Tender

Even the mere idea of hanging out with someone felt a bit odd to Leonardo. He hadn't spent time with a friend—or, really, with anyone—since he moved to Indianapolis for college. The day before he moved, he and Noah had spent the entire day together, from going out for breakfast to staying at Noah's for lunch, then heading back out to kill time until dinner, after which the two went to see a movie. They crammed everything into one day, as much as they could, to make up for all the time they wouldn't be able to spend together in the coming years.

Leo knew himself well. Which was precisely why he had never imagined himself being able to make friends with another person besides Noah. And to an extent, he still believed that, because whatever Savannah was to him felt vague. He couldn't say friend. But he couldn't not say that, either. More than likely, Leo told himself, it was his own stubborn nature in action.

Whatever the case it might be, it didn't really matter to him. What mattered was that for a change, Leo had been the one to make plans with someone, rather than that someone attempting to do so with him. Noah would for sure be astonished once he found out. After all, Leo never did tell his dear friend about Savannah.

At first, it had been a choice. But recently, it had just slipped his mind. Savannah became a part of his life in a strange way and he still didn't know what to think of it.

It wasn't bad. At least he didn't think that way anymore.

Because it happened to fall on a day when the two only had one morning class, both Savannah and Leo went into the Fermata Pavilion at noon at Mr. Washington's request, performed for a couple hours till Aiden came in, then set out for their little hangout, which Savannah had been thinking about the entire time they were on stage. She wasn't good at hiding it, either. That excitement of hers. The childish side of her battled with the urge to latch onto Leonardo's arm and jump up and down.

Instead, she showed her enthusiasm through bright smiles and frequent questions.

"So where are we going first?"

They had just stepped out of the café. Leo turned to the other, lifting his gaze to the sky for a moment as he thought. "Don't know. The mall, I guess. Unless you had another idea-"

"Nope! Mall is fine," Savannah blurted.

She honestly didn't care where they went. What mattered to her right now was that she actually had this chance to be with Leonardo, and to waste but a second of it was not an option.

That being said, Leo made no arguments and drove to the nearest mall, where they both agreed to find some place to eat.

"What do you want?" He asked upon their arrival to the food court. The two were surrounded by fast-food, pizza, sandwiches, a noodle house, just about everything they could possibly want to eat, all in this one place. Leo, for one, already had his eyes set on the Chinese takeout place close by. "If you don't have money on you, it's fine, I'll take care of it."

Savannah's eyes went wide at the offer. Straightaway she began shaking her head violently in disapproval. "No, no, no, I could never ask you to do that, I just need a minute to think-"

"Aren't you broke?"

She shut her mouth.

"It's fine. If you continue to work at the café, you'll get paid at the end of next week anyway," Leo said. "So if you're insistent on it, you can pay me back then. Now what do you want to eat?"

"...pizza."

"Just pizza? You practically ate a buffet when we had breakfast that one time."

Savannah shrunk into herself, hands digging into her pockets. "Just pizza is fine."

"A whole pie?"

"N-no, like, a couple slices."

"You sure that's enough?" Leo furrowed his brow in disbelief. "Look, if you're holding back just 'cus it's my money, I really don't care. Here."

Next thing Savannah knew and Leo had placed $25 into her palm and gestured at the pizza parlor.

"Left foot, right foot. I'll meet you at this empty table right here once I order my takeout. Got it?"

For a good minute Savannah could only stare at the money in confusion.

"...Anna."

She raised her head suddenly. "Left foot, right foot. Got it."

As Savannah made her awkward way over to get her pizza, Leonardo stepped in line for his Chinese food, the aroma of seasoned chicken and rice already making his mouth water. As he waited in line he allowed his gaze to wander. Around the food court, eyeing all the different shops and at the strangers in the seating area, some happily enjoying their food with one another, while others sat alone with their phones occupying their full attention. After he had nearly reached the front of the line, Leonardo looked across the court at Savannah, who had conveniently just stepped up to the counter to order.

The girl was looking down at the money in her hand. She squinted at the menu, laughed for some odd reason, then appeared to ask the cashier some questions about the menu before finally placing her order.

So she can be all cheeky with me but a shy baby with strangers...thinks she's cute, I'll bet...

"Sir?"

It suddenly struck Leo that the person standing in front of him was no longer there. Clearing his throat, he stepped up to the counter to order.

Five minutes later and he had his food already boxed up and in one hand, along with a soda in the other. Coincidentally, there he saw Savannah walking away from the pizza parlor counter with a box and soda of her own.

They both sat down at an empty table.

And Savannah smiled, immediately holding out her hand to give to Leo the money she hadn't spent. Leo shook his head.

"Just hold on to it. We'll probably end up going somewhere else and you can spend it."

"Can I spend it on anything?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay. I'm spending it on you, take."

The girl took hold of Leonardo's wrist, forced open his hand, then dropped the change before she could be scolded. She got scolded anyway, though.

"Anna, you brat, just take it, it's not even a lot of money-"

"I love that you're still calling me that."

Leo scoffed. "What, 'brat' ?"

"Yeah, what a turn-on."

Needless to say, it earned her a reprimanding slap to the shoulder, but it was worth it. Getting Leonardo to blush again, seeing that pretty face of his light up in a lavender hue. It wasn't much this time, just a slight bit of color in his cheeks but that didn't make a difference to Savannah, who giggled at the sight.

"You're so cute when you're flustered..."

"You're so cute when you're homeless..."

"Wh-" Savannah drew her head back, words escaping her for a moment as her complexion grew pale. "I-...I'm not..." She swallowed his breath. "...are you kicking me out already...?"

"Still thinking about it," Leonardo teased.

"L-Leo, please, just the other day you told me it was okay, that I didn't need to rush, and-"

"Shut up and eat your pizza."

The girl did shut her mouth, but she hesitated at taking the first bite of her food. Instead, she watcher as Leo opened his own box and broke apart a pair of cheap chopsticks. He started to eat.

"...is that any good?"

"Wouldn't be eating it if it wasn't," Leonardo remarked, not looking up. "How's your pizza?"

"In a box."

"Well, it should be in your stomach. Eat."

"Do you wanna try some?"

"I know what pizza tastes like. I'm fine, thanks."

"Okay..."

She sounded so disappointed, which gave Leo the urge to look at her, dismayed to find the girl pouting as she slowly opened both her styrofoam box and her soda. Then, she proceeded to stare at the pizza for what felt like an eternity before finally reaching out to pick it up.

"For goodness' sake," Leo sighed. "Are you actually going to eat or do I have to feed you?"

"Would you?"

Another all-too-excited glance that almost made Leo blush again. He tried to show annoyance at the comment, but strangely it was becoming more difficult to do so with each joke Savannah cracked.

"Think you're funny, don't you?" Leo sneered.

"Hilarious," Savannah replied.

"Fine, give me your pizza, Ms. Cheeky."

She didn't wait for permission or even for a proper reaction—with the intent of "giving Savannah a taste of her own medicine", Leo carefully picked up one of the girl's two pizza slices and positioned it in front of her face.

"Take a bite, brat."

Savannah visibly froze up.

"...what's wrong, I thought being called 'brat' was a turn-on."

"I was-... I was kidding!" The girl whisper-yelled in protest, face turning beet-red. "That's not fair, you're...you're putting me on the spot, this is embarrassing..."

"Cheese is gonna fall of the pizza, better hurry."

Now the table had been turned, and it was Savannah wanting to be mad at Leonardo for the teasing comments, but struggling to do so. As she shifted her eyes over to the boy holding up the pizza, a slight, knowing smile on his face and his eyebrows raised, as if waiting, Savannah suddenly felt less embarrassed, and more happy.

Although, as she gave in and took a bite of the pizza, she still felt shy, but not in an uncomfortable way.

"There. That'll teach you to say those sorts of things, huh?" Leo set the pizza down again so that he could continue eating his own food. He felt proud of himself. "Cheeky, you're so cheeky..."

For a while, the two ate in comfortable silence, with occasional remarks about this and that being made, until at last they both finished their food. Leonardo felt the need to ask if Savannah had gotten enough to eat. And again, the girl stressed she was okay with what she had gotten.

"We can always get ice cream or something later," the girl added eagerly.

"If you say so."

"So what now?"

Leo shrugged. "Why don't you decide? Why's it gotta be up to me?"

"Because this was your idea."

"Well, it's my idea to let you choose."

"Can we go see a movie?"

As it just so happened, that they were standing near to the theater at the time. Or perhaps that's exactly why Savannah asked. Either way, looking at it, Leo was instantly reminded of the last time he and Noah properly hung out. They saw My Neighbor Totoro. Leo remembered it vividly.

"What do you want to see?" He asked Savannah. "Anything in particular?"

"They're playing Spirited Away here." The girl pointed to the movie poster, then turned to Leo with a sparkle in her eyes. "I've always wanted to watch it."

That's my favorite film.

"Leo?"

"We can see it. The next showing time is in twenty minutes. C'mon."

So they bought tickets—well, Leonardo did—and hunted down the theater to get their seats.

The duration of the movie was roughly two hours, but to the two, it didn't feel nearly as long.

They both became engrossed in the film, every aspect of it from the soundtrack to the unmatched animation, gorgeous and unique in every way. Leo had seen it numerous times but it always filled him with joy, like a comfort food, but in movie-form. Then there was Savannah, seeing it for the first time and being unable to tear her bright eyes from the screen.

At one point during the movie, however, Leo did manage to look away from the screen. He looked at Savannah, partially curious to see if the girl was enjoying the movie as much as he always did.

Evidently, the feeling was mutual. Her fixated smile and twinkling pupils spoke volumes.

They ended up watching it again.

Afterwards, as neither cared to choose what they did next, the two ended up taking a shopping trip that unexpectedly lasted until the mall closed, despite neither really buying much.

10 p.m. and Savannah and Leonardo exited the mall. Seeing as the sky had grown dark, they decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to go home and so made their way across the parking lot to get to Leo's car.

Once they had both climbed inside, silence settled.

Savannah turned slightly to gaze at Leonardo. She found the boy with his own head hanging a bit, a vague, somewhat concerning expression now plastered on his face. "Is...everything okay?"

"Yeah," Leo responded. "That's what's weird."

"...meaning?"

"I had a really good time today. This wasn't planned."

Savannah couldn't help but chuckle, relieved to know it wasn't anything serious. "Wasn't planned, huh?" She bit back her smile. "Sorry, did you want to have a bad day?"

"No."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad, in that case."

"Mm. Thank you for this."

It wiped the smile clean off her face. Puzzled and touched by the sudden tone of sincerity, Savannah took a moment to scan Leo again. She hadn't expected the other to make eye contact. It gripped Savannah's full attention and trapped her in some sort of atmosphere she doubted she'd ever be able to escape, until, that is, Leonardo would look away. But for the time being she held her gaze.

"For today, thank you."

A tender voice. Low, music to Savannah's ears.

"With everything I've been going through lately, I need something like this. You can be a real brat, with all your cheeky comments and stupidly bold behavior and everything, but really...I need someone like you."

It struck her heart, melted it and formed together again like soft clay.

Especially those last few words. Like feathers, they tickled Savannah's ears, her fingertips, too, which curled on her lap.

Leonardo still had her trapped in his gaze, in this atmosphere.

Beautiful, mesmerizing Leonardo.

And it seemed that Leo had also been trapped, at least to some degree, realizing his own change of heart and not knowing what to do next in this moment.

Neither of them noticed the other leaning closer until their lips were centimeters apart.

Then they were touching.

A soft, warm feeling that flooded their entire being like the world's gentlest tsunami, crashing a second time as they parted their lips for but a moment only to connect them again. Then once more.

Then it must have hit his brain all at once, shattering the atmosphere his heart had crafted all on its own without any supervision. Leonardo tore himself back, fastened his seat belt, and drove off without saying a word.

Silent, all the way home, save the rapid beating of Savannah's heart begging to be free from its cage.

The kiss was too short, she thought with some regret, but so sweet.

She worried, though. At that silence that followed.

Clearly, neither of the two had planned for that to happen. It just did. And Savannah so badly wanted to say something but she couldn't bring herself to speak again.

In the end, after arriving back at the apartment, Leo insisted he was tired and chose to sleep in his own room for a change. As this was Leo's place, Savannah wasn't about to argue. The obvious avoidance of what happened in the car did, however, left her disappointed.

She said good night and lay down on the couch.

It took a while for her to fall asleep.

Leo's lips.

She felt warmth envelop her face.

Did that actually happen?

Leonardo's voice from the other room broke her train of thought.

"Don't leave the light switched on overnight, Savannah."

"Right. Turning it off."

It did. It did happen.