Long Time, No See - Levi x Reader (Modern!AU)

23 - The Warmth of Another

"Levi," I said, my voice shaky and quiet, "if I send you my location, can you come pick me up?"

"Of course," he said. "Are you in trouble? Are you alright? It's late, did someone do something-"

"Levi," I cut in gently, "I'm alright, don't worry."

"Don't lie to me," he pressed.

"I promise you, I'm fine now," I told him. "Just... I just think I need to see you."

"I'm heading to my car now," he said. "Send me where you are."

I lowered the phone from my ear and went to my messages with him, sharing my location with him right away. I stood on the sidewalk, ignoring the chatter of the people scattered across the lawn. Though the group of women drifted away a few paces just to ensure that I was alright, Levi stayed on the phone with me the whole time, and though he didn't talk much, it was extremely comforting to know that he was on the other end.

The sounds of cars passing by and the consistent purr of his car's engine came through the phone, and I did what I could to focus on that instead of the way that I could still almost feel Ethan's hands on my body, roaming and searching, invading and insistent, travelling ever lower... and lower... and lower...

I squeezed my eyes shut, as though to forcefully remove the images from my mind. It didn't work. It only made them clearer.

If no one had noticed, if he hadn't backed off... how far would he have gone? He clearly hadn't cared that I had repeatedly told him no. I swallowed hard, forcing my fear down and my eyes to open.

The plan had, originally, before all this had happened, been for me to spend the night at Steph and Ben's house. That's what we told their parents, and it's what I told my parents. That plan would have been perfect because Ben's room was in the basement and he had a door leading down right from outside, so we'd avoid their parents entirely and I'd crash on his couch. 

Me going home right now would raise suspicion and I'm sure I smelled like booze and sweat and the cologne Ethan had been wearing, which would only be more suspicious.

And to be frank... I didn't really want to go home right now.

I just didn't.

There was little explanation for it other than just me not wanting to.

It was so incredibly lucky that Levi was available tonight. Though even if he was, perhaps he would still leave what he was doing to rescue me? I had a feeling that he would, and the thought brought the lightest of smiles to my face. "(Y/n)," Levi said suddenly. "You're at a university? Why?"

"A party," I told him. And I knew what he was doing, and that was giving me the chance to talk, to temporarily forget whatever it was that had bothered me enough to call him. Because this wasn't normal, and he knew that.

Usually when I called, it was to tell him something fun that had happened, something funny, or something stupid. I'd call to tell useless stories about my day. Oh, this guy did this. Oh, this weird thing happened in my science lab. Oh, this bitch had the audacity to say this during a club meeting. 

It was never to ask him to pick me up. It was never with such shakiness in my voice. It was never sounding so scared, so nervous, so unnerved.

I'd call because I just loved talking with him. And besides, I was willing to do anything to keep us connected, anything to keep him involved in my life. While we visited whenever we could, there was still a lot of instances when we couldn't see each other for extended periods of time. And sometimes... it made it hard to stay as close as were. Hell, there were times when we drifted apart over the years.