Fifty Reasons to Stay (Book Three)

Chapter Thirty Six-Lilies

06.01.26 11:30 pm
I don't know if you're awake. I hope things are going well for you. The house is finally repaired. I have a huge loan to pay off but since raph owes me so much anyway, he's going to help. Then maybe we can sell it.
We miss you like crazy.
xx Leo
(I think xx means kisses? I hope it does because I want to give you like a hundred right now)

p.s. I'm pretty sure I got recognized yesterday by a couple men on the street. Hope that doesn't mean too much. :/ Florida isn't the smallest area.

Leo–
Probably doesn't. I miss you too.. If I could be with you right now, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
Mikey and I went to visit our cousins from my mom's side today. They've got a few little ones now. I told them about you. I told them about the wedding. They said they want to come...
xxxxxxxx

Donnie:
I know it's after midnight in New York. Go to sleep!
And while you're getting that recommended 8 hours of sleep, think about what color you want the roses? I'm thinking white. All white.
Goodnight. Go to bed. Seriously. I love you. Call me in the morning. Xxxxxxxx

I want lilies. I love you too. Goodnight.

4:14 a.m–06.02.26
Can I call right now? I can't sleep. I need to know if you're doing lilies or not.
~~
After nine in the morning, I finally woke up to a quiet penthouse. Good. They'd already left for the day.
I'd been staying with Raph and Mikey for a few weeks now while seeing a highly recommended doctor for physical therapy, as well as another recommended therapist. Apparently the time away from home was good for me. I don't know, I just really missed Leo and called him every night just to hear his voice, wishing more than anything that I was in his arms. But he was right, I needed help and couldn't come home until my doctor approved. Where was home anyway? While Leo's mother was on the loose, we couldn't go back to ours.. would we move again?

I immediately reached for my phone, disappointed that he didn't get back to me about the lilies. It's not like we had that much time, he needed to stop screwing around and figure this out.

DID YOU GET MY TEXT LAST NIGHT WHATS IT GOING TO BE??

Hey

Don't be rude to me it's our anniversary

I'm calling you now >:/

I dialed his number impatiently, pacing around Raph and Mikey's penthouse. It was so quiet today. The only one there was the maid, but she was busy in the kitchen so I didn't have to worry.

"Hello..?" I'd forgotten he might've been asleep and that was why he wasn't answering. But he needed to stop sleeping in.
"Why did you not answer?" I asked in a quiet tone, draping myself across the bright red couch by the window.

Leo sighed quietly, seemingly getting out of bed. "I called the florist. We can have an assortment or just regular lilies like you want."
"Um... I– I don't care too much. They just all have to be white–"
"Because the vases are black. I know. I got this."
There was a long pause before I spoke up again. "I was hope– hoping you would come today." I gazed out at the busy city, watching he early morning sunshine reflect off the big buildings.
"I know. I'm so sorry..." We'd been apart more days than together in the past year, so what was the point of celebrating another wedding anniversary? Had it already been a year since our date on the boardwalk that led to him hitting me in anger for the first time ever? I didn't want to think about it. We were trying to move on from all of that. But every time I would lay next to him after that day, I feared him. Every time he raised his voice, I feared what else might happen. If he lifted his hand, I worried I was going to get hurt again. I couldn't put it behind me, after almost a year. It hurt too much.
"I have to go.." I wiped my eyes quickly, hanging up before he got a chance to protest.
Let it go already...