Kurenai Archangel
A/N: I'm sitting in front of the TV when an idea hits me- I want to write a Christmas romance! Well I could consider this inspiration from a close friend, a cutie, in fact (hehe, Alexi…) and I could owe this all to her and Jackie, couldn't forget her- But I definitely owe it to Alexi for inspiring me. Thanks babe!
BTW: "abcdefg" : Speech
Abcdefg : Thoughts
It was less than a few weeks before Christmas, and Leon Black was roaming the streets after dark. Loaded with paper bags, he was stumbling down the street as he just made it to his apartment. Barely escaping through his door, he took his jacket, and scarf off. With dark brown hair, gray eyes, he shouldn't have had a hard time keeping a girlfriend, but fate proved that wrong- He was alone this Christmas.
He let out a sigh and he looked at the pile of bags in front of him.
"Looks like it'll be quiet this season," He sighed, as he took off his sweater and laid it out upon the couch. "Maybe I should learn to spend less on my friends during Christmas," He chuckled as he walked to his refrigerator and pulled out some leftover Chinese food. Plopping himself back down upon the sofa, he turned on his stereo system, which automatically played a CD. The sad and slow tune of "Four Seasons of Loneliness" by Boyz II Men came on as he gagged on his food.
"No, not this now…" He rubbed his head as he switched off the stereo. Finishing off his food, he closed his eyes and he began to daze off.
A
doorbell snapped him out of his unconsciousness as he stumbled towards the
door.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," He mumbled, as he opened the door. A young lady of
about his age stood there.
"Hey cutie," She said with a smile on her face. All of a sudden, he realized
who it was- Rachelle Loire. She was just a few inches shorter than Leon, and
she had beautiful, long brown hair. Rachelle walked in and hugged him, without
him even reacting.
"Oh, oh," He began to realize. "Hey, you didn't
call-"
"Yeah, I know. I wanted to check up on you, ya know, I haven't seen you in a
while," She said with a smile on her face.
Leon and Rachelle were friends for a while, but Leon couldn't exactly remember- Was it two years, or three- He didn't remember. All he knew was that they were the closest of friends and that they were the closest friends could ever get.
They
sat there talking for a while on the couch, when a bout of silence came, and
Rachelle looked at Leon- he had an empty gaze, a lost gaze.
"So I think you're going to be alone for Christmas?" she asked, quietly.
"I hope not- I hope that I can-"
"Find someone?" She interrupted him, it was practically known that she read him
like a book. She smiled, but he frowned.
"Don't worry, I know you're going to find someone."
"I wish I could… I don't wanna spend Christmas alone." She rubbed his arm, and
he looked outside at the city skyline. He looked at Rachelle, his eyes
wandering.
I wish I could spend Christmas with someone like you…
"Please don't worry." She looked at her watch, got up from the couch and brushed
herself off. "It's pretty late now cutie, I gotta get back to my apartment."
She kissed him on the cheek before running out the door.
After she shut the door, he looked out the window to the visible stars above.
"Wish I could find someone to spend Christmas with…" He closed his eyes, as he didn't feel like getting up, so he decided to lay on the couch and daze off. It wasn't long until morning came.
December 22nd
The sun was out, and it was a chilly day. Leon was still on his Christmas shopping list for the rest of his buddies. Stepping out of the door of Electronics Boutique, he accidentally bumped into a young lady, sending her bags onto the sidewalk. He barely got a glance at her- She was practically what he wanted in a girl, or was that just looks anyway?
She had long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, with bangs hanging just over her eyes- but her eyes were the ones that got him the most- those green eyes… She was cute all right, maybe more than cute.
She bent down to pick up her bags, and at the same time Leon went to help pick them up, and her eyes met his. Leon began to stutter, unknowing of what to say.
Is this a coincidence?
"I… I'm… I…"
"Sorry yeah, I know." She interrupted him, managing to compose her dignity, but
still blushing. Eventually managing to pick up her gifts with Leon's help. The
girl smiled, and she looked at Leon. "Thank you for your help." He nodded, and
she walked away.
"No problem…" He mumbled as he held his hand in her direction, but she was too far down the street to notice.
Damnit! How could you let her walk away like that?
Leon couldn't shrug it off for the whole day- He didn't know what he was doing, but he knew that she was good looking… Okay, not good looking, but straight out beautiful! He was just about to sit down when there was a knock at his door.
"Ugh, what now?" He walked over to the door and he opened it, when a happy and joyful Rachelle jumped out from behind it and almost took him down.
"Oh
my god, oh my god!" she was practically screaming when she got inside his
apartment.
He held Rachelle by her shoulders and he got her to calm down after several
minutes.
"What's wrong, what's wrong," Leon kept asking as
she finally calmed down.
"I found someone for you!" He furrowed his brow, as in doubt.
"No you didn't!" He exclaimed, excited.
"Yes, I did- I'm serious!" She returned, happy as ever. "Look, I have to go, I
just wanted to tell you now, alright? I'll see you later, cutie-" She dropped a
kiss on his cheek, and she ran out the door, leaving him dazed and in a stupor.
Suddenly, she trampled back into the doorway.
"I'll call you tomorrow, you're coming over to meet
her, alright?"
"Y… yeah, alright-" and he was interrupted by the shut of the door.
Is she bullshitting me? Did she really find someone for me?
He fell into his bed, with many mixed feelings, as he wrapped the covers around himself, and drifted to sleep.
The Night Before Christmas Eve
He awoke to the sight of snow falling past his window and onto the crowded streets. The soft snow left a light powder upon his windowsill as he got out of bed, shivered and stretched for a few minutes, and jumped into the warm shower.
Coming back out, he felt happy as he ate his breakfast and he picked up the phone and called his friend. Punching the numbers into the phone, he pulled upon the cord as he waited for the other line to be picked up. A groggy voice answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Jin?"
"Yo…"
"You up for doing anything today?"
"Yeah, let me get dressed, you can come over." Merian smiled.
"Great. I'll call the others."
"OK. Later." He heard the click of the phone before he began dialing the other numbers.
Several Minutes Later
The sounds of hoarse screams and hysterical laughter were heard as Leon and several of his friends were crowded around the PlayStation 2.
"I'm gonna kick your ass with Yoshimitsu," said
Brien, who grasped the controller as he awaited for the next fight.
"Damnit!" was heard as the sound 'K.O.' Came up on the TV.
"This sucks, let's play something else."
"I've got the Dreamcast in the other room, you want me to hook it up?"
"Of course, let's play NBA2K2," Leon put in.
A rumbling of sounds came from the other room
before Jin came back with a clump of cords, controllers, and the Dreamcast.
"Give me some friggin help here!" He added to his friend's laughter, as they
eventually got up and helped him set it up. Suddenly, the phone rang. Jin ran
out of the room to get the phone, as everyone sat there waiting for him to get
back.
"Jin?"
"Who-"
"This is Rachelle, where's Leon?"
"Oh," He paused. "He's right here, hold on." He came back into the room and
held his hand over the receiver. "Leon, did you give her my number?"
"No, she has a key to my apartment and there's a list of numbers on my fridge."
"Oh."
"Gimme it." Leon yanked the phone away and held it to his ear. "Rachelle?"
"Hey cutie," She said. "You gotta be at my house at
6:00 tonight, alright?"
"Wait," he said after a pause. "Why?"
"I'm setting you up, dummy," She commented,
sarcastically.
"Oh, that's right. I'll talk to you later, babe." Leon said, as he hung up the
phone. Looking back at his friends, they were looking at him like he were a
ghost."
"She a new girlfriend?" Brien asked, cynically.
"Shut up, dumbass."
Several Hours later
"Alright, I'll see you guys later," Leon got up off of the couch after playing video games for several hours straight. "I gots myself a date, Later!" He said as he dashed out of the door.
Finally, after several minutes of waiting which seemed like forever, Leon finally arrived at his doorstep. Singing to himself in his head, he was happy at what Rachelle had done for him.
Oh, ya can't touch this, *da da da da, dum, dum* [1]Running into his apartment and stripping himself off, he went into the shower. Suddenly, the bathroom filled with steam as the incandescent sound of his voice echoed through the air. Getting out of the shower, he stopped to look at the bathroom clock-
"Oh shit! It's fuckin' 5:50 already?" Leon yelled,
running into his bedroom to find something to wear. Finding a pair of khakis
and a black dress shirt, he put those on and then looked in the mirror to check
how he looked.
"Where are those boots…" He mumbled to himself as he found them next to the
front door. "Damn, I'm absent minded," Tying them and putting them on, he
dashed out the door.
He came back several minutes later in search of his jacket and scarf.
At Rachelle's House
He stopped at Rachelle's front door, which was decorated in the holiday spirit. Out of breath, he placed his hand on his knees and he began panting.
Better start working out again,
He chuckled to himself, as the door opened to reveal
Rachelle.
"Heyy!" She yelled, distracting about all the people on her floor. She hugged
him, and she took off his jacket. "Here, I have to introduce you to someone,"
She took his hand and she led him into the apartment. "This, is Mia," and
suddenly, Leon's jaw practically dropped to the floor, his eyes wide with
disbelief.
What the hell? This is the girl I ran into on the street!
He looked at her, and surprisingly, she had the same expression. She was wearing a leather skirt, with a tight white blouse and a leather jacket. She got up, her eyes focused on him.
She looks as beautiful as I saw her the other day…
"H… H… Hi," Leon managed to say, sticking his hand out. It was shaking. He was cold, or until she touched his hand. Her hand was warm.
"Hello," she said, greeting him with a warm smile. "I know you from somewhere-"
"You guys know each other?" Rachelle questioned, in amazement.
"Um, y… Yeah, I ran into her on the street the other day, and I accidentally knocked over her stuff." Leon added.
"I remember, you're the cutie, I mean," She suddenly let out. Leon chuckled, and he looked down, confused and wondering why they were still shaking hands. He let go, and he looked at the floor.
"Anyway, this is Mia Jamison. She's a friend of mine from out of town." She looked at Leon, who was gazing at the floor. "And Mia, this is Leon Black, a very close friend of mine."
"Again, pleased to make your acquaintance." Mia held her arms out and she gave him a hug.
"Me too." He smiled, and he let go.
"Let's eat, I got some dinner earlier." Rachelle commented as she led both of
them to the table. Surprisingly, there were only two seats at the table. "I'll
leave you two alone," she said, with a smile on her face. Leon chuckled, and he
walked over and pulled out a seat for Mia. She smiled, and she sat down.
"Thank you."
"De rien." She looked at him
in a weird way.
"What?"
"French for, 'It's nothing.'"
"Oh," she said, as she smiled.
"I've got some food guys," Rachel said as she came in with two plates of food. "Here you go," She said, as she placed the plates down.
A bout of silence followed as they began to eat quietly.
"So, where are you from?" Leon asked.
"I'm from Chicago," She looked up at him, their gazes meeting again.
"How do you like it here in New York?"
"It's nice here, I like it very much." She smiled, and she returned to eating her food. Leon looked at her, and she was mindlessly staring off into space.
She looks beautiful. Why hasn't she found anyone else yet? Why is she even sitting here with me?
Dinner was finished soon enough, and they both seemed to walk into Rachelle's living room. They sat next to each other on the sofa, quietly listening to a radio station.
This is really fucked up… I meet her on the street and right now, I'm sitting right next to her. Something's very, very wrong.
"So what'd you think of tonight?" He asked, eager for a reply.
"It was sweet, it really was." She turned to look at him and she smiled.
"I was wondering, how a girl like you ends up without-"
"Someone at…" She interrupted him for a second,
"Christmas." They both ended the sentence at the same time, their gazes directed toward each other. Slowly leaning in, their lips locked and Leon got his first kiss in a long time. Breaking off the kiss, they looked at each other and another kiss occurred, but this time, her tongue slipped into his mouth. She broke the kiss this time, and suddenly, Rachelle broke into the room.
"Hey guys," and she saw what was happening. She smiled
and she looked at Leon. "It's late, cutie. Ya gotta go home now." He nodded,
and he looked at Mia again.
"I'll see you later," he said, and gave her a hug.
Walking
with Rachelle out the door, She gave him a hug.
"I'll see you later, cutie." She shut the door, and he began his trek home.
Finally
arriving at his door, he changed his clothes and fell onto his bed. Wrapping
the covers around himself, he closed his eyes.
*Dream*
Running for what seemed like an endless time, he arrived at a crowd of people. Unsure of what he was searching for, he pushed through the crowd in what seemed like a nonstop effort. Finally making his way to the back of the crowd, he got out to find out that that something wasn't there anymore.
Confused and shaking, Leon got up and he tried to regain his composure. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was 4:00 in the morning.
What was that about… Oh my god, no!
Leon jumped out of his bed and he dashed for the phone. Stubbing his toe on
something, he yelped in pain as he grabbed the phone off the hook, and
attempted to dial Rachelle's number.
*Ring, Ring, Ring…*
*Ring, Ring, Ring…*
Oh no… did she leave already?
Putting some clothes and a jacket on, he dashed out of his apartment and jumped into his car in pursuit of Mia. Practically breaking the speed limit here and there, he weaved in and out of traffic. He came to a sudden stop at the first exit before the train station. Passing many cars, so many headlights whizzed by.
Wait a second, was that Rachelle's car?
He sped down the exit ramp and came to a stop at the terminal. Leaving his door and his car running, a bellhop tried to chase after him, but stayed behind to watch his car. Getting into the Terminal, there was a large crowd of people.
"Mia?! Mia?!" He exclaimed as he tried to move through the crowd.
Is that her? No, it's not, No, not her…
Running up to a woman in a leather jacket, he tapped her on the shoulder.
"Mia?"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh shit." He dashed off, still in pursuit.
Getting up to the front of the line, he saw her getting ready to give her ticket in.
"Mia, wait up!" He grabbed her shoulder and he practically spun her around. He shook his head, trying to get the words out of his mouth-
"D… Don't leave," He said, looking into her eyes. She looked back at Leon, his hair disheveled, his eyes sunken. "I want to be with you," He paused. "I… I… love you." Her eyes looked at him with surprise. She smiled a warm smile, and she caressed his face with her hands. Their gazes met, and slowly, their lips passionately locked. Mia broke the kiss and she wrapped her hands around him.
"I won't," She said, with a smile on her face. They took hands and they began to walk out of the terminal.
"Wait," Mia said, as she took the ticket, ripped it in half and threw it into the garbage. She smiled, and she walked with him to his car, which was still there.
A Year Later, Christmas Eve
Leon
smiled, and he put his arm around Mia.
"You remember that," He chuckled. "I almost let you go…" Mia rested her head on
his shoulder.
"I wouldn't have forgiven you for that, I really wouldn't
have." He got up.
"I have something for you, wait here."
He left, and returned in a few minutes with a small, wrapped box in his hand. He sat back down next to her, and he offered it to her.
"I couldn't have bared to be without you that last year, this year, or even any years after this, so I decided to get you this." He handed her the gift. "Merry Christmas, sweetie." She eagerly took it and peeled the wrapping off, to reveal a small, black box.
"Oh my god, this isn't-"
"It is," Leon interrupted. She opened it to reveal a
small, beautiful, engagement ring. She gasped in awe, and she gazed into his
eyes. "Will you… marry me?" A tear slid down her cheek, and she placed the ring
upon her ring finger.
"I will… I will…" She took him and kissed him, which was one of the many kisses
to come.
*Owari*
A/N: I know, I know… it's corny, it's been over done. I like it a lot! Again, thanks 2 Alexi 4 that inspiration. I love you, and I hope you enjoyed. R/R PLZ!