Chapter 7
-Summer 2000-
"Quick--turn here! No, no, go straight, go straight!"
Leon cursed and jerked the wheel sharply to the right, swerving his car in the opposite direction and narrowly missing a couple out for a late night stroll.
"Sorry!" Lara yelled, leaning out the window and offering the angry couple an apologetic wave. When the girl gave her the finger in response, Lara slumped back in her seat and promplty burst into a fit of giggles.
Peering at her out of the corner of his eye, Leon raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he watched her laugh herself silly, "You okay there, sweetpea?"
Her laughter stopped abbruptly and silence filled the car. Lara looked over at him quickly, lips tightly pursed and eyebrows raised comically as she regarded her boyfriend in silence.
He quickly glanced over at her, wondering what was up when he noticed those familiar grey eyes shining with barely-suppressed laughter. He couldn't help it--he snickered at the funny face she was making and suddenly the car was filled with snorts and sniggers and shrieks of laughter.
Pulling off the road, onto a grassy knoll over-looking the beach, Leon glanced across the deserted LA street to make sure the coast was clear, before hopping out the car. Making his way to the other side of the car with a wide, goofy smirk still plastered on his face, Leon yanked the door open and leant down inside, watching Lara wiggle around inside, still beside herself with glee. "You need some help in there?" he mocked, reaching in to pull his girlfriend outside and into his arms.
"Ooh, Leon," Lara giggled, petting his chest and twirling her fingers in the long, silver chain hanging around his neck. "So brusque.."
He couldn't help it--he chuckled, hugging her warm, soft body to him for a moment, before slowly releasing her and taking her hand in his, leading the way down to the shore.
The ocean tides were lapping gently against the sand, bringing in the cooler evening breeze and the sounds of the rushing waves in the distance.
"Ahh, that was fun tonight," Lara declared, swinging their intertwined hands between their bodies as they walked along the sand together, just enjoying the quiet of the night and each other's company.
"Yeah, Letty kicked ass. That dill was so pissed when she took those slips off him.." Leon snorted, remembering the look on Dike's face when he handed her the pink slips to his sleek and suped up '98 Eclipse. "The 'tard raced her at Racewars that one time, too. Idiot ain't never gonna--"
Leon gasped, startled when Lara suddenly pushed him down onto the sand, then groaned, half in pain; half in pleasure, when she flopped down on top of him.
"Uh--" Leon coughed as he felt laughter bubble up within his stomach. God, with this girl he was always laughing, he thought, smiling up into her face and enjoying the way her body moulded to his as her choppy dark hair formed a halo around her head. "What're you drunk tonight, girl?" he asked, a grin tugging at his lips as he felt her hands reach down to pull his shirt up and off his body.
"No," she giggled, cupping his face between her hands and pressing a gentle, loving kiss against his lips. Smoothing her hands down over his chest and the muscles in his abdomen, she sat up on his thighs, massaging them slowly before moving upwards to work on unbuttoning his jeans.
Leon's breath hitched in his chest as Lara unzipped his pants, starting to tug them down. Things had been going great and they were damn hot for each other, but they'd never actually gone beyond a little heavy petting and some seriously heated make-out sessions.
They'd been together for a couple of months, now; had, in fact, been an item since the...third? time he'd appraoched her. He smiled, remembering how they'd just seemed to click that first time they'd met up again. Then, he grimmaced, recalling how she'd all but threatened to bust his balls the next time he'd tried hitting on her after she'd just seen some skanky racer-chaser draped all over him. But things had a way of working themselves out and they'd been practically inseprable ever since.
Leon sighed, gently grabbing Lara's hands in his and stilling their motion as they fiddled at the waistband of his boxers. "I love you," he murmured, looking up into her eyes and watching as she stiffened above him suddenly and the way her eyebrows knit together worriedly.
"How do you know?" she whispered, staring down into his beautiful green eyes and watching how the silver light of the moon made them shine.
Leon closed his eyes for a moment, feeling slightly unsure about how to explain they way he was feeling inside. But when he opened his eyes again and saw those shimmering bluish-grey eyes staring deeply into his own, he felt his heart start to thump hard in his chest and he smiled crookedly up at her, "The first time I met you, you looked just like any other hot chick I'd ever met before. I wanted to get to know you, wanted to uh...well, ya know," Leon trailed off, and blushed slightly seeing the teasing smile playing upon Lara's lips. "Um..but the first time I really realized you were somethin' special was when you tried to kick my ass when I went up to you at the party the night Vince won that right, 'member? All the other girls--they could get jealous and stuff, ya know? But that'd justa made them work harder. I think that was prolly the first time I realized that a girl liked me for me, not 'cause I was a racer or friends with Dom and parta the Team. I know that must sound really corny.."
Lara bit her lip and shook her head as she stroked her thumbs over Leon's. "A little," she murmured, her eyes shining with amusement.
"Well, it's true, either way," Leon continued, releasing her fingers and sighing contentedly as they traced patterns over the skin above his heart before caressing the skin at his nape and winding up into the light brown curls there. "I love every second we spend together. I love everything about you. You're so beautiful and strong, smart and sexy as hell... and you don't even gotta try--you just are--I love that about you. How you go for what you want and how you always tell me I can do anything. I love the way you make me feel, baby."
Lara felt her eyes begin to water and leaned her face into Leon's warm palm as he reached up to cup her cheek.
"I know we've only known each other for a coupla months, but I know how I feel, girl. Even when we're yelling at each other, sometimes over the stupidest little things, or when you call me up at 3a.m. "just to talk"
A hint of laughter bubbled up between her lips at that as Lara blinked rapidly to avoid the tears she knew were coming.
"...even then, when I'm like dead to the world, I smile as soon as I see your name on my caller i.d."
Leaning down so that their foreheads were touching, Lara brushed a tender kiss across Leon's lips and whispered, "I love you, too."
---
Leon groaned, shifting in bed as he awoke from a deep slumber.
Glancing blearily at his alarm clock and seeing that it was only 3a.m., he turned onto his side and closed his eyes, intending to go right back to sleep. A couple of minutes passed as he waited for sleep to take him.
Turning onto his back, he stared up at the cieling as snippets of his dream filtered into his consciousness. He'd been dreaming about Lara again...about their night on the beach, what seemed a lifetime ago.
He'd been distracted at work all week and'd had to really force himself to concentrate in order to get anything done. The guys had all noticed, but no one had said anything to him about it.
With a weary sigh, and feeling supremely irritated at not being able to return to sleep, Leon sat up suddenly and swung his legs over the side of his bed.
Making a pit-stop at the bathroom before wandering into the kitchen for something to eat, he then headed for the couch, his now-awake chocolate labradour trotting along beside him.
Plopping down in front of the TV with a bowl of coco puffs in hand, Leon flicked on the tube, turning the volume down as he heard Jesse's slumbering snorts echo through the apartment.
And there he sat, well into the early morning; watching re-runs of Alf, with Chachi curled up beside him, as slivers of early morning sunlight peeked in through the slits in the blinds, painting the apartment in bright orangey-yellow hues.
He flicked the channel. "Good morning, Los Angeles! Today is going to be another beautiful day..."
Leon clicked the TV off and sat up straight, yawning tiredly into his hand as he set his bowl down on the coffee table in front of him. He stretched languidly as he pushed himself up and off the couch and went to wake Jesse for work, muttering to himself as another yawn escaped him, "Yep, I feel beautiful, LA..."
