King's POV

Jess and I walked out of school together while we talked but as I looked up I saw Joey at the last second rounding the same corner Leo did every day after school. I remembered how pissed off he looked at Leo a few times after the race. Was he that pissed about it? No, that's just stupid.

Then, I remembered him yelling at his teammates that one day at some practice while I was on a run for Uncle Ben and something wasn't sitting right. I looked down at Jess who was talking about something that I wasn't listening to anymore.

"Hey, Jess, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow," I told her and didn't wait for a response as I quickly walked over to the road and waited for what felt like forever for the cars to pass so I could cross.

I ran but soon slowed myself a little. I could be wrong, he could just be walking to any of these small stores on this street. Then again, my gut feeling was never wrong. I'll just walk up the street and look around to make sure.

I saw a large group of people walking toward me and I walked faster, trying to see past them. Then the group moved into a store and there it was. Leo was laying on the ground and looked up with blood running down his chin while Joey was getting his leg ready for a kick.

"Shit!" I yelled and started running as I pushed a few people out of the way. I wasn't going to make it to stop the kick but I needed to-

“HONK!” I jumped to a stop when a truck pulled out for one of the side streets honking his horn at me.

He slammed on his brakes and yelled at me as I ran around the front of the truck to see Leo on top of Joey hitting him. Thank the gods, he can fight but I still needed to stop him as people were starting to gather around.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I heard Leo yell as I ran up quickly and grabbed his arm to stop him from bashing that asshole’s face in. "Let go for me!" He yelled at me as I pulled him off but he wasn't done yet. Leo was determined to get out of my arms and finish what Joey started.

Joey got up with blood dripping from his nose, fire in his eyes and the fucker thought he was going to cheap shot Leo with me holding him. My protective side kicked into high gear. I pushed Leo out of the way and grabbed his fist mid-swing, stopping him, and then closed my hand around it so he couldn't do something so stupid again.

"Let go of me you freak," Joey yelled at me and tried to pull his fist from my grip. I was much bigger than him and my hand completely covered his.

With a smile, I started tightening my hand. Calling me a freak doesn't bother me at all, people used to call me that all the time but I didn't care. No, what pissed me off was him hitting Leo and hurting him and that wasn't going to fly with me.

I squeezed harder as his face turned to pain and started to drop to his knees when I stepped closer. "I would leave if I were you before I break your whole fucking arm." I squeezed harder and heard a satisfying whimper leave his lips, making me want to hear more of his cries. "Then you can explain to your coach why you can't play whatever stupid game you play." And then I let go. It took everything in me to do that but I knew Leo was watching and I needed to control myself.

Immediately he pulled his hand to his chest in a hiss. "Fucking freak!" He yelled to me as he got back to his feet and ran off down the street.

Then I looked down at Leo who was still on the ground so I stuck my hand out to help him up again. I didn't mean to push him on the ground like that, I just needed him out of the way quickly so he didn't get hit again.

"What? Is everyone just following me home from school now?" He snapped and smacked my hand away. It really threw me off guard. "Why the hell are you here?" He was pissed as ever as he got up by himself.

"I saw him following you and looking pissed off so I came to make sure you were okay. Seems like I was a little late to the party," I smiled but he didn’t smile back as he grabbed his backpack off the ground and threw it on his back hard.

"I didn't need your fucking help. I don't need anyone's fucking help! Just… just go away and leave me the fuck alone! All of you!" He snapped looking at me then his dark eyes looked around at the people around us who quickly looked away before he pushed past me.

"I think a thank you would be more appropriate," I told him, getting a little offended that he was so pissed off at me for helping him.

"I think a fuck you works just fine," he spat back without stopping.

I couldn't let him go like that though. It was killing me to see him so pissed without a smile. I grabbed his arm to stop him and turned him around to face me. He was shaking, most likely from the adrenaline running through him from the fight.

"Are you okay Leo? Look at me," I asked him in a more soft but serious voice. He didn't answer as he looked up. I watched his eyes start to gloss over with tears. 'Oh no no no… Please don't cry Leo.' I said in my head. My heart melted right away.

I pulled him into my chest and wrapped my arms around his shoulder, holding him closely. "It's… it's okay Leo," I told him as he stood still for a moment but then I heard a sniffle and his arms came up around my sides, hugging me back. "It's okay," I told him again as I felt him melt a little more around me and he let out a small sob. My hand ran up the back of his head through his soft hair as I tried my best to comfort him.

Looking around, a few people were on the streets but I needed to calm Leo down because he was shaking badly and his breathing was out of control. I pulled him close with me as I stepped to the side of the building and backed him into the wall gently and pulled back just enough to take a look.

Leo let out a hiccup as he tried to inhale while I gently took his face between my hands and wiped his tears with my thumbs. "It's okay Leo. I won't let anyone hurt you," I promised him as he reached up, gasping for air, and opened his tear-filled eyes. I looked into them to see his eyes red and glossed over even more from all the tears, making the light blue in them pop out so much more. Fuck they looked so beautiful yet heartbreaking all at the same time as Leo just broke down in front of me like he lost all control of it completely.

"Everything's okay. Just breathe. Nice and slow, deep breaths." I inhaled through my nose making it loud for him to hear as he tried to follow. "Now out your mouth slowly." I blew the air out slowly to show him and he closed his eyes letting out a shaky breath.

I too closed my eyes, resting my forehead on his, and inhaled deeply with him, holding his head gently between my hands, still wiping the tears away. His hands rested on my wrists like it was the only thing keeping us there.

We stayed like that until his breathing smoothed and he stopped shaking so much. My hands still held his head to me with my eyes closed. The world just faded away as I felt myself calm completely down with him against me.

Leo pulled his head back a little and I opened my eyes to see him open his again too. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. He just really made me mad and you were just... there."

I straightened my back again and looked down at him. I didn't want to move my hands yet as I caressed his cheeks gently. At some point he had moved his arms around my waist, locking my lower half close against him.

"It's fine. I didn't take it to heart," I said warmly and smiled a little. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thank you," he said. "I really don't know what would have happened if you didn't show up."

"You're welcome, Leo." I pulled him back into a hug because one, I didn't want to let him go just yet and two, because if I didn't stop looking into his eyes I was going to do something stupid and I didn't want Leo to hate me.

He wrapped his arms around me tightly and we stayed like that for a while. I laid my head on top of his and closed my eyes, finding myself wishing we could be like this longer. It just felt so right and not all weird. Fuck, I wanted him closer to me.

The smell of almonds and something else hit my nose. I don't know what the other smell was but it smelled really good. Maybe it was his own personal scent. I heard people had that but I never cared to find out if it was true or not. Plus I don't get close enough to people to find out. I didn't even cuddle with the people I slept with in the past.

I know it's weird to smell people's hair. It's creepy as hell to me too but I really couldn't help it if my nose was right in his hair already as I rested my head on top of it. It made my heart beat faster.

Just then Leo pulled himself back with a look of horror on his face. "Oh shit!" He looked at his watch to see the time and his eyes widened. "Oh fuck! My… I’m so dead. I'm late. Fuck!" He started to panic and his breathing quickened again. "I… I'm really sorry King. I- I have to go." 

I didn't have a chance to say anything before he ran off. I watched him run across the street and into a small blue two-story house a few paces up the street. I grabbed my school coat which was still wet from his tears and tightened my fist around it. I didn't ever want to see that pained sadness on his face again and I think I'd do anything to make sure that never happens again.

"Fuck," I groaned at myself. "Am I really starting to get these kinds of feelings for him already?"