Leon has taken this too far, and there's no turning back from it now.

He should have stopped this at the beginning, before he let things escalate to this point. He shouldn't have worried about her feelings in the moment, and instead worried about the long term consequences of sparing them to keep this going. He should have never done this to begin with, he should have minded his own business, he shouldn't have had sex with his little brother's best friend the day he met her just because she was pretty obviously into him, and cute as hell.

He never should have done any of that, because now he's in far too deep, and he has no one to blame but himself. Gloria is innocent- at least in this regard- and has no idea what he's done. As far as he can tell, she is perfectly content with things as they are, and has no intention of pushing him for more or using blackmail to keep him at her side. He likely could have cut things off a long time ago without any real consequence, but he kept making his excuses, because she's cute, because she's fun, because he likes her.

But he really likes her, in a way that he's never liked anyone else before, and he knows what that means.

It means that he's completely out of his depth, and that there's no way he's going to be able to just cut things off and move on.

It means that Gloria, who could ruin him if she wanted to, who he never should have even entertained the idea of sleeping with, has managed to completely win him over without even trying.

It means that, against his better judgment, he's got a thing for the girl he's been having exclusive but casual sex with for the past few months. The girl who happens to be too young for him, one of his endorsed challengers, and his little brother's best friend. And just what the hell is he supposed to do about that, anyway?

He's kept in regular contact with Hop throughout his journey, and Hop never has anything bad to say about Gloria. Always, he sings her praises or complains about how capable of a rival she is and how she's really making him work for it, but that Leon doesn't have to worry about her, since it will be Hop coming to challenge him. And though he can fake his way through these conversations, pretending as if he hardly knows her and gets all of his information through Hop, the guilt increases every time.

How's he supposed to tell Hop about this? Even if they sugarcoat things and don't mention all the no-strings-attached fucking, once there are strings attached, they'll have to tell Hop about that , and even that seems like something Hop will have a hard time accepting. And the fact that Leon is already wondering what will happen should he decide to have some strings attached is as good a sign as any that he is in over his head.

Against his better judgment, even knowing that he will have to face Hop and knowing that exposure could ruin everything, he already knows that he's going to tell Gloria how he feels.

~X~

She's camping out on the road the night that he decides to meet up with her. With two gym badges left to collect and just a few weeks before the championship finals to collect them in, she's making good pace. He wonders if he should wait until after all that to address his feelings, but the more he thinks about it, the more he over thinks it, and Leon is not the sort to spend a lot of time thinking.

So, rather than allowing himself any further time to think, he decides to do it now , and see what happens. Because, no matter what happens, he doesn't want to just keep sitting on it and let things continue as they have been. It's the first time anyone has made him feel like this, the first time he has ever felt so drawn to someone that he wants to keep seeing them and that he wants them to know that he does, that he wants even more than what they already have.

"Gloria," he says, "I really just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." There's a look of disappointment in her eyes, and at first, he thinks it's just because she was looking forward to spending the night together doing more and less than just talking, but then he realizes that it might be a little more than that. This is the look he definitely would have gotten if he had decided to let her down gently, and he is glad in that moment that he never did.

"It's nothing bad," he quickly assures her. "At least, I don't think it is...so, I know I teased you about it a lot, but you really do have a crush on me, right?"

Her face goes red at his words, and he wonders if he might not be putting it too bluntly. He doesn't intend to sound cocky, assuming that she likes him, but it's hard not to get that impression from the way she's behaved around him since day one. Slowly, Gloria nods, not meeting his eyes, and he grins.

"Alright, so would you honestly say I'm the champion of your heart, or what?" When he asks this, she looks up and scowls at him, causing him to laugh. "Maybe that was a little much, but you get what I'm saying!"

"I really don't," she says, her scowl fading as she simply frowns. "You already knew that I liked you, so why are you bringing it up?"

"I just wanted to know if you still did. You actually know me now, so maybe I'm different from what you imagined."

"You are, but not in a bad way. I'm honestly just...really happy that we get to see each other so much, and that you call me and stuff." By the end of her sentence, she's mumbling and looking down again, looking like the same shy and unsure girl he first met. They've come a long way since then, but she's still Gloria and she's still just as cute as she was back then.

"The thing is," he says, realizing that he doesn't know how he wants to say it. Even if they start a relationship, they won't really be able to go on dates or do anything in public. He doesn't have anything new to offer her, and no idea how to put his feelings into words, but he can't shake the feeling that she has to know, and that they can't continue as if it is just a fling to him. "The thing is...I think I have a crush on you too, Gloria."

There is a pause that goes on long enough for him to think that maybe that was the wrong thing to say. He doesn't know why it would make her upset, but he's very afraid that he's somehow made her upset before she finally says, "You're not messing with me, are you?"

"Huh? Why would I be…" He trails off. So, she just doesn't believe him? Well, he can't say that he blames her, after spending so much time teasing her about her own crush, and only wanting to see her for casual sex. "I'm really not messing with you, Gloria."

"Then are you just saying that so you don't hurt my feelings? Because you don't have to worry about that, I already knew that we would never...you know."

"I mean, we can't really...not yet, at least," he replies. "But I'm not messing with you, I'm not saying anything just to be nice, or anything like that! If you don't mind waiting around for a while, and just doing what we've been doing, then I really do want to be with you!" He offers her a bright smile, hoping that it will get the point across and that she will understand that he's being genuine.

"Leon…" Gloria stares at him, and doesn't say anything else.

"You can call me Lee if you want," he says, "unless that's weird cos my whole family does, but I wanna be close like that with you! We both like each other, so don't worry about anything else, alright?"

Rather than replying, Gloria simply scoots closer to him, until she can wrap her arms around him and hug him. Leon smiles, wrapping his arms around her in return, and decides that it's fine that she doesn't have anything to say right now. It's probably a lot to spring on her, and honestly, he's barely been able to keep up with everything himself. He's only gotten this far by acting impulsively and not taking time to think things through, so if she would rather be close and not talk things out, that is perfectly fine by him. The way he sees it, they have plenty of time, and putting it off is no problem.

In the end, she does agree to be with him, saying that it's a lot to process at once, but that she's fantasized about this nearly as much as she has fucking him. Maybe not in those exact words, but that's the impression that Leon gets, and he's happy just to see how happy he makes her. Tomorrow, they might talk about more of the specifics, and he can make sure that she understands that they can't go public yet, and not for a long time, but since she's been so understanding of everything else so far, he doesn't think that will be a big deal.

They fit into one sleeping bag that night, since he really doesn't want to go anywhere else and would rather just spend the night with his girlfriend. It gives him a strange thrill, thinking of her as his girlfriend, and he wonders if it makes her as excited as he does his. He feels kind of like a kid right now, so excited that he can hardly sleep, but as he holds her close, he finally starts to drift off.

Which is around the time that he hears his brother's voice from outside the tent, saying, "Gloria? Is that you in there?"