The Butterfly Effect | Levi x Reader

Chapter 2

"Why thank you!" you grinned at him, voice dripping with sarcasm. You didn't catch his eye roll as you turned to sloppily kick your shoes off and throw your keys and purse on the kitchen counter, then proceeded to your bedroom to grab a blanket and pillow for your new house guest. "Here," you thrust the heap in your arms at him and moved to clear away the smaller throws from your couch, back still aching from your long shift.

After you had finished creating a little makeshift bed for him on the couch, you left him standing awkwardly in the middle of your living room to route through your drawers, trying to find suitable enough clothes that would fit him. You returned to the living room, the largest shirt and sweat pants you could find in your hands.

"Strip." You ordered.

"Excuse me?" he raised his eyebrow at you, crossing his muscular arms over his chest defiantly.

"Strip and give me your clothes. They're damp and cold, I'll throw them in the dryer for you. . .here," you handed him your clothes.

He eyed you skeptically from under his slick wet bangs, but did as you asked. You felt a slight blush creep up your cheeks the moment you realized you had been gawking at his powerful, lean frame. He noticed you looking while he was pulling your grey sweats on and cocked his head, shifting his weight to one leg and crossing his arms yet again. You had to admit, it was quite surreal seeing a half-naked stranger standing in your living room like it was the most normal thing in the world.

You cleared your throat and quickly averted your gaze telling him "I'll go dry your clothes for you," and turned on your heel, heading swiftly to the laundry room.

What just came over me? You asked yourself, shaking your head in utter embarrassment. You had to admit – he was very handsome. But he was also very strange. You couldn't explain it, but you had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that you just couldn't shake; your life would forever be changed by this strange, otherworldly man. I'm probably just tired; you shook it off, humming absentmindedly to yourself as you opened the dryer and took out your own clothes before throwing Levi's into the chute.

"What material is this?" you heard his low voice ask softly from behind you. To your utter horror you turned around to find your new guest holding up a particularly lacy pair of your panties, eyeing it with complete curiosity. You involuntarily squeaked, surprised at his boldness – you'd been so wrapped up in your own thoughts you hadn't even realized he had followed you!

"Give me those!" you snatched the garment from his hand. "Okay, we need to lay down some ground rules. No snooping through my things, no going into my room, and don't try to operate any of the household appliances without my guidance. Got it?"

"That won't be necessary," he scoffed, "I'll be out of your hair soon enough."

"It's late," you stated coldly, "let's just both get some sleep and go from there. Okay?" you didn't even wait for his response, brushing past him to the kitchen for a glass of water. You weren't exactly sure why, but his blunt words stung a little – was he that adamant to get away from you, even after all of your kindness? After grabbing a glass of water, you padded softly to your bedroom, bare feet cold on the hardwood floor. On your way you passed the couch and noticed that Levi had already fallen asleep, smiling faintly at his form under the blanket, little tufts of his onyx hair peeking out from the top.

"You need something?" his annoyed voice slightly muffled by the blanket over it.

"Goodnight Levi," you said softly before retreating to your bedroom and shutting the door. His only response was to grunt in your direction; not thanking you once for all your hospitality. Thank god he was under the covers or he would've seen the deep blush that had spread across your cheeks upon being caught staring.

"Uhn," you groaned and stretched, forcing your squinty eyes open and shielding them from the patterned light pouring in from behind the blinds. A smile curled itself around the corners of your lips as you felt your back crack satisfyingly when you stretched in a cat-like manner. You sighed and decided you deserved five more minutes to yourself and flopped back against your pillows, breathing in the cozy scent of your fresh sheets. "Oh shit!" you shot up straight, remembering a certain someone on the couch after only a few seconds of sleepy bliss. You groggily wrenched your body out of bed and moved to the door, the chilly floor unwelcoming against your feet. Your hand hesitated on the door knob, silently wondering if Levi would even still be there. Slowly turning the knob, you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. Stepping out into the living room, you observed the couch and noticed the blanket had been folded neatly and placed on top of the pillow, no traces of your mysterious guest anywhere.

"I guess he left," you announced to the empty room and shuffled with deflated shoulders to the kitchen to turn the kettle on.

"Who left?" a familiar voice startled you.

"God!" you whipped around toward the kitchen table in surprise, one hand grabbing the edge of the counter and one clutching your chest in fear of your heart jumping out of it. "Do not scare me like that!" you bellowed at the very person you thought had left.

"Sorry," he apologized half-heartedly, regarding your – now very alert – form and dishevelled bed head, his head resting on the palm of his hand. You noticed he had a book open in front of him and made your way over to see what reading material he had, annoyed that he had broken your rule of not going through your things. It was your biology textbook that you had left open on the table before leaving for work; you decided you couldn't really count that as him snooping through your things as it was lying open on the kitchen table.

"Stellar reading material isn't it?" you asked sarcastically, jerking your head in the direction of the book. He looked up at you with utter confusion and then moved his eyes back to the book.

"You think it isn't? What story is this?" he asked matter-of-factly.

You snorted at his remark, assuming he was joking. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine. It would have been better if your constant talking hadn't kept waking me up," you missed the glare he shot you, turning to finish your initial task of turning the kettle on.

"Yeah," you chuckled softly, "I wasn't very popular at sleepovers when I was younger because of my odd sleeping habits. Do you want some tea?" you glanced in his direction, to see him nodding wordlessly while he immersed himself in your biology book. "What kind?" you asked.

"What do you have?"

"Uh, let's see. . ." you hummed while scanning the cupboard. "I've got green tea, chai, orange pekoe, raspberry pomegranate, apple cinnamon, peppermint, chamomile, jasmine, oolong and winter berry." He said nothing and strode over to stand closely behind you, peering into your shelf of tea with wide eyes.

"This is all yours?" he asked.

"Yeah?" you drew the word out slowly, "it's just tea," you snorted, baffled at the fact that he thought your cheap tea collection was impressive.

"I know what tea is, idiot," he snarled defensively.

"But . . . I thought you had amnesia," you turned to eye him skeptically, noticing how close in height the two of you were.

"Tch," he stuttered awkwardly. You could tell he was nervous by the way he was scratching at the buzzed hair behind his neck.

Just who is this guy? You thought to yourself, but decided to drop the topic for now.