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It was the middle of the night when you woke up. Your room was dark, the world outside still.
You stared at the ceiling for a second, half annoyed with yourself.
“Seriously? Right now?” you muttered to your little bump while you gently massaged it.
But the urge didn’t go away, if anything, it got worse. The feeling of unbearable hunger for some pickles and peanut butter was making you feel almost miserable.
And before you could talk yourself out of it you reached for your phone.
Your thumb hovered over his name.
Leon S. Kennedy
You hesitated.
Things between you weren’t fixed, far from it. But… he had been trying and calling. A lot.
And right now? You just wanted to call him to see if maybe he could bring your midnight cravings to your apartment.
If anything it was a test to see if he was really committed to you like he had told you when you told him you were pregnant.
So you pressed call.
The ringing felt louder in the silence of your room.
Once. Twice. Three times. Click.
Relief flickered for half a second.
“Hello?” Your heart dropped to your stomach.
That wasn’t Leon.
You froze, the phone pressed tightly to your ear like maybe you’d misheard.
“…Hello?” the voice repeated.
A girl with groggy voice answered the phone, and she sounded like she’d just woken up.
Your stomach twisted violently.
“I-” your voice caught, your throat suddenly dry. “Is… is Leon there?”
A pause.
Then, “He’s asleep. Who is this?”
The word asleep echoed in your head. Your grip on the phone tightened.
“Never mind,” you said quickly, your voice already shaking. “Sorry for waking you up.” You hung up before she could say anything else.
Your chest tightened painfully, your breathing uneven as your thoughts spiraled faster than you could stop them.
A girl answered his phone.
A girl. At night. Said he was asleep. In his apartment. Alone.
Your stomach dropped even further.
Of course.
Of course.
Your eyes burned, tears spilling before you could stop them.
You pulled your knees up, curling in on yourself like that might somehow make it hurt less. You didn’t know if it was the hormones making you feel this way, or if it really was your heart breaking into a thousand pieces.
“Of course,” you whispered again, your voice breaking.
He said he wanted to try, that he cared, that he’d be there for you and your baby. And now there was someone else.
A small, broken part of you wasn’t even surprised.
You let out a shaky breath, wiping at your face, but it didn’t stop.
“I’m so stupid,” you whispered.
The next morning, your phone lit up.
Leon S. Kennedy
You stared at the screen as it rang twice, but you didn’t answer.
It rang again later. Messages started coming in.
Hey. I missed your call last night. Everything okay?
You didn’t open it.
Call me when you wake up.
Ignored.
Another call.
Declined.
Your chest tightened every time his name lit up your screen but you didn’t give in.
Leon stared at his phone, confusion etched deep into his face. He tried again.
His jaw tightened slightly, unease settling in.
“Something’s wrong,” he muttered.
Across the room, Sherry leaned against the doorway.
“You gonna keep calling or actually tell me what’s going on?” she asked curiously.
Leon glanced at her, already irritated not with her, but with the fact that you weren’t answering his calls.
“That was her,” he said shortly. Recognition flickered across her face.
“Oh. The girl?”
“The mother of my child,” he corrected, sharper than intended.
She raised her hands slightly. “Okay, okay. Sorry”
Leon exhaled, running a hand through his hair, pacing now.
“Why would she hang up?” he muttered.
Sherry tilted her head, thinking for a second then her expression shifted into a worried one.
“Wait.”
Leon stopped on his tracks. “What?”
“Your phone was ringing last night and you weren’t picking it up so I answered for you. She asked for you,” she said slowly with a guilty face. “I told her you were asleep.”
A beat.
“Oh.”
Leon’s stomach dropped. Realization hit all at once.
“Shit.”
He grabbed his keys and phone again immediately, dialing once more already heading out to your house.
“Pick up,” he muttered under his breath. “Come on, baby. Pick up.”
You felt miserable, physically and emotionally.
Your body felt like it wasn’t yours anymore. Your boobs ached constantly and your back was killing you. You shifted on the couch with a frustrated groan, pressing a pillow against yourself like it might help.
And emotionally? You felt worse.
The call from the night before was still replaying in your mind. Thoughts wouldn’t stop circling back to that voice. The way she had sounded so… comfortable. Like she belonged there.
You squeezed your eyes shut, fresh tears slipping out despite how exhausted you were of crying.
A sharp knock at your door pulled you from your thoughts.
You froze. Maybe if you pretended you weren’t home the person would go away.
Another knock. Louder this time.
Your heart started racing. You didn’t need to check, you knew it was Leon.
“Come on,” Leon’s voice came from the other side, urgent, strained. “I know you’re in there. Please open the door.”
Your chest tightened painfully. For a moment, you considered ignoring him. Letting him stand out there and feel every fraction of what you felt.
With a shaky breath, you pushed yourself up and walked to the door, yanking it open.
“What?” you snapped, though your voice wavered.
Leon looked… rough.
Good. He deserves to suffer.
“What happened?” he asked immediately, searching your face. “Why are you ignoring me? You called last night-”
“Oh, I called, yeah,” you cut in, crossing your arms despite the discomfort it caused. “Funny, I remember that part differently.”
His brows pulled together. “What does that mean?”
You stared at him, disbelief flashing across your face.
“Are you serious right now?”
“I’m trying to understand,” he said, frustration creeping in.
“A girl answered your phone, Leon.”
That stopped him.
Your chest rose and fell unevenly, your emotions spilling over again now that you’d said it out loud. Tears already slipping from your eyes again.
“She said you were asleep,” you added, your voice shaking despite your anger. “So yeah, I figured I got the message.”
Leon blinked once. Twice.
“Oh,” he exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. “No- no, that’s not what you think it is.”
“Really?” you shot back. “Because it sounded pretty clear to me.”
“It’s not like that,” he insisted, stepping closer. “She’s not… there’s nothing going on, I swear.”
You let out a hollow laugh, shaking your head.
“Right. Of course. Just some random girl answering your phone in the middle of the night, telling me you’re asleep.”
“She's Sherry, she’s more like a daughter to me than anything,” Leon said quickly. “She sometimes crashes out at my place.”
You stared at him, your expression hard.
“And she answers your phone? How are you not even 30 with a daughter that sounds like a grow woman?”
“I didn’t hear it,” he said. “I was out. Completely. She just picked it up, and it’s complicated. I saved her life once when she was a child.”
You hesitated. The hurt was still too fresh.
“That doesn’t make it better,” you said, quieter now, your voice cracking slightly. “Do you have any idea what that felt like?”
Leon’s expression softened immediately.
“I do,” he said, and this time there was no defensiveness.
You looked away, your chest tightening again, emotions clashing. You were exhausted.
“I thought…” you stopped, your voice breaking. “I thought you were going to leave me, again.”
Leon’s face fell.
“I’m not,” he said firmly, stepping closer again, more careful this time. “I’m not doing that to you.”
You didn’t respond right away. Part of you wanted to believe him.
Your hand came up to press against one of your boobs again, wincing slightly.
Leon noticed immediately. “Hey what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” you muttered, brushing it off.
“That didn’t look like nothing.”
“It’s just” you huffed, frustrated. “Everything hurts, okay? I haven’t slept properly, and my body won’t stop-” you stopped yourself, exhaling sharply. “It’s just a lot.”
“Hey,” he said quietly, “come sit down.”
Reluctantly, you let him guide you back toward the couch.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said after a moment, his voice low. “Last night- that wasn’t what it looked like. When I said I wanted to fix things with you I meant it.”
You wrapped your arms around yourself again, staring ahead.
“It just scared me,” you admitted quietly. “Everything already feels unstable and then… that.”
Leon nodded slowly.
“I get why you’d think that,” he said. “But I’m not seeing anyone else. I’m not interested in anyone else but you” he shook his head. “I’m not messing this up again.”
Silence settled between you.
“You better not,” you muttered.
Leon let out a small, relieved breath.
“I won’t.”
“Hey, sweetheart, why did you call me so late at night?” Leon asked with genuine curiosity.
Your cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“I was just really craving some pickles and peanut butter,” you said, looking everywhere but at his face. Your mouth watered at that thought.
Leon blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.
“…Pickles and peanut butter?” he repeated, one eyebrow lifting as a slow grin spread across his face. “You had a craving.”
You groaned softly, covering your face with your hands. “Can you not make it worse?”
“It sounds,” he said, trying (and failing) not to laugh, “like a very specific craving. Do you still want me to go and get them for you?”
You peeked at him through your fingers. “Yes, please.”