He's Fire and She's Playing with It - Mafia Version

Chapter 9: Daddy Issues

TW: MENTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSULT.

Ally was unbelievably fine. A few weeks had passed since the heart-breaking incident and she was working, laughing with her friends, and flirting with Leo as if the event never had occurred. Nothing seemed to faze her.

She was fine.

And Leo couldn't believe it. Why was it that she always surprised him? He couldn't figure her out and it was messing with his head. It was infuriating, annoying, and teasingly sexy.

He had tried to stay away from her. He didn't know how to handle the situation and didn't want to cross any lines, but she kept coming for him. Every time they saw each other at work she succeeded to corner him, always away from prying eyes. Being in the same space as her felt the same as something sucking the air out of the room. He started to avoid her, because not touching her was too hard but touching her was impossible. He was sure that even the slightest human touch would break her. She had been so fragile when he picked her up that awful night. The shaking, the crying - he wouldn't be able to handle it if it happened again.

Leo was at the warehouse, looking for a pallet. He heard the gate to the sales departments open someone walking him. He expected it to be one of the truck drivers, since their lunch hour was coming to an end. Ally didn't have to do more than clear her throat for him to know that it was her. He turned around. She was mad, and not just angry but burning with rage.

"What's up?"

He didn't know what else to say. Normally he would push her up against the wall, forcing her to look him in the eye and not letting her go before he had fucked the anger out of her. Fiery emotions created some of the best kinds of sex.

"You okay?" She said it like it was nothing behind it, like she didn't want to rip his head off. "Because it seems like you have something to say and not the guts to actually say it, which is very out of character for you. So, you okay?"

He was pretty sure that it would be difficult to descalate the situation. When her mind was set on something, she wouldn't let it go. That was something he had learnt early in their friendship.

"You honestly have to tell me why you're mad."

She came closer, until they were almost chest to chest. She had done it multiple times to work him up, but this wasn't it. This was challenging him to fight her. Not physically, but verbally, and she probably wasn't even aware of doing it.

"I'm angry because you've been ignoring me. I get that you lost interest but you can at least tell me. Don't get me wrong, I know all about ghosting, but we work together. That safe way out is not something that can be of use in this situation. You to have to tell me to my face, or via text. You can't just ignore me and pretend like it didn't happen. Not this time, not with me."

He was actually speechless. Suddenly he saw his behaviour from her point of view and even though it made perfect sense to him, he just hadn't thought that it was something that she'd believe. Why wouldn't she though? His behaviour was obvious to him, but to her it was a dismissal and worse, he realised, it was a dismissal because of what she's been through.

"That's not it."

She wasn't impressed by his answer and it was made very clear by her face. "What is it then?"

"I just thought that you needed space."

That was not the right thing to say.

"Maybe you wanted to... sort yourself out? Because, you know, that night"