Peyton Ackley - The Beginning of Change

Chapter 29 - She's Mine

It was in the moments that I was with her that the whole world stopped spinning too fast. She grounded me and made me feel less out of the ordinary. I could feel everything I wanted with her and not once did I feel like I was being judged or ridiculed. After hearing her talk about having to learn to trust herself again through learning to trust me I realised that this girl was it for me. I truly couldn't ask for anything more.

After the drive back to London I only had an hour to get ready and stop by at Noah's to see Gabe before I had to turn around and go pick up Leah. I can't say it was the smoothest 'get ready' process, but eventually, I was heading out the door. Gabe was acting up more than usual when I dropped him off this morning which scared me when it came to leaving him with Noah, but I knew that I trusted that guy more than myself some days.

As I stopped at Noah's apartment I opened the door to see Kyra cuddled up on the couch with Gabe. "Kyra," I spoke softly hoping to just catch her attention. It must have worked because her attention immediately whipped to the door frame I was standing in.

"Hi," she replied as though she was a teenager being caught doing something she shouldn't.

"I see that this is going well?" I asked her to which she just nodded and smiled while wrapping an arm around my son.

"Hey, I see you let yourself in," Noah said as he appeared at the door.

"Yeah I'm kind of running late so thought I'd just drop by and see how it's going. Glad to see that you have some company. How has he been since this morning?" I questioned.

"He's been pretty good, haven't you Little Man?" Noah said looking over at Gabe.

"Mhm," he replied while laying his head on Kyra's chest.

Feeling like Gabe was safe with Noah and Kyra I headed over to Leah's which was 30 minutes from Noah's. I didn't know what to expect when I pulled up to her place but the sight I saw was something out of a movie. Her blonde hair hung straightened behind her ears and she wore a white tailored suit that fit her body perfectly. I stepped out of the car wanting to make a good first impression and her first immediately started to glow.

You can tell by someone's face whether they truly love you. You can see by their reactions to your arrival or your departure whether they were happy to see you or sad to see you leave. I could see Leah's eyes trail from my head to my feet and back to my eyes. As she approached I could see that she was reaching for my hips and immediately pulled me into a hug. I placed a kiss on her cheek before she caressed my jaw with her finger and placed a soft kiss on my lips. How could I not be falling for her?

"You look... gorgeous," she breathed out as she stepped back to assess my outfit once again.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I replied. "You ready to go?" I asked twisting the ring on her finger. She never took those rings off and it was something I was yet to question.

"Let's go," she said with a bright smile.

The trip to the restaurant wasn't far. I had immediately called an Italian restaurant nearby, after the meeting, to see if we could get a reservation, and thankfully they had a few spots left. As I drove I held my hand out for Leah to take and she happily intertwined her fingers with mine like she had time and time again. I watched her fixed gaze track the road as we drove along, she used to always seem stressed when we first met, but I thought it was getting better.

Leah used to twist the ring on her finger round and round whilst she waited for her appointments or spoke to me about her injury and I'd soon learnt that it was simply her coping mechanism. To see her twisting the ring on her free hand over and over again I felt slightly uncomfortable as it was her nervous stim.