Leon Urie (Adopted By The Uries) ~COMPLETE~

Chapter Eleven

The morning of the first day, Leon awoke at six thirty-five, despite how late he had fallen asleep. The reason was that Bogart was standing on his chest, painfully heavy, and licking his face excitedly. The dog had picked up on the excited atmosphere that had reigned the house for the last few days. Leon gently removed him and sat up, stretching his back before standing and walking to the bathroom.
The face that greeted him in the mirror was tired, puffy, and acne-ridden, but Leon didn't mind. It looked like a boy's face.
The testosterone, even though he'd just been taking it for eight months now, had changed his physiology noticeably. He now had the beginning of an Adam's apple, and his jaw line had become more pronounced. On the other hand, his acne, which had always been moderate, was now uncontrollable, and often painful, but Leon honestly couldn't care less. He had also grown two inches since his birthday, making him a solid 5'7", and he had noticed muscle definition in his arms that he had never had before. He passed as a boy almost all the time.
Now he showered quickly, shampooing his hair, which he'd gotten cut again recently. When he'd dried off and dressed, he packed some final things into his backpack, looked around and his room, now clean and empty, as most of his possessions were in a suitcase downstairs, scanning for things he may have forgotten.
When he got downstairs, Sarah and Brendon were already at the table, talking sleepily over coffee and cereal. Brendon had bags under his eyes, but he grinned at Leon as he walked into the kitchen and deposited his backpack on the floor by the hall. "You look pretty awake. That's impressive."
Leon shrugged, smiling back at him. "Just excited."
"Are you too excited to eat?" Sarah asked amusedly, and Leon shook his head, going to get himself cereal as well.
Sarah complimented his outfit, and Leon grinned, saying, "Thanks. James sorta picked it for me."
"Well, he has great taste," Sarah reached out to straighten Leon's collar.
It was true, James did have a talent for outfits. He'd spent half an hour on FaceTime with Leon the day before, telling him what went with what and picking go-to outfits Leon could wear on tour, warning him not to wear the same ones too often. That day, Leon was wearing the pair of black ripped jeans that he'd bought under James's supervision, and an olive green button-up short sleeved shirt with polka dots. The only thing that didn't match his outfit were his socks, one of which was plain black with a blue toe and heel, while the other was red and yellow striped. Brendon pointed out that James had obviously not picked out his sock combination. Sarah and Leon laughed.
They met the buses in a huge lot of similar vehicles. Theirs were two metal Greyhound monsters, each growling loudly as they waited for their passengers. When everyone who was taking the buses had gathered, a crowd of no less than eleven, and everyone had picked which bus they wanted, the buses let out loud belches of black smoke and rumbled out of the lot. Leon watched out the window as LA slipped past the windows. His phone buzzed. It was Frankie: are you on your bus yet or nah?
Leon replied, Yeah, just left. I'm gonna miss you.
Brendon came over from where he'd been stowing his luggage, and, gesturing to the empty spot next to Leon on the sofa, asked, "Can I sit here?"
"Yeah," Leon put away his phone as his dad sat down.
"So, you like the bus?" Brendon asked.
"Yeah, it's bigger than I expected." Leon looked around. He, Brendon, and Sarah were sharing their bus with Zack, Nicole, Leah, Kiara, Desiree, and Penny Lane, who was bouncing around the bus excitedly, panting. Nicole and Sarah were sitting on the other sofa along with Zack, talking.
"Oh boy, the first time I was in a tour bus," Brendon whistled. "I got so bus-sick. Full of nerves."
"Are you used to it now?" Leon asked.
"Nah, not at all." Brendon grinned. "That's the best part."
They drove for the best part of the day, stopping at seven thirty to eat at a pizza place. As he hopped down out of the bus, Leon breathed in deeply. He hadn't known that fresh air could feel so good.
At dinner, Leon mainly just listened and ate as the adults talked and laughed, remembering stories from earlier tours. After a while, Leon's gaze wandered, looking around the restaurant to distract himself from how tired he suddenly was.
His eyes landed on a very pretty girl with coffee-with-milk coloured skin and natural, curly hair. She was looking around too, also sitting at a table full of adults, until her eyes suddenly met Leon's. Leon blushed and was about to avert his eyes when the girl smiled at him, propping her chin in her palm.
Leon continued to look at her, and she continued to look back until someone at her table addressed her and she looked away. Leon looked down at his empty plate, then around at his table. The adults were still talking.
Sarah, sitting next to Leon, ruffled his hair gently and asked, "Hey, are you doing good? Tired?"
Leon nodded. "Yeah, pretty tired. I'm okay, though."
Sarah smiled at him, putting her arm around his shoulders. "We'll go back to the bus soon."
When Leon looked back at the girl's table, she was looking at him again. Her hand moved from her face to wave at him ever so slightly, and Leon, checking that no one was paying attention to him, gave a tiny wave back. The girl beamed.
Zack laughed loudly at a joke Brendon had cracked, making Leon, easily surprised in his tired state, jerk up and look around, and when he glanced back at the girl, she was biting her lip not to laugh at him. Leon blushed again, taking a drink from his soda to cover his embarrassment.
Leon's phone buzzed, and he checked it to see that Frankie had texted him: I'm lonely and bored pls helppp :(
Leon felt immediately awful. He'd forgotten that Frankie even existed, and that he'd promised to text her.
When he looked up from his phone after replying to Frankie, he saw that the girl's family was walking away. The girl was looking back at him, and he smiled. "Bye," he mouthed. She smiled back and waved, and Leon found himself sad that he hadn't gotten to talk to her.
The next day was the first concert of tour, and after that it was a blur of sights and sounds and experiences. Before he knew it, it was the end of July, and they were halfway through the tour. Leon and Frankie often spent hours at a time talking on the phone, and texted almost constantly. Leon sent Frankie pictures he'd taken at landmarks and shows.
Frankie told Leon about an argument she'd had with Jace, and Leon tried not to be happy about it. He tried to be sympathetic.
Exactly two weeks before tour ended, Leon and the rest for the group were sitting in a restaurant once again. It was loud, and Leon felt claustrophobic from the warm, smoky air and the chattering that filled his ears. He ate a little bit, but wasn't really hungry, so when his phone started ringing, he took the opportunity to excuse himself and slip out the restaurant doors into the cool, dry nighttime Colorado air. He answered his phone, which was showing Frankie's name. "Hi, Frankie."
The other end was quiet for a moment, and Leon took a breath to ask if she was there, but then she spoke in a choked sort of voice. "Hey, Leon."
"What's wrong?" Leon asked, immediately concerned.
"I- uh-" Frankie sniffled, hesitating. "I don't know if I should talk to you about this- you can't help me, but- but I just need to tell someone..." she sounded distraught.
"Tell me," Leon urged. "It's okay, just tell me."
"Um- Jace hit me today." Frankie said finally.
"What?" Leon said loudly, making a man across the road look up from his newspaper in surprise and frown at him. Leon ignored him and asked Frankie, "Why? What happened?"
"He said something really degrading about Mrs. Pents, like, really bad. Really sexist. And I told him so, and he got angry- and, and said something like, 'you're not a fucking feminist, are you?' and I told him I was, and argued that we need equality, and he said I was being annoying, and I said I was just fighting for everything I stand for, and he- he grabbed me and yelled at me to shut up, and when I didn't, he- he punched me." Frankie explained in a stuttering voice. "So I told him he can go fuck himself and ran away."
Leon stood with his eyes closed for a moment, something between anger and nausea boiling in his stomach.
"....Leon?" Frankie asked quietly.
"I- I- I'm so sorry, Frankie," Leon mumbled. "I'm sorry I wasn't there..."
"It's okay, it's just a shiner. I was going to break up with Jace anyway- we kept getting in fights about little things." Frankie seemed to have calmed down a little.
"I- I should have been there for you, Frankie. I'm so sorry. Just- just stay away from him, please-" Leon was fighting to keep his breath steady.
"Of course, Leon- hey, Leon, it's okay. You didn't have to be there. I had it handled. Don't beat yourself up, please. I have to go, my mom is waiting for me. Bye, Leon. I love you, okay?"
"Okay," Leon said numbly, and Frankie disconnected.
Leon put his phone in his pocket, before lashing out and kicking the low concrete wall in front of the restaurant. "Fuck!" he hissed in anger and disgust. He'd never felt the need to use a swear word before, despite his exposure to Brendon and his friends, who swore all the time.
"Hey, kiddo. You've been out here for a while, are you okay?" Leon's dad voice cut through his thoughts, making him look up. Brendon was walking toward him from the restaurant entrance.
"I-" Leon paused. "I don't know.... I just need a few minutes."
"What happened?" Brendon persisted.
"It- it's nothing." Leon tried to play it off, but Brendon put a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen. You can tell me, Leon. You don't have to deal with everything on your own."
Leon bit his lip. "I don't want to worry you."
"I'm already worried, buddy. But it's okay, that's what I'm here for." Brendon assured him.
Leon gave in. "You know Frankie's boyfriend?" he looked Brendon in the eye to calm his nerves. "H-he hit her. And- I should have been there for her. I- I should have protected her, but I couldn't even protect myself from-" Leon's voice trembled. "I couldn't protect myself against my dad."
Brendon's face went dark and serious. "Leon, listen to me. You were six at the time, you couldn't have done anything."
"What did he do to me?"
"I- I don't know, Leon. But it put him in jail for eight years." Brendon replied, and Leon wasn't sure if he was saying all that he knew.