anything and everything

healing

Some old stored scenes, some new
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"Laila, is everything alright?" Leslie asked, coming downstairs to see what was going on after hearing a crash.

"Y-yes everything is fine! Just don't come into the kitchen!" Shit, she didn't think he'd heard it.

"What's wrong?" Leslie didn't go in the kitchen but walked over by the doorway to see what was going on.

Laila had dropped a bowl. Not a big deal. In her moment of panic she'd tried to quickly clean it up before Leslie would see.  Laila looked up at Leslie then the shards of the bowl she'd been gathering in a paper towel.

"I'm sorry." Laila apologized. "I knocked it off the counter. I'll clean it up and buy you a new bowl. I'm sorry."

"You're bleeding." Laila's apologies were ignored and Leslie stepped into the kitchen, careful of the mess, to help her but paused in his tracks when Laila flinched.

"Laila... I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not mad at you. It was an accident." He figured that's where her mind went. She'd made a mess and was trying to cover it up before he saw. That's why she told him not to come over and why she kept apologizing. It was normal behavior to her, the only thing she'd ever known in a relationship.  It was going to take her some time to get over those expectations.

"I know. I'm sorry." Laila apologized again.

"Okay, Laila, stop cleaning for a second." Leslie walked over to her and took Laila's hands to force her to stop. Laila was shaking a little. Had Jay really been harsh enough that a simple accident like this caused her so much fear?

"Wash your hand in the sink. I'm going to get you a bandage. Be careful where you step." Leslie instructed her. Laila didn't look up at him but she did nod so he left to get a bandage from the hallway where he kept them.

When he returned Laila had washed and dried her hand. The cut wasn't too bad, just a small one from picking up the sharp shards with her bare hand in such a rush.  Leslie gently took her hand and put the bandage on for her.

"There, see? Everything is alright. It was just an accident and it's a little cut. It can all be cleaned up easily." Leslie used a calm steady voice when speaking to Laila. He gently brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the bandage like a mother would to a child's scraped knee.

It wasn't the first time she'd had a bad reaction to something and it wouldn't be the last. Little by little he knew she'd stop panicing but for now she needed his patience.

Laila nodded again, looking at the ground rather than Leslie. She extended her hands towards him for just a moment then dropped them to her sides again but Leslie had noticed the motion.

"Can I hug you?" He guessed at what she wanted but put it on himself rather than a burden for her.

Laila nodded and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest once he accepted her. "I'm sorry." She whispered again. She was probably apologizing for her reaction this time, not the bowl.

"Im not upset." Leslie repeated. "Everything's okay now, right? You're okay?"

Laila nodded, she just didn't want to leave his embrace. "I love you."

"I love you too. Go ahead and sit down on the couch. I'll clean up the floor, I just want you to relax." Leslie waited for Laila to disengage from the hug before letting go of her as well.

Laila didn't really want to leave but she didn't want to get in the way either so she let go of him and carefully left the kitchen so she didn't track glass everywhere. She was broken like the glass, she caused all sorts of problems for Leslie like this. She really didn't deserve him.