Tenacious Sky

Chapter 36

Leo agreed to see a psychiatrist with his coach's support. One day a week, a psychiatrist would come

to meet with Leo in the doctor's office. WhenI didn't have practice, I found myself waiting outside the

door for him. I wanted Leo to be able to heal and move on from his trauma. And now that he was

getting the help he needed, I knew I couldn't be impatient. It didn't help that Easton still pestered Leo

over me. Leo was right about Easton being persistent. Even though he took a step back like he

promised, he did everything he could to get under Leo's skin when it came to me.

Just like that, two months went by. I'd been in pretty good standing with fencing, only getting second

place twice and winning every other meet. Leo has yet to start competing again, but he was making

progress. At least now, he could see the gun without being sent into a panic attack. The holiday break

was coming up and my parents had been pestering me to come home, but I knew that doing so would

risk my secret, so I lied about having holiday practice and planned to just stay at Preston Hills.

We'd had our last academic class before everyone went back to their rooms to pack for the vacation. I

was reading a book on the couch when Leo finally got out of the shower. He sat next to me and put his

wet head on my lap. I chuckled before setting my book aside.

"You're not packing for the break?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Going home, I risk being outed, so I planned to stay. What about you?" I asked.

"My dad is a businessman. He doesn't have time for me, so going home won't make much of a

difference," he answered.

"Looks like we get to spend the holidays together," I smiled. Leo sat up before kissing me gently. Our

kiss was soon interrupted by a knock on our door. Leo sighed before he got up to open it.

"Holiday trip anyone? My cousin has a lake house a few hours from here, and I'm rounding up those

who are staying to spread the holiday cheer," Easton announced as he bathed into the room. He sat

next to me and grabbed my hand.

"You're coming too, right Sky?" He asked as he tried to pull his best puppy dog eyes. Leo trailed after

Easton and slapped his hand away from mine before sitting in between us. I chuckled at the two of

them before resting my legs over Leo's lap. I raised an eyebrow at Leo as he glanced at me. Our little

silent conversation about whether to go or not didn't last long. Leo knew I wanted to go. He sighed and

moved my legs before going to his drawers.

"Fine," he pouted. I hopped off the couch and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind as I

smiled.

"Thank you," I said fleetingly before going back to Easton.

"When do we leave?" I asked. Easton scoffed at us as he shook his head.

"Incredible," he said sarcastically. Easton clapped slowly before he sighed.

"You two are truly... incredible. We'll leave right after dinner, at seven," he answered before he left. I

packed my own bag before sitting it by the door. Leo set his bag next to mine before glancing at me. I

knew he didn't want to go, but a change of scenery would be nice. Plus, I still wanted him to find

someone else he could be friends with.

"We could've had the whole break here to ourselves. Why go on a vacation with the one person I

hate?" Leo asked. I chuckled as I sat back down on the couch.

"You hate most people, and if we stayed, we would still be monitored by the teachers. At least this way,

there's a little more freedom in our time. Plus, Easton isn't that bad, he's just like a kid. He just wants

attention," I explained. Leo sat next to me and pulled my legs over his lap.

"He'll be our third wheel the whole trip," Leo said.

"You don't know that. There could be quite a few people going, and you might make more friends.

Easton is hosting the trip. He won't have time to watch our every move, right?" I replied. Leo didn't look

convinced. I sighed before pulling his hand into mine.

"We don't know what will happen just yet. Who knows? You might actually have fun," I offered. Leo

wasn't budging but I knew he would come anyway just to stick with me. Leo never got over seeing

Easton as a threat to his position, and he wasn't afraid to let us know.

As promised, after dinner we met up with Easton and his travel van out front. There was an extra car

this time too. I briefly wondered how much money the other guys at Preston Hills actually had.

Resources seemed unlimited to them. Cody, Ryker, Sawyer and a few more people were coming.

Easton smiled when he saw me as Leo put our bags in the trunk.

"You made it! Perfect! Everyone is here so we can go now," he said before grabbing my wrist and

pulling me towards the van. Leo broke Easton's grip from my arm and glared at him.

"You're getting bolder these days," Leo said in a type of warning. Easton only smirked at Leo

"There's nothing I love more than flirting with Sky and pushing your buttons," Easton joked before

kissing Leo's cheek dramatically.

"Asshole!" Leo snapped around him on reflex as Easton ran around to the driver's seat laughing. I

chuckled and risked a glance at Leo. His entire face was red. I only smiled as I grabbed his arm and

pulled him towards the open side door of the van.

"You know he does it to watch your reaction. Don't overthink it. Come on," I tried to coax him. We sat

down in the van and closed the door behind us before we took off for our impromptu holiday ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

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