More Than Just A Friend (A Bruno Mars Fan Fic)

Chapter 28

Fri

4 days later

She feels stupid as she stands outside the office unable to bring herself to open the door and go in, but her mouth has gone dry and she feels scared and she can't even put her hand on the door handle without it starting to shake and Leila groans in frustration.

He has been watching Leila for the last 10 minutes stand outside the office and he's seen her try a few times to reach for the door handle when her hand starts to shake and she pulls it away, and hearing her groan has him going to her and he touches her left shoulder and she screams and pulls away from him and turns around and Bruno's shocked at Leila's reaction then he realises that he had come at her from behind her, like Luke had and Bruno could kick himself and he smiles a little and tells her, it's ok baby, it's just me and the fear on Leila's face worries him and he moves closer to her and she cowers back against the wall and Bruno stops in his tracks feeling shocked and Lonnie who he hadn't seen come in tells him, I think she's having a flash back boss, just talk softly to her and step back a bit, give her space and Bruno takes a couple of steps back and keeps his eyes on Leila's and he tells her, it's just me baby, i'm sorry I scared you, you're safe and Bruno tells her over and over again that she's safe and has nothing to be scared of, trying to reassure her, he feels useless and guilty and wonders what else to try when Leila blinks at him and says his name and he goes to her and gently pulls her into his arms and he can feel her body shaking and Bruno's heart breaks for her and Leila tells him, I can't do it, I can't go into the office, I can't even touch the door handle, how fucking stupid and pathetic is that and she starts to cry and he lifts her up and carries her into the family room and sits down on the sofa with her on his lap and he kisses her head and tells her, you're not stupid or pathetic baby, it's just too soon for you to be able to go into the office again.

She feels confused and Leila looks at Bruno and tells him, I don't know what happened outside the office and he asks her, what's the last thing you remember and she tells him, I felt a hand on my left shoulder and then I was back there... with Luke grabbing me from behind and dragging me into the office... it was happening again and she curls into Bruno and he strokes her hair and tells her, i'm sorry, that was my fault baby, I came at you from behind when I heard you groan and touched your left shoulder and Lonnie thought you might be having a flashback and after what you've just told me, he could be right.

She feels angry and Leila looks at Bruno and asks him, isn't it enough that I can still feel his fucking hands on me and I feel dirty all the time despite all the showers i've had since then and keep having and i'm waking both of us up all the fucking time from nightmares and now i'm having fucking flashbacks and she starts to cry again and Leila feels her anger drain away, she feels ashamed and she tells Bruno, i'm sorry and she looks away from him and he rubs her right arm and tells her, you have nothing to be sorry for Leila, but maybe you should see someone and Leila looks at Bruno and asks him, you want me to see a shrink because you think i'm nuts and he tells her, I don't think your nuts, you're suffering from Luke attacking you and maybe seeing a therapist could help you.

He strokes Leila's hair and tells her, Dwayne saw a therapist after his parents died and it helped him, I can call him and ask him for the contact details for you and Leila bites her bottom lip and tells him, ok, but I don't want to see a man, I don't think I could handle talking to a man that I don't know and Bruno can understand Leila feeling like that and he tells her, ok, I get that and he pulls his phone out of his shirt pocket and speed dials Dwayne and he can hear the surprise in his band mates voice when he asks him if it was a male therapist he saw and when Dwayne tells him no Bruno's relieved and he asks Dwayne for his therapist's contact details and he tells him that he'll text the contact details to him and Bruno tells him, thanks man I owe you for this, please keep this to yourself and Dwayne tells him, you don't owe me anything and don't worry my lips are sealed and Bruno ends the call and puts his phone on the sofa beside him and he looks at Leila who is smiling at him and she tells him, thanks for telling Dwayne not to tell anyone and Bruno tells her, it's nobody's fucking business, it was a female therapist that Dwayne saw and he's going to text me her contact details and Bruno's phone alerts him to a text message and he picks his phone up and he looks at the text message which is from Dwayne with the contact details for the therapist he saw and Bruno shows Leila the text message and she tells him, I guess I better get in touch with her and make an appointment to see her and Bruno watches Leila pull out her own phone from the front right pocket of her jeans and Bruno can tell she's nervous as she dials the number that Dwayne texted him and he holds her left hand and listens as she calls the therapists office and when Leila gets off her phone a few minutes later she tells him, thanks to a cancellation I got an appointment to see the therapist on Monday at 4pm and Bruno smiles at Leila and tells her, i'm proud of you for making that appointment baby and she tells him, well I can't go on the way I am or i'll turn into a basket case and drive you crazy in the process by waking you up all the time because of my nightmares, i'm not expecting miracles after 1 appointment, but maybe the therapist can teach me ways to cope and Bruno hopes she's right and tells her, don't worry about waking me up baby, you can wake me up anytime.

He had an idea while Leila was on the phone and he asks her, do you think redecorating the office and getting new furniture for it would help you and Leila looks at him and tells him, I appreciate you getting me the laptop and your business phone out of the office on Tuesday so I can work in here, but it's not practical in the long run Bruno and she cups his left jaw and tells him, I honestly don't know if redecorating the office and getting new furniture for it will make a difference and Bruno isn't sure either and he tells Leila, I think it's worth a try and it could be fun if we do it together and Leila smiles a little and tells him, ok, lets do it and he kisses her and tells her, lets look online and see if we can see anything we like and can agree on and Leila tells him, sounds good and she gets up from his lap and picks up the laptop from the coffee table and she's about to sit down on the sofa beside him and Bruno pats his left knee and Leila cocks her head at him and stares at him for what feels like forever then she shrugs and sits on left his knee and he wraps his arms loosely around her waist and she turns the laptop on and they take a look online at different colours of paint for the office walls and new furniture for it.

She yawns and tells Bruno, I think we've picked out everything the office needs and he tells her, yeah, I think we could both do with something to eat now and a nap and Leila sighs because she doesn't feel hungry but she knows Bruno's been worrying about her not eating much lately so she tells him, ok and she switches the laptop off and gets up off his left knee and places the laptop back onto the coffee table and Bruno gets up and stretches and they go into the kitchen and he tells her, I want a spam sandwich, chips and a soda and Leila shakes her head at him and tells him, spam is gross, i'm going to have a cheese and tomato sandwich and Bruno tells her, spam is good and Leila rolls her eyes at him and they make their sandwiches and Bruno grabs a bag of chips and sodas for them and they sit down beside each other at the breakfast bar to eat and Leila has to force herself to swallow every bite and she manages to eat a bite of the second half of her sandwich when she gives up and says i'm done and Bruno looks at her and sighs and she tells him, i'm fine, i'm full up and she leans over and kisses his left cheek and tells him, don't look so worried, finish eating and Leila starts to clear up and Bruno helps her a few minutes later when he's finished eating and when they're done they go up to their bedroom and lie down on top of their bed where she curls up against Bruno and Leila's last thought before she falls asleep is hoping that she won't have another nightmare and wake them both up again.

He watches Leila as she sleeps beside him and Bruno hopes that the therapist will be able to help her get over Luke attacking her, or at least show her ways to deal with it, cope with it, because he's out of his element and doesn't know what to say or do to help Leila, but he's not going to stop trying but he'll never come at her from behind again and Bruno hopes that he won't do anything else that causes her to have another flashback and his last thought before he falls asleep is that he's going to have 1 of their favourite meals delivered from Mario's again later for dinner since the most he's seen Leila eat since her attack was on Monday night when they celebrated being together for 4 months and he'd had spaghetti and meatballs delivered from Mario's and Bruno hopes it works again and Leila will eat more again tonight.