Winner Takes It All

Chapter 17

It was 20:14 when someone knocked at the door to Leo's room. Leo peered through the eyehole and his heart thudded with hope as he saw Xavier.

Maybe he should ignore him, Leo thought, but he was already opening the door with trembling hands. "What do you want?" Leo asked, satisfied that his voice was calm.

"I just had my date with Liam", Xavier said breathlessly.

Leo bit his lip as he felt whatever hope he had felt upon seeing Xavier crumple in his chest. Is this why he came here? To rub it in? "Cool."

"It was perfect."

Leo blinked past the stinging in his eyes. He had known Xavier was an asshole but Leo never thought he could be so cruel. "Sounds like your dream date", Leo said blankly and moved to slam the door shut.

"Wait!" Xavier wedged his foot in the door.

It was perfect. Leo looked away, unsure of how long he could keep his composure. "What?" He snapped, but it sounded more broken than anything else.

"It was perfect - "

"So you've said." Why was he still here? Surely Xavier had heard his voice crack. God dammit he needed to leave now. Leo's chest felt like it was slowly caving in on itself. Was it normal to feel this way?

"It was perfect, but it was all wrong. He didn't say anything when I ordered steak and when the waiter smashed the plates on someone's foot he didn't start going on about tort law and his eyes were the wrong colour and - "

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying he wasn't you."

Leo looked up at him through his lashes, his heart all of a sudden wild with hope.

"What are you saying?" Leo asked again, terrified and exhilarated.

"I'm saying that I never should have gone on that date. I'm saying that I should've realised sooner that you're it for me. Somewhere along the way I stopped liking Liam and fell for you instead. You were right, I was just too stupid to realise it."

"You mean you didn't want to settle for me", Leo said hating the way his heart forgave Xavier so easily.

"No. I was chasing after something I didn't want. He doesn't get me like you do. He doesn't make me laugh like you do. He doesn't make me feel the way you do. I want you.

When I was on that date I knew. I think... I think maybe I knew a long time before then. But on that date I realised that I had made a terrible mistake. I want you, Leo. I was just too dumb to see it."

Leo's heart was thundering in his chest. This was the moment he had been dreaming of for the past few days. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"Give me one more chance. Let me prove myself to you."

Leo stared at him. His dark eyes were bright with hope. Xavier had come back for him. He had had his chance with Liam and had still come back for him.

Leo reached up and grabbed his coat. The beginnings of a smile, a real one, the kind that made his breath stop, started to creep on Xavier's face.

"Ok", Leo whispered into the sliver of space between them. "One more chance. But I better not regret this."

Xavier smiled and Leo felt his breath hitch. Xavier leant up and brushed Leo's hair away from his forehead. "You won't. This is not a promise, it's a legally binding contract."

And then Xavier pressed his lips against Leo's. The heat of his lips left Leo delirious. Leo let his arms slide around Xavier's neck and his fingers run through his hair. Their legs slowly tangled as though they instinctively recognised each other.

This was it, Leo thought. This was the feeling songs were written about and wars fought over. The world seemed to fall away until nothing was left but Xavier and him. The press of Xavier's lips left him giddy and Leo wanted to stay this way forever but there was just one more thing -

Leo pulled away breathlessly. "You know that's not how contracts work right?"

Xavier gave him a disbelieving look, but he was smiling. "Kiss me you fool."

And so Leo did.