~Leaf~

She gasped, "Leo?!" She slapped him hard across the face. "How long have you known? Was this your plan all along? Get close to me so you can stab me in the back!?" She grew louder and angrier with each question. "Have you been following me?" Leaf curled her lip in disgust.

~Leonid~

You know how in some places they say someone flinched as if they had slapped them? In this case, Leo thought, it was pretty accurate

Leo flinched as she slapped her. A full-on flinch as he racted to the literal slap. He didn't mean anything he had done to be directly hurtful. Okay, maybe he overreacted in the leg-biting incident. But she had started that.

Four questions were shot at him in rapid succession. Four questions that made his resolve evaporate. He knew she'd be angry - but he didn't realise how vengeful exactly she might be after he bit her leg the other day.

Leo knew better than to answer every single of those questions. He had known since yesterday. This was quite literally not his plan. No. And no. But Leo could see Leaf was panicking, and quite frankly - he more or less was, too. He had never done thins before. Heck, name someone else in the entire world that had ever encountered this situation.

Leo let her stew in her own thoughts for a moment, and then replied. Hesitantly, as if he was unsure. Heck, he was unsure.

... "It's not what you think, Leaf. I didn't know until yesterday."

Leo anxiously waited to hear what judgement Leaf may pass on him.

~Leaf~

"So you knew it was me and you still felt the need to BITE me?" She questioned him, her voice at a yell. "You are... just Unbelieveable!" Leaf whirled around so her back was to Leo and stormed off to her dorm, her face a bright red

~Leonid~

"Leaf - no, no. That's not..." Leo trailed off as Leaf stalked off, not looking behind her. He felt a stab of regret as she kept walking - despite he kept trying to talk to her. Couldn't she understand...? Leo felt guilty, and sad. He thought he had found a friend in Leo. He wasn't sure how to face her in Physics - or hell, even if he saw her in the hallways the next day.

He thought she would understand. Yet Leo felt nothing but dust when he tried callign out to Leaf.

And she had every right to be mad. That's what made it worse.

Although, like he bit her, it might have been a bit over-the-top - she still had a right.

Leo, unable to think properly, looked back at the forest. He couldn't watch Leaf walking away. He just couldn't.

He shifted and slunk into the forest.

He couldn't. He just couldn't.

~Leaf~

Leaf flopped down onto her bed, trying to process the recent events. She layed so she was face down on the pillow. "Why Leo! Anyone but Leo would've worked." She sighed, "just when I think I've found a friend." She sat up and opened her computer. She started scrolling through pictures of lion cubs. They always reminded her of Leo. She didn't know what she would do in Physics tomorrow as they had been sitting together but now... she couldn't even bring herself to look at him.

~Leonid~

Leo didn't want to face anyone right now. He knew he'd be noted missing, but he could probably cook up some excuse... right? Leo didn't particularly care.

That had gone terribly.

He wanted to just be alone, him and his thoughts in his wolfish brain, alone in the forest.

Maybe he'd stay there until morning. He didn't entirely know. But he wasn't entirely sure either is he was in his human form he wouldn't collapse.

Leo lay down underneath a bush. His fur felt dirty, but he didn't exactly care just yet. He just lay there. Not moving. Simply breathing. Thinking. And alone in the world, yet again. Just when he had thought he had found someone like him.

~Leaf~

Leaf started walking twards physics. "I... I just can't do it!" She pulled out her phone and texted a friend asking to pick up any homework for her. They were in the same physics and history class as Leaf so she had gotten to know them. Leaf knew deep down that her new friend would never feel quite the same as Leo had.

~Leonid~

Leo didn't sleep in his bed that night. He lay down in the forest, never feeling so lost. He... didn't know what to do. At all. Leo was lost, without any light.

He had somehow eventually fallen asleep, and when the birds started chirping again, he knew he had to get up and face the day.

He shifted, and braced himself for what was to come. Aside from the usual "where were you last night?"... first period was Physics. The very first thing he had on.

Holy, but he was dreading his favorite class at this point.

He attended breakfast, cracked the same jokes with his friends, and outwardly appeared normal - managing to brush off the "where were you last night?" question with a laugh and a smile. But inwardly, he was nothing but a shell.

What was he meant to do if he saw Leaf today? Because that had gone terribly. What was he meant to do?

The clock infinisemally ticked closer to 9am, and Leo found... he just couldn't do it. He could claim off. Something he had done many times in high school - use his extracirricular activities as an excuse. It worked, and he could use it multiple times.

It was 8:59am when he walked into the class, and looked around.

Leaf's desk was ostinately empty. Leo felt his heart sinking.

Pasting a fake smile on, he went up to Mr Dudding - even that name couldn't get a real smile out of him - and yammered some gibberish of a music rehearsal. Mr Dudding accepted it, but Leo didn't exactly process what he heard from him.

As Leaf's desk was still empty.

The clock struck 9 and Leaf's desk remained empty.

She didn't come to her class with him... at all. She would rather bunk than face him, Leo felt. He never felt more miserable than he did at that moment. That someone would rather get marked absent than face him.

Crumbling inside, Leo turned and left the classroom.

~Leaf~

Leaf looked up from her phone, only to bump into Leo. "I skipped class so I didn't have to deal with you but you just had to come and find me." She turned around, "I'm going to my dorm so don't even try to follow me. I just need some time to process this." She walked away, her face softening.

~Leonid~

Jesus christ. Why the heck was Leaf there? It took a while for him to process - what the hell was she doing here? - and by the time he did... she was walking away.

"Leaf, I..." Leo started, and stopped as he looked at Leaf's fast disappearing form.

Today really couldn't get any worse, could it? Leo turned and walked away. He'd honour what Leaf said, but... that didn't mean he wouldn't like it.