High Hopes|✔

Chapter 24

O P H E L I A ' S    P O V

I was on my hands and knees at 4:00 in the morning trying to do as much scrubbing and cleaning as I could do before Levi had awoken.

I knew that when he was home, he would go into the office at 5:30 to get some work done. I also knew that I had to be quiet and swift because if Levi caught me doing this again, I would be in for more than an earful.

I got up quickly once I've decided that the marble floor was spotless. I then hurriedly moved over and wiped down the dining table with some disinfectant.

Grabbing a duster, I cleaned the slight specks of dust that were forming around the windowpane.

I jumped a few feet in the air when I heard a deep voice clear their throat. I turned around like I had just got caught red-handed.

Levi stood feet away from me as he leaned casually on the doorframe, right foot crossed over the left and hands folded across his chest.

No one could miss the scrutinising stare that he gave me which made me want to jump out the window.

I wondered what he was doing down here so early, especially on his day off, but then my gaze quickly snapped to the clock and I saw that it was 5:43.

I was down here for that long?

"I— I was j-just," I scrambled to get myself out of the sticky predicament that I had found myself in.

He bounced off the walls with a shoulder and stalked towards me. I felt my throat constricting and becoming dry whenever he made it an inch closer to me. Not to mention how well he looked dressed in a pair of sweats and a sleeveless top which had his tattoos fully on display.

In no time, he made it to me. My hand around the duster tightened and I looked down at my feet like a little child.

"Why do you make it your mission to ignore everything I tell you?" He finally spoke, his words deeper and huskier than usual.

I remained quiet for a while, my gaze not meeting his own although I could definitely feel his own on me.

I finally looked up at him and expected him to look angry, furious even, that I hadn't listened to a word that he told me about what not to do.

Instead, he looked incredibly worried as his eyebrows furrowed in concern, stress lines forming on his forehead.

"I'm sorry?" I said, my voice barely over a whisper. Instead of it sounding like a statement, it sounded like a question.

Truth was, I really wasn't sorry for getting up early in the morning to clean. I just wanted everything to look perfect.

I heard Levi sigh into his hands as he raked a hand through his bedhead.

"This is the same way that you ended up in the hospital in the first place. Over-working and not taking care of yourself." He shook his head.

"I just want your parents to like me," I mumbled quietly, hoping that he didn't hear me.

I then felt Levi pull me into him after a while and rest his head on top of my own. His silence left me a little suspicious.

"Y-You did tell them a-about us, right?" I felt my voice tremble.

He pulled me back instantly by my shoulders, "Of course, I did. Why wouldn't I?" He seemed offended that I would even mention it. "I'd even publicly announce it if you would just let me." He murmured.

He knew that I wasn't ready for that yet.

"Ophelia, I just don't want you to worry about anything." He said after a while. "I care for you and I hate seeing anything bad happening to you," He mumbled as he pulled me back in to give me a soft, slow kiss on the lips.