✓ | DEAR FUTURE ME

035

All during that not-so-little scuffle, Skye went away as far as she could from that house, finding a place to be alone on a bus stop bench. There was no one to bother her, nobody around period. It was just the way she needed it, at least that's what she believed.

"Goddammit!" Skye cursed to herself, crossing her arms as shivered. The one time she goes to a "legit" party it ends in utter shit. She should've known better than to go to a stereotypical high school party full of assholes that could care less about her, but if it weren't for Levi, she wouldn't have given it any sort of chance.

A few moments later, Skye feels a familiar presence sit next to her, and she looks over to see Levi sitting a few inches away from her. He clasps his hands, waiting for her to say something like "go away" or "you came after me?", but Levi decided he should say something first.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I was okay when I was all alone." She scoffed and scooted away from him. Part of her didn't want him there, knowing he would want answers, but at the same time, there was another part that was so glad he came to check on her.

Levi didn't even try to argue though. Her feelings were completely valid in his mind. It was clear she'd rather be anywhere but here, and it was understandable. He wasn't there for all of what happened, but he knew enough to know that Skye had every right to want to get out of there.

"I can leave if you want to." Levi shrugged, waiting for her to respond. She turns and faces him, then looks down at his knuckles, noticing that they were bruised.

"Levi, why do you do this?" Skye asked in a low, serious tone.

"Why do I do what?" He furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of what she meant as it was pretty vague.

"This." She replied, motioning her hand from him to her, referencing what was going on between them. "Wanting to spend so much time with me, "Skye time", buying me things, punching guys for me, wanting to fight my battles for me, always trying to make sure I'm okay, all of it. Why?"

"How did you know I punched him?" Levi asked. Although he didn't mention it, the bruises on his knuckles did all of the talking for him.

"Look at your knuckles, they're bruised," Skye said. "I can imagine you saw what happened, practically everyone did."

"I..." he began, his mouth slightly agape as he was struggling to form words.

"Levi, do you just do all of this because you love me?" She asked, not even thinking of the consequences in her question. It was the only explanation of why he cared so much. After what happened with Hunter at the party, Skye could imagine that Levi was just playing nice for some kind of reward, just like Hunter until it all blew up in his face. It was hard to see that Levi genuinely cared now, especially after what she just had to go through.

Levi falls silent after Skye's question, to which Skye sees the answer as a hard no. Her assumption wasn't the answer at all, but Levi didn't know how to tell the truth when the timing couldn't be any more horrible. Skye didn't even know why she asked that out loud, but the question had been haunting her mind for so long and tonight night as well get a little worse.

"Forget I said that." Skye frowned, turning her head away and looking out into the night. "I'm not thinking clearly."

Levi had to explain himself someway, somehow. He didn't necessarily have to say he had love for her, but Skye deserved some sort of explanation as to why he puts in all of this effort for her, but first, he had to explain punching Hunter. "Skye, Hunter deserved to get hit after what he called you."