Aurelio's Dilemma

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY

"You don't plan on asking Matt, right?" Leslie asked. "I don't think that would end well."

Aurelio shook his head. "Of course not. I'm not crazy. The only reason he's chill around me is because I never talk to him about personal stuff." He tapped the underside of the table as he thought. "Maybe I'll ask his mom."

"But that's a sensitive subject for her too. I don't think she'd appreciate you just randomly asking her about it."

"Well, true. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let me figure out how I'll reach her first. Matt said he hasn't seen her in three days."

Leslie froze for a moment, most likely contemplating the chance that Matt's mom left too. Then she shook her head. "I think she just comes home late and leaves early for work," she said. "And Matt probably didn't notice 'cause he was out or asleep." Aurelio nodded. He'd thought that too. "Anyway, so you can catch her if you wake up early enough and wait for her go out."

"I'll try that," Aurelio said, checking his phone. He yawned and quickly covered his mouth. "But it's too late now. She must've left already. I could still wait for her to come back later today, though. I would've tried to meet her wherever she works but even my parents know nothing about her."

"Yeah. Same here." Leslie touched the blank paper on the table and pursed her lips. "We didn't end up writing anything. We didn't come to a logical conclusion about this entire thing. We couldn't even 'work our way' back to the card. It kept getting more and more confusing." She sighed. "I have no idea how you kept all that in. I'm just...I'm sorry I couldn't really help."

Aurelio hummed. "So that's what 'sorry' coming out of your mouth sounds like."

"Hey! I have nothing against apologizing if it's actually warranted."

"It's not warranted here," Aurelio said, and he gave her a little smile. "Thanks for listening to me. I feel a little better now that I told someone."

"I'm glad, but you look even more exhausted than when you came. If you want..." She pointed at her bed over his shoulder. Aurelio subconsciously glanced back. "You can take a nap here and I'll make breakfast in the meantime. We'll continue discussing the situation after we eat. We still have time; my mom won't be here until evening."

"Nah. I'll help you make breakfast."

"Elio, come on. I feel like you might collapse. Just a little nap? I'll wake you up."

Aurelio snorted. "You wouldn't need to, trust me."

Leslie frowned. She mumbled, "Huh?" then, "Oh," a second later. Her confused frown turned pitiful. "I hope you know that there's nothing embarrassing about having nightmares."

Well. Maybe there wasn't. The bigger embarrassment was having someone actually watch him sob and scream his lungs out. Like hell he'd put himself in a situation like that, especially in front of Leslie. She'd seen enough of him freaking out like an idiot and freezing in the middle of the street. He couldn't jeopardize her perception of him any more.

"Yeah," Aurelio mumbled. "I'm hungry. Can we eat first?"

"Yeah. Come."

Aurelio followed her to the kitchen. After grabbing everything they needed, they sat next to each other at the corner of the table. Leslie started making toast with peanut butter and sliced straweberries, and when Aurelio reached to make his own, she smacked his hand away. "I'll make them," she said, then handed him his sandwich and pushed a glass of orange juice his way. "Vitamin C...good for your health, if you happen to give a shit about it." She gave him a sidelong glance and a playful smile as she prepared another toast.