Chapter 19

Leo's POV

I decided to put the flower on the nightstand next to my bed, setting it directly behind the alarm clock but still in view from the top end of my mattress where my pillows lie. It was about to turn five thirty in the morning and I still had no idea what I wanted to do about Kavaar. I knew my mom would be awake and moving around downstairs, preparing a breakfast for us. She did this almost every Saturday morning, woke up way too early, fixed an entire meal for us, then usually took Chloe to her see her grandmother till Monday while she went to the studio.

I didn't mind getting left alone for a few days, she always made sure to overload my bankcard with money so that I could get anything I needed. I used to go with Chloe all the time, but as I got older, I stopped wanting to go. It quickly became a chore, tedious even, when all grandma ever tried to do was go on dates with literally any woman she saw. I appreciated her tenacity, but it got old pretty quickly.

Getting up from my bed and walking to the corner of my room that had some simple weights, I started my usual morning workout, something I hadn't done since the car accident, and man, could my body tell. It hurt to lift pretty much anything at the moment, but I made myself power through it. If I wanted to maintain the body I worked hard to get I was going to have to work through it.

After about forty-five minutes I decided to stop and head downstairs. Mom already had Chloe up and her stuff packed, sitting her at the table with a bunch of food stacked on the plate. Looking over I saw my protein shake sitting at the opposite end and a large stack of French Toast and a tub of butter sitting next to it. I always appreciated the little things she did for me. She knew I always woke up early on Saturday's to work out, fix a shake, then go for a jog so she started having it ready for me.

"Good morning honey, how'd you sleep? Did you have a good time with the neighbor the other night?" she asked cheerfully as she turned around and took her place at the table.

I kind of forgot I had texted her I was there, but to be fair I had a fair amount to drink beforehand. I contemplated telling her a lie, making something up saying that I had a horrible time, that I never wanted to see the neighbor again, but I couldn't do it. My mother and I were really close, I'm sure I would get in trouble, but I didn't want to betray her trust. Told her everything that happened the other night, how I got drunk at a bar, almost hooked up with someone that turns out is my new English teacher, how I said I was afraid of shorts, as well as the awkward exchange at the house after I came home 'sick'.

I made sure to leave out what happened last night with me punching him after finding out it was him who I found rummaging through my car. She stayed quiet for a moment, not saying anything before breaking into an explosive laugh, catching Chloe and I both off our guard. I figured she would be angry, disappointed, pretty much anything aside from breaking into a laughing fit.

"You...HA-you said you were afraid of SHORTS?" She managed before breaking into another burst of laughter.

"Wait, so, I'm not in trouble for what I did?"

I had to wait a moment for her laughter to subside. It took a bit longer than I expected for her to compose herself, but when she finally came around, she looked me directly in my eyes and half smiled. I could tell what I said bothered her, but she was trying to hide it.

"Leo, I'm not happy with what you did. You know better than to drink at a bar, you could have gotten hurt going home with a random guy from a bar, so I am very disappointed in you for this. However, it looks like everything worked out in some weird hilarious turn of events, so I think you learned your lesson. You turn eighteen in two weeks. You're going to be an adult and I'll respect that."

I just sat there, flabbergasted at everything that just happened. She seemed genuinely okay with this.

"You said he's your teacher, right? How old is he?"

"I'm not sure, at least in his thirties, though." I responded in a rather meekly tone.

"Good for you! You know age doesn't bother me. Your father was twenty years older than me. I would ask if you are going to see him again, but with him being your teacher and all..." breaking into a fit of laughter once more

"Well, since I know you're cool with it that helps my chances, but probably doesn't help that I punched him in the face last night either." I responded with a slight chuckle.

I saw the look of sheer horror and amusement somehow cross her face all at once as I broke down everything that happened by my car. She thought it was cute with him bringing me a rose, but wasn't happy he showed up drunk to our house in the middle of the night.

After we finished eating she said she definitely wanted to actually meet him, but cracked a joke on how she might have to wait for parent teacher conference day, before giving me a kiss on my forehead, grabbing Chloe, and letting me know she would be back in a few days but to keep her updated during my time alone.

Finishing my food and walking them to the door I watched as the car drove away then proceeded to grab some books, my phone, and curled up on the sofa, debating whether to go on my jog, or stay at home and read. I sat there contemplating my decision for seemed like twenty minutes before finally deciding to get up and go for my jog.

Figuring I could go down to the park and jog around the track there, I got in my car reached down to put the car in reverse but stopped when I noticed something sitting in my passenger seat. Picking up what appeared to be an envelope with my name written on the front, I couldn't help but notice how similar the hand writing was to my mothers.

Pulling out my phone I sent my mother a text asking if she left anything in my car, then waited for a response. Within the next minute or two I received a message confirming that she herself hadn't left anything, but instead could be from Kavaar. Rolling my eyes at the idea, I audibly scoffed at the idea that he would come back and sneak into my car again after what happened last night.

Throwing the envelope back to the passenger side seat I put my car in reverse and began my journey to the park. I tried my hardest to ignore the letter that was now metaphorically burning a hole in the seat, as well as in my brain, I decided to open it when I got to the park, but not before I sent a text, asking what it was, and why he came back last night and put something in my car again.

The park arrived far faster than I realized. I knew from my walk there the other day that it was only about a mile, but the drive there felt like it was over in seconds. With only one red light to go through and almost no traffic this morning I found myself surprised when I was already in the parking lot, but still wasn't the only vehicle here. Two other cars were spaced out from each other with at least four different spaces between them.

I didn't think there would be anyone else here this early on a Saturday morning, seeing as not many people go out of their way to go jogging fifteen minutes before seven AM. Throwing it to the back of my mind I decided to focus and get out of my car after putting the envelope in the center console, confirming to myself that I would read it after I got back home. I didn't want any kind of distractions during my jog, I just wanted to forget everything and get lost in the rush of endorphins that would surge through my body as planned on racing around the track.

Pulling my earbuds from my pocket and turning on my music, I started making my way towards the track but felt my heart sink slightly when I saw two other people already jogging, and one more sitting on a bench next to it. I was hoping to be the only one actually doing anything on the track but was even more thankful I brought my headset so that I could still get lost in my music as a ran.

The closer I got to the track the more I could feel my stomach sliding upwards to my throat. I knew everyone at the track. Why the hell did all of them have to be here. I could see Shylo sitting on the bench, pencil and paper in hand, Axel jogging just ahead of someone I expected to see least of all. I decided to try and just jog on passed them, get on the track and pretend none of them were there, but Axel apparently had other plans.

Realizing I was to get some exercise, he intentionally slowed down and maintained pace with me, making sure I could see the disgust on his face as he rolled his eyes in some desperate way to get validation and attention for our previous conversation. He kept speeding up slightly then falling back, as if to challenge me, trying to get me to take place in some kind of juvenile race, as if besting me in a simple run would bring some form of dishonor to me if I lost.

Rolling my eyes this time I decided to slow down myself to create some distance between the two of us. I didn't feel like getting involved in any kind of drama involving him. I didn't care to be around him, not after the way he reacted at my house. They say first impressions are often wrong, but I didn't realize how true that statement rang until our last interaction.

Looking back and placing a smug smile on his face, he made sure to flip me off before turning around and continuing to jog as his original pace. I could feel my eyes rolling back before the scoff even made it's was out of my mouth. I definitely didn't want to let him ruin my run, planning to ignore him I tried to get lost in my music once again until a tap on the shoulder pulled me back to reality.

"Looks like you two have a history, everything okay?"

His voice was soft and calming like usual, helping me immediately start to relax. I had completely forgotten he was here when I when I moved passed him on the track and had the less than pleasant interaction with Axel.

"remember the guy I told you about at the b-" I started before getting cut off.

"At the library, yes, I remember. He seems like a...friendly individual." He stated, smiling lightly at his obvious joke to cover up calling him what he was acting like. A total dick.

Smiling back at him and maintaining pace, we did another ten laps before calling it quits and walking over to the bench and taking a seat. Axel and Shylo had already left. I wasn't aware they were hanging out now and wasn't quite sure how I felt about it. I hadn't seen Mute since he left my house the other day and didn't have any bad feelings towards him, in fact I still wanted to be friend with him, if that's what you could even call our exchanges so far.

Pulling out his phone I'm guessing he saw the message from me earlier and chuckled slightly before turning to face me as I took a big swig of water. To be honest, I forgot I even sent him a message at all. All I could think about was how rude Axel had been during our run. He really had no right to act like that, but still made sure to go out of his way and be a dick to me.

"You think I would sneak back into your car after this?" he asked, pointing to the damage my fist had done to his eyebrow. You could tell it was still trying to heal, create a scab, but hadn't been given the chance, almost as if it kept getting picked at before it could complete solidify and cover the wound.

"The envelope just has an apology in there from how I acted after we went back to your place, saying sorry for making you cry. I was trying to find a way to get the rose to sit right in front of it before, well, this." He stated, pointing to his face once again.

I felt guilt flood me once again from punching him. To be fair, I didn't know it was him at the time, but didn't change how I felt. I also wanted to explain to him that I wasn't actually crying. That for some reason when I get really angry that is just how my body responds but wasn't sure how to word it without coming off as weird, instead breaking from the conversation and starting a new one.

"I didn't expect to see anyone on this track this early in the morning, especially not you."

"I don't run often, but my beer belly is getting a little bigger than I would like. Trying to lose it so that maybe I can get a guy with a better build to be interested." He responded following a small laugh.

I didn't like that he was downplaying his own looks. Honestly, I really liked his body, when he hugged me the other day it felt soft, inviting, still well maintained, but with enough fat to make him feel like a pillow when your head rests against it.

"You don't need to lose weight to have a guy approach you, Kavaar. I think your body is incred..." stopping my sentence at the end, I wanted to make sure to respect our new teacher student relationship.

"I don't think you should change your body for anyone other than yourself. If you're doing it to get a guy to like you, you're doing it for the wrong reasons."

Smiling, he leaned back in against the bench and thanked me for my words, admitting I was right. We sat there in silence for another ten minutes before I decided I should head back to the house, telling him I didn't want to leave it empty without the alarm being set for too long. Raising an eyebrow at me he asked why the house was void of people, to which I explained my mother went out of town for work.

Telling me he understood, we both stood up from the bench and said some simple goodbye's before walking to our cars and heading back to our homes, his car right behind mine as I pulled into the front driveway of my house, and him doing the same to his. I sat in my car for a little while longer, watched in my mirror as he got out of his car, looked in my direction, then proceeded to head into his home.

Pulling the envelope from the center console and heading to the front door, I noticed something sticking out of the mail slot. Unlocking the door and grabbing what was hanging from the opposite side, I set it on the table in the living room next to the books I had grabbed earlier, and threw the envelope in the stack as well.

After grabbing something to drink from the kitchen and making my way back I took a seat on the sofa and began to look at what was hanging in the mail slot of the door. It was another drawing, clearly done by Mute, but I wasn't sure when he had time to leave with Axel, and still make it to my house after drawing this and setting it in my door.

The details were immaculate. I was on the track, smiling, looking over at Mr. Porter, who in turn was smiling back at me. It looked like the time he made a joke about Axel, which was the only moment I remember the two of us smiling at one another while running. Even in picture he looked handsome. Somehow even from a distance Mute was able to get the details perfect, all the way from the place where my knuckle connected to his eyebrow, all the way down to the little drops of sweat that flowed from his head in an attempt to keep cool.

Taking a picture of it and sending it to Kavaar, I wanted to make him aware that someone had drawn us being seeing together, just so this way there wouldn't be any issues. After making sure the message went through, I grabbed the envelope he had left me and proceeded to tear open the top part, but struggling and cutting my finger on a now jagged edge. I'm not sure how many people managed to get a papercut from something as simple as opening an envelope, but once again I managed to defy the odds with my clearly over qualified hands.

After getting some peroxide and cleaning my new battle wound, I chucked slightly at my silliness for getting cut and proceeded to pull the single piece of paper out of the envelope. His handwriting really did look strikingly similar to my mothers, the way they curved certain letters and made everything look so perfectly made me slightly jealous at my own writing.

To be honest, my writing wasn't great. I mean, it was always legible, but never anything fancy. I envied people that were able to write quickly, but still make it look like an elegant masterpiece despite rushing through whatever it was they were doing. The message was simple, an outright apology, with an adorably written PS at the bottom that made me chuckle a little harder than I'm sure it was meant too.

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