Chapter 68- Taunting Bruises

[] A M E L I A []

I knocked on the guest bedroom door lightly, the medicine kit in my hand nearly falling at the action. It was nearing midnight, and we had all gotten home an hour ago.

When we got home, John had left for his house and the rest of us made our way inside. We had dinner then, after the longest day in history, and all retired to our rooms afterward. Mom had welcomed the boys with open arms, minus Leo for some unknown reason, and had distributed them all around the house. Currently, Gemma and I were in my room, Jamal and Andre in one guest bedroom, and Leo was in the smallest room in our house. It was a room under our grand staircase, furnished with a small bed in the corner and one lamp that illuminated the entire room. When we were young, Levi and I used to stay there to watch movies on our projector. It hadn't been in much use since then. It was clean, but not big enough for a guy like Leo. I couldn't even fight mom on it, since Leo had given me a look telling me to shut up when mom had told him where he wouldbe sleeping. He only smiled at mom, thanked her, then headed for the four foot door.

As I knocked on the creaky door now, I wished I fought mom on it. Leo didn't deserve to be here. He deserved to sleep on a proper bed, in a room with sufficient heating, and deserved much more. He deserved all the good in the world.

A few moments later, I heard shuffling on the other side. Then I heard a loud thud, accompanied by a curse, and I sighed presuming that Leo stubbed his foot into the bed or something. I couldn't help but feel awful about this situation. However, as soon as the door opened and I saw Leo's eyes brighten the moment he saw me, I couldn't help but care where we were at the moment. He looked at me as if we were touring the moon or something, and not standing in the doorway of my childhood hangout room. His eyes twinkled as he looked at me, and he planted one elbow onto the doorway as he leaned down towards me.

"What are you doing here Moonie? What if someone sees you?" He whispered sarcastically, looking behind me to see if someone was around.

I narrowed my eyes at him and lightly pushed his shoulders using my free hand, nudging him back into the room. He chuckled lightly and made room for me to come in. I, however, was not in the mood for his silly games. Once inside, I placed the medicine kit on the side table by the bed and turned to face him with my hands on my hips. He furrowed his brows at me in confusion and I only pointed to the bed.

"Sit down."

He obliged, slowly walking over the bed. He sighed and plopped down, his legs falling over the edge and resting on the floor. I stared him down, my eyes giving him a once over.

"What is it Moonie-"

He cut himself off then, his eyes falling to the medicine kit I had put down earlier. He groaned dramatically then, and I only glared harder at him.

"Moonie, I'm absolutely okay-"

"Shut up Leo. Take your shirt off," I instructed as I turned to the kit.

"Goodness Moonie, if you wanted me shirtless, you couldve just said so," Leo said flirtily.

I rolled my eyes at him and gave him a flat look. I took the medicine kit and plopped down beside Leo. The bed creaked as I sat, and I didn't let it bother me much as I turned to Leo.

"Stop distracting me and take it off Leo."

He cracked another fake grin at me.

"Too soon, don't you think Moonie?"

"I'm taking it off Leo," I said, reaching for his shirt.

His hand instinctively clasped around my own, stopping it just as it came in contact with the hem of his shirt. Leo didn't smile this time.

"Amelia, I'm okay-"

"Is it that bad Leo?"

My eyes didn't waver from his. I watched him deeply, my worry increasing by every second. He held my gaze, challenging me to let go first. When he saw that he wasn't going to win this, he finally sighed and hung his head. Ever so slowly, he brought my hand back to my lap. And then, he took off his shirt in one swift motion.

My vision blurred the moment I took in his naked torso. My hand flew to my mouth, a guttural gasp escaping me as I saw his chest.

Blue and yellow bruises covered nearly every inch of his body. A small scar lined just above the right side of his stomach, and it was the only wound that was patched up. A small blotch of red liquid covered the white cloth.

Did his stitches rip?

I raised a hand, slowly reaching over to run a ghostly hand over his bruises. Before I could touch him, Leo grabbed my hand in both of his. He turned towards me, one knee coming up to rest flat against the bed touching my own knee.

"Amelia. Stop crying, love."

Another sob escaped me when he said that. I looked up at him, tears relentlessly falling down my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Leo. None of this would've happened if you just hadn't met me."

At this, Leo's eyes widened. He suddenly took the hand he was holding and brought it roughly to rest against his heart. I lurched, thinking I had hurt him. But he proved me wrong when he simply rested my hand against his heart beat, not showing any signs of being hurt. I ended up being closer to him, our faces merely inches apart.

"This would've never happened either."

It took me a moment to realize he was talking about his heartbeat. I could feel it under my palm, beating just as fast as my own. I looked up at him again, watching as his brown eyes came clashing against my own.

"You make me feel alive Amelia. I would go through a thousand beatings just for a moment of this," he whispered, bringing his forehead to rest against mine.

A few tears escaped me at his words, and I heard him let out a soft groan as he quickly kissed both my cheeks, stopping the tears in their place. I pressed my palm harder onto his heart, loving the sensation of feeling his heart beating.

He was alive. And he was here with me.

"I'm sorry," I whispered breathlessly.

His brows furrowed in confusion.

"I can't imagine how badly they beat you up that night. When Gemma told me- goodness Leo," I cut myself off, breathing heavily as I leaned further into him.

I brought my forehead to rest into the croon of his neck, making sure not to touch any bruise. I felt Leo shudder against me, and I simply breathed him in.

"I felt like I was dying Leo. Every moment you were in that hospital, I felt like I couldn't breathe," I said against his skin, my tears falling onto his chest.

Leo's arms wound around me, his lips kissing the side of my head.

"I'm okay, Moonie. You're here, and I'm here. That's all I need, love."

After a few moments, I felt his hand coming up to cup my cheek. I finally pulled away from him and looked up to see his eyes trained on me.

"I was furious Amelia. Furious and absolutely broken when you didn't come. When you didn't call. When you just pushed me away without an explanation. I thought you didn't care anymore- and that hurt like a bitch."

My eyes watered once more.

"But I get it now. I do. And as much as I hate that you did things the way you did, I get it. Because I might have done the same," he said, wiping theast of my tears away.

After a few moments, I looked away from his piercing gaze and looked down to his chest again.

"Goodness Leo. How could he do that to you?" I whispered breathlessly.

I finally gained the courage to run my fingertips over his bruises, careful not to hurt him further. I felt Leo shudder under my touch, and I felt the shiver in my own bones as he did.

"Well it's kind of worth it now that you've got your hands all over me," he said cheekily.

I glared up at him and he chuckled at my reaction.

"Stop it Leo. It's not funny. You were in the hospital. Jamal said that you- you weren't breathing when he found you. And you left the hospital even when you were still hurt. And then you came here? Are you crazy? Your stitches reopened too, and you didn't mention anything the whole day! Were you just going to let yourself bleed out the whole night? And you said that- are you even listening?"

"Hmm?" Leo mumbled, his brow raising slightly distractingly.

I narrowed my eyes at him in annoyance. When I finally looked away fron his body to his eyes, I saw that while I had been busy lecturing him, he had started to play with a strand of hair that had kept falling over my face. His other arm had snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him as I spoke. His gaze was set on my face, but he wasn't listening to anything I was saying.

"Fine. If you're going to be this way then I'm leaving."

I started pulling away from him, annoyed that he was taking this so lightly. But before I could do that, Leo wrapped his arm tighter around me and pulled me back to face him. He moved closer to me on the bed, his eyes losing their mischievous touch and turning completely serious. Our bodies were inches from another, and I couldn't help but melt in his embrace.

"I'm here Amelia. I'm here, and I'm not leaving you. Jackson couldn't kill me Amelia. No force in this world could've hurt me before I saw you and heard you tell me you love me. Now I can die a happy man."

I sniffled as he spoke, his words holding a sincerity I never thought I'd hear from anyone. I could only shake my head at him as he pushed back my stray hairs and tucked them behind my ear, leaning in to kiss my cheek softly.

I then started cleaning his cuts and bruises again. As I applied the necessary medicines on him and changed out his bandages, Leo found a way to keep his hands on me the whole time. Either on my hips, in my hair, or around my waist, Leo's hands were always on me. His eyes never strayed from me, and as much I tried to focus on trying to clean him up, I couldn't help that my hands shook every once in a while out of nervousness, which always caused him to smirk wider at me. I finally finished up his chest and back, and turned to his face. He was still sporting a bruised cheek and jaw, but his eye was nearly fully recovered.

I softly grazed his jaw with my fingertips, and he closed his eyes, sighing as I did so. I cupped his face and leaned in to leave a kiss on his bruised jawline. He shivered, wrapping his arms tighter around me.

"Moonie," he mumbled breathlessly.

I slowly pulled back and started applying ointment on his jaw. I did the same for his cheek, and left another lingering kiss to his slightly swollen eye.

His eyes were still closed by the time I pulled back and I watched him silently for the next few moments.

"Don't ever do that again. Don't ever give someone so dangerous a reason to hurt you," I said quietly, my fingertips carressing his face softly.

At my words, Leo's eyes fluttered open again. He looked down at me, his mouth slightly parted.

"You're the dangerous one Amelia," he said.

I frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around my waist, causing my hands to fall on his chest as he snuggled me closer to him. His bright eyes came in contact with my own as he swiped another strand of hair behind my ear.

"I lied Amelia. That night when I said you could never hurt me. I lied," he said. "You can hurt me Amelia. When when you never came to visit me in the hospital, when you left with John when he came to English class, when you pushed me away when I first kissed you, and more recently, when you put yourself in danger to save me..."

He trailed off then, his eyes glazing over as he thought of something. My own mind drifted off to all the times he mentioned, my heart clenching at every memory.

"The list could go on on Moonie. You've hurt me countless times."

His gaze pierced my soul, and I couldn't help but suck in a breath at his words. No amount of apologies could change those times. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Leo brought his finger to my lips to shush me.

"Let me finish," he said pointedly.

I nodded and he removed his finger, only to bring his hand back around my waist.

"But I wouldn't change it for the world Moonie. Because it's you. It all lead back to you. What hurt was that every single one of those times, I couldn't do anything or say anything because you weren't with me. You weren't mine to impose anything on. I couldn't get mad or tell you how I really feel without confusing you. I didn't want you to confuse my feelings for pity," he explained.

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. He took in a deep breath then, his face inching closer to my own.

"I'm not taking the chance anymore, Amelia. Seeing Jackson hold a gun to you like that today..." he trailed off again as he closed his eyes.

His eyes squeezed shut painfully and I wedged my hand up from his chest to cup his face. He relaxed under my touch, his shoulders deflating and his face nudging into my palm. A few wet tears trailed down his cheeks and fell into my palm. My heart thumped against my chest as I watched him.

"I didn't say it then, but I nearly had a heart attack Moonie. When I saw Jackson was about to kill you, I thought I was going to die. I love you Moonie. I love you so much," he whispered, turning his head slightly to kiss my palm.

I squirmed in his hold, simply watching him in a daze. After a few moments, he finally pulled away from my hand and wiped away his tears quickly. To my surprise, he stood up then and took a few steps away from me. His back was to me, and the only light in the room casted a soft glow over him. For some reason, my heart ached as he did this.

"I can't do this anymore Amelia. I can't worry about you so much that it feels like my heart is breaking in two."

My heart shattered as he spoke. I watched him with an open mouth, not liking the way his voice sounded. For a moment, I saw a flash of the Leo I first met. Guarded and serious.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, Leo did, shattering rhe last of my world apart.

"Let's stop Moonie. Let's stop this before we break."