Chapter 72- Taunting Sauces

[] A M E L I A []

Visiting Levi was the last stop for me. He wasn't officially allowed back home yet, since he was still undergoing a few necessities. Officer Santana had said that he would be released within the next few hours at the latest. I held her to that, and started making my way home when she said I wasn't allowed to wait there.

I sighed as I took off my belt, finally stepping onto my driveway. It had been a long morning, and I just wanted to nap now. I made my way up the porch, and made my way inside the house even quicker.

Once inside, I was surprised to hear noises from all over the house. Voices could be heard from the living room, and I frowned when I realized that everyone must be awake. Granted that it was 12 in the afternoon, but yesterday had taken a huge toll on everybody. I expected everyone to sleep in for a long time, preferably before I came back home.

I quickly kicked off my boots and hung up my jacket. Then, I made my way to the living room.

When I got there, I was surprised to see that everyone but mom was awake. Dad was sitting by the fireplace in his favourite chair, reading the newspaper. Jamal, Andre, and Gemma sat at the center table playing a game of Uno very animatedly. At last, my eyes landed on Leo.

My heart thudded against my chest when I saw him. His hair was dishevelled, as if he'd run his hands through it constantly. He was now wearing a shirt, and a blush coated my cheeks as I remembered how he looked when he was shirtless last night. He was pacing back and forth between the entrance to the living room and the dining room, his eyes on his phone.

None of them had noticed me yet, so I took a step further into the house.

"Good afternoon," I said with a smile to everyone.

All heads turned to me at once, but somehow, my eyes landed on Leo first. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he froze midstep.

I drowned out the sound of everyone else greeting me back, and could only focus on how Leo started making his way over to me in quick strides. He was in front of me in merely seconds, his hands immediately reaching up to touch me. But suddenly, he stopped last second, and brought his hand back down to his side. I frowned in confusion but he spoke before I could.

"Where have you been Amelia? Are you okay?" he asked, fumbling over his words as his eyes raked over my body.

He finally reached up, and I felt his hands caress my skin, his eyes darting over my bruises and checking for new ones too. I could only stare at him, unable to look away from his intense gaze as he looked over me with concern. His eyes finally met mine, and I saw his lips move in a tantalizing manner. It took me a few seconds to realize he was saying something to me.

"Amelia?" he said, shaking my shoulder a little.

I finally snapped out of my trance and blinked up at him.

"Sorry, what?" I mumbled.

He frowned at me, his hand coming up to cup my cheek.

"I asked where you went. I tried calling, but you didn't answer," he said, his voice laced with worry.

"I was gone to wrap up a few things. I'll tell you later," I said to him, quietly enough that no one else within hearing range could listen in.

He watched me silently then, and I sucked in a shaky breath when his thumb caressed the underside of my eye. I realized then that my eyes were probably swollen red, making him wonder what went wrong today. To ease his worry, I gave him a smile and leaned into his palm. He let out a deep breath as I did so, his hand on my cheek tightening slightly.

I suddenly remembered somehting important, my brows scrunching together. I finally leaned away from Leo's hand, peering over his side to face dad who was pretending not to watch us over his newspaper. He jolted when I made eye contact with him.

"Plus, I told dad I'll be gone. Dad, you didn't tell him?" I asked, genuinely confused.

To my surprise, dad burst out laughing.

A moment later, Jamal, Andre, and Gemma stopped their game and began laughing too.

"Sorry sweetie. He was just too funny!" Dad said through bursts of laughter.

I cracked a grin, unable to help but laugh along with everyone else as Leo scratched the back of his head in embarassment. I briefly wondered what happened in the time I was gone. Knowing Leo, he probably woke the entire house up to find out where I was.

Slightly feeling bad about the situation, I leaned toward Leo and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling myself closer to him. I turned to dad then, watching as he grinned at me.

"Hey, stop harassing my boyfriend," I said playfully to him.

Dad rolled his eyes at me.

"Alright, alright. But come on, he was hilarious!" Dad defended.

I chuckled and finally looked back to Leo. His mouth was slightly parted, his hands limp at his sides, brushing over my arms that were encased around his waist. I smiled up at him, and he finally zoned back into reality.

"Shit dude, your face is hilarious," Jamal said with a laugh.

I turned to Jamal at his comment, finding the three of them still laughing at Leo's reaction. I giggled and wrapped my arms tighter around Leo, hiding my face in his chest. I heard his heart beating wildly underneath my ear, and I smiled softly into his chest, not believing the effect I had on him. I sighed softly, closing my eyes as I hugged Leo.

Suddenly, I heard loud footsteps reaching the bottom of the staircase just behind me.

"Boy- WHAT?!"

My eyes snapped opened and I leapt away from Leo as if I was burned. I turned to face the staircase slowly, cringing slightly when I saw Mom staring at Leo and I with pure anger etched across her face.

I heard shuffling behind me, and I prayed that Leo wouldn't do anything stupid. However, I was relieved to see that Dad had moved from his chair, and came to stand beside me protectively. I looked up at him, and he gave me a reassuring smile. I let out a deep breath and turned to face Mom again. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Gemma, Jamal, and Andre were also standing now, nervousness also taking over them.

Mom took a step closer to me, coming to a stand in front of me. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared me down.

"What is going on here, Amelia?" She asked.

I swallowed thickly, my brain turning to mush at the thought of mom finding out about Leo and I like this. Before Dad and I could say anything, we heard a quiet laugh to my side. I froze, turning to my side to see Leo grinning lightly. Mom turned to him with a steely gaze.

"Oh, I get it, this is another joke, isn't it, Cass?" Leo jokingly said, patting Mom's arm.

I sucked in a breath, momentarily forgetting how to breathe.

"Paws off, Leo," Mom said sternly.

Finally realizing that she wasn't joking, Leo swallowed and quickly took his arm off of Mom's arm.

I suddenly remembered something to take Mom's mind off of this situation. I turned to her desperately, and she turned to me with a raised brow.

"Mom, you should call the station now. The officer said that they will let Levi go soon."

Mom finally softened and nodded. I sighed in relief as she finally dropped her arms and looked away from Leo, turning to me.

"This isn't over, Amelia. Over dinner, we're discussing about why you're talking about this boy being your boyfriend. This boy that has shown up in my house covered in bruises."

We all stiffened when she said this.

So this is why Mom had been so negative about Leo since she saw him.

Because she saw him covered in the bruises he took for me.

But she doesn't know that. She doesn't know about everything Jackson had done. And I couldn't tell her. I couldn't tell her that he was covered in bruises because Jackson hit him. That would open up a whole new world that I could never let my mom into. At least not yet.

I can't have her feeling more guilty than she already did.

With one last look, Mom turned away from me and headed for her room again. We all sighed in relief and I turned to Dad when he called my name.

"I'll go start on lunch. You kids stay here okay?" Dad said.

We all nodded and Dad turned to me, briefing pulling me into a hug and kissing the top of my head.

"Don't worry, Amelia. She'll come around," Dad said, looking behind me briefly as he did so.

It took me a moment to realize that the other half of what he said was directed at Leo.

As soon as Dad left for the kitchen, I was suddenly spun around. I gasped as my body came into contact with Leo's, his arms around my waist, my arms encased between us.

"Boyfriend, huh?" He asked, grinning down at me.

I smiled back at him, not being able to say anything. He slowly leaned forward, his eyes capturing mine once, before he closed them and leaned down to capture my lips in his.

And all I could hear was the erratic pounding of my heart, and Jamal, Andre and Gemma rooting quietly for us in the background.

* * *

Once Mom found out that Levi would here at around 8 in the evening, she quickly started arranging things to make a huge feast for him tonight. Since it was also unfortunately our last night here, she wanted to make sure we were well-fed before we left.

It was nearing 7 now, and I was the first to be ready. I was in the kitchen, stirring a pasta sauce, and I couldn't help but think of all that's happened in the past few days.

Up until yesterday, I was the sister of a rapist and a murderer.

Today, I was the sister of an innocent boy who was judged wrongly by the courts.

It's weird how just one statement can flip your life around. Up until yesterday, people found a way to give us dirty looks every time we went out. Found any way they could to shun us from the community.

Today, neighbors and friends we hadn't spoken to in years, had come to our door to apologize. And to see the boy who spent four years in jail without committing a crime, as if he was some artifact. Sadly, they didn't care about the times they had become our ruin, but only remembered that they had apologized in the end.

But what did that fix?

It didn't fix that Levi spent four years behind bars. It didn't fix that Dad was let go of his job, and that he spent 7 months, looking for a new one. It didn't fix that all my mom's so-called best friends left her when she needed them the most. And it certainly didn't fix that I was bullied all this time, while I suffered the loss of my best friend and my brother at the same time.

It got me thinking, that even for a moment, that if Levi was responsible, was it okay for everyone to continue to treat us this way?

For the longest time, my answer would've been yes.

However, now, I wasn't so sure about that. Why was I treated badly for something my brother did? Couldn't they see that I had been hurt enough? And why punish me when the actual culprit was getting what they deserved? What purpose did that serve?

Did that make people feel better? Was that it?

Treating me and my family as if we were the culprits, wasn't fair.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist from behind. I gasped in surprise, and I turned slightly, only to see a head of brown hair over my shoulder. I felt Leo's forehead resting on my shoulder, his body burning into mine from behind. I gasped as I felt him, and tried to pry his arms off of me with my free hand, since one was still holding a wooden spoon. He grumbled into my shoulder, his arms wrapping tighter around me.

"Leo!" I gasped, trying to look over his head to see if Mom was coming.

"I missed you, Moonie," he mumbled against my skin.

"You just saw me like 20 minutes ago," I said.

Leo turned his head, tickling my partially bare shoulder as he moved. I squealed quietly when he pressed a soft kiss to the side of my neck.

"Too long," he mumbled.

His arm on my waist was causing all sorts of emotions to run through me, and I couldn't help but clutch the wooden spoon tighter, the hand that was once swatting him away, now clutching onto his arm.

"Mom could be here any second," I breathed out as he pressed a kiss under my ear.

"Stop being a scaredy cat," he joked against my neck.

I shivered under his touch and he chuckled into the croon of my neck, his lips brushing over my skin ever so slightly.

"Don't worry, I'll hear her come in-"

"Sure you will," we heard a voice say.

I squealed, jumping apart from Leo. He dropped his arms from my waist and quickly pretended to stretch them, as if that's what he's been doing all this time. If it wasn't for the fact that Mom was standing behind us, I would've laughed at him.

I whirled around to face Mom, paling when I saw her standing across the kitchen from us, her arms crossed over her chest. Leo was still standing beside me, his arms now folded behind his back.

I gulped as I watched Mom, trying to decipher what she was about to say. She only stared us down. I opened my mouth to say something, but then I heard a sizzling sound behind me. I quickly turned to see that the pasta sauce was boiling rapidly now.

"Oh darn," I muttered, quickly stirring the sauce, the wooden spoon still in my hand.

As I stirred, the awkward silence stretched on, giving me a moment to gather my thoughts. When I was done, I lowered the heat on the stove and turned around to face Mom again, ignoring Leo's burning gaze on me. As I turned, the wooden spoon in my grasp again, I didn't realize that the end of the spoon was caught in the pot. When I realized it, I was a second too late.

Within seconds, the burning hot wooden spoon tumbled from my hand, falling straight onto my foot. It didn't hurt, but the action caught me by surprise. Pasta sauce splattered over my foot, and I jumped a little, feeling a slight pressure on my already swollen ankle.

It was dumb really.

And it didn't even hurt much, however, the moment I let out a small yelp, Leo was at my side in a panic.

"Moonie!" he yelled out of worry.

He suddenly came in front of my vision as I leaned against the counter, my foot in my hand. He reached up to cup my face, and then he was gone in an instant. I watched as he scurried to the sink, used the spare towel on the side and put it under cold water. He then quickly ran to my side again, not bothering to shut the tap off.

I let out a small whine, not able to say anything else. By then, the pasta sauce had been scorching my skin, and I was trying not to hiss in pain.

Leo was in front of me in seconds, quickly getting down to his knees. I let out a small gasp as he brought my foot down on his knee, the cold wet towel instantly engulfing my foot. It felt good, but I hated seeing Leo like that in front of me, his brows creased in worry as he cleaned my foot.

"It's just a small burn, get up Leo," I said, reaching down to take the towel out of his hand.

Leo looked up at me, a glare on his face.

"Shut up, you're still hurt Moonie."

"So are you," I argued, putting one hand on his shoulder to steady myself.

"Is it better now?"

"It was fine two minutes ago Leo. Get up, you're hurting yourself."

He completely ignored me once more. He pulled the towel off of my foot and inspected my ankle.

"I think I hurt your ankle more by doing this. Shit, maybe we should go to the doctor," he muttered under his breath.

"Yes, and send you to the crazy ward while we're there," I said with a small chuckle.

Leo huffed and looked up at me. He suddenly moved his hand and brought it under my foot, tickling it lightly. I squirmed as he did this, my hand tightening on his shoulder as I burst into a fit of giggles. I heard him laugh along with me, his hand stopping its movements after a few seconds. He slowly stopped laughing then, gazing up at me with a sombre look.

His eyes were burning with love, and I couldn't help but stare back at him with a small, shy smile. The position wasn't helping, as he looked up at me with my foot in his hands. He looked up at me as if I held the key to life, and I hope he could see that I felt the same about him. My hand grabbed tightly at his shoulder, the other tightening on the counter behind me. And he kept gazing at me with that look.

And I felt myself falling even more in love with him.