& I WON'T BE LEFT HERE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

christopher saw the snark coming before leo had even opened his mouth –– he’s had to listen to too many snide comments from the other boy in his time already. he didn’t mind particularly anymore.  “ charming. as always, ” he remarked, accentuating his fake smile even more but now a hint of genuine amusement was on his features, as well. “ stalking me again, then ? ”

‘‘What makes you think that I’d waste my precious time on stalking you?’‘ It was planned, of course, to find him. Since being next to Christopher was one of the things Leo liked, he would keep annoying the other with his presence almost every day. ‘‘I just had the instinct to come over here.’’

the other speaking up on his actions was no surprise to ELLIOT, yet still his eyebrows raise high on his face. ‘ are you capable of keeping your shit to yourself, or should i teach you some manners? ’

‘‘Yeah, that would be possible if you didn’t knock my coffee onto the ground.’‘ The age gap was a deterrent factor but Leo was too proud to back off. ‘‘-And I don’t do manners, thanks for the concern.’‘

Toby was walking quickly through the town, keeping his head low to stop anyone drawing attention to his BLACK EYE. Pulling the grey hoodie further over his face as he entered the main square, he felt his body C R A S H into another, bigger one. “Fuck - sorry.”

He was about to cuss or kick the person who bumped into him, but realizing he was a little guy, Toby to be exact, he stopped in his tracks. ‘’You okay dude?’’ Confusion was appearing all over his face, as he witnessed a black eye. Just to be sure, he leaned over to check if he was right, unfortunately, he was indeed. ‘’So, that didn’t happen just now.’’ 

“Huh… what were you saying?” Chloe blinked, clearly not having been paying attention in the slightest.

‘‘Now I lost interest, just forget about it.’‘ It was funny how some people would expect Leo to repeat himself, it was not going to happen. 

“because i fucking can’t, that’s.. yeah, i know.. that’s what i’m saying, it’s all fucked and..” his eyes snapped up to the person approaching him, pressing the phone closer to his ear –– as if it would make his conversation more private. “listen, i gotta go.” the words were rushed out, the nearing person obviously not supposed to hear even snippets of his phone call –– which was ended unceremoniously now. trying hard to look casual, he tried for a smile –– “ what are you doing here? ” he realised too late the stupidity of that question –– after all he was stood outside a quite frequented burger spot.

It wasn’t so hard to notice how Christopher changed, in many ways. Well- maybe it wasn’t that obvious to others, but to Leo, who kind of let observing Chris his new hobby for too many years by now, it was obvious. ‘‘Looking at your fake smile.’‘ Chris too probably was aware how Leo could see it, but Leo wasn’t going to force him, if Chris wasn’t ready to talk about whatever was going on in his mind, Leo would just let it go. ‘‘It’s ugly.’‘

normally bailey is far more responsible, always making sure that if he was planning on sleeping with the window cracked open, it was wide enough to let the air through, but not to where his cat could easily slip under. apparently, last night he wasn’t as careful because the cottonball of a cat was nowhere to be seen and he was positive that the window had not been that wide open the previous night before he knocked out. “ hey! you haven’t happened to see a walking cloud puff hanging around this area have you? i think my cat got out last night. “ he said, stopping a passerby. “ she’s got a purple collar on, two colored eyes. she’s deaf but boy can she meow. her name’s dolly. “ 

Even though he didn't show how he paid attention to all details,  he replied to the other. ‘‘Nope, sorry.’‘ He felt a little sad that he couldn't help but since it was a small town he was sure Bailey would find Dolly soon. ‘‘How did she get out?’‘

“Ah shit—” David winced as he spilled coffee on his suit. He was nearly late to work that morning so he had to get his daily caffeine on his lunch break. Looking around outside the small cafe, he spoke to the person next to him. “Can you get me some napkins?” David sighed, nose wrinkling at the hot coffee settling into his skin. “Does coffee stain?” He still had to get back to work too.

He wouldn’t normally bother since he didn’t meet with the guy personally but it was less troublesome to give him what he wanted, so Leo handed over the napkins. Just as he was going to continue reading the article, the guy spoke again. ‘’I don’t know man, one way to find out.’’ He shrugged.

short legs bending under him, ELLIOT curses out loud, most likely offending half of the older population of the cafe. the offending bag lays across the pathway, blocking his passage — and making him trip over, something he’s not allowing to go unnoticed. his hand moves to knock against a cup of the person, easily knocking it onto the  ground — a soft ‘ oops ’ falling past his lips as he musters an expression closest to regret as possible. if completely honest — the man is nothing more than an angry cat most of the time, but at least he’s not denying it.

As his cup of coffee met with ground Leo couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. Even though his appearance didn't hold the irritation he had, his tone of voice made it clear. ‘’Are you not capable of walking, Litchfield?’’ He would easily get another one, yes. The point was how the guy acted, it did irritate Leo to the fullest extent. ‘’Or do I need to teach that to you?’’

“here’s a question of manners, something that i think that we all might agree i’m a bit – let’s say lacking in. am i obligated to speak with the old woman who harasses me when i go to get my morning coffee? because, frankly, i don’t give a shit how much of a ‘nice young man’ i seem to be. that’s not my game. plus, she made mess up my order and i didn’t get soy milk. wouldn’t that offense in fact negate any prior obligation?”

Leo rolled his eyes to the unexpectedly long conversation Hartley had started, it wasn’t like he was too bored with it but Leo would prefer if Hartley got to the point straight away, without making it two times longer. ‘’Seriously, who cares? It’s not like it’ll keep you awake at night. Why are you even bothering?’’

“Oh - oh thank god.” She muttered when an umbrella appeared over her head. The sky opening up hadn’t been something she’d expected - particularly when the car had disappeared around the corner without anyone warning her they’d had to move.  “If it wasn’t weird, I’d probably kiss you in thanks.”

Leo wasn’t aware of the situation until it was too late, he was meant to check the little information on the shop’s window but when a familiar voice came from a very close range he had to avert his attention to the source. ‘’Well-’’ It was awkward for sure so he didn’t even try to hide his emotions that probably appeared on his face the second he saw Persephone. ‘’I wasn’t meant to but whatever. You’ll look like a wet cat if you get soaked.’’

Is that HERMAN TØMMERAAS ? Nevermind, that's LEO. he’s a EIGHTEEN year old. They are in the CHANDLER family. People in Black Hollow say they have a CONFIDENT, CURIOUS, IMPATIENT and CARELESS personality. Nobody knows this, but LEO is hiding THAT HE HAS CLAUSTROPHOBIA.