Caramel || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 7: Cinderella and the Frog Prince

Originally Published: November 5, 2022

LEO'S POV:

I groggily woke up the next morning, not liking the suspicious looks on the guys' faces.

"What's going on," I wondered as I scratched the back of my head with a yawn.

Tobey reluctantly handed me a brand new magazine, a frown crossing my lips at the cover story. It was about if Nena and I were a couple with one of the photos they snapped yesterday.

"Oh no," I breathed, anxiety gripping me. What if this wrecked whatever I had with Nena? I knew she had handled the paparazzi well before, but that was only one instance. I shakily dialed her number, sitting on one of the stools at the bar.

"Hello," I asked.

"Hey, who is this," a girl inquired.

"Leo."

"Oh, I'll get Nena for you then," they promised. I was aware it was her sister, Ellen now, biting on my nails before a different female voice spoke up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, did you see the magazines?" I gripped the bound pages tighter as I glanced at Tobey.

"No, why? Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. They printed us on the front cover. I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. We've barely hung out, and now we're everywhere in the media."

"Leo, why are you apologizing? It's not your fault this happened, and it doesn't matter what they think. What we have is just between us. I was actually thinking about calling you this morning. I wanted to hang out again," she shyly said on the end.

"Are you sure? Things are only going to get worse."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she quietly laughed. "I don't mind getting written about in the tabloids. It's just part of being friends with you, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that's right." I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion at how well she was dealing with this. "I'll meet you at your place in about half an hour, okay?"

"Okay," she warmly replied.

"I'm going to see Nena," I informed the whole group even though they were listening the whole time. I had to sneak around better to arrive safely at her apartment, releasing a sigh of relief after she buzzed me in.

"Hey," she greeted with a sweet smile. "Are you doing okay? You sounded upset on the phone."

"I'm just surprised you're handling all this so well."

"Me too, but you're worth it."

I felt a flutter in my heart as we gravitated towards the sofa.

"Hey, did you bring Tobey with you," Ellen checked, showing up from the hall.

"No, he's still back at our hotel room," I responded.

"Oh." She sounded awfully disappointed before faking a smile. "I might go over to see him, so I won't bother you two. If that's okay with you, Nena."

"Yeah, that's fine," Nena reassured her.

"You want to watch a movie or something," I asked once her sister had left.

"So, can we not go anywhere in public now? I mean, is it not safe?"

"It's riskier. You remember what happened yesterday."

"Yeah, my hip still hurts a little," she winced, situating herself in a better position.

"You want to watch The Goonies?" I had just switched on the television and it was the first movie I came across. Plus, it was normally associated with Halloween and that was the next holiday coming up.