ꜰᴇᴀʀꜱ (ᴸᵉᵒⁿ ᴷᵉⁿⁿᵉᵈʸ ˣ ᴿᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 10

⋆⭒˚.⋆


They both sat on the library stairs. Leon had a swollen cheek and blood dripping from his nose. Nikola next to it. She rubbed her ribs and wiped away the constantly dripping blood from her mouth with her sleeve. The imprint of the wooden planks on the floor was visible on her face. Both looked at the wall in embarrassment. Nobody said anything for a long time. That went out of control.
Ashamed, they both looked in every direction except where the other person was sitting.
"So... that was wild," Nikola began. "Shut up".
"OK..."

Nikola looked at her nails, some of them were broken or torn. Fucking Crap.

Both looked stubbornly straight ahead, avoiding direct eye contact. Their shoulders were slightly tense, and the marks of the previous fight were clearly visible - a few scratches here, a few bruise there.

Leon looked at Nikola with his arms crossed, his expression stern. "You really have a strange way of getting attention, Nikola," he said sharply.
Nikola rolled her eyes in annoyance. "And you have a strange way of showing your authority, Mr. Officer," she countered, her voice mockingly and sharp as a blade.

An awkward silence passed between them, filled with unsaid apologies and regrets. Both knew they had overreacted, but neither of them wanted to take the first step to clarify the situation.

"What does that even mean: 'My authority'?" Leon asked annoyed, still staring stubbornly into the distance. "You thought the best solution was to beat me up?" she asked, her voice was poisonous. "Me?? Who jumped me??" asked Leon reproachfully and his eyes were narrowed to angry slits.

 "What did you expect, you stupid ass, you provoked me, you have no idea what this notebook means to me," she started the old topic again.
"No, I don't know, you're right, but you didn't need to risk your life for it," Leon said a little calmer.

It almost seemed as if he didn't want to clarify the situation at all. But still tried for whatever sake.

"How many times do I have to repeat this? This book has personal value for me and for the thousandth time: I didn't ask you to help me, I could have done it myself," Nikola snapped and folded her arms tighter.
"You couln't have done it without me!? Who are you kidding?" Leon said and looked at her annoyed. "Just stop acting like a child."

"You're telling me to stop acting like a child? Maybe you'll start treating me like a woman, maybe then I'll act like one too"; She said, turning her angrily to the railing and looking down at the bodies scattered around the library.
 "What did you even save my life for ? So that you could beat the shit out of me minutes later?" she snapped angrily. "YOU started this! Don't blame it on me now!"

"Were not getting anywhere, Leon," she said, letting her hands fall into her lap. "Maybe I should have acted differently..." she admitted sheepishly, her face heating up as she admitted she had made a mistake. Will he immediately pounce on this admission of mistakes, Will he make fun of her, make it ridiculous, will he show understanding?

"Maybe??" asked Leon reproachfully, but he seemed to stop himself. He also seemed to notice that Nikola hat tried to open up a little. He took a deep breath.

"Yes... maybe you did wrong..." he finished and his posture relaxed a little. "You didn't have to beat me up like that," she said insultedly and shyly looked for his gaze.

"No, that's my least regret, you deserved that,  Someone should have really beaten you up sooner, maybe then you would have more respect for others, you cheeky bitch," Leon replied and his eyes flashed when they met hers.

"That bruises don't look bad on you either, you arrogant ass"; She countered and dared a playful punch to his side.

"Ahh you- stupid-" Leon grunted and held his side as he arched his body in pain

"At least you have more respect for me now," she said, supporting herself with her arms behind her. "Yes, feel free to tell yourself that," he said painfully, but his tone was playful.

"Now I at least know how to get through to you... Every time I want to explain something to you, I do it in combination with a good ol' beating. What do you think?"

"I can't believe I let a woman beat me up," Leon said disappointedlyy, sighed without answering her question and also leaned back next to NIkola. "Life is full of surprises, right?", she said mockingly. "Oh shut up"

"You weren't bad eitehr, Nikola," he added meekly after a while of silence.

"Excuse me? What did you say? Louder again please," NIkola asked, putting her hand behind her ear. "What did you say? You didn't just say something nice about me, did you? Oh that I can still experience that!!!" she continued to tease as she leaned towards him.

 "Dude, you really don't make it easy to be nice to you," Leon replied and pushed her back. "I never said it would be easy"...  

It became quiet again. Images of their fight flashed through her mind again. He actually had strength. And his combat training must have been very high quality. It's unbelievable that he's just a police officer.

"You surprised me quite a bit too," she whispered. It remained quiet."I never thought that you... actually have so much strength... and you can fight really well. I guess I underestimated the police combat training";

"Are you saying you underestimated me?" he asked, grinning triumphantly in her direction.

 She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Minimal. I thought you were a femine, little shit-cop..." she said mockingly.

"Excuse me?? What did you call me?" he replied with disbelief in his voice.
 "You know what I said"...
"You sound like you want to fight again?", Leon said, looking in her direction with a mean grin."Oh God have mercy", she replied and made a defeated gesture.
"Thats what I thought"

"Next time you're on the floor agian, begging me to let you go, I'll make you take this all back," he said quietly, unsure if it was appropriate. "You can try that, Don't hold your breath..." Nikola said and smiled.

 "I'm glad we were able to clear this up... I didn't mean to-" Leon began. "Yeah, yeah. I understand, blah blah cheesy, cheesy... I actually thought the conversation was good so far," she cut him off.

"okay, sorry, then I'm just not nice, my god you're really not making it easy"; he said, raising his hands defensively.

"Okay.. Okay...! Please tell me your nice words, i'd love to hear them", she said and looked at him with a smile.

"No, you've blown it now. Maybe I'll be nice some other time", he said and shrugged.
"Whatever you say mr. officer"

She looked at him for a long time and examined his arms. He watched her and finally looked around the library. 

"Let's go to Marvin and get out of here," he raised his voice again. Nikola looked over his shoulder and nodded in agreement. She stood up and held onto the railing, groaning.
"Oh, are you okay?" Leon asked gleefully. "Oh, shut up."