Treasure (A Bruno Mars FanFiction)

Chapter 16: Ex-Factor

It Could All Be So Simple
But, You'd Rather Make It Hard
Loving You Is Like A Battle
And We'll Both End Up With Scars
Tell Me, Who I Have To Be
To Gain Some Reciprocity
See No One Loves You More Than Me
And No One Ever Will

"Hill, Lauryn. Ex-factor. Lauryn Hill. Rec. 28 Aug. 1998. Ruffhouse, 1998. CD."
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Val's POV

I slowly awoke to the sound of the front door opening and closing. I looked at the clock.

2:16 AM

After several moments of silence, I heard slow, heavy footsteps climbing the stairs. I reached over to shake Leo awake, but he wasn't there. Suddenly alarmed, I held my breath and tried not to make a sound. I heard the footsteps reach the top of the stairs and start coming down the hall toward my bedroom. A dark shape hovered in the doorway for a moment then entered the bedroom, moving very slowly. I quickly hopped out of bed, grabbing the baseball bat that I kept by my bedside and flipping on the lamp. I screamed and charged at the shadowy figure, ready to fight for my life. The figure yelped, quickly shielding his face with his arms as he scrambled to hide behind the bedroom door.

"Woman, have you lost your mind!?" Leo yelled, glaring at me from behind the door. His mouth was hanging open in shock.

Startled that my suspected intruder was Leo, I quickly dropped the bat.

"What the hell?!!" He fumed at me. "I come home after busting my butt all day and my fiancé attacks me with a Louisville Slugger. I knew I shouldn't have bought that damned thing! What is wrong with you?!"

"Leo, you scared the crap out of me! Where have you been all this time? It's 2:17 in the morning; you should have been home hours ago. You didn't say anything about coming home this late!" I snapped, rubbing my tired eyes. "I heard footsteps on the stairs in the middle of the frickin' night and I was afraid. I thought somebody had broken into our house, so I was gonna beat the hell out of them."

Leo kicked off his shoes and socks and took off his t-shirt. I climbed back into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. My heartbeat was slowly going back to normal.

"So where have you been all this time?" I demanded.

"I went to see my mom. She called and said she needed her medicine refilled. You know I had to take it to her. Dad is away at a church retreat. I hung out at her house for a while, talking and looking through old family pictures." He explained, taking off his jeans and pulling on a pair of sweat pants. Leo fluffed his pillow and climbed into bed beside me.

I stared at him suspiciously. I wanted to believe him, but it was hard to. Leo has cheated on his other girlfriends in the past. Then again, those were girlfriends; I'm his fiancé...................... Nope, that still doesn't change the fact that he cheated in the past. This fool had better not be cheating on me!!

"So... Did you move a lot of stuff into the new house?" I asked, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yeah." Leo replied with a yawn. "The couches and beds were delivered today. I moved in the pool table, Pac-Man machine, and the couches for the basement. When did Bel Bambini say they are delivering the stuff for the baby's room?"

"May 17th. You still have time to paint the room."

"Okay, good. The paint is supposed to get here the day after tomorrow. What did you do today?"

"Nothing really. Well, Phil and I went to find a rehab place for B. We had lunch at Chipotle and then we went looking for Crystal. We weren't successful though." I said and looked away. This whole Crystal thing is really getting to me. Leo wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.