"You can't just expect him to walk up to you and forgive you," Haley said.
"And gawking at him from afar won't help either," Sara added.
I'd tried before, any slightest chance I could get. I tried to talk to him, but he just kept avoiding me or told me he was too busy right now to talk, or can we just not talk about it, he would say.
'Why can he see how much I love him? Why can he feel my pain? Why won't he hear me out, despite the complexity of our situation?'
All I wanted was to apologize for hurting him. If I could get one chance to do so and after that, he can decide what he wants to do with our relationship. But this ignorance, living apart, him pushing me away won't resolve our problems.
"You need to do something to get his attention?" Sara said, motivating me.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Ooh! Write him a love note or a poem," she suggested.
"Such old ideas." Haley rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I know, you should cook for him? They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Sara recommends. I nodded along. Cook? Yes, I can certainly do that.
"No, it's a little further to the south," Haley said deviously. "Haha... Maybe you should do both... and they both involve mouths," she winked, and my mouth fell open. She tucked a finger under my chin and closed my jaw.
"Okay... let's go shopping," I said, ignoring her.
"Yeah!! That's my girl." Haley cheered.
"I mean grocery shopping." I clarified.
"Oh.. but first, to the mall." She screamed the last part.
~*~
I don't know why I agreed to go shopping with these two brats. I was exhausted, changing in and out of clothes. It was absolutely dreadful, but as soon as I got back home, I immediately jumped right into cooking Leo's favorite dish, his favorite food—shepherd's pie.
I cooked it the best way the internet could help me, and now I was on my way to deliver to Carter's residences, also known as 'The Alpha House.' The house was half a mile away from the packhouse, and this was the first time I went over to his house.
The guard at the iron gate bowed his head at me. I gave him a nod, and a smile then entered through gates. I rang the bell, and just to my luck, Leo opened the door. I simply stood there, unable to formulate any words to express. After that tale of our misadventure, standing this close to him was harder than it looked—believe me.
"H-Hi, L-Leo, I-I." I paused and took a deep breath before I could speak properly. I don't know why I was so nervous.
"I-I just came to drop this off," I pushed the cast iron forward.
"Oh..um..okay," he went to take it from my hand, and our fingers touched. The electricity buzzed through my veins.
"Mmm...It smells good." He took a long breath in.
"Yeah! It's your favorite shepherd's pie."
"Did you make this for me?" He asked. All through the conversation, Leo had never let go of the heavy pot and my hands.
'Oh! He still likes me.'
"Do you want to come in?" he asked.
"Umm..."
"Of course, she's coming in and staying for dinner too." Xandar, Leo's father, was behind me as he was trying to get into the house. He set his hand on my small back and stirred me right in. Xander simply walked me to the kitchen, where I saw Nora speaking with the man in chef clothes.
"Aries, how lovely for you to come." She beamed and hugged me. "And you're staying for dinner." She announced as Xander came around to kiss her. "I've already invited her."
"Oh, perfect, darling." She smiled and pecked a kiss to Xander's cheek.
"And she also brought food," Leo mentioned and placed the pot on the kitchen island.
"Oh, Aries, that was very thoughtful of you. Thank you, dear." She said appreciatively.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Xander rushed to answer the door. While I was just standing there awkwardly, I asked Nora if there's anything she needs help with, she just shook her head and asked me what I would like to drink instead.
Leo was there the whole time, and we both kind of kept stealing glances from each other. A wistful longing only grew stronger as I stood there, helplessly trying to normalize my breathing.
I heard Xander laughing with somebody in the foyer,
"What a surprise?" Xander said to someone.
"Oh, I was just passing by and thought I would stop by."
And in comes Vivian, looking beautiful then... then me. I'm sure.
She was wearing a plain black strapless dress and pencil heels pumps. She greeted Nora with a hug, and they were both air-kissed. She also complimented Nora's pearl necklace and how delicious everything smelled and looked.
"You should stay for dinner," Nora said to her, and I felt very uncomfortable. I was not a very social person, never had been. I could tell Vivian was very good at it. She had that confidence in herself on how to approach and what to say? I, on the other hand, get timid in the crowd.
"Hey," Leo said, and just like that, he filled the spark to my loneliness.
"Hi," I replied.
"You look very nice." He leaned closer and made a compliment.
I blushed. "Thank you."
"I went to the mall with Sara and Haley." I started, killing the horrible tension.
"I can only imagine." He chuckled. We only started almost breathless, not able to find the voice to utter a single word.
'Why has everything suddenly changed between us, Leo? Why are we acting like strangers, when we'd shared so much and been through so much, you and I.'
I felt tears pooling in my eyes. "Umm... I should go," I mentioned.
"No, please stay. I'm glad you are here." He said, almost immediately.
"Really..." I couldn't begin to express how much that made me happy to hear.
"Always." Leo inched forward a little. That gave me hope, and perhaps there was still a chance for our issue to work themselves out and be happy again.
