The Leverage

Chapter Eight

"Get up. Now."

A deep, annoyingly loud voice wakes me from my blissful state of dreaming in a rudely harsh tone. My eyes crack open to see a hovering figure looming over my bed - which is really just a couch - with thick arms that are crossed tightly over their hard chest and dark eyes that are narrowed as the figure waits impatiently for me to wake up.

"Good morning to you, too," I mumble as I sit up, noticing that the irritated man beside the couch is Landon. He rolls his eyes at me, obviously annoyed as he motions quickly with his thick arms to get up.

"I don't have all day for you to sit around," he complains, tone thickly irritated, "and I'm not about to leave you alone in my apartment."

"You don't trust me?" I pretend to whimper sadly as I push myself off of his couch. "I'm wounded, Landon, really."

"Just get dressed and leave, alright? I have things to do, and they don't involve being around you," he snaps, his hand quickly shooting for the door - a clear gesture for me to get the hell out, and that he isn't kidding.

"But I don't have any clothes here," I whine, glancing down at Landon's baggy T shirt that fits like a dress over my small, swallowed-up-whole body.

Landon's dark eyes scan me up and down briefly, but thorougly. "My clothes that you are wearing will suit you fine enough. So get out. Now, if I didn't previously make myself clear."

My mind flickers to Trevor's perfect face, and I can't imagine him seeing me dressed in Landon's clothes. I don't want any of the boys in Unit One getting the wrong idea when they see me wearing Landon's clothes after waking up in his apartment, so I know what I need to do.

I just really need Landon to agree with me, for my own well-state of mind.

"Please, Landon, can I ask you for a favor?"

"No."

I ignore his weary glances at me at the thought of doing me any favors, "will you please go with me to Oliver's apartment? I really want to wear my own clothes to work out in today, but I don't want to be around Oliver alone, just in case he's there and still angry. It'll only take a minute if you don't mind."

Landon lets out a deep, insulting laugh. "Go to Oliver's yourself, Ally. I'm not playing your body guard for the day."

"Landon," I plead, "it'll just take a second. Just after yesterday, I'm not very comfortable being anywhere alone with Oliver, so I'd appreciate -"

"No, Ally," Landon snaps, the laughter in his voice gone. "I'm not your babysitter, okay? If you want to work with Unit One, you need to be able to handle yourself on your own. I'm not going to walk you down the hall so you can safely get dressed."

I roll my eyes at Landon, because in some ways, he's right. I should be able to be around Oliver by myself. But the problem is - I can't. I'm not strong enough to defend myself, and I'm too weak to go through any more assaults. I think I'm borderline mentally insane from living so caught up in my head after everything I've been through, so I really don't think enduring anymore shit from Oliver is going to help out my wary mind any more.

"Landon, I don't want you to babysit me," I say, softer this time. "I'm just asking you for a favor, because I really don't want to go back to Oliver's alone - even if it is just to get my stuff back."

"Well, life isn't about doing what you want, is it?" He demands, eyes cold as his tone drops to a lower, more manipulative growl.

"Please?"

"No," Landon repeats, but firmer this time. "No. If you want to be in Unit One, you need to start learning to be independent."

"Can you not be the captain of Unit One for two seconds, please? I'm asking you to go with me as my friend, okay? Please."