A smile was playing on my lips as I cracked my eyes open, last night was the first time in a long time I hadn't dreamt of something terrible. I had a care free and blissful dream. My smile dropped when I realised I was cuddling a pillow, where was Leonardo? Why did he go so soon? Did he regret staying over the night? I really hated how he was giving me mixed signals, some days he would act like a total sweetheart, it felt like he cared for me, he wanted to be with me but on other days he turned into a cold person who showed no sign of emotion.
My heart thumped in disappointment as I quickly scanned the place to see if he left any notes but it was like one of those one night stands where the guy would just run off before the girl can catch him. Not that I'd ever had a one night stand. So many thoughts were whizzing across my mind as I quickly changed into something a little more casual and headed to the dick's house to confront him. Who the heck did he think he was just ditching me like this? I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
I remembered the way to Leonardo's house thankfully, today I felt more angry and feisty. It must have been a result from keeping my aggressive side tamed for so long. I felt like kicking ass and unfortunately I knew Leonardo was going to be at the receiving end of it. I knocked on the door several times but nobody came to open the door, 10 minutes had passed by and I was debating whether I should sneak from the back or wait like a civilized person.
A jingle from the door interrupted my thoughts; Leonardo had opened the door but quickly walked away as I stood at the doorstep in shock. The audacity that this guy had really did shock me. I stomped towards the room he entered, he was playing COD on the PlayStation 3, and the determined look on his face as he pressed some buttons repeatedly told me not to mess with him. Sometimes I forgot he was a teenager too but with a very different occupation to what most normal people had. He had not even uttered a hello, or how are you? A 'I'm sorry for ditching you' would have been nice, but no. He just stayed silent whilst focusing on aiming with his sniper.
"Uh hello?" I scoffed as I crossed my arms, he didn't even blink or look at me which made even angrier. Was he doing this on purpose? Last night he was telling me how he was going to hold me for the night but today he was acting as if I was a total stranger!
"I'm busy", he rasped out as he tilted his head to the side to aim at the man with the gun. I bit on my bottom lip to refrain from saying any swear words. It was so hard trying to control myself.
"Why did you leave so early?" I asked again feeling my hands slowly turn into fists. Tick tock. Tick tock. Without thinking I had stomped over to where the PlayStation was and pulled out a random plug. The plasma screen turned pitch black but Leonardo had his eyes still on the screen, his left eye twitched slightly as he gripped the controller even harder and his knuckles were turning white as a result of the controlled force.
"You...did...not...just...do...that." He broke off every single word as he finally looked at me straight in the eye, the sheer anger present in his eyes just made me to run away but I stood my ground.
"Oh but I just did...", I replied raising my eyebrow at him, he instantly shot up from the sofa which made me flinch in surprise. I thought he was joking around but there was no sign of any reaction on his face. He rolled his sleeves up as he stalked towards me, looking like a sexy predator chasing its prey.
"You are so going to regret what you did", he replied blankly, I did what my gut reaction was; to punch him in the stomach. I was expecting him to roll over in pain, scream at me but he towered over me completely unaffected by what my dad described as 'killer punches'. He didn't even blink or show any signs of being hurt. Instead it was me who was hissing in pain from hurting his rock hard abs, a flashback of hitting his steel abs came back to me. I punched him again but this time in the shoulder which he flinched away slightly. I took this as my chance and ran past him, I was about to run past the sofa but he had already grabbed my elbow and slammed me onto the sofa. I tried to wiggle underneath him, to try and get him off me but he sat on top of me looking all smug and happy about it. But I was a girl who had long nails; I used my nails to twist the skin underneath his armpit. He hissed in pain as he rubbed his skin. I took this as my opportunity to distract him and push him onto the sofa, I used all my strength to roll him over so now I was on top of him.
"You just nipped me!" He groaned as he stared at me in disbelief.
"You weren't getting off me!" I shot back as I crossed my arms defiantly.
"I've had weak and pathetic girls try to hit me but nobody has hit me like you did, where the heck did you learn to punch like that?" Leonardo asked now suddenly acting serious, my stomach twisted nervously as I tried to avert my gaze.
"I had to be trained to protect myself when I was a younger", I replied trying to act casual but failed miserably as Leonardo's eyebrow rose in curiosity.
"Why?" He asked, his tone was begging me to continue.
"Uh...well...my-", I was cut off when I heard a knock on the door, both of our heads shot towards the direction of the sound. It cut us off from our little moment, I had realised that I was in a very intimate position with him. Blushing like an idiot, I got off him quickly. I didn't miss the dirty grin Leonardo had on his face as I patted my cheeks to tone it down. He had caught me blushing. Again.
"MY BABE IS HERE!" I heard Alex's wail echo into the hallway, he ran into the room with a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
"Alex! I missed my stoner friend!" I cooed as he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
"Why are you so red? It looks like you've been running", he chuckled as he poked my cheek, my eyes widened in surprise as Leonardo studied me, watching my reaction very carefully.
"I've been playing COD with LeeLee" I spoke up finally, shooting a raised eyebrow at Leo, damn he just wouldn't let up studying me.
"A girl who plays COD? Damn, that is rare! Leonardo you have to marry this girl" Alex cackled as he turned his head towards the green eyed monster.
"What did you want?" Leonardo hissed suddenly acting cold; he was showing his mean, cold side.
"I came to visit my second favourite person in the world but I realised my favourite person in the entire world is here!" Alex gushed resting his elbow on me.
"You've seen us now you can get out" Leonardo shot back rolling his eyes in irritation, I swear sometimes he acted like a child.
"Hey Ari, do you want to go get ice cream?" Alex asked ignoring Leonardo's rude behaviour.
"I'd love to! Are you coming LeeLee?" I replied clasping my hands in delight just by the sound of ice cream.
"No", he replied in a dead tone breaking the happy go lucky mood I was embarked in. Kill joy.
"Whatever, we can get Tara and Andre along the way as well...bye Leonardo" Alex patted him on the back before heading towards the door.
"Please come? It'll be fun!" I asked as I clung onto his elbow.
"Or maybe you can chill here and we can do something we BOTH would enjoy", he murmured into my ear as his arm snaked around my waist seductively.
"Huh?" I burst out frowning at him; I swear I was blonde when I was born. My mother probably dyed my hair brown.
"Move the position we were just in, to the bedroom eh?" I felt his breath tickle my neck, his tone almost seducing me.
"Ice cream sounds better" I giggled as I patted his arm while I pulled away from him. I instantly missed the body heat from him. I really wanted to follow up his offer on that but something in my head was telling me he was just saying it to drive me away so he could play COD.
"Ouch", he groaned, putting his hands to his chest as he frowned at me; I gave him a light kiss on the cheek before running out of the house with the biggest smile on my face.
"This is the single most important choice that you will EVER have to make, are you ready?", Alex's voice whispered cautiously into my left ear. I nodded solemnly. He was right, so so right. What was it going to be? White chocolate with caramel, or, double chocolate chip with brownies? I contemplated carefully before pointing a confident finger to the one on the right. I was a sucker for chocolate chip ice-cream.
"Hmm, oh my God heavens angels wow oh wow", I moaned into the spoon which was spilling with delicious chocolate juices. "Alex thisissoscrumptious". He stroked my hair and nodded, whilst grinning.
"I knew you'd appreciate it child, you must trust Alex the Master of Taste more, I'm glad you're slobbering all over it like a starving soul", he laughed. I thanked him again with my eyes; my mouth was too busy tasting heaven.
We walked around town for a bit, just chatting about general things. I learned that his favourite type of music was Pop and especially Britney. I couldn't hold back my laughter as he did a special one-off performance of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' and changed it to 'Lick Me Baby One More Time' as we talked about my first amazing ice-cream experience with him. I liked talking to Alex, he was always so relaxed and drama free. He was also one of the few people who could make me laugh instantly, despite my moods, my problems, seeing him cheered me up.
He must have caught me looking at him with admiration because he paused and sat us down on a bench. We had reached the local park and to my surprise it was near enough empty. It was hot too!
"You know, I've never had the privilege to have a sister or a female cousin around, but you come a close second Ari", he smiled at me. My heart swam with happiness as I beamed at him.
"Aww Alex, I appreciate that a lot! You know you're my new bestie", I elbowed him with a wink.
"Quit lying girl, you know Leo's your new bestie", he returned my wink.
"Shh you, besides he's a moody bestie, you're the happy one."
"True", he scratched his head for a second and paused, before adding quietly, "Arielle, can I talk to you about something...or rather, can I tell you something?"
He looked so worried, I became worried too. "What is it? You know you can tell me anything sweetie", I patted his knew gently to show my support.
"I'm...I don't know how to tell you this but-"
"I'm not interested in you like that Alex", I cut him off.
"What? Woah", he looked taken back. "Hell no. No disrespect but wow, no. Uh no. No way".
"What the hell?! What are you on about Alex, you're confusing me!", I looked at him, puzzled.
"First of all, I'm gay", he smiled, "and you're Leo's, I wouldn't do that to a brother."
"Now wait a minute, Leo doesn't own me", I rushed to state my independence before I really heard what he said, "WHAT?! YOU'RE GAY?! Oh my God! I'm such an idiot! Of course you don't like me like that, oh it all makes sense now!" I yelled in happiness. I know it was selfish of me to think like that, but I really didn't need any more dramas in my love life, or my 'crush' life.
"Ah, I'm glad you're so happy. Just don't mention it to a soul, not yet anyway, okay?" He stared at me.
Instantly, I felt ashamed. Here I was celebrating my own escape from what would have been an awkward situation, instead of being happy for him.
"God, I'm such a bitch right now Alex, I know. I'm sorry sweetie. I'm genuinely happy and so proud of you. I'm more than honoured to be the first person you've told...and I promise I won't tell a soul", I leaned over and hugged him, blocking his airways in the process. I truly was happy to hear he was gay, and he was embracing it like he should be.
"Thanks Ari, for everything", he kissed my forehead gently.
"It's nothing, besides, I've always wanted a gay best friend", I whispered as I held on to him. We both chuckled at that.
"Honey I'm home", Alex yelled as we entered Leo's living room. "Oh shit, where my honey boo boo at?" Gosh, this boy was so good at being both camp and ghetto at the same damn time! I laughed, clearly impressed at his vocal skills but my laughter quickly faded as Leonardo entered the room.
He had on nothing except his black jeans and black military boots. His hair was wet so I figured he must have taken a shower whilst we were out. His sculpted chest screamed sex and the sirens went off in my head. I couldn't breathe, it was that hot in the room. He was making it scorching.
"You'll never guess what me and Arielle had to eat", Alex began"-
"You're right, I never want to guess. I'm not interested, go away", Leo yawned at the T.V screen in front of him which was currently showing repeats of CSI.
"Aw man, stop being a dick. You're upset we didn't take you with us, aw Leo's sulking", Alex laughed loudly. I was tempted to join him but a voice in my head told me it would be wise to just remain quiet. For now.
"I'm not going to repeat myself, just get out man", Leo glared.
I couldn't take it anymore, he was irritating me with this childish attitude. "Oooh look at Leo, the big man making threats. Shut up. We weren't going to stay anyway, come on Alex", I turned towards the door.
"Don't you dare go Alex", Leo ordered.
"Alex. Come. Here. Now", my voice louder with each word.
"You move Alex, and I will break your legs."
"if you don't move Alex, I will break your face", I yelled. Poor Alex was standing in the middle, looking at us both but not moving an inch either way.
"Tell the bitch to leave, Alex", he shouted, losing his temper finally.
"Fuck you", I was truly pissed now. I wasn't going to stand there and let him call me a bitch. Hell no. "Alex, if you want to kiss me again, you better move". It was the first thing that came to my head and within a matter of second, my mouth declared it. Looking back, I wasn't lying, Alex did like to kiss me on my forehead, but of course, Leo didn't know that, did he?
"Wait, Ari, think about what you just said", Alex started but was soon cut off. Painfully.
Leo leaped across the room to where Alex stood and socked him in the face. Alex fell to the floor and tried to cover up his face from the oncoming attacks. Leo shouted like a maniac, strings of words that didn't make sense, he was erratic. "You"-punch. "Fucking"- punch. "Kissed"- punch. "Her"- punch. "How"- punch. "Dare"- punch. "You"-punch. He was more than read to recite the entire dictionary with every punch but I had intervened.
"Christ, get off him, GET OFF HIM YOU FUCKING IDIOT", I screamed, tugging at Leo's arm. At first he resisted and shrugged my arm off but he soon realised I wasn't going to back down. He swore some more, punched the leg of the coffee table, and told me to 'get the fuck outta here'. He yanked himself off Alex and stormed out of the room and up the stairs. I rushed to inspect Alex's face.
"Oh shit Alex, I'm so sorry I didn't know he was going to react like that shit I'm so so sorry damn oh God", I cried, my words all coming out in one big rush. He smiled, even in his beaten state and beckoned me to help him up.
"It's fine, he was going to lash out sooner or later. You get to him, like no other female has. He's just lost and scared and too proud to admit it", he stopped to wipe the blood trickle that was coming from his cracked lips before adding, "You should go to him, he needs you."
"What? No way. He can go to hell, Alex. Look at you?! He did that to his own best friend, what a cruel bastard", I continued my rant as I ran to the kitchen to get an ice pack. "Here, hold this against your eye sweetie", I hushed at him.
He took the ice and slowly made his way to the front door. He turned to grab a set of keys for Leo's car. "I'm going to drive myself home, get some rest and in the morning, if I still feel shit, I'm going to trash his car", he grinned at me wickedly. I tried to get him to stay and let me tend to his wounds but he refused. I waved at him as he exited the drive. I groaned in anger as I realised I was now without a ride, it was late, and I was stuck in the house of a maniac.
After contemplating for an hour, I finally waked up the courage to go inspect Leo's whereabouts. I tiptoed up the stairs and stood outside his room. I must have stood there for 5 whole minutes, listening for any 'odd/dangerous/angry' sounds and after hearing nothing weird, I knocked. No answer. I knocked again, this time more boldly. I was about to turn and walk back down the stairs when he opened his door.
"What do you want?"
"I- I just came to see- holy shit", I gasped. His left hand was covered in purple patches and already forming bruises. He hadn't hit Alex that hard had he? "What the hell's up with your hand, Leo?"
"Nothing." He moved his hand behind the door. "You should go home."
"Shut up, you're being rude", I seemed to have grown balls as I pushed past him and entered his room. I quickly realised he had been hitting his wall because their was now a dent in it. "Why?"
"Why, what?" He spoke in a low tone.
"Why all the rage Leo? Why hit Alex? Why hit the wall? Why get so mad?" I pleaded to him with my eyes to tell me.
"Just 'cos". He shrugged his shoulder in cockiness and toughness. He coughed before meeting my eyes. "Did you...did you really kiss him Ari?" His tone had turned warm again, a sign that my old Leo was returning from the world of dark rage and blinded fury.
I scoffed in lightly. "No, gosh no". His eyes warmed for an instant and the corner of his mouth turned up for a second. "You called me a bitch and I got mad and I wanted to hurt you..."
"So you told me my closest friend kissed you, yeah. Yeah, you got me Ari", he admitted. It was so crazy that despite all that had just happened, my insides danced. He had just admitted that he had in fact got jealous and that means, that meant...that he liked me? Enough to get angry over?
I opened my mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He walked over to me, slowly. With each step, his eyes lingered over my body, sending burning trails of heat to travel from my shoulder, down my chest and my legs. "You need to be taught a lesson", he spoke low, his hushed breath just a small distance from my face.
"For what"? I thanked the Lords that my voice didn't falter the way my knees felt like doing. He was literally making me feel weak.
"For tricking me like that Arielle", he was now looking at my lips with a hunger in his eyes. "That was cruel, so, so cruel", he taunted.
My heart beat quickened and my mouth went dry. This felt like a chase and I the prey. I was always the predator but with Leo, it was all different. He dipped his mouth to meet mine and nibble gently at my lower lip. I couldn't resist the urge to close my eyes and open my mouth. He needed no further invitation. His tongue delved into my mouth and entwined with mine. I bit into his lower lip, with just enough bit to make him growl. I wasn't the prey anymore. I grabbed his head and pulled his face closer to mine. His arm circled my waist and one hand went down to grab my ass. He broke the kiss to nibble on my neck and ear, making me gasp out a low moan. God, he was hitting all my right spots. He seemed to have know the pure pleasure he was giving me because he stopped. Just like that.
"This is a dangerous game", he smirked at me, his voice was still unsteady from our steamy kiss.
"I don't quit games", I whispered, my lips still stinging from the raw passion.
His eyes lingered onto mine and he stared right into my soul."They say, when you play with fire-" his husky voice was interrupted by my own, all hushed and breathy.
"Sooner or later, someone gets burned", I blinked slowly, taking in his beautiful features before turning and walking out of the room and away from my very own sexy, hot, weakness.