Leo's family was out for the day. Garon and Arete were still on their honeymoon, Azura and Corrin had gone to a party with friends, Elise was watching a movie, and Camilla and Xander were at university. That would leave Leo alone, but he knew he had the day to make something special.
And by something special, he meant lunch for Sakura. Most boys his age would take the day to do something rowdy or dangerous. But Leo just wanted to take the chance to have a little fun afternoon with his girlfriend without his family bothering him as they usually did.
So what did Leo decide he wanted to do? Well, the first thing was get ideas from his friends. Of course, some were absolutely terrible. Odin's "Show her my meme page" was particularly notable, as was the one Niles gave, which Leo didn't even want to think about. However, it did give Selena an idea, which was to make Sakura lunch. Apparently it came from Niles telling Leo to eat something involving Sakura… which he still didn't want to think about. Ever.
Leo immediately accepted Selena's idea, mostly just to shut the other three up. But that's where the problem came in: Leo barely knew how to cook.
Well, damn it. I've really dug myself into a hole here, haven't I? Already invited her over for lunch and I still don't know what to make. I can ace an advanced Chem course but I can't make a meal for the girl I love… eh, school's out. I can focus on cooking instead of chem now.
After rummaging through, the fridge, Leo found a few ingredients he could make something with. There was some expensive cheese Garon had given him after a trip to Europe, some bacon from the morning, and some onions. Well, I guess I can make… grilled cheese? Is that date food? Looking at the clock, Leo realized he didn't have much of a choice. It was 1:50 and Sakura was coming at about 2:00. And being driven by her brother Takumi, who would probably kick his ass if he "wasted his sister's time." Even if we are kind of pals now, I'll never stop being afraid of Takumi's big brother mode. Not that I'll ever say it to his face.
Leo didn't know how to cook much, as he had usually left that to Camilla or Azura, who were actually pretty good at it. Elise could only bake cookies and cupcakes, Xander was always too busy, and Corrin wasn't allowed to use the stove since the last time she tried to cook.
Well, grilled cheese it is. Leo opened the bread drawer and found the best loaf of bread he could. Of course, it was one of the more expensive ones in the house; but even if it was just grilled cheese, Leo was not going to be stingy with what he made for Sakura.
Buttering the bread, slicing the cheese, and then grilling it all was easy. So was slapping on the bacon, tomato, and onions. But then Leo looked down at the sandwiches. They looked good, sure. But they were still only grilled cheeses. Leo looked at the clock again.
FIVE MINUTES.
What could make this a real meal? I mean, I could eat it alone, but I want Sakura to feel special. Leo dashed around the kitchen. Then as he got to the pantry, he saw it: tomato soup. They don't call me the tomato boy for nothing, I guess.
Leo grabbed the soup off the shelf and quickly poured it into a pot to get it hot. That's when he got the text.
'Just got in the car Leo! Can't wait to see you! :3'
Leo looked up from his phone. "Damn it." He looked towards the pot and it was only slightly warmer. Well, a watched pot never boils. What to do?
Looking around the room for a distraction, he just looked back at his phone. Might as well text back to take my mind off the soup…
'Well, food's almost done. Hope it's good, I don't cook often.'
After taking a second to breathe in, Leo noticed the soup was done. And just as he turned off the stove, he heard tires on his driveway. Damn it.
Leo quickly and carefully poured the soup into two bowls, cut the sandwiches in half, and tried to make the food look nice before setting it on the table. Then he heard the knock on the door.
Sakura stood outside on the hot summer day, knocking on Leo's door. She chose not to bother dressing up, as she and Leo were very casual together. They just liked having fun and hanging out, they never forgot that friend was a part of the words boyfriend and girlfriend. She had just opted for one of her favorite summer dresses. Nothing fancy, just something good to wear on a hot day.
When she saw Leo open the door, he looked slightly out of breath. He was still wearing sweatpants and a dark shirt, even in summer. She noticed it was the same Gengar shirt he had when they first really met each other and grinned a bit.
"H-hi, Leo!" She had to stand on her toes to hug him, as even though she had grown a bit, there was still a very notable height difference between the two.
"Heya, Sakura. So, yeah. I made you lunch. Want to come in?"
"I'd love to."
When Sakura walked into Leo's kitchen, her nostrils were filled with an absolutely divine smell. On the table were two plates, each containing some sort of delicious cheesy melt and a bowl of tomato soup, both still steaming hot.
Leo didn't look impressed for some reason. "Yeah, I kind of had to throw something together. So I just made some grilled cheese, sorry if you wanted anything fancy."
Sakura puffed her cheeks out, knowing Leo thought it was adorable when she did that. "Why would you apologize for this? I didn't even think that was 'just grilled cheese' at first, it's the best looking grilled cheese I've ever seen!"
Leo's face was a bit red. "Well… thanks. I tried."
When Sakura sat down to take a bite, she wasn't disappointed. "Leo, don't you ever say you just tried! This is amazing!"
"Well, hey. If it worked, I'll make it a million times. If I can get the expensive cheese again…"
"Wait, expensive? Leo, you don't need to spend so much on me!"
Now it was Leo's turn. "Hey, don't ever say you aren't worth it. It's cheese. Sure, it's good and kind of pricey, but if I have to choose between you and it? Well, there's a lot of cheese in the world. And there's only one Sakura."
Sakura giggled. "Wow. Other couples go on acting like Romeo and Juliet and here we are talking about cheese."
"W-wait… do you want to start doing lovey-dovey talk? I never really thought..."
When Sakura giggled again, Leo's face turned more red than his soup. "Of course not, silly. I want you to be you. Because I love you."
Leo's face turned even more red as he stuffed another bite of his sandwich into his face. But as he did that Sakura knew she heard the smallest trace of "I love you too."
If you didn't notice or have not read Little Red, this is the same continuity. No spoilers though, other than that they get together.
