You...Need Me?

Daisy's head snapped up and she looked at Leo uncomprehendingly. "What did you just say?"

"What if I was in love with you?" he repeated. "You seem to be more bothered by the fact that I'd be married to someone I don't love than that you would. If I was in love with you, wouldn't that fix the problem?"

She thought her head might explode. Was this him being overly logical again or was he actually in love with her?! No. He couldn't possibly!

But what if he was? He thought she was about his age and had probably never been around other females much. On top of that, he had been very overprotective against her suitors back home. She had thought it was because he was worried about her but had he been jealous too?

Now that Daisy thought about it, this fake engagement had been his idea. What had he been thinking? He knew her opinion on love in marriage! Had he thought he would be able to win her over if he had enough time?

Leo had bought her a ring too and it must have been expensive…he could have gotten any cheap little trinket to serve as a deterrent but he had gotten something he knew she would love instead. She had thought it was because he was simply a thoughtful person but there might be more to it than that.

Then there was everything that happened during her brief trip to the capital to visit him a few years ago. The handholding. The enthusiastic greeting. And that goodbye kiss.

She had done her best not to think about that, assuming it was nothing more than fulfilling the conditions of the act, but if he was actually in love with her… Had this been real to him the entire time?

"Are you?" Daisy asked faintly.

"…do you want me to be?"

Leo's voice was low and hesitant but what really cut her to the core was the look in his eyes. It was one of a cornered animal. She got the feeling he would change his answer depending on what she said, which had to mean he actually was in love with her and couldn't afford to lose her.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable! How had she never seen it?!

Daisy must have been seeing things the way she expected to see them because she had always viewed Leo as a child. Because of that, she assumed he wouldn't harbor any sort of romantic feelings for her but she had been very wrong.

The person she loved most in this world—as a little brother—was in love with her. What was she supposed to do about that?

She couldn't hurt him. She cared about him far too much to do that. He deserved to know the truth about why his feelings couldn't be reciprocated but would he believe her if she said she was from another world? He might think she was making things up to let him down easy.

"I'm twelve years older than you," Daisy blurted, finally snatching her hands back to wrap them protectively around her waist. "I'm sorry. I know I look young but—"

"How is this relevant?" Leo asked blankly.

"I'm nearly old enough to be your mother! I never would have dreamed you were in love with me but you deserve to know so you can go find someone closer to your age. I love you more than anything but not like that. You were a child and I was a grown adult when we met."

"So?"

"So it's weird, Leo! I helped you because I was an adult and as such I felt obligated to look out for a hurt kid. I'm sorry if I misconstrued things or led you on because that definitely wasn't my intention."

His mismatched eyes bored into hers with an alarming intensity. "That doesn't change anything. You could be a hundred years old and I would still only love you. I meant it when I said getting married wouldn't change our relationship at all. Whether you love me back or not, I still need to be with you."

Daisy blinked at him. He NEEDED to be with her? Not wanted?

"You…need me?"

Leo's expression crumbled and he moved forward to flop his head onto her shoulder and mumbled into it. His voice, which had deepened years ago, cracked in his desperation.

"Daisy, you're the only thing in this cruel, miserable world that makes me happy and have been since shortly after I met you. Of course I need you! Please don't throw me away because I finally told the truth about my feelings. I did my best not to say anything all this time so I wouldn't upset you."

Her heart ached for him. He truly did need her if he was willing to keep her in his life in any capacity just so he could be happy. She reached up to pat his hunched back, unsure what to say.

A man had confessed his undying love to her for the first time in her life, albeit one who she had somewhat raised for three years. How was she supposed to respond to that? They didn't teach you about this stuff in school!

"I could never throw you away," Daisy whispered. "I love you so much! Just…not the way you want me to. I'm sorry."

Leo sighed and straightened, shaking his head. "No. Don't apologize. Your feelings are as valid as mine are. I know you said you would never marry unless it was for love but is it enough for me to be in love with you?

"I would never do anything to hinder your plans or control you in any way. All I want is for us to be able to stay together so I can take care of you, Daisy. Please marry me. As I said, everything will be like it was before back on the farm. The only difference will be a piece of paper."

Daisy wanted to cry. How was she supposed to say no when he asked her so earnestly to stay with him?

She wanted that too. She had missed him terribly all the time they were apart so she couldn't walk away. He was the only person she had ever felt truly close to. Since leaving wasn't an option, she really didn't have a choice but to marry him.

It might be nothing but a piece of paper to her but it would mean a lot to him. He needed the security that she would always be with him, didn't he? Like every other abandoned child she had ever known. Like herself.

Hadn't she originally been planning to say no because she didn't feel secure and was worried about ruining their relationship? Now knowing it was impossible for him to come to resent her for taking away his options since he had wanted to marry her for years, what was stopping her other than her conscience?

"Leo, are you a hundred percent sure you're okay with this?" Daisy asked, torn.

That snapped him to attention. "Yes! Does that mean you're going to do it? You're going to stay with me?"

She exhaled heavily before offering him a reassuring smile. "I was going to stay with you no matter what. If this is how I have to do it, so be it. Just…don't feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

"Are you kidding? If anything, I'm the one taking advantage of you."

"How so?"

"…I'm the one who proposed getting engaged to keep people away from you in the first place with the hope that you'd still be there waiting whenever I came back. My motives weren't the slightest bit altruistic," Leo confessed.

Daisy laughed, breaking the tension. She had figured that out earlier in the conversation. "Yeah. That's what I thought. You're kind of an evil genius for coming up with that plan at fourteen."

"Is being an evil genius a bad thing?"

"Depends on what you use your powers for. Seriously though, relax. I'm not mad at you. Honestly, I'm more surprised you aren't freaked out by me being an old lady."

"Thirty-one isn't old!" he protested. "It's your soul that matters, not your age. But you really do look ten years younger. It's kind of amazing. I'd accuse you of using magic if not for the fact that you didn't even know it existed before meeting me."

Daisy laughed even harder this time. It shouldn't have been funny but it was. Magic had definitely been involved somehow even if it wasn't the kind this world was known for. After all this time, she still didn't know exactly what had happened to get her here.

The last thing she remembered was a pair of headlights blinding her as she opened her eyes after a yawn. There hadn't even been time to swerve. It had been a rainy night and visibility was low, which was likely why the person in question ended up charging into her lane.

It was strange that her soul had come to another dimension rather than going to a traditional sort of afterlife. Being reborn as a baby would have made more sense than taking over someone else's body and retaining all of her memories of life on earth. She may never know what brought her here but she couldn't regret it.

Coming here had allowed her to meet Leo. The one person that truly loved her in her entire existence.

Even if she couldn't love him back the way he hoped for, it was an honor to be loved by someone so kind. He said earlier that she was the only thing that made him happy and, honestly, it wasn't much different for her.

Sure, Daisy got little bits of enjoyment from other things but she was always at her happiest when he was around. That wasn't sufficient reason for marriage in her mind but the situation had spiraled out of control. It was what it was and she had to deal with it.