Walk With Me

10

Levi stared at me in astonishment, and then something seemed to click in that thick head of his.

"Ohhh," he dragged out the sound. "That makes sense."

I furrowed my brows. Was he referring to how I was scared of Danny's presence, or something else? "What does?"

"When was this, again?" He asked, completely ignoring my question.

"Sometime last year," I mumbled.

"Oh," he said. "Then yeah."

"'Yeah', what?"

"I was just making sure I was thinking of the right time," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, my brother really liked you."

I started to say something but he continued before I could.

"He would come home every day and talk about you. It was kinda funny, really." He smiled. "Made me kind of jealous."

"What do you mean jealous?" I said, exasperated. "Maybe if you weren't such a jerk we could've been friends-"

"Anyway." He crossed his arms and I frowned at the fact he interrupted me with no shame. "That day, I'm assuming it was the day he rejected you, he literally went up to his room and wouldn't come out for a good three days."

I blinked. "Oh." My eyes then narrowed. "Why'd he reject me then? Why mess with my feelings?"

"He wasn't," Levi stated. "His emotions confuse him easily. He only rejected you because he was scared. He didn't know what he felt."

"Oh," I said again.

"He was so mad at himself for it," Levi mumbled. "He wouldn't talk to us about his problems so we didn't know how to help."

"Why do think he wouldn't talk to you?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "It just makes me feel guilty. Like I did something to make him not trust me."

"Maybe he was embarrassed?" I asked.

"Maybe." Levi shrugged. "We'll never know."

"You could just ask."

"Bold of you to assume he'd answer."

"Well, you're his brother, right? Maybe if he knew you cared he'd tell you."

Levi leaned back against his chair, his expression distressed. "Natalie already tried that. I'm pretty sure he won't tell me. But it makes me feel so....useless? I don't know. I have no reason to feel guilty."

"You're right," I agreed. "You don't."

He stared at me for a moment, curiously. He then laughed dryly. "You're so...different."

I blinked. "What?"

"From back then. You're so different."

"How?"

"You were so happy all the time, and you talked so much. You'd make people feel better, you laughed every chance you got. You were so positive."

I was wondering what that had to do with anything. But nonetheless, my curiosity got the best of me as I asked: "Are you saying I'm none of those now?"

"Kind of."

"Is that bad?"

"No," he said immediately. "I don't think it's bad. It's new, though. I'm not entirely sure how to handle people like you."

I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"I mean," he added, "I'm used to people who are excited and lively all the time. I'm not use to people who are quiet and don't share what they're thinking. Danny used to always tell us what was on his mind; our whole family was always open about their problems. We were all always so happy."