Mum is in the kitchen preparing dinner while Nico and I sit at the living room coffee table, finishing of the last of our homework. I'm honestly pretty surprised that we got so much done. I guess we just work well together and motivate each other to get it done.
"You're okay with me staying for dinner, right? Because if you're not, I can go, it's no big deal." I turn to him with an exasperated sigh.
"Don't worry about it. My mum will just harass me about it anyway. It will be less inconspicuous if you just stay and head out after dinner." He bites his lip, seemingly trying to hold back laughter.
"Kids, dinner!" mum calls out, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Mum! We're not kids!" Nico chuckles and I glare at him.
All three of us sit down at the dining room table, eating mum's sausages and mashed potato with vegetables in an awkward silence. Mum keeps glancing between me and Nico, suggestively waggling her eyebrows at me when he's not looking. I continue to give her pointed looks, grinding my teeth and trying to fight the blush I can feel rising on my cheeks. Nico is very quiet throughout dinner, not even looking up from his plate once, the entire time. I clear my throat several times to get his attention, but he doesn't go for it.
I clear the table once everyone is done and start washing the dishes, not being able to stand another second sitting in silence with them. Footsteps sound behind me and a hand rests on my shoulder.
"You need some help with those?" Nico's deep voice is almost a whisper in my ear, his hot breath on my neck making me shiver.
"Uh, I think I'm good, thanks." I start drying a plate with a tea towel, but he takes them both from me and starts drying it himself.
"I made an awkward dinner situation even more awkward than it had to be. Come on, you wash, I'll dry." I thank him, feeling a little uncomfortable being around him longer than I have to be. We wash, dry and put away the dishes in another extremely awkward silence.
When we finish, he offers me a small smile and strides out the kitchen. I loose a breath I didn't know I was holding in. Tomorrow is going to be so weird. I walk back into the dining room and see mum and Nico chatting.
"Isn't Percy supposed to be home?" Mum asks.
"He has practice tonight. Him and Jason hit the pool straight after school, so he texted me to let you know he'd be late." I sound thoroughly disinterested as mum and Nico both turn to me.
"Well, that's disappointing. I was hoping we could go to the movies later."
The three of us stand there for a second, waiting for someone to break the awkward silence.
"Nico, would you like to join us? Percy probably won't be home for a few hours and seeing as you have both done all your homework, you most likely have nothing else to do. No pressure though. I'll leave you two alone to talk."
Before she leaves, she turns to look at me and winks. I clench my jaw and hush her out before she can embarrass me even more. I turn back to Nico and laugh nervously. He chuckles and looks down.
"So, uh…I don't know what to say. I won't lie to you, I feel really awkward. I mean don't get me wrong, I don't not want you to come with us, I'm just scared my mum will say or do something to embarrass me and-" I'm suddenly cut off by my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and we both stare at the unknown number on my screen I press decline and put it back in my pocket. I clear my throat and smile. As I start to speak again, my phone vibrates again, signalling that I've got a message. I think about ignoring it but hesitate. What if it's someone important? What if someone needs me and I ignore it and something bad happens and I could have done something to stop it but I was too caught up with a boy that I liked to even check my damn phone?
I laugh sheepishly at Nico and he smiles as if to say, "go ahead, I can wait".
Pulling my phone out, I scoff as I read the message. But then my face turns soft.
"Hey, it's Leo. Look, I'm sorry I was such a jerk today, I just looked up and saw you and you were so beautiful and I panicked. I really like you. You're sassy and smart and a genuinely amazing person. I didn't mean to piss you off, I want to be your friend. But, I understand if you never want to talk to me again. Again, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have treated you like shit, I should've just told you how I feel. If you haven't noticed, I'm not really good at talking about how I feel. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, or not if you don't want to. Bye, Cammy".
I'm shocked. That is the last thing I would expect, especially from Leo and especially so soon after meeting him. Unless…
My head throbs violently and I cry out in pain as a vision fills my head and bile rises in my throat. My knees crash to the floor and I fling my arms over my head, sobbing. I see my dad and Percy. I see big, brown, scared eyes. Leo. I'm standing in front of him with a whip around my arm. Blocking him. Protecting him.
My vision clears, and I suck in a breath. Nico is standing in front of my, hands on my shoulders, shaking me. Mum is running down the stairs, towards me. I grab my phone from on the floor next to me, stand up and walk out the door. The engine groans in disagreement when I get in my car, reverse out the driveway and speed down the road, Percy's number already in my phone by the time I get on the main road.
My voice is shaky in response to his answering "hello".
"Percy, this is going to sound weird, but I need you to tell me where Leo lives. Now."
"Uh, okay 35 Johnathan road."
"Thanks, Perce, I owe you one." I hang up and drive faster, all while putting the address in my GPS. I arrive outside in a few minutes, glancing at the house briefly, hardly taking in any detail as I run up the driveway and bang on the door. Leo is there in an instant, hiding behind the door.
"What are you doing here?" his voice cracks in between words and my heart breaks at how weak he sounds.
"I got your text and I realised I needed to see you." My breathing is labored, and I sound like I've just ran a mile.
"Tell them to piss off." A voice growls from inside.
Leo snarls and closes his eyes.
"It's not a good time, Camille."
"Please, just…" I take a step closer and push the door open, "let me in."
Then everything happens at once. a tall, muscular man with dark eyes walks into the entry way. He grabs Leo's arm and throws him to the floor.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I scream at him. He doesn't acknowledge me as he drives a kick into Leo's ribs, sending him tumbling into the back of the couch. I run to Leo, crouching down next to him. I lift his shirt and see his ribs are already bruising and he has gashes and bruises all across his back. Some of them don't look recent. His skin is warm when I place my hand gently on his cheek and it shoots fire up my arm at his touch. I whirl on the man who I'm guessing is his dad who now has his belt in his hand and a deadly smile on his face.
"Leave him alone." I surprise myself when my voice comes out strong and unwavering.
"Move out the way, girl. This doesn't concern you."
"I won't let you hurt him." My voice breaks, the only sign of weakness. The man growls and takes a step towards me, Leo cowering behind me, sobbing quietly.
"Move!" he lunges, attempting to whip Leo with his belt, but I act fast. My arm automatically flies up in front of me, to protect myself or Leo, I don't know. The belt stings. I grit my teeth to keep from screaming. A flash of my father standing before me appears and is gone just as fast. My knees hit the ground and send a violent tremor up my spine. Leo catches me before I can hit the ground, his snarl echoing in my ear. I hear, rather than feel the kicks his father sends into my torso then the hook he gives to my cheek. I vaguely hear a whip sounding then feel the stinging on my stomach. My vision blurs as I hear it multiple times again. Then, I look up in time to see Leo with his father's shirt in his fist, growling words at him. Leo's panicked face is the last thing I see before I black out.