Chapter Dedication: @authorayla, thank you for the lovely comments! Hope you enjoy this one!

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He sucked in a deep breath as she dabbed the cold, stinging wipe onto the scratch in an attempt to clean his wound.

It wasn't too big thankfully, the bullet had just scratched his skin a little too deeply but it wasn't something he needed to go to the hospital for. He hated the hassle and attention the hospital would give him. He would have to answer a lot of unnecessary questions and fill out extensive amounts of forms so he rather allowed Maria to clean him up to avoid all of that.

He didn't need stitches which he was grateful for. Maria wasn't an expert at cleaning wounds but she knew the basics of first aid. When Leonardo was a child, having the family doctor to stitch him up was a common occurrence and he hated having them every time because they would open right up not too longer afterwards.

Leonardo tensed up slightly as she gently smoothened the cold cream against his skin. It stung like hell but he was trying to keep in the pain. The scratch wasn't even that big and yet he could feel the tinges of ache throbbing all over his arm. He distracted himself with the feeling of her delicate, soft hands against his skin, her touch leaving tingles of butterflies in him. Her moisturised hands were a lot smaller than his and in stark contrast to his own. They were extremely smooth, her nails were clean, short and manicured, baby pink polish covering them. He was watchful of how her hands moved around his arm.

She wasn't saying anything because she was too focussed on the lines running in random directions on his arm above all the visible veins threatening to break out of his skin whilst cleaning the wound.

Many of them were recent. She could see the variety red stripes across his arm, some were deeper and more merlot than others, tarnishing the skin around into a berry like colour as a reaction to the cuts. Maria grimaced a little at the thought of the pain of those cuts; the carmine colour of them rubbed her in the wrong way. She could imagine how painful they would've been especially since he had done it to himself.

She didn't want to make him uncomfortable, she knew she was staring way too much at the vermeil lines but she couldn't stop herself. Maria contemplated on why he had done such a thing to himself. Once again, she could see the extent to how much he was suffering mentally.

She wanted to shout at him and question him on why he was doing that. It was clear some were recent decisions. But at the same time, she felt like wailing and comforting him, wishing she could wipe away each and every line to heal him. How helpless and distraught he must have been feeling to do such a thing to himself.

Wrapping around the bandage over his injury, she bit her bottom lip hard, concentrating on the scars. She hadn't even realised that she was cutting the blood supply off to his arm until Leonardo placed his free hand on top of hers. Parting her lips in surprise, she looked down at the bandage and realised how tightly she had been wrapping it.

"Sorry," she quickly mumbled without looking at him, unravelling it again. She pulled out a new one and focussed more that time, carefully wrapping the fabric around him. He noticed her diminished state and stared at her with peculiarity as to why she looked so depressed.

"It's done," Maria quietly said, a large frown across her face as she moved her hands away from his arm. He moved a little to adjust himself on the bed whilst she placed the bandages away into the kit.

Maria then stood and opened the drawer besides her bed where she had kept an ointment she bought months before. Sitting back before Leonardo while unscrewing the lid, she held his hand and pulled up his long sleeve, exposing another batch of lines across his arm.

Hesitating slightly, she finally quietly asked, "doesn't it hurt?" His eyes met her concerned ones and he instantly recognised her sadness for him. He was glad that what she was feeling wasn't pity, something he despised. She was always sincere about her emotions and never played around with his. He knew that she was deeply perturbed about his scars yet wanted to once again push her away but he couldn't.

He dropped his eyes and didn't respond which lead to Maria pushing out the ointment onto his skin and lightly spreading the cream across his skin, her warm hands moving above the bumps and scars he had embedded into his skin. She hoped that would heal them even a little bit and couldn't bear the thought of leaving him with nothing on his arms.

"Stop punishing yourself, Leo." Her gentle voice was so dulcet and genuine. Leonardo felt his heart drop; it was as if she had read the scars and heard his cries. He watched carefully as she softly rubbed the ointment onto his skin and felt relaxed in her presence. Her mere words were enough for him to consider never placing a blade against his skin again. "It pains me to see you doing this to yourself." He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing roughly as he composed himself, feeling the tinge of tears beginning to build in his eyes.

"I remember you used to lock yourself in your bathroom," Maria began, her finger gently rubbing circles across his skin to spread the cream. "And do this to yourself whenever you felt like you did something wrong. Are these times you feel like you've done something wrong?" He opened his eyes and watched her hands. He didn't want to open up to her, he didn't want her to know that he was still battling the same demons that followed him since he was child. He didn't want to be her burden.

But it slipped out. "There's a lot of things I regret." Her eyes snapped over to his at his words, both eyebrows raising. She wanted to explore them more and go over the boundary between them.

"What have you done wrong, Leo?"

Being with you is what he thought as his heart pounded heart against his chest. He didn't answer and she got the sense that he wouldn't as he looked away. She moved onto the other arm and started adding some ointment around the bandage. The marks were everywhere and she was sure there were some hidden under his shirt but Maria knew she wouldn't be able to get it off him.

"You're beautiful," she told him, making his heart beat faster. "So don't draw these cuts as a way of punishing yourself. When you're ready to tell me, I'll be here. If you feel the need to hold a blade, I'll be here." She closed the lid of the tube and wiped her hands on the small towel beside her before looking into his eyes and genuinely saying, "I'm here. Please don't hurt yourself, Leo."

Her comfort was overwhelming for him. He struggled to maintain the emotionless, detached facade he kept on every single day. Her face was so close to his, he could feel the intensity of her kind eyes gazing at him. He struggled to breathe properly, his heart rate increasing rapidly by each second. His eyes dropped down momentarily to her lips, slightly parted. So smooth, tinted with rouge. They looked soft to touch, sweet to taste. She could sense it, his rigid demeanour beginning to dissolve.

Her chest was starting to feel tight as she realised his attention wasn't on her eyes. Leaning in slightly, his warm lips brushed against hers as he hesitated to fully kiss her. Her eyes gently closed, waiting for the moment he would finally fully taste her until her mind suddenly drifted back to the heated discussion in the office.

Unexpectedly, she turned her head, fixtating her eyes back onto her fingers that were fidgeting on her lap as he moved back. Leonardo looked down at her in confusion, he thought the feelings were reciprocated and wished to kiss her. She however, didn't just want to be his moment's pleasure. Maria looked back up at him seriously, "you hurt my feelings the other day." His heart dropped at the sight of her cold eyes. She shuffled away slightly though she secretly still wanted to kiss him.

"I'm. . .sorry," he genuinely replied, his eyes softening at her words as he felt the familiar ache of regret in his chest. Maria didn't want to divulge any further. She quickly shifted the conversation, feeling incredibly warm, "were you. . .were you annoyed when Francis kissed me?" Maria suddenly asked in a quiet voice, apprehensive as to what he would reply with. She could remember the way he held onto her waist that evening, his cold words towards Francis.

It did annoy me - it annoyed me so fucking much that I wanted to rip his tongue out and burn it to ashes was what Leonardo was thinking. The fury was building in him. "No, not at all," he lied in a lighter tone before he cleared his throat, looking away as he could feel the rage from earlier that evening. "Like I said, there's nothing between us."

It felt like he had shot an arrow to her heart. She turned her head a little, feeling as though she couldn't handle looking at him. That's not what seems to me five seconds ago she thought at his mixed signals.

He brushed off her words, "but it unnecessary. .people might think we're involved with them," he added, quickly although his words seemed to be to assure himself.

She shrugged, feeling playful. "I don't think so. I'm sure it was fine," she nonchalantly replied, the corner of her lips slightly raised at the sound of his uncertain yet stern words.

"It was a public event," he continued, unnecessarily, his tone more serious as he stared at her in disbelief. "It was too much. In fact, you shouldn't have let him do that - he's sexualising you - everyone there was."

She gave him a look, softly chuckling. "What event do I go to where people don't?" She retorted. It was the dark side of working in such an industry. "You're talking a lot for someone who doesn't care."

He rubbed his jaw and thought of a rebuttal as she caught him off guard. "but still, what does that make me to other people?"

"I'll admit, it was a little excessive, but I told you what he was like. Plus, it shouldn't bother you since you don't have any feelings for me." She was smirking because she knew she was teasing him and his past words. It was the most he had spoken in a while.

"I'm. .I'm just saying. ." He stuttered, taking his loss. Since he was a child, he could never win a discussion with her; there was no point in trying to defend when she was absolutely right.

"Francis said the shots were from Javier's men." It was his turn to shift the focus of the conversation again. Maria nodded, asking, "did you manage to get a deal?"

"Somewhat," was what Leonardo replied with as he looked over at the clock on the wall. It was so late it could have practically been dawn. He wondered whether she would be able to go to ballet in the morning after such an intense evening meanwhile she thought about Camille and hoped she was doing alright after such an awful birthday party.

Maria closed the first aid kit and stood, going into the bathroom to place it back where she found it. She didn't want to continue the conversation about the shots as it reminded her of his injury. She washed her hands diligently and began preparing for bed. In the shower, she pondered on ways that she could help him without being patronising or overbearing.

The period of time that she was gone, Leonardo stared at his arms and finally could see and feel how much pain he was in. He rolled back down his sleeves, not wanting to see what he had done to himself. He couldn't see the cuts as punishment anymore but as something ugly he has done to himself. He questioned how it was possibly that he could be any kind of beautiful. How could she say that after seeing such grotesque scars?

Once Maria had finished, Leonardo was already gone. She quickly changed to wear a baby blue pyjama set, that she had brought into the bathroom, ready for bed. When Maria came back inside, she slipped under the bed covers and sighed, thinking over the situation.

Still, she squeezed her eyes closed and tried to forget what had just happened. The more she thought about it, the more she questioned his feelings.

She needed the rest for ballet the next day.

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~ Author's Note ~

Well that was a cute chapter!

Maria called out Leonardo on his comments towards Francis. Does he have a right to feel jealous?(something he'd never admit)

Leonardo didn't have the full confidence to kiss Maria, was that a frustrating read?

Maria and Leonardo discussed a sensitive topic relating to his scars, a reminder of how they used to be in the their childhood. As the story goes on, Leonardo will learn to change his habits caused by his traumatic childhood.

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