Trigger

ten • bullets

I wake up early the next morning- as usual. It's still dark outside, so I decide to go out and watch the sunset on the dock. I've been sleeping in lately due to the heavy weight of the stress and anxiety I've been feeling these past couple of weeks, but since I'm up early enough this morning, I jump at the opportunity to brush my teeth, get comfortable clothes on and head outside.

To say I'm surprised to see Levi sitting on the dock is an understatement. Levi has stayed true to his word about not getting up past noon ever since I met him. Not once have I've seen him once out for sunrise- in fact, the more troubling his behaviour got, the longer he slept. in. Feeling unsure how to approach Levi- I'm just not sure how he is, especially after last night's runaway fiasco- I do so slowly. Luckily, he turns around once he hears me coming and actually gives me a small attempt at a ghost of a smile.

"Hey there," I say as I sit down beside him, trying to keep my tone light. "What're you doing up? I thought you didn't wake up until after noon."

Levi laughs quietly, though it's obviously strained. "I promised I'd watch the sunrise one day, didn't I?"

"You did," I agree. My eyes scan the horizon- the sun has just begun to rise, but it hasn't appeared from behind the cliffs on the other side of the lake yet. "Impressed yet?"

Levi hums, his eyes scanning the sky and then dropping to the water. I'm guessing he's thinking about the sky that's beginning to color with what seems like the gentlest and smoothest paint strokes and the way the water is glistening from the upcoming light. "Somewhat," he says, though his tone is also light and teasing.

I let my body slump in relief. This is the Levi I know. This is the Levi that teases his cousin, always wants to play some sort of sport and actually looks somewhat relaxed. I don't know what exactly happened in the woods last nights, but hopefully his 'walk' and 'needing to get away' gave him time to think and clear his head, because his mood has made a complete turnaround since last night.

Something else that surprised me last night was that he didn't go shoot. I was awoken by no sound of gunshots all night- and the gunshots always wake me up. When I first woke up and realized that, I waved it off as Katherine and Jeffery being extra protective after what happened so they kept him inside, but looking at him now, maybe Levi had an epiphany about the gun range and decided it never actually helped? After all, the first night in a while that Levi didn't go shoot and he's completely relaxed.

"So how's the cottage helping you?" Levi asks out of the blue.

I furrow my eyebrows, surprised both by the fact that he's taking the initiative to speak and at his blunt question. "What do you mean?"

"You told me that you came here to get away from your friends and hopefully figure things out." He purses his pale lips. "Did it help?"

I genuinely smile because Levi is just such a good listener. Finn has always been a good talker ever since I met him- he's a natural at story telling and drawing you in- but Levi will listen to you for hours without complaint and actually pay attention to what you're saying. My smile falls a bit, though, because the truth is that the cottage hasn't helped me much- if anything, my anxiety has been over the roof with everything that's been happening. I don't want to tell Levi that, though. It'll just make him guilty. "It's been okay. I actually FaceTimed my friend Hannah a couple of days back. I know I said I wanted to get away from them but I guess I still missed her. I just think I have to know when I want to get involved with certain things my friends do and when I don't. Just because Hannah gets drunk a lot doesn't make her a bad person, as long as she doesn't pressure me to do the same then she's not hurting me. I guess time away has helped me figure that out, though..."