PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 34 - Unwelcome Visitors

Saturday 6.39pm (UK time)

I pulled up to my parents' driveway of the home that I had grown up in - the only home I had ever had in the UK. It still looked the same as it did when I left it almost a year ago. I took a minute or two to just sit there in my (rented) car, taking in the tranquil, picturesque scene of the house. It wasn't huge, but it was a good sized detached house, just on the outskirts of London, surrounded by trees.

I cut the engine and got out, leaving my suitcases in the back of the car. I hadn't even told them I was coming  today, not that I had planned it. A small smile made its way to my face as I imagined their reaction, and if I was lucky, Matt, my brother, was down here for the weekend too.

The gravel crunched underneath my shoes as I walked up to the front door, and I could hear Teddy, our German Shepherd (who didn't look anything like a teddy bear, but I was young when I named him, and adamant that he looked like a Teddy when he was a puppy) barking at my presence from the other side of the door. Teddy was one of the main reasons I didn't want to leave England - we were like best friends and my love for him was unconditional, and he was always around to make me feel better growing up.

I rang the doorbell and waited, trying to look in through the windows, but I couldn't see anything of importance. I could hear my mother coming down the stairs, and fiddling with the keys.

I held my breath as the door unlocked and opened, revealing her face, which soon turned to one of complete shock. This only lasted a second before she started squealing, throwing her arms around me and screeching what sounded like an incoherent "What are you doing here I can't believe it," I smiled widely as she hung on to me. Teddy was dancing around us, his tail wagging furiously as he tried to stand on his hind legs to greet me. "Hey buddy," I whispered, unable to say hello as I was still in my mom's embrace.

"BRAD!" She screamed in my ear as I flinched. "Brad come down here!" She repeated, and already I could hear my dad's heavy footsteps come to the door.

"What? Why you screaming the bloody house down...." His voice trailed off as he saw me, his face the mirror image of my mother's when she saw me. She let go of me so I could step over to my dad, who was holding his arms out to me and engulfed me in a massive bear hug.

"Penelope love, can't believe you're back, God I've missed you." He said, relief evident in his voice. After he let go, my mom hurried back to my side excitedly. I finally bent down to Teddy (not that I needed to bend down, he was a huge dog) and rubbed his fur, and behind his ears how he liked, as he tried to lick my face out of pure joy. "Hey good boy, I missed you. You remember me?" I asked in that voice I used whenever I talked to dogs (we all have that voice).

"Come on through honey, don't stand here out here. You've come home, how about you get in it." My mom said, rushing me inside.

I stepped in the house, feeling completely surreal that I was back, yet nothing inside had changed. As for me though, it seemed like everything had changed. It still held the same homey smell, the same pictures framed on the walls, the same cabinets, but as I walked into the living area, what greeted me was all too familiar, but completely out of place.

"Theo?" I blurted out loud. He stared at me with a dumb struck expression. "P-Penelope you....you're back?" He spluttered out, visibly shocked. The mug (my old mug) he was holding was placed sharply back on the coffee table and he stood up immediately.

"Oh, God, sorry I completely forgot he was here. Theo comes round every Saturday, don't you Theo?" My mom chirped, much to my disgust. There wasn't a lot I could say (not anything that wasn't rude anyway) to that. My stupid ex-boyfriend coming to my house, drinking out of my mug, made me feel like shoving forks into my eyes, and I already longed for the comfort of familiarity - namely Leo.

"Hi Theo," I said, giving him a tight lipped, forced smile, as he came over to me, arms open wide, encompassing me in a hug. I returned it with one arm.

"I'll give you two a minute, get reacquainted and such," my mom carried on, implying something I didn't want to think about in her words. She loved Theo, adored him like her own son, and it never made any sense to me how she could still have so much love for him after he cheated on me.

With that, she left the room, so me and Theo sat down. "I can't believe you're here.....you never returned my calls." He said, gazing at my face deeply. So deeply it made me uncomfortable.

"Yeah well, shouldn't be surprised Theo." I replied, deadpan. He was taken aback for a second, but he persisted at a conversation.

"So I heard you shot a movie..." He offered as a topic to talk about. "Well, heard, seen.....it's everywhere. Advertisements on every corner, hard to miss." He laughed nervously.

"Yeah, the premiere's tomorrow." I replied bluntly.

"Yeah I know that too. Right here in London right?" I nodded to his question.

"What was it like working with Leonardo DiCaprio? Bet that was something special, huh?" He tried to joke, but I heard hints of seriousness and jealousy in his tone. God, Leo. Of course he had to bring up Leo. The more I spent time with Theo, the more I realised how good Leo's company was (and how stupid I had been).

"Leo's great....he's my best friend, so.....yeah it was 'something special'." I air quoted the last two words.

"Oh who's your best friend, honey?" My mom came back in with snacks, thank god.

"Leonardo, her filming partner," Theo replied, like the kiss-ass he was. I snorted at his answer - 'filming partner'.

"Oh yeah, you did tell me about him a little bit." She said as she sat down "When do we meet him?" Theo's eyes shot to me quickly.

I had to sort myself out before my family (minus Theo) could meet him properly, and who knows how long that will take. "Soon. You got the tickets for tomorrow I sent through to you?" I asked, diverting attention slightly away.

"Yeah we got them. Though Matt may not make it..." She trailed off.

"Why?" I butted in. He wasn't even here today, and for him to not be at my second ever red carpet event was disappointing, if not hurtful.

"Oh I don't know," mom said in a dismissive way "he said he had some sort of intense training thing for work." She looked up at me with sad eyes. "He hasn't really been the same since you left." Wow. Well that was a punch to the heart (if that was even a phrase people used - probably not, but that's what it felt like). Now I felt shitty for Leo, and I felt shitty for ruining things for everyone with my brother.

"Hold on, I...left something in my car, I'll be right back." I said, standing up and heading for the door. I heard the soft chatter of Theo and my mother behind me as I left.

I reached my car and opened the door, diving straight for my bag to grab my phone, dialling as soon as it unlocked.

"Come on, come on," I chanted to myself as it kept ringing. And it rang...and it rang until it hit voicemail. "Damn it," Leo wasn't picking up, not that I could blame him, but this weird atmosphere, this weird ex boyfriend/mother dynamic wasn't working for me, and I just wanted to get home, or rather, I wanted to go to Leo, wherever he was.

My eyes fell to my bag (well, what was in my bag) and I pulled out the photograph of Leo, Frances and Billy that I had taken on set in Mexico and studied it. We were so tired that night, but we stayed up anyway, just talking and having a laugh. I would've done anything to be back in that moment.