You curled up on the floor next to Leo. He was going to be fine, you convinced yourself. He was going to be fine. The book sat on the floor, staring you down. He was supposed to be taking you on a date today. You were supposed to walk outside in the sunlight. You were supposed to blush and hold hands. You picked up the book. Six hours.

You read the entire manual. You read every page, absorbed every bit of information, storing away all of the knowledge of Leo. You knew everything about him; things that made you laugh, things that made you blush, technical things you could hardly understand. Cover to cover you read, until the sun was well past its peak. More than six hours had passed.

The stress of constant waiting was beginning to take its toll. Slowly your eyes closed, and empty hand twirling in Leo's gently, repetitively. It gave you some measure of comfort. He was still there.

The next thing you knew, you were being wrapped in something soft and warm. You struggled to find consciousness; were you imagining Leo's warm caress on your cheek? You blinked blearily as the figure in front of you gathered you in his arms.

"Leo!" You cried out an exclamation as recognition hit you, throwing yourself completely at him as all hint of sleep vanished. You pressed you lips to his, completely, awake, needing to feel that he was safe and as alive as he had ever been. His arms, wrapped beneath you to keep to upright, tightened as he kissed back momentarily before breaking away to let you breath. He shifted your weight so he could run a hand through your hair.

“Are you alright?” He asked, genuinely worried about you. His gaze searched your face. “I didn't know that would happen, I'm so sorry you had to go through that--” you glanced over his shoulder, noticing the open book on the floor, the page open the one you marked. He had read it, and possibly the entire thing, knowing Leo. You looked back to him, meeting his finally warm eyes, and leaned your forehead against his with a sigh of relief. He stopped talking, trying to gauge your reaction. His hand continued to go through your hair rhythmically. You couldn't stop leaning into him, feeling how alive he was. You had the urge to kiss him again, endlessly.

The low but clearly present sound of your stomach demanding attention shattered the moment. You were completely derailed and Leo laughed, letting go of your hair to gather you up in his arms better.

“We can have a more serious discussion later... but for now, when was the last time you've eaten?”

You scrambled to figure out when you had eaten, freezing in his arms. What time was it? 5 pm? Could it have been all the way at last nights dinner? You blushed as your stomach growled again. Yeah. Must have been.

“Well...” You began as he headed into the kitchen, already deciding on the next course of action. “It might have been last night...”

“Last night?!” His step faltered in surprise before he hurried forward, plopping you into a kitchen chair as he went. “Definitely need to fix that.”

Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as you watched him expertly attack the fridge and begin getting food ready. He was spoiling you to hell. You jumped down from your stood and went to stand next to him, waiting to help with whatever he was doing. The last thing you expected was for him to turn around and shove a glass of water in your hands.

“Drink that,” he said, flipping on the heat and dumping oil in the pan. “You probably haven't had a drink yet either, and you look pale.” He leaned over and kissed you on the forehead. “And drink all of it.”

You looked down at the tall glass of water and then back at him, making a comical pouting face. Leo laughed quietly. “For me?” he intoned, putting on a voice that made you obey his every word and question your sanity. You stuck out your tongue a little before downing the liquid and leaving your glass at the edge of the sink.

“Now let me help,” you asked. You wanted to put your arms around him from behind as he worked over the stove, but you weren't quite tall enough to do it without it being awkward; you settled for linking an arm through his.

“Would you mind peeling the carrots for me please?” He asked, looking at you fondly as he threw garlic into the now heated oil. You jumped away, happy to have a job to do.

“Of course!”

You worried about him working after collapsing like that; just the thought of it made your stomach drop. He seemed fine though, even better than he had been. You peeled and chopped the carrots as asked, careful not to cut yourself because the absolute last thing you needed to deal with was Leo freaking out over a cut finger. He seemed to overreact a bit when it came to you. The thought made you smile a little.

Leo was glancing at you out of the corner of his eye, though you didn't notice. You continued to chop obliviously, but he saw the little growing smile.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked, and you looked up at him sharply; heat rose to your face. How in the world were you going to tell him that you were thinking about him? The bandaid on your knee was a constant reminder of his care.

“Nothing.” You went back to the carrots. “Nothing at all.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That doesn't look like nothing.”

“Well it does now.” You handed him the carrots and continued before he could speak. “Anyway I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute.” You heard a quiet chuckle as you walked away.

You closed the bathroom door behind you and looked in the mirror quickly. “Ugh,” you moaned, putting your head down. You're blush was a vibrant, lovely neon red. You couldn't get the thoughts of Leo out of your head and it was showing quite clearly.