My Bully, My Neighbour

Chapter 18 (Edited)

LEO'S POV:

My alarm rang at eight in the morning, jolting me out of my dreams. I was still sitting at my desk, my assignments strewn around me. My empty coffee mug was at the edge of my table, very close to falling. I picked the cup up and silenced the alarm that was still blaring. I had been working to finish as much of my assignments as possible before six in the morning. I had fallen asleep the moment my clock read six. My eyes had been drooping and I had been struggling to keep working. Now, I had enough time to make myself some breakfast and get ready for the luncheon.

I refilled my coffee mug with black coffee and made myself a plate of toasted bread and omelettes. I ate like a ravenous animal and went back to arrange my notes in order. I placed all my books back on the shelves and went in for a shower. It helped me relax and I tried to not be nervous about going to lunch with Aria and her dad. By the time I had gotten out of the shower, the time was half-past nine. I rubbed my hair with the towel and changed into a t-shirt and my boxer shorts. I made my bed and watched TV till it was around quarter past ten. Then I decided to get changed. I had to rent a tux for this event, to my dismay. I had barely worn a tux in my life. I can only recall two incidents where I wore a proper tux. The first was when I was a kid and my grandmother had turned seventy. I only had photographs of that event, no memories. The second was when my half-sister, Amelia got married. 

I wore everything, including my shoes, before going to the tie. I had no clue as to how to wear a tie. I twisted the material around for what seemed like ages, always getting it wrong. When I heard a knock on my door, I almost had a panic attack. "Oh shit." I cursed out loud and ran to answer the door. I was hoping it would be Aria, because she would know how to tie a tie. I opened the door only to face Aria's father. "Hello sir." I greeted him. He took in my appearance and said, "Having trouble with the tie, I see. I can help." He said. Mr. Schurrle stepped into my apartment and fixed my tie for me. "Thank you sir." I said, feeling a little ashamed of myself. "It's alright. Never had a son of my own to teach. But I do expect you to learn soon." He said strictly. I nodded.

I got my wallet, my phone and my keys and followed Mr. Schurrle out of the house. "Where's Aria?" I asked when I noticed that she wasn't waiting in the lobby. "She got a call from her friend Ronnie. Some emergency. She left early and promised to meet us there. Ah, look. It's her call." Mr. Schurrle smiled before answering the call. I paid attention to the road as he had a brief conversation with his daughter. "She's already at the entrance. How much longer will it take fro us to reach?" Mr. Schurrle asked, holding his phone away. "A couple of minutes. I can see the entrance." I said. Mr. Schurrle relayed the message to Aria and ended the call. 

The venue had valet service, so I didn't have to worry about parking. I handed the car over to the man and followed Mr. Schurrle inside. It was a garden party. The plants were decorated with streamers and there were balloons all over the place. Dainty tables had been arranged to seat the guests and waiters walked around the place with trays of drinks. Aria was seated at a table, where she was in deep conversation with Emma and Andrew's mother. Aria spotted us and broke into a smile that made me go weak in the knees. She excused herself and came to hug her father. She introduced her father to Andrew's mother before turning to me.

She held my arm and said, "Did you know that Andrew proposed to Emma?" Aria was pink in the face. "Really? When did this happen?" I asked Emma who joined us. Emma looked stunning in a yellow dress. "This morning. It was so cute." Emma smiled. She wore a large diamond ring on her left hand which caught the light of the sun and reflected rainbows everywhere. "That's great. Congratulations!" I said. Emma left to talk to some other guests and I finally got to look at Aria. "You look gorgeous." I said to her, meaning it. The blue dress she wore fit her curves perfectly. She looked extremely regal in that dress- it seemed to bring out the royalty in her.  "Thank you Leo." She smiled and a blush spread across her cheeks. I loved that blush.

I took Aria's hand we went in to mingle with the crowd. A lot of people asked us if we were a couple. Even though we vehemently denied it, I really, really wanted it to become reality. Eventually, I had to go meet my college friends and Aria went another way to meet someone her father knew. I couldn't focus on the conversation that my friends were having, because I saw some guy greet Aria's father and then ask Aria to the dance floor. "Hey, Leo! Come back man." Andrew said, lightly shoving my shoulder. I ignored the sly looks everyone was giving me and asked Andrew, "Who is that guy dancing with Aria?" Andrew looked in that direction and said, "That's Robert Glass. He's such a greasy character, I caught him trying to hit on Emma once." Andrew glowered. "Take care of Aria man. Glass cannot be trusted." Someone else said.

I, again, wasn't listening. The man's body language said that he was bad news. Aria was extremely uncomfortable with how close the man was holding. Her eyes went through the crowd and caught mine. Help, she mouthed, and the guy blocked my view of her. I could only watch in horror as he leaned in and  kissed Aria roughly. Before I knew it, I was pushing through the crowd and pulling him off of her. "Yo what's your pro-?" I cut him off with a strong punch to his jawline and his nose, which made a crunching sound and began to bleed. "Keep your filthy hands off of her." I growled and the man stumbled away, clutching his bleeding nose with one hand.

"Oh my god, Leo are you okay?" Aria asked, taking my hand in hers. I noticed that my hand was covered in blood, but it didn't seem to hurt anywhere. "That's not my blood." I concluded. "Oh, good. That was really brave of you." Aria said and gave me a small smile. I only nodded. The pounding in my head began to recede and I became aware of people giving us looks. "I should probably leave. Give me a call once your done, I'll pick you and your father up." I said quietly and walked out. I could hear Aria heels clicking on the concrete outside the garden as she hurried to catch me. "Where are you going?" She called out and I stopped for her. "Home. I probably just ruined our image back there and I don't want to make it worse for you by staying." I said.

"You're afraid that you're embarrassing me?" Aria asked incredulously. "Maybe." I muttered. "Leo, are you crazy? What you did back there was admirable and if someone doubts your character then they're idiots. You saved me from a psycho and there's nothing wrong with that. If you stay, you're just showing people that you really care about me and are willing to do anything to keep me safe." Aria ranted. I remained silent. "I don't want you to go. Please stay, Leo." Aria said softly. When I still didn't speak, she put her arms around me and rested her head on my chest. I held her close and we stayed like that for few minutes. Then Aria lifted her head and said, "Stay." Her eyes were glossed with tears and she had a faint blush across her cheeks. 

I couldn't help it. I bent down and captured her lips with mine, releasing all the pent up feelings I had for he ever since I met her in her house. To my surprise, Aria responded with equal passion and I knew  that she felt the same way. I broke the kiss and looked down at her hopeful face. I could never say no to her. "I'll stay." I whispered.

A/N: Hi everyone. I'm so sorry that I didn't upload yesterday. My schedule is going haywire and I'm hardly getting any time to write. Uploads for this story might be erratic this week because I have my unit exams (wish me luck) but they end on Monday, so I will definitely make it up to you. I intend to have completely re-uploaded this book by the 28th of January. And on the 29th you'll have a new extra chapter for FFTN, so put it in your library if you don't have it! Uploads for TDK will continue as usual, no delays there. Thank you so much for putting up with me and supporting this book We have helped it cross 8k!!!! Thank you!

Lots of love- D   :)