Chapter Text
You’d always had a strange fascination with horror as a genre. In the past, books could get you sufficiently spooked for you to lie awake at night, fearing the horrors that might crawl out from underneath your bed. So it was safe to say the thought of watching a horror movie never entered your mind – at least, not until you had someone to crawl under the covers with, who’d wrap a protective arm around you and keep you safe from nightmares.
When you started dating a would-be cop, you figured he’d be the one to do this kinda thing with. Unfortunately for you, not long after you started going out, he graduated from aspiring cop to actual cop, and being fresh out of the academy meant Leon was stuck dealing with the shitty tasks that came with being the new guy. In this instance, that meant getting saddled with the night shifts. His visits were often cut short, and the time you did get to spend with him you didn’t want to risk ruining what little sleep he got.
“They do this to all the rookies,” he’d assured you, dark circles beneath his eyes from lack of sleep after having to haul his ass over to the station late at night for the umpteenth time in two weeks. “They’ll put me on a rotating schedule soon enough.”
You couldn’t help worrying about him, but he promised you they didn’t let him handle anything dangerous yet. Considering how adorably huffy he’d been about it, you were inclined to believe him. So you waited. Not exactly patiently, but you did.
So when he showed up at your door at an hour he’d normally be at work, grinning like an idiot, your heart soared.
“No work today?” you asked upon noticing the overnight bag he carried with him. “Kind of ballsy, assuming I’ll let you stay the night.”
“Nah, I’m swinging by my other girlfriend’s place after this,” he quipped, tossing his bag down beside the door and making himself comfortable on your couch. He tilted his head back to watch you as you retrieved two beers from the fridge. ”You eat yet? Want some takeout?”
“Better hope your other girlfriend doesn’t have dinner waiting,” you said, handing him his beer and hovering over him, “or you won’t be able to fit in that uniform of yours.”
You pinched his cheek under the protest of a pout and a halfhearted, “Hey!” before joining him on the couch. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Draping his arm across your shoulders, he drew you in closer, baby blues flitting across your face. “Shoot.”
“Do you like horror movies?”
He’d brought the bottle up to his lips when he burst out laughing, choking on his beer and hacking up a lung while you gave him an unamused look. “Sorry,” he wheezed, clearing his throat noisily as he put his beer safely on the table. “You just looked at me all serious – I was expecting a different type of question.”
“Dare I ask what kind?” you asked, raising one skeptical eyebrow. “Because I can still send you away to stay with your other girlfriend if you want.”
“Better you don’t. I bet she wouldn’t ask me something as adorable as, ‘Do you like horror movies?’”
“Leon.”
“Right, yeah, uh…” He sat up a little straighter, nodding with a grave look on his face. “Sure I do. Didn’t think you’d be the type, though. I’ve seen you get jumpy at your own shadow.”
You wished you could argue with him about that, but considering the billowing curtain in your bedroom made you jump the other night because of a gust of wind, you really couldn’t. “Yeah, about that. I was wondering if you’d maybe want to watch a horror movie with me?”
“Been sitting on that one for a while, have you?” His eyes crinkled with a knowing smile that gave you a particularly strong urge to squish that stupidly cute face of his. “Sure. When?”
“Now?”
“Wha – now?”
Unlike you, his face didn’t exactly light up at the notion. You sprang up from your seat to pick up the VHS tape beside the TV, presenting it to him like it was some kind of treasure. “The guy at the rental place recommended it to me.”
Leon took it with a frown that grew increasingly more alarmed the longer he looked at it. “Zombies, huh?”
“Zombies!” you chirped.
The corners of his lips twitched at your cheerful tone, his frown easing. “All right. So, why do you wanna watch this now?”
You swiped the box from his hands, returning to the TV. “Don’t laugh at me, okay?” You glanced at him over your shoulder, noticed him switch from his nonchalant posture to leaning forward, elbows on his knees. While you put the tape in the VCR, your hands refused to stop shaking. “This’ll be my first horror movie.”
“Aw, so I get the honor of popping your horror movie cherry, huh?”
You grabbed the remote on your way back to him, lightly smacking him on the shoulder with it. “I wanted to wait until you could spend the night after, Chuckles,” you said, sighing as you plopped down beside him, “now I’m wondering why I bothered. You’re too baby-faced to scare off any zombies in the dark.”
You could practically hear Leon’s eye roll. “Ha ha. I have a gun, remember?”
“You gonna whip it out together with your badge?”
“I’m about to whip something out.”
A snorted laugh escaped you at his playfully growled threat, his fingers digging into your side for good measure. “Pervert,” you giggled, prying his wiggling fingers off of you. “Make yourself useful and order some pizza.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
While he picked up the phone beside the couch and put it on his lap, you laid your head on his shoulder, mindlessly gazing at the previews for other movies playing on the TV. No way in hell were you fast forwarding to the actual movie while your intended protector was busy ordering a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.
“They’ll be here in thirty,” he told you, putting the phone back on the side table. “Can’t believe you haven’t tripped over that wire yet. Why don’t you just put the phone by the door?”
“I’m not putting it somewhere else now that you might actually deal with some dangerous shit. I’m gonna need to sit down for that.”
The hand that had steadily been sneaking up your back brushed gently through your hair. “C’mon, you really think I’ll tell you that sorta thing over the phone? And miss out on the chance to let you kiss my boo-boos away?”
“Leon.” You hit the pause button and turned to him, clenching your hand to your heart threatening to thump right out of your chest. “I’m scared I’ll pick up the phone one day and hear from someone else that you’ve been shot. Or worse.”
His fingers tangled in your hair, nails absentmindedly scratching at your scalp. Eyes the color of a still, shimmering lake, a lake you could drown in if you stared long and hard enough, studied you. And then you were drawn forward, into his waiting arms, nestled against the safety of his chest while those strong arms enveloped you. The warmth of his face as he nuzzled into your hair made you cling to him all the harder, stubbornly blinking back tears.
You knew he was well on his way to become a cop that fateful day you met him, and you chose to laugh at his cheesy pick-up attempt anyway.
(In your defense, that face combined with the line, “Too bad I’m not officially a cop yet because you’re criminally beautiful,” made him far more endearing than if he’d managed to be smooth. Which he proved he clearly wasn’t by stammering, “I mean I wish I could book you for it. Your beauty,” a beat later.)
This was a career choice he’d always intended to make, with or without you, and you weren’t about to let your tears saddle him with unnecessary guilt. Not any more than your words already had, anyway.
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” he mumbled. “’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you said, cursing your voice for failing you, sounding as frail as it did. Why would you fear something as unrealistic as zombies when there was a very real possibility your boyfriend could get caught in the crosshairs of some criminal with a trigger finger?
You did, though. Still. As stupid as it was, your stomach kept churning at the thought of starting that movie.
You plastered on a smile before pushing away from him. “I know you’re tougher than you look.”
It was a poor joke, but you knew he’d fall for it hook, line and sinker. If he was busy pouting, at least he wasn’t wasting time worrying about how his job affected you.
“If I ever lose this baby fat, I’m gonna make you eat those words.”
You trailed your finger across his cheek, the smile clinging to your lips faltering at the idea that one day, these boyish good looks might fade. He’d be gorgeous either way, you were sure of it, but you did like the hint of chubbiness to his cheeks, and damned if you weren’t going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
“Are we watching this movie or are you just gonna keep molesting my face?” he complained while you squished those adorable cheeks in your palms, but instead of leaving the actual choice up to you, he took your hands and distracted you from your objective with a quick kiss.
That shit-eating grin of his when you instinctively chased after his lips for more was the only reason you stopped yourself. “That’s a dirty move, Kennedy.”
“I’ll be here all weekend. If I indulge you now, you won’t be able to stop yourself.”
You leaned away from him, slipping your hands out of his gentle grasp to cross them over your chest, eyebrow arched in question. “Oh really?”
“I mean.” He gestured at himself like he was the finest male specimen alive. Though to be fair to him, he was. “You’re all over this whenever I visit.”
Just because he happened to be right didn’t mean you were going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. You really shouldn’t be feeding his ego any more than you already had.
But you were weak. So, so weak. And he was so, so pretty. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” you said with a sigh. “You’re enough of a distraction as it is. Once I start kissing you…” Your hand settled atop his leg, squeezed the muscular flesh of his upper thigh in a way you knew would make him release one of those faint little whimpers. “I won’t be able to stop.”
Oh, a blush and a whimper. Score.
“Yeah, well…” He cleared his throat, his voice continuing to come out all raspy regardless. “I, uh, I guess we should start watching then. Wouldn’t want to ruin our horror movie night with my overwhelming sex appeal.”
You huffed a laugh. “Dork.”
“Uncalled for,” he protested, although it didn’t stop him from sneaking his arm across your shoulders to pull you snugly against him.
You reached for the remote beside you with a playful roll of your eyes. “It’s a term of endearment.”
“At work I’m only known as ‘Hey, rookie!’ and now my own girlfriend is calling me a dork. Can’t catch a break.”
“Aw.” Leaning your head back against his shoulder, you grinned up at his pouty face. “Well, sooner or later you won’t be a rookie anymore.”
“But still a dork?”
You had to look away from him to stop yourself from cracking up. “Your words, not mine.”
“So much for it being a term of endearment.”
Fast forwarding past the rest of the previews, you mumbled, “No, it is,” your heartbeat picking up when the movie opened on some unsuspecting trucker listening to some bizarre story on the radio that sounded like a horror story within a horror story. Already, you felt the creep of dread across your skin.
Leon’s seemingly endless well of jokes dried up when you went quiet, his arm tightening around your frame. You leaned in to him, the sense of dread turning into irritation when the movie’s first victim successfully painted himself as an asshole with an ever original ‘I hate my wife’ joke. Even though your heart started going a million miles a minute when the woman he drove into got back up as if nothing happened, you liked to imagine this zombie taking revenge on the wife’s behalf.
Leon’s chest shook with a chuckle when the screen cut to black. “Wonder if that zombie was like, ‘This is for talking shit about your wife!’”
You giggled, grateful for the momentary reprieve from the tension. “I was just thinking that.”
“Doubt she had more than one bite after that nasty cheeseburger he ate,” he joked. “Must’ve tasted like pure grease.” His distracting comments had you glancing at him just as he looked your way, a sheepish smile tugging on his lips. “Sorry, I’ll shut up.”
“Don’t,” you told him, eyes flicking toward the screen while the man from the cover drove up to what appeared to be an abandoned gas station. The sound of shattering glass made you jolt, your slowly calming heart speeding right back up again. “I – I mean, can you imagine a zombie being a picky eater? ‘Breast meat? I wanted thigh!’”
A grin stretched across his face at you indulging him. “Well, now I’m picturing a zombie family celebrating Thanksgiving. ‘Just avoid eating any brains. Too fatty.’”
While the protagonist followed the trail of blood inside, you giggle-snorted a reply, “A zombie on a diet has to be the most ridiculous thing ever. Even zombie women feel the pressure to be beach body ready, I guess.”
Leon hummed in agreement. “No woman is safe from societal expectations.”
“So the plan of letting myself get zombified to give society the finger is out the window.”
“Counterpoint, you can eat anyone who pisses you off. And enjoy it.”
You sighed dreamily. “I can have all the brains I want!”
“You’re gonna have to find ‘em first,” he quipped. Leaning across your lap, he slid the remote out from between your sweaty fingers. “Hold on, gotta rewind a bit because I have no clue who she is.”
You sank deeper into the couch, biting your lip as the scenes you two laughed your way through were shown to you in reverse. The glimpses you caught the first time around were enough for you to catch the general gist.
You winced when the lead once again made his way through the dark gas station filled to the brim with zombies. “Why? Male character encounters his first zombie, comes across female character, escapes. There, I summed it up for you.”
He shifted beside you, the hand holding you close moving up across your shoulder to settle on top of your head. The familiarity of his touch made your tense muscles relax – at least for as long as the movie allowed. “Wanna watch something else?”
“Yes and no,” you mumbled. The thought of this movie beating you was, well… annoying. You just didn’t want to be that person jumping at billowing curtains anymore.
Brushing his fingers through your hair, Leon stayed quiet for a moment as the male and female leads met up on screen for the second time that night. “Hell of a first date, huh?”
“First date?” You gladly tore your eyes away from the screen to frown at him. “Did you hit your head at work again?”
“That happened once and it wasn’t at work, it was here.”
“Ah yes, the headboard incident,” you said with an air of nostalgia. “I’ll never get that dent out.”
Your tone made him laugh despite himself. “Thanks for the sympathy – I really feel the love. Anyway, I didn’t mean us—” He nudged his head toward the TV. “—I meant them.”
“Pretty sucky as far as first dates go,” you agreed. Scrambling to get away from an exploding car while surrounded by zombies wasn’t your idea of a good time, anyway. “Oh shit, are they splitting up?”
“Guess they agreed the date was too horrible to finish.”
You snuggled closer to him with a smile, your hand finding his on his thigh, fingers entwining. “Thanks, Leon.”
A soft kiss was pressed to the top of your head in response.
Despite your reluctance to let it, the movie pulled you in. Apart from the occasional quip, the jokes began to fade out, and all you were left with was the noise of growling zombies on the prowl and the sound of footsteps in otherwise oppressively silent hallways.
Even though your hand only got sweatier throughout, Leon didn’t let go. Not for a single second. So you clung to him, to the comfort his presence had brought you since the moment he walked into your life, and bravely forged on despite the knowledge that you were either going to have nightmares about being eaten alive, or watching them play out in your head as you lay awake staring at the unchanging view of your ceiling.
You were not looking forward to bed.
When the movie gave you another opportunity to distract yourself in the form of an FBI agent, you took it with both hands. “Leon, trustworthy or not?”
“Huh? Uh…” Scratching his cheek with his free hand, he cast another glance at the woman on screen before giving you his full attention. “I mean, she did say she was FBI, yeah?”
“An FBI agent in heels. Wearing sunglasses. At night.”
Questionable fashion choices aside, how did she even get in there? The whole place was sealed.
Yeah, you were definitely erring on the side of caution and going with ‘not.’
“Maybe she’s undercover,” Leon mused.
“Let’s hope you’re right because I worry about you enough. I don’t need you turning out to be a bad judge of character,” you said wryly. Not a great trait for a cop.
“Hey now, give me some credit.” He leaned in, eyes twinkling. “I’m dating you, aren’t I?”
“Like I said, bad judge of character,” you reiterated with a grin. “All right, how about him?” You nodded at the guy acting squirrely from inside his jail cell. “Trustworthy or—”
A loud bang bang bang had you both jumping in your seats. Leon scrambled for the remote to pause the movie while you clutched at your chest, your pounding heart threatening to burst right out of you. You frowned at each other with an unspoken question hanging in the air.
Was it the movie or…?
You shrieked when it happened again, slapping your hand over your mouth just as you heard, “Pizza delivery!”
Of course someone in the building let him in today of all days.
“There goes ten years of my life,” Leon said with an uncomfortable laugh you echoed. His hand clutched yours tighter than before, like he didn’t want to let go of you every bit as much as you didn’t want to let go of him. At least you weren’t the only one who got startled.
You went with him over to the door, waiting with bated breath while he checked the peephole to see if the person on the other side was indeed the pizza delivery guy or some huge, disembodied hand out to squash your heads like grapes.
(That was a fun visual your brain was no doubt going to recreate tonight.)
Honestly, you were a little relieved when it really was just the pizza delivery guy. Your nerves were shot.
While Leon paid for your dinner, your gaze wandered over to the flickering image on the TV. The way that guy’s eye popped out of the socket… Ugh. You buried your face in Leon’s shirt, willing the queasy feeling in the back of your throat away. Maybe it was better to take a break from the movie for a bit, just for the sake of keeping dinner in your stomach where it belonged.
“Thanks, have a good night.” Leon bumped the door shut with his shoulder and headed for the kitchen, laughing once he realized he’d picked up an extra passenger along the way in the form of you, still clinging to his shirt. “Still counting on me to protect you, huh? I thought I was too baby-faced to scare anything off?”
“Well, it’s not like you scared off the pizza guy.”
“Smartass.”
You slid your hands around his waist, squeezing him in a tight hug. “Says the resident smartass himself.”
“Missed opportunity to slap my ass to make a point,” he said with a grin when you let go of him to grab a slice of pizza. He gave you a look that meant trouble, and sure enough, a second later his hand landed on your ass. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
Oh, you really wanted to retaliate now. Cheeky fucker. “You’re lucky I’m holding pizza or I’d spank that ass of yours red.”
He leaned in closer to you, his breath fanning across your face. “That a threat or a promise?”
Damn. He was really good at motivating you to survive the rest of this movie, wasn’t he?
It was bad jokes galore as soon as you started the movie up again. Leon was hellbent on making sure each and every tense situation was diffused for you, with highlights such as, “That sewer must smell like shit,” and, “Wonder if anyone tried to grow that alligator for Jurassic Park and then just forgot about it?”
You did cackle at that second one. Well, you laughed at all of them, really, no matter how good or bad because every time you did, that tightness in your chest would ease up a little bit.
“She really looks like an FBI agent now,” you said, nodding your head at the TV while the mystery woman shrugged off her coat. “Standard FBI dress code: a tight red dress and heels.”
“I still believe,” Leon said, dramatically bumping his fist against his heart.
“Uh-huh.”
“Someone has to, Miss Cynic.”
You clasped your hands together and closed your eyes in mock prayer. “Dear lord, don’t let anything happen to my puppy dog of a boyfriend because he’s much too kind for his own good, please and thank you.”
“I’m right. You just wait and see.”
“Mm-hmm.”
At this point, you were more preoccupied with the movie proving Leon wrong than with the plot itself. He was so steadfast in his beliefs that he was starting to make you doubt yourself, and honestly, you hoped you really were just being cynical.
You knew in your gut that you weren’t, though. All that talk about getting her hands on that virus made you more suspicious, and as the cherry on top, the kiss she planted on the main character’s lips after saying he was the only one who could help her made every last alarm bell go off inside your head.
“It’s not a horror movie without someone getting some, I guess,” Leon joked, his hand sliding off your hip to trail up the back of your shirt. “Must’ve been one tasty kiss after wading through sewage. Yum.”
You laughed softly, quietly enjoying the caress of his fingertips running up and down your bare skin. “That was so manipulative.”
“What was? The kiss?”
“Uh, duh.”
“Why? Maybe she actually cares about him.”
You leaned away from him to give him a proper view of your look of absolute bafflement. And when he kept looking back at you like he genuinely didn’t understand, you couldn’t help groaning into your hands. “Oh my god, I’m gonna go gray worrying about you ending up in a ditch somewhere because you trusted the wrong person.”
“Are you now, Mom?”
You smacked his shoulder. “Funny.”
He caught your hand, pulling you against him with a warm laugh that made you flush. “Aw, c’mon. I like having you fuss over me, you know that. It’s cute.”
“You make it hard not to,” you grumbled into his chest.
“I know,” he sighed, hugging you tighter, “I am just that lovable.”
Your soft laugh was lost amidst Leon’s dramatic lament that he had to rewind again.
Yeah. He really, really was.
Hiding out in the safety of Leon’s arms had allowed you to grow somewhat accustomed to the tense atmosphere and the jump scares. Or so you thought. Automatic doors and zombies hiding out right behind them had you shrieking so loud your neighbor next door came asking concerned questions. She wouldn’t leave until you headed over on your shaky legs to prove it, and even then she shot several cautious glances Leon’s way.
“Glad to see your neighbor watches out for you,” he said once he shut the door. “A little less glad to know the entire building might’ve heard us having sex.” His grimace was only temporary before that cheeky grin made its triumphant return, and right on cue, he said, “Guess I’m not doing it right since she never came over to check on you before.”
Hm, what to do, what to do… You could praise him. Tell him, “Trust me, you’re doing it right,” because it’d be honest.
On the other hand, you could coax him into showing you he knew how to make you scream…
Yeah, you liked option two far more.
“I guess not,” you said airily. All right, no missteps now. You couldn’t afford to stumble on your way back to the couch.
Leon was hot on your trail the moment you walked away from him. “You guess not?”
“Yup.” You plopped down on the couch and glanced at him. Oh shit, shouldn’t have done that. Why did he have to look like a kicked puppy?
He directed his frown at his feet for a few long, long seconds before lifting his head, a determined, lopsided grin tugging on his lips. “All right. I’m up for the challenge.”
The sense of guilt gripping your pounding heart like an enclosed fist eased up, every beat now sending fire coursing red-hot through your veins. “She might call the police,” you teased.
“I am the police.”
It was so like him to make such a corny joke, only… it didn’t sound like he was joking. And because he didn’t sound like he was joking, you weren’t laughing.
You were throbbing. Aching to smush that pretty face between your thighs, to force poor Leon to explain to one of his colleagues that the ‘domestic disturbance’ your next-door neighbor called about was him railing you into next week. Even better if said colleague had a note about him being loud too.
The rest of the movie would still be there tomorrow. Zombie guts might be more palatable over breakfast than dinner.
Ugh. Probably not.
“Are you going to handcuff me if I don’t play nice, Officer Kennedy?” you asked sultrily, pushing the movie’s subject matter to the far, far edges of your consciousness. Or tried to, anyway. Exploding heads were hard to forget.
“Uh, I don’t have those on me,” he admitted, sheepishly scratching his pink cheek. “They’re in my locker at work. Do you, uh… want me to go get ‘em?”
You raised your eyebrow. “Hold on, your handcuffs are at work but you have your gun with you?”
“Well… no.”
You folded your arms across your chest and leaned back with an exaggerated huff. “All that big talk about defending me from zombies with your gun and you don’t even have it on you.” Lips curling in a meaningful grin, you nudged your head in the direction of his crotch. “Well, I guess you could always whip something else out.”
Leon sank back in his seat with a laugh. “Aaand we’ve officially written the porn parody of tonight’s movie.”
“Starring Leon S. Kennedy. The S stands for Smokin’.”
“Ah fuck, I missed my true calling.”
“You really did,” you said, laying your hand on his thigh. His warm, muscular thigh that you couldn’t resist squeezing. “What do you say to finishing the movie tomorrow?”
Leon squirmed beneath your brazen touch, his blush making his struggle to keep a composed expression all the harder. “Damn,” you heard him mumble under his breath, his hand inching towards yours. “Babe, I, uh…” He peeled your hand off him. Wait, he peeled your hand off him? “I feel like I shouldn’t reward you until you’ve actually finished the movie.”
Your mouth fell open at the sheer audaciousness of his reply. Reward you? This was your idea!
You drew away from him with a scoff, your burning face betraying you. “You better fuck me stupid after, Kennedy.”
“I can do that!” His cheerful proclamation was followed by immediate nervous backtracking. “Wait – no, I can’t – I mean—”
You laughed and pressed a tender kiss to the corner of his mouth, successfully quieting his clumsy attempt at explaining himself. “You’re so cute.”
It unfortunately didn’t take long for terror to override your horniness. The zombies and their ilk were bad enough, but those things they were growing in the greenhouse? Before you could even see them, you could hear them. A guttural croaking you could only describe as the sound of a soul desperately clinging to the mortal coil while being dragged down into the depths of hell.
Fuck zombies. Nothing was worse than these things.
But of course this movie loved to prove you wrong by slinging that massive tyrant into the mix. Your neighbor thankfully didn’t show up again this time.
“Think I could make that croaking sound?” Leon mused.
Before he could give it his best try, you slapped your hand over his mouth and gave him a stern look. “No.”
He took your hand in his, pressing your palm against his cheek with a boyish grin that made you feel even more like the school teacher to his mischievous student. Or his mom.
No, nope, you weren’t gonna go there.
The greenhouse seemed to have been the worst of it, for which you were more than thankful. All you had left in you at this point were wisecracks because you were so worn out from jumping every couple of minutes. It wasn’t quite desensitization, but you were getting there.
The mutated researcher popping up for – how many was it now? – the third time had you leaning in to Leon with an exasperated sigh. “Of course he couldn’t take that virus and just fucking leg it outta there.”
“That’d be anticlimactic.”
“And funny. Just, ‘Nope, bye!’ and gone.”
Leon chuckled. Shockingly, you didn’t get a quip back, but you quickly understood why. Below your shirt, his hand was on the move again, trailing from your back to your side in one long, slow drag. His fingertips were getting a bit rougher lately. Maybe because he’d started working out more or because of all that time spent at the gun range, or…
A sound of longing escaped you before you could swallow it down. You couldn’t let him know how distracting he was because then he’d get distracted and would have to rewind – again – and you just wanted the movie to be over at this point so you could claim your reward.
You sat through the fight with your nails biting into your thigh, trying not to think about how something as innocent as him drawing figures of eight on your hip had you soaking your underwear to an embarrassing degree.
When the mystery woman reappeared shortly after the fight was over and raised her gun at the main character, you didn’t even have it in you to gloat.
“Damn,” Leon mumbled, his hand faltering for a moment. “Guess you were right.”
“Am I?” you asked when she lowered the gun. You didn’t think this woman would be softhearted enough to refuse an open invitation to shoot and claim her spoils, but she was. Laying your head back against his shoulder, you smiled at your equally softhearted boyfriend. “Maybe we were both kind of right.”
He grinned back at you. “The best possible outcome.”
The rest of the movie was one long action sequence with an unfortunate reappearance of those croaking plant monsters that made your skin crawl. Not to mention the tyrant having yet another fucking cameo that neither you nor the main character appreciated, even if Leon did. “You’re so cute when you jump like that.”
You were willing to forgive it. It did make Leon start drawing those little figures on your skin again, so… a definite win overall.
Not that you didn’t thoroughly enjoy seeing that large motherfucker getting blown to bits with a rocket launcher shortly after. The gore would probably bother you in your sleep later, but that was only if the two of you even got to sleeping. Leon had a promise to live up to, after all.
“Hey, it’s that girl,” he said when the main character’s failed first date suddenly showed up with a kid in tow during the credits. “Y’know, her being on the cover and all, I expected more screen time. She was barely in it.”
You grimaced. “I, uh, may have an explanation for that. The guy at Blockbuster said there’s a companion movie to this one.”
“Oh shit, really? We gotta watch that next time, then.”
Ah, fuck.
“Depends,” you said, twisting your body around to slip onto his lap. Those pretty blue eyes widened at you as if he was trying to grasp the meaning behind your actions and failing, the close proximity of you erasing whatever thoughts might’ve popped up. “If you prove to me you can get me through the rest of the night without any nightmares, I’ll watch it with you.”
He hesitated for a moment, realization seeming to dawn on him because he grasped your hips, pulled you harder into his lap. “And if I can’t?”
“Oh, Leon.”
You pressed into him, his face flushing at the sensation of your breasts squished against his chest. Gently drawing the hair away from his eyes, you leaned in, brushing your lips over his, a feathery light touch he chased after greedily – and you denied. He wasn’t the only one who could tease.
You touched your lips to his ear and whispered, “You absolutely can.”