Chapter 6

Leila reached for the alarm next to her and blindly hit the off bottom. She opened her eyes a little and wondered why the painful noise was still ringing in her head, 'Oh, I hate waking up early.' she thought as she opened her eyes completely with the intention of getting up and finding out where on earth was this noise coming from.

"Ouch!"

The moment she moved her left leg a sharp pain went through her. Leila carefully sat up in her bed and looked down at her leg, "My God, wha-". For just mere seconds she wished that her ankle injury would have been just a nightmare. 'Or a nice dream.' she thought as she remembered Fred.

"Fred?!!"

A small knock on the door answered her question and in nothing more than a whisper she replied, "Come in."

The door swung opened and a dream of seeing Fred naked was actually coming true. Well half true, 'He is wearing his boxers.' Leila thought as she watched him with still sleepy eyes.

"Hi, I'm sorry the alarm... I... turned it off." He mumbled.

Leila knew she was supposed to answer, she was supposed to say anything but watching him like that 'Is a great pleasure I'm not going to give away.' She thought as she gazed at his broad chest and muscled arms, it quickly reminded her of last night when he was carrying her. She sighed heavily.

"Leila, are you okay?"

"Huh?" She quickly turned her face away from his body and wondered, 'Do I always have to embarrass myself like that whenever I'm around a guy? And not any guy, a guy I really like.'

"No!" She murmured nervously.

"No? You are not okay?"

"No, I... mean... yes. I'm okay, yes." she stumbled and watched as the corners of his mouth moved and a great smile covered his face. She saw his wonderful face lit up and couldn't help but adore the dimples in his cheeks.

Leila could do nothing but smile back, 'Just to cover my embarrassment that's all.' She tried to convince herself. But then she felt her chest tighten when he moved from the doorway and entered her room.

Fred sat down next to her wearing nothing but his boxers and a smile, 'I can't take more than that.' She cried silently.

"You are so cute, you know that?" He whispered and lifted a hand to a long curled strand and pulled it away from her face.

Leila froze in her place. 'God! He thinks I'm cute?!' she thought but then Leila knew she wasn't, especially right now, with her messy hair and red face, 'Well I'll never stop blushing, not ever!'

"I've been watching you for a long time." He whispered again.

"Yo- you... have?"

Fred's other hand came to her face and gently rubbed her cheeks, then traced the outline of her mouth. "Yes." He nodded his head and moved closer. Leila knew what was coming, knew he was going to kiss her but she'd be damned if she moved an inch.

Fred looked at her for a while before titling his head and brushing his lips with hers. Leila's eyes were opened in amazement as she watched him get closer and closer until she felt his lips on hers, she couldn't close her eyes. The incredulity of him truly kissing her made her eyes widen uncontrollably. She tried to kiss him back -as not to make it even more embarrassing- but ended up opening her mouth. It seemed that Fred took this as an okay to go farther than that. He cupped her face in his hands and titled her head back to get a better angle. Leila couldn't help focusing on what he was doing, she just stared with wide eyes. But then the moment his tongue entered her mouth she involuntarily closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The sensation was incredible, she'd never felt like this before in her entire life. Not because she'd never kissed a guy before. Because she had actually kissed a guy before but it was a disaster and after that particular kiss she'd decided she was a bad kisser, it was the guy's opinion too.

"Relax," Fred murmured huskily as he left her mouth and kissed down her chin, nuzzling into the hollow of her neck. He was moving too carefully and she couldn't help smiling when she realized he was careful because of her leg.

Leila was about to speak when the door bell rang frantically. She didn't know what she was about to say but she was sure she was going to mumble anything or even worse; say something stupid.

Fred pulled back and looked at her with partially closed eyes, "How's you leg?" He asked grinning.

Leila stared impassively for a while, 'How can he be so cool while I feel as if my world has just been turned up side down?' she thought and watched closely as he waited for her answer.

"It's fine."

"Good. I'll go see who's outside because if I don't the neighbors will probably call the cops." He chuckled then casually as if nothing had happened he got up and left the room.

Leila gawked blankly in front of her and shook her head in disbelieve, 'This can't be happening.'

After she'd called Casey last night she'd fell asleep and had tried to think of everything as a dream and that maybe, just maybe if she'd sleep she'd wake up the next morning feeling... 'Like I'm the same Leila, not a heroine in a romantic movie. This doesn't happen in real life, it just doesn't.' She thought as she gazed at the door in time to see Casey hurrying her way with a stunned face. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"My God what is he doing here half naked?" She questioned quickly before noticing her injured ankle.

"He is-"

"God Lee, what happened to your leg?"

"My an-"

"What did he do to you?"

"Damn it Casey, let me finish my words and you'll understand!" Leila shouted over her friend's voice.

"Last night," she started but then lowered her voice, "-thanks to your great efforts- Fred drove me home and I — for some unknown reason- asked him to come up for a drink," Leila felt her friend's expression changed immediately. "Don't look so amused, you wanted this to happen, you traitor. However, Fred accidentally tripped, you know the last..."

"Broken step... yeah I have to remind myself every time I come here." Casey continued and just as she finished her words she busted out laughing.

"I don't think its funny Cas!" Leila said sternly.

Casey's face flushed as she noticed how rude she was. "I'm sorry, but what does him tripping over the broken step, got to do with your broken..."

"Sprained!" She corrected.

"Sprained ankle?" Casey questioned curiously.

Leila looked at her for a while before telling her everything. About the hospital and about the doctors orders and finally about Fred, that he was going to stay here with her.

She watched as her friend blinked once, twice and then again as if Leila had told her a joke she was about to fall off the bed and on the floor laughing. Leila sighed and rolled her eyes. "Casey, I'm in trouble here." She yelled. 'Now I have to take care of every word I say. He is just outside, probably listening to my pathetic story of what happened.' Leila thought as she waited for her friend to stop her crazy guffaws.

"Are you done?" She asked when Casey's laughter faded.

"Um... sorry, I just couldn't help thinking that you, Leila Charles, above all people, had actually been in a situation like this."

"Thanks a lot Cas." Leila answered hopelessly.

"Believe me hon. if I were you, I would have pretended to have a broken leg not a sprained ankle." She said then went on in an undertone. "He is a cute guy Lee, try. You've got nothing to lose."

'Nothing to lose?! If my heart doesn't count as something important then what does?'

"Okay Lee, I have to leave now." Casey exclaimed from the kitchen. She'd been standing there for more than an hour cooking.

Leila shifted in her bed. 'This is really boring. How can they expect me to stay like this for three weeks?'

"Leila, I said I have to go." Casey repeated but this time she was standing at the foot of the bed. "I cleaned a little; you know put everything in its place. And... I made dinner. it's on the counter outside."

"Thanks a lot Cas,"

"Hey, cheer up." Casey said when she heard her friend's tone.

"But Cas, how am I going to live with this stupid sprained ankle? I'm going to miss a lot of classes and I don't even know what to do. Should I inform them that I won't be able to attend classes for the next three weeks because of my ankle?"

Casey looked kindly at her friend and was about to answer when she stopped her. "And the fact that a guy is going to stay here with me is enough to drive me insane. And not any guy, Fred!"

"Lee, is there something I don't know about that Fred guy?" Casey asked and pulled a small chair Lee had put in the corner with a small table with books and magazines thrown carelessly on it.

"Huh?" Leila murmured. "Wh- what do you mean?" She sat up straight and pretended to be busy putting a pillow behind her back. She didn't want to answer Casey's question. What would she tell her? That she'd had a crush on the guy for months and that she probably saw him more than ten times each day and never once had she had the courage to go up to him and say anything. That she'd seen him go out with every gorgeous girl and still dreamt about him day and night.

"I mean, you almost had a heart attack when I opened the door last night. Then you stood there as if you were made of stone, not even saying hi to the guy." She sighed and reached out to put a hand on her friends shoulder. "Lee, I've known you for years. And... I know you're always shy around guys. It's just that I've never seen you react like this before. Do you like that guy?"

Leila lowered her head and looked at her hands. "Do I like him?" She repeated the question more to herself than to Casey. "I don't know Cas." She shrugged restlessly then raised her hands in the air in desperation. "What if I do? Do you think someone like him will give a girl like me any attention? It's impossible Casey. Impossible!"

"You are one stupid girl Leila. Why wouldn't he? You are a beautiful, sexy and most importantly nice girl. Your only problem is being shy, so what? Everyone has their own problems. I'm sure Fred himself has his own problems. It doesn't mean we should stay at home and live miserably because we don't like some things about ourselves."

"Casey! He dates girls like Benny and Amanda and... You know these cheerleaders. What am I compared to all of them?"

"Oh, I should kill you for what you just said. Benny?? Amanda?? You are way too better than these girls. Lee, have some self confidence." She shouted the last words and it made Leila's eyes water with tears.

She looked up and Casey saw the tears in her eyes. "Honey, I didn't mean to upset you, it's just that you don't believe in yourself. You have to." She said gently.

"I know Cas, I know you didn't mean it. But... uh I hate this! Why can't I be a normal girl with normal relationships and normal love life?"

"You are normal! Jus-" Casey's words were interrupted by a small noise.