"So you're saying you and Oliver are officially together?"
Coraline's question made Tina choke on her french fries. I snickered, and Coraline smiled innocently at Tina. We were eating together at a family restaurant.
"Why do people feel the need to label relationships?" Tina asked, rolling her eyes, "But yeah, we are I suppose."
"Look at her trying to act all cool about it," I told Coraline, who giggled in response, "You should see her when he comes over to visit her."
Tina gave me a shocked look, and I didn't realize what I had said until it was too late. But fortunately Coraline didn't catch on that I was staying at Tina's.
"How cute!" she squealed, "I wish I could go out with you guys. I'm stuck at home most of the time these days. Terrence is super careful about the stuff I eat and do around the house."
"If you ever need help with anything, just tell us," I told her, relieved.
"Time goes by fast," she said, smiling at me, "I can't wait to find out if it's a girl or a boy!"
"We need to be the first ones to know," I said.
"Second, Terrence has to be the first to know," Tina added, laughing.
We spent some time together before separating again and going home. School was starting again next Monday and I wasn't really looking forward to it. The sad part about this was that I was the teacher, not the student, so I couldn't really say those words out loud. It was a fact that it would be keeping me distracted while I waited to visit Levi again.
Oh crap. Levi. Just thinking about his name reminded me of our previous encounter. Both Tina and Coraline made sure to tease the hell out of me about it. It was kind of cute, but still embarrassing.
Now that Colt knew I was still visiting Levi, I was extra careful when visiting him again. I decided to wait until Monday after school hours to go visit him. Levi and I didn't talk about what happened last time. In fact, every time we texted after that was just super awkward, but in a cute way.
We've kissed a few times before that happened, but somehow nothing could have compared to that moment. Maybe it was because we haven't had enough time together yet that we didn't get to experience everything a normal couple did. We started dating just a bit before the car crash occurred after all. And being apart somehow made our cravings for each other much stronger than normal.
To me, making out with Levi was like a huge step. And it was much less scary than I thought it would be. The problem was that I couldn't stop thinking about it. Today was still only Friday, and I had to wait two whole days before I got to see him again excluding the few hours that were left for today to be over.
Eventually Monday finally rolled around. Honestly I wasn't even thinking about my upcoming birthday. If Levi wouldn't be with me to celebrate it, then what was the point? It would be awesome if Levi could get discharged before then, but the chances of that happening were slim.
Surprisingly when I texted Levi asking him if it was okay for me to visit him today, he said no. He said he had a few things to take care of. But he left me in the dark and didn't tell me what was going on. He did tell me that I could visit him on Wednesday. I assumed he had therapy to do or something. I didn't like the idea of having to wait even longer before I could see him, but I had no other choice now.
Wednesday started off nicely. Tina tried preparing breakfast for me as a birthday present. Key word: tried. She meant well, but the eggs looked almost inedible because of how burnt they were. Tina was not the cooking type at all. I taught her a few things during my stay, but obviously it wasn't enough. She looked so disappointed at what she made that it broke my heart, so I gave her a hug and ate it anyway.
At school my students decided to throw me a surprise party during recess. It was the cutest thing ever. A big white cake was placed on the center of the room on top of the tables surrounded by bottles soda and chips. They hung up pictures of me and of us together that hung down from the ceiling. They even managed to sneak one in of the day that Levi visited me at school. When did they take this?! I blushed when I saw it, remembering once again our kiss. Geez, I had to get used to this soon or later. But I simply couldn't control my heart rate whenever Levi was involved anymore.
Noticing that I was staring at the picture of Levi, my pupils started laughing and making kissy noises. I laughed. I loved them to the moon and back. Tina and Coraline walked in after a while and gave me a hug. They knew all about the surprise party. For a moment I couldn't imagine having any other job than this one. I forgot all about Colt and Carly. I forgot about how much I missed Levi. I was happy, genuinely happy.
This time I drove myself to the hospital. Tina didn't argue, because she said she hated being there and catching us in the middle of 'sucking each other's faces off'. Seriously, I was never going to hear the end of this.
By the time I was standing in front of Levi's door, my heart was racing again. I turned the handle and found Levi, once again, sitting at the edge of his bed. This time he was sitting at the opposite side of his bed, facing the window. I went over to him.
"Hey," I told him.
He turned to me and smiled. He looked less miserable than the last time I saw him. And I was about to find out why.
"Hey, guess what," Levi started.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"Guess who's getting discharged right now."
I gasped sharply. "You're kidding!"
He stood up and walked around a bit. "Yup, I'm perfectly fine now. Muscles still ache sometimes, but that will heal in time. I really wanted to get out today, so... They said it was okay because I've recovered enough."
"That's so amazing!" I said, clapping my hands together excitedly, "I didn't think you would get out for my birthday. That's so cool!!"
Levi chuckled. "That's my little surprise for you, I guess. It's not much, but..."
"Not much? You've got to be joking. This is the best day of my life."
He stood up carefully and took two steps to get to me. I grinned widely at him.
"I just need to put my shirt on and we can leave," he said.
I saw the shirt on his pillow and went to grab it for him. Although he didn't ask me for help, I helped him take his hospital gown off. He was already wearing his jeans, so I didn't have to worry about seeing him butt naked. His body was covered in bandages, so I had to be extra cautious with him. You could barely see his tattoos anymore.
"Don't make that face," he said, reading right through me.
"Sorry," I said automatically, "Just tell me if it hurts, okay?"
I slipped his left arm in first seeing as that one was the injured one. It would have hurt him far more if I had done his right arm first and then leave his left arm for last. But somehow he still winced with pain. I panicked and asked him if he was okay. He laughed and said he was just messing with me.
"Not funny," I said frowning, "You scared the crap out of me."
Levi used his right hand to ruffle my hair. "Sorry, I just had to." His face was close to mine, and he instantly pulled his head back when he realized it.
I blushed now too. Nervously, I started picking his objects around the hospital room so that he didn't have to. I could feel his eyes burning on me with every move that I made.
"I-is that everything?" I asked him after a while.
"Oh, y-yeah..." he replied.
We left the hospital in silence. Levi didn't need help walking like I did when I left. It seems like he was completely used to walking around. It was kind of funny actually.
I drove us to Tina's place first to go tell her the good news. I told Levi to stay in the car and ran inside to go grab my stuff.
"Why are you back so quickly?" Tina asked surprised.
"Levi's out," I said excitedly, "I'm packing my stuff so we can go home."
"Sweet! I'll go say hi to him."
I nodded at her and hastily shoved my clothes from Tina's wardrobe into my suitcase. By the time I finished, I let out a deep breath and brought my suitcase to my car. Lifting heavy stuff was a definite no-no for me after the accident, but I couldn't ask Tina for help because she was outside with Levi. So I took my sweet time going back to my car.
I thanked Tina for giving me a place to stay, and moments later we were back on our way home in complete silence. I pulled up into the garage. Levi offered to take my suitcase, and I gave him an incredulous look.
"Okay, okay, sheesh," he said, chuckling.
I picked the suitcase out of my trunk and brought it inside, with Levi trailing behind me. As soon as I stepped inside, my jaw dropped open. There were balloons and decorations everywhere. A big teddy bear was sitting on the couch staring back at me. There was also a chocolate cake on the coffee table.
I turned around to Levi, who was smiling at me mischievously. "Surprise?"
I dropped my suitcase and pulled him into a hug. Then I remembered his bandages and loosened my grip. "Thank you." I was trying hard to fight back my tears and failing miserably at it.
Levi wiped my tears away. "You're welcome, cutie. Tina helped me plan this for days now. Most of this was thanks to her."
I smiled, feeling warm inside. "I'm so blessed to have you guys as my friends. And I have the best boyfriend ever. I can't even..."
Levi laughed. "I'm glad you like it. Let's watch a movie and have some cake."
The two of us plopped onto the sofa. I cuddled into the human-sized teddy bear, and Levi rolled his eyes.
"I knew I shouldn't have gotten you one so big," he mumbled under his breath.
"Why? Are you jealous?" I teased, poking his cheek with the teddy's paw.
He gave me a look that I recognized oh so well, causing my heart to skip a beat, but it only lasted for a moment. Soon he had the remote in his hand and was searching for Netflix. At times like these I wanted to know what he was thinking about so badly. But Levi didn't reveal anything.
Not yet, that is.
"What do you want to watch?" he asked me.
I shrugged. "A cheesy romance movie," I said finally.
He cracked a smile again. "Women," was all he said.
He picked a movie called 'Love Jacked'. It was about a girl that found her fiancé cheating on her with someone else. As soon as that scene came on, I saw Levi glancing at me.
"Should I change it?" he asked me cautiously.
I shook my head. "No way, it doesn't bother me. Don't worry."
It really didn't. I've seen enough romance movies in my lifetime to know that she wasn't going to end up with that bastard. It was kind of scary how accurate a movie could represent real life.
During the movie I let go of the teddy and scooched closer towards Levi and placed my head on his lap. He ran his fingers through my hair, sending butterflies through my stomach. The movie itself was cute and funny at the same time. Levi made the right pick for sure.
The ending of the movie made me cry. For some reasons happy endings in movies always had this reaction on me.
"It's the second time you've cried since we got here," Levi stated, looking down at me.
I turned myself to look at him. "But it was so cute! I love cheesy movies like this. They're always predictable, but they're too adorable to pass by."
"You're cute, you know that?" Levi said, smirking.
I blushed and sat up straight again. Nope, it felt like he was too close when he said that. Gosh, his smirk was making me go crazy.
"So uh... Is it just me..." I started, "Or did... that kiss we shared a few days ago... kind of change things?"
Levi cleared his throat. "Yeah..."
"Tina and Coraline won't let it go either," I said. My back was still facing him. I couldn't look at him; I couldn't stop blushing.
"I can't blame them..." he said, "It's... hard to forget something like that."
Nope, nope, he wasn't helping. He was right, obviously, but if I didn't calm down now I was going to pass out.
"L-let's watch another movie, okay?" I asked quickly.
"Hmm," he said, raising an eyebrow at me. What I couldn't see was the sly smile on his face as he plotted something out.
Before I knew it, I felt him move behind my back. He pulled me backwards into his arms and rested his head on my shoulder. Yup, there went my sanity. My heart rate skyrocketed and I was focusing extra on how to breathe like a normal human being.
"I have a better idea," he whispered, his deep voice sending consecutive sparks through my body.
I couldn't. I literally couldn't. He was so close and I couldn't handle it.
"Uhmm maybe we should eat cake instead," I said quickly.
Levi's lips trailed up and down my neck. A small moan escaped my lips automatically, and I slammed my hand in front of my mouth surprised. Levi snickered at my reaction.
"This is way better than watching a movie or eating cake," he said, tightening his grip around my waist.
"Isn't this hurting your back or something?" I tried, hoping he would give me a break.
He laughed. "Nope, I'm perfectly comfortable." He pressed his lips against my neck. "Aren't you?"
I flew out of his grasp somehow and ran to the kitchen. I pressed my hand on my chest, trying to steady my breathing. I felt like I was going to die. Why was I the only one getting so flustered at this?
I picked up two small plates and some spoons and walked back slowly to Levi, dedicated to having some cake. Sure, so I already had some cake at school, but I couldn't let this day go by without having some with Levi. Funny how I was concentrating so much on some stupid cake, just so that I could be less nervous around him. When he heard my footsteps approaching him, he turned to look at me. Again, that smirk... How could a man be so hot?
I handed him a plate, but he placed it onto the table.
"I don't want any cake," he said simply, giving me that look again.
"Well I do," I pouted.
I started cutting the cake, but it was just too hard to concentrate with him staring at me like that. I sighed and looked at Levi.
"Why am I the only one getting so nervous around you?" I asked him finally.
He grinned. "You think you're the only one? I've been trying to control myself ever since you first stepped into my hospital room." He took the knife out of my hands and pulled me towards him. He brought me to him and held my hand. "I don't think you understand... With every passing day I keep thinking of you more and more. I'm going crazy because of you."
I giggled, wrapping my arms around him. "The feeling is mutual," I said, bringing my face dangerously close to his.
Levi closed the distance first, crashing his lips onto mine. This time we were completely alone. This time there was nothing that could stop us. His fingers slid underneath my shirt slowly, creeping upwards until he was playfully tugging at my bra. His touch on my bare skin tickled me, causing a small smile to break out on my face in the middle of the kiss. Our eyes met. The two of us were both hungry, and believe me, it wasn't for cake...