𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅𝒚| ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ 2

Bugs and Borrowed Memories

I finish putting on my pyjamas before I reach for my hairbrush, planning on tying my hair up, when something flies directly past my face. I shriek, throwing my hairbrush towards the flying monster and race to the bedroom door. Seconds later Leon bursts in like a madman, his blue eyes fanatically searching for me.

"What the fuck! Are you alright?!" He panics, storming to me and capturing my face in his hands. I begin to nod, catching my breath from my moment of panic when suddenly the bug/moth thing flies around near the light, buzzing an orchestra of noise as I jump behind Leon, grabbing his arm as if he'll save me from the insect.

"Really?" Leon sighs, giving me an amused look over his shoulder. I pout and step back closer to the door, ready for an escape. Leon just stands there watching the bug, but an odd expression clouds his face, his jaw tenses and he visibly shakes it off before heading to the window and opening it in hopes of the bug flying out. "There, now you can-" He begins, but then another bigger insect comes flying in, all long legs and weird wings.

I shriek again, and this time even Leon's eyes widen. I run into the bedroom again, grabbing his hand and pulling him out before slamming the door shut. Both of us lean against it, breathing heavily as if we've escaped a war zone. I can't help it, I let out a small laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, but when I turn to look up at Leon I see he's not laughing.

He's staring at the floor, a far away look in his eyes. It's the same one he gets when he wakes up from a nightmare, or when he hears a sudden loud noise. I reach for his hand, pulling him back into reality.

"It's okay," I softly say, earning his attention, "they can't get us, besides they're only regular creepy crawlies." I reassure, squeezing his hand for extra measure. Leon takes a shaky inhale as he nods, slipping back to his usual controlled self.

"Yeah, they just...it's nothing." He sighs, heading into the living room. I shake my head, following behind him and gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not. You can talk to me about it, I won't judge." I smile, Leon turns and searches my eyes for a few seconds before nodding.

"They just reminded me of Spain, there were these massive insects, experiments obviously, but they'd just jump out of nowhere...it was unnerving." He mumbles, slumping on the sofa. I sit with him, grabbing one of my fluffy blankets.

"That sounds terrifying, I'm sorry. But hey, at least we can camp out here and watch movies all night." I shrug a shoulder, giving him a nudge as he huffs a laugh, laying down he pulls me onto him as I cover us with the blanket, and soon enough we're snuggled together watching Pulp Fiction, one of his favourite movies.

"We'll deal with the bugs tomorrow, together." I whisper, cupping Leon's jaw and pressing a kiss to it before closing my eyes and falling asleep in his arms.

The next morning after breakfast we're both prepared to finally go back into the bedroom. I clutch Leon's hand, giving him a nod as he swings open the door and immediately begins looking for the intruder. All is quiet, until one bug, the biggest one, begins crawling up the wall. I take a deep breath, forcing myself to keep calm for Leon's sake.

Surprisingly he doesn't hesitate, he walks to it, cups his hands, and catches the bug. He rushes to the still open window and throws it outside, closing the window afterwards. The room seems creepy crawly free, and I finally relax.

"My hero!" I cheer, grinning as I pretend to swoon. Leon chuckles, giving me a look but still smiles back and tackles me onto the bed, tickling my sides as I giggle and wriggle. Eventually he stops, so I reach up and kiss his lips, brushing my nose against his after. "I'm so proud of you, you're so much braver than you know." I murmur, feeling so glad I'm with a genuine knight in shining armour.