You picked your head back up and sighed. You had better stuff to do than sit and blush over Leo being cute and adorable. Jealousy apparently suited him well. You picked up the phone again and replied.

I can take care of myself...but I'll be careful. You were careful to say nothing about avoiding N; that would just be rude, even if it did make Leo jealous. You set down the phone and returned to work, determined to get something done before the day was over. Anger over the mark was almost completely dissipated; you smiled to yourself.

You made sure to leave right on time at five, knowing that Leo would probably be concerned if you stayed later given what had happened last time. You gathered your belongings and headed home.

It was an uneventful trip, for which you were very happy; it had been a few busy days. Though you couldn't help but feel that, as the sun went down, someone was consistently following you. Of course the streets were filled with people, it was totally normal; when you looked, no one was there. Yet some small paranoid part of your mind was not at all happy with the sensation, and upon getting to your apartment complex you let yourself relax. You began to dig for your keys as you climbed the stairs.

“Oh!” The familiar voice caused you to pause and turn; N was coming out of the elevator with a bag of trash in hand, heading to the dumpster. He grinned at you and waved when your eyes met. “How are you feeling today? Just getting back from work?” He paused and looked down at his watch. “It's pretty late you know, you should be careful and go get some rest.

“Hey,” you greeted him in return. “I'm fine, I didn't do much today. What about you? Didn't you have work?” He was dressed in casual clothes, tight black jeans and a loose colored tee that settled around his slim form rather nicely.

“Oh,” he said, a bit surprised it seemed, “I took the afternoon off since my sister is staying with me,”

“That's so sweet of you,” you responded, genuinely touched by the thought.

“Yeah, she's here with her son, so we're hanging out for the rest of the weekend.”

He was still holding the bad of trash; you stepped down the last few steps to return to the ground floor and followed as he began walking again. “Aw, that's fantastic. How old it he?”

“Four,” N said with a grin. “He has lots of fun running around these days, he's exhausting.”

“Ha, but I bet it's good exercise to chase after him.”

“Chasing after him? Oh, that it is.” He gave you a smile that seemed just a bit off; you couldn't pin point what it was. Before you figured it out, he approached the dumpster and threw in his bag. “Regardless, I'll be heading back up now; you should go take a nap maybe, and have dinner.”

“Thanks, I will,” you replied. You couldn't figure out why Leo was so concerned about N; he had to know that you had male coworkers you were just as close to? N seemed perfectly gentlemanly anyway. You waved politely as he headed back into the elevator; once the doors closed, you went towards your own apartment and a waiting Leo. You smiled a bit to yourself as you climbed the stairs. N was completely normal and safe, you argued in your head. And you likely wouldn't see him for a while anyway if he had company.

Though N was right, you should go an rest. While now completely healthy after taking yesterday off, you were certainly still fatigued. You climbed the stairs. Put the key into the lock, and pushed open your door.

Inside, everything was as it usually was, Leo's box now folded up in a corner of the entryway. You saw it yet again and were struck by the desire to get rid of it. Somehow it made Leo's stay seem somehow less than permanent, and by now you were certain you wanted him to stay. You turned away from the box, leaving that debate for another day, took off your shoes, and headed inside.

“Leo?” you called, leaving your bag with the shoes to be cleaned up later. “I'm home.”

He wasn't in the kitchen, despite the fact that it smelled fantastic. You went closer to investigate. A pan on the stove still seemed to be warm, within it sitting a few chicken cutlets. The heat, however, was off. You spun around in confusion.

“Leo?”

No answer. You peaked into the empty living room before turning towards the bedroom in confusion. It was possible that he went out-- he had everything he could need now-- but you were surprised he didn't message you first, not to mention that the food was still hot.

“Le-”

You jumped and let out a small a small cry of surprise as the bathroom door flew open right in front of you, nearly hitting you in the face. You jumped back a step, hands coming to cover your mouth.

Leo looked out of the doorway in confusion for just a second before he spotted you, but you had already taken in the entire sight. save for a small white towel tied around his waist and another he was holding, Leo was dripping wet. Little rivets of water ran down from his hair, now plastered to his face, down his chest and abs. They were fit, toned, clearly strong, but not extreme- exactly how you liked. You turned aside to stare at a suddenly extremely conspicuous nail hole in the wall. It did nothing to stop the images, or scenarios of what would follow. You began counting times tables as Leo rushed to apologize, pulling the small hand towel in front of him. If he was trying to hide anything, you thought as you glanced over to him, he was doing a ty job.