More Than Just A Friend (A Bruno Mars Fan Fic)

Chapter 72 Part 1

Thurs

3 days later

She feels ridiculous feeling this nervous and hopes what happened yesterday doesn't happen again which had been embarrassing when she'd opened her mouth to sing with Bruno and nothing had come out and she'd ran out of the family room feeling humiliated and stupid and locked herself in the bathroom and tossed her cookies, she closes her eyes and tells herself, you can do this Leila and she says a silent prayer that she won't let Bruno down and disappoint him again.

He can tell Leila is nervous as she stands beside the piano and he tells her, there's nothing to be nervous about baby, it's just you, me and Geronimo here and Leila bites her lip and slowly sits down beside him on the piano seat and he can see her hands shaking and Bruno wonders if she'll run out like she did yesterday when she'd tried to sing with him and nothing had come out and she'd ran out of the family room and into the bathroom where she'd been sick and it had taken him nearly an hour to talk her into unlocking the door and to come out of the bathroom, he's seen Leila nervous before but not like yesterday, he clasps her left hand and tells her, maybe it's too soon to try again, there's no rush or pressure and Leila clears her throat and tells him, no, it's ok, I told you I would sing with you and he tells her, sometimes at my shows when I point my microphone at the crowd to sing it's not just to get them singing but because i've gone blank, forgotten the words to my own damn song and when I remember the words I start singing again and Bruno gets an idea and tells her, i'm going to sing, jump in when you feel ready to and she quietly tells him, ok and he lays his hands over the piano keys and starts to play Just the way you are and he hopes Leila relaxes.

She grins as they finish singing Build me up buttercup, feeling relaxed and happy and relieved that she finally managed to sing with Bruno and Bruno grins at her and puts his arm around her shoulders and asks her, that wasn't so bad now was it and she shakes her head and tells him, no, it really wasn't, it was fun, i'm sorry I didn't start singing with you until you started singing the last verse of Just the way you are and Bruno kisses her and tells her, you've nothing to be sorry for, we've sang 5 songs together baby, i'm proud of you Leila and now you know that singing with me isn't scary or anything to feel nervous about, it's fun, we sound great together and we should make this a regular thing and she smiles and tells him, i'd love that and seeing how happy Bruno is makes Leila glad that she'd pushed herself to try and sing with him this morning and she kisses him and tells him, thanks for being patient with me, i'm going to make you a cake and Bruno grins and asks her, really and she smiles and asks him, do you want me to make you a chocolate or coconut cake and Bruno asks her, can't I have both and she laughs and tells him, yes, you can and he grins and kisses her and his phone rings and he picks it up and she sees Jaime's name on his phone and she tells him, you should get that, i'm going to go bake those cakes for you and she gives him a quick kiss and gets up and leaves the family room.

She smiles at Bruno as he walks into the kitchen as she finishes icing I love you onto his chocolate cake and she looks at it and the coconut cake beside it that she's finished making for him and asks him, what do you think and he tells her, they look great, I can't wait to have a slice of them and Leila smiles feeling pleased with herself and tells him, if you're not full from lunch then help yourself and she starts clearing up and Bruno tells her, Jaime told me earlier that she's been trying to call you to apologise, to try and work things out with you and Leila feels annoyed, she knew there was something on Bruno's mind after he'd talked to Jaime on the phone earlier and she'd had a feeling it was about her and Jaime which is why she hadn't asked him about it and Bruno says her name and she tells him, I blocked Jaime's number on my phone and i've blocked her on my social media accounts and Bruno looks surprised and asks her, how do you expect you 2 to get anywhere if she can't contact you and Leila pushes the anger she feels away and tells him, I don't, I wouldn't believe another apology from Jaime or much of anything else that she says anymore, I told you I was done with her and I meant it, just like I meant it when I told her i'd be keeping my distance with her but i'll be civil when i'm around her, I don't expect you to like it, but I do expect you to accept and respect where I stand on this and she can tell that Bruno is annoyed and she silently tells him, welcome to the club and she cleans the counter top and hopes he'll drop this now because she doesn't know how much longer she can keep her anger under control.

He can tell that Leila is annoyed like him and she's losing her patience and he tells her, I do accept and respect where you stand with Jaime, I just want you 2 to be ok with each other again and he asks her, isn't there any way to make this right, get things back to how they were with you 2 and he's shocked as Leila explodes and tells him, your fucking sister is in the wrong, but you want me to make things right with her and i'll live the rest of my life with her making me feel like shit as she continues to disrespect me, disregard my fucking feelings and do as she fucking well pleases, because she's your fucking sister and she can do whatever the fuck she wants and to hell with how I fucking feel, I should just suck it up and let her treat me like shit, I love you Bruno, but i'm not going to do that and he tells her, of course not, I don't want that and he reaches for her and she backs away from him and walks out of the kitchen and he follows her and tells her, I know what Jaime did was wrong and i've told her so and as he follows Leila into their bedroom he asks her, is it so wrong for me to want you 2 to make up and she tells him, no, but you should know you're wasting your time because I don't want to make up with her and she takes her purse and keys out of the drawer of her nightstand and tells him, I need to get out of here and cool down before I say something we'll both regret.

She runs down the stairs with Bruno following her, asking her to stay and talk and he asks her, where are you going and she tells him, out, i'm just going out and he follows her outside and she gets into her car quickly and Bruno grabs the car door and she tries to pull the door closed but Bruno's grip on it is too strong for her to break and she tells him, let go of the door and he tells her, no and she tells him, before we got together we had the odd disagreement but we'd never argued, maybe we should've just stayed friends and she can see the shock on Bruno's face and he tells her, you don't mean that and she yanks on the car door hard and gets it out of Bruno's grip and she closes the car door quickly and locks her car doors just as Bruno tries to open her car door and she starts the car and Bruno shouts at her, tell me you don't fucking mean that Leila and she drives along the driveway and activates her remote control to open the gates and she looks in her rear view mirror and sees that Bruno is still standing where she left him and she drives through the gates and hopes that they can work this out when she gets home.

She gets into her car and takes a sip of the coffee she's just bought at Starbucks and now that she's not driving which had distracted her for the last 3 hours, she thinks about what had happened with Bruno and Leila feels angry and hurt all over again and she realises that this might be something they can't work through, this might be what breaks them up and the pain that comes with that thought takes her breath away and she cries and decides that before she goes back home and faces Bruno she needs to prepare herself for losing him and Leila promises herself that if that happens she'll never let her guard down again with another man and she'll never let herself fall in love again.

He runs his fingers through his hair and wonders where the hell Leila is and when will she come home, and he looks at her phone on top of the coffee table that he'd found on top of the breakfast bar an hour ago and resists the urge to pick it up and throw it against the wall and he walks over to the window and looks out hoping to see Leila come home and for the millionth time since Leila drove away, Bruno mentally kicks himself for letting Leila drive when she was so angry and upset and he prays that she's safe and she'll be home soon so they can work this out.