Half Moon || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 8: Late Night and Early Brownies

Leo and I were just playing a game of UNO on his couch in front of his coffee table. So far it had been pretty quiet, but it was soothing after getting out earlier. I was just in a daze with my last card left, not even realizing I didn't shout the key word. Leo was supposed to call me out and have me draw four more cards. I knew that he saw it, but for some reason he let me win anyway.

"Were you tired of playing," I guessed as we packed the cards back into their box.

"Nah, I just didn't notice you had one card left," he claimed, but I knew he was lying. I felt a small flutter in my heart from what he did for me. "I wonder where Cecilia and Tobey are. It's almost midnight." He checked the clock on the wall as my vision blurred when doing the same. I hadn't realized the hours had flown by, now understanding why I felt so tired.

"Cecilia can stay out a long time, and it is Los Angeles, so there's probably a lot to do late...," I trailed off.

"Hey! Sorry we got back so late. We ended up going to a million different places, and then we had a late dinner, and then traffic was stopped up for some reason," my sister rambled after bursting through the door. The guy who I assumed was Tobey came in after her, helping with carrying quite a few bags. "I kind of got carried away with the souvenir shops. Don't worry, I used some of the money I brought with me."

"I'm glad you had a good time," Leo cut in.

"Did you two have a good day?"

Leo looked over at me as he bit his lower lip before nodding to my sibling. "Yeah, it was really nice. We went to In-N-Out Burger, Kmart, and then we just spent the rest of the day playing games and watching tv here."

"That sounds like a good day too. Thank you for helping me carry my stuff up, Tobey. I had a lot of fun today," she addressed the boy behind her.

"No problem," Tobey responded.

"You want to stay the night, Tobey? You can sleep on the floor in my room or on the couch," Leo spoke up.

"No, I don't mind driving home. I'll see you later." He gave everyone a simple wave before leaving.

"Do you mind if I take a shower? The smog was extra high today, and I feel like I need to wash it off me," Cecilia shared.

"Nah, and I get it. I wish they could do something to fix the pollution here," Leo frowned.

"Me too," I quietly said, but he heard me, turning his head in my direction. My sister had already breezed into the bathroom before locking the door. "I guess I better get ready for bed too." I forced myself to stand as I felt a bit sad the day was over.

"Yeah," he replied, chewing on his bottom lip before rising from the sofa too.

I slipped into my bedroom to put on a fresh pair of light green pajamas, getting beneath the covers as I sighed softly through my nose.

"Hey...," Cecilia softly greeted, securely shutting the door behind her a little over an hour later. "So... How was your day really with Leo?" She sat on the edge of my mattress as I smiled faintly.

"Amazing. He gave me this purple ball, and said if I was ever tense I could just throw it around the apartment. He was chasing me for it at Kmart, and after he caught me he told me he did that to make sure I had fun living here. It was a whole thing."

"I want to hear every detail though." She sat up a bit straighter, her light blue eyes eager to hear more.

"It's kind of a long story. I mean, I guess it's not that long, but..."

"Come on, Hattie. I can tell you all about my day with Tobey too. He is such a great guy."

"Do you have a crush on him now," I discreetly smirked.

"Not really. I just see him as a friend. I click with Leo more... Not like that though! That's not what I meant," she corrected.

"I know." I weakly smiled as my eyelids drooped a bit. I couldn't help it when I fell asleep near the end of her stories, waking up to an empty room. I found Cecilia and Leo in the kitchen making brownies together. At first I just stayed hidden, seeing how they laughed together, him touching her arm as they bent over from laughing so hard. He accidentally splattered some of the batter on her face, causing her to chase him around the living room. Eventually they ran into each other on the balcony, just laughing all over again. It was hard for me not to become jealous. I knew my sister was determined there was nothing going on, but their chemistry was undeniable.

"Hey Hattie, you want to help us," Leo asked, scaring me as his voice took me by surprise.

"Oh sure," I stammered, following the two into the kitchen. "Isn't a little early to be making brownies?" It was only 9 in the morning so far.

"You know I can never sleep past 8, and I was craving chocolate," Cecilia piped up, giggling when Leo smeared chocolate down her nose. She ended up putting some on his cheek, them having a full on food war as I ducked everything. Just then the phone started to ring, forcing them to calm down.

"Hello," Leo asked as he grabbed the nearest cord phone. "Hang on, I'm going to take this into my room. It's kind of noisy in here."

Cecilia made a face, pretending to be upset as he merely grinned, rushing off to his own room.

"Finally I can get these in the oven with no distractions," she commented, placing the container inside. After at least an hour, my sister and I had already put fudge icing on the cooled brownies. "Maybe you should check on Leo. He's been in there a long time."

I followed her advice, carefully rapping on his door before pushing it open. "Leo," I hesitantly asked. I pressed my lips together when I realized he was still talking, just finishing up when he saw me.

"Hey, sorry I took so long. The director Baz Luhrmann called me. He's talking about doing a new movie on Romeo + Juliet. He suggested that I be in it, but I don't know. He's still working on it, but I don't know if I'm interested," Leo explained.

"Did he offer you a certain role or anything yet," I curiously wondered as I sat beside him on the edge of his bed.

"He wants me to play Romeo, but I'm just not sold on the idea yet, you know?"

I nodded a little as I gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I understand. It sounds like a good opportunity, but you should do what you want."

"Yeah, I only want to be in movies I'm really passionate about."

After a temporary pause I decided to speak up again. "So... the brownies are ready."

"That's good, because I'm kind of hungry. I haven't had lunch yet," he lowly chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess we're having dessert out of order," I lightly smiled. We both stood to join Cecilia, but before we left Leo spoke up again.

"Sorry about the mess earlier. I made sure not to let any of the brownie stuff get on you. I didn't think you'd like that."

"Thanks," I told him with a subtle smile. It made me wonder if he could tell I felt left out as Cecilia and him ran together. My heart thudded at how he was always thinking about me.

A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to comment, vote, and follow. Thank you so much! <3