𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅𝒚| ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ 2

Kitchen Encounters

"You can stay for as long as you need to, okay?" My best friend Diana says to me as I nod and clutch my bag of clothes and essentials tighter to my chest. My eyes drift past her to her roommate Leon. His blue eyes find mine as he leans against the doorframe, his brows furrowing deeper with every second that passes.

"Are you having a girls night or something?" He asks casually but there's a hint of curiosity in there.

Diana shakes her head, ushering me in as she locks the door behind me and pulls a face. "Y/N's staying with us for a while."

"Why?" Leon asks, standing straighter and stepping closer. My eyes drift to the floor as a mixture of embarrassment and sadness washes over me, sure I expected questions but it's a fresh wound that I don't particularly want to keep poking.

"My boyfriend kicked me out because he's found someone else." I mumble, "Well actually he was already with someone, and she finally came back from university so..." I add as Diana gently puts her arm around me. My eyes well with tears but I blink them away, not wanting to cry until I'm alone and can be sad in peace.

"Want me to go have a word with him?" Leon lightly asks, but when I look up his jaw is tense and he honestly looks ready for a brawl. I can't help but smile as I shake my head, that weird feeling I've always had around him niggling at my heart as our eyes meet.

"Nah, he's not worth it. I just want to devour some Doritos and watch some movies if that's okay?" I say, looking to a sympathetic Diana. She nods and leads me to the spare room they have, once again reassuring me that I'm okay and welcome here.

A few hours pass until it's quite late. After an hour long crying session and a binge watch of the first two Twilight movies to make me laugh I check the time, wincing at the fact I missed dinner. My stomach doesn't rumble though, no surprise since I stuck to my word and ate a whole bag of snacks, but I am thirsty.

I stand up, stretching before finally leaving the bedroom to head to the kitchen. All is quiet and empty at first as I enter, but as soon as I see Leon setting a glass aside, wearing nothing but grey sweatpants, my mind blanks. I freeze, staring at his body as my eyes slowly drift up, meeting his gaze.

"Sorry, I'll just-" I squeak out, backing away until he frowns and nods his head as if to beckon me in. I take a breath, going in and grabbing a glass from the top shelf, except I find I can't reach it even on my toes. I feel Leon stand behind me, his hand holds my waist as he reaches above me to grab the glass, a whiff of his expensive cologne almost has me drooling.

"Here," he murmurs, passing me the glass as our fingers touch. I blush and mumble a thanks before filling it up and taking a small sip. "Are you doing okay?" He asks after a minute or so.

I stop, feeling on edge once again as shame and unease fills me. I nod, putting the glass down and turning my head so he can't see the fresh tears that fill my eyes. I just feel so ashamed, even if it wasn't my fault, I still was part of the whole affair, except I was the one being led on.

Leon steps in front of me, his hand carefully reaching out and grabbing my chin between his fingers, he lifts my chin up as his eyes take root into mine. "Don't lie to me." He softly demands.

I swallow, letting out a shaky breath. "I-" I try, but my voice cracks and Leon ends up pulling me into a hug, his arms wrapping around me tightly as I cling to his bare shoulders, my forehead pressed against his warm chest. We stay like that in silence for a while until I notice his whole body has stiffened. "Shit, I'm making this so awkward I'm sorry." I apologise, pushing away from him, except he doesn't allow me to let go.

"No you're not, it's not that. I'm just...very very mad right now." He deeply replies as he shakes his head in denial. I raise my brows, wondering why he's so worked up.

"At me?"

"What?" He questions with a confused look, I can't think what to do, this is such a weirs situation, so I just push away properly this time and begin to apologise again. I reach the door before Leon grabs my hand and tugs me to his chest, he reaches out and brushes my hair away from my face as my eyes widen. "I didn't mean at you sweetheart. I hate the asshole who did this to you. Fuck, he really didn't deserve you."

My breath catches, but I roll my eyes to lighten this sudden heady atmosphere between us. "Don't be so cliché Leon." I smile. He chuckles in response, looking away for a brief second as if in thought.

"Alright," he whispers as all of a sudden he backs me into the counter, "how about this? If you were mine I'd never even think of another, you'd be my entire world and I wouldn't need anyone else but you. And I'd gladly give you my life, but even that wouldn't be enough to show you how much you mean to me."

I can't fucking breathe. I can't think. But words still come out of my mouth regardless.

"But I'm not yours."

"Yeah, but you could be." He murmurs, leaning his face closer to mine as my eyes flutter shut.

"Is there a late night meeting I'm missing?" Diana suddenly says, breaking the moment as she rubs her eyes. I jump away from Leon, shaking my head as I blush like crazy. Without another word I slip past her and rush to my room, closing the door behind me with my heart beating a million miles per hour.

I climb into bed, my mind racing faster than ever, I'm confused. I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm...disappointed?

A knock on the door stirs me out of my thoughts. "Come in." I call out to Diana, except Leon's the one that comes in, carrying my lost glass of water.

"Figured you wanted this since you only had a few sips." He says, setting the glass on the side. He sits on the edge of the bed, face inches away from mine, "But to be honest, I came to kiss you. You can tell me to go, punch me or push me away, but if you don't I'm going to do it."

I lick my lips, waiting and waiting until Leon's mouth finally meets mine. It's soft but deep, slow and steady. I almost moan at how good he is, my arms wrap around his neck and pull him onto me as we finally tell each other how we feel. And those weird feelings I've always had about him are now exposed as a crush.

"It's too soon for...that." I mumble between his lips as he slows down and nods in understanding, "but if you want you can stay, I don't mind the company."

Leon smirks, pecking me one last time as he climbs over me and under my covers, opening an arm for me to snuggle into. "Take all the time you need, I'll wait until you're ready again." He whispers as I close my eyes and hope for this relationship to not leave me in tears and agony.

Thankfully, it doesn't. If anything, life is much more brighter with Leon loving me.