Sweater || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 9: You Shouldn't Have Let Me Go

"It's not what it looks like, daddy," I quickly cut in as my face flushed. "Leo did stay the night, but only because it stormed bad last night. The tree out front even fell down. I mean, it was because it was old, but it almost hit his car, and-"

"Are you okay," my dad cut in, concern in his blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Leo stayed over to comfort me, and also because I didn't want him driving if there was more damage on the roads. Nothing happened."

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter." He nodded towards Leo before giving me a small smile. "I guess it shouldn't bother me if anything happened. You are over the age of 21, but it's hard having your little girl start dating. I've never had to go through this before."

I blushed a bit since Leo was hearing all of this. "That's okay. I think it would bother any parent." I hugged my father as he did the same, us finally gravitating over to where Leo stood.

"So, you're Leo. It's nice to meet you." He held out his hand which Leo shook firmly.

"It's nice to meet you too. I've admired your work on the tonight show," Leo properly replied.

"We'll be happy to have you on it this Saturday once everything's set up. What do you say we head to the restaurant now? I'm already getting kind of hungry, and they're usually pretty packed. I had to make a reservation yesterday."

"Alright. Who's car are we taking," Leo wondered as I was drawn to his side like a magnet.

"It doesn't matter," my dad told him, us just settling on Leo's electric vehicle. "I can't believe how quiet this is. My car's in good condition, but it's still noisier than this."

"Yeah, electric cars are more quiet than traditional cars," Leo answered, still speaking formal.

Once we got to the restaurant, they let us go in early, since my dad had reserved the table already, assuming Leo would be meeting us here later.

I smiled warmly at Leo as he pulled my chair out for me, happily being seated. We were at a round, decent sized table for the three of us.

"So, Leo when did you first start getting into acting? Of course I guess I shouldn't ask you too many questions. We'll need to save some for our show."

Leo chuckled quietly before explaining about how he had wanted to act as a kid for money, since he wanted to help his mom with being a single parent. I couldn't help but gaze over at him lovingly, hanging on to every word as my dad asked multiple questions. I didn't even have to talk much as we ate, since their conversations were flowing so well. Of course my dad had learned how to keep exchanging words effortlessly, since that was part of his job. He was actually a naturally shy person. And Leo had a talent for speaking with people, one that I envied and admired at the same time. By the end of the evening we were all stuffed, and things were just beginning to quiet down.

"I had a nice time meeting you. It's good to know my daughter is in good hands," my dad told Leo after the drive back to my house.

"Thank you, sir."

"Please, you can call me Johnny. That's what you'll be calling me Saturday anyway."

"Alright, Johnny," Leo said, them sharing another sturdy handshake.

"Goodbye, daddy," I spoke up next, giving my dad a warm hug.

"Goodbye, Pamela. I'll see you soon too." He released me before heading for his car, Leo wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we watched him leave.

"That was so surreal. I never thought I'd get the chance to meet Johnny Carson. I heard he was retiring soon," Leo commented.

"He is, but he's going to do the show for another year or so. You two got along really well." I beamed up at him as he chuckled lowly, delicately kissing my temple.