Love is Beautiful (She's so Ugly)

Chapter Nineteen (part two)

Leo and Brandon went to the backstage and saw Merida smiling at them.

"You did great," Brandon remarked.

"Nah, but I felt good up the stage. I felt something so strange," she told them.

"It must be because you concurred one of your fears," Leo commented.

Merida smiled faintly. "I guess."

"Do you want to walk home?" Both Brandon and Leo asked at the same. It made them stare at each other and for Merida to stare at the two guys.

She laughed at them both. "I'm going out with the girls at the drama club. You two should get home safe."

After her saying that Merida started to walk away. A different kind of beautiful, huh? It's going to be ugly, she thought.

"Egg rolls! Be home safe!"

She heard Leo shouts and she just waved at him.

***

At a karaoke place, Merida and the drama club celebrated their success with the play. There was alcohol served and she wanted to know how it tasted so she took some shots.

"Merida! Me-ri-da!" The team yells her name, cheering her up to take two more glasses of strong liquids.

Now, this was weird because she couldn't get a hold of herself anymore. She felt the rush of emotions in her head. Her aching heart was screaming and it's making her hard to breathe. She smiled and laugh crazily despite the pain.

They heard a knock on the door and some other girls had entered. Merida managed to look at who just arrived and it was Candice and her squad. She grinned at the mean girls.

"Oh, so she's drunk already?" Candice asked the other girls from the drama club.

All of them nodded and then Candice smirked at Merida who was passing out.

"All of you get the fuck out!" She shouts and everyone noisily left the room. So Brandon thought that she was that easy to fool. Well, Brandon is the fool.

"Hey, Tommy! Get in!"

A muscular guy went inside the room. "She's the ugly girl I'm talking about."

Tommy smirked, the girl wasn't ugly but seemed innocent, he thought. "She'll have a great time with me."

Merida wanted to stand but she couldn't find her balance anymore. When she tried to stand up she fell and was caught by Tommy.

That scene was captured by Candice and she kept it with an evil grin. "Oh well, have fun both of you."

"No!" Merida yells but Tommy had covered her mouth so she won't shout more. She even fought back with all her strength but she couldn't win. Her tears started flowing continuously as she continues to fight back.

On Leo's way home, he saw the other members of the drama club but no Merida was there. He jumped over a bush and surprised the girls.

"Where is Merida?" He asked.

No one answered him.

"Where the fuck is Merida?!" He asked once more, this time his voice so loud and scary.

It made some of the girls covered their heads. "She-she's at the karaoke place in room 206. Candice was with-"

He didn't let them finish talking and ran his way to that place. Exactly when he got in was Candice going out. "Where is she?" He grunts.

Candice's eyes widened for a moment and she shrugged. "I-I don't know!"

Leo was breathing sharply. "If something fucking happens to her, I swear, I'll lose myself being a gentleman," he hissed with his throbbing face. He bumped on to Candice's shoulder and hurried to that room number.

Candice hurled walking away. She was mad, she thinks Brandon had found her out anyway. "But whatever! I have photos and videos of her," she pants and trembles in anger.

At that room, Leo plunge opens the door and saw a crying Merida under a big guy. He pulled the guy away tossed him at the side. Leo took an empty bottle and slams it at the guy's head. Yes, this is Leo, he's a trouble maker and he's wild if you mess with him.

He went to Merida who was shaking and crying. He hugged her tight. "It's okay. You're okay, now. Let's get you home."

Leo carried Merida away from that place. He doesn't even care that he would get in trouble by hitting someone with a bottle. That guy tells the damn police, he's going to make him pay even more.

He took a cab and told the driver where to go. Inside, he looked at Merida. She's so wasted. This is all Jacob's fault, Leo blamed him.

At her house, he opened the gate but then he couldn't open the door. There's no point waking Merida up, she probably won't even remember. He puts her down on the front porch while he searches for possible hiding areas.

Doormat? No.

Garden gnome? No.

Flowerpot? No.

Slippers? No.

Under the porch? No. Why would he even search there?

He felt frustrated so he went his way to try to open the door and to his surprise, it wasn't locked. He kicked the damn door open.

Going back to Merida, he carried her again. Inside he put her down on the couch in the living room. He hurried upstairs to open her door. Oh, Merida's room was so obvious, her door has glitters.

He went back and carried her up. Once again he put her down on her bed. He took off her shoes and tossed them somewhere. He sighed. If only he didn't try to get involved, he wouldn't be this messed up.

Leo searched for a bowl and a towel, he also took a pale in case she woke up and decided to throw up. He wiped her face, her neck, her arms and legs. No dirty things on his mind, just pure love and care for Merida.

After doing all those kinds of stuff for her he rests on her study table. He saw the butterfly design notebook and read what's on there. She has really bad handwriting, he smiles. Her thoughts are so heavy. Then a specific paragraph caught his attention and it made him smile.

It didn't take a while and Leo fell asleep, resting his head on the desk. What a poor guy.

At around one in the morning, Leo awoke from some noise. His eyes widened when he saw Merida throwing up at the pale he prepared. He went to her side and held her hair back as she throws up.

Merida was crying. "I'm sorry, I'm such a bother, Leo," Merida apologized.

Leo played it cool when actually, he wanted to say, she never bothers him. He wanted to hug her and tell her it's alright to cry. "You'll be fine in the morning. Don't worry, I'll be with you."

Merida continues to sob. "I was so scared, earlier. I feel disgusting and-and-"

Leo hugged her, letting her head rest on his chest. "You're not disgusting, okay? Listen, nothing happened there. He didn't touch you anywhere, he didn't kiss you. I stopped him."

Merida hugged Leo so tight. "Don't leave me okay? He said we would enjoy the night together after the play but he never was there... In fact, he enjoyed the night with someone else," she said in between her sobs. She has never felt such pain before. The pain felt when you hold on to broken words too much, it's unbearable ... but miraculously, she managed to. She doesn't have much choice, does she?

Leo hugged Merida tighter. "You don't have to think about that. Don't let the pain change how beautiful your soul is, just be cautious next time," he murmured and kissed Merida's head. He didn't mean to, he was caught in the moment.

Merida heard Leo. Pain changes everyone and she has enough of this pain. She doesn't want to be weak anymore. She wants to stop crying and make them feel what she felt. "They treated me so bad..."