Leo

"What is wrong with you, boy?"

I sighed, brushing the dirt off my jersey. "Sorry, Coach." Coach rolled her eyes, patting my back. "Go home. Get some rest. Let's just hope you play better at the pep rally." Nodding, I grabbed my kit, not even bothering to get changed. My mind had been churning for so long. For almost a month now. I couldn't even piece together my own thoughts, unable to stop them from spinning in a perpetual motion-Libra, Libra and Scorpio, Libra. My feet moved and I didn't notice. Everything I said, everything I did, it felt like I was just on autopilot. I spoke without conviction, played without purpose, lived without a life.

My feet carried myself and my anguished thoughts to the door, where my hands autonomously moved, opening the door with a key. A robotic "Hi, Ma," followed as I slunk up the stairs, snapshots of my times with Libra flashing past in my thoughts. Throwing my kit onto my bed, I made a beeline for the showers, the ice-cold water not doing so much as making me shiver. There I stood, lifeless, emotionless, heartless, under the showerhead, just wishing that my life would turn around already.

There's just no point.

Turning off the water, I stepped out the shower, toweling myself dry while noticing how the tiles beneath me didn't feel numbingly chilled the way they usually did this late at night. I could barely feel them under my feet. Sighing, I pulled on a v-necked maroon tee and a grey pair of track pants. Just as I was about to head downstairs for some dinner, I heard a rustling sound come from the window in my room. I hurried over, wondering what-or even who-it could be. "Leo! Open the window!" I gasped, a myriad of emotions threatening to knock me off my feet.

What is she doing here?

"Please open the window, Leo, I can explain everything," she pleaded, pulling a leaf out of her hair. I did as she said, holding the shutters of the window open for her to climb in. She threw her arms around me, smiling, whispering a muffled "thank you" into the crook of my neck. I noticed just how disheveled Libra looked. Tangled tufts of her hair hung limply by her face, which was streaked with tears and dirt. Her red (once) maxi gown was shredded to bits at the hem, leaves protruding from it. Blood caked a number of scratches gracing her arms. "Whoa, you okay, Libra?" She gulped, shivering as her arms closed around her waist. I signaled Libra toward the chair, passing her a black throw which she promptly wrapped around herself. "It's Christmas Eve, Libra. Why aren't you..."

"With Scorpio?" Libra bit her lip, attempting to conceal her tears. "Leo, he's losing control. I'm not enough for him anymore. Not enough to help him through this nightmare. We were going to this ball my mom had given us invites to-it was a black tie event, very formal, heaps of celebrities. I stood out there in the cold, waiting for him to arrive, but he never did. So I called him, and I heard a strange rasping noise that scraped against his voice. He told me he was running late, but the Find iPhone app told me otherwise.

"I followed it to a secluded alley, where he was vaping with a group of hippies. He's been vaping, smoking, drinking, getting high this whole time." Libra sighed, fighting back tears once again. "I thought things were getting better... I thought everything would be okay..." I sighed, putting an arm around Libra. "It's going to be alright, Leebs." She smiled, leaning into my shoulder. "But, I have to ask... Why come to me?" Libra sighed. "Because, Leo, I can always count on you. And you can't ever count on me, I know that, but... I guess I just trust you." I smiled, looking down at Libra. "You can always count on me, Libra." I gestured toward the door. "Now, how about dinner?"

.....

"Oh, dear me, are you okay, dear?" Ma rushed over to Libra's side, fretting over her injuries. "I'm fine, Miss." Ma shook her head, bustling about with her ointments. "Not at all! I'll have you fixed by tomorrow morning. Just hold still." She rubbed some antiseptic into Libra's cuts, fingering her torn dress. "Deary me, you're going to need a change of clothes. And honey, you're going to have to spend the night here-it's not safe for you to leave so late at night." Ma frowned, tapping her forehead pensively. "I could pull out some old clothes from high school-from before my growth spurt..." Ma was an astounding 188 centimetres, which was 6'2, being an uncommon height for a woman of Latina descent. My father was also extremely tall, reaching a height of 192 centimetres. That's what had given me my supposedly superhuman height. "It won't fit you perfectly, dear, but I suppose a tee will work on you..."

Libra stood, excusing herself from the table. "Please, Miss, there's no need for all this, I'll just ask my chauffeur to come pick me up-" Ma quite literally shoved Libra back toward the table, placing her in the chair herself. "Nonsense! I'm not having your poor chauffeur be woken at this hour, dear. Just message you mother and let her know you're staying the night." Libra cast a dark look toward her phone. "She thinks I'm going to be out all night," she muttered, just loud enough for Ma to hear. "Listen, you stay away from that Scorpio boy. Boys who smoke, boys who drink, they're not good boys. And I told you that day at the hospital; just call me Aria!"

Libra nodded, taking a sip of her soup. "Thanks, Aria." Ma smiled at Libra. "So, how's the soup?" Libra smiled. "Oh, this? It's amazing, Aria. Thank you so much for it." Ma smiled, rummaging around in a box of her old clothes. "Here-this should fit you." Ma handed Libra a cropped tee and a pair of workout shorts, which she graciously accepted, excusing herself to go put them on. Ma took a seat at the dinner table, rubbing my shoulder affectionately. "Happy Christmas Eve, Leo." I smiled, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, Ma." She smiled, seeming to look for something to say. "Libra's a nice girl. I can see why she takes up so much of your headspace." I frowned, drawing in a sharp breath. "How did you know, Ma?" She smiled one of those all-knowing smiles.

"It's so obvious, son. The way you look at her... you can just see the adoration in your eyes." I sighed, placing my spoon in my (now empty) soup bowl. "You got me, Ma. But she doesn't feel the same way. She said so herself." Ma took my hand, her eyes piercing right through me. "She doesn't know what she feels, son. Let me tell you a story about your father and I. Your father was my first love-I met him in freshman year, just the way Libra met Scorpio back then. I was just as obsessed with him as Libra is with Scorpio right now. We had a very on-again off-again relationship that somehow made it through high school and university. All the way to marriage, and, well, you.

"The thing is, all those years that I stayed with him, I was confused about who I was. Who I wanted to be with. But it was fear, and purely fear, that kept me with him. Fear of loneliness. And somehow, I read that fear as a sign of my undying affection for your father, which I realised was never there once we settled into married life. But when we had you, I couldn't bring myself to leave him, because you'd then live an unsettled life shaped around our personal issues. So when you were old enough to understand, your father and I made the mutual decision to go our own ways with the rest of our lives. Find someone new.

"But, the thing is, I wasted so much of my life, my entire youth, loving someone I had mixed feelings about. And I still wonder how different things would have been if there was someone to tell me that I wasn't in love with him after our first breakup. If there was some other guy who came along to save me from making a big mistake." She paused, her gaze never wavering. "Leo, you are that guy for Libra. You can help her. Then she'll realise that behind all of her so-called affection for Scorpio, you're the one she goes out of her way to protect." I shook my head, freeing my hand. "When has she protected me?" Ma sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"She's the one who took you to the hospital. Dragged you to her limo herself. She stayed by your side until you recovered. For a month, Libra helped you heal. And when she found herself back together with Scorpio, she, and I know this for a fact, couldn't stop thinking about you, which she cloaked to herself by wondering how to let you down gently. Why do you think Libra always left you on read? Because she couldn't figure out how to respond. Why do you think she made an effort to avoid you around Scorpio? Because she was scared about how Scorpio would react upon seeing the way she looks at you." Ma smiled gently, taking my hand once again. "Why do you think she cares so, so much about you?" I drew in a slow breath, a smile creeping across my face.

"Because... because she loves me just as much as I love her." My expression fell once I realised the harsh truth. "But she doesn't even know it."

I heard a door close almost simultaneously, which must have been Libra leaving the bathroom. Ma held a finger to her lips, smiling as Libra walked down the stairs. Ma's cropped tee fit her like a baggy shirt, while the workout shorts fit almost perfectly, just slightly longer on her then they would have been on a high-school Ma. Even in Ma's old clothes, she looked like an angel. Her hair had been washed and combed, falling in light waves around her face. She grinned at me, turning toward Ma. "Thank you so much, Aria. You're so generous to take me in for the night." Ma smiled before turning toward her phone. "That's strange. I wonder why Venus is calling me. After all these years..."

Libra and I frowned simultaneously. "Um, are you talking about Venus Cole, the fashion designer?" Ma frowned, calling Venus back. "Isn't she Venus Devi?" Libra laughed disbelievingly, smiling at Ma. "That was her maiden name, before she married my dad, Ish Cole. He's a British Indian entrepreneur. You know, the owner of Cole Entertainment, the streaming service?" Ma nodded, indicating that she was now on the phone. "Hello, Venus?" I turned toward Libra, frowning slightly. "I never knew your dad was Ish Cole." Libra shrugged, looking at the floor. "Well, I guess he is. I mean, I've never really thought of it as such a big deal, you know? Dad isn't anything like those cliche absentee rich dads in the movies. He's great at barbecues, really overprotective, and terrified of spiders."

Libra chuckled. "He's just a stereotypical father figure, I guess." I smiled, taking Libra's hand in my own. She took a deep breath, resting her head on my shoulder. "Leo, I used to think you were a jerk." I laughed, looking down at Libra. "I mean, I can be a jerk, can't I?"

"Well, yeah, sometimes, but most of the time, you're just really sweet and kind and misunderstood."

"Huh. You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do. I think... I think you're just my type, actually."

"What's this? I thought I was your second choice, Libra."

"Hey, my first choice is a vaping, stoned alcoholic. So I don't exactly have the best judgement."

Letting go of Libra's hand, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in a side-hug.

"Never took you for the hugging type, Leo."

"There's a bunch you don't know about me, Libra."

"I know, and that's why I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime."

I grinned, nodding. "I'd love that." Libra smiled, reaching up and planting a kiss on my cheek as the clock hit twelve.

Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, Leo."

"Merry Christmas, Libra."