Exposed (#wattys2016)

chapter twenty-three

The next morning I woke up in my bed, limbs tangled with Caspian's. The covers were on the floor, along with his boxers.
I reached my hand down to pat my thighs, making sure I still had mine on. Last night was the emotional equivalent of downing a bottle of vodka, and I think I woke up hungover.

I quietly tried to sneak out of bed, but a hand gripped my wrist to pull me back.
"Stay here, punk," Caspian sleepily talked into my pillow. I reluctantly curled up into the spot I previously was in seconds ago, closing my eyes again as I drifted into another round of sleep.
This time, Caspian woke me up. He was smacking his lighter against my wall repeatedly.
"Hey, stop that, what the fuck," I rubbed my eyes and sat up, too tired to take further action. The walls in this house were already beat up and mangled, not like his fit of rage would do any harm. "These pieces of shit never work for more than two weeks," He said while throwing the lighter into the hallway.
"Watch it, Caspian," Levi exclaimed from the hallway where his lighter landed.
"What are you gonna do bout it?" Caspian questioned Levi back, leaning against the wall with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. I leaned back against my pillow, covering my face with my hands.
"Kick you out," Levi said while passing my room with laundry.
Since I slept for four days and started acting weird, Levi has really stepped up and provided for all of us, even with Gina in the hospital. I guess I haven't been doing a very good job of providing to the family recently, either. But, for some reason, I still appreciated him.
"How's Gina?" I asked while getting out of bed, slipping on Caspian's flannel.
Levi stopped in the door and shrugged, picking at his nails. "I just hope the baby is okay."
"That's all?" I said, throwing my legs off the side of the bed. Levi didn't seem too worried at all. "Yeah, that's all I guess. She's fine, I just want our baby to be fine too."
Levi scanned my room before nodding and heading back down the hallway to the overflowing laundry basket.
Caspian shrugged and sat down next to me on the bed now, nudging his elbow directly into my ribcage. "That was fun yesterday, huh?" He said, looking at me.
"Yeah, too much walking though. My legs are stiff today."
I rubbed my thighs with my hands, looking back at him.
"Man up," He said while smacking my upper arm, "I gotta go buy another lighter. I'll be back soon."
He grabbed his pack of cigarettes which were on my bedside table, walking out of the room and down the stairs. I sat alone on my bed now, looking around at the messy floor and dresser. I slipped on some new jeans and a clean shirt underneath the flannel, heading out into the hallway where I saw Levi sorting the laundry again. I was feeling kind of hungry and my chest felt heavy like a weight was dropped on it.
"Need help?" I offered, but Levi just shook his head and turned around to face me.
"Want to come visit Gina with me later?" He asked with a hint of loneliness in his voice, his eyes trailing back and forth from the laundry to me.
"Yeah, I'll go with you," I nodded. I was hoping he'd ask me because I didn't dress nice for nothing. Levi smiled and kicked the empty laundry basket into his room, heading past me down the hall. "I'm done being a housewife," He exhaustedly mumbled, heading downstairs to the kitchen. I stuck my hands in the front of my pockets, following after him.
"Hey, sorry I haven't been myself lately."
I carefully made my way down the steps, since they're so narrow. I broke my arm twice falling in the same year.
Levi shrugged and popped some bread into the toaster, pouring a cup of coffee. "It's no problem, I know you're not even directly related but you've done so much shit for us," he laughed as he rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb, "I don't think we would have made it without you."

I smiled at his feedback, finally feeling accomplished about something in my life.
I watched him place another slice of bread into the toaster, my body leaning against the stair railing as my eyes wandered.
"Do you ever feel really tired and anxious, and your eyes just start going crazy and you can't focus on one thing?" I rubbed my temples to help soothe the heavy feeling that now spread to my head and eyes, looking back up at Levi.
He looked at me with the same expression as when I slept for four days, "No, uh, not usually."
He shook his head to affirm his answer.
"Okay," I shrugged, "Just wondering. Hey, any orange juice left?"
I let my shoulder gently brush his as I opened the fridge to see what we had left.
"That happens to you?" He turned around to look at me while I drank orange juice from the carton. I nodded and quickly swallowed the juice, "Sometimes."