New York, New York

New York, New York (10)

"Yeah, he texted me fourteen time!" I huffed.

"Wow. That's intense," Charlotte murmured over the phone.

"He's crazy," I shook my head, "Levi made me change my number."

"Speaking of Levi, spill the beans! I saw your changed relationship status! How'd he ask you out?"

I smiled, and recounted the story to her. She 'awww'ed and I could tell she was genuinely happy for me. That was thing about Charlotte, she was always so supportive, no matter what was going on. She'd been my only supporter during the accident with Kyle, and my injuries that followed.

"When can I see you?" She whined, "I miss my Soph-Soph."

"I miss you too Char," I said, "I hope soon. Maybe spring break?"

"I hope so. I wish we could think of something sooner though."

"Me too."

"Oh, crap. Look, I've got to go. My mom just got back from work and she is in a state. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Talk to you soon Char."

"Bye!"

The next day at school, instead of Levi being late for advisor, he didn't show up at all. I looked for him all day at school, and he didn't even text me. Maybe he's sick, I thought, trying to make myself stop worrying.

Around lunch time, my phone buzzed in my pocket while I was chatting with Adrian about homecoming. I slipped my phone out. Levi.

-'my life is just falling apart today'.

"What's happening?"

-'meet me @ the park where I took u on our 1st date. I'll explain'.

"Now?"

-'after school'

Adrian gave me a concerned look. "What's up?"

"Somethings wrong with Levi, I'm not sure what."

"Hmm. Is he hurt?"

"I don't think so, I'm meeting up with him later."

"I'll be praying for him," Adrian said. I looked at her, surprised by her comment. I smiled.

"Thank  you, I appreciate it."

And then, I prayed my own little prayer in my head for Levi.

I called my mom and had it arranged that she got picked up by Dad after school to I could go straight to the park. I found a bench in the sun, and sat down on it, stretching my legs and enjoying the breeze.

Then Levi sat down next to me.

He looked awful, if possible. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, and he was slumped over. I wanted to reach out and hold him, but I didn't know quite what to say.

"Levi...."

"I need to talk to you about my parents," he began with a heavy sigh.

"Okay," I murmured. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he touched it, gently caressing my knuckles.

"My Dad went to prison when I was five," he began, "Ben was four. My older sister, Izzy, was nine.

"My Dad was involved is some shady activity....he was arrested on drug possesion and solicitation, also possesion of a gun without a license, and public intoxication, also uttering death threats.

"After my Dad left....my mom went kind of....crazy. She moved out of state and took Izzy with her, leaving me and Ben with Nonno and Nonna.....I guess my father just got out of prison. He showed up at the house this morning."

"I bet that was hard," I said quietly.

"Yeah," he nodded. "He expected Ben and I to be fine, like nothing had happened. Nonno was furious. He ordered him out of the house, and they got into a screaming match. Nonno had to call the police, who escorted my father off the property, but he's been calling me all morning. I have no idea how he got my phone number. He wants to see Ben and I. He didn't even know Mom moved, taking Izzy with her. He wants to find them too....he'll have a hard time of it though. I searched for Izzy a long time. I can't find her. Last I heard, which was a few years ago, they were in Indiana."

"I'm really sorry to hear that. Do you want to come to my house for the evening?" I asked.

He looked up at me as if I were God's gift. "Yes."

I smiled at him. "Come on. Let's go."

"Thank you, mia bella canzone," he whispered, almost to himself.

We went to my house, and when we got there Mom was ordering Chinese.

"Hold on a moment," she said to the person on the other end of the phone, "Levi, do you want something from the Chinese place?" She asked.

"Sure, I'll have the egg rolls."

Mom nodded, and went back to the call. She already knew what I wanted. Levi and I went into my bedroom, and shut the door.

"Your room is nice," he said.

"Thanks." Levi looked at my framed pictures on my dresser, bedside table, and the walls.

"Who's this?" he asked, pointing to a picture of Charlotte and I.

"That's Charlotte. She is my best friend in the entire world. After the accident, she was there for me, when no one else was."

"She sounds great," He smirked. Then he picked up a picture of me and Molly in the hospital. We were in the same room, and I had pushed my bed closer to hers, and in the picture we were holding hands. We both looked in rough shape.

"Why do you have this?" Levi asked.

"To remind me where I've been, and where I'm going. I don't want to forget anymore."

Levi kissed me then, and I melted. In the midst of his drama with his dad, in the midst of my drama with Kyle, we remained constant. We were together, there for each other. This mattered.