Behind the Cherry Tree, A Not-So-Short Story

27. Wonderful World

"So." I say with a grin, eyebrows raised with mischeif. 

"So what?" Leo says, trying to hide his smile as he walks through my bedroom door.

"So. Anything new?" I reply.

"Like what?" He plays dumb, arching one brow.

"Like a particular someone..." I trail off.

"Such as?"

I give him a pointed look. "Oh I don't know... if there's nothing new maybe we should just move onto another topic of conversation."

"I'M WITH TESS!" He shouts with pure joy, his voice trumping mine halfway through my sentence.

My grin is so wide it hurts, I feel like the Cheshire Cat.

"I know! I'm so happy for you!" I jump up squealing.

I slam into him, embracing him as tight as I can. He laughs and hugs me back.

"Took you guys long enough!" I say, pulling back to smack his chest with the flat of my hand.

"What to you mean?" He says, his face quizical.

"Seriously Leo? She's crazy about you! She always has been. She never thought you'd ever like her as much as she likes you and she never thought you'd come back for someone like her?"

"Someone like her? She's the most beautiful, funny, smart, quirky, wonderful, amazing girl I've ever met and I Mel it's so much more than like! If I just liked her I wouldn't have come back..."

"And I'm chopped liver." I interject, but he ignores me and continues.

"... unless I knew completely that I couldn't live without her. I met her for two days but Mel I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm scared though, scared that she'll get bored or that she'll freak if she finds out how much I want to be with her."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask, incredulous. "That's pretty much what any girl would want to hear from the man of her dreams! Are you saying that you love her?" 

Leo looks at me with his eyes sparkling, then he takes my hand and places it over his heart. 

"Everytime I hear her voice or think of her name my heart skips a beat."

"That's so sweet!" I wail.

"She's worth it." He grins.

"Well don't you belong on in a chick flick." I tease.

He rolls his eyes, blushing a little. "And you? Tess told me you had good news too."

"Will's taking me out!"

Leo's brow creases as he considers what I mean. "As in out out?"

"Yes! Out out! On a date out!"

His eyes widen and he yells his congratulations. He grabs my hand and twirls me and just like that we begin dancing around my room in a very bad, very untame waltz. By the time we're out of breath from laughing so hard and dancing my room is pretty much trashed from where we've accidentally knocked things over or off tables.

"But I thought you two were just best friends?" He asks as we lie on our backs on my bed, recovering.

"Yeah, well things change. I thought you and Tess were fighting!" 

"True and yeah well she wanted to change that so she sent me a text asking to meet up and try and sort our shit out you know. She said it was awkward and she didn't know where we stood. So we met up and then we somehow ended up hooking up and then we apologised and hooked up some more and then I just... well I just asked her to be my girlfriend. Then she said yes. Now she's mine and I'm never letting her go again." He smiles softly.