Delicate

Chapter Five

Milan tried to keep up with Leo, who was walking a few steps ahead. Milan wasn't short by any means, he was around 5'10", but Leo was taller than him by at least four inches.

Milan was shocked when Leo asked him whether he was coming with him. He had nodded rapidly, and said a hurried goodbye to Delilha and Jai before following the other boy. And now he was wondering why he did that. The silence was making him feel more and more awkward, so he finally decided to break it.

"So, uh, I'll take the bus home," Milan spoke up as they walked into the parking lot.

"The next bus won't be here for another half hour," Leo pointed out, "I'll drop you home."

"You don't have to," Milan immediately replied. Though a part of him really, really wanted Leo to.

"We live on the same street, you literally live on my way home," Leo said.

"Fair enough," Milan tried to be casual about it.

"Or we can go somewhere else first and finish our session?" Leo asked.

"Where?"

"Public library? Doubt we'll run into anyone there," Leo suggested.

"Cool," Milan replied.

Milan followed Leo to his car, a black Chevy. He didn't really know a lot about cars, but he felt that the sedan somehow suited Leo's personality. The two boys got into the front, but when Milan tried to wear the seatbelt, it wouldn't budge.

Leo noticed Milan's struggle, and leaned forward to help out the boy. Milan's breath hitched as he noticed the closeness between them. Leo was looking right into Milan's eyes as he grabbed the buckle, before pulling it with force.

"It gets stuck sometimes," Leo whispered, his voice deep, "you just have to know the right way to pull it out."

"Uh," Milan couldn't speak. He stared at Leo with slightly widened eyes as the older boy buckled him in. The corner of Leo's lips rose in a smirk, as he finally leant back into his own seat.

Once the two were settled, Leo started the car. Milan's heart was still beating fast from the little incident, and he cursed himself internally for getting so worked about something so small. Leo was just helping him out, it didn't mean anything. Nothing at all.

The radio played in the background as the two drove in silence. Leo wasn't much a talker, and Milan was too stunned to speak. He was consciously trying to stay quiet in Leo's presence too, since he didn't trust his mouth. He had the tendency to blurt out random stuff when anxious. And he really wanted to avoid saying anything stupid in front of the older boy.

After they reached the library, they found an empty table in the corner yet again. Both of them prayed that they don't run into anyone they knew, for their own separate reasons.

Time flew by as Milan helped Leo out with the assignment. The session was going well, and Milan was mentally applauding himself for not saying anything idiotic, well, until he did.

"You have really pretty eyelashes," Milan complimented.

Leo was sitting next to him, really close. And Milan just couldn't help but notice every single detail of the boy's face. He noticed how cute Leo looked whenever he furrowed his brows when he didn't understand something, or how intimidating he seemed when he stared at Milan with his constant poker face.

Milan also couldn't help but notice how pretty Leo's brown eyes were, and his incredibly long eyelashes.

"Thanks?" Leo replied, but it came off as a question. He was a little taken aback by how out of the blue the comment was.