Amelia parked her car in her typical parking spot section that was closest to her apartment. She had spent the day with her mother, going to their favorite restaurant. Amelia barely spent time with her mother nowadays, but whenever she was with her, it was a wonderful time.

She got out of her car, unlocking the trunk to get her leftovers. Slightly turning her head to her left, she noticed the car next to hers looked oddly familiar. It was a white Camaro. She shook off the thought, walking to open the trunk. She lifted the hatch, pushing up the trunk. Amelia reached out for her take-out bag, suddenly stopping.

She glanced at the car again, biting her lip, debating to look inside. She sighed, closing the trunk, slowly walking over to the other car's passenger window, peering through. The man in the car turned his head in her direction after noticing her presence. She looked back into the sad blue eyes that gazed at her brown ones.

"Oh, my god, Leo." She whispered in shock.

Amelia knocked on the window, signaling Leo to unlock the door. It took a while for him to comply, but he eventually unlocked the door for her. Amelia quickly got in, shutting the door before she began to speak. "Leo, are you okay? What happened?" His movements were lazily slow, like he was too fatigued to do anything. He sadly chuckled.

"You don't know?" He asked.

Amelia grew fearful of whatever he was gonna tell her. Amelia faintly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, shaking her head.

"Know what?" She whispered cautiously.

"She didn't tell you? All this time, she's been with Danny in Vegas."

Amelia's eyebrows rose in sadness. Her breath broke as she sighed. She hung her head. Nadia, what did you do? This wasn't supposed to happen, I thought I told you to be careful.

Now, Amelia had to lie to Leo. It was the last thing she wanted to do. He needed someone right now, and she was more than willing to help him, even if it meant holding back the truth. In his current state, it would be easy to deceive him anyway.

"Leo, I'm so sorry." She whispered apologetically. "I had no idea she was with him." Amelia briefly looked away from Leo. Her eyes traveled down to the floor of the car. "I should have known. She seemed so secretive whenever she called me."

Leo's hands tightly gripped the steering wheel, as he looked ahead through the windshield. His eyes were dull, bloodshot, and empty. He sniffled. "You know," he began. "I find it so scary Amelia; she didn't even tell you about it." Tears quickly pooled in his eyes, leaving as fast as they came, sliding down his face. "It makes me wonder what the hell they're doing." He pressed his head down on the steering wheel, trying to suppress his sobs.

"What'd I do wrong Amelia?" He cried, lightly shaking his head side to side. "We were doing so well." Amelia quickly wiped her eyes. She didn't want Leo to see her cry. It really hurt her to see him so heartbroken. She became angry. Angry at Nadia for whatever caused her to get caught, angry at herself for agreeing to this whole mess. She was part of the reason Leo was now devastated. She placed her hand on top of Leo's, that still held onto the steering wheel.

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong Leo, I promise."

"Do you want to go inside? My place is a lot more comforting." Amelia lightly joked. Leo lifted his head off the steering wheel, giving Amelia a half smile. "Yeah sure. That sounds nice."

...

Amelia placed her hand on Leo's back, guiding him as they walked to her apartment. They walked in comfortable silence, upon reaching the elevator. The doors opened before Amelia could press the button to ascend, and she took a step back. Her eyes widened when she saw Maia on the other side.

Maia looked up and made eye contact with Amelia, emulating the same facial expression. Maia's eyes quickly swept over to Leo's face, briefly studying him. He looked towards the ground, avoiding Maia's glare. Amelia urged Leo to step inside the elevator as Maia began to walk out. As Amelia and Maia were about parallel to each other, Amelia noticed a slight smirk appear on Maia's lips as she walked away from them. Amelia shut her eyes, deeply sighing as the elevator doors closed. She knew Maia had quickly figured out what happened between Nadia and Leo.

...

Maia's smirk slowly grew into a grin as she walked out of the apartment complex. As she walked to her car, she became immensely ecstatic. Once she reached her car, she held onto the door handle, gazing at her faint reflection through the window. She lightly chuckled. She got inside, sitting silently in astonishment.

"It worked." She whispered as a smile crept onto her face.

"My plan worked. He did it. I can't believe he actually did it." She looked heavenward, laughing to herself again. "Oh, Nadia," she maliciously whispered. "you make things so easy. I knew you still loved him."

...

Danny lounged on the balcony of their hotel room, a cigarette was lazily placed in between his index and middle fingers. His skin grew hot from the Vegas heat, but he was too angry to care. Danny still wasn't on good terms with Nadia. A day had passed since he found her at Jean's house and all of their interactions lead to arguments. Though, he noticed something different about her. Yeah, she was mad at him, but she seemed, unhappy.

His phone began to ring, taking him out of his thoughts. He sighed as he glanced at the caller ID, lazily placing the phone to his ear after he accepted the call.

"Have you finally decided that Nadia's disappearance is actually important?" He asked sarcastically. Maia lightly scoffed on the other end. "Danny, please, I wasn't worried because I knew you would find her." She paused. "I'm calling for a better reason."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "And what reason is that?" He asked impassively. Maia chuckled. "To put it in simple terms, you did your job. I'm glad you didn't break the deal. I've gotta say, I'm quite impressed with how quick you were to make Nadia fall for you all over again."

Danny's eyes widened in disbelief as he sat up. 

"He knows she's with me?"

"Oh, he does. Leo knows very well."

Danny could picture Maia's face in a mischievous manner, a smirk plastered on her lips. "How'd he find out?" He asked. Maia sighed carelessly.  "Who knows. You two did something that worked, that's all that matters."

Danny started to put all the events that happened into play. It all started with Ryan's house party. How she pushed him away, when she confronted that strange guy, when she got upset and ran away. It was starting to make sense. Somewhere between that time, Leo must have figured her out. And the guy she talked to from that party had to be the culprit.

"How is Nadia by the way?" Maia asked.

Danny looked through the glass door, peering inside their hotel room. She was in bed, only getting up to brush her teeth, shower, and use the bathroom from time to time. She barely ate anything, mainly drinking water to keep her appetite at bay. She didn't speak much to Danny either. Her phone would be at her side, as if she were waiting for someone to call. Danny quickly felt sorrowful at the sight of her.

"She's miserable." Danny said somberly.

"Miserable? About Leo?" Maia attempted to suppress her laughter. "She'll get over him soon enough."

Danny fiddled with his cigarette.

"What about him?" He asked.

"What about him?" Maia scoffed. "Oh, please Danny, don't tell me you're feeling sympathetic for him now." Danny furrowed his eyebrows in slight anger. "Well, he's going through the same shit I went through three years ago. We lost the same girl."

"Well, if we're being honest, you were the one who left her. You never had to lose her in the first place, you just chose to." Maia condescendingly stated.

Danny rolled his eyes. "We don't need to mention my past alright?" Danny spoke sternly. "Fine, fine. But you can't say I'm wrong." Maia trailed off. Danny didn't respond. Maia sighed. "Well Danny, you got your second chance with her, you know the rest of the plan, don't you?" Maia continued with her condescending manner. Danny rolled his eyes again at her mocking tone.

"You know, I think I'm gonna do my own thing now. Your little deal is over, so now it's my game to play."

"Excuse me?"

Danny smirked at the confusion in Maia's voice. He grew silent, placing his cigarette in between his teeth. 

"Danny what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Maia asked frustratingly. 

He slowly took his phone away from his ear. "Hello? Danny!" He heard Maia's faint yelling and simply ended the call.

He saw right through her. Maia's true plan was to wreck Nadia's relationships. The goal was to manipulate Nadia to cheat on Leo and once that happened and she was back home, Danny would cut himself off from her. Maia wanted to make Nadia emotionally suffer, not having Leo or Danny, just to prove she was right all along. That poor little Nadia would be all alone in the end.

And you know, her plan could have worked if she hadn't told Danny every single detail. Maia was foolish to think he would go through her every move like she controlled him. Danny was going to make Nadia's trip officially one way. Now that he had her, she wasn't going anywhere.

...

"Would you like something to drink?" Amelia asked as she put her leftovers in the fridge.

"Do you have any liquor?" Leo asked sheepishly from the living room. Amelia sighed, looking up at Leo sternly.

"Would you like something calming to drink?" She rephrased her question.

Leo softly chuckled to himself. He eyed the bottle of white wine on the counter. "Wine?" He asked. Amelia glanced at the bottle he was referring to. Guess it'll have to do.  "It's sweet." She warned. Leo shrugged. "At this point, I'll take it." Amelia nodded, preparing a glass for both of them.

"Thanks." Leo mumbled, taking the glass from her hand. She placed her glass on the table, sitting in front of him. She looked at him as they sat in silence of a moment.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked.

Leo sighed, taking a sip of the wine Amelia had given him. He faintly winced at the taste. "Uh, yeah, why not."

"What happened?" Amelia spoke softly.

"I found out Saturday night. I was at Maribelle's with a few friends of mine. I thought being with them could help me take my mind off Nadia. Everything was going great; I was actually having a good time until Jake called me."

"He wasn't with you?" Amelia asked, knowing Leo and Jake were very close.

"No, he was on vacation in Vegas. Still is actually."

"Oh." Amelia had an idea of where this story was going.

"Yeah, so we talked for a bit, and then he asked me about Nadia. I told him she was in Vegas too. After a few questions about how I knew she was in Vegas he asked me if we were still together." Leo brushed his hand through his hair. "And I was so confused, you know, like why would he ask me that?" Amelia nodded in agreement.

"So, he told me to dismiss myself from the guys, and when I was outside, he told me," Leo paused, feeling a sudden wave of sadness wash over him. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure." He told me that he was at a house party. And at that party, he saw Nadia, with Danny." His eyes looked away from Amelia, and she noticed him clench his fists. His hands relaxed as he chuckled.

"He said he'd spare me the intimacy." Leo picked up his glass. "Can you believe that? And when she got caught with him, she lied to Jake." Leo's grip on the glass became tighter. "She lied about Danny's name and told him that we had broken up,-"  The glass slightly cracked, and Amelia rushed over to Leo, gently taking his hand to remove the glass.

Leo lowered his head, quietly beginning to cry.

"Hey it's okay." Amelia hugged him, lightly rubbing his back.

"It was so hard when I called her that night. I just don't understand why she would do something like this." He squeezed his eyes shut. "And I'm so angry, Amelia I am, but I can't-I can't lose her. And I want to hate her so much, but-,"

"You still love her?" She whispered. Leo looked up at her, the answer completely revealed in his eyes. Amelia sighed. "I understand that you do, she's helped you a lot, and it's hard to let that go."

Leo sniffled. "She keeps calling me. I don't know if I can answer."

"Give yourself some time. But I think you should listen to what she has to say. Maybe it'll help you know what you want. Start with voicemails first if she leaves any. If that helps." Amelia lightly smiled. "I'm here if you need anything."

...

Danny quietly stood by the front door, debating whether or not to tell Nadia he was leaving the room. He walked over to the bed, placing his hands in his pockets. She was still in bed, lying in the same position. He sighed, crouching down by her bedside.

"Nadia?"

She slowly turned around to face him and Danny was relieved she was actually being receptive towards him. He gently placed his hand on her face, lightly stroking her cheek as her sad brown eyes gazed up at him.

"Hey, I'm gonna go for a drive, I'll be back soon. I just thought I'd let you know." He paused. "Do you need anything?" He asked softly. 

She faintly smiled at him. "No, I'm fine thanks." She weakly mumbled. 

"Okay," Danny lightly smiled to himself as he stood back up. "I'll see you later." Hearing her voice was a sign of progress. She just might be okay.

...

Nadia had silently sobbed all day. She pathetically wallowed in her sadness at her own misdeeds. She desperately wanted Leo to answer her calls, so she could explain herself at least. She wanted to go home. She wished she could take back everything she did wrong.

Her phone began to ring, and with the little energy she had left, she quickly looked to see who it was. Amelia. She already knew what was coming.

"Hello?" Nadia sighed.

"Nadia, hey. How are you?" She could hear the sadness in Amelia's voice.

"I could be doing a lot better."

Amelia sighed. "I'm sure." She paused. "I talked to Leo today. He told me what happened." Memories of the house party, and Leo's call rapidly flashed through her mind. "Please don't remind me." Nadia stated sadly. "No, Nadia I need you to listen. Leo still loves you."

Nadia sat up now.

"What?" Her voice cracked.

"Yeah, he's still so angry at you, hell I'm angry at you for not listening to me-,"

Nadia interruptedly sighed. "I didn't know Jake was gonna be at that party Amelia."

"Yeah but you still did something stupid. Doing something intimate, at a crowded place, really Nadia? You don't know who's out there."

Listening to Amelia's words only made her feel even worse. "Anyway, who am I to judge? Just know Leo is so conflicted and hurt right now. He's trying so hard to still love you; he doesn't want to let you go."

"Then why won't he call me?" Nadia whined.

"Because he needs time. You don't heal from something that easily. I told him to start listening to your voicemails first if he can't bring himself to call you. He's doing the best he can. So, if he doesn't answer, just leave him a message. He'll hear it, I promise."

Nadia nodded. "Okay."

"Now, are you okay?" Amelia asked.

"I'm a little better now thanks, I needed that." She lightly smiled. "Amelia, thank you. For watching over Leo."

"No problem, he needed someone. I'm just happy to help. I wanna fix what we did wrong."

"Where's Maia? I haven't heard from her." Nadia asked.

Amelia scoffed. "Fuck her. She's not a part of this. All she wanted to do was tear you two apart, and she got what she wanted. It's my fault for thinking otherwise." 

Nadia shook her head, correcting her. "Our fault. Don't blame yourself, I was a part of it too."

"Yeah, but you were caught up with emotional attachments between Leo and Danny. I didn't have any of that. I had a clear mind and I still let Maia manipulate you into seeing Danny." Amelia paused.

"I'm sorry Nadia." She said softly. 

Nadia was quick to accept her apology, though she felt like Amelia wasn't the one who needed to say those two words. "It's okay Amelia. I guess this whole thing was a mess from the beginning." Nadia shrugged. "We all live and learn."

"I promise we can fix this Nadia. Then, we can all go back to our normal lives once this is all over." Nadia forcefully smiled, doubting Amelia's optimism. "I hope so," She whispered. "I really hope so."

Hi guys! Thought I'd update this chapter since I got a bit of free time bc of a winter storm that canceled my classes lol
Pls comment/vote if you'd like :)
Thanks for reading! 🤍