A/N: I never actually expected this to become a complete one-shot. I'd meant to keep this as a short drabble, just something random I wrote out of stress from certain life events but then it became good.
Oops? Nah. I don't regret writing this. Out of all my stories, this is definitely the one that speaks to me the most.
Also, a really big thank you to Shiny_the_Strange for checking over my stuff and giving me a bunch of tips on how to make this fic better. I truly appreciate your help. (Btw y'all should check out her fics if you haven't already. She's got some really good stuff.)
Enjoy!
"Out of my sight!" Garon pushed Leo out through the door, slamming it shut behind him.
Leo stood in place, trying to catch his breath. He rolled the right sleeve of his cardigan up, revealing a dark red mark on his wrist from when he'd been struck. His father certainly hadn't gone easy on him.
Just another day. He pulled his sleeve back down and reached for his phone in his pant pocket. He pulled it out, turned it on and checked the time.
5:32pm
Leo sighed. It'd be a while before his father calmed down enough to let him back into the house. He looked to the sky and squinted his eyes at the bright sun. Turning away, he walked down the lawn of his house and onto the sidewalk.
Careful not to agitate his wrist any further, he put his hands in his pockets. At least it wasn't too cold outside.
Leo sat alone on a bench in the local park. After about thirty minutes of aimless walking he'd grown tired and decided to rest. He sat idly, staring at the trees in front of him and the birds flying around their branches. He listened to the faint whistle of wind, the slight breeze causing loose strands of hair to fly lightly, freely. The air had grown chillier since he started walking, his exposed skin felt a bit cold. His mind blanked as he stared at the orange sunset.
"Leo?"
He turned to look behind the bench where he'd heard the voice.
"Takumi?" It was Takumi, his best friend.
"What are you doing here?" Takumi asked.
Leo pondered a bit on whether to tell him just what he was doing there before deciding that no, he didn't want Takumi to know. Play it cool.
"I should be asking you the same thing myself," Leo replied. Intent on hiding the bruise he tugged the end of his sleeve down with one hand, slowly so Takumi wouldn't notice. He looked down to see Takumi holding two plastic grocery bags. They were packed. Oh.
Takumi lifted the bags, shrugging.
"Grocery shopping maybe?"
Leo's cheeks turned pink.
"Whatever."
They stood silent for a moment. Takumi smiled gently before walking around the bench to where Leo sat.
"Mind if I sit?" Takumi asked.
"No."
Takumi sat down, settling the bags carefully on the ground. They sat wistfully, both looking up at the sunset. Takumi sighed.
"My family are such jerks. They forced me to go shopping just because I forgot to cook the rice."
Leo chuckled lightly. He'd lost count of how many times Takumi had complained to him about his family. Leo could tell that Takumi loved his family though, no matter how often he'd fuss about them.
"Sakura's nice, I like her. But Hinoka, she takes every opportunity she can to tease me. And she blames me for everything. The wifi broke down? Blame Takumi. The toilet's clogged? Blame Takumi."
Leo let out a short cry and immediately clasped his hand against his mouth.
"Don't tell me you actually clog the toilet," Leo said with a smirk.
"I– Leo!"
"I'm just kidding."
Takumi pouted. He crossed his arms and turned away from Leo with a resounding "hmph!" After a moment, Takumi looked back at Leo and smiled. He uncrossed his arms and turned to face Leo again.
"So does your family do anything just to bug you?" Takumi asked.
Leo thought back to his father yelling at him and banging his wrist on the table.
"Um, no. Not particularly," Leo replied, looking away from Takumi slightly. He could feel Takumi's gaze on him, and his heart was beating faster by the second.
"Oh. But weren't you complaining before about how Camilla posted photos of you sleeping on instagram?"
Leo flinched.
"Ugh. Don't mention that."
"Or how Elise forced you to go shopping with her and made you carry her My Little Pony plushies around the mall?"
"Oh gosh. Just stop, please," Leo pleaded, desperately trying to hold back a smile.
Takumi laughed. The two boys sat there, happily talking on and on about shows, books, and just anything else they could think of. It wasn't until Takumi brushed one of the grocery bags with his foot that he remembered what he'd gone out to do.
Takumi checked his watch.
6:19pm
"Oh crap, I need to be home soon. And it's getting dark, you should probably be heading back home too, Leo."
Leo moved to get up from the bench before freezing in place. He wasn't sure if his father wanted him home at the moment.
"Huh? Something wrong, Leo? Here." Takumi reached out to grab Leo's wrist. He moved quick and it was too late for Leo to his pull back as Takumi held him tight around the wrist.
"Agh!" Leo clenched his eyes shut and tore his arm away from Takumi's grip. Leo held his head down as he lightly held his sore wrist.
"Leo...? I'm sorry, are you alright?" Takumi raised his hand apprehensively to Leo's wrist.
Panicking, Leo yanked his wrist even further away from Takumi and held it tight against his chest.
"Leo?"
"Don't."
Takumi brought his hand forward.
"Leo, please."
"No!"
"Leo-" Takumi jerked Leo's arm from where he held it. He stared intently at his clothed arm before taking hold of the end of the sleeve.
"Takumi, plea-"
Takumi pulled the sleeve up, revealing the swollen mark underneath. It looked worse than before, the red now a dark blue. Takumi stared at it aghast.
"Leo, h-how did this happen?"
Leo stayed silent, his head now hung low.
"Leo?!" Takumi was growing more frantic by the second.
"I..."
"...You?"
"...I bumped it on the table," Leo said. He continued to look away from Takumi.
"Leo, you know I can tell when you're lying."
Leo stayed silent.
Takumi held Leo's hand in both of his own; one below, and one over.
Leo felt himself calm, if only slightly. Takumi's hands were warm and comforting. Reassuring. He could trust Takumi, couldn't he?
"It was my father."
"What?"
"My father, he. He got angry at me, about an hour ago I think. I said something he didn't like and well, he..."
"He hit you."
"Slammed my wrist on the table."
"Oh god."
"..."
"...Leo. Does this happen often?"
"Not often."
"Not often. But it does sometimes."
Leo nodded.
"But, it's not that that's the problem," Leo said.
"What do you mean?"
"It's what he says that really affects me. A bruise like this, it'll heal within a week or two. But the things he says to me, all that stuff about how I'm not good enough..."
Takumi watched him silently.
"...how I'm not like my brother..."
Leo took a long and deep breathe.
"...how I'm not perfect, like I should be."
Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.
'That's stupid. No one's perfect."
"I know. I know that, and yet..." Leo raised his head and looked into his eyes. "I can't help but believe my father when he says things like that. When he tells me over and over again that I'm stupid, useless, meaningless, I-I can't help it." Leo started to tremble. Tears had begun to spring in his eyes. "I can't help but believe him."
Leo's head lowered and Takumi brought him into a tight embrace. Leo pressed his face upon Takumi's shoulder, trembling. He tried stifling his sobs, but to no avail.
Takumi raised his arms up to his shoulder blades and held on tight.
"Hey, Leo, listen to me. You're better than that. You are so much more than what he says you are."
Leo pressed his face harder onto Takumi's shoulder, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Don't listen to him. You're not stupid, you're not useless, and oh god, you're not meaningless. You're not. Not when you mean so much to me."
Closing his eyes, Takumi lowered his head on Leo's shoulder.
"You mean so much to me, Leo. So much, I can't even explain just how much," Takumi said.
Leo sniffed, his lips turning up and into a slight smile.
"Thank you, Takumi. I..." Leo raised his head from Takumi's shoulder and looked into the other boy's eyes, a single tear streaming down his face. "I'm so lucky to have someone like you."
Takumi chuckled. He brought his thumb up to Leo's cheek, carefully wiping the liquid away from the his cheek.
Leo closed his eyes at Takumi's touch. He held his breath as Takumi held his face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together.
He really was lucky to have someone like Takumi in his life.
"Are you sure? What if your father's still..." Takumi trailed off.
The two boys were standing in front of the entrance to Leo's house.
"I've already been gone too long," Leo said. "And you've been out long too. Didn't you say you needed to be back home a while ago?"
"Eh, it's okay," Takumi said. "I had more important things to worry about."
Their eyes met and they stood still, gazing into each other's eyes.
Dropping his shopping bags on the ground, Takumi took a step forward and pulled Leo into another embrace. Leo wrapped his arms around Takumi and for a moment the two stood still, unwilling to part ways.
"Just, call me if you need anything, okay?" Takumi said.
"...Of course."
Releasing himself from Takumi's embrace Leo reached into his pocket, pulled out a key and unlocked the front door. Placing his hand around the door knob Leo turned back to face Takumi, a warm smile on his face.
Turning away, Leo opened the door and entered his home, closing the door behind him. He took off his shoes and placed them on the ground.
"You're back."
Leo jolted. He turned his head in the direction of the voice only to see his brother staring at him, an open book laying in his lap.
"Father's not home. He went out while you were gone," Xander said.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
Xander nodded in return before turning his attention back to the book in his lap.
Leo went upstairs. He opened his bedroom door and entered, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the window, pulled the blinds down and peered through them, smiling to himself as he saw Takumi walking down the sidewalk. He closed the blinds, walked back to his bed and sat down.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone. Unlocking it, he went into his messages and searched for Takumi's name. Once he found it, he opened up a new message and typed.
Thank you.
Leo turned the screen off and placed his phone face down on the bed beside him, patiently awaiting Takumi's reply.