The moment Philly had kissed Leo, he’d known he would be in trouble. It’d taken them long enough to get to a place where she felt she could - whether she’d actually wanted to before or not wasn’t the case here. Leo would wait for her forever, but he wasn’t known for his patience or high morals. Just the way she rolled her wrist, waggled her fingers in front of Leo’s face, had him wanting to lean forward and close the distance with a kiss of his own. But there were rules between them that he’d never really experience with anyone before - and if there’d been rules in place with anyone else, Leo hadn’t cared enough to want to follow through with them, “Fuck a wrist guard. As long as you stay careful,” The second statement was more of an afterthought than anything. Leo did everything at a 10, always encouraging a reckless and carefree lifestyle, - Philly didn’t need help with that, anyway - but it’d felt necessary to add it. To show that he needed Philly to stay intact, in one piece, “I missed seeing all your fingers. They hurt at all?” When he asked, Leo had started to reciprocate her touch, fingers ghosting in between her pinky and ring finger where the space used to be covered, taped together to speed up the healing process. It hadn’t occurred to Leo, when they’d been encased in casting, to be angry at the plaster, but he was now - just a little bit, a reasonable amount, he figured, for hiding skin he could’ve held and touched the night she’d kissed him. Raising her hand to his mouth, Leo pressed a tender kiss to the back of her pinky finger - he figured he was being quite good, with a move so chaste, incapable of holding himself back anymore fully after hearing her admit that she’d wanted to see him, “I think the idea of you climbing up to my window in the middle of the night is totally romantic, but you’re always welcome here, anyway,” Which had been made clear - Marj had been a real stickler with her rules, something she’d never been in the past, but obviously one too many scares had gotten to her. Leo wasn’t sure how Philly managed to sweet talk his aunt into letting her come inside, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if it didn’t take a lot - Marjorie thought Philly walked on water, “Not to be the most dramatic person ever but you’re gonna be hard pressed to find me ever turning you away. Even if they, like, threatened me with jail for life if you ever stepped foot in here again. We should be fine, anyway, we’re not performing sacrifices or anything, so,” Body finally caving in, annoyed with itself for being so twitchy over how little they were touching, Leo reached until he was gripping just below her elbow, tugging her forward until she got the hint, rising from her chair to settle in his lap instead, “I missed you. A lot. You miss me, too? I already know I missed you more - let’s have a competition and see. I like these competitions where you stay safe, now.”
With all the stories that Juno had fed her throughout the years - before Philly had up’d and ran away without a second thought - she had imagined this to be something scary, something terrifying in its’ own right. Liking someone, like how she liked Leo; always held in suspense for their next interaction - sought after it, even - she’d never once sought the affections of another before. It was comfortable - like she’d been drawn into a sheath, though not in the slightest stifling. A second skin, no different from her first. “I’m usually always very careful. The tree was a fluke. It won’t happen again,” it was a promise - even if she hadn’t outright said it was, but it was. She learned quickly about the things that did hurt - about danger, and where it lurked. The signs and what to avoid, where to avoid, who to avoid; and though it often felt as if Philly thrown herself into heedless situations, almost on purpose - she always knew better, knew more than she let on, always. Always. A dreamer with very keen eyes. “No, but they tire quickly - weaker, now. It’s only temporary, but still an inconvenience. I forgot how tedious serious injuries were. Very inconvenient.” Forgot hadn’t been a word she used lightly - prideful in her mind’s capabilities - and her memory, especially, it was a word she’d begun to hate - but there’d been no time to linger on the things she disliked, even if they were true - the thoughts escaping her as soon as they’d risen, his lips on her skin ( even as simple as the skin on her pinky - it was a surefire way to garner her attention, without even knowing it ) drawing her out of the tangent inside her head, “It is, isn’t it? I could throw stones at your window, maybe - though ours were broken for the same reason, and I’m very low on funds because of my medical bill, so I wouldn’t be able to pay for the repair,” Her brows furrowed - more to do with the fact that she wouldn’t be able to repair the windows, rather than the reason why, “I’ll just keep delivering bread to Marjorie, she’ll never say no,” It was a terrible thing to take advantage of - but Philly permitted herself to be selfish, just this once ( or however many times it’d be until Leo had been allowed to leave his house again ), “I don’t like the thought of you in jail,” it’d been a quick response, intense yet sure, “I’d break you out, though, if it happened. I’ve been doing a lot of research, and I think that the prison you’d be most likely to be sent to is considerably weak in security measures. I could do it. I have a van and a very convincing tone of voice.” As far as one could tell - she was serious about it, undoubtedly so, voice low as if it were a real plan, not to be heard by anyone else. Just them. “I did,” she confirmed it with a nod - sliding onto Leo’s lap all too easily; second nature by now, so used to the gesture, legs strewn across his and hand finding its’ place at the nape of his neck - using the spare moment to take in his appearance, now, from his slicked back hair to the unfamiliar shirt, all collars and buttons; knew instantly that it hadn’t been his, “I did miss you - I think about you often, and sometimes only you,” her hands fiddled with the collar of his shirt, fingers occasionally brushing against skin - it’d been the most straightforward that she’d been, vague usually with her words; always vague with her words, always leaving room for interpretation. “Am I winning?” There were things that she wanted to ask him - not about his affections ( those were clear, and she hadn’t needed reassurance ) - but about the case; her joints were tense, always, now - when she thought of it, worry aching at wherever it could grasp; her shoulders, her head, her wrists and elbows and knees, each individual knuckle. It wasn’t unbearable - but it weighed onto her. Still - Philly pocketed it, her concerns and her worries and all her questions - just for now, just for the moment. Her hand cupped his jaw - stroked at the skin there, against the bone - and it stayed there, as she leaned in closer, slight sigh escaping her; something of comfort. It stayed there as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck, pressed a kiss there, and lingered there - curled into him, as much as she could, as far as she could - another sigh, voice muffled, now, from where she laid her head, “You’re very important to me, Leo. I think I would’ve left by now, if you weren’t.”