Chapter 16
16
I stared at the text with dawning horror. “I have to go,” I said, cutting off Charlie mid-sentence.
“Everything okay?” he asked, but I didn’t have time to talk. There was only one thing I needed to do, and that was to get to number 1, the Mansions.
Leo was hurting, and I hadn’t been there for him.
By the time I reached the Victorian terrace where JJ lived with his housemates, I was panting, out of breath from my sprint there. Before I could knock, the door swung open, and JJ was standing there, blocking my path to Leo, his arms folded across his chest.
“Before I let you in, I want to say something. Whatever this is between you and Leo isn’t my business. What is my business is my friend’s happiness. You fuck with him, and you’ll live to regret it.” I’d never seen him act so cold before. JJ was warm, social, the life of the party. But right now, he was looking at me as if he’d happily slit my throat if I made the wrong move.
“I understand. I don’t want to hurt him. Ever. I’d never purposely make him upset. He…he’s the most important person in the world to me,” I said, and fucking hell, my voice was cracking.
JJ’s expression softened slightly, but he still didn’t move. “He told me about the kissing for practice. What are you getting out of it? I don’t want you to take advantage of him. He’s not…experienced.”
“And he knows his own fucking mind,” I ground out, trying to keep my cool. “I’d never take advantage of him.”
“Answer my question.”
Question… Oh, fuck. How was I supposed to answer that? “Uh…I like it, okay? What business is it of yours?”
“You like kissing Leo,” JJ stated. The corners of his lips turned up, and I wasn’t sure I liked the expression on his face.
“That’s what I fucking said. Are you gonna let me in after panicking me with your text, or do I have to stand out here all night?”
“One more thing, and I’ll let you in. Two things, in fact. Be patient with him. It might take a while for you both to be on the same page. And the other thing.” He paused until I raised my brows, impatiently gesturing with my hands for him to continue. Now, he smiled properly. No, it was a smirk. “Think about why you like kissing him.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled, pushing past him into the hallway when he finally stepped aside. He stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“I’m serious.”
Scrubbing my hand across my face, I nodded. “I know you are. I just…I really need to see him.”
“Okay. He’s in the lounge with Nic, playing Mario Kart .”
“Thanks.”
I barely noticed JJ following me into the lounge and Niccolò quickly ending the game, both of them discreetly exiting the room. I only had eyes for Leo, curled up in the corner of the sofa wearing someone else’s hoodie, his eyes all red and swollen and his soft lips cracked and bitten. It hurt so much to see him like that, and I didn’t even know what had happened to make him so upset. All I knew was that JJ had told me that Leo had a really upsetting evening and needed me now.
“Leo. Baby,” I choked out, and his head flew up, his eyes wide as he stared at me. Reaching the sofa, I wasted no time in sinking into it and pulling him into my arms. He winced, and I immediately stilled, but then he burrowed into me, wrapping his arms around my neck and pressing his nose into my throat.
“Finn,” he breathed shakily, overwhelming relief in his voice, and I simultaneously felt like crying and fucking killing anyone who’d contributed to my best friend being in such a state.
I held on to him, gently rubbing up and down his back and pressing soft kisses to the parts of his head I could reach. When he eventually sat up straight, he looked at me with huge, sad eyes, his bottom lip trembling. Fucking hell, it was agonising seeing him like this. I’d do anything to take his pain away.
“What happened?” I said, leaning forwards to kiss his cheek. “Please tell me.”
He made a whimpering sound and buried his face in the juncture of my neck and shoulder again. Eventually, the whole story came out, and by the end, he wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes. I wished more than anything that I could have done things differently, but I couldn’t. All I could do was be there for him now and to let him know I wasn’t going anywhere. I needed to thank JJ and Niccolò, too. If they hadn’t been there…
The thought of him all alone, crying on the floor, killed me.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I murmured, stroking my thumb gently under his eyes, brushing his tears away. I couldn’t give a single fuck about the fact that I was still calling him “baby” and that JJ and Niccolò were probably spying on us and would hear me and probably see that I couldn’t stop kissing him. All I wanted to do was to make him happy again.
“Not your fault,” he mumbled, curling back into me. A yawn overtook him. “Sorry. I’m so tired.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I’m not surprised. Want me to take you home? Mine or yours?”
He nodded. “Yours, please.”
I helped him upright, and he eased the bag of frozen peas out from under his hoodie, placing them on the coffee table.
“How are your ribs?”
“They’re okay. I’ll be fine tomorrow. It wasn’t a hard jab. I think they just caught me at a bad angle.”
My jaw clenched at the way he tried to brush off the fact that someone had purposely hurt him. And the bastard who had pushed him…if I ever found out who it was, he’d have not only me but the entire football team to deal with, not to mention JJ and Niccolò.
“Leo.”
“Don’t. Please.”
“It’s okay.” I kissed his temple. “We don’t have to talk about it anymore if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to. I just want to go home with you.”
How could I ever refuse him anything when he gave me that imploring look? There was one thing I needed to do first, though. Unzipping the hoodie and easing it off his shoulders, I then removed my own hoodie. I carefully helped him into it, reluctantly smiling when he stared at me, his brows rising in an unspoken question.
A question I didn’t really have the answer to. “It makes sense for you to wear my hoodie, otherwise you’ll have to remember to give this one back to…”
“JJ,” he finished.
“Right. JJ. Now you can wear mine, and we can take yours home to wash.”
He smiled then, a proper, genuine smile, and my breath caught in my throat. Fucking hell.
“Okay. Let’s get home,” I said hoarsely, pulling him upright. As we left the lounge, Leo’s hand clasped securely in mine, we ran into JJ.
“Nice hoodie,” he murmured, amused, his gaze flicking between us. Leaning into me, he lowered his voice. “Remember what I said earlier.”
I glared at him, and he smirked, but his expression became serious as he turned to Leo.
“If you need anything, just text me, okay? Anything at all.”
“Same goes for me,” Niccolò called from the kitchen, where he’d obviously been eavesdropping.
“Thank you,” Leo whispered.
“Anytime.” JJ pulled him into a one-armed hug, giving the side of his head a quick kiss, amusement dancing in his eyes when he noticed the way I was staring at him. Not that I was looking at him in a certain kind of way. I just had a bit of tension in my jaw, that was all.
I forced myself to concentrate on the fact that JJ and Niccolò had been really good friends to Leo tonight. They’d both done everything they could to make sure he was okay, and I was seriously grateful to them both. JJ didn’t have to text me, either, but he had, and I needed to thank him.
“Thanks for texting me,” I said quietly, meeting JJ’s gaze. “It means a lot.”
He nodded to acknowledge me, giving me a brief but genuine smile. “Look after him, okay?”
“I will.” It was a promise I’d do everything I could to keep.
Back at my house, I sorted Leo out with some soft, loose joggers and a faded T-shirt to wear to bed. I left him to get ready, heading for the kitchen to fill a glass with water from the fridge while I waited to get into the bathroom to dig out the paracetamol, lip balm, and my mum’s eye cream. I knew she wouldn’t mind me using it for a good cause.
When I returned from the bathroom, Leo was in my bed, propped up by one of my pillows.
I placed the water on my bedside table and handed him the paracetamol. “Take two of these. I’m just gonna get changed, then I’ll be back.”
He nodded to acknowledge me, and I quickly ducked into the bathroom to get ready for bed. As soon as I was done, I got Leo to close his eyes while I carefully applied the cream, followed by a generous coating of lip balm, which I hoped would make his lips less sore. When I was done, I turned off the lights, leaving my curtains open a sliver, as usual, in case he needed to get up in the night.
“Thanks, Finn. I-I’m sorry?—”
Climbing into bed next to him and sliding under the covers, I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear you apologising to me again unless it’s something you actually need to apologise for, which I doubt will ever happen.”
He sighed but fell silent. We both lay on our backs, staring up at the dark ceiling.
“ I’m sorry. I wish I’d been there.”
Leo inhaled sharply, and then he shifted over, nudging under my arm until I had it curved around him and his arm was slung across my waist.
“You don’t need to be sorry, either. I don’t want to be dependent on you or anyone.” He stretched to kiss my jaw. The light touch gave me a shiver. “I’m glad we’re here now, though.”
“Me too,” I said, closing my eyes and allowing sleep to drag me under.