~33~

To say I was stunlocked would be THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY!!!

I had to blink SEVERAL times to make sure my eyes wouldn't fall out of their sockets.

I was completely surprised and flabbergasted.

But at the same time, not at all.

I sharpen my eyes and meet Leo's.

"I don't believe you," I cockily whisper, as I lean in close to his face and fold my arms.

Now Leo's eyes widen, but then his eyes squint as he meets back my challenging glare with a cocky aura of his own.

"Alright, bet." He said dead straight to my face wolfish grin.

He then sharply turns back to look at Dion.

"D. Kiss me now to prove we're dating and not brothers." He snappily addresses his supposed partner.

Dion begins to shimmer and shine like a disco ball on the spot.

I expected him to immediately shut Leo down and call him out for going too far.

But-

Dion tosses the briefest of an anxiety-filled glance my way, and with zero hesitation walks over to connect his lips to Leo's.

I almost collapse on the spot.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" I scream and point. "I KNEW IT!!"

The two smooching men freeze from my words.

"What do you MEAN you knew it!? You just called us liars!!!" Leo quickly pulls away from Dion to challenge me.

"I was calling your bluff and fully expected you to deny it!!" I confidently counter.

"Why!?" Leo presses.

"Cause you both have been failing miserably at hiding your love affair."

Leo sputters like an engine unable to fully start up during a cold blizzard winter.

"How so?" He managed to get out.

"I saw you kiss during the sleepover." I manically reveal in a wickedly seductive tone.

"YOU SAW!?" Dion exploded, dragging our attention back to his presence.

Me and Leo finally look over at him and Dion's physical form began to wobble as he seemed to be melting.

"Omg!! What's happening!?" I panicked as I rushed over to him.

"I'm just sooooo uncomfortable right now....." He whines as he continues to sink further and further into the floor like melted ice cream.

I feel my heart shatter.

"I-I'm sorry!!" I squeak. "I-I-I d-didn't know asking you to do that w-would make you-"

"I'm not mad at you," Dion cuts me off. "It's HIM that's the problem!!" He points at Leo.

"ME!?" Leo squawks in utter shock.

"I knew that kiss under the sheets was risky!! And now THIS!?" Dion tries to, physically, pull himself back together.

"You say that like I forced you." Leo fiercely counters, throwing his hands all over the place in protest. "And not that I asked each time and you didn't agree and weren't a willing participant!!"

"He did ask you to kiss him just now," I interject. "You could've just said no," I say to Dion in defence of Leo.

Dion quickly glares at me.

"Unlike you," He says to me passive-aggressively, "he knows my boundaries, and how easily uncomfortable I can get-"

"Oh come off it!!" Leo interrupts him, "You're only saying that cause Mel's here. You jump me MULTIPLE times in private, do not even ATTEMPT to pretend."

Dion was at a loss for words.

And also 50% melted ice cream at this point.

Leo then sighed in frustration and turned to me.

"Melody, are you uncomfortable with us kissing in front of you?" He point blankly asks me.

Where the fuck is this coming from???

"No not really. I find it kinda hot, actually." I swiftly answer without missing a beat.

"WAIT WHAT!?" Dion was completely caught off guard. He looked up at me with wide-eyed astonishment.

I simply shrug one shoulder back at him and made a "meh" sound from my nose.

"See? She's fine with it. Now pull yourself together and stop being such a drama whore." Leo said, looking down at his unstable partner.

"You mean drama queen?" I try to correct.

"No. I mean whore." Leo sassily affirms.

And I couldn't help but cackle.

We tried to shuffle some of Dion's melted form back towards him to help him 'reform' himself quicker. After which Leo threw himself on one-half of my burned and slashed in half bed to lean back and relax a bit.

As Dion pulls himself together, literally, I take a peek towards Leo.

"I would've never pegged you for being the arrogant type," I randomly comment.

My words made him physically wince.

"Sorry." He quickly sits up and sheepishly tries to make amends. "I, too, just realized we've also had a very long day. And my temper gets short on the best of days." He apologizes.

"And finding out that package being sent to you in disguise of the one we actually wanted to send did him no favours," Dion added as his legs almost finished talking form as he stretched out while sitting on the floor.

I huffed out a breath as I looked at the both of them.

It was very evident that we were all VERY tired. And emotions were RAMPANTLY running high.

"At a later date, I expect to know who sent me that package, because if I'm expected to save your people I should at the very least also know the ones actively trying to kill me."

Leo lets out a sigh, and hangs his head, "That is completely fair." He concedes as he stands back up next to me after finishing his little resting session.

"But for now...." I elbow him lightly to get his attention, and when he lifts his head to look at me, I open my arms wide.

"I think I'm overdue for that hug-"

Before I could finish taking in my breath I feel his entire weight collapse on me.

He holds me so tight, like his entire world depends on it and reality would break if he let go.

I feel my heart melt straight into liquid puree and pool down in the deepest depth of my stomach as I lift up my arms to fiercely hug him back.

I catch a glimpse of Dion awkwardly still sitting on the floor.

"Hurry up and finish pulling yourself back together so you can get in on this action," I offer, waving my hand at him towards us over Leo's shoulders.

"He's still not done!?" Leo looked over his shoulder at his boyfriend incredulously.

Boyfriend.

Oh God.

And I'm here hugging them so carefreely.

Leo flings open one of his arms and offers a hand to Dion right as he was getting up to move towards us. Dion takes his hand and Leo pulls him fast and hard into us.

Being the last to the party, Dion's arms wrap around BOTH of us, while Leo's wraps around me, and I cuddle in his chest.

I slyly curl one of my arms around Leo's waist and reach up and cling onto one of Dion's arms with my other hand. I feel Leo do the same as one arm remains tight around me while the other wraps around Dion.

The warmth, closeness, and comfort makes me almost burst into tears again.

I savour the moment longingly.

Connection.

Feeling.

Touch.

I am surrounded by people who care. In the arms of those who also, routinely, risk their life for me.

I was wanted.

I was cared for.

Was I truly....loved?

Then my stomach grumbles loudly to ruin the moment.

"Goddamit" I sigh as I begin to pull away.

Leo laughs softly.

"Oh! Perfect timing!" Dion jumps back and starts rummaging through his pockets again.

Even though I slightly pulled back, Leo's arm still remained stubbornly on my waist.

And I sincerely wasn't complaining.

We both stood back and watch Dion pull out what looks to be an unlabeled....energy bar???

He offers it to me and my hand instantly whips out to grab it.

"How???" I begin to ask.

"We'll explain later...?" Dion sheepishly responds.

"Bitch." My face falls as I look at him incredulously.

"3 questions is 3 questions." Leo cockily teases.

And proceeds to laugh as I shove him away from me and walk over to my little kitchen area to see what, if anything, was left for me to pair with this newfound meal.

Everything was broken, melting, or slowly catching on fire.

Looking at what I had left, the sinking feeling of dread in my stomach only grew.

"It's gonna be a rough next few months." I huff out in a dejected sigh. But my resolve to weather this bad storm already set in place. I've been through a lot of egregious shit, just add this to the list.

Before I could fully resign myself to that fate, I feel a warm squishy hand smoothly wrap around mine.

My breath catches as I turn to see Leo hold my hand softly and move silently over to me.

"It doesn't have to be...." He whispers.

I feel something spark in my chest.

"W-what do you mean?" I demand for clarification, before my thoughts ran way ahead of me.

Leo throws Dion that telepathic look they share. As if contemplating a grave action they were about to take.

"Is it ready!?" Was all Dion could reply to the look Leo gave him in mild panic.

"Even if it's not, can you leave her here? Like this!?" Leo flings his arms around the room for Dion to see.

You could see the instant agreement flash across his face, but he still seemed to weigh the options, and just not want to jump into this head first like his partner and boyfriend.

"Cmoooon Diiiiiii," Leo whines and gives him the puppy dog look.

And that seemed to do it.

Dion finally sighs out loudly as he throws back his head.

"Fiiiiine." Dion seemed to be fighting back a wave of shimmering blush taking over his skin. "Do what you must. It's not like I'm against it, and I want what's best for her too."

Leo leans over and soundly kisses Dion's cheek.

"That's why I love you!" Leo openly boasts, and Dion fully lost the battle with his fight against blushing.

Oh, so he's a pushover and can't say no to his man? That's so nice and adorkably sweeeeet!

Leo then turns back to me and grabs hold of both my hands. Snapping me out of my fangirl fantasies.

I look up at Leo's golden eye filled with determination after being given the go-ahead from his boyfriend.

"Mind keeping me in the loop?" I jokingly asked, not wanting to come off as awkward (and jealous) of the sweet display that played out before me.

I need to tone down my thirst for these two, now that I'm better aware of their relationship.

They're dating.

Full stop, Melody- MEL!! Arg! Stupid adorable pet nickname!!!

Wrestling my thoughts into SOME form of platonic nature was borderline impossible. But it had to be done.

All previous thoughts and delusions involving them needed to die a horrible death because they were an item, and I could never fit into their perfect picture-

"Do you wanna move in with us?" Leo point blank asks me.

"WHAT!?" I scream.