VGC: Brotherly Love Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Alex smiles as he walks away from Aeris's door.

"Goodness Alex, are you trying to wake her?" Mr. Leonardo asks.

"Maybe." Alex says, smiling.

"Whats going on, what do you mean maybe?" Mrs. Leonardo asks.

Suddenly there is laughter from Mr. Leonardo. Mrs. Leonardo looks over at him curiously.

"Whats so funny?" Mrs. Leonardo asks, frowning.

"I knew something was up, but I had no idea. You are one clever cat Alex my boy." Mr. Leonardo says, calming his laughter.

"Wait, are you saying that-" Mrs. Leonardo starts.

"Yup. I'm surprised it took you guys this long. The way I made Leo and Aeris dress, the restaurant, and the retirement center." Alex says smiling.

"This entire time, how long have you-" Mrs. Leonardo starts.

"For a while. A week before I got here, I found out they were living together. I was ecstatic, expecting them to be together. Then I found out that they were just roomies. To tell you the truth, that kinda angered me. So, I figured they just needed a little nudge in the right direction." Alex says.

"So they don't know any of this? Leo and Aeris I mean?" Mrs. Leonardo asks.

"Nope, and hopefully they don't find out. Otherwise I'll be in the hospital again...if I'm lucky." Alex says, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"So, did you slam that door on purpose?" Mrs. Leonardo asks.

"Of course. You see, we all know their feeling for each other, and it wasn't more obvious than tonight with them dancing." Alex says.

"Ah yes, if only you could have seen them. You know, they almost kissed." Mrs. Leonardo says smiling.

"Wait, really?" Alex says, getting excited.

"Yup, if it wasn't for you shooting your gun." Mr. Leonardo says. Alex's face starts to sadden, as if he did something wrong. "Which reminds me, here."

Mr. Leonardo pulls out Alex's gun from his pants pocket and sets it on the kitchen table. Alex reaches for it, but suddenly Mrs. Leonardo slams her paw on it.

"Now, when were you going to explain this to us?" Mrs. Leonardo asks, her smile disappearing from her face.

"What, a cat can't protect himself?" Alex says, retreating his paw back.

"Yes, but my question is WHY do you need to protect yourself." Mrs. Leonardo asks, lifting her paw off the silver gun.

Alex grabs it, and places it back in his hip holster. He sighs, and looks back at his parents.

"Its just in case, just like tonight. You never know what kind of people are out there, and you never know who or when someone is going to jump you, or attack you." Alex says.

"Ok, I just want to make sure nothing else is going on. As long as your defending yourself then I'm ok with it." Mrs. Leonardo says, starting to smile again.

"Hm, Leo still hasn't come out of Aeris's room yet. I hope everything is ok." Mr. Leonardo says, scratching his chin.

"Aw I'm sure everything's fine. Leo hasn't come crashing through her door yet. They are probably just talking. Now, its getting late and I don't want you two getting home extremely late." Alex says, standing up.

"Ah yes, it is pretty late. We shall hit the road then. Come come my dear, our chariot awaits!" Mr. Leonardo says, trotting to the door.

With a final kiss and hug, Mr. and Mrs. Leonardo take off. Just before they are out of sight, Mrs. Leonardo shouts back to Alex.

"Oh, and tell Leo and Aeris bye for us. They will understand we having to leave. Until later honey. Bye!" Mrs. Leonardo shouts, waving her paw.

Alex nods and closes the door. He rushes over to the window, careful not to strain himself and peers out it. He watches as they get in the car, and take off. Alex sits on the couch with a large sigh and closes his eyes.

"That was a close one." Alex thinks to himself. "Now, what is going on in there?"

Alex opens his eyes, stands back up and walks over to Leo and Aeris's door. He suddenly hears Aeris shout something.

"So get out of here!" Aeris shouts from her room.

Alex backs away from the door.

"Good one there Alex, you fucked up once again." Alex says, and staggers to the couch.

He plops on it and lays down. He doesn't even bother covering up and closes his eyes.

Aeris's room just after Alex slammed the door.

Aeris's eyes start to flutter open, and she looks around. Leo can only stand there, holding her in his arms and prepare for the inevitable. Then Aeris looks up at Leo's face.

"Thank you Leo, you can put me down." Aeris says.

Leo obliges and sets her on the ground feet first as she straightens herself out. She turns around to Leo and smiles.

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that." Aeris says.

"Well, your my best friend and that's what we do for each other." Leo says, looking at the ground.

Leo is very nervous. Not the fact that he was carrying her (since he has before) but he can't get the image of Aeris's shocked face out of his mind. They were so close to kissing, something that he thought would never happen, and then shit hit the fan. He saw her, how shocked she looked. Its as though she didn't know what she was doing. He felt bad, like he had taken advantage of her. So, he starts leaving for the door.

"Wait Leo, please." Aeris says quietly.

Leo stops and turns around. She sits on her bed, and pats the spot next to her, signaling him to sit next to her. As Leo walks to her, he can't help but notice her beauty once again. The dress, her hair, and even better; the Tri-Force pendant hanging from her neck. He smiles, and sits next to her. He peers into her eyes, and doesn't see the sadness in them anymore. Aeris then smiles and takes Leo's left paw in her right.

"Listen, I've been thinking about tonight Leo-" Aeris starts.

"Don't worry about it, I'll forget abou-" Leo butts in.

"No, we can't just forget about something like that. Its apparent we have feelings for each other Leo. Before you go on and tell me otherwise, I want to tell you what my father had said to make me punch him."

"Why?"

"Because, you deserve to know. Its taken me a long time to realize this Leo, but I've been staying with you for more reasons then because we are 'best friends'. That night, my father called you-" Aeris stops, trying to think of how to say the word. "-he called you something that until that night, would never have phased me."

"Which was?"

"...a retard."

Leo just looks over at Aeris, and cracks a smile.

"Your telling me you punched you dad because he called me a retard?" Leo says, starting to laugh.

"Not just that, but how he said it. It angered me Leo. He said other things, like how he wanted me to go to collage instead of being with you."

Leo stops laughing.

"Wait, you gave up going to collage? I thought you didn't get-"

"I lied, I did get accepted. I even got several scholarships to pay for almost my entire tuition for two years."

Leo was shocked.

"So you gave up so much, just so you could-"

"Stay with you, yes. Its taken me a long time to fully understand myself. I honestly didn't know why I have stayed. I should have listened to my parents and gone to collage, but I decided our friendship was worth more than some crummy degree." Aeris says, now smiling.

The two just sit there, looking at each other.

"So, what do we do now?" Leo asks.

"I don't know Leo. We both know how we feel for each other, so I guess there is only one option."

"Whats that?"

"Oh come on, your not that brain dead are you?" Aeris asks, crossing her arms.

"Um, is that a trick question?"

Suddenly Aeris leans forward towards Leo. Leo is caught off guard by this, and can only sit still as Aeris's lips touch his left cheek. She backs off and smiles. There are lip marks left on his left cheek.

"I'll let you think about it tonight Leo. I'm tired and I really want to get out of this damn dress. So get out of here!" Aeris says, a little loud but in a joking matter.

Leo smiles and stands. He opens the door and turns around to close it, and stares at Aeris. He thinks about it, what she was implying. He knew, but being Leo he wanted to have a little fun playing stupid.

"Goodnight Aeris." Leo says, closing the door.

"Goodnight Leo." Aeris says still sitting on her bed.

Leo walks over to the couch and see's Alex sleeping. He smiles, and grabs the Legend of Zelda blanket and covers him up with it.

"Thanks Alex." Leo says, and walks to his room.

He opens the door, walks in, and closes it. He gets out of his suit, down to his boxers, and plops into bed. He can't help but think of Aeris now. Things were changing between them, and he was starting to like it. Ever since Alex showed up, the tension has been being lifted off between he and Aeris. And Alex's plans tonight finally helped he and Aeris realize something that has been in progress for so many years; their love for each other.

Leo then cringes at the word. Love.

"I still don't know what it is that I love about her. I mean, I love most everything about her, but what are my dreams trying to tell me?" Leo says to himself out loud.

He closes his eyes and falls fast asleep. Back in Aeris's room, she has gotten out of her dress and into her night gown. She sits on her bed and puts her paws in her face.

"What is going on with you Aeris?" Aeris says to herself out loud. "He's your best friend, isn't it wrong to like your best friend? I just don't know, I have so many mixed feelings right now. Maybe if I sleep on it, just maybe."

With that, Aeris lays in bed. She can't get comfortable, as she rolls over to the right side. She looks right where Leo had laid before. She missed having him there, to curl up to when she had these kind of problems. The only thing though is Leo was the problem, so would having him there help, or hurt? She grabs one of her plushies and curls up with it and closes her eyes, only able to think of Leo.

"Me and Leo will talk about this tomorrow." Aeris says, as she soon drifts off to sleep.