Delicate

Chapter Four

"Door's open," Leo answered when he heard a knock on his door.

Roan, Leo's adoptive parent, peeked in, before opening the door and entering the room. Leo was on his laptop, watching random YouTube videos. He paused them once Roan stood next to his chair, looking down at him expectantly.

"Dinner's ready," Roan said.

"I'll eat in my room," Leo answered.

"Leo," Roan sighed. "It's the third night that you're having dinner in your room. Are you still mad at Kai?"

"He should've asked me before assigning me a freaking tutor," Leo muttered.

"He did it because you're failing," Roan deadpanned. "You used to be so good at history. What happened? Is it because Kai is your teacher?"

"Wow." Leo finally looked at Roan, raising an eyebrow at the older man, "do you think I'm purposely failing? Do you think it's a cry for your attention or some crap like that?"

"That's not what I said," Roan frowned.

"That's what you implied," Leo retorted.

"You and Kai are more alike than you know, always putting words in my mouth," Roan said.

"I'm not like either of you. You know you're not my real parents, right?" Leo replied.

Roan seemed taken aback, even after over three years of living together, Leo was still sometimes as cold as he was on the first day they met.

"We may not be related by blood but that doesn't mean we're not a family, Leo," Roan said.

"Whatever you say," Leo muttered.

"You're nineteen, Leo, you need to—"

"Both of you need to stop telling me what to do," Leo snapped, cutting Roan off mid-sentence, "I know how old I am. Why don't you just kick me out if that's a problem? I'm an adult, you're not responsible for me anymore."

"Where... Where did that come from?" Roan frowned. "I don't know how many times I need to say this but—"

"Don't start with your we're family bullshit again—"

"Let me finish," Roan said sternly, his voice low yet strict, "I know that you don't think of us as your parents. That's okay. I don't expect you to. But I'm tired of telling you time and again that you're loved and cared for in this house. And it doesn't matter if you're an adult, we won't turn our back on you, ever. I don't know how to get you to accept it, if I have to say it to you a million fucking times then so be it."

Leo stayed quiet as he looked at Roan. Roan wasn't the one to talk a lot or wear his emotions on a sleeve, that was usually Kai. So, watching Roan give his monologue came as a bit of a shock to Leo.

"I'll be down in five," Leo muttered. Roan stayed silent for a moment, before giving the boy a nod and leaving the room.

~~~

Leo played around with the peas using the fork. He hated eating in the school cafeteria, but he had woken up late and forgot to take his lunch. He thought about going off campus to eat, but he just felt lazy and decided against the idea, which he was now regretting.

After Roan's speech the night before, and Kai's guilty looks the last couple of days, Leo decided that for their sake he would take his academics just a little bit more seriously. Just enough to graduate.

Leo knew the two cared about him. He never understood why he always kept accusing them of not doing so, maybe hearing them repeat the same words over and over again made him feel reassured. Or maybe he was just an asshole. Whatever the reason, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty now.