Epilogue

I blinked through the dark.

Maybe I was just seeing things but I thought I saw him standing in front of my house with luggage scattered all over his feet. He was facing the door so I couldn’t really be sure. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me.

“Is that…” I started to say, my heart hurtling into a frantic race. I jumped out of the car before Nathan could go on and on about all the favors he did for me, my knees weakening as I tried to steady my gait. My breath was caught on my throat but I managed to shout with a hoarse voice.

“Leon!”

If he heard me, he didn’t let any sign show.

“Leon… Leon!” I called again, this time louder as I stumbled across the road, not blinking. I was afraid that if I even blink, he’d suddenly disappear. Still, he didn’t turn around to look at me.

Maybe he was just a desperate product of my imagination. He just stood there looking at the door as if to wait for something. It was driving me crazy not knowing if he was real or not. I could hardly see through the tears in my eyes. Even in my imagination he wouldn’t look at me and it was just so frustrating.

“Leon!” I shouted one last time and when he didn’t move, I hurled the demo CD to his direction. Some part of me expected the CD to pass right through the illusion and smash onto the door. Most of me hoped it wouldn’t.

“Ow!” the Leon in my delusion winced, rubbing the back of his head, ruffling his dark hair. When he turned around to face me, there was a fierce look on his stunning blue eyes. In an instant, they widened with surprise.

The weird thing about delusions is that they look so real, you wouldn’t even know the difference. The delusionary Leon pulled something from his ears. I noticed they were earpieces connected to a music player.

“I was wondering where that went,” he said eyeing the demo CD on the grassy lawn. “But if you don’t want it, you could’ve just said so.” His face dimmed; almost melancholic as he picked it up from the ground.

With a bewildered look, I stepped closer to him examining him intently. Maybe I wasn’t just imagining him. He looked so astonishingly real. All of a sudden, Leon averted his eyes from me and started to walk away.

“I—I’ve something… to say!” I yelled in panic, so afraid that he would disappear anytime. My mind was cluttered with so many words and blank at the same time. When he took another step away from me I impulsively blurted, “You’re a liar!” flinching a little as his blue eyes smouldered on me. “You think you’re so cool just because you’re some kind of a superstar!?” I yelled again when I noticed that it got his attention.

Leon took a step closer to me, his eyes narrowing into slits as frustration took over the hesitant look on his faultless features. “What?”

“You drive like a maniac!” I screamed at him, feeling so small as his shadow loomed over me. I swallowed hard and stifled a whimper that had been choking me. “And you’re brother’s even more of a maniac! And you’re stupid! So stupid… to fall for… someone like… like me…” My voice broke in all the wrong places as a single tear rolled down on my cheek.

Leon shook his head, eyes glowering at me, probing then hesitant, almost pleading. His fists clenched as his shoulders tensed. Something in me weakened.

I bit my lip. “And most of all… I won’t forgive you! Never… ever… if you… disappear again,” I said softer than a whisper.

Before I could say more, he darted to me faster than I could have imagined and folded his arms around my nape. I buried my face on his chest and let the tears fall. My heart skipped a beat when he leaned over to kiss me on the forehead, leaving me breathless.

He was real. It was my Leon.

“I warned you before. Did you think I’d give up just like that?” He smiled fixing his gaze on me. For a while I lost myself in his enigmatic eyes. “No matter how you throw me I’d come right back, new and improved.” With his fingers, he brushed the tears from my face.

Cringing infinitesimally, I threw him an accusing look. “Then why would you be thinking of going to London and not coming back?”

From a distance, I heard Nathan’s signature mad-scientist laugh. Leaning on Arthur’s car, he doubled over, chortling to his heart’s content as though he had never seen anything that was more hilarious.

When I lifted my eyes to Leon, he had his lips pressed tightly together as though he was holding back a smile. Soon enough, his melodic laughter filled the air.

As was expected, his brother Nathan had duped me once again. I was positive that he found my misery entertaining. Grudgingly, I punched Leon on the arm. It still plastered a smile on my face though, knowing that they could actually get along.

“Hey, I got no part in it. It’s all him.” He raised his arms in defence before he embraced me so tightly that I almost forgot how to breathe. “It’s your fault for being so gullible,” he whispered on my ear, it made me froze. “It’s your fault for being so wonderful. And tell me, how can I go when I know that you’ll be lost and miserable without me?”

I punched him again. “You are so full of yourself! Nathan said you’ve gone insane so—“

“Shut up.” He tugged me closer to him, a buoyant smile playing on his face. It warmed my heart just looking at him. Slowly, he lowered his head to meet my eyes and gave me a lingering kiss that made me want to believe in happy endings, unicorns, fairies…

Ugh. What am I saying? Well, you get the point.

Before my knees collapsed, he caught me on the waist and parted with my lips. I was left gaping and stunned by his mere presence that never failed to knock the wind out of me. My smile must’ve been ten feet wide. I must’ve looked like a total idiot. But it didn’t matter because I was the happiest girl in the world and I knew I always will be. As long as I’m with him.

“You are the most insecure, self-torturing, pig-headed girl I have ever known, you know that?” he muttered curbing a smile.

“I get that a lot… from you,” I mumbled stupidly. “Leon?”

“Yes?”

I let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m stupid and… yeah, well… pretty much stupid.”

A light laugh left his lips making me tremble. The fluttering in my stomach worsened making me nauseous. “I’ve learned to accept that long time ago,” he jeered.

Grudgingly, I looked up to him glaring, accidentally bumping my forehead onto his chin but I ignored it as he winced in pain. I bump my head a lot so I guess I just got used to it.

“Oh sure, let’s all make fun of the stupid girl,” I groaned as he pulled me in.

“Oh, for the love of—just say it already,” he muttered impatiently.

“What?”

“That you love me.” A playful smile trailed on his lips.

I looked him in the eyes, my head whirring with the pounding in my chest. “I’ll never…” I began, noticing his eyes narrow infinitesimally. “I’ll never love anyone more than I love you.”

His smile widened at a dangerous level to the point of dazing me.

“I love you more.” Leon leaned over slowly to kiss me again, this time, with an intense look about his eyes that sent my head spinning. I kissed him back, as though telling him that we’d always be this way.

I would never want anything else in my life more than him. And as long as we’re together, I knew that we would find reason to smile every day. And that’s just my endorphins speaking. Maybe happy endings can be real. It just depends on how you look at things. But as they say, we can’t have all the “and they lived happily, ever after,” and be done with it. We don’t get to skip the messy bits because life is the messy bits.

I didn’t need to look through my old nerdy glasses to get a twenty-twenty vision and see how lucky I am for having Leon. I mean, glasses? That was so two years ago. I spent most of my life thinking about relativities, categories of people and their chances for happiness. Though it is a fact that people still call me Nerdy despite my many failed attempts for personality enhancements and make-overs, I realized that it didn’t matter what they think. Yes, I’ve changed a lot about myself—ditched the nerdy glasses and the dorky clothes, learned to talk and sometime, think in an unnerdy way, became the not so nerdy nerd—but I’m still me.

I can be a nerd… and much more. I can be happy if I choose to be.

“Hey, I brought your luggage by the way,” Leon said eyeing on the bags all over the front door. “Just arrived this afternoon when I drove Elle to the airport.”

It just occurred to me that we left our entire luggage in L.A. during our great escape from the press. Ugh. How could I be so slow?

So that was why he went to the airport. I should remember to thank Nathan for tricking me. He totally had me going with his little act—which was totally believable that I was beginning to think that he might have more potential in acting than his brother. If it weren’t for him, I would never have made up my mind and Leon would’ve actually gone to London. And poor miserable Nerdy would have to play scrabble by herself while eating fat-free yogurt for the rest of her pathetic existence… or jump from the top of a building—whichever comes first.

“Nathan!” I called out to him across the dark street. He didn’t answer but I knew he was still there, watching the fruits of his manipulative plot. “I’ll get you for this!” I trilled playfully.

“You’re welcome!” he yelled back.

That night, Leon and I stayed up late watching stars from the backyard. I sat on the grass leaning on Leon’s chest, my head on his shoulder with a smile plastered on my face. The flowers smelled wonderful during the night. His breath played on my hair as we watched Kidnap wrestle with the blue lilies, yapping furiously as he did.

“You scared me there,” I said nudging him lightly. “I thought you actually took off to London.”

He swallowed seeming to clear his throat. “Uh… that. I was planning to, but you know how Nathan exaggerates everything.”

I think I just swallowed my tongue. “You mean… you—“

“Are going to London, yes. Now that me and Nathan are getting along—sort of— I was thinking maybe I should sort things out with good old Mrs. Downing.” He sighed deeply and cupped my chin in his gentle hands. “But it wouldn’t be much fun without you so…”

Catching my breath, I gulped. “You do realize that I’m grounded for life, don’t you?”

“I know but…” His shoulders sagged, eyes filling with uncertainty. I hate it when he does that. It made me feel guilty for some unknown reason. Manipulative, pompous hustler! It was so unfair!

“Okay…” I mumbled nervously. I wasn’t so keen on meeting Camilla Downing anytime soon after all the things I’ve heard about her. But I wouldn’t let Leon go alone either. “But in one condition.”

“Anything,” he said as his perfect lips pulled up into a hopeful smile which made my heart go above the speed limit. “What is it?”

“You’ll know soon enough,” I said as he took my hand in his and touched it onto his soft lips.

“Okay,” his quiet laugh filled the air like chimes playing with the breeze. “One more thing… and I want you to be honest this time.” He cleared his throat in anticipation as I nodded. “Were you ever… I mean… was there ever a time when you got jealous because of Elle?”

My cheeks burned as if all the blood in my body just gushed up my face. “Err… I dunno. Why are you asking?”

“Just answer it,” he snapped resentfully. “So… were you jealous?” When I averted my eyes from him, he levelled his eyes to meet mine. “Come on, look at me. Admit it. Or else… I’ll kiss you.”

I shrugged off his hands, nervously dropping my head. Laughing, he grabbed both of my hands to restrain me from fidgeting but I kept on fighting back.

“It’s not funny, Leon!” I half laughed and yelled keeping my face away from him as he pretended to pucker his lips. I kept on struggling. I didn’t want him to know how jealous I had been to the point of raiding his dressing room and spying on him.

Before long, he already had me pinned down on the grassy ground. I tried to writhe from his grip but his mere presence weakened me.

Leon leaned closer to me smiling. “You were saying?”

I avoided his eyes and looked up at the starry skies. “Look! Meteorite!” I tried to distract him but he didn’t even blink as his face inched slowly until his lips were just one finger breadth away from mine. “Okay! I admit it! I was jealous! Happy now?” I blurted out before he got too close to the point that I felt like my heart would explode.

Leon sniggered quietly as he continued to lean closer and closer. “Hmm… I wonder,” he murmured, his sweet breath caressing my face.

My head was spinning. It made me forget how to breathe just by looking into his depthless eyes. Maybe it wasn’t enough revelation for him so I raved on like a scatter-brained imbecile.

“Okay! Okay! Very jealous… I sneaked into your dressing room during the concert and Becky faked an asthma attack—oh! That’s Ursa Major!” I pointed at the sky, hoping that it’d work this time.

“You are such a nerd,” he smirked before giving me a lingering kiss that I never wanted to end.

Nerd Dictionary

Asthma – a kind of sickness you don’t want to have

Ursa Major – a bear constellation which is sometimes mistaken for a toilet plunger

Constellation – a word that makes you want to look at the sky and connect the dots like a three-year old

Endorphins – the hormones excessive in Becky’s body; may cause severe giggling, maniacal laughter and occasionally, delusions

Lord Loss – a book all about blood and gore by Darren Shan

Nitrous oxide – the kind of gas that made Joker in Batman

Choke-slam – a wicked wrestling move that you don’t want me to try on you

Beagle – a breed of cheeky, neurotic dogs from planet Psycho

Mississippi – the most misspelled word in America

Altitude – a unit of measure used by jet pilots to sound cool

Integers – something in Math class that make you want to sleep

Never Never Land – some state in Europe near Belgium and Germany

Meteorite – flaming stuff falling from some alien toilet in outer space

Scrabble – a board game that could be dangerous for your brain cells

Author's notes:

*humming a tune while eating ice cream* Oh, didn't see you there. So as promised...

da da da DUM! ---- the epilogue.

If I forgot to include something in the dicionary please be free to point out.  So... I'll be stuck in the hospital for a couple of days maybe, (giving me more time to edit all of these and write and think about the bonus chapter and the new book, if any) and I hope to chat with soon :) Please continue supporting this story while I'm gone and let's all hope for the best!!!

I wanted to thank all of you people (believe me I wanted to mention all of you but the time won't allow me) for supporting this story til the very end. I hope that it made you smile, laugh, or cry or do a cartwheel or pull your hair out...(kidding) even the slightest. It couldn't have been possible to finish such story without all you amazing people.

And yeah... I love you all XD

Love, Peace and Biohazard,

~shim (from cloud 9)

PS-You might wanna check out my other story called Reapers :)
PPS- the sequel of this story is called HOW TO DATE A NERD