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MARIA

I hadn't been hungover in a long time.

There was a reason for it; I hated waking up knowing that I would be sluggish for the whole day.

As soon as I woke up, I groaned tiredly. With my hand against my pounding head, I struggled to sit up at first without feeling dizzy. My face crumpled as I exhaled in frustration. Why did I do that to myself? Alcohol was not my best friend.

"Shit," I grumbled in a hoarse voice, burying my head in my hands as I forced myself to sit up. My dry throat was desperate for water and stinging. My eyelids were still heavy and I hadn't had my evening routine before sleeping and that bothered me. I felt smelly, inflexible and extremely exhausted, with aches all over my body. I told myself that alcohol would never touch my lips in such a way again. It wasn't the first time I had told myself such a lie.

My clothes were sticking to me from the night before. I definitely needed a shower and some serious skincare. My stomach churned and expressed its discomfort loudly. I questioned when was the last time I had ate, feeling an intense craving for Leonardo's cooking. My mouth practically salivated at the thought of tasting his Italian cuisine.

I realised that I hadn't had such a strong desire to eat food until Leonardo had come back into my life. Rather than forcing myself to eat without forgetting for survival, my mind was finally allowing me to think about food to enjoy.

The cravings were intensified by the smell of what my nose understood to be pancakes. I smiled immediately, my body moving in excitement before my mind had commanded it to. However the moment I stood up, a force of dizziness pushed me back down to the mattress to compose myself. "Aah. ." I whined, rubbing my discontented head. 

My eyes landed on a glass on water and two tablets on the bedside table. Confused at first, I assumed Leonardo had left them for me. After promptly taking it and downing the water, I realised he must've seen me drunk. But I initially could not remember what had happened after I had left the club with Camille. I was sure I was fine then. I barely drank anything.

I was frowning in puzzlement as I brushed my teeth, struggling to piece together the events of the night before. Attempting to follow a timeline in my head, the memories began to flood back once I was in the shower.

The first thing I remembered was the strange conversation I had with Camille at her place.

I recalled falling on her.

Camille giggled loudly whilst I groaned in pain at the collision of my torso against hers. "You can't escape now, Ria!" She found the whole thing absolutely hilarious. The bed had made the fall less impactful. It was a struggle trying to get her to rest so I could leave. But all she seemed to want to do that night was to drink until her wits had completely gone.

By that point, I had already drank too much after sitting in her kitchen talking with her for too long. I was ready to go home; it wasn't a part of my plan for the night to be out for so long.

I moved to get off her, blinking rapidly as I realised I was more than just tipsy. My head was beginning to spin and it would only become a matter of time before my drunk mannerisms would begin. I was always told that I was more childish drunk.

But her arms held me against her and she gazed up at me in such an unusual way that I wasn't sure what to think of it. I couldn't decipher what emotions she was showing. I was confused as to why she hadn't let me go.

Camille sighed, an unfamiliar smile stretched across her face as she pulled a strand of hair behind my ear. Her finger ever so slightly brushed against my earring and it swung as her hand moved away. "Why can't I be as pretty as you, Ria?" I hiccuped as I looked at her in perplexity, feeling the effects of the alcohol hit me too hard.

"If I had half the looks you had. .would Francis love me more?"

"What do you mean? Francis loves you, Cammy, you're beautiful," I managed to say, containing a burp inside my throat. It was so stuffy in her massive bedroom. She didn't seem reassured by my words.

Camille cupped my cheek, shaking her head as her eyes grew less focused. "No," she responded in such a stern tone that made my eyes widen at the power laced through her voice. "He loves you more."

I paused, staring at her. "He what?" Her words suddenly felt serious. I didn't like it.

Camille stared back, right into my eyes. Her eyes looked so uncomfortably cold. She switched her appearance quickly into a bright smile. "Stay. Let's have a sleepover!"

I wanted nothing more than to go. Her arms both tightened around my waist. "I can't, Cammy. I have to go." I attempted to move.

She didn't seem to hear me. "Aww!" Camille kept whining as she sulked. "Please stay! We can have so much fun together - maybe even more when Francis comes back. He'll be so happy to see you!"

I could still remember the unsettled feeling I had on the way home. I had wrapped my arms around myself in that car and shivered at the thought of what she had said. Why was I so uncomfortable? An omnious feeling of foreboding had begun to brew within me.

My hands ran through my hair as I washed it. The hot, relaxing water ran down my bare body completely. I opened my eyes and thought about the night more, my eyebrows knitted together at the reminder of Camille. "Why was she like that?" I mumbled to myself in bewilderment, the water dripping down my lips. She was drunk, I thought. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly. But why was a drunk person's words affecting me so much?

The shampoo began to sting my eyes. I quickly focused on finishing up in the bathroom. Eventually, when I came out, I changed into some white shorts and a cute crop top with a cartoon frog in the middle. It was extremely warm that morning. I patted my hair dry with a towel as I pondered some more. I hated that unresolved feeling inside me.

I decided to cheer myself up to see what was cooking downstairs. Pushing away the events with Camille, I focused on the present and bubbly made my way downstairs, practically skipping.
I was more expecting the chef to be cooking something delicious and hoped the pancakes had fruit or were sugar free. I unconsciously told myself that I could only have one if not. Maybe half. It was a bad habit to begin to calculate how much I could eat before a meal.

I stopped midway into my mini pep talk to myself realising who was in that massive, Greek kitchen.

His broad back was facing me as he flipped the pancakes on the pan. He hadn't noticed my arrival.

Leonardo's shirt was white and became translucent the moment the sun cast its rays upon him. The windows were wide open to combat the heat and the small breeze allowed for the loose shirt to move in the air slightly.

It was then the memories of last night between the two of us came into my mind.

My hand slapped my forehead in shock as my jaw dropped. The crying, the knights. I really was weird while drunk. I silently cursed myself in frustration, the embarrassment beginning to settle in. That was it, I seriously would never let alcohol even touch my lips again.

My eyes trailed down his back. I very clearly did not have a dream; it was all real. It felt more real seeing it sober.

Leonardo must've sensed my presence. He turned with a spatula in his hands, his warm, hazel eyes shining as they stared at me. I immediately put my hand down, behind my back and offered him a genial grin. "Good morning!" The greeting was way too loud. I waved at him like an idiot, obviously behaving nowhere like usual.

He nodded at me, turning back and flipping a few pancakes. My eyes took notice of the set table that had bowls of various fruits on. I glanced at the large plate beside Leonardo. They didn't look like normal pancakes. "You must be hungry. I made oat pancakes. Banana ones too. Is that okay?" He turned once more, and I nodded quickly in response, my fingers fiddling with each other.

I felt as though I had to say something about what happened. It couldn't just be swept under the rug. He has finally opened up to me. He broke down his barrier and spoke openly to me.

It looked like he had finished the last batch. He placed the pancakes on the table and started washing the dishes. But he looked uncomfortably warm. Leonardo kept rubbing his cheek against his shoulder to wipe the sweat and would move his face closer to the window. It looked adorable on my side of the room.

"Leo. ." I started but my voice came out too low. I cleared my throat, determined to sound stronger. "About last night-"

He looked at me expectantly and his gaze threw me off. I smiled awkwardly as he dried his hands. "About last night?" He repeated, leaning against the counter. My eyes darted between his large chest and his face. "I. .I was. ."

"You don't have to say what I think you're going to say, Maria," Leonardo interjected, his eyebrows raised. He fanned his face with a newspaper that had been on the windowsill. My face fell. "No," I sadly insisted with sigh, getting closer.

"I'm sorry. Last night I wasn't thinking straight and I didn't take. . .I didn't take what you were saying seriously and kept talking about random things." I mentally groaned as I thought about it more. My head hung low. "I think I fell asleep too - It wasn't intentional, I drank too much and-"

He stopped fanning and shook his head. "Don't apologise. You didn't do anything wrong. I wanted to say thank you." My eyes expanded in confusion. He looked thoughtfully, "thank you for listening drunk or not. . .I really appreciated you being there." My heart melted at his words. I nodded, still feeling a little awkward.

I broke the small silence between us. "If you. .if you ever feel like you need someone to listen, talk to me, Leo," I gently told him, practically fumbling with my words with a downward gaze.

"And umm. . ." I slowly closer, making direct eye contact the moment I was in front of him. "You don't have to cover up in front of me." Leonardo meaningfully gazed at me; I realised how close I was to him. My hands hesitated before reaching out ahead, unbuttoning the top button and slowly continuing with the others. His gaze was steady and intense. I avoided those mesmerising eyes of his, worried to be trapped.

My hands slowly moved to his muscular shoulders, holding each side of the shirt. The moment I pulled down the material, I was practically touching his face with mine. My mind started panicking, my heart fluttering fiercely. I could no longer avoid his enticing gaze. I lost balance from leaning on one leg and fell slightly on his wide, open chest, his massive arm holding onto me by my waist. He had such an enthralling look on his attractive face with a long gaze, filled with a sudden passion that made my heart sting with an uncontrollable desire.

I gripped onto the shirt that was still trapped around his large biceps poking out with cris-crossed blue and green veins. His tanned skin all over his tight abs, so muscular, so prominent. Why was he so hot? A single movement of his large chest upwards for air sent shivers down my spine. I found myself getting intensely warm, the heat was starting to take an effect on me. Flustered, I swallowed, blinking rapidly.

"A-Are you g-gonna let me take off your shirt?" I sounded way too bashful as I stopped trying to pull the sleeves down his bulging biceps. Leonardo sexily chuckled, his captivating eyes never losing his allure. "What's stopping you?"

I slightly glared at him. "You. .and that dangerous look you keep giving me." His eyes started to gaze somewhere else on me, down to my lips, back up to my eyes. "What look?" Leonardo quietly challenged, nonchalantly. His hand reached my face, against my cheek. My eyes were wide and my heart was racing. "What about the look you're giving me?" His husky voice rebuffed.

My eyebrows creased a little in confusion. "What are you talking about? I'm not giving you any look." I tried to sound and look confident but my eyes dropped back down to his tanned chest. His hold on my waist tightened and as I gazed back upwards, his thumb gently touched my bottom lip. "The one that keeps making me want to kiss you."

That was it. That was the button he needed to press to make me lose any sense of sanity and self-restraint to taste him. I went for him and he shut his eyes, leaning in close to me. Our lips had simply touched delicately and I softly inhaled, surprised at how close we were. I pressed my lips against his warm ones, my heart clenching as he held me against his bare torso. My hand slowly slid up from his broad chest to his large shoulder and holding on, squeezing it gently.

It was eager, it was fulfilling; my head tilted to the side to deepen our kiss, a soft sound of relaxation coming from me and muffling between our mouths. My body eased against his, the heat building between our two bodies as the sun beamed on us. We briefly separated our lips, his warm face close to mine as his hazel eyes dropped back down to my lips, a desire glistening in his eyes as he gazed at me. I leaned in again, closing my eyes and sharing another fluffy and heartwarming kiss.

They were long and tender pecks first, lingering touches that appreciated each other before he deepened the kiss once more, his hand squeezing my waist as our lips locked once more willingly and ardently. When he lightly moaned, it sent butterflies down in my stomach.
His soft lips were too good for me to let go of so easily. Our warm bodies pressed against each other, the feeling of his fingers ran through the back of my hair as he kissed me lovingly, nowhere near willing to let go of my lips. I didn't want to stop, we couldn't stop.

Well, that was until a loud squeak broke the two of us apart automatically as though we had repelled each other.

I immediately moved away in shock, my hands releasing themselves from Leonsrdo and my body quickly moving away against the cabinets. My mind was drawn back to reality. The source of the noise was Orion and two maids failing to hide their giggles.

"Well. ." Orion beamed, a knowing smirk coming onto his face. "I thought you wanted me to come at this time, sir, to check the broken fan?"

Leonardo cleared his throat and had lifted his shirt back up his shoulders, covering his torso. We were looking everywhere and anywhere away from each other. My lips felt cold, they tingled and desperately desired to be back on his. I stood straight and self-consciously adjusted my top and hair as if Leonardo and I had been caught doing a forbidden act.

"W-Why don't you go with Orion and fix the one upstairs first?" I suggested a little too quickly with a stretcher smile. I would do anything to be alone in the kitchen. Leonardo nodded, looking at me but I fixed my eyes elsewhere, trying to calm my heart and readjust from that situation.

"Orion, it's in the first bathroom. I'll meet you up there."

He'd meet him there? My heart rate immediately went up again.

When Orion and the maids left, I quickly went to grab myself a few pancakes on a plate, my back facing Leonardo.

He was buttoning up his shirt, I could see in the corner of my eye and I could feel his burning gaze upon me. I bit my bottom lip, not wanting to turn around.

"Do you remember what you said to me last night before you slept?"

I stopped and furrowed my eyebrows. I thought hard about what I could've possibly have said. I assumed it was something embarrassing. I turned and faced Leonardo again, shaking my head in confusion. "Not in particular. ." I slowly said, still curious about what it could have been. "Last thing I remember saying was something about a knight - which, by the way, I have no idea why I kept blabbering - anyway, um, please forget about the knights." I forced myself to stop talking in order to prevent anymore incidences of shame.

He nodded, though my answer didn't seem satisfactory as his face became distracted. "Why?" I cautiously questioned, wary that I might have said something I should not have. His thumb rubbed his bottom lip, catching my attention. My muscles froze, being reminded of our intimate encounter a few minutes ago.

Leonardo shook his head, finally looking more concentrated. He gave me a brief smile. "Nothing. You just kept. . .kept asking for pancakes." With that said, he left the kitchen swiftly, making his way upstairs to meet Orion.

I turned my head a little in puzzlement, surprised I had asked for food that I hadn't eaten in months. I brushed my hair away from my face and exhaled, forcing myself to calm down. My stomach rumbled in that moment as a sign it was time to eat. I pushed off my thoughts and took a long awaited bite.

I would need the energy to practice later for Azia.

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~ Author's Note ~

Finally! Some intimacy between the two of them! The heat is finally starting to build! I really loved writing this chapter!

Leonardo seems to be letting things play out, he hasn't mentioned anything about the unexplained 'secrets' Maria was talking about.

As for Camille, Maria is starting to notice that something is off between Camille and Francis, and maybe even her.

Is it really going to be a big deal? Keep reading to find out!

Thoughts on this chapter?

Please vote, comment, share and follow.

Votes and comments really help me know how the story is being received and helps boost my confidence for more updates :)

Thanks for reading!

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