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The streetlights lit Leon's features every few seconds as he drove through the city. It was a weekend, so naturally, the town was filled with life, couples, families— he scanned each one, his eyes flickering with quiet curiosity.
He pulls into the parking lot and parks. He gets out quickly, already glancing around, hoping he would immediately find you, even though he decided to arrive early.
When he doesn't see you yet, he locks his car and looks at the chosen location for the date you’d both been trying to make happen. In Leon's eyes, you had so much patience, waiting and understanding that Leon's schedule makes it hard to find time to spend with each other.
He was already thinking about you, and you haven't even arrived. He scoffs at himself before analyzing the luxurious building in front of him. The place was really bright, with vintage structured walls. From the large glass door in his sight, he could see chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and vintage lanterns lighting the walls. A high class restaurant— He never once in his life went to a place like this, but he thought you deserved it, so he chose this location specifically just for you.
He notices a couple steeping past him—polished suit, silk
dress—moving like they belong there. The butler opens the door for them, they don't even hesitate, waiting for the service like it's routine.
This must be like going to a grocery store for them— an everyday reality. He slightly tilts his head down, gazing at the ground instead of the normal life around him. He stands there for a few seconds before his feelings are interrupted, his eyes lift at a familiar presence.
That's when his eyes subtly shine at the scene of you, standing in front of him with this beautiful outfit that only you would wear— that only he would recognize.
You speak before him, a smile spreads through your features as you reach for his hand shyly.
“Hey, Leon…” You stretch your toes up towards him.
“Hey,” He immediately reacts to your action— giving you a light peck on the lips, his eyes closing momentarily.
“Excited?” He says, whispering just for the both of you.
“I've been waiting to have this chance for a while now, so yes… Very.” You let go of his hand and step back, waiting for him to accompany you to the entrance. And he does—lifting his arm, offering for you to hold it, you gladly take it, squeezing his biceps briefly before you both step into the building— hesitating before the butler opens the glass door for them.
“Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?” The butler asks, his tone professional and clean.
“I— Excuse me?” He turns to you, looking as confused as he is.
“Dear, did you make a reservation?” You ask gently, your other hand reaching his arm to lightly squeeze it.
“...No I— Sorry, I didn't know it worked this way here. Can't we wait for a table?” He turns to the butler, wishing for a solution to be possible.
The butler tilts himself lightly while closing his right arm across his torso. His tone had a hint of pity. “I'm terribly sorry, sir. This establishment only makes reservations.”
“Right,” Leon sighs, giving up and guiding you to leave with him. “Apologies for the inconvenience, we will be leaving...” You both hesitate once again before the butler opens the glass door— the cold chill of the outside world hits the both of you with no mercy. When you turn to talk to Leon, you notice his hair is a mess from the sudden wind.
“Pfft…” You try holding it, but eventually you start uncontrollably laughing, you've never seen Leon like this— it's actually really… intimate.
Leon smiles as well, dropping his head with a low chuckle coming out of him— he adjusts his hair and grabs his keys.
“Let's go somewhere else.” He suggests. And you quickly nod, still chuckling.
You both enter his car, once comfortable, you ask tentatively if you could play a few songs, he allows without hesitation— you both enjoy the quiet companion from each other until your next destination. He parks at a much more humble establishment, written across the entry sign “Greedy Pig“ with faintly flickering flashing LEDs. You smile at the sign, wondering how Leon knows this place. You put your hands on the handle to leave the car, Leon stops you from doing so “Let me open it,” he says, quickly leaving the car, closing the door behind him and walking to the other side, smoothly opening the door for you like a true gentleman.
“Why, thank you.” You take his offered hand to leave and he gently closes the door behind you.
“I hope you don't mind the location, I used to come here when I was in university.” He looks bittersweet at the establishment.
“Wait, really?” Your tone comes out louder, excited. Leon introduces you to a world he used to live before meeting you and piques your interest.
“You sound excited,” His lips lifted slightly. "It's been a long time since I last came here.” He gazes at the place once more before finally going for it, wishing for the best— at least for the same greasy burgers from back then.
Leon again acts like a gentleman, opening the door for you to enter—You thank him with a smile, already looking around the place, one Leon used to visit. The place isn’t packed, but not empty either. A small group in the back, a few scattered customers, and one or two couples. But that isn’t the first thing you take note of, it’s the condition of the establishment. The walls’ paint is worn, color pale and the light on the ceiling flickers every few seconds.
You push it aside the moment you look at Leon, normally he’s unreadable— but he’s most definitely disappointed with the quality of the place nowadays. He notices you looking at him , waiting for his opinion “This place has seen better days.”. He says before grabbing the menu on the counter, you follow behind him to see what they have.
He scoffs “They didn't change one single thing, huh?”, then he points at a specific burger in the menu called “Fat Cow”.
“I used to order this one with big french fries. It was pretty great, wanna give it a go?” He turns to you, feeling your heart beat for a millisecond from the proximity before answering.
“Sure, what could go wrong in a burger with 3 meat layers?” You shrug before heading to the cashier with him. It was empty, so he approached to see if someone would appear.
“I can't hear anything from the kitchen, strange.”
“Let's sit down, maybe it's one person on the shift today.”
He questions why they would have one person working on a weekend, but ignores and decides to follow you to the table, his eyes scanning the place before sitting down.
“So, what did you think of the music?” You add your forearms to the table, getting comfortable. You know Leon is a man of little words— and you understand, so you always start the conversation first.
“In the car? It was actually interesting, I didn't think you’d be into that.” He answers before getting himself comfortable as well.
You chuckle and continue your conversation with the man, and time flies by easily, but that wasn't a problem. The problem was that no single waiter came to take your orders.
“Do they usually take this long?” You ask, concerned.
“No, not really…Let me go check.” Leon gets up and heads to the cashier, to his luck, he makes eye contact with a worker inside the kitchen, that same worker calls someone from there— A waiter appears from the back room with a cigarette in hand, he sighs and puts it out, likely to finally take his order. Approaching, a tired tone leaves the man's lips—as well as some left off smoke from the cigarette.
“May I take your order?” Says the unprofessional waiter, being the complete opposite of the last establishment they’ve been to.
“Good evening, two Fat Cow’s and two big fries, please…Oh, and it’s to go.” He was going to stay, to enjoy the nostalgic location with his girlfriend, but he prefers it’s better if they eat somewhere else.
“Uhuh…That will be $33,96. Something to drink?”
“Two cups of iced water for table 4.” He asks in case you're thirsty from talking.
“Hm…That changes it to $37,96.”
He pays and goes back to his table, sighing once sitting down— that waiter smelled of cigarettes, not that he’s not used to it, he just wasn’t expecting it.
“Did something happen?” You read Leon’s mildly distressed fatigue, worried.
“This place is completely different, the workers used to recognize me the moment I came in…Now they're just…off.”
You gaze down, pensive of what to say. “Things can change, for the better or the worst…” You feel his gaze on you, a hint of guilt hitting him.
Quickly changing pace, reaching for his hand across the table. “But it’s alright, you didn’t know. Next time we’ll just go somewhere else.” You smile gently, trying to reassure him.
It thankfully works, making him slip out one of his horrible jokes.
“Yeah… I really know how to pick romantic spots, huh?” That takes a sincere laugh out of you, you always enjoyed his humorous side. You could see your laughter affect him, making him smile as well.
Both of you yet again see time fly by. His company, even if mostly quiet, is very much enjoyable, you couldn’t stop but notice he listens to everything you say, asking about one thing or another about the conversation. It made you feel appreciated.
Briefly checking the time made you both notice you’ve been waiting for your food for around 40 minutes, from the edge of your vision, you see Leon frown slightly. Not even the water they asked came.
“I’ll be back.” Not thinking twice, he gets up, once more having to see what’s making them take so long. He rapidly reaches the counter, this time leaning in a bit, trying to make his attendance obvious. Losing all his luck from last time, he waits for around two minutes before someone appears. This time it’s someone else.
“How can I help you, sir?” This time, faintly more professional than the last person. His manners make Leon back down and regain his patience.
“I ordered 40 minutes ago… something go wrong back there?”
“O-oh, so your order from table 4. The guy that was here left half an hour ago without any explanation, and since he was the only chef to come in today, we’re having some difficulties in the kitchen.” The worker nervously explains the situation, and from every word that came from him, Leon could feel his fist get a little tighter.
He breathes in before speaking “ Then you should probably close for the night,” He pauses before remembering another request “and warn us about the occurrence.” He says smoothly.
“You’re right, sir, forgive us.” The worker fidgets his apron, avoiding Leon's gaze.
“Can I at least have a refund? I bet it will still take a while to finish our order under these conditions.” He says, already thinking of somewhere else to take his date.
“Oh…Well—yes, let me do that for you.” The worker rapidly goes to the cashier, giving him his refund before apologizing again, Leon pushes it aside and heads back to his table, kind of defeated.
“So? Is it ready?” You say, expectation hitting your hunger.
“We’re leaving, they had an apocalypse in there, we won’t be getting our order until the end of it.” He dryly jokes before heading to the entrance, opening the door for you to leave.
“Oh…Well, guess we’re going somewhere else then?” You leave, already turning to look at him.”
Closing the door behind him, he finds you already looking at him, waiting for an answer he still hasn't found.
He exhales quietly.
“I…don’t know where we’ll go from here” Leon doesn't usually feel lost— on the contrary, he almost always knows exactly where to go. But in a situation like this, the feeling is unfamiliar to him.
“It’s fine, we’ll find a place to go—” You interrupt yourself when you turn around, from afar, you see flashy colorful lights and a farris wheel, which catches your attention immediately.
You point at it, before glancing at Leon, interest sparkling in your eyes. “How about there?”
He swore his heart skipped a single beat he saw the twinkle in your eyes, his reaction is subtle, and so is his fondness showing on his features afterward. He breathes out a laugh before speaking.
“The amusement park? Sure.”
“Was that a laugh? You're not laughing at me right?” You step closer, questioning his reaction, knowing little to how much he thought it was simply adorable to see you excited.
“No— No, I'm not. I swear.” He chuckles before looking at you tenderly, his icy eyes piercing you and his gentle smile provoking your face to get warm, your eyes glance directly at his lips without thinking. He notices.
“Are you that hungry?” His teasing tone and his charming smirk catches you off guard, and it wakes you from your thoughts, your evidently blushing. You quickly avoid his gaze and turn around, already heading to the car.
“Pfft—Stop being an idiot, c’mon.” You divert your embarrassment before entering the car, his instincts opening the car with his keys before you open it.
“Idiot, huh?” He laughs softly before entering the car as well. Already turning his keys to head to their new destination.
There, the first thing Leon notices is the loss of population— there's barely anyone, it makes him feel a bit conscious, but he puts that aside the moment he hears the excitement in your tone.
“Leon, let's go on the Ferris Wheel! It looks beautiful…It's been a long time since I've been in one.” You drag him by the arm, but you stop suddenly, causing him to bump on you—”Oh, sorry. It's just that… There's Cotton Candy, and—”
“And want some?” He grabs your hand gently, his lips lightly upward, he's feeling a bit more forward, it was rare for him to do PDA, and you gladly accept it— by being shy.
“I…Yes.” You smile to yourself but you're sure he saw it, because he chuckles before heading to the cotton candy tent with you.
“Good evening, couple.” The worker at the tents asks nicely. At the tent, there were multiple colors on display, including blue, white, pink and yellow. By the time Leon turns to you, you're decided.
“Good evening— Which one do you want?”
“That one.” You point lightly at the color you desired, the worker immediately starts working on making the one you've chosen.
“And when was the last time you came here?” Talking to Leon is easy— easier than it should be, knowing more about his life, which, truthfully, isn't much at all. The day he said he worked for the government, you tried your best to never push further. It made you worry though.
But you trust him, you believe he will sooner or later tell you about his job…his secrets.
“Me?...Used to come here with some guys from college, but it was nothing special…They would get easily bored and head to drinking, something that wasn't my thing at the time.”
“Don't be such a liar.” Your playful tone slips.
He rolls his eyes, leaning back slightly.
“Wow. Took you, what— five seconds to doubt me?” He tilts slightly towards you, a smirk displayed. “I’m hurt.”
You laugh for a bit, and you hear your partner chuckle as well.
“Here you go, miss.” The worker carefully delivers the brand new cotton candy to your hands, you quickly reach, grabbing it cautiously. “Thank you.”
“We better eat somewhere after this,” Leon heads to pay for the cotton candy while you grab a tiny piece with your fingers. “You can't eat cotton candy for dinner.”
“You're sweet, Leon,” You reassure him before taking a bite. “Don't worry, we'll find somewhere to eat.” The sugary taste makes your tongue flutter while it melts through it. The taste of childhood hits you nostalgicly.
You stretch your cotton candy towards Leon, offering him some.
“I'm good, not much into sweets.”
You swallow before saying” Ah, the bitter type of guy. Black coffee and whiskey on the same glass.”
“How did you know?” He reciprocates at your playful tone, you're adorable like this…yourself.
You smirk before heading for another bite, but the moment it hits your mouth, you feel a wet drop hit your skin. You confusedly look around, then up.
The sky that was once brightened with stars was suddenly dark and gray.
“Was that rain?...” You look at Leon to see if he felt it as well.
He's…already looking at the sky, and you've never seen him so wistful.
The rain suddenly drops, getting heavier by every second.
“Leon?...” You call for him, already feeling the rain wetting your clothes, then your face as you take a step closer to him.
He doesn't answer, so you call for him again, this time touching his arm lightly. Your cotton candy was long melted by the rain on your other hand
The moment your touch connects— his head abruptly turns towards you.
You startle, causing the cotton candy stick to fall to the ground, his eyes are slightly wide, like you woke him up from a deep daze.
That daze fades away quickly, and before you knew it, you were being dragged by the arm, running across the park from the rain. He tried covering you, but you were already soaked.
The rain comes down harder, soaking through your clothes in seconds as you both rush toward the street.
Leon stays close—too close—his hand hovering near your back like he’s ready to pull you at any moment. You step off the curb first.
Then—A sharp light cuts through the rain.
Bright. Fast.
Too fast.
“—Wait.” His voice comes out low, but urgent.
Before you can react, his hand snaps around your wrist, yanking you back against him.
A car speeds past right where you stood—tires slicing through water, a loud honk tearing through the air as it passes.
Your breath catches.
Leon’s grip tightens for half a second longer than necessary, his arm still wrapped around you, holding you in place.
“Fucking asshole,” he mutters under his breath, eyes still fixed on the road.
Only then does he let go.
When you both finally cross the street , you still wait a few seconds for Leon to get his keys on his rain-soaked pants. You enter after he unlocks it, propping yourself on the seat completely soaked, the rain outside pouring heavily against the windshield, you stare outside, reflecting on everything that happened up until now.
“Pfft—”
A laugh slips out before you could hold it.
“That cotton candy couldn't stand a chance,” you say breathless,shaking your head ”Leon, we are crazy unlucky. This whole evening's been a mess!” You finished laughing, glancing at Leon, who hasn't said anything yet.
Your laughter fades away the moment you look at him.
He's frowning, jaw tight, his intense gaze fixed beyond the rain. His hand rests on the steering wheel—too still, too tense.
“Leon?” You ask, softer this time. ”Are you oka—”
He abruptly holds the steering wheel tighter.
“Why can't anything just go right for once!?” The words come out sharp, louder than you’ve ever heard from him.
You freeze.
He exhales roughly, dragging a hand through his soaked hair, pushing it back before gripping it for a second, like he’s trying to hold something in place.
“Why can't I—” He cuts himself off, shaking his head. “You—” He ends up looking at you, but avoids your gaze almost immediately.
You'd wait…Patiently.
“I-I just…Wanted a normal fucking date…” He mutters, his throat dry. “I just wanted everything simple…”
Your chest tightens at the way his voice drops on that last word.
“Leon, I never said our date, or you—had to be normal.”
“But you deserve that.”
You both pause.
“A normal life—I…just can’t give you that."
The rain fills the silence between you.
“We don’t have to be normal, Leon—you don’t need to be normal…You're great the way you are, the whole evening you’ve been trying to make the best out of our date,” You reach to touch his arm gently. He slowly looks at your hand, then at you.
“And that doesn't mean it's over.”
Your thumb brushes lightly against his sleeve.
Something in his expression shifts— just slightly. Enough to lessen the tension. He lets out a breath, a quiet, tired sound.
”Where will we go then?...Bingo?”
A small smile tugs at your lips.
“It’s not midnight yet.” You tap his thighs playfully before unlocking the door. “Let me drive.”
“Wha—” Before he could question your decision, you already left the car, closing the door on him. He sees you running to the other side, and he quickly changes to the passenger seat.
You rapidly enter before the rain soaks you again—turning on the car, easily driving out of that place.
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
Arriving at your house, the rain has given mercy enough for the both of you to enter. You lazily throw your keys and bag across the table close to the entrance.
Leon on the other side, is hesitantly taking his first step into your home, he's never been there, it's distinctly…You—warm and welcoming, it really feels like ‘home’.
He looks around. Everything feels new. It's yours, it's where you live, it's where you rest, it's where you find yourself shedding tears, where you're privately by yourself. He had this strange unfamiliar urge to be part of it.
His third step comes forward while taking in all your decorations and furniture, analyzing every little detail, wondering why you've chosen every single one.
His thoughts are interrupted by your welcoming tone, it's now more casual, he likes the sound of it.” Come in already, you're looking like a scarecrow.” You have a towel and a shirt in hand, you stretch your hand slightly, offering it to him. “This is the biggest shirt I have, feel free to take a bath.”
”Make yourself at home, take a bath, sit down on the sofa and get comfortable while I prepare us some popcorn.” You say while walking to the kitchen.
“Popcorn? So we're watching a movie?” He asks after you turn the corner.
“Yeah!” He only hears you yelling and confirming his thoughts. He chuckles to himself before making his way to take a bath.
In the bathroom, he enters already looking around. Your choice of structure, products and minimalistic decorations makes his stomach flutter. He doesn't want to seem like a creep so he quickly takes off his clothes and takes a quick warm shower. It completely relaxes his muscles and a bit of the stress he's been holding for the evening.
Leon leaves fresh and clean from the bathroom, and the first thing you glance from the sofa is your tight shirt glued to his body, showing his toned built up body. You realize you stared too long, because when you look at his face, he's smirking, already opening his mouth to tease the hell out of you.
“My turn!” You rapidly pass through him with your towel, closing the bathroom door before he could try catching up on you.
Ah, now he's the one staring once you come out. Your hair is wet, causing your skin to shine from drops coming from it, your shape makes such a beautiful silhouette, and your beautiful eyes— are shy… So adorable he couldn't handle but to get up and start heading towards you, gently grabbing your waist and kissing your cheek. Your heart was threatening to leave through your mouth.
“You're beautiful.” It was so sincere, so simple, so soft— it was everything you could feel good about.
“Then I don't have words to describe you.” You look deeply into his icy blue eyes, for once— they are gentle and at ease.
You kiss his cheek as well before going to the sofa. you prop yourself in it like you always do, getting comfortable with the pillows around it. You tap your hand on the seat by your side, waiting for him.
He breathes out a laugh before sitting down by your invitation. You grab the large bowl of popcorn, and you play the movie.
By the time it reached half of the movie, he was laying down , his hand on your waist, holding you passionately, and your head was on top of his chest, your mind slowly falling into a deep slumber.
Him on the other hand, was looking at you— all of you, thinking about the whole event of that evening.
He didn't need to try being “normal”.
He just needed this...Being with you was more than enough.
His eyes are heavy, his mind going blank for once.
He glances at the clock on the wall.
It's almost midnight.
He smiles before his eyes slowly close on their own— from exhaustion? No…from warmth and peace.
The heat that came from your body, your breathing, it all soothed him enough to fall into this peaceful night.
For once, he sleeps—his mind finally quiet.