thirtyeight
Aaliyah's POV
The whole morning feels... different.
Soft.
Warm.
Quiet in the good way.
Leo finishes cooking and brings breakfast to the couch-real plates, not paper-like it's something we do every weekend.
I sit cross-legged eating chilaquiles while he sits beside me, one arm loosely stretched behind me on the couch, like he wants to touch me but doesn't wanna push it.
Every few minutes, he glances at me and looks away quickly like he's shy.
Shy.
Leo.
Shy.
It makes my brain short-circuit.
After we eat, we put on some stupid comfort movie.
He doesn't even look at the screen.
Just plays with my fingers absentmindedly, like he forgot he's doing it.
Around lunchtime we migrate to my bed.
Not for anything spicy-
just to nap.
His chest is warm against my back.
His hand slides around my waist slowly, hesitantly, until I grab it and pull it closer.
He exhales into my neck.
A quiet, relieved sound.
Like he still can't believe I'm here.
?
"Do you have practice today?" I ask after we wake up.
He groans into my hair like a large, irritated teddy bear.
"Yeah," he mumbles. "At four."
I smile. "Then we need to get up, mister athlete."
He pulls me closer.
"No we don't."
"Yes we do."
"Nooooo."
I laugh and push his shoulder.
"Come on. Caleb will kill both of us if you're late."
He grumbles but sits up, rubbing his face, hair messy in a way that should be illegal.
We meet Zaria and Caleb outside the apartments.
They spot us walking hand-in-hand and do EXACTLY what I expect.
Zaria squeals softly and wiggles her eyebrows.
Caleb shakes his head. "Mmhm. Back together and smiling. I knew it."
Leo goes pink in the ears.
I nudge him.
"Embarrassed?"
"Yes," he mutters.
Zaria throws an arm over my shoulder.
"I'm so glad you two worked it out. You're glowing again."
Caleb adds, "I knew he'd prove himself. Man was sitting outside the building like a stray cat waiting to be fed."
Leo groans loudly.
"Can everyone stop talking?"
"No," Zaria and Caleb say at the same time.
We walk onto the gym practice courts-
the four of us-
like some weird double date where two of the participants are pretending it's not happening.
Leo squeezes my hand once before letting go to join the team.
Caleb slaps his shoulder on the way to the locker rooms.
"Don't embarrass me today," Caleb teases.
Leo flips him off affectionately.
?
Zaria and I go sit on the bleachers.
Coach Evans walks by and gives us a fond smile.
"Well, well, well... dropping off your boys again, ladies?"
Zaria laughs.
"You know it, Coach."
I smile shyly.
"I guess so."
Coach grins, nudging his clipboard toward the court where Caleb and Leo are warming up.
"I see new couple energy over there. Congrats, sweetheart."
I nearly choke.
Zaria cackles.
Coach pats my shoulder like he's welcoming me to the wives' club.
"You take care of that one," he says, nodding toward Leo.
"Boy's got a lot of fire in him. He needs someone who knows how to calm him down."
I blush SO hard I hide my face in Zaria's shoulder.
Leo glances over at us from across the court-
sees me laughing, hiding my face-
and his whole expression softens.
Just melts.
He gives me the smallest smile.
Barely there.
But it hits me right in the chest because I know that smile is only for me.
Zaria nudges me.
"Y'all are so gross. I love it."
I shove her lightly.
"Shut up."
She giggles.
Caleb jogs over during warm-ups and points at us.
"You two better behave," he warns in big-brother mode.
"No distracting my teammate."
Leo jogs up behind him.
"Shut up," he mutters.
Caleb smirks.
"Look at you defending her. Whipped."
Leo turns bright red.
Zaria and I die laughing.
?
Leo keeps glancing at me between drills.
Just quick looks.
Checking I'm there.
Smiling faintly.
Looking away before Caleb elbows him.
It feels easy.
Comfortable.
Like we found our way back to something good.
Something real.
Something worth everything it took to get here.
And sitting on the bleachers watching him-
hair pushed back, jaw set, arms flexing, the whole concentration mode-
I think:
Yeah.
This is exactly where I want to be.