The Lonely Hearts Club

15 / peas-in-a-pod

"HEY, REMEMBER that time Verona stuffed breadsticks into her purse from Olive Garden?" Leo laughed as he sliced into his chicken with a fork and a knife.

The boys had deemed it an opportunity to reminiscence of old times, taking every moment that was possible to embarrass Verona. It was almost as no time had passed between the two old best friends.

    That was the thing about Leo- he had a talent for making time stand still or just nonexistent at all. With Leo, everything felt eternal.

"I remember that." Roman pointed his fork at Leo as he chewed on a piece of his salmon, "She kept asking the waitress for more bread."

"Oh, yeah, those were the good old days, man." Leo chuckled.

Verona rolled her eyes, leaning across the table to steal a piece of steak from Roman. Katrina raised an eyebrow at that, but Roman hardly blinked, accustomed to her preferring his food over her own.

Verona glanced over at Emilia, realizing that she probably was feeling left out at that point, but Emilia was just smiling politely.

"All I remember from those days were that you two were stupid idiots." Verona scoffed.

"Oh, V, we're still idiots." Leo grinned, smiling at her.

"True enough." She shrugged.

"Hey, remember when we got into a fight over Verona?" Roman cackled at that memory, "That was hilarious now that I think about it."

"Not hilarious for me, cause you gave me a black eye and a bruise for like a month." Leo rolled his eyes.

"Damn girl." Katrina piped up, "I don't even get one hot guy fighting over me, and you had two."

Verona laughed uneasily. It seemed as though everyone had forgotten that Roman's current girlfriend was at the table, but Emilia didn't show any signs of being upset. In fact, she seemed amused.

"Yeah, whatever." Verona shrugged, "Anyways, what dessert is good here?"

"Dunno." Leo winked at Verona, "Doesn't matter cause I'm the tastiest thing here."

Verona choked on the piece of broccoli she had been chewing. Katrina let out a howl of laughter while Roman raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Emilia just smiled quietly.

"Hey, did you guys notice that Verona's dated everyone here except for Emilia?" Katrina pointed out.

Verona gave Katrina a dry look, "I've regretted dating 100% of everyone I've dated."

"Yeah, just date Emilia, and you'll have a complete set."

"Hey now!" Roman cut in jokingly, "I can't have my current girlfriend getting together with my ex-girlfriend."

"Isn't that what happened in Legend of Korra?" Verona mentioned absently.

"Ugh, we do not talk about Legend of Korra." Leo shuddered.

Verona had forgotten he had very strong opinions of the second series of Avatar: The Last Airbender. He and Roman had gotten into an argument over which series was best, and that was one of the largest fights they had gotten into.

"Legend of Korra is way better than ATLA." Roman began.

"Shut up, you have no taste. ATLA is the original, the best, okay? The Avatar gang cannot be replaced." Leo shook his head.

Katrina shook her head ruefully, exchanging a look with Emilia who hadn't seen either series before.

Verona just smiled to herself at the exchange.

It felt like home once more.

~

    "So what have you been up to these past two years?" Verona asked Leo as they walked out of the restaurant together, trailing behind the others.

   Leo's eyes crinkled as he said, "Everything you can see on my Instagram."

   Verona raised a dubious eyebrow, "You don't even post on your Insta."

"I'll post one right now." Leo's lips quirked before he called out to Roman, "Caccavale! Take a picture of Verona and I?"

   Before Verona had time to react, Leo was pulling her toward him with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. He flashed a brilliant smile at the camera.

   She was safely tucked into the crook of his arm, his scent of warm soap and crisp deodorant wrapping itself around her. She was much shorter than him, and it was almost comforting, his heartbeat steadily drumming.

   As abruptly as he had held her, he let her go again, leaving a strange feeling in her chest.

    "You better post the one of all of us too." Roman told Leo, "I'll be hurt if you only post the one with Rona and you."

   Leo joked, "I'll just crop you out of the group one. Me and three gorgeous ladies."

   Verona chimed in, "I think Roman counts as a lady too. Just not gorgeous."

   Roman shook his head, "You two are so mean to me."

    "Not mean. Just truthful."

   "I hate it when you two are together. You're like two peas-in-a-pod."

   " Two peas-in-a-pod." Leo echoed, his eyes meeting Verona's with the sparkle of boyish charm.

   "Two peas-in-a-pod." She said, smiling back.

~

Who do you ship most w Verona?