Ten & Levan

8. Eight

"That was a blow to my ego," he mutters, a hint of a smile on his mouth.

"It's still my turn to question, so do you really sleepwalk?" I ask him, cocking a brow. And for the first time, he rolls his eyes at me. It's so casual, not the least bit hesitant. This is almost a breakthrough. I want to leap into the air and do some sort of victory dance; I'm breaking through his walls like a freaking tank.

A medal to Tenerife Cohen for showing zeal and absolute bravery in getting to know Number Eleven. Thank you, I'm honored.

"Do you have to know?" he asks and it's almost the way it was in my head. I fall back to the ground like a basketball, but I don't even bounce.

"Yes."

"Can I lie?"

"It's your choice," I say. Fact: even though I want to know him, I don't want him to tell me things he doesn't wish to tell me. I'm not that nosy...yet. Take the medal back, I'll get it later.

"Yes, I sleepwalk," he says and gets back to his sky gazing. Liar liar, earth on fire.

"Don't worry, one day you'll tell me," I say it as if I know it. Because I do.

"And you know that because?" he asks and then a smirk appears on his face. He looks careless, as if I'm almost through the four walls he has all up around himself.

"I can see the future, not kidding." I tell him, my bravado flying high. Too high. He cocks a brow as he looks at me. I try to contain my amusement, and good god, I try hard. I don't want him to freak out.

"What do you see?" he asks me. I've poked his one nerve that I seem to poke often, interest.

"I see that we're going to be best friends, Number Eleven," I tell him. He shakes his head at me as he smiles.

"You're impossible..." he mutters.

"I know," I say. He almost laughs again for a microsecond, but then I find us spending centuries in silence again. He stares at our limited piece of sky, unlike the vast sky the park offered, and starts fading into the earth beneath him. I watch him as he disappears. At first, only his head is gone but suddenly all of him becomes invisible, except for his brilliant blue eyes of course. They're never going to fade from my memory, they're here to stay.

I realize he does this too often; he just fades into the background as if he was never here to begin with. I fear his getting lost inside his own head that frequently might end up getting him lost completely. If he continues this, he'll be gone from the face of earth. Like there was no Leven. There'd be Eight and Nine and Ten and then Twelve. No Levan found in any of the books on the planet. In no memory. On no tongues. It would be as if he never was.

I feel the aching need rise again. Like fog, it travels up my system and jams my throat, fills my mouth yet I remain mute. I need to find him. I need him to stay. So I make a move, and before I can think twice or even judge myself, I'm sitting on his torso. He crashes back onto this planet, sucking in a deep breath, his eyes wandering and settling on mine, and there's that frown again.

"WAKE UP, LEVAN!" I yell as if I've been yelling all this while and he hasn't been listening. Well, in my mind, yes, that might've happened. I jerk him by the shoulders like a maniac. His hands automatically find my waist to keep me still. "OH MY GOD! ARE YOU DEAD WITH YOUR EYES OPEN?" I bawl out.

"What?" He questions, startled. Can I laugh, please? Well, I try hard not to. I still myself and sigh dramatically when he cranes his head up. He's possibly coloring me crazy right about now. I grab his face and squish it.