Page 33 of Five to Love Him
Their face brightened. “Or we could have another join us? Is that also okay, Leo? For them to join us today?”
I adjusted my bag so I could easier look at him. “Well, I guess.”
He exhaled. “Thank you, Leo. Thank you so much.”
Which…yeah, I clearly had made a poor choice, asking them to split up like that.
“I had no idea it would make you this uncomfortable, being alone. I only asked because—” And it clicked. Instructor Arick’s lessons fell into place. “I was totally applying human sensibilities to you even though I know you’re not like me,” I whispered. “Sorry.”
“Oh, Leo. You don’t have to apologize to us for that. We also…we’re also not perfect, and we’re not as good at understanding humans sometimes. It’s hard to imagine what it has to be like for you, being a singular, being reliant on your name for others to know you. We know your name is important, and we like it, don’t misunderstand! But you are different from us, think in a whole different way, and we want to understand everything about you. We want to learn how you see the world.”
I probably looked really dumb staring at him, but processing that took a hot second. Was it romantic? Probably. It made me feel something. I wasn’t yet sure what, but not a bad thing, that was for sure.
“No one’s ever said anything like that to me,” I told the hive, who saw me as someone worth understanding on a really deep level, a level I wasn’t even sure I had.
“Because it was for us to say it to you.”
There was a conviction in his words, the kind with which you know the Earth circles the sun or that the latter will rise again come morning. Maybe he had that sort of deep knowledge, could tell that it was true on an instinctual level, just like he had seen me gleam or shine back at the Dazzle.
“That makes sense, weirdly enough. I call you ‘they,’ don’t I? And I have to think of you as ‘they’ as well, right? Only not in the non-binary sense, but in the non-singular sense. Did I get that right?”
Their face told me everything. Their face told me I had gotten it right. They had a bright smile, and oddly, I imagined that all five of them were smiling it in this very moment.
“You did. Leo, you did. You are our Leo, like we are your hive, and you understand us.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’m starting to.” I cleared my throat. “Are you actually going to come to class with me?”
They nodded. “If you want, we can take notes for you. Or get you snacks from that cafeteria place we passed before. We noticed you didn’t pack anything and assumed you ate there.”
I rubbed my eyes. “To be totally honest with you, I’m afraid there might be cake.”
sixteen
Leo had left with one while allowing us to stay behind and clean up. He’d told us to pull the door shut behind us, which was not at all safe. We considered what was the best course of action while we took Leo’s hand and put the floor cushions away.
We had to go to work soon, that was true, and we would go with two. That left two to wait at the house, something Leo hadn’t forbidden, but at the same time, being above ground with Leo next to us and only one close to him filled us with icy dread. We were small, and we had our gleaming one now to care for and protect. We hoped it would never happen, but the human who had used us, the thought of him showing up scared us to the bone.
While washing a few dishes in the sink with trembling hands, we made the decision to follow with two, but at a distance. We stalled, stopped before heading to the relative safety of the subway with Leo. We knew Hawthorne had at least some surveillance there, even if it wasn’t the real safety of the underground.
We left the house with two, making sure we had a hoodie up and sunglasses on while we continued to straighten Leo’s home and put the leftover snacks away. We hadn’t gotten to cook for him, so we washed the veggies and put them in the fridge, leaving it ready to use, maybe for a late-night snack or for breakfast.
Leo soon noticed that guarding him with one was difficult for us, and he allowed us two. We had just gotten on the next subway after his with two, following as close as we could. We’d catch up to him at St. Auguste, and we’d either wait at the cafeteria with one or head back to the underground from St. Auguste. After all, it seemed wise to grab some clothes for later.
We did feel guilty about those intentions, especially during the talk we had with Leo on the subway. But we couldn’t fathom leaving him alone, not after today. And Leo was our gleaming one, accepting more and more, interested in us more and more. We hoped he would allow us that closeness.
When the subway arrived, we walked at a leisurely pace, talking to Leo about cake. He told us that his grandmother had always baked one for him for his birthday, and we asked when that was.
“It’s January first actually. The most inconvenient birthday ever.”
Leo smiled shyly, looked almost embarrassed. We tugged him closer.
“No, it’s perfect. We like the idea of the whole world having a party just for you.”
That had him frowning, which we thought was adorable.
January first was going to be difficult for surprise parties, but then again, perhaps he’d want to spend it just with us. We could celebrate with him and have him open presents while fireworks went off above us. It was a good fantasy, one that we would be able to hopefully make a reality in a few months.
The second subway arrived, and we exited, hurried to catch up with Leo and us.
