No more tears - Leon Kennedy

Chapter 13

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤."

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"Alright, Lucia, let me clear things up since I'm such a great friend. What exactly happened from the beginning?" Ashley started questioning me as I sighed. 

"We dated, I broke up with him and ran away, we saw each other again, got close again, and it went south because of me," I explained as she rolled her eyes. 

"Everything okay, honey?" I heard Steven, Ashley's husband, ask from the living room as she crossed her arms, not hiding her displeasure.

"Yes, everything's fine, Steven. Lucia is just an idiot," She replied as I frowned, thinking I had gotten used to her blunt way of talking. 

"Alright. Listen to me carefully." Ashley resumed as she sat back down, looking me straight in the eyes as she added, "You're going to go see Leon, and if you want to fix things, you're going to apologize."

I swallowed my sip of tea the wrong way, not expecting what she just said. I caught my breath, feeling slightly confused.

"But why would I apologize? He's the one who—" I began to justify myself as she raised her hand in protest.

"Shhh! He made the first move, and you pushed him away. If he hated you, you wouldn't have heard of him again, you idiot!" She finally raised her voice as I fell silent, feeling slightly ashamed.

I buried my face in my hands, not knowing what to say as I turned red with embarrassment, my ego not allowing me to admit, at that moment, that she might be right.

I was the one who brought up a useless subject when he had come with good intentions.

"Are you going to ruin everything now that you've finally found each other again?"

I didn't know what to say anymore. 

"It's nothing like that..."

I set down the cup I was holding, feeling my heart pounding strangely hard as Ashley tapped the table lightly.

"Listen to yourself for a second! Do you want to go out with him, yes or no?!"

Part of me wanted to, but the other part was still hesitant. 

"I... I don't know. I do care about him a lot, but I'm afraid that..."

"No, there's no but. Seven years ago, you were so crazy about each other that even my dad knew he was planning to propose to you, and now, when you have a chance to make up for it, you chicken out?! I can't believe it!" She concluded with one last complaint. 

I froze instantly, my train of thought collapsing when I heard her mention marriage.

"I didn't know about that..." were the only words that escaped my lips as Ashley seemed to fall apart as if what I said wasn't what she had expected.

As she seemed to think for a few moments, she finally sighed, muttering something that sounded like "what an idiot" to herself before speaking again, slightly more irritated this time.

After thanking her for the tea, giving a final wave to her dog, and waving at her husband as I left their home, I settled into my car, collapsing onto the seat as I rubbed my eyes.

I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and opened my contacts to find Will's number. As I scrolled down my contacts, my fingers stopped when I saw "Leon," almost forgetting who I was supposed to call initially.