Chapter Five: Don't Forget Me, My Little Mistletoe.

I awoke to a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, and warm breath brushing against the top of my head. "Where am I?" I thought to myself. Nothing could be remembered from the night before. "Who's room is this? Who the fuck is gripping my waist?" Questions flooded my head and panic overcame me. The grip of the stranger laying next to me loosened, only for the figure to sit upright and pull my body onto his chest. Panic took complete control over my body, my fight-or-flight reflexes kicked in as adrenaline rushed through my body.

I started struggling, battling my way out of this man's grip. "What's wrong, darling?" It was that goddamned British accent, and this time it was actually sincere. I stopped struggling, the memories from last night came flooding back in an instant. My body relaxed, resting gently against his. The remnants of his cologne reminded me of pumpkin spice drifting along on an autumn breeze.

"Sweetheart, are you alright? What happened?" He urged me to answer, he seemed genuinely worried. I could now feel his eyes staring right through my skull.

"It's nothing," I groaned in an ungodly morning voice, "I just woke up and was a little confused." Our fingers intertwined and I maneuvered my body to face him; we were facing each other, his hand traced patterns on my back whilst his scent engulfed the rest of my senses.

"It's okay, my little mistletoe. You're safe, you can relax now." His words were comforting, like honey and cinnamon mixed into a cup of tea. His skin is soft and pale against mine. Leo. That name echoed throughout my head. Who'd have thought I'd be here right now? I definitely did not when I decided to do some late night reading.

I stretched out alongside Leo's body, our fingers staying intertwined. "I want to stay like this for a while." I mumbled into the crook of his neck. He pulled the covers over my exposed back and kissed my forehead. Leo's hands stroked my hair and traced patterns on my skin, whilst I lay there, half asleep and falling in love all over again.

"About the past," Leo broke the silence, his voice was soft, but not quite a whisper, "I'm sorry. I should have never put you through everything that I did." His voice cracked, it was the saddest sound I'd ever heard. "I never meant to hurt you, Skye. I'm so, so sorry." Tears ran down his face and his eyes grew cloudy. "I understand if you can't forgive me, but I need you to know that I'm truly sorry." His chest was now heaving up and down, trying to steady his breath in an attempt to hold back the tears.

Removing my hands from his, I brushed the tears off of his cheeks and pecked his lips. "And about last night," Leo continued, looking more broken than ever, "I understand if you hate me, and want to forget about all of this, Skye-"

I cut him off, "Shh, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay." I said, reassuring him. He was the personification of a broken vase, and the sight broke my heart. Maybe, just maybe still choosing him after all this time, wasn't such a bad thing after all. Leo sobbed quietly into my chest, and I tried to wipe his tears away as best I could.

"I was so worried this morning when you woke up, I thought that you regretted everything and that you were scared of me for a second time. The truth is, even now I'm scared to let you go…" His voice got softer, and softer, until he was only crying into my chest.

About a half hour went on like this, him crying and pouring his heart out, with me comforting him and listening intently to each and every single word. I felt my own tears trickle down my skin, containing my emotions and hiding my wounds was not an option any longer. I couldn't take it.

"I'm scared of losing you, Skye. Promise me that as long as I take care of you, you'll never forget me. Please?" He whimpered.

My tears were now falling onto the bed sheets. I felt vulnerable, but safe. "I promise you, Leo." We cradled each other until the both of us calmed down. I pulled Leo as close to me as physically possible and didn't allow him to move, even slightly, away from me.

Pulling him into a gentle kiss, my elbows rested on his shoulders and my hands ruffled his hair. Personal space? Sorry I have no idea who that is right now.

⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ ⧫

A bell rang, shocking me back to a horrid reality. The sharp sound of the school lunch bell echoed throughout the corridors, and everyone started packing the books and stationary away. "Remember about your homework for today, guys." The teacher spoke above the shuffling of backpacks and the hushed conversations the students were having on their way out of the classroom.

Fuck, I hadn't been listening to a word he'd said throughout the entire lesson. Oh well, I guess Google could always help me. At this point, I pretty much owe all of my grades to the information that has been posted on the internet, sitting down in class for hours on end just isn't my thing, I guess.

The corridors are now bustling with children of all ages, shapes and sizes. I truly do dislike this. Some lockers creaked open whilst others were slammed shut, creating an unholy symphony of clattering metal. I took notice of how dirty the floors were, regardless of them being cleaned thoroughly just this morning. Each tile had become a canvas for muddy shoe prints and dirty wheels of skateboards.

"School is such a drag, why do I even need to be here when I'm just going to be using Google for all of my assignments" I mutter to myself in a resentful tone, while starting on my way to the science lab for my chemistry class.

⧫

After a long and tiring day, Skye had to attend detention for an hour. She had accidentally kicked a fellow actor in her drama class, and had been accused of doing so on purpose. The office that she was seated in had been covered in, now deteriorating, graphs and charts that were originally meant for the younger students, but had been abandoned in this shabby detention room.

I stared at the clock. Only fifteen minutes had passed, yet it felt as if it had been hours. No books or phones are allowed here, so now I'm trapped in a bland room with nothing to do, except for tapping my fingers against the table. Movement caught the corner of my eye, and I saw the teacher walking out of the classroom in my peripheral vision.

"Finally, I can breathe without the worry of being too loud." I thought to myself. This is going to be the longest hour of my life. The ticking of the clock had already become annoying, and my heartbeat became louder and louder each second. I tried to push the feeling away, but my efforts were in vain.

Sadly enough, one of the main rules of detention is that no bags are allowed in the room. Which means that I now have nothing to fidget with; leading to me having to improvise as best as I can. There was nothing useful in sight, meaning that I had to get extremely creative with my surroundings in order to pass the time by as quickly as possible.

The rotting posters were always an option, but the thought of what they could possibly hide behind them disgusted me. Another glimpse at the clock, the longer of the two hands had fallen down. Almost reaching the halfway mark. Great, thirty more minutes of hell.

The rusty door hinges creaked under the weight of the door, and that's when it hit me. The door had been left ajar. Perfect. I didn't bother with trying to be quiet on my way to the door, after all, nobody else was in the room with me, and the corridors were silent. Carefully, I pushed the door open by a few more inches, making sure that it was just enough so I could fit through, but not more than necessary. The coast was clear; Mr. Oakly had probably disappeared into the staff's lounge, but who cares? I could now make a clean escape.

The weather hadn't changed much, the blue sky still hid behind grey clouds and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It had stopped raining some time ago, leaving the sidewalks dotted with puddles and muddy footprints of all sizes. I made a break for it, careful not to slip on the muddied walkway.

I caught a glimpse of someone ahead of me, but paid no attention towards it. It was pointless waiting at the bus stop, the last one for today would have already left by now. The clouds were starting to clear up now, surely it wouldn't rain for the rest of the day. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to just walk home.

Flowers drooped with heavy drops of rain and an earthy aroma mixed with the scent of fresh air filled my lungs to the brim. As the beautiful smells and extraordinary scenery flooded my senses, my chest hit something with a rather firm stance.

"I'm so so so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I apologize, pronouncing my words, perhaps, a little too loudly.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it." My eyes met his soft features, his ebony hair falling onto his forehead in perfect curls. That curious blend of light brown and yellowish lipochrome pigment with just the right amount of Rayleigh scattering stared deep into my soul.

"Wait a second, I know you!" He exclaimed, his eyes suddenly lit up, somehow becoming greener than before.

Shit, does he actually know me, or is he mistaking me for someone else?

"You're that super nice girl from my physics class!" His voice sounded soft and sincere, I know he meant no harm, yet him calling me a girl made my heart heavy.

Great, he thinks I'm a girl. How much better could this day possibly get.

"Actually, I'm not a girl, but yeah, we're in the same physics class." A nervous chuckle escapes my lips. Fuck, what if he'll never like me just because I'm not a girl?

I push those thoughts aside and continue, "I'm genderfluid, and I'd prefer if you refer to me as a boy." My voice quivered and my hands began to shake. I'd never felt so vulnerable in my entire life. Somehow it was harder to admit this to him than it was to admit to my own parents.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't realize-" I cut him off.

"No, it's alright. You're fine. I can understand why you wouldn't have known." Looking down at my shoes, thoughts and emotions flooded my head, yet none of them were comprehensible.

"Well, it is getting pretty late, and I'd hate for you to walk home alone after dark." He paused, gauging my expression carefully. "Could I, by any chance, walk you home?" His last few words were unsteady, and didn't flow as easily as his last.

"Of course! I wouldn't mind at all." I didn't realize that I had been looking him in the eye this entire time, and it had probably made him nervous.

Pulling my gaze from his, we started walking side by side. Most of our walk was in silence, and without realizing, I had gotten rather close to his side. My face flushed a light shade of pink. Hoping that he didn't notice, I pulled my scarf over my nose, earning a slight chuckle from Leo. He seemed more at ease with my presence which made me feel happy. If he could trust me this much so soon, maybe I do stand a chance.

The scenery seemed brighter and more meaningful with someone by my side to share it with. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel completely alone. Our hands brushed, and Leo giggled.

"May I?" He gestured at my hand.

"Sure." I replied trying to hide my smile, of course it was to no avail, it still managed to escape through the corner of my lips.

Leo laced his fingers with mine, my heart skipped a beat. His hands were as soft as silk, and although strong, he was also gentle. His thumb rubbed against the back of my hand as we continued walking down the sidewalk. My house was edging closer and closer. It wouldn't be long before I had to kiss this sweet sensation goodbye.

Outside the pathway leading to my house, we stood there for a few seconds, taking in the newly watered roses ranging between various different colours.

"Thank you for walking me home, Leo." I say while letting go of his hand to face him.

"Oh, it's no problem, really! It's the least that I could do." His face flushed. "I never caught your name."

"And I never threw it." I giggled at his attempt to stifle a chuckle. "It's Skye."

""Skye," He repeated. "That's a fitting name for you." He paused for a second, and finally continued, "I know we've only officially met today, but do you think I could get your number?"

"Do you have a pen?" I nearly swallowed my words.

Leo passed me a pen from inside his backpack and I scribbled down my phone number on the palm of his hand. A sincere smile spread from my face to his. I started to walk to my front door, and swiftly turned around to wave goodbye to Leo.

Closing the door behind me, I was greeted by my cat, Lolly, meowing and purring at my feet. I take her up in my arms and walk up stairs to my bedroom. My backpack lay sprawled next to my dressing table, and my phone was thrown onto my bed near the pillows. Lolly jumped up onto my bed, and I joined her soon after. It had been a rather long day, and a nap was in order.