An Invitation For More

The feel of the sinking snow beneath my boots as I made my way towards school reminded me how winter was far from over. I scanned the area, watching several students make their way inside the campus and through the front gates. Most, in groups of friends and tightly wrapped up in scarves and fuzzy sweaters to keep themselves warm. Knowing them, the three were probably already in class. I was usually the last one in, but unlike every other day, every step I took was weighed down by an anchor of its own.

After the museum visit on Friday, and the texting exchange, Leo hadn't dared to send me a single message over the weekend. This bothered me a lot more than I let on. Heck, it bothered Amy too but she just kept reassuring me that the 'right time would come'. I believed her. But then she would back it up with teasing jokes of how the right time would come 'for us to be together'. All that did was make me chuck my phone away.

Why? Usually, Leo and I would have our own private chat going on. About school, about Damien and Nick, and about me. He always geared the conversations with a purpose of learning more about me. The one time I tried to do the same (or technically, Amy did) he lashed out on me and told me not to message him unless I had something else to talk about.

Puffing out my cheeks in anger, I held my head up high in the air and quickened my pace through the campus. "I'm not going to let this scare me," I muttered to myself. I earned a few glances from the students around me as I skipped up the stairs and towards the English Lit classroom. I could hear the buzz of voices as I rounded the corner and entered, only to run smack-dab into Leo. He backed up immediately, avoiding hitting me and said a quiet, but audible, "You're here."

I glanced up at him, my eyes widening. Clearing my throat, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and replied confidently, "Yeah. I am."

He didn't say anything. Just watched me quietly. Whatever he had been planning to do was forgotten the moment I had entered the room and he had seen me but I didn't care about that. At least, I tried not to as I stepped past him, barely brushing his shoulder and walked toward Damien and Nick who were cheerful as ever. I needed their positivity.

"Hey guys!"

"May!" They cheered and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm guessing Leo just gave you the invitation back there?"

"What invitation?" I asked, puzzled.

Damien flashed me a wide grin and waved a cream colored card in front of my face. "The invitation to his party."

I heard footsteps behind me but didn't turn. Leo didn't care as he stepped forward till he was in the appropriate angle to face me. "Here," he said, a little curtly, and handed me a red and white envelope. Shooting him a look, I opened it and took out the same invitation card that Nick and Damien were smiling about. After reading through it, I looked up to see all of them looking at me, with Leo's gaze holding a lot more weight than the other two.

"I'm not coming."

"Why?" Damien groaned. "It'll be fun."

"You didn't tell them?" I shot at Leo, arching an eyebrow.

"Tell us what?" Nick asked, sensing the tension between us.

"I ran into his family at the museum on Friday. And Leo introduced me as, what was it? Yeah. 'Just his classmate'," I imitated him, making fake air quotes and ignored the irritated glare he shot me. "So unless he's inviting the rest of our class, I think I'll have to formally reject the offer."

With that, I slid into my seat and started to take out the things I needed for English Lit. I could hear Damien and Nick start asking him questions as to what the hell I was talking about. Leo maintained a silence that was all too familiar but this time, he wasn't being his usual bored self. He didn't want to tell them yet, not with me there. Glancing at the invitation one last time, I chucked it into my bag and didn't look at it for the rest of the day, nor did I let the boys speak of it again.

Why would I want to go to a Christmas party held by his parents when it was pretty clear that they didn't respect me as his friend? Pity invitations aren't my thing. Unless Leo explained himself to me for what happened on Friday, I wasn't even going to consider attending.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. I spent a great deal of time telling off Damien and Nick for trying to convince me into going, and an even greater deal ignoring Leo. Did I want him to know I was mad? Yes. Halfway through the day, I received an explosion of messages from Amy, scolding me for how I was dealing with this but all I did was message her and tell her what's done is done. Something told me that Damien and Nick knew the mystery behind Leo. Of course they did, they're his best friends. Yet, they could not understand why I was annoyed, even hurt, by what had happened even after Leo told them (naturally, he must have).

It was rather unfortunate, however, that my last two periods for the day ended up being none other than double AP Spanish. After a quick, not to mention awkward silent lunch with the guys, I had made my way over to the library to check out some resource material I needed to write a paper for English Lit. I was so absorbed by this, genuinely, that I had missed the bell ring. It was only when I casually checked my phone for new messages from Amy did I notice that I was twenty five minutes late for AP Spanish.

Cursing under my breath, I packed my bag, checked out the books I needed and hurried out. We never knew when the teacher actually bothered showing up and knowing my luck, the one day I come late would be the day he would actually be there. As fate would have it, when I came barging through the door with a bag loaded with heavy bags, gasping for dear breath, all I saw was Leo.

In his usual spot, he was leaning back against his chair, arms behind his head. He didn't even acknowledge my presence as I walked over and dumped my bag loudly on the desk next to him.

"You're late."

Two words.

Leo turned his head and stared at me.

"Why are you late?"

I snorted. "Since when do I report to you?"

He didn't say anything. Just continued to look at me with that blank expression he'd mastered. Ignoring his gaze, I sat down and started to take out my books. I might as well get cracking on that paper if we were going to have frees today as well.

"I take it you're not coming Wednesday."

Where's my notebook? Ah! There it is. I should just jot down my ideas first and then start drafting out the paper.

"Damien and Nick would be disappointed," he added after a couple minutes.

"They can live through the party without me being there," I murmured, barely hiding the anger in my voice.

More silence, filled just by the scribbling of pen upon paper. I could see from the corner of my eyes that he was still looking at me intently. It unnerved me and it took a lot more energy than I thought to stay focused instead of look his way.

"Is this about Friday?"

Smacking my pen down on the desk, I turned to face him with a scowl written on my face. He didn't look the least bit affected by my anger. Leo had his elbows propped on the desk and his chin rested on the top of his folded hands, head tilted to watch me. It annoyed me. How he always did that. Even now, when he knew I was in the most irritable mood, and that he had been the one to put me there.

"What do you think Leo?"

"I think you're mad about something."

"I'm mad about you."

He raised an eyebrow, his lips pulling into a smirk. "Si? I would never have guessed."

I reddened when I heard what I had just said. This was a joke to him. Just as everything else I did was. "I didn't mean that! I meant I'm mad at you." Stupid prepositions.

"Hardly a difference," he shrugged, running a hand through his hair with a sigh.

"There's a huge difference." Standing up, I walked over to his desk before thinking otherwise and standing still in front of him. I might strangle Leo and the last thing I wanted to be was convicted of murder over something he did to tick me off. "You take me to your family cabin, show me all these pictures which shout out some dramatic back story that you refuse to tell me. Which is fine. I get it, you're not ready but I felt like we had something that day. That we had gotten closer."

Leo leaned forward, his blue depths fixed on me as I rambled on.

"And then I happen to run into your family, who no offense, aren't the friendliest bunch. And you don't even give me a proper introduction. I'm just a classmate to you? Despite having known me for almost three months now? Despite having spent all this together, and taken me ice-skating? Despite those nights we would stay up and chat because you wanted to get to know me? Despite that time at Nick's party when we almost-" My words got caught in my throat as my cheeks flamed up.

"Almost?" The tease in his voice was unmistakable.

I looked away, staring at the ground in anger, and feeling myself redden even more than before as the memory of that 'almost' came up in my head. I can't believe I had said that out loud.

"I'm sorry if I've misunderstood things between us but if I'm just a classmate to you, why would you do all that?"

My hands curled into fists. I would have stormed out of the class, given the embarrassment of my unplanned outburst. Just as I was about to do so, I felt him. His hand, cold against my searing skin, wrapped around my wrist. The other curled around my chin and tilted my face upwards to meet his gaze. His hand stayed there, fingers pressing into the tender skin of my neck. As I stared into his icy blue orbs, I wondered if he could feel my racing pulse, just centimeters away from his touch.

"What am I to you, Makayla?"

Why was he asking me this? I was the one asking him the questions. I was the one confronting him and yet, I was the one he had now trapped.

I tried to move back, planting my palms against his chest to give him a hard shove but he caught both my hands and pushed me back till he had me cornered against the teacher's desk.

"Let go."

"Answer my question and I will," he whispered and tightened his hands around my wrists. I broke his gaze and looked down, between us, my head falling low. Why was this so difficult for me to answer?

My voice shook when I spoke again, this time, a plea. "Let go, Leo."

Something about the way I said it broke his resolve. He loosened his grip but still held me there, kept me close to him as if he didn't want to let me go. If I wanted to break away, I could. He was giving me the option. And the minutes that passed were the chance he was giving me to do just that but I didn't. I stood still, doing nothing but breathing. In, out. I felt his thumb press into my pulse at the root of my wrist, whether purposefully or not I could not tell.

I wasn't just asking him to let go of me. I was pleading him to let go of himself, to let go of the walls he had on to separate himself from me. I wished he knew that was what I meant. But he didn't say anything. This was an equal chance for him to tell me, to just open up to me but all he did was keep me there: close to him, strung to him. But how much longer could I be without feeling strung along?

Swallowing down the bitterness in my mouth, I started to open my mouth to tell him to leave me alone when I felt his lips brush the side of my cheek, and closer by my ears.

"Do you really think," he spoke, his breath tickling the side of my face, "that that's all you mean to me?"

I froze, much unlike my heart which begun to race even faster than before.

Leo let out his breath, sighing, and before I could react, I felt his forehead come down on my shoulder, snuggling against the crook of my neck.

"You're an idiot for not knowing it."

I couldn't speak. I forgot how to as I stood there, my mouth parted with nothing close to words coming out. I could feel his skin, his face, his breath tickle the side of my neck. His grip tightened once again on my wrists but this time, I knew he wasn't holding me there. It felt more like he was hanging on.

Leo looked up, his lips grazing my neck as he did. I stared at him, wide eyed and flushed as his face loomed in front of mine. Close enough to touch.

"Come to the party, Makayla."

His crystal blue eyes dropped to my lips and I felt his right hand trace up my arm, before resting below my neck. His fingers traced over my lips, leaving them tingling. I couldn't take my eyes off him and I didn't make a move to stop him. I didn't want to. But he did. Leo stopped whatever it was he planned to do as his brows furrowed, just as he pressed his thumb against my lower lip.

With an earth-whelming exhale, he stepped back, too soon and too fast that it left me reaching out to him. Leo's chest was heaving, and his face was a little red as he glared at me. Not in anger but...it was something else. I watched as he turned away and grabbed his bag, hauling it over his shoulder. I watched as he quickly walked toward the door, and I watched as he turned back one last time to look at me, and uttered the word, "Please."

The moment he left, it's like I had regained the ability to breathe. My knees gave, my hips leaning back against the desk as my palms slapped the surface, holding me up. My eyes flickered wildly between the door and the now empty desk in front of me. Leo was gone, and with him he'd taken a little bit of my sanity.

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair, letting my fingers glide through the silky black strands.

"Jeez," I muttered out loud, knowing no one could hear me. I brought my hands to my face. I was burning up.

"If he wanted me to come to the party that bad, he could have just asked," I spoke, to no one really. But I knew this was more than just an invitation to a party. It was an invitation to his home.

If Leo hasn't told you, it doesn't mean he doesn't value you enough to share it with you. People often hide the flaws they fear most themselves. The fact that he's hiding it from you...it could be because you mean more to him.

Maybe, Amy was right after all.  

--------------------CHAPTER END---------------------

~This chapter is dedicated to SpaceBoundOwl , my newest Wattpad friend. She's a whole lot of fun, and an AMAZING writer. Check out her story "The Bad Boy's Polaroid"!~  

Teaser of the next chapter: And it's finally the night of the party. May's a little nervous about seeing Leo and is having trouble getting ready. Amy to the rescue (again)! Do things take a romantic turn for the two friends? 

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter!! Things are finally happening between Leo and May. :D I figured it was time for the romance to kick in for the two of them. If you're a DamienxMay shipper, don't worry. Their time will come. Act II is already in the works. ;) 
Question: Are the gifs working for you? Is the story better with/without them? Let me know cause otherwise, I can stop using them :)

Vote Goal: 10

I hope to see you all soon in the next chapter! 

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