Interlinked | Leah Williamson

Chapter 15: A silent demand for clarity

"Maddie was here earlier," Alessandro said casually, too casually.

Leah's fingers stilled around her mug. She didn't look over.

"Yeah?" she said lightly.

He nodded, eyes on his drink. "Dropped something off for her mum. Didn't stay long- said she'll come over later though."

Leah just hummed in reply, swirling her coffee slightly.

There was a beat of silence. Then Alessandro glanced over at her.

"She mentioned you."

Leah looked up at that. Her heart tugged, just slightly.

"Not directly," he added, reading her face. "But you can tell."

Leah offered a small smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah?"

They'd been talking again - texting here and there, a few phone calls, and even a coffee together last week that felt almost like old times. Almost. But never quite. There was something between them now. Not tension exactly, but something unspoken, like a breath caught in the throat.

Leah set her mug down gently. "She's good at pretending she's okay."

Alessandro raised a brow. "Isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?"

She let out a laugh that was more air than sound.

"Maybe."

He looked at her for a moment, thoughtful. "Whatever it is between you two... it's still there."

Leah didn't respond straight away. She just stared down at the half-empty mug in her hands, then finally glanced back up at him with a soft shrug.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I know."

They were fine. They were talking. They were laughing.

But neither of them had said the words they were meant to.

And both of them were starting to feel the weight of everything left unsaid.

"Leah..."

She glanced up, already tense.

"...what happened?" he asked gently. "You know- that night. New Year's."

Leah blinked, and for a second her heart genuinely stopped. Her stomach twisted, her fingers tightening slightly around the handle of her mug.

"You just... I don't know," Alessandro continued, rubbing a hand through his hair, searching for the right words. "You kissed her. I know that much... but then- then everything went sideways. She came home the next morning like someone had cut her open and taken half of her out. And you - you just disappeared."

"I didn't disappear," Leah said quickly, defensively.

He raised an eyebrow. "You think avoiding this house for almost a month counts as being present?"

Leah opened her mouth, then shut it again. She looked away, jaw clenching.

Alessandro softened. "Look, I'm not angry. And I'm not fishing for gossip - I'm asking because I care about both of you. Maddie won't talk about it. Not properly. Not to us, not to Luca, not even to Violet. And you... you haven't either."

Leah exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on a point across the room. A little chipped photo frame on the shelf - a family holiday snap with Maddie front and centre, grinning with her arms slung over Luca and Alessandro's shoulders. It made her chest ache.

"I kissed her," Leah said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. "And it- it wasn't a mistake- I mean- I meant it"

Alessandro didn't interrupt.