Learning to Trust (A Leo Valdez Love Story)

Chapter 28

KYRA

    Kyra lost track of how long she and Leo had been sitting silently next to one another. It was a comfortable silence, like the two of them were perfectly content to sit beside one another, not saying a word. 

    Kyra still held on to Leo's hand. She couldn't remember the last time she willingly touched someone for this long of a time. It was strange. Usually, she would be terrified of physical contact with anyone, especially men, but Leo wasn't like the people she had spent most of her life with. He sat almost perfectly still beside her, which was odd considering anytime Kyra looked at Leo while on his quest he was constantly moving or fidgeting with something. 

    "Thank you," she said, turning to look at him. 

    "For what?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. 

    Kyra looked away slowly, "For saving me from Medea and taking me with you. For not leaving me behind," she explained softly. 

    Leo rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't currently holding Kyra's as if he was uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah of course. It was no big deal. I just did what anyone would have done," he explained, causing Kyra to turn quickly and look at him. 

    She shook her head while frowning, "That's not true," she explained. Leo turned and looked at her. 

    "Really Kyra, anyone would have done that, I didn't do anything special," he finished, shrugging. 

    Kyra felt herself get frustrated. Why didn't he understand that this was a big deal for her? That he was different? 

    She turned away from him, gently letting go of his hand and pulling her knees to her chest: something she did as a form of self-comfort. "No, they wouldn't," she explained, her voice coming out in a whisper. 

    From the corner of her eye, Kyra saw Leo look at her. He moved slightly closer. "What do you mean they wouldn't?" he questioned slowly as if he was afraid to know the answer. 

    She let out a soft sigh before answering, "I mean that nobody cared about what happened to me before you," Kyra began explaining. "You were the first person to even try and help me in years." 

    "Really?" Leo questioned, sounding surprised. Why would he be surprised? People didn't help Kyra. That just wasn't how things worked. 

    She turned slightly to face him once more, Leo's brown eyes were fixed intently on her; he looked at her like he was trying to see all the things she hadn't yet told him just by looking into her eyes. 

    He looked sad. Kyra wasn't sure why he would be sad, but she knew she didn't like to see his face set in a frown or his eyes without their normal shine. 

    She shrugged, not really sure how to respond to him. She wasn't sure he would completely understand. "Yeah, really," she answered softly. "I- I don't know why, but people would either hurt me or look the other way. You were the first one to try anything close to helping me." 

    Leo didn't respond and Kyra worried that she had said the wrong thing. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all. Maybe it was better if he didn't know how broken she truly was. She was too much of a burden.

    "I'm so sorry Kyra," he said eventually. 

    "What?" she questioned, turning her body to face him head-on. Leo didn't have anything to be sorry for, if anything she should be apologizing to him for wasting his time with things he didn't care about. 

    "You didn't deserve that," he started. Her whole life Kyra had been told she deserved everything that happened to her. That she was asking for it when they hit her. That if she was better or prettier or more obedient people wouldn't be forced to hurt her. She felt like Leo was lying. He was the only one to talk to her like that, why would he be right when so many others told her the opposite?