"I'm sorry I can't see you any sooner, I just don't wanna push it with your parents still around."

Just hearing Leo's voice down the phone made me nerves settle a little more. I wasn't going to be able to see him properly until the dance next weekend, all we could see of each other was in exams in school so there was no way we would be able to get even 30 minutes with each other in between both of us revising.

"It's ok, I don't really want you around while they're here to be honest. I just hope they're here for the usual duration of 2 weeks like they normally do before they up and leave again." It sounded harsh, but since they've been back my routine and my life has been turned upside down.

"Oh, forgot to ask, what colour is your dress? I wanna make sure I don't clash colours." Leo laughed down the phone and I couldn't help but feel all giddy. He wanted to make sure we matched for the dance.

"It's pale gold, so black tie will be fine." I said, finally finishing the last few sentences of my Music revision and closing my workbook shut.

"Ok great." The line went silent for a few seconds "Are you sure you're ok? You didn't seem too happy after the family chat you all had earlier."

I hesitated, not wanting to bring it up again.

The conversation between my Mum, Dad and Harvey was hard. There was a lot of shouting, crying and swearing. In the end we all settled on they would leave again, and Harvey and I would go on living like we did before, only now having to find jobs to pay for the house.

But there was an agreement to have monthly video chats with all of us and regular communication so we wouldn't lose touch like we did before.

I'll give that two months before it stops and no one bothers to keep to it.

"Yea I'm ok. Just gonna have to work through it until they leave again which won't be long I'm sure."

I talked to Leo for another 10 minutes or so before we hung up since it was getting late. I was surprisingly not tired for it being 11pm on a Sunday night and from the day I'd had, I should have been feeling emotionally exhausted.

Instead I just lay in bed, revision text books surrounding me and a cat spread out on my stomach so I couldn't move.

My eyelids began to flutter close but the sound of a tap tap tap at my window made me slowly sit up in bed.

I scooped Loki off of me and gently placed him next to me on the bed. It sounded like someone was throwing rocks at my window.

My mind instantly went to Leo but since he said he didn't want to risk coming to the house, it made me really debate if it was.

Cautiously, I made my way to the window and slowly peeled back my curtain, peeping out into the darkness of the night to see if the light in my room would illuminate who it was.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the figure standing a few feet away from my window, my breath catching in my throat when I made out who it was.

Brendon.

My ex boyfriend who I hadn't heard from in nearly two years. The one who literally fell off the face of the earth when my parents made us break up.

He looked different then he did before. His dark brown hair wasn't short and fashionably styled like it used to be, it was grown out and dusted around his jawline.

He even had some light stubble on his face, which definitely made him look older than the 18 year old he was.

I thought I was hallucinating at first but when he waved his hand at me, as if to ask to open my window, I knew it was real.

I don't know why I was so nervous to even talk to him, but my hands shook a little when I slid the window open.

It took a few moments before either of us spoke, we just stared at each other.

I could still see the dark blue hue of his eyes that always used to captivate me when we were together.

"Still in the same bedroom then?" He talked first, his voice slightly deeper than the last time I heard it.

I had to laugh a little. He remembered that my brother and I used to swap rooms every couple of years since I technically had the bigger one, but I straight up refused to swap because I knew he would ruin this one and I wouldn't want to move back into it.

"Uh yea," I laughed again "You know what Harvey's like with making a mess, I don't want him destroying the place."

Brendon laughed along with me, his hand moving to his head and pushing his hair out of his eyes.

God, the mannerisms between him and Leo were uncanny. Brendon was so different before though, no one could have compared him to Leo.

But now? Jesus it was like they were brothers.

"What are you doing here?" I had to ask. The question was screaming in my brain to be answered.

"I uh, just got back into town from working. I don't know but I just ended up here." Brendon shrugged, tucking his hands into the pockets of his denim jacket.

I went to reply but small voices in the hallway made me stop. There was no way I could talk to him from the bedroom window without something hearing.

"Give me a sec." I pulled the curtain back and leaped over to my bed, grabbing my black hoodie off the end of it and chucking it on.

Slipping on my converse, I picked up my science textbook and took it with me to the window, pulling the curtain back open and sticking my leg out.

As I climbed out the window, I stuck the science textbook on the ledge so the window wouldn't fully close when I pulled it shut.

As I clumsily landed on my feet, Brendon stuck his hands out to steady me in case I fell on my face.

"I can't talk for long, I have exams tomorrow." I told him as we began walking away from my house and up the road.

"Sure thing, I don't want to keep you long anyway, I've got work in the morning." He replied with a smile.

God, that was one thing that hadn't changed. The smile that caused two little dimples to appear on his cheeks.

"Work? You got a job then?" I wanted to know what happened when he left. Part of me was still hurt that he didn't even try to contact me after my parents got involved.

"Funny story actually..." He went and scratched the back of his head "I work for your Dad. I've been stuck in his main workshop in London since... you know..."

Hold up.

I stopped walking completely, staring at Brendon as if he'd just grown another head.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I was saying that to myself and to Brendon.

I couldn't believe it. All this time my Mum and Dad told me not to talk to Brendon anymore and not bother when in reality he was literally working under my Dad's nose.

And I knew he had regular contact with my Dad since his London workshop was his biggest and best one, so he always kept tabs on it.

"Your Dad mentioned that he was going to be back in the country this month and I remembered it was your birthday coming up so I thought I would be able to come and see you again and maybe they wouldn't react in the same way." Brendon explained and I though my brain was going to overload.

Was this Brendon saying that he had come down to see if he could get a second chance with me? Shit he even remembered when my birthday was.

"I have a boyfriend, Brendon." I had to cut to the chase, if I thought about things anymore I knew my head would just explode.

Brendon paused for a moment, a million thoughts whizzing through his brain and he looked knocked down.

He sighed a little and forced a smile "Of course. Well I hope maybe we could be friends?"

"Are you sure? I don't know if that's the best thing." He went to cut me off but I silenced him "Look Brendon, you've been gone for nearly two years and I've finally managed to get my parents to meet the person I'm dating. He's been the most unexpected thing that come into my life in years and I don't want to jeopardise that in anyway."

I was being harsh and blunt, and I think even Brendon was surprised at how abrupt I was.

"So I've got no chance then." He laughed, making the question seem rhetorical but I knew he wanted it to be answered.

"I'm sorry Brendon. I'll still talk to you and if you ever need someone to chat too then I'll be around, but I can't go there again." I don't know why it hurt so much to tell him that.

Probably because I didn't get the chance to end things with him before. It was all on my parents terms and then it was radio silence after that.

I'd cried him out of my mind already. Yes, seeing Brendon again made my brain jolt completely, but I was sure of myself and my feelings to let him go.

"Eli, it's fine, I get it. Things didn't exactly go swimmingly before and I don't blame you for that. Things could have been handled a lot better but I can't change the past."

As much as it hurt me to see him upset, I needed to get over it.

I could tell that we had exhausted the subject and the walk now was just aimless. I should have headed back home, but all I wanted to do was go and see Leo.

"I'm gonna go, I hope work isn't too hard on you tomorrow." I smiled to him, zipping up my hoodie and slipping my hands into my pockets.

My hand was already around my phone, ready to text Leo as soon as Brendon left.

Brendon nodded his head, taking me back slightly when he went and hugged me.

It was slightly awkward since my arms were in my pockets, but I leaned into the hug so it didn't seem one-sided.

I could tell that Brendon wanted to hug me for longer but when I slightly pulled back, he released me from his hold.

"See you later Eli, good luck with your exams." Brendon forced a smile, giving me one last look before turning around and heading down the road.

I will admit, I had to compose myself a little bit before I pulled my phone out and text Leo. I knew he would still be up because he said he had half a practice exam to complete and he was half considering downing a whole pot of coffee to keep himself awake.

"Be at your front door in 10 minutes x"

I set off after I sent it, knowing it wouldn't take me long to walk to Leo's since it was cold out and the fact that it was past 11pm made me feel slightly uneasy.

I made it to Leo's bang on midnight as the local church bells began ringing like they always did when it hit 12.

As I went to knock on the door, it swung open suddenly, revealing Leo in some jogging shorts and nothing else.

"Hey, is everything ok?" He spoke softly.

And that right there was enough confirmation in my head to know I made the right decision and that I wasn't going back anytime soon.

"It's a long story." I sighed in reply, moving forward so I could hug him. I could feel the heat from his body instantly, slowly warming me up.

Instead of letting me go and walking me up to his room, Leo pulled my legs off the ground and I wrapped them around his waist.

So instead of me walking up the stairs like I was perfectly capable to do, Leo carried me up after closing the front door and wouldn't let me back on my feet until we were at his bed.

Leaning down, he lay me on my back and then proceeded to lie down too so his head was resting on my chest. It was comfortable and he wasn't crushing me.

My nerves that I had before had relaxed a lot and I had trust in Leo not to get mad when I tell him about Brendon.

"What's up?" Leo's hand slid up my hoodie and top so it was resting on my side and no further than that. It was a warm feeling that spread through me from the contact.

"I can't remember if I told you about him, but Brendon just showed up at my place like 20 minutes ago."

Leo's eyebrows narrowed for a second before realisation hit him.

"This is the ex right? The one your parents scared away."

I laughed a little, my fingertips playing with the blond strands of hair that rested on his shoulders.

"Yea that's the one," Sighing a little I carried on "He's been working in my Dad's car shop for the past two years. So my Dad basically stole him from me."

I had to laugh at it because it was true. Brendon was always into cars and bikes when we were together and he was always helping out Harvey with his car when it broke down so my Dad must have seen the potential in him and snatched him up straight away.

"Are you okay?" Leo questioned, sounding a little more concerned but I nodded my head at him.

"Yea yea, I'm fine. Don't worry, there's no feelings or messing around going on. It was a shock to say the least, but he's in the past and I'm not going back there again." I explained it as best I could without worrying him even more.

"I trust you Eliana. And I believe you, don't worry." Leo smiled a little which relaxed me completely.

"Sorry for just barging over here, I just wanted to see you." I felt kinda stupid for coming over at midnight for something that I had a feeling Leo would be fine with.

Leo's eyebrows narrowed, the hand that was on my side moving so it was on my back and pulling me up so I was sitting on his lap.

"Eli I don't care that you're 'barging over here'. I always want to see you so I have no problem with you coming over, especially if you're not feeling good or even if you just wanna chat."

Leo pulled me in for a hug and I couldn't help but squeeze a little tighter than normal.

How have I been so blessed to find someone like him? Despite all the ups and downs we've been through, I wouldn't change it for the world.