#ocxleon
As the City Sleeps (OC x Leon)
Commissioned by @lightningnose
Commission info
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“You’re an idiot for thinking I could love a failure like you.”
The words echoed around him, clanging against the walls, against his head, into his ears like nails on a chalkboard. They shot straight into his heart, sitting there hard and heavy as he processed what she was saying.
“But, Ree…” Leon started, his voice strangled as if his lungs held no air. “You said that you loved me for me, that you always loved me for me. You said my title didn’t matter… that all of that didn’t matter…”
Leon wasn’t sure what was worse – Ree’s piercing laughter, or how she rolled her eyes at him, as if he were some idiotic child too stupid to understand the rules of whatever game she was playing. Her arms were crossed, eyes dark, as she stared him down.
“Who could actually love you after you lost? People love Champion Leon, not whatever nobody you are now. Looks like you’re useless andstupid.”
Leon’s heart shattered yet again, his chest feeling concave as he processed what she said, how she was looking at him, how she was speaking to him.
She was right. Who could love a failure? Who could love a nobody like him? He wasn’t the Champion, so he wasn’t anything. He was no longer the best, and that meant he was nothing. His friends would leave him. His family would leave him. Ree would… Ree would…
His chest tightened at the thought. And finally, with eyes cold, those three terrible words that Leon dreaded finally dripped from Ree’s lips.
“I’m leaving you.”
Leon woke with a start, gasping for air, his sheets saturated with a cold sweat. He whipped his head around, vision blurry, searching for that glare that had been so close. It took him a few moments to realize that he was alone in his Wyndon bedroom, and that the only sounds in the room were coming from the city in the night and the gasps he sucked in. Each breath came fast and heavy, in as if he were desperately trying to make up for the suffocation he felt only moments before. Ree’s sneering face had faded, replaced with his dark room and curtains lightly fluttering in the night breeze. Leon shook his head into focus, trying to think about anything that wasn’t Ree’s scowl that was now slowly fading. He saw curtains, windows, a dresser, his Poke Balls, his nightstand, and his clock that read 2am.
“A dream,” Leon mumbled to himself after a moment, and he again surveyed his surroundings to be sure that there were no more sneering faces awaiting him, and to ensure that experience truly was a dream. It took a moment, then a moment more, before he set his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes and heaving out a deep sigh.
It was just a dream. He was still in his apartment, he and Ree were still dating, and she was still sleeping soundly in the guest room. While they usually slept apart whenever she stayed over, his bed felt much too large and lonely after waking up from that terrible dream. Leon stepped into the bathroom, splashed some water on his face, then quietly padded to the guest room across the hall. With a lit rap on the door, he peeked his head in.
“Ree?” he whispered as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. “You up?”
Her body was silhouetted under the blankets, but she made no movement. Leon whispered her name again and she started to stir, filling the room with the soft rustling of sheets. Leon’s heart squeezed at the sight, and he gripped his shirt in his fists, stomach still a little queasy from that dream.
“Mmng,” Ree mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face as she turned to him. “Lee? ‘s that you?”
“Sorry to wake you, love,” Leon said, quietly stepping into the room. “Mind if I join you?”
Ree nodded instantly, flipping the covers as an invitation for Leon to slip in too. He did, and was soon enveloped in the warmth and calm that his girlfriend was always so good at supplying.
“’Skay? I mean - you okay?” Ree mumbled, slowly adjusting to being awake. She lifted herself up onto her elbow to see him more clearly, though her eyes were still a little puffy from sleep and the lines from the pillow were gently pressed into her face. “Did something happen?”
“Nightmare,” Leon replied with a sigh, running his fingers through his bangs as his brow furrowed. “It was pretty bad, you, you um…”
He trailed off, his stomach dropping again at that terrible image of Ree’s scowl. It was nothing like the expression she held now in reality, full of concern and love, but that didn’t mean that nightmare’s glare didn’t flash every time he closed his eyes. Leon scanned her face, sucking in an anxious breath before continuing his sentence.
“You left me,” he said. Immediately as he said those words, hot tears began to prick in his eyes. It was as if saying the words aloud stitched them into reality, and Leon didn’t realize how hard he was clutching the blankets until he felt Ree’s hands slide over his own. “You… you left me because I wasn’t Champion anymore. You said that… that I was a failure, and that no one could love a failure. So you left me.”
Just as his last word waivered, so did the tears in his eyes that were threatening to fall. His eyes stung so he squeezed them shut, hoping to keep the hot tears from spilling over.
“Oh, Lee,” Ree breathed, lifting her hand to cup his face. She brushed away the tear that had fallen with her thumb, and Leon held his hand against hers, pressing her touch into his cheek. “It was just a dream, okay? I’m here with you now, and I love you so much. There’s no way I could ever leave you.”
Leon nodded. He knew Ree would never lie to him, but there was still a part of him that was so raw, so beaten, so vulnerable, that he couldn’t stop his next sentence from slipping out.
“Even though I’m not the Champion?” he asked, searching her eyes. “You still love me?”
“Yes,” Ree said, breathing out a laugh. “Leon I love you, then, now, and forever. I don’t care if you’re the Champion or chairman or a garbage man or if you didn’t have a job at all. I love you, not your title, no matter what it may be.”
Leon nodded again, not sure what else to say. Ree leaned in a gently pressed a kiss to his forehead, then laid down and held her arms out for him. Leon quickly accepted the invitation and laid his head on her chest, breathing out a deep sigh as he felt the thrumming of her heartbeat against his ear. She ran her fingers through his hair, gently brushing his bangs off his face, then combing through the hair by his temple.
“I know this is hard for you,” Ree said quietly, still lightly running her fingers through his hair. “But I’m here for you, okay? This is another part of your journey that I want to help you with. You’re learning and growing, and I am so so proud of you. You’re doing such a great job.”
Leon nodded, his eyelids fluttering closed at the soothing feeling of her hands in his hair. He wrapped his arms around her, curling her as close as he could.
“Thank you, Ree,” Leon breathed, giving her a squeeze. Leon’s eyes were closed, so he didn’t see the dark blush that stained her cheeks at the gentility in his words. He felt a sentence start in her chest, only to pause, then she finally breathed it out, as soft and soothing as the light breeze that whispered through the open window. Just as the wind brushed and curled around the curtains, her words curled around his heart.
“I love you,” she said again. “I’m… I’m here for you, okay?”
“I know,” Leon hummed, leaning up to press a kiss to her chin. “I love you too. Thank you.”
She responded by leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips, a motion which Leon gratefully accepted. She started to pull back, only for Leon to capture her lips in another kiss.
“I love you,” he mumbled again, still hovering above her lips. He could now see the flaring blush in her cheeks, and such a cute sight drew a chuckle from him.
“I love you too,” Ree repeated, face warm from the insistent blush. “Why don’t we get some sleep? I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
Leon nodded, resting his head on her chest again as Ree adjusted the blankets over them. The sound of her breathing, the feeling of her arms around him, and the lingering taste of her kiss helped Leon finally drift into a peaceful, calm, and dreamless sleep.
