My Bully, My Neighbour

Chapter 13 (Edited)

Leo seemed very angry. He walked off without another word and I immediately followed him. "Leo! Where are you going?" I asked. I struggled to keep up with his stride. "I'm going home.You can stay if you want-" Leo said but I cut him off. "I'm coming with you." I said. He seemed taken aback. "Okay." He said. As we waited for the car, I texted Ronnie and Alan and told them that I was going home with Leo. Ronnie replied that she was staying back with Alan and that they would take a cab home. We were silent through the drive home. Hurt radiated off Leo in waves and I hated Prudence for doing this to him.I didn't know if he was ready to talk, so even I refrained from starting a conversation.

We got off the elevator and Leo went into his apartment without a word. I sighed and went home. I had a bowl of cereal to make up for the lack of dinner. I changed into my pyjamas- a large white cotton tee and comfy shorts and crawled into bed. I lay awake,unable to sleep because I suddenly began to feel responsible for Leo's condition. If only I had not gotten jealous and waked out, we would never had Prudence follow us out and that man would not have said what he said and maybe, everything would be the way it was before. I buried my head in my pillow and groaned. At that moment my phone buzzed. I had a text from Leo.

Leo- You still awake?

Me- Yeah. Do you need something?

Leo- Company. Could you open the door? I'm freezing out here.

I scrambled out of bed and ran to open the front door. Before I opened the door, I tried to make my hair more presentable by running my fingers through it. Once I was happy, I opened the door to find Leo standing on the other side. He was in his t-shirt and trackpants. "Come in." I said. I watched amusedly as he walked, dragging his pillow and comforter with him like a child going to sleep with his parents after a bad dream. I got him a glass water as he sat on the couch. "Thanks Aria. I would've gone over to Jake's place but-" "It's okay. I'm glad you chose to come here." I said. He sipped on the water and I awkwardly sat next to him. "Do you mind if I stay the night?" He asked eventually. "Of course not." I replied. We pulled the couch into a bed and I gave him extra sheets in case it got cold at night. "Did you have any dinner?" I asked him. "No." He replied.

So we ended up ordering Chinese from the place near our house and eating straight from the carton. "Wanna continue the question game?" Leo asked. "Only if you want to. Are you up for it?" I asked. "Yeah. You go first." Leo said. "Okay. Before we start, are Prudence questions off limit?" I asked just to be sure. "No. Maybe I brought up the game so that I could vent." Leo admitted. "Okay. Tell me about you guys. From the start." I said.

Leo took a deep breath and started talking. "I think it started in seventh grade. She liked me, I kind of liked her, so were together for a while. Then I shifted to New York and we lost contact. I knew that I couldn't handle a long-distance relationship, so I broke it off before I left. She was mad at me, but who wouldn't be? Then about a year ago, I ran into her in Chicago. I had gone there to meet Derek, but I ended up spending time with Prudence. My feelings hadn't changed much, neither had hers, so we decided to give it another shot. I figured, we both were older and more responsible so maybe it would work out. She stayed with me for about three months before she told me that she had to move to DC for work. My conscience bothered me, but I agreed to do the long-distance thing."

"About a month into the long-distance relationship she began to avoid my calls and messages. I began to get suspicious. I couldn't help but notice that sometimes, the room she answered my calls in weren't from her house. I would always hear noises in the background, but Prudence blamed it on her neighbours. I decided that I needed a break from the city life, so flew back to visit dad. We came to visit you and it felt like I had gotten a part of my childhood back. It was weird, how comfortable I felt around you. Then I helped you move in and you know what happened since." Leo concluded.

I nodded. "So I had nothing to do with your fight?" I asked. Leo chuckled. "Of course not. Last tag question." He reminded me. "Do you think you'll ever get back with her?" I hoped he would say no. "Nothing can ever make me go back to her. I've learnt my lesson." Leo said decidedly. "Okay." I smiled. "My turn." Leo said. "Ask away." I said dryly, and sat up straight.

"Why'd you leave school?" Leo asked. "You teased me a lot." I said simply. "You're kidding me." Leo looked shocked. "I'm serious. I was very sensitive about what people said to me. My princess life did not include pretty dresses and tiaras, you see. I wanted the typical fairytale princess life, but what I got was a very boring, political lifestyle. So I created this illusion that I would be the princess in school. And then you came into the picture, teasing me and bullying me. It shattered everything." I said with a small shrug. "Are you tired?" Leo asked me. I nodded yes and reminded him, "One tag question left." "Might as well make the most of it. Can you stay with me here?" He asked. "Okay, sure."

I got my pillow and blanket from my room and lay down next to him. The sofa-bed was tiny and didn't give me much space to keep a distance from him. It didn't help that he wrapped his arm around my waist and held me close. "One last question princess?" He asked me and I rolled my eyes. "You never did tell me who your first crush was." I said. "You really want to know?" He asked and I nodded. "It was you. You were my first crush and if you had stayed, then maybe you would've been my first girlfriend too." He mumbled. I blushed, but Leo couldn't see it, because he was fast asleep. I had the best sleep that night.