kilby girl [hs]

chapter 14

Harry Styles

After getting the go ahead from Levi to get Zayn and Drew from upstairs, I walk up the short flight of stairs before pushing open the door to see them sitting on the couch.

Butterflies fill my stomach, but not in the way they usually do. It's the type of butterflies that make you feel sick and nervous, not excited or happy.

I see Zayn and Drew talking quietly as they sit together on the couch. They look up at me upon hearing the click of the door opening, "She wants to talk about it, but she wants us to promise her one thing"

They both nod their heads agreeing to whatever Levi needs before even knowing what it is. "She doesn't want us to treat her differently once she tells us, no matter what." I breathe out

"It's that bad?" Zayn's voice is laced with worry as he speaks, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck.

"I don't know." I speak. "All I care about right now is keeping her safe from that prick. If that's what's gonna make her most comfortable then that's what we've gotta do."

"Absolutely, anything she needs" Drew speaks out immediately. Once we're all in agreement I turn going back downstairs, Zayn and Drew following behind me.

When we enter the basement I see Levi sitting on the furthest away couch, bouncing her leg clearly nervously as she waits for us. We walk over to her, me sitting next to her and Zayn and Drew sitting on the couch opposite us. "We only want what's best for you Levi, we care about you, okay?" A small smile appears on Drew's face, along with sympathetic eyes.

Levi looks up, sharing back a smile before blowing out a deep breath, "I've known Tate my whole life. Our parents have been friends for a long time, they met through church, they always planned that Tate and I would end up together. So in freshman year when Tate asked me out, I felt like I had to say yes, I had to like him because it's what my parents wanted." She toys with the sleeve of her sweater as she speaks, "He was really nice to me, key word there is, 'was'. He'd buy me flowers 'just cause' and always take me out to dinner on our anniversaries. Little things like that. My parents loved that we were dating, he was the son they never had. By dating him my parents got off my back about a lot of things, so after a while I didn't mind faking my feelings."

"Then in sophomore year he got his license and we got a lot more freedom. He'd sneak me out my bedroom window and fool around in his car or hang out with Dylan, Emily and Teagan. I thought everything was going fine. I thought he really liked me. Well, until he cheated on me." She sucks in a sharp shaky breath as she rubs her hands along her thighs before continuing, "It was my birthday, he cheated on me on my fucking birthday" She scoffs, furrowing her brows as she stares ahead of her, avoiding anyones eyeline.

"I hadn't heard from him all day, and part of me knew he'd forgotten but the other part of me didn't want to think that badly of him, especially when he wasn't there to defend himself against my thoughts. I ended up going to his house to check on him, his Mom let me up, and I walked in on Emily sucking his dick," A humourless laugh falls from her lips as her eyes stay glued to the floor.

"I obviously blew up at him the first time it happened. I tried to break up with him, I tried to tell him that he'd hurt me but he just kept saying that I couldn't break up with him because if I did he was gonna tell everyone everything. I was so scared my parents would find out that I had been sneaking out or that they'd know I wasn't a virgin. I didn't realise until recently how toxic he was." The more she unveils about her and Tate's relationship the more I wanna beat the shit out of him again. I look up from my position of staring at the ground, my eyes meeting Drew's sad ones.