I Hate You A Little Less Today

Chapter 24

I walked out first.

Throughout our youth we are always bombarded by adults telling us what's best for us. No, eating veggies won't kill us and yes, touching the stove will hurt. At this very moment, as I walk out of the carriage with Levi, I am reminded of an important lesson that my father has taught me:

Everything passes.

The reality was that I wasn't entirely sure of why I was so anxious about tonight. I felt like I wasn't able to completely enjoy it, there were many things that I was afraid of. The judgement from others, judgement from my mother, judgement from my brother. But none of those things I feared more than time itself. Even if people were disapproving, that was still time I had left with Levi, and although all those unpleasant comments and looks would pass, so would that time with him.

I walked out first, slowly, expecting a crowd. I looked up to see dozens of people around the entrance to the palace, many eyes now on me. I looked back, Levi stepped out of the carriage very quickly after me. All eyes were on both of us now.

We started walking towards the entrance, I inhaled slowly and grabbed Levi's arm. I held him closer as I tried to ignore the public's murmurs. I could already see their faces of confusion, trying to figure out who the mysterious man next to me was.

As we walked in the large gold plated doors, the lights reflecting from the chandeliers almost blinded us. I frowned slightly at just how bright the venue was.

The place was huge, my first task was to locate where my father was, but that would probably take a while because of just how many people were in the ballroom.

"Y/N! You've grown so much!" The first interaction of the night.

Suddenly we were face to face with one of the wives of a rich business man.

I greeted the old lady back and attempted to make as little conversation as possible.

"And who is this lucky man?" She directed herself at Levi.

At this point I could feel other people staring at us, although I knew my date would be a topic of conversation for some people I didn't know the full extent of it.

"I am Levi" Levi said semi respectfully.

His short introduction caught the lady by surprise. She started asking more questions about him but Levi would only give vague broad answers.

I couldn't help but to smile, with every interaction, every interrogation from a new person, Levi maintained a nonchalant demeanor that kept everyone intrigued.

Even though I was worried about how conversations would go, he was handling everything extremely well. That was, until the dreaded question came up.

"So what do you do? If you don't mind me asking" One of my father's friends asked.

We were now in a circle with a group of people, all very influential. I looked over at Levi who was about to respond.

"T-the question is what doesn't he do!" I grabbed Levi's arm. "We forgot that we have to be meeting up with someone, I'm sorry gentlemen" I pulled Levi away from the circle.

He didn't say anything.

I let go of his arm but kept walking forward through the crowd, he followed instinctively. 

We ended up by some tables, I sat down, I hadn't realized till now how my heartbeat was racing. Levi didn't sit, he just stood in front of me.

"I'm sorry for that, I'm just not feeling super well right now" I looked down at the floor.