Disclaimer: I don't
own them except for the kids!
Jonathon's eyes followed Leigh as she walked away from the buffet table at breakfast. The desert sun shone off her hair like a mirror. They had only been apart for a week and now they were in Arabia on vacation.
"You're sad," David said as he nudged his brother in the ribs.
Jonathon turned his eyes towards him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"The way that you're eyes have been following Leigh around for the past few days since we got here. If you want to talk to her, go talk to her," David replied as he cut into his pancakes. "Instead of being a baka and letting it go."
"I'm not being a baka!" Jonathon hissed as he speared right through the waffles on his plate.
"You've always been a baka when it comes to her," Chris interjected as he sat down next to them, with Alexandra on his lap. "She's the one girl you seem to get tongue tied with."
"Shut up Chris," Jonathon snapped, slinking down in his seat a little.
"But I'm right though. It only proves that she means something to you if you always trip over your words when you're around her. I did the same with Victoria and David did the same with Kellie," Chris said as he fed a little bit of fruit to his daughter.
"You and Victoria only tried to kill each other instead. You enjoyed pissing her off," Jonathon remarked drolly.
"That's probably true, but look I ended up marrying her. You my dear brother at the rate you're going, are going to fail if that's your goal," Chris said knowingly.
"Who said anything about marriage. I never said I wanted to marry her," Jonathon protested as he put down his fork.
Chris arched a brow at him. "Then why are you getting all upset that she isn't talking to you and your watching her a like a forlorn puppy dog?"
Jonathon scowled at his older brother. "Oh what the hell would you know!"
Chris smirked. "I know plenty. Too bad I can't say the same about you."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jonathon asked irately.
"It means, you either talk to her or lose her. Don't you care about her at all?" David asked as he took a sip of his orange juice.
"Yeah, I care about her," Jonathon mumbled.
"Do you love her?" David prodded.
Jonathon's lips twitched. "What does that have to do with anything?"
David and Chris choked.
"You mean you don't love her!" Chris exclaimed as he finally stopped choking.
"I didn't say that!" Jonathon hissed as he glared over at him. "And keep your voices down!"
David tilted his head to one side. "Have you even told her that you love her?"
Jonathon flinched guiltily.
"Oh you are a baka!" David said frowning. "All the years you've been dating, and you never once told her how you felt about her."
"Well she knows that I care about her!" Jonathon said defensively.
"A woman needs to hear that you love them. It's almost what they live for when they have a boyfriend you dope!" David said, rolling his eyes.
"Well I just never told her, so get off my back!" Jonathon growled as he pushed out of his chair and went back up to the buffet table. He placed three more waffles on his already syrup-drenched plate. He could see Leigh out of the corner of his eye, coming back to the buffet table. He swallowed reflexively as she stood across from him, apparently ignoring him. "Hello Leigh," he said in a subdued voice.
Leigh glanced up at him briefly. "Hello Jonathon." She turned away from him.
"Leigh, wait," he said as he reached across the table and grasped her arm. "I want to talk to you."
"Oh so you want to talk to me now. About what?" she asked, annoyed.
"I just want to talk to you, that's all," Jonathon said as he lowered his eyes a little.
"When you know what you want to talk to me about, come and get me," Leigh snapped as she pulled her arm out of his grasp and walked away.
Jonathon gritted his teeth in frustration. "Dammit!" he muttered under his breath. He set down his plate and followed her. He grasped her arm again, pulling her around to face him. "I don't want to say when we have an audience, but what I want to talk to you about is important!" He looked down into her upturned face. "Please Leigh."
She pursed her lips and stared at him. She could see the pleading look in those cobalt eyes of his. "I'll think about it. Can I have my arm back now?"
He let go of her arm. "Thank you," he said, smiling slightly before going back to the buffet table to retrieve his plate. He sat back down next to David.
"So you're going to talk to her?" David asked as he eyed his older brother.
"Yes, I'm going to talk to her," Jonathon answered as he poured more syrup on his waffles.
"And this time don't screw it up," Chris smirked as he fed Alex a bit of pancake.
Jonathon glared at his two brothers and went back to eating.
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Leigh sat back down again on the wicker loveseat next to Quatrina Winner. She picked up her plate again.
"So what did he want?" Quatrina asked curiously.
"He wanted to talk to me," Leigh said as she cut into her Belgian waffle.
"And are you?" asked Merin from the loveseat across from her sister.
"I said I think about it," Leigh said as she glanced over at Jonathon on the other side of the terrace.
"You are glutton for punishment Leigh," Quatrina said as she rolled her eyes. "How many times have you given in to him?"
"Too many," Merin said as she too rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Who wouldn't with a body like that?" Carin snickered from her chair against the wall, deep in the shade.
"Carin! I'm shocked!" teased Kellie as she sat on the railing, holding onto her plate of blueberry muffins.
"Oh come on Kellie! You date a Maxwell! You have to admit that they're all hot looking," Carin said as she grinned.
"That's the truth," admitted Veronica as she came over and sat down next to Merin. "Just look at them."
All the girls turned around to look at the three Maxwell brothers sitting on the other side of the terrace. Chris was busy feeding himself and Alex, David was laughing at Chris, while Jonathon was smirking at his older brother.
"I'd be lying if I said no," Isabella said casually as she leaned around her sister to look at them. She cast a look towards Kellie and Leigh. "So are the two you two have good kissers?"
"Good Lord Is," Carin sighed.
Kellie flushed, as did Leigh.
"There's your answer," Merin laughed. "Look at their red faces."
"You think Chris is?" Carin asked.
"You'd have to ask my sister that," Veronica said as she popped the last crumb of her corn muffin in her mouth.
"He is," Victoria replied as she came outside from the dining room. She sat down in the shade. She patted her stomach. "But don't be getting any ideas."
"He must be good or else you wouldn't have gotten pregnant again so quickly," Veronica smirked at her older sister.
Victoria stuck out her tongue. "So what else were you guys gossiping about out here?"
"About Leigh and Jonathon," said Merin as she licked the last bit of syrup from her fingers. "He wants to talk to her about something."
"I see," Victoria commented as she looked over at Leigh. "So are you going to talk to him?"
"I don't know if I should," Leigh said uncertainly as she finished her waffle.
"I don't think she should. She's too easy on him," Quatrina remarked.
"All he has to do is kiss her and her brain goes into overload," Mira interjected as she sat against the railing on some throw pillows.
"Oh what would you know," Leigh grouched, crossing her arms defensively.
"Plenty. We've seen your face after he kisses you," Mira said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well maybe you should talk to him. A Maxwell is a little thick in the head sometimes," Victoria commented. "The men are anyway. But it is your decision Leigh. You don't have to talk to him if you don't think you should."
Leigh sighed and raked her hands through her hair. "I probably will end up talking to him, but I won't let him get the upper hand this time."
"Just make sure he doesn't kiss you or else you're done for once again," Quatrina stated as she brushed her russet hair with her hand.
"He won't kiss me this time. I'll talk, and this time, maybe he'll listen," Leigh sighed as she turned and looked over at him. He was holding onto Alex as Chris ate. A faint smile crossed her lips at the scene. "Just maybe."
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Jonathon waited out in the gardens for her. He tapped his fingers restlessly on the edge of the marble bench. He had watched her at dinner as she sat across from him. She hadn't looked at him at all. He heard the sound of someone coming. He stood up when he saw it was her. "Man, she does she always have to look so beautiful?" His eyes traveled over her slim frame. She was wearing a blue floral knee length skirt with spaghetti strapped matching tank top. He let out a breath as she got closer to him. "You came."
Leigh eyed him as she approached. "Carin is right, they're all hot looking." She took in the black cargo pants, with the white undershirt, and the dark blue gray button up shirt. "Yes, I decided to hear what you had to say," she replied as she sat down on the bench he stood next to.
He was tongue-tied. His mouth twitched as he tried to find the words. "Leigh… I just…I don't…"
She rolled her eyes and pressed her finger to his lips. "Enough Jonathon. Take a deep breath and then try talking."
Jonathon took her finger away from his mouth and laid it on the bench, with his hand covering it. He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I just wanted to say, that I was sorry I blew up at you last week. I didn't mean to yell at you. I was upset and I took it out on you."
"Finally we're getting somewhere," Leigh sighed as she gently tugged her hand from under his. "And I'm sorry for calling you a hotheaded baka."
"Did you mean to break up with me too?" he asked as he tilted his head a little.
"No, not really. But I guess I did put it out that way," she admitted, flushing a little. "But when you act like that, I guess I was already a little mad at you to begin with so I walked out on you."
"You always did get mad too fast."
"I do not!"
"Well you do, every once in a while. It's not like I don't."
"Yeah you and that Maxwell temper of yours," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Why do you have to fly off the handle like that all the time?"
"Like you don't fly off the handle Leigh. But like I said before, Randy was in bad shape last week and it makes things a little tight because it means my dad is uptight, which makes everyone else in the house a little tense. So am I forgiven yet?" He could hear the sounds of the piano being played inside the main house and his sister's sad lilting voice.
Leigh shook her head. "You don't waste time do you? Is there anything more you would like to say?" She looked at him expectantly.
"Uh…umm…I don't know. Do you want me to say something else?"
She frowned deeply at his reply. She could also hear Randy's voice carried along on the evening breeze. She rubbed her arms reflexively to ward off the cold feeling.
"Are you cold?" Jonathon asked as he slipped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.
"I'm not cold."
"You're shivering a little."
"So, that doesn't mean anything," Leigh replied, feeling his warmth seep through his shirt and onto her skin. He was always warm and when they weren't fighting, she loved to curl up next to him. But she knew if he kept this up, she would forgive him in a minute. "But you haven't answered my question yet?" she asked as she looked up at him. His face was close to hers. "Oops." She blinked rapidly. "Well?"
"Well what?" he asked as he looked into her eyes. He leaned closer to her.
The sound of Randy's voice and the piano faded.
"My…question…you didn't answer…it," she said breathlessly. He was way too close.
"Oh that question," he replied in a low voice as he touched his nose to hers.
"Are…you going to…answer it?" Her heart began to trip madly. "I can't let him kiss me or else I'm lost." She could feel his breath against her lips. They were tingling.
"Maybe," Jonathon said as he brushed his lips against hers.
Leigh's eyes closed and he kissed her.
He gathered her close, pressing his lips against hers before parting them and slipping his tongue inside her waiting mouth.
She was helpless under the gentle assault. His kisses were
like a drug. They completely immobilized her body and her thoughts.
Jonathon pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her deeply. He stroked the roof of her mouth before his tongue tangled with hers once again. His hands rubbed circles on her lower back.
Leigh was drowning and she knew it. She knew she needed to stop him, but at the same time she didn't want to stop him. Mira's words flickered through her muddled brain, "All he has to do is kiss her and her brain goes into overload…We've seen your face after he kisses you," and Quatrina's words echoed, "…Too easy on him…" It had to stop and with a lot of effort, she managed to pull her lips away from his and she hurriedly got off his lap. She took several gasping breaths, turning her back to him.
He stared at her puzzled. "She's never done that before." "Leigh?"
"Not this time Jonathon. I won't let you kiss me and make everything ok again," she said as she turned to face him. "It's not fair to me."
"But Leigh…"
"NO JONATHON! I won't do this again! I won't let you kiss me and make me forget everything. It's not that simple."
"And who said it had to be hard?" he asked, his voice raising a little.
"BECAUSE IT IS!"
"IT'S ONLY HARD WHEN YOU MAKE IT THAT WAY!"
"THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION! YOU ALWAYS KISS ME WHEN IT'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION!"
"I DO NOT!"
"YES YOU DO! EVERYTIME WE BREAK UP, YOU THINK YOU CAN KISS ME AND MAKE IT ALL BETTER! BUT NOT THIS TIME JONATHON LAWRENCE MAXWELL! JUST ANSWER MY DAMN QUESTION!" Leigh yelled at him.
Jonathon looked at her slack jawed for a moment before his mouth snapped shut. He had never seen her this serious before about this. "HOW CAN I ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ME?"
Her mouth fell open wordlessly. "You really don't know what this is about do you?" The fight went out of her. Her arms fell lifelessly to her sides as she stared at him. "Jonathon, isn't there anything you ever wanted to say to me?" she asked ruefully.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. He knew what she was
asking. And he wanted to tell her. How he wanted to tell her, but his tongue
felt like it was glued to the roof of his mouth. David's words rang in his
ears, "A woman needs to hear that you
love them" He shook his head rapidly. His palms felt clammy and cold. He
closed his eyes and opened his mouth, but the words didn't come. He couldn't
force them past his throat. "I have to
tell her. I have to tell her. But I don't know how, I always clam up when I try
to tell her that I love her."
Leigh watched as he opened his mouth, but no words came out. Her lips twitched and curled in to hold back the choked sob in her throat. She turned her back and put her hand up to her mouth, pressing her fist against her teeth. Her heart sank as the silence continued. "He's not going to say it." Her head hung in defeat. She looked over her shoulder at him, his eyes looking down at the sand. "Good night Jonathon," she said as she started running. She didn't want to break down in front of him. She didn't want him to see how much his silence hurt her.
Jonathon lifted his eyes once again. He removed his hands from his pockets and slammed them against on the bench. "DAMMIT! I did it again! God, I didn't tell her again! I'm such a bakayaro! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He couldn't hear the sounds of her footsteps any more. He closed his eyes briefly. "Leigh, I love you." He straightened and started walking back towards his family's bungalow, raking his hands through his hair in frustration.
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Leigh reached her family's bungalow and ran in, her flat sandals clapping on the tiled floor of the hall before she reached her room. She flung the door open and slammed it behind her, before she crashed onto the bed, crying brokenly. "Jonathon why didn't you say it," she sobbed into the pillow. "Why didn't you say that you loved me?"
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Jonathon trudged up the steps, not noticing his sister sitting on the wicker couch outside on the small porch.
Randy looked up when she saw her brother. He looked upset and dejected. "You look like what I feel," she said softly.
He whipped his head around and saw her sitting there. "I didn't see you out here Randy."
Her lips quirked up into a slight smile as she motioned him to sit down next to her. "I was just thinking, that's all. So what's wrong with you?"
Jonathon sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. "Leigh."
"I thought as much, I could hear you two shouting. I'm sure the rest did as well. You two were yelling loud enough for them to hear you in space," Randy remarked as she studied his forlorn expression. "What was it about this time?"
"I'm not a hundred percent sure. I was apologizing for last week when she promptly dumped my ass, again, because I was being a baka. And then she asked me…" he trailed off, shaking his head, "You don't need to hear this. You've had a hard enough two weeks. The last thing you need to hear is my problems."
She shook her head. "I would like to hear. It might do me good to think about someone else's problems other then my own."
Jonathon glanced over at her. Her cobalt eyes were filled with sisterly concern. She was wearing that comforting expression that their mother wore when she was wanted to hear about their problems. He looked down at her hands resting on her lap. He picked one up and looked at her nearly healed palms. "How are your hands?"
"They're better. You're evading my question though. What did you and Leigh break up about and why were you two shouting at each other not five minutes ago?"
He took a deep breath. "We broke up last week because I was mad at her for not telling me what she saw when she spied Miles on the beach with Megan. And then it became some huge argument about us and it just went downhill from there. I lost my temper, as did she, so she basically told me she didn't want to deal with me anymore and she walked off. And I, let her, as usual."
Randy shook her head. "Continue."
"And tonight I was apologizing, but she was acting cool towards me for the past week and I wanted to talk to her. Everything was going well and then I asked if I was forgiven. That was my first mistake. She then asked me if I had anything else to say. Then I kissed her and that usually makes everything all right, but not this time. She pulled away and we started yelling at each other. I knew what her question meant, but I couldn't tell her," Jonathon said sadly.
"Tell her what?"
"That I loved her."
"You haven't told her you love her!"
"No," he supplied weakly. "I try to tell her, but I break out in a cold sweat and my tongue gets tied and I don't tell her. I don't know how to tell her without me screwing it up."
"Oh Jonathon," Randy said sympathetically as she squeezed his fingers. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not your fault that I can't tell her that I love her. I want to…but something always gets in the way. She's the one girl I've actually cared enough about to say that and I can't even tell her."
She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Well aren't we a sorry sight? Our love lives are totally screwed up."
Jonathon snorted at her quip. "But at least Miles told you that he loved you, even if it was empty. He had no trouble saying it to you."
"That's true, but not everyone has an easy time telling the person that they care about, that they love them. No one is alike when it comes to love. You can only be who you are. Not what someone wants you to be."
He cast a look at her out of the corner of his eye. "And where's this coming from?"
"Quatre's advice," Randy replied as she looked out at the stars.
"That's very good advice," Jonathon agreed as he looked
out at the stars as well. "Leigh, I
promise I'll make it up to you or I'll kill myself trying."
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Later that night…
Jonathon peeked in through Leigh's window. Between his teeth was a deep purple orchid that he had snitched from the greenhouse. He was glad that the bungalows were only one floor for it made it a lot easier for one to climb in and out of bedroom windows. His eyes found her bed. She was fast asleep like everyone else was at two in the morning. The sand sank beneath his feet as he pushed himself up over the windowsill and into the room. He landed with a soft thud on the floor, which also made him grateful that she slept like a rock. He walked over silently to the bed and just let his eyes rest on her. "She looks beautiful even when she's asleep." Her raven hair was spread out on the white pillow, a few strands resting across her parted lips. Her white tank contrasted with the golden color of her skin and it molded to her soft curves. It left about several inches of bare midriff since her arms were flung over her head and the silky black pajama bottoms she wore just barely clung to her slender hips. He knelt down on the side of the bed and lightly brushed her palm with the orchid. Her fingers curled around it and she let out a whimper as she turned a little. "I love you Leigh," he whispered faintly as he pulled the sheets that were tangled about her ankles up over her bare shoulders. He pressed his lips against her temple. "I always have." And with that he left, looking over his shoulder once as he climbed out of the window and back into the night.
A/N: This is sad isn't it? And out of curiosity, what
do you think is going to happen? Stay tuned for more to see what else I can
cook up to make this even more complicated! XOXO!
