am about the past things she's done. It couldn't wait any longer." Lily sighs and puts her hands on her head.
"I get it Belle. She was a bitch, but there was no need to do it in front of everyone." Obviously, but I would never have the courage to do that if it was just us.
Thankfully, before I start to let my anger out on Lily, Leo lifts me up by arm. "Let's uhm... go sit outside."
~~~~~~~
"You're safe with me, sweetheart." I groan and put my hands in my pockets, curling my legs up on the bench.
"Oh god I am such an idiot." He laughed and brushed the hair out of my face. "If it helps, the first time I blew up at my dad, was a huge corporate meeting. It's funny actually, I just started shouting. I genuinely wouldn't stop... Later that night, he made sure I brought a girl to every single one of his events to keep me from pulling some bullshit like that again... So your little blowout could have been worse."
I laughed and he rubbed our hands together, trying to keep us warm. "There's so much I wanna tell her, but she just won't listen."
He tugs me in closer and rubs a circle on my palm. "Even if she's not listening, It might feel good to just yell at her." I smile until Beth, David, Oli, Tom and Lily leave the house with Ben.
"We are getting a room for the night at the inn up the road. Will you guys follow us once you're ready?" Leo nods and shakes Toms hand.
"Oh and Belle. I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself in there. Even if it was wrong place, wrong time." Lily gave me a sympathetic smile and walks over to the car with Ben and Tom.
David hugs me and whispers quietly as Beth and Leo talk. "Don't tell him I told you, but you make him smile a lot." He looks over to Leo and then back to me. I make him smile... Me? Me. I do.
But I exhaust him.
"Okay, I'm going with your sister." Beth squeezes my hand three times and gets into their car with David.
"Belle, you wanna go for a walk after Christmas?" He kisses my cheek and takes a step back. "Yeah. I want to talk to you about some stuff." He nods and gets into his car.
"Okay sweetheart, time to go stand up to your mom." I look up at him and step back into the house.
I find mom leaning against the kitchen counter, downing the last bottle of wine we brought. "Ah, you've returned to give out me in my own home?" I stand opposite her in the doorway to the living room.
"You never could choose me, could you...? Always choosing alcohol over me. As I stood in Oli's arms, asking you to pick me over the current drink of the week. Y'know, a daughter should never have to beg her mother for love."
She shuts her eyes, as if trying to deflect my words. But I can see they've hit her. "I always wanted to cry to you about boys. Yet I cried to boys about my mother." She sighed and put down her wine bottle.
"You cant pull this shit Belle. It's too late, I've moved on, so should you."
"Move... On...? Do you know what you've done to me? To Oli? To Lily? It took Lily years to trust Tom. She almost broke up with him when she got pregnant, in pure fear she might turn out like you. Mom... I push away everyone! I cant hold a stable fucking relationship... Because of you! Im just so damn scared that I'll ruin all my relationships like you did, so no one can ever get close to me. And I want- I want to be able to love someone! I just feel.... I feel like you've got me in these shackles or something. Not allowing me to move forward with anyone, I-I don't wanna lose him!" She rolls her eyes and points a finger in my face.
"You did that to yourself, after you became a little slut, going for Cole. Corrupting him with your stupid lies. Claiming he hurt you! That poor boy did nothing to you, worthless piece of shit you are." ouch.
I flinch when i feel a hand on my shoulder, putting me behind a strong body. Leo's body.
I hold on to his arm as my mom shrinks into the corner of the kitchen. "Christ, cant you see that she deserves ten times better than the crappy ass childhood you gave her? And she deserves better than this town, hell she deserves better than me. So don't you try and talk to her like she's below you, because she is ten times the person you will ever be."
My hands shake like crazy as I watch my mother slowly start crying, yet I don't care. He turns around to me and I let him guide me out of the house. The cold air hits my face and I can finally breathe.
"Why on earth would you do that?!" I shout as he follows me down the road. I turn around to him and stand against the back of the gas stations wall. I crossed my arms over my chest as he traces his eyes over my face.
"I don't know... I- I wasn't thinking."
"Just tell me Leo! It isn't that damn difficult. Why would you do that...?" Maybe I knew the answer, call me narcissistic but I wanted to hear it.
"Fine. You want the real answer?" I nodded and he took a deep sigh as if already regretting the words about to leave his mouth.
"Because- Because I cant stand to hear someone talk like that, especially to you! All that stuff you were saying about losing me, I just cant do it Belle!" His eyes soften and he traps me against the wall with his arms.
"Why. Just let me hear you say it, please."
"I don't like those little red dresses, and... that dumb ass cat. I hate the way you count to three all the time. The side glances you give me with the lick of your lips, looking at me like I'm the only guy in the world. When you kissed me in that motel and the way your stupid pretty face lights up whenever I'm around you. I hate it all."
"SO THEN WHAT, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" I shout at him, partly because I'm angry and partly because I'm stressed. Most likely both.
We were breathing hard as we stare at each other . He softly says "You. So much so, that I did that. And to answer your previous question, I'm head over heels in love with you. You stupid idiot."
"WELL- WELL IM IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO. NOT JUST BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE ATTRACTIVE. B- But I'm consumed... with every little piece of you. Even the stupid way you talk, your little laugh and the way you purely exist. I'm stupidly in love with it all." His face lights up and he stroked a thumb across his jaw.
"I never thought it was possible to hate and love someone so much at the same time." I grin as he takes my mouth in his. Oh god I'll get on my knees right here in the snow.
"Just one more thing.... You let me keep kissing you and, you're mine. You will never be anyone else's, always mine. I don't fucking share, got it princess?" I lick my lips, just to tease him and nod. "Leo Maxwell. I'm yours. Always yours. Now will you kiss me already."
He picks me up, putting a hand on my ass and one at my head, shoving me against the wall. And I fully let him kiss all over me.
~~~~~~~~
Authors Note
opinions (ur so welcome ik i'm amazing) - and no i didn't rob you. Just wait for next chapter pls.
y'all the tiktok's u guys make of my book are adorable and it literally makes me wanna cry when you guys tag me in stuff that reminds you of my book. Like what? It's a privilege to live in ur minds rent free 💅
Lots of Love Babies, ella <3
Words - 4040
Date - 09/02/22