(18+ only) Ollie and Leora's Whirlwinded Romance

17

(Ollie's POV)

I knew this place all too well. It was my former home. It was blazing in some sections, completely in ruins. I was only 19, a month or so away from turning 20. Shadow Creed and that bastard, Leon, had ruined everything. They destroyed the Ramses household!
Drew was running to to me, frantic, that day. He was desperately trying to explain what had happened, his voice trembling with fear and anger. The sight of our once beautiful home reduced to ashes was devastating, leaving us with nothing but the painful memories of what used to be.
"I'm glad that you're alright," Drew said to me, "We have to make haste and get you to safety!"
He was more worried about me than my dad. But I knew better.
"Drew! Where is my father?!"
"I...I don't know..."
"Never mind about me. We need to see if my father is alright!"
"But Master Ollie—!"
"That is an order, Drew. I won't repeat myself again!"
Drew nodded.
"You're right. I shall accompany you. Let's go back inside."
We went inside and went to search throughout the entire home. Drew took the east wing, and I took the west wing.
The next horrible scene played out like as if it has happened yesterday. I walked into my father's study and there was his lifeless corpse on the floor in a pool of blood. He head had been completely blown off by the bullet. That damned red bullet...
My legs gave out and I had a panic attack right there on the floor. I could hear the collapsing of my home, and I knew it was too dangerous to stay there. But I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down. I struggled to catch my breath as fear consumed me, realizing that I had lost everything I held dear. The once familiar surroundings now felt alien, leaving me overwhelmed with a sense of despair and uncertainty about what the future held...

Leora reached out to hold me. I returned her embrace.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that. Your own father. And your mother had died not long ago, right?"
"Yeah," I replied, my voice shaking.
She pulled back to look me in the eyes.
"You never had a single moment to process anything Ollie," she said, her own voice started to shake. She started crying.
"Don't cry. Please don't cry," I tried my best to comfort her when my own calmness was hanging on by a thread. I wiped away her tears with my thumbs while craddling her face in my hands.
"After Drew found me on the floor," I continued, "He helped me leave the house. He told me it wasn't safe to stay there and we had no choice but to leave. We got to safety, and then he told me about joining the Esper Union. That was the last thing on my mind. My father had just been mercilessly assassinated by Shadow Creed; I didn't care about the communities our family served at that moment. I had just lost my own family."
Leora nodded, understanding.
I let the tears fall from my eyes, and I sighed.
"It's all in the past now," I tried to lighten the mood in my own way, "I decided to get revenge a different way. To rebuild the Ramses family. Anita was the key to that change..."
Leora kissed me again.
"Thank you for sharing that with me."
"You're welcome."
"Do you want to go sneak and have a midnight snack together before we go back to sleep?" she asked, "Something to lift your spirits, even for a little while."
That sounded like a good idea.
"Sure. Let's get dressed and go."

---

I heard my phone ringing in the morning . Leora and I had been up late last night and we were both slow to wake.
"Who is that?" Leora asked, barely awake.
"I don't know. Let me see who it is."
She huffed and readjusted her pillows to try and go back to sleep.
I immediately picked up when I saw who it was.
"Gaius? How can I help you?"
I heard Leora sit up from bed hearing that name.
"Ollie, you need to sit down for this one. I just got a report from General Brynn about something that you need to be aware of."
"What's going on Ollie?" she asked.
I motioned for Leora to wait.
"Go ahead. What report were you given?"
"May I tell him?" I heard Brynn ask.
"If you want to," Gaius said.
There was a brief pause.
"Ollie! Hello! We've met a few times. My name is General Brynn."
"Yes, I know who you are."
"Great. So, I'll just go ahead and get straight to the point. Q shot you several months ago with Cupid's arrow."
There was silence.
"I didn't feel a thing, how could this be possible?" I asked.
"He saw you rush to rescue General Leora when she had cardiac arrest and he decided to shoot you with Cupid's arrow to "speed things up". He saw that there was potential for you to fall in love with her."
I couldn't help but laugh, covering my face.
"Did you feel like an itch on your back that day you rescued her?"
I thought for a moment.
"Maybe? It was very brief. I was more concerned about getting Leora to the emergency room after her heart had stopped."
"Right..."
"You seem quite calm about this, Ollie," Gaius said, "You have the right to be upset about it if you need to be."
"Well, it makes sense how and why I had lost my mind."
"What?" he asked, not following my train of thought.
"Is that all you called to tell me?" I asked.
"Well, yes."
"Okay. I will go ahead and let you all go."
"Okay—"
I didn't wait for him to say goodbye, I disconnected the call.
"What was that all about? What happened when I had nearly died?"
I chuckled.
"Q is responsible for how fast our relationship developed. He shot me with Cupid's arrow."
"Oh," Leora blushed, then she looked away looking sad.
"What's wrong?"
"Did you find me desirable before the arrow shot you?"
"Wow you sure know how to put me on the spot."
"If I tell you how I felt about you when we first met, will you be willing to tell me?"
I arched my brow.
"You've got my attention. Tell me."
I sat down on the bed, smiling at her.
"Ollie you're giving me those bedroom eyes again," she grinned.
"Never mind about that. Tell me."
"I liked you from when we first met. You have such lovely green eyes that are warm and inviting."
I shook my head, not being able to help but laugh softly.
"Warm and inviting? Me? While others look away in fear from my gaze, you eagerly embraced and were drawn to it."
"Even your lips were..." she stopped herself, "Sorry, I've said too much."
"No. I like where this is going. Go on. Elaborate."
"You're good looking," she said, her cheeks continuing to turn red, "Even when you flat out refused to deal with me, I didn't want to give up. I thought I would try to get to know you again when you were willing to open up more."
"I had my reasons for not dealing with you back then," I admitted, "Now, are you ready to hear the truth of how I felt about you when we first met?"
"Sure."
"Well, Laura had introduced me to you and you had offered to walk me over to the training grounds. As we continued walking, you were talking to me but I wasn't really paying attention. I still liked hearing the sound of your voice."
"Oh," she covered her mouth.
"When you said to me about how difficult it was for me to join the Esper Union, I was curious to ask you what you had meant by that. I paid closer attention to you at that point. That day we met, you looked a little under the weather but your eyes were still so captivating and deep. Like pools of ocean water. I could see my reflection in your eyes as if I was gazing into the ocean itself."
She was speechless. I was pleased with myself.
"You mentioned you understood what I was going through, but I knew that was impossible. So I just shut you down from the start. I knew if I had spent too much time talking to you..."
I crawled back into bed, moving closer to her.
"That I would want to get closer to you...Just like this."
I gave her a kiss then pulled back and looked into her eyes.
"I see my reflection too, Ollie," she smiled, "Your eyes really are so lovely."
She kissed over both of my eyes, just like my mother used to do when I was upset. It was a gesture I was so greatful to receive again.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
As our kiss deepend, I heard a knock at the door.
"Master Ollie! I just got word from Laura that she'll be coming over later this afternoon. She wanted me to pass on her message."
I sighed.
"We can pick up where we left off later," Leora gently said.
"Yeah," I nodded, smiling.
I looked towards the door.
"Thank you for letting us know!"
"You're welcome," I heard Drew say before I heard him walk away.
We decided to get into the shower to prepare for our day ahead.