Chapter 5 – Leon
Chapter Five
LEON
This was probably Leon’s fault. He should have known better by now.
“What do you want?” Leon growled at his annoying next-door neighbor, who was standing in his doorway with a bottle of sparkling cider in hand.
“Hi, James!” Hailey called, leaning around Leon to wave at James.
“Hi, Hailey. What’s up?” James said.
Leon didn’t even bother turning to glare at him, because he knew it wouldn’t do any good.
“I was just in the neighborhood–”
“No,” Leon tried to interject, reaching for the door, but of course, she shoved her shoulder against it and kept him from closing it.
“And I wanted to see what you two are doing for New Year's Eve?”
“We are not walking, driving, bicycling, or otherwise transporting you anywhere,” Leon told her.
“We’re making dinner–as you can clearly see, and probably even smell from your apartment–and then we’re going to ring in the new year, just the two of us, in NC-17 ways that you are too young to understand–”
“I know that you know I’m eighteen now, because James gave me a birthday card you signed, as well as a very large gift card to my favorite makeup store,” Hailey said, once again leaning around Leon to beam at James.
Leon had actually been the one to buy both the gift card and the birthday card, which he had asked James to sign. He wasn’t going to correct her or engage in any way, though. If he did, they were never going to get her out of here.
They weren’t exactly in a rush. The London Broil was already in the oven, along with a sheet of potatoes and vegetables. They had about twenty minutes to wait before the food would be ready, and then it needed to rest for another ten to fifteen minutes.
He couldn’t let Hailey know that, though. She could smell weakness.
“What are your plans for the night?” James asked, coming to stand next to Leon in his adorable sequined dress shirt. When Leon had asked him about it, he’d said it was supposed to be like the Times Square ball.
Ridiculous and adorable.
“Well, mom was able to get Christmas Eve and Christmas off so long as she worked tonight, so I’m home, all alone,” she said, widening her eyes and sticking out her bottom lip. “And no one wants to be alone on New Year's Eve–”
“No,” Leon said, grabbing the door with more force.
“Leon–” James tried to say.
“So!” Hailey said, interrupting what had sounded like a pretty weak protest from James. “I invited Trina over, and they’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. I wanted to come over and wish you both a Happy New Year before they get here.”
Hailey handed over the bottle, and James took it with a charmed look on his face. “Aww, Hailey, that’s so sweet–”
“No,” Leon said, releasing the door to cross both his arms over his chest.
“What do you mean no?”
“I mean, no, I’m not buying it. You’re still asking for something. Are you trying to trade cider for alcohol? Because you know my rule on that,” Leon said.
Hailey glared at him. “Trina doesn’t drink, so, no, I’m not trying to–”
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you said Trina doesn’t drink, and not that you both don’t drink,” Leon interrupted. “So, if you’re not trying to trade, it’s a bribe.”
He and Hailey stared at each other for several beats.
“Oh…does your mom not know Trina is coming over?” James asked, clutching the bottle to his chest like it was a string of pearls.
“No, she knows. She just…may not be aware of exactly what time Trina is leaving, but really, I’m worried about them driving home after midnight.
Mom always says it’s not safe to be on the roads after midnight on New Year’s Eve, so Trina’s just going to spend the night, and they’ll head out at six before Mom gets home,” Hailey said, straightening her back and crossing her arms over her chest, too.
“That does seem pretty reasonable. I was really glad to hear that Linda and Howard were spending the night, and I appreciate you letting me stay over as well,” James said, pressing in closer against Leon’s side until he lifted his arm and rested it along James’ shoulders.
“It does sound reasonable. So why not just tell your mom that?” Leon asked.
“Because by the time I started worrying about them getting home safe after midnight, mom had already left, and you know she’s not going to answer her phone.
It doesn’t have to be a big thing. I just wanted to ask if you could maybe not say anything if you see Trina leaving in the morning?
Otherwise, I’ll probably have to send them home by ten or not have them come over at all. ”
Hailey stuck out her bottom lip again, but there was something different in her expression.
It wasn’t the petulance of a child who was going to get their way one way or another.
Hailey was genuinely worried about her partner, and she was trying to find a solution…
even if that solution involved implicating Leon in a lie. Again.
“Do you think if you had a sit-down conversation with your mother about sleepovers, she would make an exception for New Year's Eve?” Leon asked.
Hailey scrunched up her nose in thought. “I…think so? Obviously, if we wanted to get in trouble, we could do it at any point before midnight. There’s nothing special about midnight to six. We’ll most likely be asleep for most of it anyway.”
Leon turned to look at James. He had his bottom lip between his teeth, but when he looked up at Leon, he smiled softly. “I think it’s okay. It’s not like her mom doesn’t know Trina is coming over.”
“Right!” Hailey said, dropping her defensive stance and clasping her hands in front of her chest. “And besides, don't old people sleep in? You probably won’t even be awake when they leave. I just didn’t want to put you in a bad position if you accidentally saw them leaving and said something to Mom before I got to talk to her. ”
“What are your plans for tonight?” Leon asked, but he held up his hand before she could answer. “In as few implicating details as possible.”
“I already ordered pizza, and we’re going to eat that with the other bottle of cider that came in the pack and probably just watch Netflix until it’s time to watch the ball drop,” Hailey said.
Leon sighed and took the bottle out of James’ hands.
He walked over to the fridge and put it in next to their bottle of champagne before pulling out two of the four fancy fruit tarts he’d made earlier that day.
He’d made extras in case he messed up arranging the fruit or pouring on the glaze.
It had been surprisingly easy, though, and these two looked pretty decent and should do the trick.
“Here,” he said, handing over the colorful desserts. “You should have something nice for them for your first New Year’s Eve together.”
Hailey’s eyes rounded, and James made a soft noise in the back of his throat. The tarts were supposed to be a surprise, but this seemed like a good enough reveal.
“Are…you sure?” Hailey asked, holding out her hands to carefully accept the two desserts.
“I have extras for us,” Leon said, wrapping his arm back around James’ shoulders. “We don’t need four of them. Like you said, us old folks have to watch how much dessert we eat.”
Hailey looked down at the tarts, and when she looked back up, her eyes were shining more than James’ shirt.
“Thank you,” she said, clearing her throat and blinking a few times.
“Uhm…I don’t really have the hands for it, but I’ll give you a huge hug later.
Oh, and I don’t know if you saw the sign downstairs, but building management said the roof is open to watch fireworks if you want.
We won’t be doing that cause Trina doesn’t like loud noises, but it might be cute for you guys? ”
James looked up at Leon with big eyes, and Leon accepted the fact that Hailey had once again altered his plans for the evening.
“If you’d like that, darlin’, we can go.”
James beamed at him before he stepped out of Leon’s arms to grab the door for Hailey. “Let me walk you back to your place and help you with the door.”
Hailey thanked him, and then thanked Leon again before James closed the door behind himself. There wasn’t much left for Leon to do except set the table, so he did that as he waited for James to return.
Earlier that week, Leon had been officially diagnosed with ADHD.
He and Caden had spent their entire one-hour session discussing the diagnosis, as well as next steps and strategies.
The main strategy Leon wanted to discuss was how to better prepare for James coming over, specifically for New Year's Eve, but also in general.
Caden had given him a few suggestions, including a time management app.
It had worked…sort of. He’d gotten most of the tasks done around the house before hyperfixating–a new word he’d learned from one of James’ minions earlier that week–on the desserts.
He’d ended up having to once again dig to the very bottom of his dresser to find clothes while he ran a large load of laundry.
Other than that, though, he had the apartment cleaned, the dessert made, and all the ingredients purchased and ready to go when James had arrived two hours ago.
Speaking of which. He should probably turn the laundry over…
James found him with his ass in the air and half his body inside his laundry machine, fighting to pull a sock out from where it had gotten stuck under one of the slats in the agitator.
“Is this what I’m going to have for dessert since you gave ours away?” James asked, coming up behind Leon to squeeze his ass.
Leon wiggled his hips and received a gentle spank for his efforts. “I told you there are still two left for us. I made a test batch, and they were good enough for two teenagers who will probably inhale them without even tasting them anyway,” Leon said as he finally pried the sock loose.
He stood up and tossed it halfheartedly into the dryer, nearly missing when James cupped his butt with both hands. He hummed in pleasure, and James pressed himself against Leon’s back, further distracting him from the task at hand.