Chapter 69- Taunting Bruises (2)

Hey lovelies, so I'm gonna be honest here. I could've cut Amelia and Leo's scene by like a chapter, but I think we all just needed them after how heavy these past few chapters have been. So here you go!

Also, if someone were to ask me what song I imagined as being Leo's dedication to Amelia now, it would hands down be "Kiss Me" by Ed Sheeran.

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[] A M E L I A []

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

I froze at his words, my heart shattering as I reeled through what he just said.

"You... you want to stop?" I asked unsurely.

He nodded, causing a burst of pain to spike through me. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't see either. Black spots danced across my vision as Leo still faced away from me.

"I can't keep doing this. I can't wait for you to come to me every time I feel like running to you. I can't hide you from the world when all I want to do is shout and tell everyone how much I love you. I can't keep pretending that I'm not hurt every time you try to leave me. So we aren't doing this again Amelia," he said, shaking his head.

A sob racked through me as he said that and I brought a hand to my chest to numb the pain. Startled by the noise, Leo whipped his head around.

When he saw me, his eyes widened and he immediately took a step forward, falling to my feet in front of me.

"Amelia? Love, what's wrong?" He asked, settling on his knees in front of me.

He immediately reached up to cup my face in his hands, and I sobbed even harder. Hiccups broke out, choking me as I cried. Leo was hysterical too. He kept rubbing my back and arms, and any surface that could calm me down, but nothing worked.

"D-don't Leo. I- I'm s-sorry," I croaked out, reaching to cup his hands.

Leo froze at my words. His hands clasped my own tightly as I desperately tried to hold onto him.

"I'll do an-anything... just don't call it off. Whatever it is we have, I never want it to end Leo," I cried helplessly.

Leo's face contorted into one of confusion, until he finally realized something and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Shit- Amelia that's not what I- you thought I was going to- oh hell no," he kept muttering.

He then pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand and I cried harder.

"Leo," I said, tugging his hand.

He looked up at me, his face ridden with worry.

"I swear I'll change. I'll stop doing whatever you hate. Leaving, not calling, apologizing- anything. But don't leave," I finished off helplessly.

I was ready to get on my knees at this point. I was ready to beg for forgiveness for my insecurities. My eyes watered again and that's when Leo softened. He brought his hand up once again, cupping my cheek softly.

"There was so many ways I imagined this going, but this was definitely not one of them."

My eyes widened even further in confusion when Leo sat up on his knees. He brought both hands up to wipe away my tears and then he captured my hands in his and rested them in my lap. My sobs simmered down as I watched him.

"This time, there won't be any leaving without telling the other, no breaking promises, and no running to other guys when I'm around, especially that John guy. There won't be any excuses because we're going to be completely honest with each other. We're going to love fearlessly," he said tenderly.

I watched him with wide eyes, my heart soaring.

"Be my girlfriend, Moonie."

I froze again at his words.

I sat like a gaping fish in front of him, my heart racing a mile a minute, tears falling down my cheeks relentlessly.

"Wh-what?" I mumbled.

Leo smiled, his dimple showing through.

"I asked you to be my girlfriend Moonie."

I fell to my knees and launched myself in his arms before he even finished that sentence. He let out an 'oomph' as he caught me, and a moment later I remembered how he was hurt. I gasped again, quickly trying to pull away from him before I hurt him more. However, before I could get off from him, Leo wound his arms tight around me, holding me in place. I pulled back to look into his eyes, slightly peering down at him as he held me in his lap. He quickly pulled my leg around his waist, caging me completely in his lap, and then he leaned back against the bed, sighing softly.

"You're hurt Leo-"

"You didn't answer my question," he cut me off.

I watched him for a moment, surprised he was even asking me.

This boy, no, this man. This man who was there for me when no one else was. Who heard me and supported me in his own way, when no one else did. He helped me find myself when I wasn't sure I was allowed to. He protected me, he cried for me, he laid his heart out for me, and now he was asking me if I wanted to be with him?

I smiled down at him, reaching up to cup his face.

"I love you Leo," I suddenly said.

His hnd froze on my waist, his eyes widening in surprise.

I grinned at his reaction and leaned forward to kiss his nose. His face was still scrunched up in surprise when I pulled back, and I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me. I looked at him then, releasing a breath before I spoke.

"My heart never belonged to anyone like it did to you. From the very first day I laid eyes on you, when I was walking up the steps to English class. You looked like you just woke up and the first thing you looked at was me. And I can't explain it Leo, but it was like my heart finally started to beat again."

I tugged his hand that was on my waist and he looked down to see what I was doing. I brought his hand up and rested it against my own chest. He released a small breath at my actions, and he watched as I placed his palm over my beating heart.

"I was always yours Leo. From the moment we met, and maybe even before that."

He dropped his hand and reached up to cup my cheeks before bringing my face crashing down to his. Our lips met in a passionate kiss, my hands tangling in his hair, and his pulling me closer. After what felt like hours, we pulled away from to catch our breaths. Our foreheads were resting against each other, his hands still cupping my face. I had my hands on his arms, holding onto them as I caught my breath.

I finally pulled back from him, still sitting on his lap. It finally clicked that I should get off of him before I hurt him even more, so for the second time, I tried to slip out of his arms. However, like the first, he held me in place once again.

"Leo," I breathed out.

He only kept his eyes closed, his breathing uneven as he still recovered from the kiss. After a few moments, he finally opened his eyes and peered at me. His eyes searched my face, and he softly swapped his thumb across my cheek, brushing away the remaining tears under my eyes.

"I'm going to collect a jar of your tears and throw them into space," he said playfully before reaching up to peck my cheek.

I laughed at him and reached up to brush stray hairs away from his forehead. As my hand passed his vision, he swiftly reached up and grabbed it in his own. I crumbled in his touch, my heart racing as he swiftly caressed my wrist with his thumb, pulling the fabric of my long sleeved shirt back up my arm. I squirmed as he saw my bruised wrists. I tried pulling away, and he only held onto them tighter. He looked up at me then, his eyes burning again.

"I'm fine, baby," I murmured.

His eyes widened at the term of endearment, and I felt surprised myself that I said it. It felt good that I did though. Leo's breath quickened, and I tried to pull my hand out of his grasp as he was distracted. Just when I thought I had accomplished that, Leo suddenly wrapped his arm tighter around my waist and pulled me flush against him. I gasped at him, and he only smirked.

"Don't try to distract me," he said sternly, the smirk still on his face.

I huffed and slumped against him as he brought my wrist to our side again, this time, reaching for the medicine kit that was on the bed. He brought the kit to the side where our joined hands were resting and started cleaning my bruises. He pulled out a bruising spray that I had applied onto one of his bruises earlier and sprayed it on my wrist. I hissed as it burned, and Leo quickly blew on it, his face scrunching up in pain as I clutched his arm with my other hand tightly. He quickly wrapped a white bandage over it and brought my hand up to kiss my wrist through the material softly. I watched him, feeling as if I was falling in love with him all over again.

"That was the last time anyone fucking hurt you Amelia," he said, looking up at me.

I smiled at him and pecked his nose.

He continued to clean my bruises after that, refusing to let me down from his lap. After a while, I gave up trying to get off of him. As he cleaned my bruises, I busied myself by running my hands along his chest. I had counted nearly twenty bruises that he got, and then simply watched him.

To my surprise, he turned to my legs then, and since they were already on either side of him, he only moved them around a little to get my ankles to face him as much as possible. I was surprised to see bruises there too, and I remembered then that Jackson had also tied my ankles down.

Leo sprayed them too and wrapped them neatly. At last, he looked up to my face. He growled as he eyed the bruises I got from Jackson and Brian, and he was especially careful as he treated them. I hissed when the pain was unbearable and he grabbed my hand tightly every time I did.

"I'm sorry, love. It'll sting just a little."

I nodded to let him continue, and he did, but even more gentler than before, which I didn't even know was possible.

After he cleaned the cut I somehow got on my forehead, Leo pulled back and let out a deep breath. My hands were on his shoulders, his resting softly on my hips. We stared at each other then, both of us simply gazing at the other. At last, Leo broke his gaze first and started putting the medicine kit away. Once he was done, he suddenly lifted himself up, me still in his arms, and I shrieked as he did that.

"Leo!" I yelped, clutching his shoulders tightly.

He laughed at that and quickly laid us down on the bed. He wrapped the blanket around us and then reached over to turn the lamp off. I let out a sigh as I snuggled into his chest, his arms wounding around me.

"That's cute," he suddenly said into the dark.

I peeked away from his chest to see what he was talking about, and smiled when I saw the bright stars glowing all around the room. They were the sticker kind that stuck to walls, and I remember placing them there with Levi when we were much younger.

"Levi and I put those up. This was our hideout room as kids," I explained to him.

Leo nodded, listening intently. But I didn't want to go on. I couldn't think or talk about Levi right now without feeling like bawling again.

Leo hugged me tighter against him, somehow knowing that I didn't want to talk about anything else right now.

In the darkness, Leo found my hand that was resting on his chest and brought it up to his lips again. My toes curled as he kissed each one of my fingertips. I looked up at him in the darkness, only to find his eyes trained on my hand.

"You did great today, love. Better than great," he murmured against my palm.

I shuddered as I thought of today.

"I was so stupid Leo. If I just realized what was going on, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. Levi could've been out of jail, if he even got there in the first place. We wouldn't have... I just... I wish I could reverse everything."

Leo brought my hand down and pulled it close to his chest, wrapping his other arm tighter around me.

"Nothing was your fault. We can't stop anything from happening Amelia. As much as it sucks, we just have to accept things the way they are. Sometimes, we just have to move on."

I nodded and sighed. I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled deeper into his warm chest. He hugged me back, his legs tangling with my own.

"When I found out you were in the hospital, it took all I had in me not to run to you Leo. I was so scared that I'll put you in more danger if I did."

He reached forward and kissed the top of my head.

"I know Amelia. There's no way that the girl who grabbed my bruised knuckles, asking if I was okay or not when we barely knew each other, just didn't care when I ended up in the hospital. I know you Amelia. I see through you."

I smiled and left a small kiss to his chest.

"Thank you for being here Leo," I said.

He groaned.

"Aw Moonie, I thought we were past the 'thank you's'. Come on, you just professed your undying love for me, and now this?"

I giggled into his chest before sobering up.

"Four years Leo. It took me four years to find the courage to face this. Somehow, it was easier knowing that I have someone to rely on. Someone to run to when all of it was over. So thank you."

Leo sighed.

"I'm glad you know that I'm here for you Moonie. No matter what you're going through, I want to be there for it," he said, softly patting my hair. "But Moonie, if I hear thank you from you once more, my ears are going to bleed."

I pulled away from his chest for a moment to grin at him. He smiled down at me, rolling his eyes before leaning down to capture my lips with his own. When he pulled away, I saw that he had a serious glint in his eye, his jaw set.

"And Amelia, if you ever again think that I'm going to leave you, just remember that I drove 3 hours in the snow to get to you."

And despite the seriousness of what he was saying, I burst out laughing.

"Jamal drove."

Leo rolled his eyes and pulled me flush against him, effectively cutting off my laugh and anything I was about to say. He hugged me tightly to him, his lips pressing against my forehead.

"I love you the way you are, Moonie. Don't ever think you have to change yourself for me. You're perfect for me in everything you do."

I sighed and snuggled deeper into his chest.

"Can you sing to me Leo?" I said into his chest.

That night, I fell asleep to Leo singing to me. As his soft voice sang "Kiss Me" into my ear, I momentarily forgot about the demons that resided in my head. I forgot about the rest of the world, and only focused on the man whose arms I was in.

* * *

I was the first to wake up this time.

I woke up nearly an hour ago, still snuggled into Leo's arms. The sunlight from the small window in the corner was peaking into the room, creating a soft light in the room. I watched Leo as he slept, softly running my hands over his bruises every now and then.

I smiled as I thought of sharing a bed with him now. It was as if we got closer every time we shared a bed. At first, when I broke all my boundaries and slept on the floor next to him, just to give him my blanket. We didn't even touch that day. The next was the night Jackson had cornered me. Leo had held me and kissed me then, but I pushed him away. And then when I lay next to him the night I went to talk about his father. He held me close all night. And then the night after our date. That horrific, but beautiful night.

And now, I had woken to him shirtless, his muscles on display. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, his face finding comfort in my chest. His legs were scissored with mine, caging me in place. My own arms were wound tightly around him, one tangling at the nape of his neck in his hair. I couldnt help but look at his bruises. The ones he got because of-

No. For me. The bruises he got for me.

I traced over them lightly, and he groaned lightly in my chest. I stopped my movements not wanting to wake him. When he sighed and relaxed in my arms, I leaned my chin down to give his head a kiss. He breathed deeply, but was still sound asleep.

After much hesitation I finally pulled out of his hold. I had to squeeze a pillow in between us, since he wasn't letting me go. At last, he finally hugged the pillow to himself and rolled onto his back. His legs detached from mine as he did so. I giggled as he kissed the top of the pillow, probably thinking it was my head. I then brought the blanket up and rolled it over him, the both of them. Just then, the bedroom door opened.

I snapped my head up in surprise, and nearly went into shock when I saw my dad standing on the other side. His hand was on the doorknob, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly parted.

For a moment, we both just stared at each other, not knowing what to say. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I swallowed deeply and slowly threw the covers off of me.

I'm sure it was a sight for him to see his daughter get out of bed as a shirtless boy slept behind her, hugging the life out of a pillow.

I got out of bed and started making my way to dad with shaky legs. His face was void of any emotion now, not letting me know what he was thinking. As soon as I reached him, he spoke.

"Let's talk, Amelia."