Blue

Books

Casper's Perspective
The sun rises. I drink a cup of coffee and get dressed for the day. I turn away from the mirror as I do. I wear a big t-shirt, linen overalls, and an oversized cardigan. When I emerge, Leo is waking up. He stretches, and his muscles bulge. I try not to blush. He looks at me. "Hey, Casper."

"Good morning, Leo."

"Can we... pretend it never happened?"

I think for a second. "Only of you talk to Link about it. You gotta talk to someone."

"Deal."

He gets up and looks me up and down. "You look hot."

I can't contain my blush. It creeps up my cheeks and ears. No one really calls me that. Sure, I'm cute and adorable and precious, but never hot. He walks over to me and lifts my chin with a finger. I look into his blue eyes. He leans in close. "I like how you react to my words. I'll have to compliment you more often."

He lets go of me and goes to the bathroom. I stand still for a minute, not believing this Leo is the same Leo from yesterday. I hear the shower run and I go back to crocheting. I try to focus on counting the stitches, but the thought of Leo showering fills my head. His body, his hair wet, the steam. I look down at my project, sigh, undo my last row of stitches, and have to start over again.

He eventually emerges in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Water drips from his hair to his shoulders and run down his arms and chest. His abs...oh my god his abs. He is heavenly. He is so very sexy. He is-

"Earth to Casper. I know, I'm hard to resist. But can you get me clothes from downstairs? I forgot."

I nod and head downstairs to grab clothes for him. I practically run back, craving another glimpse at his body.

When I walk through the door, he's inspecting the room. One hand holds up the towel and the other traces lightly over my books on the bookshelf. I would think about how obviously delicious he is again, but this time, I see his back.

I've never seen worse bruising. There's barely any space that is his actual skin tone. He turns and smiles at me. I fake a smile back. I gently set the clothing on the table and he grabs them, heading back to the bathroom. I catch my breath and attempt to push back the electricity in my fingertips. It zaps up my arms and I shake them until the electricity goes away. If it reaches my heart, it's a panic attack, complete with flashbacks. So I'm glad it goes away.

He emerges shortly after, and I bring him down to the cafeteria. "What do you usually eat for breakfast? I'm sure we have it."

"I don't really eat breakfast."

"Okay, then we'll find something. You're eating breakfast today."

He rolls his eyes but lets me guide him to the food area. He gets eggs and toast. We sit with the Lavenders. Adam introduces everyone and Leo and I introduce ourselves. We all become friends by the time breakfast is up.

I give Leo a tour of Diversion Mansion, and we make it back to our place. Once inside, he goes back to inspecting my things. "How long have you been here?"

"Three years." I respond.

"Wow. That's a while. What's this one?" He grabs a book and I panic.

He turns it over in his hands and sees the tabs sticking out. "You annotate. What are the blue ones?"

I slowly make my way to him like the book is a wild animal. "Good quotes."

"And the green?"

I inch closer. "My favorite character doing stuff."

"And the pink?"

I snatch it out of his hands and put it back. "Not important. Don't read these, you won't like them."

"Oh, okay."

He stares at me for a second, then moves quickly. He grabs a book and holds it over my head, opening it to one of the pink tabs. I grabbed for it but he pushes me away with a leg. He started reading. "He suddenly grabbed my waist and bent me over the...oh shit."

"Give it back! Leo!"

"No way, I gotta see how it ends. He put the what?! In where?!"

"Leo!"

"Damn, Casper! 'His hand came down on my ass, eliciting a moan and I hoped there would be a mark'?! Jesus Christ!"

I flopped onto the couch and covered my face in shame. The blushing crept up my neck and covered my face. He stopped reading and put the book carefully back. He sat next to me and pried my hands off of my face. "Ah, come on, I'm just teasing!"

I couldn't make eye contact. I crossed my arms as I looked at the bookshelf and pouted. He leaned in closer, smelling like soap and shampoo. "Casper. Stop pouting."

I turned my face further away from his. "Come on Casper, talk to me. Or I'll make you talk."

That piqued my interest. I turned further away. He mumbled "a fuckin brat." under his breath. He grabbed my waist and brought me closer to him. I was between his legs, with my back to his chest. I leaned back and rested my head on his shoulder. But I still pouted and looked away.

"Casper, I need you to say something. Anything."

I shook my head.

"Turn around. Face me."

I hesitantly followed his instructions, sitting on my knees in between his legs. I crossed my arms and look away. He caressed my cheek. "How about... I'll do anything you ask me to? The next request you give me, I'll do. You just have to speak."

I shook my head and tried to contain my smile. My face was still quite red. He smirked. "So you... don't want me to kiss you? Don't want me to give you a hickey, or take my shirt off? You want none of that?"

I finally looked him in the eyes. His hands rested on my hips. I decided what I wanted. "Kiss me." I mumbled.

"What? I didn't hear you." He teased.

"Kiss me!"

His lips met mine and I knew immediately that we were soulmates. His kiss was too perfect for us not to be.