#ref: lale x leon

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@waveofstars

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Lale's chin quivered because Leon had given her a kindness in so simply telling her she wasn't just some girl off the street. No man that had ever helped her had shown her that kindness, even if she still believed it to be a fallacy. "I'll say yes if we can compromise that we share a room. I'm sure they'll have one with two beds or a bed and a couch- and before you say otherwise, I'll be on the couch or the cot or whatever. It's only fair since you're paying. That's the only way I can, in good conscience, say yes to this really generous offer. I don't deserve the kindness."

There were times Leon could be a real asshole. Between the one night stands and the numbers he had no intent on calling back, he had definitely been deemed unkind by a handful of women in his past. However, ultimately, he was a man who knew the world needed more kindness in situations like this. It was what he was raised to do - southern hospitality at its finest. He knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer, even if it seemed preposterous to her. 

“You’re not just some girl off the street,” he was quick to defend with the shake of his head. Sure, they were strangers just hours before, but that didn’t mean anything. She was much more than some girl off the street. “I don’t want anything back. Think of it this way… if you don’t accept it, I’ll just be up worried about you all night. You wouldn’t wanna inflict that kind of suffering on me, now would ya?” He smiled lightly. “Just say yes. I want to know you’ll be safe.”

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Lale didn't push back when Leon said that everyone deserved kindness. She'd had too many family members and exes drill into her that everything had to be earned that one man's kindness couldn't counter her experiences— yet, at least. Instead she nodded and followed, "Should I follow in the van or would it be better to get my things and leave it for now? Do you think they'll tow it?" It was easy enough to make a travel bag with necessities, but she didn't want to put Leon out more with having to potentially drive her back over to her van. Still, the worry about her van getting stuck in the blizzard was written across her face.

I don’t deserve the kindness. Those words struck him like another lash to the heart. It made him angry, not at her but to anyone who ever made her once think that those words held an ounce of truth. Though he was hesitant to accept her compromise, not wanting her to feel like this was one big ploy to get her in the same hotel room as him, he had a feeling she’d not accept under any other condition. “Okay,” he spoke with a nod. “But let’s just get one thing clear…” He looked at her for a moment and hoped that she could see he was nothing but sincere. “You do deserve the kindness. Everyone does.” But especially you, he thought. And with that, he pulled out his wallet to place some bills down to cover their meal. Leon was far from a wealthy man, but he got by. He was happy to get by with her tonight. “We better get goin’ before it gets any worse out there.”

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@waveofstars

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"I like to think so." The 'but' Lale left off was that she lacked complete conviction that she would find it. She was in no place to be looking for love either. Unfortunately, she'd learned in the worst way that looking in her current situation led to people using her. "Whatever happens, whenever it happens, I guess."

Lale could see the worry on Leon's face and she was grateful, once again, that the person that had found her on the snow-fallen street was such a good man. "I don't have a choice. It's not fair for me to take something from you when I have no way to ever give you anything back. It's one thing for you to get a room for yourself, but I'm just some girl off the street." A stray, she recalled her last ex saying— amongst other colorful, degrading s-words.

Though Leon had known just what losing a good love could do to someone, he still hoped that one day she’d experience it. In his opinion, everyone deserved to love and be loved in return. “It’ll be worth it,” he told her with a reassuring smile. He understood her skepticism, but he was willing to be confident for the both of them.

Her unease about the weather outside had made his nerves grow. How could he possibly turn his back on her when he knew she was going to ride out something like this in the back of her van? Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he could travel too far himself in his own vehicle. He looked out to the snow for a moment longer as he weighed his options. He knew he had just met the girl, and he knew helping her too extensively may come off as creepy or overwhelming. At this point, he was willing to risk that. He looked at her and shook his head, almost sternly. “You can’t stay in there,” he told her and then pointed out the window. “There’s a motel just down the road. Please let me pay for you to stay. I might have to get a room myself. No one should be driving in this… And surely no one should be stuck in a van in this, either.”

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Sometimes felt a hell of a lot like all the time for Lale, and she forced herself to smile and nod. "I try and focus on the silver lining, but it is what it is, I guess." After another sip of her coffee she shrugged, "I've never been in love, I mean, I thought I was in the past at the time, but I learned a lot about what love wasn't in the long run." Her green eyes pulled away, out to the snow before moving back to Leon, "I want to hope when it happens it will be worth it. Maybe it's only worth it with the right person at the right time?" The thought made her stomach twist because she wanted the happy love life she'd never seen, but it didn't feel like whatever higher power there was seemed to be rooting for her.

Her face was flushed with embarrassment, "Well, you're welcome to ask me whatever you want and I'm sure you'll learn I'm far less interesting than I seem as the mystery unravels." Swallowing when he clicked his tongue, Lale glanced at the snow, seemingly a quarter of a food had dropped in the moment between starting and finishing her drink. "I..." She gave pause, unsure of what to say because she didn't have the money to stay in a motel for more than a day and put gas in the van. The longer she'd sat there the smarter it seemed to choose putting gas in her van. At least then she could run the old beast for small bursts of time to warm up. "I've never been in weather this bad, but I have a couple of blankets in the back. of the van."

It was clear to him how different they were from each other. He was a little more optimistic, always carrying a rather sunny disposition - even when he was cursing like a sailor and chain smoking. He was not shy of loss and heartbreak, yet somehow, he remained positive. Sometimes he felt like that was all he had left in life. She had been through more than he’d ever be able to imagine or manage, but he admired her strength. He sympathized with her and found himself truly hoping good things came her way, even though he just met the woman. Everyone deserved something good once in a while.

He cleared his throat and chased down a swig of coffee while mulling over her question. Though he didn’t have the same background as her in the field of love, he somehow knew exactly what she meant. “I don’t blame you for being scared. The world could be cruel sometimes.” Sort of like the storm outside - cold, relentless. “I know love is real, but sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it.” No, he didn’t endure abuse like she had, but he endured the loss of a child and the loss of a relationship in the blink of an eye. The world took everything from him just as quickly as it gave it. “But it wasn’t the whole meeting the president thing that makes you interesting to me, by the way. You just are. Interesting.” He cracked a smile and gave a small nod, always trying to find the silver lining in a situation. Leave it to Leon. He glanced out the window and watched the snow come down in a hurry. He wasn’t entirely sure even his van would manage to brace the storm. He clicked his tongue and nodded towards the mess. “You gonna be okay out there? Looks like a bad one.”

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"That's a very beautiful way to look at it, Leon. I hope to have that someday." She certainly had no physical home, no family that cared for her, and her experience with relationships was nothing positive. Lale had been abused by every single person that should have cared for her unconditionally and by those that claimed to have cared for her by choice. If it wasn't for the fact that she worked in a library and had her head in books so consistently, she'd have little hope for the things Leon spoke of.

Lale nodded, Leaon's meaning finally registering, "Oh, interesting but maybe not in a good way." Lale laughed, only pausing to smile at the waitress that brought them warm drinks and she said the most genuine thank you. "I promise I'm not interesting, I've just had odd circumstances of finding myself around interesting people. I would have never met the Obamas if it wasn't for a very interesting but very cruel person. It's always amazing to me how some people can be larger than life and then when you get to meet them they're either completely down to earth or cold hearted." A little less animated she sighed, settling into the chair and sipping her coffee. "It makes me scared of the world. How can love be real if everyone has secrets, y'know?"

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The question of home made him stop and think for a moment.  Though Texas was the closest thing he had that felt like home anymore, he had a sneaking suspicion that it had very little to do with location. Home was in the warm smile of his mother, the kind hands of his father, and the endless laughter of his sisters. Home used to be someone else, someone who owned his heart back when it felt easy to hold. “Who knows, maybe,” he answered and gave a shrug. “I think people are home for me. It’s less about finding a place that feels like home and just finding someone who gives me the feeling, y’know?” He only hoped it was a feeling that could return. 

Her story only made him all the curiouser, wishing he could easily look into her life and figure her out. Was he just naturally this nosey or did she strike him as intensively interesting? Perhaps a mix of both. Sometimes he felt like he was standing still in his life. Time went on, but not much had changed for him. It seemed to be why he was incapable of ever fully growing up, either. He tried to think of an interesting story to tell her, and all seemed to be centered around his career. “I meet a lot of interesting people working for the news,” he commented and then ruffled his brows, “emphasis on the word interesting.” Between random people jumping in front of the camera yelling obscenities on the streets to filming the oldest living woman in the country and getting her cookie recipe from her, he has met his fair share of random individuals. But between all the different people he could’ve chosen, it suddenly dawned on him who was the correct answer, “When I think about it, you’re starting to win that title. Most interesting person I’ve met.”

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"I'd do anything for more of it, but it's also scary. I mean, something so pretty, so untouched, and yet and can hurt so many people." Lale had been homeless, she knew the bite of cold and the fear of possibly falling asleep and never waking up. She'd lost friends from the shelter that way and met people who had lost toes to the cold. "Do you think you'll always consider the place you grew up home or do you think you'll eventually think of this place as home?" It was obvious in her tone that she wasn't being nosy, more that she was hoping for an answer for a question she'd held for herself.

Shaking her head, Lale gave Leon a little shrug. "It wasn't as impressive as it sounds. I would take a beautiful family memory over meeting a politician any day." She gave a little shrug, her body tense as she was overcome with the memory of Bay hitting her for embarrassing him. It had taken her a long time to leave him, to stop blaming herself for his anger. That relationship had damaged her interactions with everyone she'd met since. "It was just a party dinner. I went as the guest of my now-ex." Lale didn't want Leon to think he was name dropping and gloating, there was little she was grateful for when it came to Senator Ersoy. "Who's the most interesting person you've met?"

Lale made a perfect point. ABBA would always remain timeless. Perhaps it was just Leon who was old. He chuckled with her poke and watched as the snow came down in a hurry. It seemed no matter how many times he managed to see snow within the last few years, he still remained captivated by it. “It really is beautiful. I’m still not used to it. Barely ever snowed from my neck of the woods growing up.” There was the occasional freak cold snaps back in Texas, but nothing quite like this. It was a mystery to even him on how he was managing this cold climate. 

With his attention on her once more, someone who was likely more beautiful than the snow, he listened as she explained her embarrassing moment. To him, it felt far from embarrassing. Unfortunate? Of course, but he was more curious than anything about what the background of the situation was like. He blinked and gave a half smile, though he refrained from giving off too much sympathy. He was sure she was tired of folks doing that to her. “I can’t believe you followed my dance party story by mentioning you met the president,” he teased as if he was somehow offended. A smile broke through and he added in a more serious tone, “I can imagine that was probably a big let down for you, but not a lot of people can tell a story like that. How did you end up meeting him?” 

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"Older music." Lale repeated in a teasing tone before giggling. "ABBA is timeless, never old." She reached over and playfully poked the man in his forearm as he reached for his coffee. Her eyes followed his out the window, a little flair of panic flashing in her sage green eyes. Though she wanted to say something about how bad it was coming down, how her van would likely sputter to a halt on the way to the motel if it even started at all, she found herself simply enjoying the quiet and purity of it all. "It's kinda beautiful, isn't it? When everything's so untouched by the world."

She was drawn back into Leon's conversation, giggling at his embarrassment but not at him, even if it may have came off that way. "Stop that. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I've never been to a play or a musical. They're so expensive in the city." Lale shrugged like FOMO wasn't a thing, but really she thought about how she'd asked Bayram and he'd slapped her for making such a stupid request. He only ever went to events that let him schmooze potential donors. Most of her embarrassing stories weren't embarrassing in a lighthearted way, so she looked at Leon with some semblance of panic before she settled on one, "I met the President once but my CI's battery was dead." She pointed to the device at the side of her head. "I had to rely on my hearing aid which even all the way up is still kind of like listening to a conversation underwater. That was pretty embarrassing. I just hope he thought I was star struck." She'd definitely been struck the moment Bay got her in the car to go home.

“I do,” he admitted with a chuckle. He remembered that little performance with his sisters all too well. Anytime he was driving and ABBA came on, he had to resist pulling out a few of those dance moves they came up with. “Lay All Your Love On Me was definitely in that performance. It’s one of their best songs. I have a thing for older music.” Most of his playlist consisted of classic rock and pop songs from the 80’s or earlier. He was so lost in the talk of music and walking down memory lane that it hadn’t occurred to him that music was likely something she didn’t get to fully enjoy. That thought dampened his spirit some, but he chose not to show that. 

Reaching for his coffee, he took a quick swig while catching a glimpse of the window next to them. Snow came down in a hurry, and if he was smart, he would’ve insisted they leave soon. But, he was never too smart. He looked at Lale and smiled at her question, nodding sheepishly. “Of course. I have also gone and seen the play live before… I can’t believe I’m admitting this all to you.” He laughed and shook his head. “The musical came down to Austin, so I took my mom just a few years back.” He set his mug down and leaned forward some, a playful smile on his lips. He was doing his best to keep their conversation light and happy after the day she had, not to mention all the details about her life she had shared, too. “Now you gotta tell me somethin’ embarrassing about yourself. Make me feel better about admitting that I’m an ABBA fanboy.”

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Lale followed Leon and the waitress to the booth and the small brunette smiled politely as she sat opposite him, though she would have preferred to sit on his side instead of shivering alone on hers. She wanted something warm, asking for hot chocolate instead of coffee, always too nervous around strangers to need to add caffeine to the mix. "It's not a pretty story." Lale tried to warn Leon, but after a minute she swallowed down her nerves and kept talking. Honestly thinking it wouldn't matter too much, that after this storm passed Leon would never see her again and she'd have gotten her truth off of her chest. "I'm a mistake. Teenagers had me, left me with their families to finish school, and they eloped at eighteen. Everyone made it very clear that my existence was unwanted, more than just a regret."

She paused skimming the menu for anything hot while stealing glances at Leon to make sure he wanted her to carry on. "My mother left when I was very little. They sort of fell apart because my grandparents weren't helping anymore. So my father drank himself out of a job. He was an angry drunk and nearly killed me more times than I can count." She swallowed down the memories of starvation and abuse. "One of the things he did was box my ears." Lale pulled her hair back, showing him the hearing aid in one and the Cochlear Implant in the other. "I left a lot to avoid him, but when I came home from a break from school and he'd died... I wasn't eighteen so I had to live with my mother and her new family. I wasn't welcome and she kept trying to fix me. Her kids thought I was trashy, maybe they were right. I just wasn't welcome. As soon as I got better from the-," Lale tapped her CI implant, "I ran. I've lived in my van longer than anywhere else." She'd skipped over a lot, but the cliff notes version felt like a lot for anyone to handle.

It didn’t take anything for him to stop and help her, but her gratitude was everything. There were times Leon had convinced himself he was a bad man, someone just aimlessly getting by in life, but his parents had always instilled one persistent thing in him - kindness. He made a lot of mistakes and oftentimes felt like an idiot, but he was kind. That had to count for something. He met her at the diner and was just happy to be out of the snow for a bit. “I’m positive,” he smiled at her. He knew the risk of going in there with her while a storm rolled in, but it was one he was willing to take. “I’m itching to know more about you, too.” Leon walked over and opened the door for her to go in before him. They sat down at a booth and he was quick to order coffee, desperate for any warm thing he could get. “I’ve been thinking about something you said…. That you didn’t really have a place to be from growing up. I feel like there’s a story there. Mind if I ask why?”

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Lale laughed a little, glad that this man was not looking at her with the sad eyes that seemed to always come with the honesty of her past. Her thumb brushed his knuckles when he squeezed her hand and she blushed behind her own cup of coffee once her hands were to her self. "Oh, I dunno. We're having some noteworthy weather." But she didn't look over her shoulder to see how bad the snowfall was getting. Instead, her focus remained on the man with the big heart and sweet story.

The librarian was impressed that anyone could simply smile through being the center of attention. It certainly wasn't her gift, not that she knew what hers was and, though she doubted she had one, the words of her parents echoing in her head likely buried it somewhere indiscernible. "Do you remember any of the performance? Lay All Your Love On Me has to be one of my favorite songs in ever. All of their songs really do such a great job at telling vivid stories. It seems like it's getting a bit more rare for music to be able to do that, but, well maybe I've forgotten how to enjoy it all." Her eyes went a little sad at that reality. Since she lost her hearing she didn't seek out comfort in music but rather in books. Rather than sulking in that realization, she turned her attention back to Leon, "Have you seen Mamma Mia?"

She was right. The universe owed no one anything, certainly not fairness. Still, he felt it so deeply. Most things felt unfair. Perhaps that was just life. Lale touches his hand and he gives her the ghost of a smile before nodding his head. “It’s nice to know you, even if the details aren’t so pretty. It beats talking about the weather,” he attempts to joke lightly, smiling a bit more on her behalf. Giving her hand a squeeze back, he pulls back to take a sip of his coffee. 

The spotlight gets back on him, and unlike most, he didn’t mind it. The question is a nice one and he smiles before swallowing his sip. It was compelling to admit that he had one too many memories to even pick from, but that felt grossly inappropriate after hearing how awful her own childhood memories were. Instead, he chooses one. “My mom has ABBA’s Greatest Hits on vinyl. We used to listen to it quite a bit when I was younger. One time my two sisters and I decided to come up with… Shit, I don’t even know what to call it. Dances? A play? Something like that. We acted out and danced to every song on that album for my mom’s birthday. She thought it was hysterical. It just turned into this night of getting the whole family dancing in our little living room, even my dad.” He chuckles to himself and smiles at her. “I guess I should probably be embarrassed admitting that I was part of a huge ABBA dance party, but I’m really not. I can’t hear them without thinking of my family.”

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He is kind. There are good people out there, Lale kept thinking as she watched the man change her tire, the snow falling in fatter flakes. When he put the tools away and turned around, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, "Thank you, Leon. Really, thank you so much." Lale didn't have money, but she had love to give and she poured a little into that hug. Biting her lip as she stepped away, the brunette gave him a slow nod, "Okay, but only if you're sure. I don't want you to get stuck in the storm." It was a fruitless argument and they were there in a blink, even though she'd driven below the speed limit on the now-slick roads. Stepping out of the van, she looked at Leon from outside the restaurant and asked one more time, "Still sure about this?" Lale knew she'd be worried sick about him on the roads, despite only knowing him for less than an hour. It would be her luck, she mused, that she would be to blame for the death of a genuine and generous person. "I am kind of itching to know more about Texas and California."

He knew a struggle when he heard one. It was clear that life hadn’t been too kind to her and that pained him, even though he hardly knew the woman. He got that from his parents - they were always givers, always lovers. Sometimes he forgot that side of himself. “Shit, I’m sorry to hear that,” he told her sincerely as he worked to get her tire on. What else does one say in a situation like that? He wished he knew the right words. When she turned the attention to him, he chuckled softly. It was obvious he wasn’t from there. “Texas. Spent some time in California, too. Not exactly the coldest states,” he told her through a grunt as he tightened the lug nuts on the replacement tire. Bringing the van back down with the jack, the tire was officially put on. He retrieved his tools and stood up, wiping the mud and snow off of his clothes. “The tire is good to go,” he told her in between wipes of his clothes. He looked at her and still felt that worry in his pit. “This may sound crazy, but there’s a diner over by that motel you mentioned. Would you wanna grab a bite to eat with me before this storm gets any worse? My treat.” He knew there was likely not much he could do to help her situation, but the least he could do was make sure she had something good to eat before the storm kicked in. Besides, he was heading that way himself. Although, truthfully, he was originally getting it to go in order to avoid the roads. That suddenly didn’t matter to him.