Ugly Heart: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: It's Not About Revenge!

Leo lay gazing at a sleeping Izzy and couldn't wipe the smile from his face. After a very nice, warm bath they finally, but very slowly, consummated their relationship. Leo was struggling to find the whole thing a reality and had to constantly pinch himself to make sure. Izzy stirred and turned over mumbling something incoherent as Leo's smile widened even more. He got up and pushed the curtain aside slightly, looking outside at the town he called home as the dawning of a new day arrived. Leo was unsure of how to proceed with things now, they'd gone to the next level, he glanced at Izzy all wrapped up under the covers and his heart began to beat that little bit faster. Never before had this meant so much, never before had Leo actually felt something so profound. Usually when he slept with a girl he would take off and avoid ever seeing her again, with Makayla it was going through the motions. With Isabel Henderson, it was the most amazing night of his life! This was how it felt to be in love with someone, this was what he had been waiting for all this time! "Good morning!" Izzy whispered in his ear and wrapped her arms around his waist, he didn't even hear her get out of bed. When he turned around to hold her he noticed she was wearing his shirt, unbuttoned and teasing him, but it suited her better anyway.

Ugly Heart: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Wedding Daze!

"It looks stupid! I'd be better off wearing a mask!" Leo groaned and grabbed a tissue as Izzy pulled his hand away and took it off him. Amanda rummaged through her make-up box and muttered to herself.

"Hang on, let's not give up hope yet! Anyway I don't get why you need to put on foundation in the first place!" Leo gave her a stunned look.

"Do you want your wedding photos to look like something out of Hammer House of Horror???" Amanda slapped the back of his head as Izzy started brushing more powder on his face.

"Leo don't talk such rubbish! Mand, hand me that slightly darker one there, thanks." Izzy took another small box of powder from Amanda and began to rub it over Leo's scars with her index finger. It took her all of five minutes and it had made a difference. He almost looked back to normal. Izzy frowned and squeezed his shoulder, "I'm sorry Leo, but I prefer you Hammer House of Horror to American daytime soap opera!" Amanda let out a hearty laugh as Charlie keeked his head round Izzy's bedroom door."How's it going?" Amanda swatted him away as Izzy sat on Leo's knee and wrapped her arms around his neck, she pressed her nose to his and sighed.

"So who's your plus one?" Leo smirked and replied,

"Ohhhh I don't know! I was thinking of asking that cute waitress from the coffee shop if she'd like to accompany me. Do you think she'll take pity on me and say yes?" Izzy kissed him on the lips, sucking the breath out of him.

Ugly Heart: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: What It's Like To Be The Freak!

"Please?" Izzy elbowed Leo in the side and he grunted. 

"I-I'm not ready!" he stammered and rubbed his side gingerly, his wriggling annoyed her and she shoved him playfully. As they lay on the grass in the park looking up at the blue sky, Leo had his notebook in his hand, the one he used to write his poems and thoughts in. Izzy wanted to hear something he had written but he was stubborn, they'd spent an entire week together so far during the summer holidays and Leo was living in a daze. Not that long ago he thought he'd lost her forever but here she was snuggling into him discussing what kinds of animals the clouds resembled and laughing about it. Leo had his hood down, he'd had it down since Izzy had kissed his face so tenderly that night she came to see him. He still wore hooded jackets and jumpers in case of emergencies, it was his security blanket.

"Go on!" Izzy whispered in his ear and rested her head on his shoulder, her warm breath tickling his neck and making him tingle.

"Okay!" He sighed and flipped through the book nervously.

"Yay!" She giggled and it was her turn to wriggle about as she got closer to him, nuzzling in.

"But don't laugh, don't make fun!" Izzy nodded and rubbed her chin on his chest, her big blue eyes gazing up at him behind those glasses in anticipation. He cleared his throat and began,

Ugly Heart: Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Relapse

Tara Hardy couldn't get her son to answer the door. It had been forty minutes that she'd been over the grounds of his home trying to find the spare key that was usually under the doormat. She eventually phoned Charlie, she needed some muscle to break the door down and he was a pretty sturdy young man, unlike her skinny son. He'd told her about Saturday morning and how Leo had stormed out of Amanda and Izzy's home without a word. How he'd tried phoning and texting, leaving messages and even going round there on Sunday to see if he was okay. Tara was upset to hear that Leo hadn't been seen or heard from for nearly two days. "Charlie just get over here now, I need you to do something for me!" she snapped and hung up the phone. As she looked around the house with a pain in her chest, knowing her boy could have repeated his stunt from over a month ago, she noticed that all of the blinds and curtains were closed, even his bedroom which he'd started leaving open since he met Izzy.

Ugly Heart: Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Last Straw!

Leo Hardy had enjoyed spending the weekends with Izzy Henderson. And when he stopped by the coffee shop that Saturday, he felt a warm feeling inside when she smiled at him and poured him his coffee. It had become a routine, every weekend he would visit her and they would sit for a while and chat about everything. The more he went to see her, the more he missed her all week. And the more he missed her, the more he was falling in love! And by Sunday morning, he'd asked his best friend over to finally give him an answer, was he going to be his best man after all? Charlie sat in the kitchen munching on some cake that Izzy had baked and slurped down his coffee. "So..." he began with a mouthful of cake, "...what's the deal???" Leo smiled bashfully and looked down at the kitchen counter.

Ugly Heart: Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Old Versus New.

Leo had waited a whole week to see Izzy again and when Saturday finally came around he felt the butterflies in his stomach as he pulled his black hoodie over his head. The front door opened downstairs and Charlie's voice boomed through the hall and up the stairs. "LEO!!!" Leo adjusted his hoodie and headed downstairs to meet his friend. Charlie didn't look best pleased.

"Charlie, hey! What's up?" Charlie frowned at him and sighed.

"We need to have a little chat!"

Ugly Heart: Chapter Three

Chapter Three: Tongue-tied!

As soon as the bell rang above the door, the girl behind the counter looked over and smiled at the sight of Charlie. "Hey Chaz!" she greeted him chirpily, a far cry from her mood moments before they had entered. Charlie winked at her and pushed Leo inside roughly.

"Alright Izzy? This is Leo, my best friend from school. Say hello to Izzy Leo!" Charlie pushed him harder and further towards the counter as he squeezed the ties of his hoodie closer together.

"Hi!" Izzy smiled warily at him. His face was shrouded under that hood as he kept his head down and nodded to the floor.

"Ignore him he's shy!" Charlie mumbled, "Two Lattes please and a sticky bun!" he licked his lips and rubbed his stomach as he eyed up the cakes inside the glass cabinet on the counter. Izzy frowned at him and placed her hands on her ample hips.

"Chazzy! Mands says you're on a diet, and you do need to keep trim for the wedding!" Leo looked up and enquired,

"What wedding?" as Charlie rolled his eyes and guided him to a table.

Ugly Heart: Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Baby Steps

Tara Hardy had spent the best part of a weekend clearing her son's house for his return home. Papers thrown out, clothes washed and put away, dishes cleared, fridge gutted and the blinds opened! It was looking like a proper home again as she surveyed her handiwork. The final touch was putting clean bed linen on his bed and as she did so, she felt a lump under the mattress. She pushed it aside and a book dropped onto the floor with a thud, a diary. Tara sat down upon the bed and warily flipped it open to the first page. It started off as a typical lad's journal, and then it spiralled into an abyss of misery. As painful as it was to read how Leo had been feeling after that fateful night, Tara could not put the diary down. She had to get to the last page, and she was sorry that she did:

"My career is over, my self confidence is shot to hell, I can barely look at myself in the mirror and I hide in my house like a hermit with the curtains and blinds closed. And in here I shall remain until the end of my life, I want this hell to end...so it won't be too long now!"

Ugly Heart: Chapter One

Chapter One: Rock Bottom.

Tara Hardy drew up to the overgrown driveway and switched off her engine with a sigh. The front door to her son's house was covered with mail that he'd neglected to collect for what looked like a few days now. It was Monday, a whole weekend she'd been away and Leo hadn't bothered to venture outdoors it seemed. Grabbing the bag of messages on the passenger seat, she pulled herself out of the car and slammed the door in frustration. Leo was 37 years of age, he had his health and he had a roof over his head although if he didn't pick up his mail he would be behind with his rent! Why he insisted on hiding away was beyond her comprehension!

Ugly Heart: Prologue

Prologue

"You know Leo, one of these days you're going to get what you truly deserve!" Makayla shrieked as I laughed out loud. I was arrogant back then, full of my own importance! I thought I was God's gift to the world; handsome, clever, charming. I had been told at a young age that I was special, that I was gifted. I had my whole life ahead of me and what a life it was going to be. I'd met Makayla Lorde at the launch party for some new cologne ad I'd just finished shooting, and it was love at first sight...for her anyway! Like I said I was arrogant, I slept around and I treated her like she didn't matter. But she got her revenge, boy did she ever!