I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy wanted to find a nice hole to crawl into and die. On her break and lunch she stayed at her desk in an effort to avoid getting cornered by Leo. He seemed to understand and didn't approach though his mismatched eyes remained on her throughout the day. Was he even getting any work done?!

At the end of the day she slunk into the parking lot and waited for him to meet her at her car. She had texted him letting her know she would be giving him a ride home and they could talk about things then without any unwanted ears listening in. 

When he arrived he looked at her apprehensively. She couldn't quite decipher the cocktail of emotions in his eyes but at the very least she could tell he was nervous. 

Her insides twisted but she had to hold her ground. "Look, Leo…last night was a mistake. I got carried away in the heat of the moment and let you go too far but that can't happen again. I'm not looking for a relationship. 

"I only asked you out because I didn't want to sit at home doing nothing on Valentine's Day and I got carried away because I've been lonely lately. I know that isn't fair to you and I'm sorry. I really don't know you that well but you seem nice so I hope we can part on good terms."

"I can admit that I got carried away yesterday too," Leo said with a hard look in his eyes. "But I don't do one-night stands. If you've been lonely lately anyway can you at least give me a chance?"

Daisy bit her lip. She had been afraid of this. She didn't want to commit to someone that would only let her down. That would hurt much more later than cutting things off now before she came to care about him would. 

Alone was what she knew. Alone protected her. 

None of her past boyfriends had lasted more than six months for a reason. She wasn't the relationship kind. She kept herself as detached as possible so she wouldn't get hurt but in return that meant the relationship was doomed to fall apart from the start. 

"It really has nothing to do with you…I'm no good with relationships. Never have been. I won't be able to give you what you want," Daisy told him. 

Leo scoffed. "You have absolutely no idea what I want. How can you dismiss me so easily?"

She was taken aback. Here she had thought that he liked her and wanted a relationship where she would return his feelings. Wasn't that to be expected based on his reaction both last night and this morning? 

"What do you want then?"

"All I want is to be able to spend time with you. Am I so terrible that you can't give me that?"

Daisy squinted at him suspiciously. It sure didn't seem like that he was all he wanted after what happened last night. "…really?"

Leo nodded, looking more serious than she had ever seen him. "Yes. If nothing else, I'm determined to be your friend. You can do whatever you want with me as long as you let me stick around."

"Why?!

She didn't understand. Wasn't that too self-sacrificing? She had just rejected him! Why would he still want to hang around her after that? Especially considering how much he had to like her. Wouldn't that sort of offer hurt him too much?

"Because being with you makes me happy," Leo said simply.

Daisy didn't know how to respond to that. She…made him happy? She had never made anyone happy in her life! 

Not enough for them to stay anyway. No matter how hard she tried to please people they always left her in the end. No one had ever told her that she made them happy before. It was strange. Almost unnerving. 

That weirdness aside, how could being with her possibly make him happy when they had hardly interacted? They only talked at work in snatches. How could that be enough for him to decide that being around her made him happy?! She had never been so confused. 

"Why?" Daisy repeated. 

Leo shrugged casually, belying the mixed emotions lurking in his eyes. "I think you're wonderful, Daisy. Isn't that enough?"

He thought she was wonderful. No one had ever thought she was wonderful before!

She groaned. It was hard to hold firm when he was wearing her down like this. He really wasn't asking for much and it wasn't as if she disliked him. She didn't like him either though. She didn't know him well enough to have a real opinion on him one way or the other. 

All she knew was that if she let him stick around she was in for a lot more confusion…and a lot more care. That was something she had always been in short supply of. 

Leo had been very good to her last night and this morning. But would it last? In her experience nothing good ever did. She didn't want to set herself up for failure but it would be too cold to cut him off like this when he wanted to be her friend. 

Daisy didn't have any friends. Her emergency contact was her desk mate. If that wasn't an accurate depiction of her nonexistent social life she didn't know what was. Having someone to do things with might not be the end of the world. That did used to be her favorite part of being in a relationship back when she was still semi-hopeful about that sort of thing. 

"…you have a very skewed picture of me. I'm not that great," she warned. "But you'll see that for yourself soon enough."

Leo looked at her hopefully. "Does that mean you'll let me be your friend?"

Geez, she felt like the worst person in the world when he phrased it like that. Like some sort of friendship-withholding monster. He was a tough-looking guy but in that moment he seemed more like a puppy than anything. 

Daisy had been a bit preoccupied last night but this morning as he made breakfast she had noticed that his back and arms were covered with scars. That wasn't including the rather large one on his forehead. 

What had happened to him? He did say that he believed life experience counted more than age. Spoken like someone who had seen some serious crap in his life. His whole family was dead too. And yet he could smile at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. 

After going through whatever had given him those scars and losing his family he could definitely use some happiness. But what on earth had made him decide to get it from her?!

She was the worst possible person to depend on. Years of therapy hadn't managed to help her get over the trauma of her childhood. That was yet another reason none of her relationships ever worked out. 

Daisy sighed. "You're going to regret this but if that's what you want I'm not going to stop you."

"I won't regret it!" Leo insisted. "But what does this mean logistically speaking? How often can I see you? What is and isn't allowed? I need to know so I don't upset you."

No one had ever cared whether or not they did anything to upset her. Why should he? Why did this random guy she had only known for a few weeks have to care for her more right off the bat than anyone else ever had?

What made him decide he wanted to latch onto her of all people? Was it solely because she had helped him with his questions about daisies when the nursery worker hadn't been able to?

Daisy wasn't entirely sure how to answer his questions. She was used to being on her own so she hadn't had to account for other people's schedules or anything since she was still in foster care and had to work around the rest of the household. 

Her roommates in college hadn't care what she did or where she went as long as it didn't disturb them too much. He wouldn't be living with her though so this would be different. 

"I don't know. I've never done anything like this before. How often do you want to see me?"

"Every day if possible but I don't want to put you out if that's too much," Leo replied promptly. "I won't mooch off of you either. I can help with household chores and such. I just don't want to be alone."

He didn't want to be alone, huh? Maybe he latched onto the first person he had something in common with after moving here. That would make sense.

Daisy was willing to bet he would get sick of her faster the more he saw her. That might be for the best. He would realize she wasn't any good and would go find a source of happiness elsewhere before she managed to get attached that way. 

It would be weird having him come over to do nothing but hang out for a few hours after work or on the weekends. She was so used to doing her own thing. It would be exhausting having someone around all the time and having to use her public persona. Although if she acted the way she did when she was alone with him around he was more likely to get scared off. 

That sounded like a plan to her.. She would do what she always did when he happened to be around and he would see for himself that she was no good.