Levi

Chapter twenty-two

Hey y'all, author here! Uhm.. I am, however, incredibly sorry for the delay in updates! But I won't keep you from reading this chapter any longer, so read the note at the end, it's important!

The song is what I'm currently listening to on repeat. I've never been a 1D fan, but this song is the shit. It has nothing to do with the chapter though, lol.

This chapter is a long one, by the way. You're welcome :)

Happy reading!

That evening, when they both got tired after hours of talking, and not talking, they decided to go to bed. Their hands were conjoined as they walked out of the livingroom, and through the corridor to their bedrooms. They came to a halt in front of Valentina's bedroom door, Levi's being further down the corridor.

''I liked this.'' Levi admitted, gesturing to their conjoined hands by lifting them slightly, ''I like acting like an actual couple.''

There was so much more he wanted to say, to tell her. That he loved holding her, that he would love to do so much more than just holding her, that he loved her. But he knew she couldn't handle it yet. She wasn't ready.

He'd told her he loved her once, before he left to China. And he got little to zero reaction on it, aside from the one where she avoided reacting on it at all. She wasn't ready, he concluded. She wasn't ready to hear it. So he wasn't going to say it again, until she was.

But as much as he knew that holding back all the things he wanted to say to her- to do to her- was the best way to go right now, he needed her to know. Holding in his love was like keeping his heart still. His love for her was fighting, thumping against the bars of it's prison, to get out. And trying to keep it in, was painful. As if the prisonbars were closing in on his heart, clenching it to a point where it was unable to thump any more. He felt dead, but not quite yet. It was a slow, painful death that just refused to end. Because just like his love for her, his heart keeps on living. No matter how much he tries to hold it in.

''We don't do that very often.'' He observed, ''I don't want to pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with. But this,'' He raised their hands again, ''This is what I want.''

He wasn't going to say any more. He knew that she understood full well what exactly he meant. Words weren't necessary anymore.

He looked so genuine, so happy. As if just holding her made him feel like he was on top of the world. And Valentina realized in that moment just how much power she has over him, and also why she has so much power over him.

Because his feelings for her, they're real.

Valentina wanted to tell him that she liked 'this' too. She didn't realize how much she liked being around him, being physical with him, until she actually was. And now that she's had a taste of what it's like, she can't get enough of him. He's an addiction.

She bit down on her bottomlip, keeping her confessions from spilling out. His grey eyes held hers in a passionate stare, and she was too captured in his gaze to even think of looking away. Their hands still held on to one another, neither one of them brave enough to pull away.

It's like there's this invisible pull between them, neither one of them strong enough to fight it. Before they knew it, they stepped closer to each other. Their faces inches apart, their bodies close enough to feel the heat of the other one.

As if he understood, he brought his free hand up, freeing her bottom lip from her teeth's hold. It's like he knew she was holding back. But he didn't comment on it, didn't pressure her. And it made her heart beat faster knowing that he liked her- loved, even- despite of her flaws.