All the Little Things.

Ironically, Leo says he's seen more during his blindness than he ever has before. He accepts his blindness as a gift, which, in turn, makes me want to cry, just like every other thing Leo does. But you can't blame me! Wouldn't you cry if someone you were related or were friends with or knew or loved became blind, and they just accepted it? Wouldn't you cry, too, if they were content with their blindness? Don't fucking lie. You know you would cry at half the things they do, too.



It's five fifteen in the morning, and I still can't sleep. The green numbers of the digital clock on the bookshelf are glaring back at me. I can't stop thinking about Leo. I can't stop thinking about who blinded him. I can't stop thinking about how I'm going to find that glass blower. My mind is too jumbled for me to fall asleep, much less sleep peacefully. After at least fifteen minutes of tossing and turning, I walk out of the guest room and slowly creep a couple of steps down the hallway, my feet creaking as I wince at the sound, and open Leo's door with a slight crack. He's lying on his side in a spooning position, but all that's between his limbs is a mixture of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and some other gases I don't have the energy to name. I wish it was me instead of those stupid gases, so I take a risk and I push the door open a little wider so I can creep in, and I lift his covers so Leo's body is curled around mine. Take that, air. His arms immediately wrap around my torso, and I know I shouldn't have woken him, even though it was unintentional, but it feels warm. Loving. Leo groans and mumbles some words that I can't understand before he says, "G'morning," and I snuggle further into his body. This is the first time I've ever wished he could see me blush. I wish he could see what he does to me. My heart is thundering out of my chest and my pulse is racing. He feels for my neck and pushes back the hair draped over it and presses a gentle kiss to it, sending my nerves into a frenzy. A wave of electricity shoots through my body, and I can't help it. I cry. My eyes are squeezed shut because I don't want Leo to feel my tears drop down, and I bite down on my tongue to keep from making a sound, but from the way my back is shaking, Leo knows.

"Hey," Leo says quietly, pulling us up. He slowly reaches for my face, unsure of where my cheeks are at first, but when he finds them, they're entrapped in his gentle grasp.

"What's wrong?" he asks, and it sounds so unknowing and naïve and innocent that I want to cry even harder.

"It's-it's nothing, Leo, don't worry about it," I manage to get out. "Go back to sleep, it's fine."

"It's not nothing when you cry, Gemini," Leo replies, a light hand pushing back my hair. How did he know it was in my face? "And I won't go back to sleep if you're crying, I can't sleep while you're like this." So he crawls out of bed and my body goes cold, the goosebumps rising because of the absence of his warm body.

"Come on," he says as he stands, reaching a hand out to my general direction. I hesitantly take it, unsure of what's next. "I want to show you something."



With one hand on the wall and his walking cane back in his room, he takes me down the hallway, through the kitchen, and to his studio, where the yellow couch I love so much is.

"W-Why are we here? I ask him, one of my hands in his while the other is wiping furiously at the stray tears that managed to escape a few minutes earlier. One hand still on the wall, he lets go of mine and finds one edge of the couch.

"I'm gonna need your help with this, Gemini," he says. "Can you grap that other edge and turn the couch towards the big window?" I love the way he says my name.

"Sure," I respond quietly, doing as he asks. He slowly walks around and sits on one corner of the couch and holds a hand out, signaling for me to join him. I walk towards him and curl up into his arms.

"Back home, we had a skyline like this. We had so much light pollution that you couldn't see the stars at night, so when I couldn't sleep in the early morning, I'd go out to the big window that overlooked the whole city and just sat there, watching the sunset. It really made up for the lack of stars." Leo says quietly, almost subconsciously, as he keeps stroking my hair. I love the way his fingers feel as they run through my tangles, just as Leo has run through my maze of a personality and found the real me, the one who can be a pessimist at times, but is happy.

"Where are you from?" I ask curiously.

"Chicago," he says, and now I know what he means by 'skyline like this.' "What time is it?" Leo asks me. I look towards the kitchen at the clock on the wall. "Five forty seven," I reply. Leo smiles the tiniest of smiles, the corners of his lips pulling upward just a fraction.

"Look out the window and tell me what you see," A chaste kiss pressed to the temple.

"I see," my head shakes and my eyebrows furrow. "Blue, with the tiniest of stars," Leo just smiles and shakes his head.

"Am I supposed to be seeing something else?" I ask, confused.

"Just keep watching." So I do, and I'm left in awe. In the series of two or three minutes, the sky lightens. It goes from hues of the darkest blues and shades of black I didn't even know existed to a beautiful indigo, which transforms into the warmest of reds and pinks and yellows, which leave the sky a collage of yellow and blue. It'll take a while for the sky to fully turn blue, but god, this is paradise. Being here with Leo and watching the sunset is paradise.

"Wow," I finally say once the stages of the rising sun are mostly through, and the sun is slowly stretching its arms and reaching for the cloudless sky.

"Would you mind describing it for me?" Leo asks in a small voice, and I press a gentle kiss to his lips, feeling my entire body warm as his hands slowly make their way to my cheeks. Once I pull away, I lean in so just our foreheads and noses are touching.

"Of course," I respond. We've only known each other for what, two or three weeks? I'm so surprised by how much I care for Leo, and how much he cares for me, in turn.

"It started out just blue with the twinkle of the occasional star, as I told you when you first asked me," I start, and his beautiful eyes, glazed over with white, are still staring into mine, content as ever. I want to cry again, but I have to be strong. I have to be strong for Leo. "And then it just... transformed. God, it was beautiful, Leo, I wish you could have seen it. Those dark shades and hues of black and blue turned into this indigo-purple color that lightened into red and pink and yellow and I can barely explain how beautiful it was." I continue, shaking my head in awe.

"I can hardly explain how beautiful you are," Leo says quietly, and I fall silent, finally noticing the truth that just slyly snuck it's way in.

I'm in love with Leo Thornwood and I've only known him for two or three weeks.