Irreplaceable {1}

Chapter 13

Leo took the fastest shower I have ever seen. He was in and out in no time. His hair was floppy and wet when he came out, and he was in a tank top and sweatpants and my mouth went dry looking at him. Yes, he was in boxers yesterday, but I was trying to respect his privacy and not stare. Right now, I was staring.

"So what all did Emily tell you?" He asked as he walked over to his freezer and pulled out some frozen veggies, fries, and stuffed chicken breasts. "Are these okay for dinner? I don't keep a lot of fresh food when we are working so much."

I nodded, "yeah that is fine."

We had been eating out so much that anything cooked at home sounded like a great idea.

I got up and went to help him, he started the oven so I started with the veggies.

"Don't help me just so you can get out of telling me what Emily said," he said with a smile so I knew that he was light-hearted about it. But I could tell from the tension in his shoulders that he was nervous.

I grinned at him, "I'm helping to help. And Emily didn't say much. We talked about the tour and how she started a travel Instagram while she was travelling with you guys. It sounded like she really loves travelling and working online like that."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "did she say why she's not coming on this tour? Levi has been very anxious about it. He really loved having her come along before so not having her as his rock has caused him to spiral a little."

I frowned, "well, it sounded like she was hitting the end of the line. She said she really loves Levi but she was getting tired."

Leo stopped what he was doing - putting parchment paper onto a pan - and looked at me, "what?"

I looked over at him, "yeah, it did not sound like good news. And then she gave me her phone number and made a point to tell me she was here to talk to me if I ever needed it unlike Zeus' ex. Which feels like a weird thing to point out, no?"

Leo winced, "they've had a rocky time the last year but especially the last month. It's felt like no matter what Levi does he can't please her."

I thought about it as I stirred the vegetables. "Do you think she's going to break up with him?"

Leo stayed silent for a while, "I hate to be that person, but it feels like it."

We were both quiet in our own thoughts for a few minutes as the veggies boiled and he put the rest into the oven. He turned down my stove top so it was simmering and then pulled me over to the sofa, "let's relax a little while it cooks."

We both plopped down and Leo curled up to rest his head on my lap, "what do we have picked?"

"I was debating between two movies," I showed him the options and watched as his eyes lit up at the second one. I laughed and clicked play and then he pulled a blanket over us.

Then he realized I was still sitting and got up to push me over so I was laying on the couch and then he snuggled behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my arm.

He was awfully close to my butt, so I really hope I did not fart.

We watched the movie and when the timer went off, he got up and forced me to stay while he plated out food. I frowned at him, but he looked like he really wanted to do it.

When he came back, we ate and then returned to cuddling as the movie finished. This time I was the one mostly laying on him. When the movie ended I looked at the time on my phone and sighed, "do you think they are gone outside? I do have to go to class tomorrow and I don't really like the idea of them following us to my apartment."