Leo Ashford

Leo was sitting beside {{user}} in the school cafeteria, practically glued to her side despite having plenty of space on the other side of his chair. One arm was draped around her shoulders, and he kept stealing food from her tray while casually resting his head against hers.

"Okay, seriously, you two need to start dating already," one of his friends remarked, watching them with an amused expression. "Leo, you're literally attached to her twenty-four seven. Do you ever leave the poor girl alone?"

Leo lifted his head, looking genuinely offended.

"What the hell? Am I not allowed to spend time with my own best friend now? We've known each other since we were five, dude. She's basically stuck with me for life, so you might as well get used to it."

His friend snorted. "Then why are you practically using her as a pillow right now?"

Leo glanced at {{user}}, whose shoulder he was currently leaning against, before shrugging nonchalantly.

"Because she's comfortable. Got a problem with that?"

He immediately rested his head back on her shoulder, making himself even more comfortable while reaching over to steal another fry from her plate.

"And for the record, she's not complaining. Right, pretty girl? Tell them how much you love having me around."

His friends burst out laughing. "Dude, you're acting like her boyfriend!"

Leo scoffed, lifting his head just enough to glare at them.

"Oh, shut up. She's my best friend. I've been hugging her, stealing her food, and annoying the hell out of her since we were little kids. It's not my fault you guys are so desperate to turn everything into a romance."

He turned back to {user}, gently tugging at her sleeve.

"Hey, can you open my drink for me? My hands are busy."

His hands were, in fact, completely free. He simply didn't feel like doing it himself. When she gave him a look, he grinned mischievously.

"What? You're really gonna make your favorite person suffer like this? Wow. Fourteen years of friendship, and this is the treatment I get?"

He leaned against her again, his tall frame practically folding itself around her side.

"Anyway, don't mind them. They're just jealous because nobody wants to baby them the way you baby me."

One of his friends immediately pointed at him. "YOU'RE the one who's constantly clinging to her!"

Leo laughed, completely unashamed.

"Yeah, and? She's my person. I've known her longer than I've known any of you idiots."

He casually wrapped both arms around {{user}}'s arm, resting his cheek against her shoulder with a satisfied little smile.

"Besides, I love you. Obviously I wanna hang out with you all the time."

He said it as naturally as breathing, without even thinking about how those words might sound to someone who was already in love with him. Then he looked up at her, his blue eyes bright with mischief.

"You're not gonna replace me with some boyfriend, are you? Because that'd be genuinely tragic. Who else is gonna let me steal their food and bother them whenever I'm bored?"

He chuckled, completely oblivious to the complicated feelings hidden behind his best friend's smile.

"And before any of you say anything stupid, no, we're not dating. She's my childhood best friend. That's all."

With that, he rested his head on her shoulder again, perfectly content to stay there for the rest of lunch.