A/N: Thankyou to : Buggleywoo, arwenq, betty-boo, leslienicolespeaks, Dani, crematoriacon and Jet for reviewing. That's really all there is to say i think - Thankyou. On with the update now!
Leon rubbed his eyes, yawning, his knees pulled up to his chest. His breath puffed out in front of him in a visible cloud against the chilled morning air and despite the suns rays beaming down already, he was cold.
"Should have stayed in bed with Ruby," he mumbled, fumbling with his cigarette packet, "-at least she was warm."
He shifted more into the sun and lit his cigarette, tossing the lighter back down with the crumpled packet before he laid down on his stomach to sun himself - and hopefully warm up.
He still felt a bit queasy and his head pounded like a drum, but overall he felt much better than he had last night. He barely even looked back over his shoulder when he heard the sliding door open and someone's feet slapping against the laminated decking. He groaned at the vibrations the footsteps sent straight to his still upset stomach and rolled onto his side, eyes closed.
"Can we talk now?"
Leon groaned again, this time annoyed. "Look, V – now's not a good time."
Vince growled, kicking Leon in the side. "The last two years haven't been a 'good time', Leon! You've been a total fucking pig and I'm sick of it!"
The younger man fought the bout of nausea that swelled up on him and clutched at his side where Vince's big foot had landed.
"Jesus Christ, Vince!" he snarled, sitting up. He jammed his cigarette into his mouth and glared up at his big brother. He'd not seen that look on Vince's face in a long time and inwardly he wondered how he was going to get away from his irate brother. He knew Vince wanted to hurt him for the way he'd treated his family but knowing that and knowing it was about to happen were two entirely different things.
Glancing back toward the kitchen window he could see movement inside and heard talking.
"Look – I'm not doing this in front of the kids." He stubbed his cigarette out and stood, "So it'll have to wait."
Vince sighed heavily and nodded. "Fine – but we are going to talk, Leon." He stepped closer and brought his face right up close to Leon's. "You made my baby cry, Le – no-one gets away with that." He turned on his heel and stomped back inside and Leon let out a long, shuddering breath.
"Fuck."
He heard the telltale jingle that accompanied Ruby and looked up at her as she came out the door, a strange look on her face.
"He's a little scary you know."
Leon quirked a brow, anger flaring in his gut. "Did he say something to you?"
She looked startled and shook her head, "No – just looks a little ticked off is all," she walked over to stand in front of him and brushed her knuckles across his bare skin over the red mark left by Vince's foot. "He hit you?"
"Kicked me," he muttered, distracted, "-he's going to hit me later when the kids aren't around." Without even thinking his arms curled around her and brought her to his chest.
Ruby slipped her arms down around his waist and leaned into the hug, her cheek pressing against the cool metal of his nipple ring. She knew that Leon was going to be all over the place until he spoke with Vince and from what Tala had said just a minute ago inside, it was going to be painful. Both men were too stubborn to just let it go without a fight.
She smoothed her hands across his lower back, her fingertips easing just below the waist of his shorts to trace the warm skin beneath. He made a quiet sound of appreciation and squeezed her against him, then backed up and sat in one of the chairs nearby. Long fingers wrapped around Ruby's wrist and tugged gently, pulling her toward him until she was standing against his legs.
She looked down at him, his face still a little off colour and allowed him to pull her into his lap, straddling him. He dropped his head against her chest and breathed a deep sigh. Her fingers tangled in his hair, her cheek against the top of his head.
His hands rubbed slow circles over her back and ran down to cup her ass and he lifted his head to look at her.
"That's my shirt." He stated, eyeing the black long sleeved shirt. It fell to mid thigh on her and a pair of his boxers peeked out from beneath. The sleeves were far too long, as was the case with all his shirts on her, and the black cotton swamped her. It was one of his old work shirts from when he went to shows with Marcus – one of the shop's shirts.
She shrugged elegantly and palmed his hair from his face, not even responding to the fact that his hands had slipped around to slide up her thighs and beneath the legs of the boxers she wore.
"I couldn't stay in that skirt all night – and I didn't know if Cade or anyone else would come in so I couldn't sleep naked." She reasoned.
Leon smirked, "So you took some of my clothes," he shook his head, his fingers tracing over her inner thigh lightly, "-without asking."
Ruby nodded, squirming as his fingers crept higher still to trace over the thin fabric of her panties. She gave him a wide eyed look. "Leon!"
"What?" he blinked innocently at her, his fingers easing beneath the elastic to tease the sensitive flesh beneath. His innocent look turned into a grin as she jumped and slapped him, her eyes darting toward the nearby window.
"Get your hand away from there," she scolded quietly, wriggling backward slightly, "-anyone could see."
He chuckled, the sound quiet and raspy and he grinned at her. "And who's the one without a sense of adventure now?" He brought his hands back up to rest on the outside of her thighs and leaned back in the seat, eyes closed.
Ruby traced lightly across his temples. "Do you still feel sick?"
He nodded slowly, blinking at her. "I-" he paused and stared off to her left and Ruby turned, feeling his hands tighten their grip on her thighs. She quirked a brow when she saw Marissa standing at the bottom of the steps.
"Leon – don't." Ruby warned, turning back to him. She took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her, blocking his view of the mousy haired teenager glaring a hole through her back. "Just let it go, precious."
He looked up at her and nodded, visibly holding himself in check. "C'mere." He tugged her further up his legs and she lay forward against his chest, her arms draped down over his shoulders and behind his back. She heard a disgusted scoff and Marissa's feet stomping against the steps up onto the deck.
"No wonder he keeps you around," she snapped as she stalked toward the back door, "- I give it a month before there's another little bastard on the way."
Ruby's jaw dropped and she felt Leon go completely tense beneath her. The tears started to push their way to the surface and she felt Leon's fingers dig into her legs.
"Wait a fucking minute," he snarled at the teenager, "Who the hell do you think you are? You don't know a damn thing about me, my son or his mother, so you can keep your fucking mouth shut!" He was shouting by now and Ruby heard the back door creak open but was unable to react. She was still in shock – trying to hold it together so Leon didn't catch on that Marissa's comment had hit home.
She squirmed, trying to free herself from Leon's grip. It had tightened almost painfully and she could feel the skin starting to sting and throb beneath his fingers. Tears stung at her eyes, both from what had been said and the almost crushing grip Leon had on her legs. Remembering the last time he had hold of her like this she tugged at his nipple ring roughly and he let her loose, glancing at her briefly as she scrambled back out of his lap. He rose with her.
"What the hell gives you the impression that you have the right to come here and talk to my best friend like that! How fucking dare you disrespect her like that!"
Ruby looked up at Leon, seeing that he was beyond reasoning and hurried past him as he shouted angrily and profanely at Marissa. She didn't even glance back at the arguing pair as she squeezed past a stunned Bethany standing by the back door and looked at Vince. He was looking out the window, his face etched with shock as he watched and listened to Leon tear shreds off the teenager in front of him.
"I can't guarantee that he wont get violent with her," she told the big man, "-but I'm going for a shower. You can deal with him."
Vince started around the counter and for the first time Ruby noticed just how big he was as he strode toward the back door. No wonder Leon was nervous about him getting his hands on him.
Angie appeared in the kitchen doorway and looked around. "What's going on?"
Ruby waved absently toward the deck where the ruckus was coming from. "Leon's shouting, Vince is mediating, Marissa's being a filthy little bitch and I'm going for a shower."
She quietly muttered an 'excuse me' as she pushed by Angie and headed straight for the bathroom, slamming the door shut and turning the water on as hot as she could stand it before tugging her clothes off and dumping them in a pile on the floor. As a last minute thought she flipped the lock on the door and climbed into the shower.
I can't believe I'm letting her upset me, Ruby thought as she sat in the bathtub with the water beating down on her. Marissa's words had brought the past month's events rushing back, just when she thought she was getting over it. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands, desperate not to make a sound and let anyone know just how upset she was. Leon's reaction further cemented her decision not to tell him about the baby – he wouldn't have wanted it anyway.
Her chest hurt and she wanted to just curl up and sob like a baby but she knew if she didn't come out of the bathroom sometime soon Leon was going to get suspicious. She'd taken off fairly quickly once he'd let go of her.
She sniffled, running her fingertips over the dark spots on her thighs, perfect finger marks. They were already starting to bruise and from the looks of things, they would be bad ones.
"Shit," she mumbled, "-he doesn't know his own strength."
Sighing, Ruby took hold of the sides of the tub and climbed to her feet, standing beneath the spray for another five minutes before she shut the water off and dried off. She picked up the clothes she'd been wearing and eased the bathroom door open then peeked out, holding her towel closed with one hand. The hall was empty and she had a clear run for Leon's room so she darted out into the hall and ran up into his bedroom, then closed the door and locked it. Leaning her head against it she mentally noted that the screaming had stopped. Either he'd killed Marissa or things had been taken care of.
A throat cleared behind her and Ruby jumped, spinning around to see Leon sitting on the bed, his hands in his lap watching her.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly, holding his hands out to her. Ruby nodded wordlessly and threw the clothes down on the floor at the end of the bed, then walked straight into his arms.
Her own misery was forgotten as soon as her hands slipped across the back of his neck and felt the knotted muscles there. She pressed a kiss to his neck just below his ear and snuggled in closer to him, laying her head against his shoulder. His hands ran over her back lightly and he returned the gesture, fingers sweeping her hair back over her pale shoulder to do so.
"Don't you listen to the stupid little tramp, gemstone," his chest rumbled with every word and she sighed, eyes closing. "She hasn't got a clue what she's talking about."
Ruby nodded against his shoulder but said nothing. If she opened her mouth now she was bound to blurt out everything and that was the last thing Leon needed right now. It wasn't his problem anyway.
"Are you ok?" She asked softly, pulling back from him. She moved to take a step back and his fingers caught the edge of her towel, her brow lifting as it fell to the floor. Leon smiled at her, a bright, boyish grin and he stood up only to lean down and press an open mouthed kiss to her lips. He drew back.
"I'm alright," he looked her over and spotted the bruises on her thighs, "-fuck. I did that didn't I." He rolled his eyes angrily. "Of course I fucking did." His callused finger tips brushed over the tender spots and he frowned. He looked up at her with wide, glassy green eyes.
"I'm so sorry, gemstone." His hand curled around the back of her neck and drew her closer until he dropped his forehead against hers. "I really am."
Ruby ran her hand up his arm, tracing over the intricate tattoo on his right shoulder. "It's alright, Le – you didn't realise."
He held her to him, the pads of his fingers tracing over her shoulder blades lightly.
"Let me make it up to you – picnic in the park. Cade's been wanting to go anyway and I know how you like the swings."
Ruby grinned, her fingers drumming against his strong arm. "V, Tala and Rory too?"
Leon nodded. "Of course."
She squealed happily, her earlier unhappiness pushed aside for now. She'd deal with that later – now she had to find some clothes to put on until Leon took her back to her place to get something.
"I need to borrow something until I can get some clean clothes of my own."
Leon held up her skirt, brow cocked. "What's wrong with this?"
"I've got no clean underwear, Le."
He grinned, waving the white gauzy skirt in front of her. "Well then you're lucky it's lined, aren't you." He laughed at the look on her face and pecked her on the forehead. "Relax – I'll stop via your place." He looked her over, reaching out to brush his thumb across her naked skin. "Under duress."
Ruby flushed pink and snatched the skirt from his hand, tugging it on over her head and to her waist. She held her hand out. "My top, you dirty pig."
Leon looked at the pretty green velvet tank in his hand. "I think you should leave it off," he held it above his head as she grabbed for it, "-come on, you can do better than tha- OW!"
He let go of the top and his hand flew to cover his nipple, his face the picture of pain. "Will you stop doing that?" He looked down at his poor abused nipple and touched it lightly, wincing.
Ruby grinned and slipped the shirt on, righting the neckline and straps. "I asked nicely."
"You called me a pig." He dead panned.
She giggled. "No – I called you a dirty pig. Difference."
Leon scoffed, still looking at his chest. "Kiss it better." He pointed. Ruby rolled her eyes and tipped his chin up so he was looking at her then leant in and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.
"All better now?"
He sighed against her cheek, wrapping his arm around her. "It's getting there."