Awakening (8-chapter challenge)

- Two -

The clock struck two but Leo and Echo were still going strong. After they snuck out of the Barmaid, they found party after party after party. Echo bailed on their show, finding a morose Leo in need of a cure more intriguing.

"You're always so much fun when you're like this," Echo pointed out, waving a hand at Leo.

"Like what, exactly?" Leo shot back.

Echo just shrugged with a playful smirk. "Broody, I suppose. Some might say it's wrong to drown yourself in alcohol and drugs but I think it's what the doctor ordered." And Echo booped Leo's nose before leading him to their next destination.

The truth was, Leo had no idea why he was so bothered. It wasn't like he and Gabriel were exclusive, and Leo certainly had his fair share of people who would leap at the chance to sleep with him. Maybe it was the fact that Gabriel seemed to recognize Madeline, which was next to impossible. Madeline was about as far removed from Leo's world as possible. She preferred isolation and her books. He didn't think she went to any clubs or bars aside from Wendell's.

But when Gabriel saw her picture on Leo's phone, the look on Gabriel's face was clear as day.

Leo plunged into the dance floor, Echo close behind. He would party until he was numb to everything. Party until the answers arrived and he knew what to do next.

A well-respected and famous model, Leo had access to every club and bar in the city. He didn't have to wait in line or give his name. Once the bouncer saw him, Leo was in. His skin absorbed the neon lights, his heart beat to the rhythm of the music, and his sweat oozed with need and desire. He danced until everything blurred together, and he became one with the music and crush of dancers. Echo grinded against him, their face glistening with pearly beads of sweat. Even crushed in a sea of dancers, Echo exuded an otherworldly beauty that was impossible to ignore. With the harsh strobe lights pulsing through the club, Echo appeared downright ethereal. Too beautiful to be of this world.

Normally, Leo would have let other men and women interrupt their dance to pull Echo away—he wasn't one to stop anyone from having a good time. But, when one very inebriated man staggered between Leo and Echo, a twinge of possession gripped Leo. He grabbed the man and hauled him away from Echo, who didn't seem to notice as they turned their back, cheering for the DJ on stage.

"Not tonight," Leo growled in the man's ear. "They're mine."

The man, so far in his drunken stupor, blinked and shrugged off Leo. "Does it look like I care? I don't see a ring."

Leo sighed through his nose, a string of arguments pushing to the surface, though it was neither the time nor the place for such conversations. So, instead, he shouldered past the man who, much to Leo's satisfaction, stumbled back a few feet, and wrapped his arms around Echo's waist.

"Apparently, I need to put a ring on your finger to keep you from lecherous fools," he said, burrowing his nose under Echo's ear.

Echo turned with a laugh and threw their arms over Leo's neck. They smelled like sweat and flowers and Leo resisted the urge to nibble on their neck. "Oh, really? I never thought you were the possessive type, Leo Finch."

It was Leo's turn to laugh and he pulled away enough to see Echo's emerald eyes glittering in the strobe lights. "I'm not, but I'm more thinking about how amusing it would be if someone tried to put a ring on your finger."

"I'd like to see that too," Echo grinned, extending a hand as if examining a wedding ring. "Echo Finch. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

Leo groaned and ran a hand through Echo's silky hair. "Enough marriage talk, you're killing my mood." Echo laughed, mischief alight in their eyes and Leo pressed in closer, their bodies flesh against one another. "Let's really make these people jealous, hm?"