New Home New Life

Chapter 1: Eden

Small whimpers, and the feeling of tiny paws running along my torso shakes me from a light sleep, a small off-white animal curling up on my chest and staring up at me with large brown eyes. It's large ears pulled back, giving it an innocent appearance that could melt even the coldest heart.

"Kofi, what are you doing? Who let you out of your cage?" I groan, rubbing my sleep riddled eyes, willing the sting of tiredness to go away. I sit up, picking up the young fennec fox and placing him on the ground.

"I did." A smooth male voice came from the doorway of my bedroom. With crystalline blue eyes, and messy brown hair, clad in a sharp grey suit stood my mother's best friend, hands in his pockets.

"Oh um Uncle Levi! I didn't think you'd be here til' 6:00!" I scrambled to stand up, straightening out my white v-neck tee, and picking my anxious pet up off the hardwood floor.

"It is six." His voice was tired, but his face didn't show it. Instead he wore an amused expression.

"Oh i'm sorry Levi! I don't want to keep you waiting!" I rushed past him into the hallway, and into the bathroom, making quick work of tying my long blonde locks into a messy bun.

"No no, it's okay. Are your bags packed, or do you need help with that?" He leaned against the doorframe, icy eyes scanning my every move as I threw my makeup into a case and carried it out.

"Yeah they're packed, we just have to load them into your car."

"Eden, can't I get a proper hug first?" A smug smirk settled on his strong features. With a roll of my eyes I wrapped my arms snugly around his neck, and his lean limbs snaked around my waist. His familiar smell of expensive whiskey and cologne mingled with the cigarettes, flooding my nostrils and for the first time since my mother passed I felt truly comforted.

"I miss her so much, Levi. God it hurts." He buried his face in my hair, more than likely taking comfort from me just as much as I, to him.

"I know, Eden, but we can't dwell on it. Lets leave before we get stuck here any longer." He released me, turned and walked to the living room. I followed Damien, finding him carrying two of my suitcases into the entry way. As he loaded the bags into his elegant black Land Rover, I packed up Kofi's cage and bedding while the small fox scurried around my feet the entire time.

We both settled ourselves into the car, and I looked towards him expectantly waiting for him to start the car, but he didn't even have his keys in the ignition.

"Are you absolutely sure you wan't to make the move out to California with me? If you're having second thoughts we can unload right now and unpack your bags." Levi's concerned expression seemed to make my stomach churn under the intensity of it, so I reverted my gaze to my lap.

"Starting today I need to forget whats gone, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what's coming next, because if I stay here in the past i'll never be able to move on," I confessed unto the man in the driver's seat, mindlessly playing with my seatbelt before snapping my head up to meet him with an assuring smile.

"Alright then," he grins in my direction, the car purring to life as he turns the key, "Let's go." Without a second glance in the rear view mirror we're off. A small piece of my heart seems to flutter away behind the car and stick itself to the house, leaving me with an empty pang in my chest.

For a few minutes the car was filled with an awkward silence before Levi turned on the radio, and hit the aux button.

"So what'll it be, Kid? Pick your poison." He flopped his phone onto my lap, glancing at me expectantly for a second. I found his Spotify app and began to play "West End Girls" by The Petshop Boys.

"Hmm not what I was expecting from you, fitting choice though." His voice was slightly muffled as he placed a cigarette rolled with black paper between his lips.

"What kinda cigarette is that? Please tell me it's not clove, cause I might actually throw myself from the moving car." Her face was weary, but Levi was laughing while struggling to get the lighter to work with one hand.

"No it's not Clove. It's like Vanilla and Caramel I think. They're Black Devil's Special Flavor." He frustratedly gave up on the lighter, instead choosing to sit with the stick hanging between his lips.

"I wanna try one," my hand made a grabbing motion at the pack in the center console, but he snatched them away and held them on the other side of his body.

"No." He gives me a warning look that only succeeded in making him look like a pouting toddler.

"Please Levi, just one! I've smoked before, it's only to let off a little steam and because I also wanna see what they taste like." I begged, feeling the itching feeling of a craving start to build inside of me. Maybe what I told him was a small understatement, as what I had was what one could probably call an smoking addiction brought about by the stress of my mothers illness.

"No," he said sternly.

"Please."

"No."

This childish back and forth went on for almost two minutes before I finally decided to strike a deal. Reaching into the pocket of the blue jeans, I pulled out a small pink lighter and waved it by him.

"I'll trade you a cigarette for a working lighter." I teased, and held it away as he tried to snatch at it. He sat silent for a few moments before throwing the pack on my lap with a melodramatic groan.

I quickly took one out, lit it, and handed the two items back to him with a sweet 'thank you.' He begrudgingly lit his and rolled down the windows, mumbling some sort of a 'you're welcome' in response.

"God you are so stubborn! You're mother would've killed me just now if she saw that!" Despite him trying to sound like an authoritative adult, he had a wide grin set on his features,  "You're just like her."

The mention of my recently deceased mother, Felicity, shot a wave of heartache through my chest, and tears stung my eyes. Before I could stop it, a tear rolled down my face and I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand.

Levi noticed and immediately he was apologizing for upsetting me, but honestly it wasn't his fault. It was bound to happen sometime, and I made that clear to him.

The rest of the drive to the airport was silent aside for the music that played over the speakers. At the airport they got through customs, but were furiously questioned about the animal boarding the flight. The hard part was over, now all they had to do was kick back and relax on the flight from Texas to California.