project: eden | leon kennedy

▪︎ Chapter 7 ▪︎

Screaming. Chaos. Blood.

"Eden."

Gunshots. Pain. More blood.

"Eden."

Heartache. Cold. Numbness.

"Thea!"

Thea jolted awake, her grip on her gun tightening as her green eyes frantically searched her surroundings. Unfortunately, all of this wasn't the worst nightmare she ever had, because she was still sitting on the cold concrete floor, her neck throbbing with pain as she moved her head too fast.

Then her eyes met with a familiar blue pair.

"You didn't die," Thea breathed out, her eyes scanning the boy's face, taking in his features. Her fingers twitched as the urge to touch him grew suddenly, but she caught it just in time to stop herself.

"You sound disappointed," Leon scoffed, the corner of his mouth lifting into a small smile. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Thea cleared her throat, averting her gaze from his face. Suddenly it felt so difficult to think while looking at him. She needed to put some space between them. She couldn't seem to get enough air in her lungs.

Hurriedly, Thea pushed herself onto her feet, running a hand through her hair and softening down the flyaway strands. She had to calm her fast heart. Was she having a heart attack? A panic attack? A stroke?

"Where's Ada?" Leon asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at the coat laid over him.

"Went after Annette."

"And you let her go alone?" he looked up at her in disbelief, Thea throwing her arms in the air.

"The fuck was I supposed to do? Cuff her to the pipes? Leave you to bleed out? I think the fuck not," Thea put her hands on her hips, ready to scold his ass. Leon opened his mouth to answer but she cut him off. "What the fuck were you thinking anyway? Throwing yourself in front of me?"

"I saved you."

"That's where you fucked up the most," the girl let out a dry chuckle, averting her gaze from him. His eyebrows furrowed as he studied the girl, but it was impossible to know what was she thinking. You could never know with Thea Keller.

"What do you mean?" his voice came out softer, causing her jaw to tense. She would've preferred if he would match her energy and maybe even yell.

Because when he forgot to hate her, he was actually decent. And when he was decent, it made her heart skip a beat.

"You're the biggest idiot I had the disgrace to ever meet," Thea said, finally turning to face him. When her eyes met him, she felt like she could burn the whole world down. "An absolute asshole. I don't need you catching a bullet for me. I don't need you saving my life."

Leon tilted his head to the side, his bright eyes studying her features. She looked pissed like she could shoot someone. But he noticed the way her teeth caught her bottom lip, a thing she always did when she was anxious. Her stance was tense as hell, her breathing heavy.

She looked the same the first time he ever helped her out. It was in their first year at the academy, their first time being at the shooting range. She looked like a pretty princess, with the meanest scowl on her face. A princess who got pissed off by everybody else. She struggled to reload her weapon as fast as the others did, which only seemed to piss her off even more.

So Leon took it upon himself to step next to her and take the gun, showing her an easier way to reload faster than anybody else there. It was a trick he learned from an older cadet and he wanted to put it to use.