Just Friends

20

⊱𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚒⊰

I stare down at the many books and pages thrown around the room. With a soft huff, I drop to my knees and start picking some up.

Charlie walks into the room just as I stack a couple of books on top of each other. She takes a deep breath as she slowly inches inside further.

"She's going to bed now."

I nod absently. "Good." I mumble. She'll feel better in the morning. Maybe then we can finish the puzzle in the living room.

Charlie slowly steps in further. She says nothing as she drops down right beside me, rounding up more books and pages.

"It wasn't your fault." Charlie quietly informs. "Wasn't hers either. Just a...chemical imbalance." She reasons with a soft shrug.

"I know." I nod simply as I pick the books up and stand.

I know that by now. It's not the first time she's gotten angry like this, and it won't be the last. It's just the frustration of being confused, and I get it.

"Levi."

I pause and look back down at her. "What?" I sigh. I turn away again just to put the books back in their spots.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I answer absently. "Why wouldn't I be?" I furrow my brows and shake my head, confused by her question.

Why she'd chose to ask me that now, while I'm cleaning up the books that were just thrown at me less than ten minutes ago?

"You look like shit."

I scoff quietly and turn back to her when the last book has been put in its place. "That's rude." I point out bitterly.

Charlie smiles a little. "Sorry." She hums. "But seriously. You look tired. Did you not sleep well last night?"

Not at all.

I told Tess I loved her a couple of days ago. She hasn't texted me since, which I honestly figured would happen.

But just because I knew it would happen doesn't make the ache in my chest go away.

Somehow, things are worse now than they were when I was sitting silently right across from her while her eyes were trained on someone else.

I think it's just because then, I was at least sitting with her. Now, I'm not even speaking to her—forget about being in the same room.

Jasper and I stopped talking, so there's not even a way for me to weasel my way into an event that I know she'll be attending. I have no other forms of contact with her.

And I can't text her. I need to wait for her to text me, otherwise I come off as a creep who will no longer giver her the space she needs.

I feel a soft touch to my arm. I stop what I'm doing to look down at Charlie.

She frowns at me and tilts her head. "We can finish cleaning this up in the morning." She whispers. "Let's go watch something on tv." She suggests.

I sigh deeply, but I nod. Her smile is soft as she drops her hand and turns to start leading the way out of the room. I follow her and try my hardest to ignore the mess we're about to just leave.

Charlie leads the way to the living room. She turns the tv on while I drop down on the couch with a quiet huff. Her eyes are stuck on the tv as she absently backs up.

She almost trips over me when she backs up to the couch. She jumps but gives me an apologetic smile. "Sorry." She shuffles over to drop down beside me instead of on top of me like she almost did.