Trigger

four • swims

Levi hasn't come out of the cottage all day, but as I look over, I see him leaned against the front doorway, eyes focused in on the boat. It's almost like he feels his eyes on me, because the turns his head and gives me a smile. It's a pained and obviously forced one, but it's something and I find myself just relieved that he's back to normal. I don't ever want to see the Levi I saw the first night I had been here- taut, high strung and frightening- again.

Once the boat is gone, Finn turns around and beams at Levi. He gestures for me to follow him, which I do, until we're right by Levi. "You feeling better?" Finn asks casually.

Levi nods, exhaling slowly. "Yeah. Want to make pizza?"

When Finn and I both agree, he steps back, letting us inside. I have to admit- the inside of the cottage is almost even more impressive than the outside. High ceilings, brightly lit, large rooms, warm wall colors and wood accents are the first thing my mind is able to register about the place. The second is a simple conclusion- it's beautiful.

Levi and Finn lead me to the kitchen, where I sit myself down at the island in the middle. Levi takes the pans out of the oven while Finn opens the freezer and takes out the pizza, telling Levi what to preheat the oven at.

"We can take it down to the den after and watch a movie or play cards," Finn suggests once Levi has the oven heating and the pizza on a pan. He turns to me, "You know good any card games?"

"I know one, my friend taught me it."

"Let's just play cards," Levi says, leaning against the island as he looks to Finn. "You know that the Netflix is super slow here and always stops to buffer."

Finn agrees and goes to fetch the cars. Levi finally sits down, taking a seat across the island from me. "Do you miss any of your friends from back home yet?" Levi asks,

I sigh, shaking my head. "No, I've barely talked to them since I got here. I mean, it's not like I hate them all; I don't. They're my friends for a reason. They're fun to be around and we have good memories together. It's just that... I want friends that I'm going to remember after I graduate high school. That are going to leave an impact in my life and change the way I look and feel about things." I shrug, looking at Levi's face, searching for some kind of disinterest but he seems completely okay with me ranting to him. So, feeling more comfortable, I continue. "Most of my friends don't make me feel that way. They don't seem like the type of people I can pour my heart out too and trust them to understand- or at least attempt to understand. I guess that's why I needed a break."

Nodding, Levi softly says, "I think this'll trip will do you good, then. You can disconnect from your regular social circle and give yourself some time to think about what type of people you really want to associate yourself with."

I nod in agreement, letting a bit of silence settle in between us before asking, "What about you?"

Levi shrugs, "Friends have always been kind of hard for me."

I furrow my eyebrows in surprise, "Really? I mean, you seem like a good friend. You're a really good listener."

Smiling softly, Levi tells me, "I like listening. It's not that hard to be a good listener- you just have to block out everything else going on in your life, anything else occupying your mind and put all the focus on the person you're with. I need that sometimes. I guess that's why I like it." Levi looks down, "But I don't know about the whole friends thing. It just never really happens."

"Well, I think you're a great person to be around, and anyone who doesn't realize that is blind," I assure him, giving him a smile.

Levi looks at me with a strong look of thankfulness in his eyes, whispering a, "Thank you," underneath his breath.

Finn comes back just then, throwing the box of cards on the table while reaching for the pizza once the oven starts to beep. Putting the pizza in and setting the timer for twenty minutes, he takes a seat beside Levi and opens up the cards.

I teach them the game- which they learn relatively quickly- and we play it the whole the pizza is cooking, while eating the pizza and after the pizza, too. Basically, by the time it's ten thirty, we finish our final nights and force ourselves to put the cards away.

Finn stands up, grabbing a few flashlights from the cabinet and handing us each one. "Come on," he says. "Let's go swimming."

"At this time?" I raise an eyebrow. "Isn't this when the fish are out?"

"No, that's early morning."

"And night too!"

"It doesn't matter! Meet us by our dock in ten minutes!"

I roll my eyes, but run to my cottage and change into my swimsuit, putting a huge tie-dye shirt on top that fits like a dress, but it's good enough. Once I get out, Levi and Finn are in their swim trunks, Levi with a shirt on but Finn bare-chested, shaking with cold.

"You know what?" Finn murmurs, teeth clattering. "Maybe I should put on a shirt."

"Maybe you should," Levi agrees right before he pushes Finn straight off the dock.

I slap a hand over my mouth, trying my hardest not too laugh as Finn's body drops into the water. Water splashes onto he dock and onto my leg, reminding me just how cold the water is. Finn's head emerges from the water seconds later, his hand coming up to wipe the water out of eyes, laughing loudly. "You ­dick-," he shakes his head. "Get your ass down here."

Levi laughs but doesn't argue, taking a step forward to jump off. Right before he can, though, I wrap my hand around his arm, causing for his head to snap over to me. "Wait," I tell him. "I want to jump with you."

"Okay, on three," Levi says. "One, two-"

Levi pushes me off on two.

I gasp when I collide with the cold water that surrounds me, sinking in some. Not a second later a splash near me sounds, the water bubbling, singling that Levi had jumped with me. My hands flail around for a bit before they find Levi's, gripping onto his hand before swimming up with him. Our hands let go of each other's when we emerge to the surface, and I can't help but feel a twinge of disappointment because of that.

My blond hair is flattened down and my tie-dye shirt is sticking to my body, but all I can do is laugh. Finn and Levi swim over to a diving dock secured around ten feet from the shore. I follow quickly, but not before taking a moment to admire them as they pull themselves up. They're both obviously athletic- not just obvious from the amount of sports they're always playing, but the muscles sculpting their bodies, too. Levi is leaner than Finn- Finn is a lot more bulky and bigger- but from the way Levi's shirt is sticking to his body I can tell Levi doesn't lack, either.

I swim over to the small ladder and pull myself up, trembling when the cold air hits my skin. Levi looks at me, eyebrows furrowed in distress from how cold his is, his pale lips even more pale than usual. Finn, on the other hand, looks like goddamn popsicle. "Back in the water," he murmurs. "Let's go back before I turn into an ice sculpture."

Levi's the first to jump back in, and Finn and I follow suit, laughing.

Levi laughs with us, too, but I can't help that notice that no matter how happy we are that night, his eyes never lose that lingering haunted look.

xxx

Yay, long chapter and the fourth day updating in a row! But that's because you guys are so freaking amazing- this story is ALREADY  #42 in Mystery/Thriller! I don't think anyone really understands just how much that means to me, thank you <3 If you enjoyed this chapter, please be sure to COMMENT AND VOTE! I love hearing your guys' thoughts, so the comments you leave are very important to me and they help motivate me to write faster! :D But anyway, love you all so so much! (: xoxo