ughhh i've been swamped with work lately and haven't gotten a chance to update T-T

but don't worry, it ends now! until more homework is given at least ;-;

~~~

Should I, or should I not?' You contemplated. The previous outing has left you confused on whether to proceed with the cold treatment or not. Your crush always ended up falling for your best friend, after all. You were either seriously unlucky or Lizzy was a love magnet. There was always this dreaded feeling whenever your current infatuation conversed with your best friend. You felt isolated to the point you wondered if this was just a passing phase or if it was going to be like this for the rest of your life.

You got your regular breakfast as usual; half a cup of milk. Sipping it, you reviewed today's schedule and homework. But slowly, your mind drifted to Leon and how you peppered him with kisses on his cheek yesterday. Why did you do that? Now it's gonna be awkward between the two of you. But he was so cute... You couldn't help but feel enamoured, especially in such a cliche romantic situation. Yeah, let's blame the scenery for your actions.

You finished your milk just in time, because as you took the last sip, Lizzy's car honked loudly. Your mom was still at the dinner table eating breakfast and scrolling through Facebook, finding beauty hacks or whatever she was looking for.

"Gonna go now. Bye, mom, love you!" You yelled while running to the entrance. Your mom nodded in acknowledgement, taking her last bite of the breakfast and going to wash the dishes. You hopped in the backseat, as it was Leon's turn to sit at the front today.

"Y/N?"

"Hm?"

"Can I have the notes from yesterday's English? I think I forgot them somewhere." She flashed an crooked smile in embarrassment.

You rolled your eyes, expecting this. It was usual for Lizzy to lose her things all the time. "But you now owe me lunch, 'kay?"

"But Y/N..." She whined.

"Fine, I'll decide what the favour is when I need it."

Lizzy drove to Leon's stop next. They usually extremely introverted boy looked very happy today.

"Morning!" He chirped out, climbing into the backseat and sitting next to you. That was odd. But never mind that, you remembered you must protect your heart from getting broken like the last few times. Or just be more distant. But it's gonna be so awkward now....

You stayed silent, looking out the window to appreciate the scenery. Through the reflection, you could see Leon look at you in an unusual way. The more he stared, the more weird it got so you turned to look at him, only for him to look away from you in embarrassment.

'That's more like it...' You thought smugly in triumph before you realized how you're meant to be treating him. Oops?

"Awwww, you guys are leaving me alone at the front again..." Lizzy pouted, looking at Leon with big eyes. A flash of an unknown emotion entered her eyes for a second before leaving again. Leon looked at Lizzy analytically. He swore he saw something malicious in her eyes.

Lizzy looked at the front of the car. 'It's fine, you'll have many chances to seduce Leon once Y/N goes off or feels 'anti-social' again. Hm, but he seems like the innocent type, so should I go for innocent flirting? Plan A didn't work but I'm sure plan B will.'

"Let's get this show on the road! We'll be late to school if you keep sulking like that." You joked, laughing at Lizzy through the front mirror.

"Fine." She raised her hands up in surrender for a moment and stepped on the pedal, speeding the three of you to school. It was a routine to hang out in the library when you had time like now. Leon and you enjoyed the peace and quiet and Lizzy said she could flirt with some cute nerds there. The library was also an endless resource of entertainment and education. Sometimes you also did your homework there. Today, you had to rush your English homework since you went out with Leon yesterday.

Leon was surprisingly affectionate and chipper. It was weird seeing him more outgoing than usual, not that you didn't like this new change. In fact, it was quite pleasant. He was also, however, more - let's just say - affectionate. Which wasn't helping your original plan. When you had been rushing your homework in the library this morning, Leon leaned his whole body over your back, towering over you in a slightly - what you think to be - perverted/bold/protective manner while checking your work. He normally leaned in from the side but today his whole chest was practically on your back.

You shifted a bit to indicate your uneasiness but he didn't seem to get the hint. In the end, you couldn't focus because you were overthinking his actions and in the end did not complete your homework.

"I don't need you to check my homework EVERY time though. Only when I ask." You crossed your arms at Leon, who would normally apologize probably stop doing it. Stay strong, Y/N, stay strong. But it was different this time.

"It's okay, Y/N! I like checking your homework. If you have any problems or questions at all just ask me! If you want, I'd do the homework for you so you don't have to worry about anything!" Leon insisted. You were happy he was getting more confident but it wasn't good for your heart...

You were a bit concerned to say the least; first it was wrong to have someone else do their homework for you. Second, it was obvious he stayed up at night doing who knows what but if you gave him your homework? What if he slept at 3 AM?

"Leon, no. Don't you get it? I don't need you for my homework." Hurt filled Leon's eyes. Shit, now your heart was hurting too.

"O-oh... I see." His stuttering came back. You feel so guilty. How can you encourage him to be more confident yet put some distance around him?

"But, I'll tell you whenever I n-need you, okay?" You said to make him feel better. He seemed to light up again and grasped your hands.

"Okay!" You still didn't know why he was holding your hands. 'Any little compliment from you can boost his confidence by a lot', you concluded from your recent experiences. It would also result to a switch in his personality from shy to affectionate.

'Not that I minded, heh.' You giggled. Wait, no! Avoid him like a plague.

When he walked besides you, he always had both his hands wrapped around one of your arms while walking towards your next lesson. His grip was so tight yet loose, you couldn't pull away. You found a cute but annoying. Subtly, you tried shaking it off but your efforts ended in vain. 'It's okay, though. Friends do this right?'

Despite your signs of avoidance, he seemed to blush more than usual, suddenly blushing in the middle of class or just interacting with you except he's getting less shy about it; which was good because that meant he was probably getting more confident. You wondered what was going on in his head.

'Her panties were so-' Yeah, you didn't need to know.

Over the course of the next week, Leon became even more affectionate, calling you at the most random times, while Lizzy became more cold and distant to you. You frowned at the thought. You assumed it was because Leon was spending more time with you and she felt left out. You understood that feeling and decided that in order to strengthen your bond with her, you would need to be even more distant to Leon.

And so, the plan to avoiding Leon began. For next three days, you would talk him as less as possible, hide from him as much as you can, avoid conversations and subtly change the topic whenever Leon asked to go out. It seemed to work because Lizzy was back to her usual self again.

Leon became extremely sullen, always moping or pouting when you rejected his advances. He thought you were losing your interest in him. His confidence in confessing to you was slowly depleting as well. When he confronted you, you partly lied and said that it was because you felt Lizzy was feeling left out and you wanted to 'mend' your relationship with her.

"She acts how she normally would!" Leon protested. It's not like she mattered anyways; he was all you needed. "Please go out with me again?"

"I'm really sorry, Leon but Lizzy's friendship is important to me too. I won't know what I'd do without her."

A dark thought passed through Leon. 'There's no harm in learning how to live without her...'

Oops! He was being a naughty boy again. 'Bad Leon!' He scolded himself. Could he even get away with it? Could he? Would he?

"Just promise me you won't prioritize Lizzy over me, okay?" Leon's squeeze on your arm became tight, which suddenly became a bit threatening.

You tried to acted ignorant, even if you were weirded out by his creepy behaviour, "Fine."

He held out his pinkie, "Pinkie promise?"

You looked at his pinkie, wondering what you should do instead. Luckily, someone interrupted the two of you. It was Lizzy.

"Hey Leon! What are you doing?" She hugged Leon's arm. Of course she'd greet him. You looked away awkwardly, being the third wheel. This was one of the feelings you got whenever you introduce Lizzy to your crush. You looked at Lizzy's outfit today. She looked amazing wearing a simple blouse with blue jeans and sneakers. You felt a twinge of insecurity inside you.

Leon looked at her with disgust. 'Ugh, now I need to clean these clothes again too.' She was clearly the reason why you're so upset. Was she even aware of how she's making you feel?

"Oh, hi Y/N, I didn't see you there." Lizzy giggled.

'BITC-'

"But I was right in front of you..." You muttered. Leon glared at Lizzy above her head. She was way shorter and standing in front of him.

"Oopsies!" She's said this many times already so it came off a bit insincerely to you. She turned to Leon, leaning towards him and lowering her eyes to feign shyness.

"Anyways... uhm, Leon, will you... g-go out to the amusement park with m-me? On Saturday?" She played with the laces on her shirt innocently, also happening to expose her cleavage slightly while doing so. You looked at her with anger and hurt. You've asked her SO many times to go with you but Lizzy has always declined the offer. Now she was going with some guy she just met? Additionally, the last time you checked, she didn't even like amusement parks...

Maybe you were being too sensitive. Maybe Lizzy just wanted to go to the amusement park with someone she likes first to make her 'first' time special. Maybe she changed her mind on amusement parks. Lizzy also liked Leon, you remembered. Now you definitely need to back off her crush. And well, yours.

"Uhm, Lizzy," If felt foreign to ask her to hang out with you now. "I was wondering if we could go out shopping together. On Sunday?" You had originally wanted to go with her on Saturday but guess she's busy... You knew how much she liked shopping because she always squealed at the clothes she sees when going window shopping.

Lizzy contemplated thoughtfully on your offer. "Sure, why not! We haven't been together alone for so long!"

Leon looked at Lizzy in jealousy. Only he deserved to or should go out with you.

"Leo~ You never answered my question about going out on Saturday," Lizzy bit her lip.

"S-sorry, but my parents say I have to finish homework by the end of Saturday." Leon scratched his neck, a habit he has when he lies or gets nervous you noticed. Lizzy nodded in fake understanding.

"Oh, so that's how it is! Then can we go out on Sunday with Y/N?" You were slightly annoyed. The reason you asked her specifically was so the two of you could be ALONE together. You wanted to facepalm so badly.

"I'm free on Sunday so sure!" Leon was super happy. Not only did he reject Lizzy's suggestion to go out, he also scored time with you on Sunday!

"Great! We'll see you there." Lizzy waved cutely at him. He faked a smile back and left. Your friend secretly looked at you smugly. Her plan was going well; Leon looks so ecstatic to see her.

"Lizzy... when I meant shopping, I meant the two of us alone." She looked at you and blinked slowly, pretending to not understand.

"I'm sorry, Y/N! I didn't know! I'll make it up to you!" She hugged you, the scent of her perfume wafting into your nose. That's some strong scent. You shrugged.

"Oh well, class is about to start anyways." The both of you picked up your bags and head off to your own classes.

At the end of school, you and Lizzy jumped into the car. Leon said he needed to do something after school today so your best friend only needed to drop you off. It took around 20 minutes and Lizzy waved goodbye once you entered your house before driving off. Home sweet home. Dropping your bag, you lazily turned on the TV and watched your favourite show for at least a good 30 minutes.

While you were relaxing, Leon was in the library trying to figure out how he could sneak past his own parents as well as yours on a school night. That way he can be with you every day and night. Of course, he's only sneaking to check up on you... He was a good boy and promised he won't do anything unless you tell him to. Probably.

Getting a clean sheet of A4 paper, he started drawing a rough external blueprint of what his house was like.

His house was small. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, the living room, basement and a kitchen - all in one floor. It wasn't much but it was still home. It didn't matter how much money Vince and Lea had, they always made enough money to buy books for Leon since they couldn't afford professional tutors. The Harts family cared about education a lot, since the two parents don't want Leon to end up like them. Sometimes, Leon's parents may go strict on him but he knew it was for his own good.

Back to sneaking out his house; he'll simply get out from his bedroom window to which he'll leave unlocked. However that still meant he had to get past the living room windows which are turned on until Vince went to sleep. This meant the only way to see you was to leave at 2 AM, where he knows both of his parents are asleep.

' I guess I can study until then... I don't think they care about what I do anyways, since I'm a good boy.' Leon ripped the sheet into pieces and threw it in the bin. He went to the fictional section in the library and skimmed through a couple of romance books, flipping the pages quickly. He shook his head in disapproval. None of the protagonists' love will ever match his for you.

Leon chuckled in his head. Operation Her is on the go; he can't wait to see your beautiful face.

'Just you wait, my love... Soon you will be all mine.'

~~~

Not sure if you've noticed but I'm trying to write about Leon's character development because he's gained confidence from last chapter. I apologize if it's boring but I believe that it's little chapters like this that slowly support and add up to the big plot.