We got back to my place and concern immediately washed over me when I didn't see Darcy's car parked up front. Leo, being the observant person he was, immediately noticed my worry and offered to wait with me until I figured out what was going on. I plugged my phone into my charger and waited until it had enough battery to power itself back on.

"Are you sure you don't just want to use my phone to call?" He suggested, taking a seat at my desk and looking around my bedroom.

"Like I told you the last time you asked that, I don't have any numbers saved." I watched as my phone glowed, signaling that it would soon be usable.

It was nearly nine in the evening on a Monday. Dar was almost always home under those circumstances and having not seen her since the rally, I was beyond worried about what happened.

"Right, right. I keep forgetting that. You should really have a few numbers memorized in case of emergencies." Leo lectured and I rolled my eyes, crossing my legs on my bed and plugging my passcode into the phone. "Well, you do know both my personal and work numbers. At least you have your most important contact prioritized."

"Your work number?" I raised an eyebrow at him, trying to ignore the cocky after-statement.

"Nine-one-one." Leo smirked wildly and I rolled my eyes again, just in time for my phone to start vibrating like crazy.

Over the next minute, my phone buzzed with multiple different notifications from my messages, Facebook, Instagram, missed calls and even Twitter. I read through the texts first, mostly from Joey asking what was going on and expressing concern and asking that I call him, a few from my parents, also worried because Joey reached out to them, a concerned text from Joey's grandparents, since I missed work and because they were probably also in the loop and even Mrs. J asking if everything was alright.

Darcy's was the only name that didn't pop up on either my texts or missed calls, so I quickly dialed Joey and sent a silent prayer that he knew where she was and that she was okay.

As it rang, I made eye contact with Leo and the worry on his own face made me feel even worse, even though I was sure he was hoping to come across sympathetic.

"Thank the Lord almighty, Cala?" Joey's voice came through and I nearly teared up.

"Are you with Darcy?" I asked immediately.

"Yeah," He said and I felt my heartbeat quicken at all the pent up adrenaline, "We're still in Bellisville. A cop pepper sprayed her and she had a really bad reaction so we're still at the hospital. Her eyes are just starting to open now."

"Oh no," I said, not feeling exactly better, even knowing that she had been found by her family.

"She's okay though and has been healing nicely. We'll probably head back home in the next day or two. What happened to you? We were so scared."

"I got arrested," I told him. "I also got a pretty bad concussion and just came to a little earlier today."

"Jeez Cal, are you still in jail? My mom and dad are here at the hospital too, we can go bail you out." He asked and I smiled.

"Thank you, but I already got that taken care of. I just got home now, actually. My phone was dead this entire weekend which is why I'm just calling now."

"I'm just glad you aren't dead."

I snorted at that, "I'm too stubborn for that. Can I talk to Dar?"

"She's sleeping right now, but I'll have her call as soon as she's awake. She's also been super worried."

"I know," I frowned again, "Well okay. Let her know I'll cover double time at the antique shop so she can just work on feeling better."

Joey laughed, "For being the troublemakers you guys are, you two are still some of the nicest girls I've ever met."

"That's vigilantes for ya," I said and caught Leo's eyes. I probably should've been a little more careful about what I said around him, "I have to go, but keep me updated."

"Of course. You might want to call your parents too if you haven't done so already."

"I know," I said and finally hung up. I put my phone to the side, deciding that I'd let it sit and charge before I cleared out the rest of my notifications.

Beside, my headache was coming back and I wouldn't be able to deal with my parents. I fished in my pocket for my meds and read the prescription notes.

"How's your head doing?" Leo asked.

"It's starting to throb again. I'm thinking I might take another pill before it becomes a full on headache. That was not fun earlier today."

I kept reading through the label and saw that he'd also prescribed me for some even heavier pain meds if this wasn't doing it plus a list of activities to avoid and a note to give to my school and job for having to miss for the next couple of weeks along with his number.

"What?" Leo asked, probably due to the newfound look of shock on my face.

"I guess my concussion isn't as mild as I thought. Shit, that means I can't actually cover at the shop." I continued going over the list, seeing that I shouldn't be around bright lights or stare too long at phone screens. It didn't feel like I was too terribly off, but then again, I always had a higher threshold for pain. That, or I tried my darndest to believe I wasn't doing as bad as I was.

"Do you have a first aid kit?"

"I actually do." I responded, remembering the kits I got as gifts for going into nursing school.

"Let's change your gauze."

Leo stood up and I followed. He wasn't in any rush to leave and I wasn't in any rush to watch him go. I lead him into the mess of a bathroom Darcy and I shared and scoured through the cabinets for one of my many first aid kits. The first one I found was a purple princess edition, given to me as a joke by my brother. I decided to pretend I didn't see it and kept searching until I found the heavy duty, all-you-could-ever-need kit that was gifted to me by my aunt.

Leo easily took the case from me, opening it up and examining it like he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I started off as an EMT," He said, completely reading my mind.

He grabbed the gauze and I sat on the toilet seat and looked at my face in the stained mirror. I didn't look as bad as I thought in his car, but I still didn't look so great either. My eyes had become just slightly red and I knew, even though I apparently slept through most of the weekend, that I was exhausted.

I watched his reflection as he slowly unwrapped the gauze from my head. As it unstuck from the side of my head that had been bloodied, I felt another pang from the growing headache. Just then I remembered I hadn't taken a pill and grabbed the pills from my pocket, swallowing one dry.

Leo didn't hesitate to find an old Taco Bell cup on the vanity and filled it with cold tap water, passing it to me. I easily drank some and when he felt I drank enough, he placed the cup on the counter and continued to slowly peel the gauze from my head.

This time, instead of watching his reflection, I looked at him directly, feeling ever so mesmerized. Even as he stood in the uniform I had long since associated with hatred, I couldn't bring myself to feel that way about him. His strong arms worked so delicately, it was as if he was caring for a butterfly. After the gauze was off my head, he chucked it in the garbage and examined my head. I turned instinctively, to see the wound in the mirror.

Unfortunately, all I could see was my dark hair matted in a clot and the purple bruise that ran down my temple.

He grabbed a hand towel and moistened it, and slowly pressed it to my head, cupping my chin to keep me centered. I looked into his dark brown eyes, feeling the waves of nerves at how close we were. As he worked, I could feel his even breath on my face and my eyes shifted to his lips, remembering the kiss.

I could tell my face became red because in the next moment he was meeting my stare, a smirk on his lips.

I looked down, feeling caught, but not sure what to do about it.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing."

He finished bandaging me up and took it upon himself to read the doctor's note, offering to also pick up the extra medicine the next day.

"Thanks, but I think I can manage."

"You're supposed to be taking it easy. I'll get it to you before I go in for work." He said with the same resolution he used when he was certain he'd have it his way.

"Fine." I agreed with the same stubborn tone I tried to use to not seem so willing.

We reached a lull in conversation and I felt awkward as we stood there. Before I could begin another assault of overthinking to my weary brain, I yawned.

"You should get some rest." Leo suggested and I bit my lip to keep myself from frowning.

"Will you just go home then?" I asked, hoping he'd hear my thoughts again and invite himself to stay the night.

"That seems appropriate." He said and I knew he did indeed read my mind, but wasn't going to make this easy for me.

I thought about asking him to stay, but honestly there was no good reason that I could think to ask him to, except I didn't want to be lonely. And that still wasn't a good reason. Besides, where would he sleep? There was no way I'd let him in my bed and then that too would defeat the loneliness reasoning.

"I guess you're right," I finally decided on and he smiled nonetheless.

I led him to the front door and I pulled him into a hug. It was then that I realized I never hugged him before. I kissed him before I ever even hugged him. Unless you counted the time he was holding my drunk self up and walking me to this same exact spot. But I didn't really think that counted.

"Thanks again for everything." I whispered in his ear and he released me, still staying close enough that I knew I could stand on my tippy-toes and kiss him again.

"Don't mention it. I'll get the medicine to you as early as the pharmacy will dish it out. Goodnight Miss Bonilla." He said and as I waited and hoped that he'd kiss me again, he walked off.

"Goodnight!" I called after him when the sadness of two missed opportunities subsided.

✖✖✖

I woke up to the sound of my doorbell. I opened my eyes, felt the growing headache and grabbed a pill from my bedside table and swallowed it down before doing anything else. I had woken up two other times that night from the pain, but took a Tylenol instead to not do as much damage to my liver. The fears I gained from school.

I pried my phone off the table and saw that it was nearly ten in the morning and I had three missed calls from Leo. Three. As in, the guy who could just as easily disappear and not even send a text that he was on his way to pick up his date was feeling desperate enough to call me multiple times.

The claim was a long shot, but it made me feel really good regardless.

I made my way to the door slowly, not having given the pill enough time to fully process. At the other side of the door was Leo, in casual clothes. Although I had seen him in casual clothes a few other times already, it was still just as surprising. He wore dark jeans and a gray cable knit sweater that looked just a bit too delicate for his muscular frame, but aided in making him look like he wasn't the big bad wolf he seemed to be.

"Good morning," He smiled, handing me a bag and letting himself in.

"Morning. Aren't you supposed to be heading to work?" I closed the door and followed him in.

"I decided to take a personal day. It's actually my first one since transferring." He stated, leading the way to my kitchen, "How are you?"

"I'm just waking up, but I've taken another pill so as soon as that kicks in I should be pretty well off."

"How's your friend?"

"I'm not sure. I still haven't heard from her, so I assume she's still resting." I said. Yeah, like I would've been if you didn't come by so early, I thought.

He nodded in understanding. He sat at our tiny dining table and looked like the most out of place thing to ever enter our house.

"I like your home," He said as his eyes landed on the canvas Darcy commissioned a friend to make that read, Boss Bitches Bake Bread, hanging above our oven.

"Mostly everything is Darcy's. She likes to make sure where she lives screams her. You should see her bedroom back at her parent's place. Think Punk Rock meets the Feminist Manifesto."

Leo laughed and it made me smile. Like finding out I could be funny was the biggest compliment ever. Or maybe it was just the way he was so keen when he listened to me.

"So, what's you?" He asked me and I raised an eyebrow, "What in the house screams you?" He asked again.

He was the kind of person that would probably always have me on my toes. It was probably due to his investigation strategies that he asked interesting questions, but I liked it nonetheless.

"Well," I whipped around and led him back into the living room to a black storage tower that didn't match any of the brown furniture in our space. "This is my movie, CD, shows and record collection."

Leo knelt down by my tower and started picking out movies, reading the cases. He pulled out The Vow and my season one box set for Gossip Girl. He read a bit of the description for each and placed them back, picking out some more movies and even a CD for top R&B songs of the 2000's. Somebody else might have been embarrassed by their collection, but I was entirely too proud of the collection I had built up over the years.

"I gotta say, I did not pin you as the sappy type." Leo pulled out another case, revealing one of my favorite Mexican telenovelas, Marimar.

"Yep, that's me. The hopeless romantic."

"Why hopeless?"

"I..." I hesitated, not entirely sure how to answer. When Devin died, my dream of a mystical relationship seemed to die as well. It was from that point on that I put myself in the same group as the hopeless romantics. "I'm not sure."

Leo looked at me for a moment, studying as he did before grabbing a record from the bottom shelf.

"Do you just collect these?"

"No, I actually have a record player."

"Can we listen to this?" He asked, standing back up and towering over me. I wouldn't have minded if he was only as tall as his kneeling self.

"Sure," I looked at the record he grabbed which was one of my many Frank Sinatra collections. It was my dad who got me into his music as a child and it stuck with me ever since. I was excited. I hadn't listened to my records in awhile and I was more than ready to hear the cracks and pops of my old school phonograph.

I led him to my room and he sat at the desk as I went into my closet and pulled out the device that was wrapped in an old blanket. I removed the blanket and set it on top of my dresser.

"Wow, that's gorgeous." Leo came around looking at the shiny brass horn.

"My mom and dad saved up and got me this as both a high school graduation and birthday gift. I love the way it sounds."

"It's very nice."

"Do you want to do the honor?" I said, signaling him to place the record.

"Only if you trust me enough," He joked and I rolled my eyes. He placed the record on the turntable and I cranked the handle a bunch of times. The record started spinning and he delicately moved the needle, placing it on the edge of the record. Soon after, the record was crackling and instruments were filling the air. I felt transported back in time, as if I were in a black and white movie.

"May I have this dance?" Leo asked and outstretched his hand.

A smile crept on my lips as I slowly took his hand and he responded by easily pulling me in and beginning to waltz. We stepped around in a circle, avoiding the mess of things in my room and then he twirled me slowly around.

"I'll take it easy on you. Don't want to rattle your head too much." He said and continued our dance. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he knew how to dance. He dipped me back gently and continued around as the next Sinatra song played.

"Don't you have things you need to do today?" I asked.

"Just this." Was all he said before twirling me around again, pulling me in even closer to him.

For a moment I was able to forget about all the things that have ever burdened me. About all my financial strains, all my hate against law enforcement, the current case that plagued my mind and the glass wall I had mentally placed between Leo and myself. In that moment, it was just him and I and I felt so close to him and at peace.

I felt really great.

++++++

Author's Note: I nearly forgot that today was Tuesday! Holiday weekends are great at messing up a schedule. 

Luckily I remembered and had this next chapter ready! This one wasn't originally in my outline, but I'm super happy I got to add it. I just love it when Cala and Leo are interacting and this one felt special.