Ohmygodohmygodohmygod

   That was the only thing going through my mind as Leo continued to lead down the streets of New Orleans, my hand intertwined with his. My heart was beating against my ribcage while my face felt like it was on fire (and it probably looked like it too).

   I felt like I was in high school again; a love-struck teenager. But it feels too soon to be saying love. I've only known him for a day for christ sakes! But the butterflies I feel whenever he looks at me with those captivating eyes of his, they tell me otherwise.

   " Are you alright beloved? You're spacing out." Leo says with concern, snapping me out of my thoughts.

   " O-Oh! Sorry...I-I was just...thinking." I stutter a reply, feeling my face burn brighter (if that was even possible).  

   He nods his head and continues to walk," S-So...where are we going?" I ask, now curious about where Leo was leading me. 

   He turns his head, giving me a cheeky smile," You'll see~"

   I let out a huff of annoyance; I hate surprises. Always have, and always will.

   I continued to follow Leo mindlessly till we came upon one of the best cafes in the French Quarter: Cafe Beignet," I was going to take you to Cafe Du Monde, but they are usually over-crowded." Leo states, stopping in front of the three statues of legendary jazz musicians," I hope you don't mind."

   I shake my head, a smile finding its way onto my face," It's fine! I love this place anyways so..."

   " Want to sit down?" I nod and allow Leo to lead me to one of the many outdoor tables," Alright. What do you want to get?"

  I roll my eyes as I smile," Beignets of course," I say as if it's the most obvious thing in the world," and a coke if you please."

   Leo smiles, nodding his head before going over to the counter and ordering our food. I sit there at the table, a smile dancing upon my lips as I look around at the lovely scenery surrounding the cafe. I love coming here; it was less crowded and had a nice vibe to it. Plus their beignets are awesome. It's a little less crowded than usual, but that's probably because I usually come here at night when everyone is out partying and sight-seeing. 

   I tap my fingers against the table-top, humming a small tune as my thoughts begin to wonder...

   Worthless

   Weak

   Freak

   Those words begin to swim around in my mind, taunting me with the names my old bullies would call me. I felt tears prickle my eyes as I try to silence the voices," No no...shut up." I mumble, laying my head on my hands.

   I don't think I ever addressed it, but I suffer from depression and have a history of self-harm. Because of my 'abilities' to see spirits and my feminine-looking appearance, I was the main target for bullying. I never told my mom because she was always working trying to support the two of us (my father died before I was born) so I suffered in silence. I began self-harming around the age of ten, and my depression grew worse after my mother died driving home from work one night. I tried killing myself once, but Nolan had visited my house that day and found me suffocating with a rope tied around my neck as I hung on my ceiling fan. He saved me and informed my only other friends, Amy and Emily, about what happened. They were able to put me on anti-depressants and I have been cut free ever since. But that doesn't stop me from occasionally burning myself with my lighter, blaming it on my cigarettes when they see the burns. But that's why they are so protective of me at times and hate leaving me alone for more than a few days by myself.

   " Shit. I forgot to take the anti-depressants." I grumble, digging through my pant pockets in hope of finding the small bag that I bring everywhere, just in case. I let out a sigh of relief once I pull out my clear little bag of white pills. I pop one into my mouth, another sigh escaping me as I wait for the pill to work. I shut my eyes for a split second, smiling slightly as the voices begin to fade, feeling like myself again.

   " What do you have there?" I literally jump out of my seat in fright, a small screech escaping me," Wow! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, Angel."

   " O-Oh! It's nothing...just Advil, for the headaches." I mumble, stuffing my bag back into my pocket before my nose catches a whiff of the delicious beignets Leo was currently holding," Oo~ Smells good!"

   Leo chuckles at my reaction as he sits down beside me, placing the bag of hot, fresh beignets in front of me. I immediately grab one, taking a huge bite out of it before regretting my decision," HOT! VERY HOT!" I say with my bite of the beignet sitting in my open mouth as I wave my hand in front of it in hopes of cooling my burning mouth. Leo laughs at my misery, causing me to give him a non-threatening glare," Don't laugh; it was hot." I state once I'm finally able to chew, taking a quick sip of the coke Leo bought me.

   " Then why did you bite it if you knew it was hot?" Leo asks, amusement in his tone. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing came out," You're cute when you pout."

   I feel my face burn red," I-I'm not pouting!" I argue, crossing my arms on my chest.

   " You're body language says otherwise," Leo states, a small chuckle escaping him. I let out another huff of annoyance for the second time today before taking another bite of my beignet," Not to sound annoying or anything, but is that a tattoo?"

   I look down to see him pointing at my semicolon tattoo on the left side of my right hand," Oh, this? Yeah, I got it a while back." I reply as I finish eating my beignet.

   " Does it...mean anything?" He asks, intrigued by my small tattoo.

   I nod my head in response," It's apart of this thing called 'Project Semicolon'. It helps brings through their inspirational messages blogs, and other stuff. I got to show my support since I...have experience with it." I state, admiring my tattoo for a moment," Like, a semicolon is used when the author could've chosen to end their sentence but chose not to. The author is you, and the sentence is your life. Get what I mean now..?

   Leo nods," Yeah, that's just...deep." Leo replies, causing a laugh to escape me.

   " By deep you mean meaningful?" I ask with a slight smile. He nods his head in response," Yeah, well after I got it and showed the others my tattoo, Amy, Emily, and Nolan literally had a heart attack."

   Leo chuckles," I'm serious! They treat me like a baby sometimes..." I grumble before continuing," So I ended up having to explain why I got it. Amy then decided to force everyone into getting one as well, to support me and stuff."

   " That's sweet of them," Leo states.

   I nod my head in agreement," Yeah, it is. Even if Amy forced them to get it." Another laugh escapes Leo.

   We continue to chat, switching from my friends to his friends, which he was really close with like me. I eat two more beignets before I notice that Leo hasn't touched any of the food," Aren't you going to eat?" I ask, swallowing down my third beignet with a swig of my coke.

   Leo shakes his head," Nah, I'm fine. I bought them for you anyways." He replies, pushing the beignets towards me more," Go on. Eat as much as you like."

   I suddenly feel guilt gnaw at my stomach, losing my hunger for the beignets," Now you're making me feel bad..." I state,  pushing the bag away from me,"...and fat."

   " You have no reason to feel bad, Angel. I bought them for the purpose of you eating them." Leo states, giving me a reassuring smile which helps put me at ease," And if anything, you need them more than me; look at you! You're a stick." He states, poking at my stomach. But I was still shocked that he heard me mumble the last part,

   I sheepishly look away, wrapping my arms around my torso to prevent Leo from poking me again," W-Well I'm done." 

   Leo nods," Alright. Let's get a move on shall we?" He stands up, lending his hand out to me. I hesitate for a split second before grabbing a hold of his hand. He intertwines our fingers, making me blush red. Leo chuckles at my reaction before leading me to god knows where.

   He pulls me into one of the many VooDoo shops in New Orleans, looking and pointing at different objects inside. Though I got a creepy chill being in their, I found a lot of the stuff very interesting.

   We kept going in and out of shops, looking at all the different nicknacks inside. But I felt my craving start to burn inside me, the craving to have smoke to burn my lungs and have the smell of smoke fill my nose," Hold up Leo." I state, stopping before we entered another store.

   " What is it?" He asks as I dig through my back pant pocket, pulling out my cigarette pack and lighter," You smoke?" 

   I nod my head, pulling a cigarette out and sliding the pack back into my pocket. I place the cigarette to my lips and light it with my lighter, 'accidentally' burning my fingertips in the process. I take in a deep breath of smoke, allowing it to fill my lungs before releasing it," It helps me calm down." I state, staring at the people that walked by.

   " You know you'll get lung cancer. Or Laryngeal cancer. Or-"

   " Yeah yeah Mister Doctor. I know." I say in a care-free tone, rolling my eyes at Leo who continued to stare at me in concern. I take another puff, holding my cigarette between my index and middle finger as I release and watch the smoke fade into the wind," I can't help it."

   " Yes, you can. You just choose not to." Leo states, his tone now sound serious as he stared at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

   " Whatever," I say, taking in another puff before continuing," Why do you care anyway? You barely know me. We all die someday, as a doctor you should know that."

   I go to take another puff, but Leo snatches my cigarette away from I can," Hey! Give that back." I demand, reaching for my cigarette. Leo shakes his head, dropping the cigarette onto the floor before stepping on it," What a waste of a perfectly good cigarette! I was going to save that for later you know."

   I reach into my pocket and grab my cigarette pack, about to grab another one before Leo grabs a hold of my wrist, pinning my hand above my head on the wall behind me," What are you doing?! Hands off!" I demand, struggling to get out of his grip, but Leo had a grip of steel and wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled. I looked up to meet Leo's stern gaze, making my entire body freeze. Leo looked around, now noticing the people who were staring. He quickly pulled me into a nearby alleyway, taking my cigarette pack from my hands, It was then did I unfreeze from whatever spell he put on me," What the hell do you think you're doing?! Stealing my pack away...that cost $6 you know!"

   " Listen, Angel, I'm not just going to stand and watch and you put poison into yourself. You're going to kill yourself if you keep your habit up." Leo sternly states.

   " That's the point genius." I snap, regretting even opening my mouth when I see the look of shock come across Leo's face.

   " What do you mean by that? You want to kill yourself?" He questions, stepping closer to me. 

   I back up, and continue to back up till my back meets the brick wall behind me,"...Nevermind. Forget I said anything." I state, avoiding Leo's gaze.

   " But Angel-"

   " I said, forget about it, Leo." I grit out, feeling agitated by Leo's persistence. You could tell Leo wanted to protest but decided to keep his mouth shut instead," Now give me back my cigarettes."

   Leo was reluctant but gave them back anyways. I went to grab them, but Leo grabs a hold on my wrist once more with his other hand," Just...promise me something."

   " Depends," I say, feeling irritated.

   Leo sighs and looks down at me with pleading eyes," Try to quit. Please. You have people around you who love and care for you and don't want you to leave them early in life." He states, my anger vanishing at the sight of Leo sad. Guilt now gnaws at me as Leo continues," I've seen many people like you end up in the hospital because of smoking. And I remember them telling me how much they regret it and how they didn't want to leave their families and friends."

   My heart aches painfully in my chest as I look away from Leo shamefully, feeling small tears crease my face," F-Fine. I promise." I state, avoiding Leo's gaze as much as possible as I tried to wipe my tears away.

   Leo smiles and cups my cheek, turning my head to where I'm facing him as he brushes my tears away with the pads of his thumbs," Thank you..." was what he said before he leaned down and captured my lips with his. The kiss was a shock to me, but I slowly melted into it anyway. I could feel the emotions radiate from Leo: fear, worry, admiration, love...

   When we finally pull away, I slide my cigarette pack back into my back pocket and begin to walk back onto the street with Leo beside me. As we walk, I can feel Leo's hand brushing against my own. I look up and see him looking down at me. Pink dusted his cheeks as he looks away sheepishly, causing a small laugh to escape me," You didn't ask to hold my hand the last couple of times, what's stopping you now?" I ask in a playful tone as I smile up at him.

   " I-I...nevermind." He says before his hand grabs a hold of mine, our finger once again intertwining with each other. I feel my face burn red, but smile as we continued walking.