"Where's Milan?" Leo asked.
"With Ms. Peters, he had to talk to her about some assignment," Quinn answered.
"He's missing lunch for that?" Leo raised a brow, and Quinn shrugged.
"Is it really that big of a surprise?" Quinn retorted.
"I suppose not," Leo muttered.
"So, Leo," Quinn paused, "what's your deal?"
"My deal?"
"Yeah, your deal," when Leo didn't reply, probably confused as to what Quinn meant, they continued, "everyone has one. What's yours?"
"I... I don't know?" Leo tilted his head, still puzzled.
"I just want to get to know you," Quinn said with a slight pout.
"Why?" Leo asked.
"How else are we supposed to become friends?" Quinn questioned back.
"We're friends now?"
"Well, we're having lunch together. And talking. So, I suppose that makes us friends," Quinn answered.
"If you say so," Leo mumbled, before taking a bite of his sandwich.
He missed the days when he used to eat alone. Those days of solitude were long gone, as now he was joined by Milan and Quinn, sometimes even Delilah and Jai. Leo could just not go to the cafeteria, and eat somewhere else alone like he used to earlier. But a part of him didn't want to do that anymore.
Quinn was about to say something when their phone rang. They picked it up with a grin, and told whoever was on the other side that they were in the cafeteria with Leo. It wasn't hard to guess that the person calling was Milan.
"Was that Time is Running Out?" Leo asked, recognising Quinn's ringtone.
"You listen to Muse?" Quinn asked, a smile on their face as they looked at the boy eagerly.
"Yeah, they're one of my favourite artists," Leo said with a nod.
"Mine too! What about System Of A Down?"
"Aerials is one of my top ten songs this year," Leo stated.
"Oh my God, I still don't know what your deal is, but good music taste is definitely a part of it."
Leo and Quinn continued talking about music, and the conversation soon shifted to movies and web series. Leo couldn't remember the last time he had such an effortless conversation with someone about things that he liked. Never in a million years did he imagine himself voluntarily talking to a person as loud and extraverted as Quinn, but he couldn't deny that he was enjoying it.
A few minutes later, Milan walked over to them, a suspicious look on his face as he watched the two converse. His expression changed to surprise when he heard them talking about Batman, and not about something that Milan would need to interrogate Quinn about later.
Milan joined in the conversation, it excited him to see Leo talk so openly about things. They were all talking like they were friends, something Milan had never expected.
They all parted their ways once lunch was over, Quinn and Leo walked together since they had the same P.E. class. Milan watched their retreating figures with a smile, seeing Leo and Quinn being friendly made him happy.
The rest of the day passed by painfully slow, like it always did whenever Milan had his tutor sessions with Leo. He couldn't wait for the time to pass, and it seemed like the universe had something against him and was torturing him by making time go slower.
Even though Milan technically knew about Leo's home life now, there was no reason for them to not have their sessions there— but Leo still drove them to the public library, and Milan didn't question it.
Milan and Leo had just started their session, when Milan heard a very familiar laugh. He turned to his side, and immediately froze as his eyes fell on his ex.
"What do you think about— Milan?" Leo called out, and Milan turned to face him again.
"Yeah?" Milan blinked, looking dazed. Leo frowned at the sudden change in his behaviour.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked.
"That's my ex," Milan muttered, motioning his head to the side.
Leo's eyes followed the direction Milan had pointed at. His frown grew deeper as he looked at the blond guy sitting with a couple of girls on one of the library tables.
"Really? You dated him?" Leo asked, the distaste clear in his voice.
"Don't be so judgmental," Milan sighed.
"I'm trying not to be, but come on, you can do so much better than that," Leo said truthfully. Sure, he didn't know that guy, but he could automatically tell that Milan was way out his league.
"Well I was dumb and stupid and blind and—"
"Woah, slow down," Leo interrupted the other boy, "Wild guess here, but did it end badly?"
"Depends on your definition of bad."
"What happened?" Leo questioned.
Milan inhaled deeply, as he looked down at his hands on his lap. He was fidgeting with his fingers as he turned to look at his ex, Evan, who was now looking right back at him. Milan's eyes widened as he whipped his head back to look at his lap again.
"Uh, our parents are friends, so I've pretty much known him my whole life. He was in our school too, a year senior to us. He was kind of my... My first crush and first everything," Milan started.
"Okay," Leo replied, urging Milan to go on. The boy cleared his throat nervously before continuing.
"He wanted to stay in the closet, which I was fine with, I would never force anyone to come out. So we were together, secretly, for a couple of years. I came out when I was sixteen, which he... Uh, he didn't appreciate."
"Why not?" Leo questioned.
"Because apparently that meant he couldn't hang out with me in school the same way as before. He thought people would question him, and us, and yeah, he really didn't want to come out," Milan sighed.
"That sucks," Leo noted, and Milan nodded in response.
"We still stayed together for a few weeks, but then he started getting super paranoid. He said he wanted to date a girl, kind of like as his beard," Milan paused, "I wasn't cool with that. I mean, it's pretty damn shitty to lead a girl on like that if you're gay, right? Anyway, we had a big fight over this. And we broke up. It sucked because he was my best friend too, so I lost both my best friend and my boyfriend in a go."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah well, it was still fine until he started dating a guy a month after we broke up. Publicly. He came out for someone he barely knew," Milan finished the story, "and that kinda hurt. And then they broke up a week after that? Like, had it been some love at first sight romance, I probably would've understood and respected that more."
"Okay, he sounds like an as— an idiot," Leo stated, "an idiot that clearly... Makes idiotic decisions."
"Wow," Milan chuckled, "really putting your vocabulary to use there."
"I'm somewhat of a poet myself," Leo shrugged, making Milan laugh louder, "he's looking over here, you know."
"He is?" Milan looked up at Leo's face, and the older boy nodded.
"Do you want to give him something to look at?" Leo asked, the side of his lip curving up in a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Milan asked innocently, actually oblivious to Leo's intent.
Leo didn't reply as he grabbed Milan's chair, pulling it towards him. Milan's eyes widened as the older boy pulled him closer, till their chairs were almost touching. Sure, Leo looked strong, but damn.
"Keep your leg on top of mine," Leo whispered, looking directly in Milan's eyes as he spoke, "if you want to, that is."
"I..."
"Or you can push your chair away," Leo gave Milan the choice, and the boy finally figured out what Leo meant by giving Evan something to look at.
Milan had never truly felt that he was over Evan, even when he went on dates after their break up, the blond was constantly on his mind. But as he felt Leo's warm breath on his face, so close yet not close enough, Evan was suddenly the last thing on Milan's mind.
He didn't care about making his ex jealous, sure that would've felt great any other time or with any one else, but with Leo, Milan simply didn't give a shit. He kept his leg on top of Leo's, wordlessly, only because he wanted to be closet to him.
Leo rested his arm on the back on Milan's chair, as he casually twirled the other boy's hair with his fingers. His other hand rested on Milan's clothed thigh, and Milan's breath hitched at the touch.
At that moment, one thing was clear for Milan— Leo's soft touches were definitely going to be the end of him.
"He's still looking," Leo whispered as he moved his lips close to Milan's ears. Leo's hand started gently massaging Milan's thigh, as he got really into his character.
Leo's hand moved from the boy's hair, as his thumb rubbed the bare skin below his ear, slowly and gently. Milan could feel the hair at the back of his neck stand, he had goosebumps all over his body. He wanted to say so many things to Leo, but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
Milan felt like his body had been paralysed, like he was under a spell. Leo's spell.
Milan turned to face Leo, their eyes gazing into each other's. Don't look down, don't look down, Milan kept repeating in his head. He could absolutely not look down. But his body betrayed his mind once again, as his eyes fell on to Leo's lips.
On cue, Leo's eyes moved to the direction in which Evan was sitting. The smirk returned to his face as his eyes moved from one direction to another.
"And now he's leaving," Leo said softly. Milan was still at a loss for words, his eyes remained on Leo's lips. He didn't care about what the boy was saying, he was too transfixed watching his plump lips move.
Leo's movements stopped, as he slowly removed Milan's leg from on top of his, effectively breaking Milan out of his trance. Leo shifted his chair to the side, creating some distance between the two.
"Now that he's gone, shall we continue with the lesson?"
***
just realised Milan is my first time writing a shy character