Chapter 25- Taunting Games

[] A M E L I A []

It had been a few days since I told Leo about my brother, and in this time, nothing much changed. Andre was still as loud as ever, Gemma was still her mixture of bright and bold, Jamal was still the happy-go-lucky person he was, and Leo was still grumpy from time to time.

However, what was different was me.

Somehow, I felt lighter after telling Leo. His acceptance made me more confident in myself. Not only had I been able to stay away from my hoodies all this week, but I was also a bit more open to others around me. Granted, I wasn't the same as I used to be since before the incident, but I was better than I was when I first started here.

I felt happier.

Leo didn't comment on my past after that night. He simply made sure to let me know that he wasn't going to push me away just because of my past.

Sometimes, it was actions that spoke louder than words, and that was true in Leo's case.

He never straight out said that he accepted my past, but his attitude towards me never changed. It's as if he wasn't even phased by what I told him.

However, his nonchalant attitude was also confusing at the same time. How could he simply accept everything I told him? It wasn't easy, especially since I've known him for just over a month. There were people that had known me all my life and chose to leave me behind once they found out about my brother.

So why did Leo choose to stay?

Moreover, he never told Andre and Jamal about what happened between us. From what I gathered, the two of them had no idea about my truth. At first, I didn't want to believe that he never told them, but as the week went by, I realized he truly hasn't said a word to them. Something told me that at least Andre would have some sort of reaction to the newfound information. However, they were both normal. So not only did Leo prove that he was simply a good guy, he also proved that he was trustworthy.

It was a lethal combination really.

I never had to tell him that I wanted to keep whatever I told him between the two of us, he just simply understood and stayed quiet. He even hid it from his best friends, all for me.

And why he did that, was something I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to.

Finally pulling out of my thoughts, I focused on the task at hand. Since it was a Saturday, Andre decided that all of us should do something fun. After a much heated discussion, we all finally agreed to go paintballing. There was one arena in town and all of us were heading there in Andre's car.

Just as I finished getting dressed, my phone started ringing with Gemma's name flashing on the screen. I quickly picked up and told her that I would be out in two minutes. I grabbed a hair tie off my study table, which was also my makeshift dresser, and threw my hair into a high ponytail. Since the weather had gotten much colder in the past few days, I threw on a jacket as well. Then I grabbed my purse, chucked my phone in it, then started heading for the door. I locked up as fast as I could and started making my out.

Ever since the note incident, I've been on edge every time I left my room. I felt as if there was eyes on me every time I made a move. However, for once, I wanted to ignore it. I was finally getting over my fears, and I didn't want to ruin that again.

When I made it out of my building, I spotted Andre's car parked across the street. When they saw me approach, Andre playfully honked the horn. I shook my head at him and quickly jogged over to the car. I got in the backseat, ending up beside Gemma. She squealed and gave me a hard hug as soon as I came in. I hugged her back and pulled away to greet everyone else. Andre was behind the wheel, Leo in the passenger seat, and Jamal sat on the opposite end of me, with Gemma in between us. Since we were just going paintballing, everyone was dressed comfortably.

"Hi," I breathed out, settling into my seat.

Everyone greeted back to me in response. I caught Leo's eye from the passenger seat and he nodded his head at me. I nodded back, and right away, we were off to our destination.

* * *

We arrived at the paintball place twenty minutes later. I had found out on the ride here that Andre had invited a couple of his other friends as well. Gemma excitedly squealed at this, while I was only able to give a strained smile. We finally got out of the car and started making our way to the building. As we walked, I found myself falling behind the group, since I was mentally preparing myself to meet the new people. I was so lost in thought  that I didn't notice someone had fallen in step beside me.

"Joe, Eric, and Stephanie, who's Joe's girlfriend," someone said, snapping me out of my reverie.

Startled, I looked up to find Leo walking in step with me.

"That's who will be joining us today. Usually, I'd be quite irritated, but these three are actually tolerable."

My mouth parted in shock, as I tried to decipher just how he knew what I was thinking. I opened my mouth to ask him just that, but right at that moment, he turned to me.

"Told you, you're pretty predictable,"  he shrugged.

I closed my mouth, letting his words sink in. Before I could think too much into it, we made it to the building entrance.

Andre held open the door for us, letting us all pile in. I soaked in my surroundings, liking the arrangement of the place. We all formed a mini crowd in the small lobby and besides us, there were only a few people milling about the couches. Andre suddenly started waving to them, and I guessed that these were the people that would be joining us. The four of us stayed where we were and Andre went over to greet them. Soon enough, they made our way over to where we were standing, making the small lobby look almost claustrophobic.

The boys, Joe and Eric, greeted Jamal and Andre in a usual man-hug way, and Stephanie waved at them. Gemma and I ended up beside each other, instantly feeling a little lost together. However, Gemma got over it faster than I did, and introduced herself to the group. The boys introduced themselves, with the taller ginger as Joe, and the Asian guy with black hair as Eric. Stephanie introduced herself as well, and finally, I awkwardly said my name aloud too.

At last, we started making our way to the counter. Andre had already made reservations for us so all we had to do was get our gear and then we could play. As we made our way to the equipment room, I felt a tap to my shoulder. I turned around slowly, being extra careful not to trip over my own two feet from nervousness. I looked up and was surprised to see Eric grinning down at me.

"Hey, Amelia right?" he asked casually.

I nodded, hoping I wasn't grimacing at him.

"Cool," he replied. "What major are you?"

"Pscyhology. What about you?" I asked out of courtesy.

"Business," he said with a grin.

I nodded. He then attempted to make more small talk, and I replied briefly. We finally made it to the gear room and piled in. Everything was hung up by sizes and we all distributed ourselves according to them. I headed for the small with Gemma right behind me. As soon as we got there, she pulled me closer by the elbow.

"Whoa girl, what was he talking to you about?" she asked excitedly.

I scrunched my nose, unsure of what she was asking about. She sighed and discreetly pulled me closer, her face nearly in my ear now.

"Eric," she simply said.

My brows furrowed further.

"He was just asking about my degree."

Gemma rolled her eyes at me.

"Amelia, he was literally wanting to get close to you."

I frowned, not liking where this was going, and Gemma grinned at me. Before I could respond, Andre called out for everyone to pick teams.

* * *

[] L E O []

My blood was boiling.

We had just put on all of our gear and were getting ready to pick teams for the paintball game. Just then Eric ran, fucking ran, over to Amelia and threw his dirty arm over her shoulder, claiming that she would be on his team.

Why the fuck?

One look at Amelia and even a blind person could tell she was uncomfortable. However, Eric paid no mind to it. Amelia then squeezed herself out of his grasp and took a step away from him, rubbing her arm in the process.

I watched the scene from afar, an unknown sort of protectiveness for Amelia forming within me. It was new for me, this strange feeling I had whenever she was around. But it wasn't only there because she told me about her past. It was there long before then.

Maybe when John came and she left with him? Or was it when I saw her on the middle of the sidewalk as some guy scared her? Or was it even before then, when I couldn't find her after the alley way incident, way back a month ago?

I didn't know when, and I didn't know how. All I knew was that I needed Amelia to be safe. And comfortable.

Definitley comfortable.

We finally divided ourselves into teams, with Andre as Captain of one, and Jamal as Captain of the other. Amelia, Eric, and Gemma ended up being on Andre's team; leaving Stephanie, Joe, and me to be on Jamal's team.

The way to play this was that each team will be thrown on either end of the paintball arena, and at least one member from each team has to make it to the other side without being hit with paint. If no one makes it, then the team with the last member standing wins.

We were finally lead towards the room, both teams making their way through different doors. I strapped my gun tighter around my shoulder and followed Jamal out our door.

Just before making my way through, I caught Amelia's eye from the other side of the room. She simply smiled at me, then disappeared behind the door.

And then, I made my way into the arena as well.

* * *

Everything was pitch black, with many obstacles as well as much of the gear we had on, glowing in the dark. We had already been in here for over half an hour, and so far, Joe and Stephanie from our team had been eliminated, and Gemma from the other side.

Now, Jamal was going into the zone. I decided to be his backup and stuck close. However, not so much that both of us could get shot at the same time.

We were almost halfway across by now, and just from the corner of my eye, I caught movement from my right. I noticed a figure trying to get to our side, but since I was hiding behind a large Styrofoam pillar, they couldn't spot me. As the figure moved forward, I quickly shot at them. Right away, the intercom came on, saying "Captain of blue team, out."

I grinned in victory as I finally saw Andre stomping his foot into the ground yelling, "Awe man!" I finally turned around to see that Jamal had advanced much further down. He was almost two thirds in, and I quickly followed after him. I stayed on the opposite end from him, and that seemed to work for us, until Jamal also got shot.

It happened within seconds, and thankfully, I saw where the hit came from. Slowly, I started making my way towards the figure. Since the figure was facing away from and toward Jamal, I had a clear view of their back. But once I heard the snicker come out from the person's mouth, I instantly knew who it was. So without further adieu, I raised my gun and aimed it at the person's back. Then, I took a shot.

A satisfying, "Member 2 of the Blue team, out," made me grin. Eric turned around to see who had shot him and once his eyes landed on me, he groaned.

"What the hell, man?" he said, brushing past me.

I rolled my eyes at him and waited for him to leave before making my move. Once I was sure he was gone, I finally got out from my spot where I was crouched, and headed into a more open space.

"I was itching to do that all night," I spoke into the silence. "You can come out now Moonie," I said loudly, hoping she was nearby.

For a moment, I heard nothing. Then ever so slowly, I heard a rustling from behind me. I turned around and saw her coming out of her hiding spot quietly. I rested my gun at my hip, not wanting to use it while I talked to her.

To my surprise, she had a small smile on her face as she walked upto me, her gun also lowered.

"That made me happier than it should have," she said, referring to my stunt on Eric.

I chuckled at her and she grinned in response. Slowly, my chuckle died in my throat as my eyes made contact with hers. It wasn't that bright here, but it was bright enough for me to be able to get a good look at her face.

Slowly I found myself taking a step toward her. Seeing this, her grin faded away and she stared at me with wide eyes. Ever so slowly, I reached out a hand toward her. I slowly brought my hand down to a stray strand of hair that was on her face, and gently tucked it behind her ear. Amelia shrunk away under my touch. I found my heart warming at her reaction, because despite what I was doing, Amelia wasn't walking away.

My thoughts weren't catching up with me and I couldn't quite clearly make out in my head why I was doing this. But as my hand came in contact with her skin, I found myself struggling to keep myself together. Her cheek was warm, just how I thought it would be, and I found my heartbeat increase with every second passing by.

The action couldn't have lasting more than thirty seconds. I simply reached out to tuck a strand behind her ear.

But for some godforsaken reason, it felt like an eternity with her.

I finally pulled my hand away from her cheek, and brought it down by my side. Amelia looked away, trying to avoid my gaze, and I couldn't keep mine away from her.

There was just something about her today. She looked happier, healthier, and that made me ecstatic.

I finally cleared my throat to pull me back to my senses and spoke again.

"Wasn't that bothering you all this time?" I asked casually.

She finally looked up and gave me a confused look, as if she couldn't understand what I was talking about.

"Um, he wasn't really bothering me but-"

"You call your hair a he?" I asked playfully.

Her eyes widened at me and her mouth formed an 'O' in realization. Then she slowly shrunk back in embarrassment and rubbed her arm.

"Uh, I thought you were talking about... Never mind," she murmured, her eyes shifted to her feet again.

Again, I found myself smiling down at her as she shifted from foot to foot.

"Talking about who, Amelia?" I asked, slightly bending to get a better look at her.

Her eyes met my own and she stared at me.

"No one," she said.

I stared at her for a while longer, then pulled myself straight up again. I looked away from her to the arena instead.

"Well, if your hair bothers you again, you can let me know," I said, the double meaning behind my words clear as day.

If anyone bothered her, I wanted to know.

I heard her let out a shaky breath, and unable to hold myself back, I faced her again. Her lips were curved into a genuine smile, the one that reaches her eyes, and I found myself subconsciously staring at her lips.

"I don't think I say it enough, but thanks Leo."

I blinked at her, still a little lost in the fact that she was smiling at me, and I found myself nodding dazedly. We stayed like that for a while, with her smiling at me, and me, unable to look away.

Then, she did the unpredictable.

Suddenly, her lips contorted into a sly smirk.

"Hey Leo. What would you do if my team won?"

I gave her a confused look, unsure of what she meant. Then suddenly, she raised her gun and my eyes widened in realization.

"No," was all I was able to get out before a large splash of paint covered most of my upper half.

"Member 4 of the red team, out," the intercom said. "Game over. Blue team wins. Both players please make your way to the exit."

I looked down at my body in shock, my arms splayed out into the air. But that wasn't surprising. What was surprising was what happened after that.

Just as my mouth parted in shock after she shot me, I heard the most angelic sound resonate throughout the arena. I couldn't even describe it. It was the prettiest laugh I have heard in my entire fucking life. It sounded like music and honey all wrapped in one, but at the same time, it was loud and boisterous, like a storm. It demanded attention.

I slowly looked away from my chest and out in front of me, and found Amelia Harrison laughing like there was no tomorrow.

I blinked, unable to process anything at all. All I saw was Amelia. Her voice was surrounding me, and I couldn't think of anything else but her.

She was struggling to hold herself together with how hard she was laughing, and she stumbled a few steps back.

"Yo-your face Leo," she breathed out in between laughs.

Her laugh finally started coming to a stop and that was when I was able to regain myself.

"Ha-ha. Hilarious. I can't believe you did that Moonie," I said, shaking my head while a smile started creeping its way onto my face as well.

She grinned at me and took a step forward.

"All's fair in war, Leo," she said mockingly.

This time, I took a step closer to her, nearly a breath away from her now. Her eyes widened at our close proximity, but she stayed grounded.

"You forgot love, Moonie."

And then, I shot her as well, just for the heck of it.