Tornado Warnings || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 9: A Few Months Later

Flashback to a few months later, and I felt lifeless. Leo hadn't contacted me, or responded to my simple texts since I told him to look up the Taylor Swift track. I sighed sadly as listened to the famous, Forever & Always (Taylor's Version).

The lines described me perfectly right now, "And I stare at the phone, he still hasn't called, and then you feel so low you can't feel nothing at all."

I had seen on the news that Leo had been seeming to console Camila on the beach recently. I wondered if they had experienced a fight, but I knew I needed to pick myself up and move on with my life. So, I pulled my hair that had grown a bit from its low ponytail, and went to wash my face. I then applied fresh makeup, feeling better as I dolled myself up even if I had nowhere to go. Eventually the premiere of my new movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru rolled around, which was near the end of June. The film was set to be released into theaters nationally on July 1st though. I smiled as I posed in my pale pink dress that shimmered, even though people were more interested in the bigger stars. I couldn't be more proud when I saw the finished product up on that large screen, awkwardly maneuvering through the crowds afterwards. Before I could step outside I saw a familiar face, a rosy hue dusting my cheeks as I casually went over to him.

"Did you come here with Camila," I guessed, impressed with how composed I was. I was worried my tone might come off as bitter.

"No, would you like to come with me back to my house? There's some things I need to talk to you about," Leo explained, all of my restraint thrown out the window. I would never pass up the opportunity to possibly be with him, even with how long he ignored me.

"Okay," I agreed, neither of us speaking the entire car ride. I kept staring at the passing scenery, my arms crossed as he concentrated on the road.

Once we stepped into his mansion the circulating cold air hit me, since it was a scorching hot summer. Leo used solar panels for electricity though to help save the environment.

"You did a great job in the movie. I could tell which character you were," he spoke up after clearing his throat a little.

"Thank you," I curtly replied, drifting to his kitchen. My heart ached out how the interior was exactly the same, the steady hum of the refrigerator comforting to me.

"I'm sorry I didn't contact you for so long. It was the only way I could completely focus on my relationship with Camila."

"Where is she by the way? Doesn't she hate me being here?" I delicately touched his swirly, dark grey countertop as I sensed him walking up to me.

"She doesn't live here anymore. We broke up recently." He chewed on his lower lip as I remained silent.

"She turned 25 recently too, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but that's not why we broke up. She didn't want her career to be defined by my name, and we had drifted apart with how much we traveled."

"Why would you want to be with me instead? Wouldn't you rather find another young model? I mean, I'm a year over your age limit."

"Sabrina, no one's ever made me feel the way you do. You've been my best friend, and somehow I'm crazy attracted to you at the same time," he lightly chuckled, me cursing how my heart fluttered with hope.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be skeptical. It just really hurt when you stopped talking to me. There were so many times I wanted to have our late night video chats again."

"I know, I saw you trying to call me," he guiltily confessed.

"So, you've told me how you feel about me, but that doesn't mean you want anything serious. We haven't even had the chance to date yet."

"Sabrina, I can't lie that I do tend to avoid commitment. I've never had an interest in raising a family and letting go of this fun life. I respect people who do, but marriage and all of that has never been in my plans."

"And I'm guessing it still isn't. Leo, I don't care if you don't see a forever with me right now, but I'll walk out right now if this is a relationship that could never go anywhere. I want a family someday. It's not a priority, but I would regret it if I didn't have at least one kid. And I want to get married someday. I'm so into you, but I can't just date seriously for fun. I know what I want, and that's not it."

"And I like the fact you know what you want, Sabrina. So many of the girls I've dated didn't. I can't promise a future with you, but I'm not going to rule it out either," he urged.

"Okay, so how's the long distance thing going to work?"

"I thought you could move in here. I have a guest bedroom if you want to take it at first," he offered.

I felt happiness well up inside of me, but I tried my best to conceal it. "I love my apartment in New York, but it gets so lonely out there. I would like to live with you, but you can't expect things to start where they left off. I'm still reeling from the months you didn't contact me."

"I understand. I'm not asking you to jump into things, just to give me a second chance, or a real one, since we were only friends before."

I bit my lower lip as an idea struck me. "What if I got an apartment in the city? That way it would be easier to take things slow."

"Alright. Would you like me to help you find one? I know some great ones in this area of Los Angeles," he informed me, scrolling through his phone to show me the options.

"Those places all look so nice," I expressed, us spending the rest of the afternoon home hunting.

I was able to move into my new place fairly quickly, having to travel back to New York to pick up all my things. Leo escorted me in a private jet that was fuel efficient, and I kept blushing as we talked while soaking in his hot tub on board. We were even sipping on champagne, and I discreetly ran my eyes over the light hair on his chest. Even though we agreed to take things slow, that didn't extinguish my attraction towards him.

"So," I stated once I was settled into my brand new apartment, clasping my hands together in front of me. "This is going to be weird seeing you without Camila being in the picture."

"Yeah, but it's nice not having to sneak around, except from paparazzi," he added. "If you ever need to see me then just call ahead of time and I'll unlock the garden gate, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you for loaning me one of your cars. I've never had one, since in New York there are taxis everywhere."

"No problem," he sweetly smiled, silence penetrating the room again.

"So, do you want to go out for dinner or something? I won't have time to cook, since I have all these boxes to unpack later," I faintly laughed.

"I could help you with unpacking now."

"You don't have to. I mean, it's not going to take ages, but there's enough stuff."

"No, I want to," he kindly said, already ripping the tape from one of the brown boxes. "You still have this?" There was fondness in his voice when he found the fluffy unicorn from Despicable Me.

"Of course. It's my favorite stuffed animal."

"Where do you want it," he wondered, hugging it as I almost laughed from the cute sight.

"Just on my bed in front of the pillows." I continued sorting things, shocked when we got finished in the matter of an hour. "Okay, now I'm starving," I admitted.

"Would you like to have vegan burgers and fries back at my place?"

"Isn't it getting kind of late," I asked, glancing at the round, turquoise wall clock that read ten at night.

"I have a guest bedroom," he innocently reminded me as I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, but only because I'm so hungry. You're not going to trick me into moving in so soon."

He was giving me that fond look again as I led us from the apartment, him locking the door behind us.

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