My Bully, My Neighbour

Chapter 23 (Edited)

Two weeks after the sleepover, I was a stressed mess. I had been running around buying gifts for my family back home. I was flying home in a few days so that I was in time for Kait's wedding dress selection. I didn't have a lot relatives to shop for- just my dad, Kaitlyn, my aunt and uncle (Kaitlyn's parents), my nonna, and Marcus and his family (his parents and his brother Nico). Nine people. The reason I was freaking out was because I had to do Leo's shopping too. And it seems like his entire family lives there!

He has his dad. Then his half-sister Amelia who's living with their dad after her divorce along with her 14 year old daughter, Samara. There's his cousin Manuel along with his wife, Maria and two sons- 14 year old Joseph and 8 year old Rocco. There's Manuel's younger sister Tara who lives there with her girlfriend Sam. Also, Leo's grandmother is in town during the time of our visit, so we are (rather I am) shopping for her too. She has sent a list of stuff she wants. There are some cousins from Leo's mom's side, but he isn't in touch with them. I was shopping for all these people alone because Leo was writing some sort of exam and he needed time to prepare and perform. But I loved doing it.

On the morning of our departure, packing proved to be a bit of an issue. "Leo, that's not going to fit in there!" I said as he tried to push in a bag of chocolates into an already overflowing suitcase. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Why couldn't we get a private plane again?" Leo asked. "Because papa wants me to know the value of money." I rolled my eyes. "Right. Then we've got to make this work. What's our weight limit?" Leo asked. "Fifty pounds. This is easily twice the amount." I replied.

We surveyed the mess we had made in my room. I sighed and blew a strand of hair away from my face. "Okay, you know what? I'm going to get rid of some of my clothes. I have a lot of dresses at home that I can wear." I said and began to unpack all the bulky dresses I was carrying. "Are you sure?" Leo asked. "We're going home Leo." I said with a small smile.

That night, we finally got our bags ready and headed out to the airport. We sat at a cafe' as we waited for our flight to be announced. "Hey, it's been exactly four months since I moved in!" I said brightly. Leo thought about it. "Yeah it has! Okay, toast." He said seriously and raised his coffee mug in the air. I followed his lead and raised mine too. "To an amazing four months of being neighbours, without which I would never had gotten the best girlfriend in thee world." Leo said and I blushed. I wasn't used to his compliments yet. I wondered if I ever would get used to them. "Ditto." I said and almost burnt my tongue on the hot coffee. Leo burst out laughing and I slapped his arm.

A lady announced the boarding for our flight and Leo and I got on with our group. Our seats were one middle and one window. Leo began to slip into the aisle, but I caught his arm and made a puppy face at him. "No, I get the window seat." He said, narrowing his eyes at me. "Pwease?" I said in my kiddy voice. I could see his defences start to crumble and added a small pout. "You get to sit for half the journey. I sit at the time of landing." Leo said. I immediately righted my face. "You can sit for the first half. I want to be at the window when we land." I said. Leo smirked and sat at the window seat. Begrudgingly, I sat next to him and crossed my arms. The air-hostess stood in the aisle and began to explain the safety measures. I relaxed into my seat and closed my eyes.

Leo held my hand on the armrest and I smiled. I squeezed his hand and felt the plane start to move."I love this part." Leo said excitedly as the plane began to accelerate. I felt myself get pushed into the seat as the plane achieved a lot of speed and finally took off. My stomach dropped and I grinned. "I love this part too." I laughed. The seat next to me was occupied by an old man who had dozed off the moment he sat in his seat. Leo was watching a movie, a very violent one. I cringed as a character slaughtered the other with a sword and turned away. I plugged in my own earphones and scrolled through the movies available. I found 'The Devil Wears Prada' and began to watch it.

I slept through most of the flight. About four hours into the flight, Leo woke me up. "Your turn to get the window." He whispered. "Thanks Leo, but you can keep it. I'm way too sleepy to move." I muttered. I rested my head on his shoulder and cuddled his arm. "Okay. Goodnight princess." I heard whisper before he rested his head on mine. I gratefully dozed off again. I was scheduled to meet his family in about four hours. Through a sleepy haze I felt him raise his arm so that I was resting on his chest. He put his arm around me and played with my hair. He felt warm and solid and safe...I thought to myself as I snuggled deeper.

A few hours later, Leo shook me awake again. "Hey, we're gonna land in twenty minutes." He said. "I don't want to wake up." I grumbled. "Aria." He said warningly. I huffed and opened my eyes. "Fine. I'm awake." I said and sat up straight. I rubbed my eyes and yawned loudly. "Aria?" Leo said eyeing my hair. I frowned and touched my hair. It felt like touching the rough side of a Velcro strap. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed. I hurriedly pulled my hair out of its bun. I ran my fingers through my hair desperately trying to settle it. "Wait up. Let me do it." Leo said and reached out to straighten out my hair. His fingers through my hair and I felt a shiver run down my spine.

"Leo?" I whispered. He stopped and cupped my face and leaned in. I felt his breath fan my face. I closed my eyes and tilted my face to kiss him when my seat gave a violent jerk. We sprang apart. A head peeked out from behind my seat. "I'm so sorry." Said the woman. "My son is a little cranky." She said apologetically. "It's fine." I said and faced forward, my face burning. Leo had gone back to staring out the window. He looked over at me and noticed how embarrassed I was and quietly slipped his hand into mine. This was going to be an interesting trip.