The second time she saw him, he was knocking on the door.

It was sudden, the sharp sound cutting through the usual afterschool silence. She stilled where she stood, her fingers hovering over the box of band-aids she'd been refilling. She stared at the door.

Who was knocking this late after school?

Was she supposed to answer it?

She figured that she wasn't a nurse. It would only cause unnecessary problems if she answered. What if someone was in danger and expected her to provide first-aid? She did do a first-aid course, but she didn't actually remember anything from it. And what if it was a teacher looking for her mum? Would she get in trouble? Labelled a trespasser? Was she even allowed to be here?

Another knock interrupted her thoughts.

She jumped, forcing her feet forward to pull the door open before she could overthink it further.

He was there.

He slumped against the door frame, peering at her through the gap. His lip was cut again, leaving it swollen and bloody. His hair was messy and pressed flat against his forehead like he'd been lying on it.

And he was so close to her.

"Oh," she squeaked, sucking in a breath when she realised that she'd been staring. "Should I get the nurse?"

Her mother had left her office a while ago, on the hunt for a working printer on campus, but Natalie would walk across the entire neighbourhood if it meant helping this boy. Or, more importantly, if it meant escaping the room and not being alone with him in this tiny nurse's station.

He shook his head, his eyes shutting for a long moment before opening to meet hers. He nodded his head towards the room. Towards her.

"Can I come in?"

She didn't know what to say so she pulled the door open, silently welcoming him in.

He stepped through the widened gap, gazing around the room before pausing at the centre. It was as if he'd never seen it before. She wasn't sure whether to believe that, considering that scars and faded bruises lined his skin.

Natalie shut the door behind him, pausing to look him over from behind.

More scars peeked over the collar of his shirt. The white fabric had been stained with brown spots of blood, and his hands—they were practically destroyed. The skin of his knuckles was bruised blue and purple, with cuts and scrapes kissing every jagged corner, blood specking on his fingers.

Her hands flew to her mouth, and he turned to look at her.

His face was almost worse. She hadn't realised it while he was slumped over, out in the hallway, but here in the fluorescent light of the nurse's office, it was clear just how badly he'd been injured.

His high cheekbones and sharp jawline were painted with green bruises and dried blood. She was horrified to think whether it was his blood or someone else's.

"I think I should get the nurse," she sputtered out, unable to look away from him.

He lifted his hands, holding them in the air as if to stop her—like he was cornering a scared animal. He stepped closer and she noticed then that his eyes weren't as black as she'd originally assumed. They were almost golden.

"Don't," he said. His voice was raspy. She had expected it to be quieter, more like the whisper that Leon tended to embody. "Please, don't."

Natalie hesitated. Her hand that had been resting on the door handle fell to her side. His lips twitched in an almost-grateful smile and Natalie felt blood rush to her face. She stormed past him, keeping her eyes focused on the cabinet ahead.

"Okay. I won't call her, but you need to at least disinfect your cuts," she said. She pulled the cabinet open, fishing through the boxes she'd just organised for alcohol wipes and bandages. She turned, pulling the freezer open to grab an icepack.

When she spun back to face him, Leon was watching her with a look that sent her heart barrelling into the throat.

He was silent, his eyes following her as she fluttered from wall to wall, grabbing her arsenal of weapons against the grazes on his fingers. Her face warmed but she tried to ignore him, tried to pretend she couldn't feel his gaze on her. Every inch of her body was wholly aware of him in the room, just metres from her.

And then he was centimetres from her.

She paused a few steps away, nodding towards one of the chairs.

"Have a seat," she said. Her voice came out quieter than she'd hoped, but it sounded like a shout in the silence of the room. She wondered how many other people were in the school at that moment. It felt like they were the only people in the world.

Leon ignored her and she felt her face grow hotter.

"Sit," she repeated, avoiding his eyes. When he didn't make a move, she lifted a hand, bandages and disinfectant clutched in the fingers, and nudged her knuckles against his chest.

Bad move, she instantly thought. Except, this time, he listened.

He stepped backwards, lowering himself into the seat with a wince, and it occurred to Natalie that he had probably injured more than just on his hands. She wondered if his chest had similar bruises, then instantly vanished that image from her mind.

She needed to concentrate, and she couldn't do that if her head was filled with fantasies of a shirtless Leon.

Instantly, he closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall.

Natalie stared at him for a second. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to open his eyes again anytime soon, she cleared her throat.

"You need to put this ice pack on your jaw," she said.

Leon only shook his head, running a hand through his dark hair. Natalie resisted the urge to huff in annoyance. If he was he going to be this uncooperative, why did he show up to the nurse's office?

"But your bruises," she muttered. "Your cuts."

He shrugged, leaning against the table, and resting his head against his arm.

"I'm tired," he said, his voice turning gravelly like stone on stone. "Just let me rest."

She was stunned into silence. Her heart seemed to flip at the sound of his voice. She wished he would speak more. She wanted to hear it again, and again. It was better than she could have imagined.

She watched in silence as his body relaxed into his seat. She scrutinised his bruised face, his grazed knuckles, his bleeding lip. Even if the sight of blood made her head spin, something inside her tugged at the sight. She couldn't leave him like that.

Her footsteps were light as she moved closer, pausing at the desk to sanitise her hands. Leon listened, his eyes still shut, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his busted lip.

"You need to..." Natalie started, her voice quiet. He didn't answer, so she sucked in a breath and straightened her back, willing herself to speak louder, more demanding. "Can you put this on your bruises?"

"Hmm?" he hummed, eyes closed.

"Put this on your bruises."

"Hmm?"

"Put this ice pack on your bruises."

"Hmm?"

"Put—" she paused, her frustration building, and hmphed. She reached forward, tilting his face, and pressing the icepack to his cheek in one swift motion. He jumped at the cold, his eyes flying open, hand darting over hers.

Instantly, she felt her face heat. "It'll help the bruising," she sputtered in way of explanation, as if that was why he was staring at her like that.

He didn't reply, his eyes holding hers for a moment—yep, definitely gold—until she pulled her hand free of his, getting to work on his cuts and scrapes.

One of his hands rested limp in her grip as she swiped disinfectant over his skin. His other hand pressed the icepack to his jaw. She tried not to think about how his hand felt in hers. She could feel his eyes following her movements and fought the blush that threatened to bloom to her ears.

"You're always here," he muttered finally, breaking the tense silence.

Natalie blinked, hoping her surprise didn't show in her movements. How long had he been watching her?

"Yeah," she uttered in reply, as if it were obvious. Because it was obvious. Of course, she was always here. Except, how did he know?

He paused, watching as she began wrapping his fingers with band-aids. "Why?"

"What?"

"Why are you always here?" he continued, his brow arched in query. "You don't go here. That's not our uniform. So, why are you always here?"

Natalie paused. He'd noticed her uniform. He was curious about her. Why did her heart flip at the thought of that? She cleared her throat. "My mum's the nurse. I help out sometimes."

He fell silent at that, watching as Natalie moved to the next hand, his bandaged one swapping to hold the icepack to his skin. She wondered for a moment if he'd speak again, if she'd somehow ruined their conversation with her reply.

Natalie always had a penchant for that—for saying the wrong thing. For ending conversations before they'd even begun.

She stopped, tilting her head to meet his eyes. She hadn't realised how close they were. He watched her carefully, brows furrowed, and then his lips parted, as if about to speak, when her phone began to buzz.

Natalie jumped back, as if burned by the sound.

The package of band-aids tumbled into Leon's lap and his burning gaze shot up to hers. Her face was hot as she fished her phone out of her pocket and read the name on the screen.

A lump grew in her throat.

"It's my mum," she explained. Why was she explaining? She suddenly felt stupid for no reason at all. "Just keep icing your bruises."

She took a step back, turning to face the wall as she answered. When her mother's voice came through the phone, she wondered briefly if she should have told him to keep quiet.

"Hey Mum," Natalie muttered, suddenly feeling shy about having this conversation in front of Leon. Did she seem childish? Why couldn't someone cool have called her? As if she knew anyone remotely cool.

"Listen, sweetie, I'm walking to the carpark. Can you just grab my things and lock up? I'll meet you at the front, yeah?"

"Okay, um—" she thought about Leon and stumbled over her words—"Right now? I was in the middle of... homework, and—"

"You can just do your homework at home, Natalie."

"Yeah, I know, of course, it's just, I'm really in the zone right now and I don't want to lose it—"

"So, do it in the car. Come on, I still need to cook dinner for your dad."

Natalie frowned, her mind racing for more excuses, more reasons to stay behind, when the sound of the door came from behind her.

Spinning, her eyes moved from the door to the seat, now empty except for the bottle of disinfectant, the pack of band-aids and the icepack, all laid neatly together.

Her eyes drifted back to the door.

Leon was gone.

"Natalie?" her mother asked through the phone.

She blinked, shaking her head. "I'm coming now."

And when she put away the few items left of his visit, it was like he was never even there.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! Sorry for my recent disappearance, my laptop died on me after I posted the first few chapters and I only recently got a new one!

I hope you liked this chapter!  What do you think of Natalie and Leon so far?<3