𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐟 (unfinished)

0 . 3

His comment threat surprised me. Even though we disliked each other deeply, and for no particular reason really, he had never threatened me, and neither had I. I scowled at him and muttered, "I'm a little lost at the moment. Would you mind updating me on how the fuck we got here?" I gently nudged him aside so I could continue packing the remaining books into my bag. Leland whacked them out of my hands and they flew out of my hands. "Excuse me!" I pushed him with, more force this time, but he hardly moved at all. I exclaimed, "What do you want from me!?"

"A little birdy told me that you are the Machiavelli who's responsible for the scraping and keying of my car," Leland pulled out his phone and unlocked it to show the horrifying image of the damage I unintentionally caused. His lockscreen featured him, his mother, and his younger sister at the beach in a city that could've been Venice. I didn't have time to make out the details, but I hated how human and adorable that made him.

"You don't even have evidence that it was me," I gulped. Well, yes, all you have to do is deny everything repeatedly. Until the narrative is favourable to you, gaslight. Matter of fact, it appeared that my gaslighting infuriated him and I loved nothing more.

"Don't play with me, Drea. That car's more expensive than your parents' mortgage." He moves a little closer. To keep from losing my composure at his insulting statement, I gritted my teeth and put my palm on his chest. We both trembled slightly in shock. "Personality, I believe it looks lovelier that it did before," I chortled. "Did it happen to smell like rotten bananas afterwards?"

I shut my eyes as his hand formed a fist, but no punch was thrown. I only sensed my neck being warmed by his enormous, soft fingers instead. He didn't even apply pressure or hurt me. It was as if he just wanted to see how I'd react, and god I didn't want him to know how much I was enjoying his touch. My heart was thumping in my ears, and I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. The noise was so loud that it drowned out everything else. Everything but Leland's whispered, "Open your eyes, princess. I want to see your pretty eyes while you're squirming from my touch. I like it."

Stupid me, I followed his instructions and he removed his hand. My neck suddenly felt bitterly cold once again, just like it had before he'd placed his hand on it. But how cold was it really before? I couldn't even recall. He had messed up my thought chemistry, if that was even a thing.

"It was only a joke. I didn't expect her to follow through," I asserted. Leland suddenly retreated one step back, then another. My brows furrow in disappointment. However, given that Levi was sauntering toward us, that seemed to push away any Leland-related thoughts.

Levi draped a protecting arm around my neck. "Hi, sweetheart. Is Leland here bothering you?" He was speaking to me, but Leland - who wasn't even attempting to appear innocent - became the target of Levi's glaring stare.

"Danielson, buddy, you're about to have a laugh when I tell you that your sweetheart here was the mastermind behind the vandalism on my Merc," Leland folded his arms as he gave my boyfriend an annoyed look.

Levi gave me that expression he wore when his favourite basketball team lost, or if his father was mentioned despite his absence throughout Levi's life. Or even when Levi accidentally chose the orange jelly tot over the red or dark purple one. He had only ever given me that face, which was one of utter disappointment, once. I'd rather never be the receiver again.

"Babe? What's he talking about?" I watched Levi's chocolate eyes glisten in the sunlight retracting through the windows.

"All right, let me just say that this was not planned or strategically motivated before we all start to pointing fingers. This girl was crying in the bathroom..." And So I began to recall the events, describing them from my perspective, with the attempt to establish my innocence. My devoted boyfriend stood by my side. Naturally. It wasn't necessarily my fault anyways. On the other hand, Leland didn't appear to be touched by my tale.

"I want you to stay the heck away from me, my car, and my friends or else I'm going to seriously make you regret it." Leland grunted and pivoted to leave.

I exhaled and said, "My god, he's an ass," when Leland was too far away for me to hear him. He was obviously upset with the wrong person, I thought. There was silence from Levi. He was fixated on Leland instead. Finally, Levi blinked his eyes, breaking out of his daze, and turning to face me. "Let's go, sweet pea. You have class now. Regarding that moron, don't worry. Rich kids are utterly incapable of feeling sympathy for others."

"Calloused ass-hats just walking around like they own the damn place," I added and he noddedd with a chuckle.

I told Levi not to wait up. I still needed to find my keychain. The longer it was taking for me not to find it, the more anxious it was making me. Levi bent down to pick up the books Leland had flicked to the floor. "I know you don't like violence, but if-"

I immediately knew where that was going, so I interrupted him before he could finish that sentence. "Levi, leave it. It's fine."

"- he's bullying you or harassing you then I'll talk to him with my fists." he looked at me like I was being unreasonable, but said nothing of it. He just kissed the top of my head and questioned, "Are you okay?" And for the first time in a long time, that question actually sounded genuine. As if he wasn't just asking to fill the silence.

But I didn't have the energy to say what I normally would've wanted to vent to him. I didn't even have time on my hands, so I concurred with a typical nod and kissed him on lips. Not like how you kiss your crush for the first time in seventh grade and you're both shy. I kissed him fully like he wasn't going to be here tomorrow. I felt all the anger that Leland caused me simmering away in that kiss.

Levi held my face in his hands and he gazed at me the way people did with unwrapped presents or their favorite food. "You're the best thing to ever happen to me, Drea. I love you."