Saying, "I love you"



'ACHOO!' I sneezed, wiping my nose with a tissue. The words, 'Damn cold' came from my mouth as my head fell back to the pillow. A knock came from the door, strong yet quiet.

"Hey, it's me," Leon's voice came from the door.

"Come in," I managed to say with my nasal passages clogged with snot. I felt as though I really didn't care what I looked like at the moment.

The door opened and Leon came in, looking handsome and quiet as usual. His two-inch dirty blonde hair fell naturally to both sides of his head, requiring not a drop of gel or anything like that. His crystal blue eyes shone through the slight brightness that entered my apartment living room. Still in his police uniform, he walked across the hardwood floor to the couch where I laid.

"I just got off my shift, thought I might come over and see how you're feeling," he said, sitting down and putting my feet on his lap.

 I made a thumbs-down to him, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I figured. Is Chris gone already?" he asked, referring to my brother. I gave a nod. Chris Redfield was my older brother. We shared the same brown eyes and hair and fair skin. He stood a little taller than Leon did, making me look like a dwarf. Leon was about seven inches taller than I at 6'2". They both worked for R.P.D. in the S.T.A.R.S. program.

Leon took the remote from the coffee table and switched it off.

"Thanks, that was giving me a headache," I whispered.

"Want me to rub your head for you?" he asked, pushing up his sleeves.

"Sure, that'd be great." I changed positions so my head was on a pillow in his lap. He put a soft hand on my forehead and began to rub. I began to doze off.

When I woke up, I was wrapped in my quilt on my bed.

"Leon?" I called, hoping he hadn't left already.

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen making some soup, be right out." I laid there, my eyes fixed on the ceiling fan, watching it until I heard the clanging of dishes in my room.

He had taken off some articles of clothes, left in his pants, socks, and a wifebeater. He walked across, setting the tray of condensed soup and tea on the night stand.

Sitting up, I took the tray in my lap and began to eat, feeling the warm soup trail down my throat.

"Mind if I take a seat?" he asked, motioning to my Queen bed.

I nodded.

He took a seat next to me, putting his muscular body under the covers.

"So, I take you're feeling better?" he asked, looking over to me with gleaming eyes.

I nodded, slurping the last spoonful of soup. I gulped down the tea and wiped the excess from my mouth with a sleeve. He chuckled.

"What?" I asked, putting the tray up.

"Nothing. Just." He laughed. I playfully punched him in the arm.

"What?"

"You missed a spot."

Instantaneously, I placed my arm on my mouth, feeling my cheeks get red.

"Gone?" I asked, hoping that he would stop his chuckling.

He shook his head.

"Here, I'll get it." He reached over and wiped a spot on my chin off with his cold hands.

"Thanks." He nodded. "Thanks for coming over, I mean, I would still be feeling horribly if you hadn't come over."

"Don't mention it. What are friends for?"

Friends. Why just friends? From that moment he saved me from that brain- munching zombie, I had fallen for him. Was he too thickheaded to realize that?

"It's getting dark. I guess I should head home. I don't think your dear old bro would think too much of me if he saw me here alone with you, huh?" he said, adding a chuckle.

He got up, heading out the door.

"Hey, Leon?" I called, not wanting him to leave. "D'you think you would want to stay and watch a movie? I'm sure Chris wouldn't care about that." Although I really didn't care what my 'dear old bro' thought, I knew that Leon really had to be on his guard; Chris being his boss and all. He contemplated it.

 "Sure, what the hell. It's not like Chris would fire me." He walked over and quickly picked me up, without I having a say in it, and ran me into the other room. He plopped me on the couch, calling me a 'screaming monkey' and placed the movie, 'Scroodged' into the VCR.

"Any plans for Halloween?" he asked, sitting down next to me and pulling the quilt down from the couch back.

"Not yet. I might go to the company party with Chris and Jill." The company party was a yearly Halloween party that R.P.D. put on for all of it's off-duty cops.

"You can't go with those two! They'll just leave you there while they go make out in the supply room." We laughed.

"Well, do you have a better idea, mister?" I joked, giving him a poke in the shoulder.

"For your information, I do. I believe we should go together. I'm free on Halloween." He winked. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"As in…a date?" I gulped down the saliva that had gathered in my mouth.

"Oh, no, no. I mean…as friends." "In that case, sure. We should go as…"

"Zombie killers? Naw, we've done that twice already." We laughed.

"Fifties couple."

"Leather jackets and stuff?" he asked. I nodded. He chuckled,

"I have this leather jacket that I never get to wear. Finally, some use to it."

"That old, raggedy one?"

"Yeah, I think I showed it to you." I laughed. "You'll have to poof out your hair."

That was an image that lasts. Leon with Elvis hair.