Milk and Cigarettes

Chapter 12

I woke up with the beaming sun making my vision red and splotchy although my eyes were closed. I tried pulling my blankets up and over my head until I realized that I didn't have blankets, I wasn't in my bed, and I wasn't home. Darting up, I looked around at my surroundings and it took me a couple seconds to remember where I was. The car was parked at a gas station in some big city, the doors were locked, and Leo was gone. I panicked at first, not knowing where he was and all, or where I was in the first place. Then, the building door opened and I could hear the bell ding as Leo walked out with a plastic bag in his hand. He looked at the car before he approached it and noticed I was awake. A smile brightened up his face and it made me blush to think I could make him smile by simply sitting in his passenger seat. Leo had made my heart heavy by simply existing. He pulled the driver seat door open and sat down.

He exhaled. "Ah, good morning, sleepy head." My mood dropped as I remembered I probably didn't look the same as I didn't the night before.

"Uh-uhm, good morning." I attempted to discreetly hide my face as I pulled the dashboard mirror down so I could see the morning mess in the reflection. My hair was awful and pushed down in a completely different parting than it should've been in. Trying to fix it in a non-frantic way, I tucked my hair behind one ear and gently rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Let's see," He poked his head out the window and read the blinking sign underneath the massive 'Conoco' sign. "It's 8:18 and a beautiful," he paused to let the sign flash to the next informative news, "73 degree Fahrenheit day!" Pulling out a paper bag which resided in the plastic bag, Leo handed it to me and reached back into it to pull one out for himself. "Hope you like donuts holes, Wendy."

"Oh, thank you." I took the bag and reached in for one and let the thick, sugary, icing coat melt in my mouth. "I love donut holes!"

"Me too!" I looked over and Leo looked like he already had six shoved into his mouth. I giggled slightly. "Do you want some coffee? I can go back in and get you some."

"No, it's okay." I smiled and noticed how sleep his eyes looked. Even in this state, with his cheeks swollen with a child's favorite unhealthy breakfast and his eyes begging to close for a few more hours, I wanted to tell him how I felt. But I didn't.

"You sure?" Leo asked as he swallowed. "I'm going to go in anyways." He stated this in his tempting voice, the voice someone might taunt their sibling with. "Yeah, I'm going to get you one." Confirmation lied in his voice and he rose up out of the car and back into the store, his shirt wrinkled against his body and walk lingering lazily. I took that moment to open the mirror back up, fix my hair, and smack my face to a point where I actually looked alive. Soon enough, Leo came buzzing back into the car and I acted as though I didn't just get done hitting myself in the face. He handed me my coffee which settled in a to-go cup with a movie ad for 'My Girl' printed across it.

"Thanks, Leo." I held the hot shape in my hand and I wondered what he would do if I leaned over and kissed him right at that moment.

He watched me for a moment with a look I couldn't quite understand before he shifted his view down. "I like how you say my name."