I was telling Levi about a few things that happened with my students today, but I noticed that something was off about him. He was listening, but he grew awfully quiet. Before I got the chance to ask him what was wrong, he suddenly pulled the car aside and I saw a red car speed past us. My eyes widened. The person had tinted windows, but I could recognize that red Rover from anywhere.
"What the hell..." I brought out, "Isn't he afraid of getting caught?"
"He knows where you work," Levi stated, "He's going to keep following you. It's not safe for you."
My heart was racing, and for once it wasn't because I was in love with Levi. I couldn't just quit my job because of Colt... could I?
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, my voice cracking under the pressure.
Levi looked over at me. "I'll handle it."
We spent the rest of that day at the police station. The two of us were ordered to stay at home as much as we possibly could. I was told to explain the situation to my school board of directory so that they could be aware that I was going to need a replacement for the time being. I didn't like the thought of being replaced in my job.
Once we arrived back home, I got out of my car and went straight to my room. I hated how Colt was influencing my life to his liking. Wasn't this what he wanted, to make my life a living hell because he couldn't get me back? Wasn't my misery just fueling his possessiveness?
Levi opened my door. He walked over to me and sat on the bed right next to me.
"It's not fair," I muttered, squeezing the pillow against my chest, "Colt always gets what he wants. It's always been like that."
Levi didn't reply.
"He wants me to feel as if my life is ruined because I'm not by his side anymore," I said, feeling tears well up in my eyes, "I can't believe he's such an asshole."
Levi chuckled. "Well, it doesn't surprise me, and I know him way less than you do."
I grimaced. "Yeah, I guess..."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he said, placing his hand on my arm.
"I know, it's okay. It's true anyway. And the worst part is that I can't get away from him because he won't leave me alone. He won't even give me a divorce. I don't want to have to take him to court to do this, it seems like such a hassle. He's not serious about me, so why does he want to stay married to me? Just to torture me?"
Levi wrapped his arms around me comfortingly, the pillow being the only wall between us. "I wish you didn't have to go through this," he whispered, "You, more than anyone else in the world, deserves to be happy."
"Do I?" I asked, "It doesn't feel like it."
He lowered the pillow so that he could plant a kiss on my lips. I blushed.
"W-what was that for?" I stammered like an idiot.
"Just because that idiot wants you to be miserable doesn't mean you should be," he told me, "You decide on your own whether you want to be happy or not, no matter what situation you're facing." Levi placed his warm hands on top of mine. "I'll make sure you stay happy, okay? I promise."
I smiled at him. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend. The determination in his voice made me feel at ease as soon as they came out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry for being a handful," I replied, grinning at him.
He grinned back at me. "You're worth it."
I leaned in to kiss him and wrapped my legs around him. He responded by pushing me back on my back to intensify the kiss. I knew that every time we did this he would feel some pain because of his injuries, but it didn't stop him. Words couldn't describe this feeling. The feeling of losing yourself to the person you loved... The feeling of looking into his eyes and realizing that you fell in love hard with the right person... That moment of realization that you were ready to give your all to this person, heart and soul, because you knew that despite the things you were going through, you knew he could make it all right again. Levi's promise wasn't just empty words. In fact, I was scared of him ever meeting Colt face-to-face. Levi would beat him to a pulp for all the things he did to me, and having Levi go back to jail simply wasn't an option.
It felt weird waking up in the morning without having to go get ready for school. I felt the urge to go take a shower and get dressed, but I had to remind myself that I had to stay home. I sat on my bed for almost an hour just scrolling through stuff on my phone. Eventually I felt some movement on the bed, and I saw Levi looking back at me with sleepy eyes and a cute smile on his face. I could get used to waking up and seeing him at my side every day.
"G'morning," he mumbled.
"Hey, slept well?" I asked him.
"Hell yeah..." He yawned. "Why are you up so early though? You don't have to work."
I shrugged. "Habit, I guess."
"Hmm..." He turned and went on his back to stare at the ceiling. "Want to do something?"
"Something?" I blushed deeply, remembering how we behaved last night. "Like what?"
He chuckled. His sleepy chuckle was the cutest thing ever.
"I know what you're thinking, but that's not what I meant," he said.
I pouted and looked away from him. I was dying on the inside that he could read me so easily.
"Unless you want to," he said, running his hand through my hair.
"W-what else did you have in mind?" I asked.
"Teach me how to cook," he said.
"As long as it's not baking, sure."
"But that cake was so good..." Levi snickered. "Especially mixed with seawater."
He was teasing me on purpose. I couldn't blush any more than I already was though, gosh...
"It wasn't the only thing that tasted good though..."
That was it. I jumped to my feet in embarrassment. My heart was skipping a million beats.
"L-let's go to the kitchen," I said, a bit too loudly.
"Sure," Levi replied, laughing.
I got dressed in nothing but an oversized T-shirt. Levi didn't bother putting a shirt on, but he did put on some black sweatpants. He followed me into the kitchen.
"What do you feel like eating?" I asked him.
I had my back for him, so it caught me by surprise when he suddenly bit my right ear. I yelped, then pouted at him. I felt goosebumps at his touch.
"Does that answer your question?" he asked me, giving me a playfully seductive stare.
This man was going to be the death of me.
"Fine, then I'll choose," I said, opening the fridge.
I was trying my best to control myself around him. But as soon as he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder, all of my self-control went out the window. If it wasn't for the coldness coming out of the open fridge, we wouldn't have stopped making out any time soon.
"Breakfast, remember?" I teased, giggling at him.
"Uh yeah, I almost forgot what we were in the kitchen for," Levi replied, scratching the back of his head.
After we had our breakfast, Levi offered to do the dishes. I stood next to him to dry them off. There was something bothering me for a while now, so I asked Levi about it.
"What are you going to do about your job?" I asked him, "You can't go out and do your job like you want to."
He shrugged. "I'll do whatever I can from home."
I felt terribly guilty for shoving my problems with my husband onto him, impeding him from leading a normal life.
"Why?" he asked, "Are you worried I'll lose my job or something?"
"Of course. This is all my fault after all."
"How is this your fault?"
"If I wasn't in your life, you wouldn't be—"
"You can stop right there," Levi said, cutting me off, "You can't take responsibility for the idiocy of your husband. He's his own person. He's not a little kid." He turned to me while he was drying his hands off. "And you can't say those words to me again. Got it?"
I nodded slowly.
"Scarlett, I'm serious. Stop thinking this is your fault." Levi shoved some of my hair behind my ears and smiled. "Having you by my side is a blessing to me. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Just like that my guilty feelings vanished into thin air. It was crazy how Levi had that effect on me. I was convinced that he was the only person who could glue my broken pieces back together.
At that moment my phone started ringing. I ran to my bedroom to pick it up. I figured it was just work calling me. It was Coraline.
"Hey Cora," I said after picking it up.
"Scarlett, it's me," Terrence's voice said. From the tone of his voice I got a bad feeling of what he was about to say.
"Hey Terrence, this is new."
"Yeah, I don't usually call you, I know," he said, "I just wanted to ask you if you've seen Coraline today."
Hold on... what? "Uhm... no? Isn't she at work?" I asked him.
"Apparently not," he answered, "She left last night and didn't come back home."
"Did she say where she was going to?"
"She was going to head to Tina's house." Terrence sounded so worried. "But Tina said she hasn't seen her last night either. She didn't know that Coraline was going to head to her place in the first place. Something's off about all this. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
Huh? Why would Coraline lie about her whereabouts? She wasn't the type to do something like that to her husband. Terrence was right; something was horribly wrong here.